Analysis of Super-Kamiokande 5-day Measurements of the Solar Neutrino Flux

Data in 5-day bins, recently released by the Super-Kamiodande Consortium, has been analyzed by a likelihood procedure that has certain advantages over the Lomb-Scargle procedure used by the consortium. The two most prominent peaks in the power spectrum of the 10-day data were at 9.42 y-1 and 26.57 y-1, and it was clear that one was an alias of the other caused by the regularity of the binning. There were reasons to believe that the 9.42 y-1 peak was an alias of the 26.57 y-1 peak, but analysis of the 5-day data makes it clear that the reverse is the case. In addition to a strong peak near 9.42 y-1, we find peaks at 43.72 y-1and at 39.28 y-1. After comparing this analysis with a power-spectrum analysis of magnetic-field data, we suggest that these three peaks may be attributed to a harmonic of the solar rotation rate and to an r-mode oscillation with spherical harmonic indices l = 2, m = 2.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Vaccination of Cattle with the N Terminus of LppQ of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Results in Type III Immune Complex Disease upon Experimental Infection

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a serious respiratory disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides. Current vaccines against CBPP induce short-lived immunity and can cause severe postvaccine reactions. Previous studies have identified the N terminus of the transmembrane lipoprotein Q (LppQ-N') of M. mycoides subsp. mycoides as the major antigen and a possible virulence factor. We therefore immunized cattle with purified recombinant LppQ-N' formulated in Freund's adjuvant and challenged them with M. mycoides subsp. mycoides. Vaccinated animals showed a strong seroconversion to LppQ, but they exhibited significantly enhanced postchallenge glomerulonephritis compared to the placebo group (P = 0.021). Glomerulonephritis was characterized by features that suggested the development of antigen-antibody immune complexes. Clinical signs and gross pathological scores did not significantly differ between vaccinated and placebo groups. These findings reveal for the first time the pathogenesis of enhanced disease as a result of antibodies against LppQ during challenge and also argue against inclusion of LppQ-N' in a future subunit vaccine for CBPP

Le nouveau-né et le couple : adversaires ou partenaires?

Nous acceptons généralement l'idée que la venue planifiée d'un premier enfant est source de joie pour les nouveaux parents et qu'elle fait naître aussi chez eux un sentiment d'accomplissement. Traditionnellement, la société considère d'un bon oeil le passage à ce nouveau rôle que constitue la formation d'une cellule familiale. Or, non seulement la recherche sur les relations conjugales a-t-elle mis de côté le romantisme de l'imagerie populaire, mais elle a petit à petit développé une idée négative de cette crise de transition. L'objectif de cet article est donc de faire d'abord une recension des écrits traitant de l'effet de la venue d'un premier enfant sur le vécu conjugal et de nuancer l'aspect de crise que cette première naissance peut avoir sur le couple. Nous concluons qu'il faudrait peut-être repenser le concept de satisfaction conjugale. À la lumière de notre rapide survol de la documentation, ce concept semble trop restreint et quelque peu confus. En effet, les chercheurs ne s'entendent pas encore sur une même définition de la satisfaction conjugale et opérationnalisent le concept de satisfaction conjugale de manières parfois très différentes. Il en résulte beaucoup de confusion, d'autant plus que plusieurs termes ont été utilisés comme synonymes de satisfaction. En outre, l'évaluation de la qualité de la relation ne doit pas se restreindre à celle de la satisfaction des deux partenaires. D'autres dimensions (cf. ajustement, engagement, cohésion, etc.) devraient être considérées pour donner une image plus exacte des changements qui s'opèrent à l'intérieur du couple au cours des années.We generally accept that the planned arrival of a first child is a source of joy for the new parents and that it provides them with a sense of accomplishment. Traditionally, society welcomes the formation of a family unit and looks forward to this passage into the new role of parenthood. However, not only has research on marital relations set aside the popular imagery of romanticism, but it has increasingly given negative connotations to this crisis-prone transition phase. The objective of this article is therefore to review literature concerning the impact of a newborn child on the marital experience, and to nuance the idea that childbirth can lead to crisis situations within the couple. In conclusion, the authors argue that the concept of marital satisfaction needs to be reformulated. Judging from their brief overview of literature, the authors believe the concept to be too narrowly defined and slightly ambiguous. Indeed, researchers have not yet reached a consensus on the definition of marital satisfaction. Furthermore, they tend to operationalize the concept in very different ways. As a result, there is a lot of conclusion and the fact that many researchers use different terms as a synonym of satisfaction is no help. What's more, the assessment of quality in a relationship should not be limited to measuring the level of satisfaction of the two partners. Other dimensions (e.g. adjustment, commitment, cohesion, etc.) deserve consideration in order to give a more complete image of the changes that occur over the years within the couple

