Late Oligocene-early Miocene major tectonic crisis and related basins in Bolivia

Recent advances in biochrology, geochrology, magnetostratigraphy, structural geology, and basin analysis make untenable the traditional correlation of the first major Andean-age deformational episode in Bolivia with the middle Eocene "Incaic tectonic phase" defined in central Peru and intead demostrate that the episode took place in late Oligocene and early Miocene time. This major tectonic crisis resulted in contemporary development of the Subandean external foreland basin and Altiplano intermontana basin, which were separeted by the initiation of thrusting in the present Cordillera Oriental area. The deformation suggests that the Bolivian orocline began to develop at that time. It is likely that this tectonic upheaval is genetically linked to the maked increase in rate of plate convergence produced by the contemporaneus creakup of the Farallon plate. (Résumé d'auteur)

Transmission measurement at 10.6 microns of Te2As3Se5 rib-waveguides on As2S3 substrate

The feasibility of chalcogenide rib waveguides working at lambda = 10.6 microns has been demonstrated. The waveguides comprised a several microns thick Te2As3Se5 film deposited by thermal evaporation on a polished As2S3 glass substrate and further etched by physical etching in Ar or CF4/O2 atmosphere. Output images at 10.6 microns and some propagation losses roughly estimated at 10dB/cm proved that the obtained structures behaved as channel waveguides with a good lateral confinement of the light. The work opens the doors to the realisation of components able to work in the mid and thermal infrared up to 20 microns and even more.Comment: The following article appeared in Vigreux-Bercovici et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 011110 (2007) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?apl/90/01111

Strike-slip faulting, thrusting and related basins in the Cenozoic evolution of the Southern branch of the Bolivian orocline

The evolution of the Cenozoic deformation of the Cordillera Oriental and of the contact zone with the Altiplano in southern Bolivia is well documented in the Tupiza, Nazareno and Estarca basins. The tectonic evolution started at about 29 Ma. The period between 29 and about 22-21 Ma is marked by developement of a pull-apart basin related to N-S trending left-lateral strike-slip faulting. During this period, initial deposition consisted of andesitic lavas and detrital sediments (breccias ; matrix-supported red conglomerats ; sands and silts...) of the Catati and Tupiza Formation, deposited in alluvial fan and flood plain environments. From 21 to 20 Ma, the tectonic setting evolved to N-S oriented thrusts, which had a dextral component. This event caused the Tupiza basin to evolve into a full-ramp basin, and triggered the developement of two piggy-back basins : Nazareno and Estarca. Both basins record detrital deposition (Nazareno Formation) in an alluvial fan environment. At 10-9 Ma, deformation in this area stopped allowing peneplanation during which time the San Juan de Oro erosional surface was formed and the fluvial conglomerates of the Oploca Formation were deposited. This segment of the Andes was then tectonically transported to the east, while uplift due to thrusting continued in the eastern Andean front and in the Subandean zone. (Résumé d'auteur

Differential expression of the heat shock protein Hsp70 in natural populations of the tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron, acclimatised to a range of environmental salinities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The relationship between environmental variation and induction of heat shock proteins <it>(Hsps) </it>has been much documented under experimental conditions. However, very little is known about such induction in natural populations acclimatised to prevailing environmental conditions. Furthermore, while induction of stress proteins has been well documented in response to environmental contaminants and thermal stressors, little is known about whether factors, such as extreme salinity, are also potential inductors. The black-chinned tilapia <it>Sarotherodon melanotheron </it>is unusual for its ability to colonise estuarine environments in West Africa that are characterised by extremely high salinities. The relationships between mRNA levels of the 70 kDa heat shock protein (<it>Hsp70</it>) and Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase1α (<it>Naka</it>) in the gills, environmental salinity, and a life-history trait (condition factor) were investigated in wild populations of this species sampled from three locations in the Saloum estuary, at salinities ranging from 40 to 100 psu.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The highest <it>Hsp70 </it>and <it>Naka </it>mRNA levels, and the poorest condition factors were recorded in the most saline sampling site (100 psu). The <it>Hsp70 </it>and <it>Naka </it>mRNA were correlated amongst themselves and showed a direct positive correlation with environmental salinity, and a negative correlation with fish condition factor. Thus, the <it>Hsp70 </it>is constitutively overexpressed by <it>S. melanotheron </it>acclimatised to extreme hypersalinity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that, although <it>S. melanotheron </it>can colonise extremely saline environments, the overexpression of <it>Hsp70 </it>combined with the higher <it>Naka </it>mRNA expression reveals that this represents a chronic stress. The induction of <it>Hsp70 </it>was, therefore, a biomarker of chronic hyper-osmotic stress which presumably can be linked to the impaired growth performance and precocious reproduction that have been demonstrated in the populations at the extremely saline sites.</p

