Structural relaxation around substitutional Cr3+ in MgAl2O4

The structural environment of substitutional Cr3+ ion in MgAl2O4 spinel has been investigated by Cr K-edge Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopies. First-principles computations of the structural relaxation and of the XANES spectrum have been performed, with a good agreement to the experiment. The Cr-O distance is close to that in MgCr2O4, indicating a full relaxation of the first neighbors, and the second shell of Al atoms relaxes partially. These observations demonstrate that Vegard's law is not obeyed in the MgAl2O4-MgCr2O4 solid solution. Despite some angular site distortion, the local D3d symmetry of the B-site of the spinel structure is retained during the substitution of Cr for Al. Here, we show that the relaxation is accomodated by strain-induced bond buckling, with angular tilts of the Mg-centred tetrahedra around the Cr-centred octahedron. By contrast, there is no significant alteration of the angles between the edge-sharing octahedra, which build chains aligned along the three four-fold axes of the cubic structure.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Structural relaxation around substitutional Cr3+ in pyrope garnet

The structural environment of substitutional Cr3+ ion in a natural pyrope Mg3Al2Si3O12 has been investigated by Cr K-edge Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) coupled with first-principles computations. The Cr-O distance is close to that in knorringite Mg3Cr2Si3O12, indicating a full relaxation of the first neighbors. The local C3i symmetry of the octahedral Y site is retained during Cr-Al substitution. The second and third shells of neighbors (Mg and Si) relax only partially. Site relaxation is accommodated by strain-induced bond buckling, with angular tilts of the Si-centered tetrahedra around the Cr-centered octahedron, and by a radial deformation of the Mg-centered dodecahedra

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Systeme laser pulse monomode et accordable en longueur d'onde dans l'ultra violet lointain : contribution a l'etude de l'atome d'hydrogene en presence d'un champ electrique

SIGLECNRS TD Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Single‑mode scannable nanosecond Ti:sapphire laser forhigh‑resolution two‑photon absorption laser‑induced fluorescence (TALIF)

International audienceA pulsed Ti:sapphire laser has been developed so as to operate over a wide range of frequencies, even far from the optimum wavelength (790 nm), as a narrow-band light source for TALIF experiments on O, Cl, N and H. The coupling of the optical cavity, both to its injection seeder and to the laser output beam, relies on a reflecting plate, which makes it fundamentally easier to control the coupling coefficient over a wider spectral range than with an ordinary transmission coupler. Two intra- cavity prisms are used to bring the green pumping light longitudinally coincident with the cavity axis, inside the Ti:sapphire crystal. Seeding by a CW Ti:sapphire laser has made it possible to obtain single-mode emission over the whole range of tunability, thanks to the spectral selection of the prisms and to a specifically developed digital/analog controller. Experiments carried out with the system on oxygen atoms inside an oxygen plasma show that the experimental bandwidth is limited essentially by the collisional dephasing rate and the finite pulse duration