L’enfant et sa famille : quelques nouveaux thèmes de recherche

Cet article vise à démontrer l'intérêt sans cesse grandissant de la psychologie génétique pour l'analyse multi-variée des nombreux facteurs de développement psychologique. Au-delà de la relation mère-enfant, les chercheurs se tournent de plus en plus vers les facteurs physiques et sociaux du milieu familial, les facteurs directement liés à l'enfant et les formes d'ajustement famille-enfant et ce, dans le cadre tant du développement socio-affectif que du développement cognitif. Il ne s'agit pas d'un relevé exhaustif de la documentation mais une introduction à de nouvelles avenues de recherche particulièrement prometteuses.The aim of the article is to demonstrate the ever-increasing interest of genetic psychology in the multi-variate analysis of the numerous factors in psychological development. Going beyond the mother-child relation, researchers are turning, more and more, towards physical and family milieu social factors, factors directly linked to the child and forms of family-child adjustment, and this, as much within the context of socio-affective development as that of cognitive development. What is presented is not an exhaustive survey of documentation, but rather an introduction to new, particularly promising, avenues of research

Le rôle de la relation conjugale dans l’abus et la négligence d’enfants : vers une étude écologique

Le phénomène de Tabus et de la négligence d'enfants a toujours été répandu dans la société occidentale. Or, ce n'est que récemment que cliniciens et chercheurs se sont sérieusement penchés sur ces problèmes. Cet intérêt, sans cesse grandissant, a été suscité non seulement par le nombre impressionnant de cas signalés chaque année, mais encore par l'ampleur et la gravité des conséquences observables chez les enfants. Plusieurs professionnels intéresses par cette question ont proposé une multitude de facteurs étiologiques pour expliquer les abus et la négligence au sein d'une famille. Cependant, lorsque nous évaluons les modèles théoriques offerts (psychiatrique/psychologique, sociologique, systémique), il ressort que certains facteurs simples peuvent jouer un rôle important, comme par exemple l'histoire du développement des parents, la qualité de la relation conjugale, la relation parents-enfant, le stress et l'étendue du réseau social, mais aucun d'entre eux ne différencie parfaitement les familles abusives des familles non abusives. Il semble toutefois que ces différents facteurs explicatifs présenteraient une grande valeur s ' ils étaient considérés en interaction plutôt qu'individuellement. S'inspirant du cadre écologique de Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979), Belsky (1980, 1984) ainsi que Cicchetti et Rizley (1981) ont d'ailleurs élaboré un modèle qui tient compte simultanément de tous ces facteurs et de leur interaction.The phenomenon of child abuse and neglect has always existed in Western society. Yet, it is only recently that clinicians and researchers have taken a serious look at these problems. This ever growing interest has come about from not only the stunning number of cases identified each year, but also by the extent and gravity of consequences observed among children. Several professionals interested by the issue have put forward a great number of etiological factors to try to explain abuse and neglect within the family unit. However, when assessing the proposed theoretical models (psychiatric/psychological, sociological, systemic), it appears that certain simple factors can play a large role, for instance the history behind parental development, the quality of marital relations, the child-parent relation, the stress and the extent of the social network, but none of these can clearly differentiate abusive families from non abusive families. It seems however that these different explicative factors would be even more valuable if they were considered in interaction rather than taken individually. Inspired by the ecological framework proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979), Belsky (1980, 1984) as well as Cicchetti and Rizley (1981) have also developed a model that simultaneously takes into account all of these factors and their interaction

Signatures of Classical Periodic Orbits on a Smooth Quantum System

Gutzwiller's trace formula and Bogomolny's formula are applied to a non--specific, non--scalable Hamiltonian system, a two--dimensional anharmonic oscillator. These semiclassical theories reproduce well the exact quantal results over a large spatial and energy range.Comment: 12 pages, uuencoded postscript file (1526 kb

Had the planet mars not existed: Kepler's equant model and its physical consequences

We examine the equant model for the motion of planets, which has been the starting point of Kepler's investigations before he modified it because of Mars observations. We show that, up to first order in eccentricity, this model implies for each orbit a velocity which satisfies Kepler's second law and Hamilton's hodograph, and a centripetal acceleration with an inverse square dependence on the distance to the sun. If this dependence is assumed to be universal, Kepler's third law follows immediately. This elementary execice in kinematics for undergraduates emphasizes the proximity of the equant model coming from Ancient Greece with our present knowledge. It adds to its historical interest a didactical relevance concerning, in particular, the discussion of the Aristotelian or Newtonian conception of motion