Eurasian house mouse (Mus musculus L.) differentiation at microsatellite loci identifies the Iranian plateau as a phylogeographic hotspot

Background: The phylogeography of the house mouse (Mus musculus L.), an emblematic species for genetic and biomedical studies, is only partly understood, essentially because of a sampling bias towards its most peripheral populations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Moreover, the present-day phylogeographic hypotheses stem mostly from the study of mitochondrial lineages. In this article, we complement the mtDNA studies with a comprehensive survey of nuclear markers (19 microsatellite loci) typed in 963 individuals from 47 population samples, with an emphasis on the putative Middle-Eastern centre of dispersal of the species. Results: Based on correspondence analysis, distance and allele-sharing trees, we find a good coherence between geographical origin and genetic make-up of the populations. We thus confirm the clear distinction of the three best described peripheral subspecies, M. m. musculus, M. m. domesticus and M. m. castaneus. A large diversity was found in the Iranian populations, which have had an unclear taxonomic status to date. In addition to samples with clear affiliation to M. m. musculus and M. m. domesticus, we find two genetic groups in Central and South East Iran, which are as distinct from each other as they are from the south-east Asian M. m. castaneus. These groups were previously also found to harbor distinct mitochondrial haplotypes. Conclusion: We propose that the Iranian plateau is home to two more taxonomic units displaying complex primary and secondary relationships with their long recognized neighbours. This central region emerges as the area with the highest known diversity of mouse lineages within a restricted geographical area, designating it as the focal place to study the mechanisms of speciation and diversification of this species

Elastic instability in stratified core annular flow

We study experimentally the interfacial instability between a layer of dilute polymer solution and water flowing in a thin capillary. The use of microfluidic devices allows us to observe and quantify in great detail the features of the flow. At low velocities, the flow takes the form of a straight jet, while at high velocities, steady or advected wavy jets are produced. We demonstrate that the transition between these flow regimes is purely elastic -- it is caused by viscoelasticity of the polymer solution only. The linear stability analysis of the flow in the short-wave approximation captures quantitatively the flow diagram. Surprisingly, unstable flows are observed for strong velocities, whereas convected flows are observed for low velocities. We demonstrate that this instability can be used to measure rheological properties of dilute polymer solutions that are difficult to assess otherwise.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

How do heuristics influence creative decisions at advertising agencies? Factors that affect managerial decision making when choosing ideas to show the client

The place of creativity in advertising has long been recognized, however, it remains unclear what creatives actually do and why they do it when it comes to making creative choices between what ideas to show the client. This study focuses upon individual choices made on what ideas to show clients in the absence of copytesting; it examines the decision-making heuristics employed by a global advertising agency. Based on an online survey, the results inter alia suggest that when it comes to deciding which ideas to show to clients, both analytic and pure heuristics are used in various combinations. The results provide insights about the nature of, and factors that influence, decision-making amongst managers with this first field study of managing choices of creative work at an advertising agency

Photometric quality of Dome C for the winter 2008 from ASTEP South

ASTEP South is an Antarctic Search for Transiting Exo- Planets in the South pole field, from the Concordia station, Dome C, Antarctica. The instrument consists of a thermalized 10 cm refractor observing a fixed 3.88\degree x 3.88\degree field of view to perform photometry of several thousand stars at visible wavelengths (700-900 nm). The first winter campaign in 2008 led to the retrieval of nearly 1600 hours of data. We derive the fraction of photometric nights by measuring the number of detectable stars in the field. The method is sensitive to the presence of small cirrus clouds which are invisible to the naked eye. The fraction of night-time for which at least 50% of the stars are detected is 74% from June to September 2008. Most of the lost time (18.5% out of 26%) is due to periods of bad weather conditions lasting for a few days ("white outs"). Extended periods of clear weather exist. For example, between July 10 and August 10, 2008, the total fraction of time (day+night) for which photometric observations were possible was 60%. This confirms the very high quality of Dome C for nearly continuous photometric observations during the Antarctic winter