Quantitation and localization of ENaC subunit expression in fetal, newborn, and adult mouse lung

The newborn lung is cleared of fetal liquid by active Na+ transport. The heterotrimeric (α, β, γ) epithelial Na+ channel, ENaC, mediates this process. To understand the role of individual ENaC subunits in Na+ transport during development, we quantified murine ENaC (mENaC) subunit messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of fetal, neonatal, and adult mouse lung by Northern blot analysis and studied regional expression by in situ hybridization. αmENaC and γmENaC mRNA expression increased sharply in late fetal gestation and reached near-adult levels by Day 1 of postnatal life. βmENaC expression increased more gradually through late fetal and early postnatal life and increased progressively until adulthood. In situ hybridization studies showed similar localization patterns of αmENaC and γmENaC subunit expression in fetal and postnatal lung. γmENaC and αmENaC subunits were initially localized to fetal lung bud tubules and by late gestation both subunits were expressed in all regions (acinar and bronchiolar) of the distal lung epithelium. βmENaC was detected from 16 d gestation onward and was expressed most intensely in small airways. There was little expression of βmENaC in the alveolar region. In postnatal lung all three subunits were expressed intensely in small airways. In adult lung, αmENaC and γmENaC were expressed in a pattern consistent with an alveolar type II (ATII) cell distribution. The timing of quantitative changes in mENaC subunit expression is consistent with a role of Na+ transport in liquid clearance of the perinatal lung. Intense expression of mENaC subunits in medium and small airway epithelium and in ATII cells suggests that these regions are a primary location for liquid absorption in the perinatal and post-natal murine lung

Measurement of the partial width of the Z0 into b anti-b final states using their semileptonic decays

The spectra of prompt electrons and muons from the semi-leptonic decays of heavy hadrons produced inZ 0 decays have been used to measure the coupling of theZ 0 tob quarks weighted by theB hadrons mean semi-leptonic branching fraction, giving a value: BRbsl∗Γbbˉ/ΓH=0.0221±0.0015 . The data has also been used to measure the value of the fragmentation parameter, defined in the context of the LUND PS Model, version 7.2, giving: ε(b)=(8+5−3±2)10−3 . The corresponding value of the mean fraction of the beam energy taken by aB hadron in the fragmentation of ab quark is: XbE−−−=0.69+0.02−0.03±0.01 . If the values of Γbbˉ andΓ H are taken from the Standard Model, the following value is obtained for the mean semi-leptonic braching fraction ofB hadrons: BR sl b =(10.1±0.7)%. Taking the value of Γbbˉ/ΓH from an independent analysis of DELPHI data based on the use of the boosted sphericity product, a value: BR sl b =(10.1±1.3)% is obtained

Measurement of the mass of the Z boson and the energy calibration of LEP

In 1985 the French government created a unique circuit for the dissemination of doctoral theses: References went to a national database “Téléthèses” whereas the documents were distributed to the university libraries in microform. In the era of the electronic document this French network of deposit of and access to doctoral theses is changing. How do you discover and locate a French thesis today, how do you get hold of a paper copy and how do you access the full electronic text? What are the catalogues and databases referencing theses since the disappearance of “Téléthèses”? Where are the archives, and are they open? What is the legal environment that rules the emerging structures and tools? This paper presents national plans on referencing and archiving doctoral theses coordinated by the government as well as some initiatives for creating full text archives. These initiatives come from universities as well as from research institutions and learned societies. “Téléthèses” records have been integrated in a union catalogue of French university libraries SUDOC. University of Lyon-2 and INSA Lyon developed procedures and tools covering the entire production chain from writing to the final access in an archive: “Cyberthèses” and “Cither”. The CNRS Centre for Direct Scientific Communication at Lyon (CCSD) maintains an archive (“TEL”) with about 2000 theses in all disciplines. Another repository for theses in engineering, economics and management called “Pastel” is proposed by the Paris Institute of Technology (ParisTech), a consortium of 10 engineering and commercial schools of the Paris region