The effectiveness of DNA databases in relation to their purpose and content : a systematic review

Different stakeholders use forensic DNA databases for different purposes; for example, law enforcement agencies use them as an investigative tool to identify suspects, and criminologists use them to study the offending patterns of unidentified suspects. A number of researchers have already studied their effectiveness, but none has performed an overview of the relevant literature. Such an overview could help future researchers and policymakers by evaluating their creation, use and expansion. Using a systematic review, this article synthesizes the most relevant research into the effectiveness of forensic DNA databases published between January 1985 and March 2018. We report the results of the selected studies and look deeper into the evidence by evaluating the relationship between the purpose, content, and effectiveness of DNA databases, three inseparable elements in this type of research. We classify the studies by purposes: (i) detection and clearance; (ii) deterrence; and (iii) criminological scientific knowledge. Each category uses different measurements to evaluate effectiveness. The majority of these studies report positive results, supporting the assumption that DNA databases are an effective tool for the police, society, and criminologists. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Replacing vascular corrosion casting by in-vivo micro-CT imaging for building 3D cardiovascular models in mice

The purpose of this study was to investigate if in vivo micro-computed tomography (CT) is a reliable alternative to micro-CT scanning of a vascular corrosion cast. This would allow one to study the early development of cardiovascular diseases. Datasets using both modalities were acquired, segmented, and used to generate a 3D geometrical model from nine mice. As blood pool contrast agent, Fenestra VC-131 was used. Batson's No. 17 was used as casting agent. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed on both datasets to quantify the difference in wall shear stress (WSS). Aortic arch diameters show 30% to 40% difference between the Fenestra VC-131 and the casted dataset. The aortic arch bifurcation angles show less than 20% difference between both datasets. Numerically computed WSS showed a 28% difference between both datasets. Our results indicate that in vivo micro-CT imaging can provide an excellent alternative for vascular corrosion casting. This enables follow-up studies

Evolution of seismic signals and slip patterns along subduction zones: insights from a friction lab scale experiment.

International audienceContinuous GPS and broadband seismic monitoring have revealed a variety of disparate slip patterns especially in shallow dipping subduction zones, among which regular earthquakes, slow slip events and silent quakes1,2. Slow slip events are sometimes accompanied by Non Volcanic Tremors (NVT), which origin remains unclear3, either related to fluid migration or to friction. The present understanding of the whole menagerie of slip patterns is based upon numerical simulations imposing ad hoc values of the rate and state parameters a and b4-6 derived from the temperature dependence of a and b of a wet granite gouge7. Here we investigate the influence of the cumulative slip on the frictional and acoustic patterns of a lab scale subduction zone. Shallow loud earthquakes (stick-slip events), medium depth slow, deeper silent quakes (smooth sliding oscillations) and deepest steady-state creep (continuous sliding) are reproduced by the ageing of contact interface with cumulative displacement8. The Acoustic Emission evolves with cumulative displacement and interface ageing, following a trend from strong impulsive events, similar to earthquake seismic signals, to a collection of smaller amplitude and longer duration signals, similar to Non Volcanic Tremors. NVT emerge as the recollection of the local unstable behaviour of the contact interface globally evolving towards the stable sliding regime

Novel approaches to combat bacterial biofilms.

International audienceBiofilms formed by pathogenic bacteria and fungi are associated with a wide range of diseases, from device-related infections (such as catheters or prosthetic joints) to chronic infections occurring on native tissues (such as lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients). Biofilms are therefore responsible for an important medical and economic burden. Currently used antibiotics have mostly been developed to target exponentially growing microorganisms and are poorly effective against biofilms. In particular, even high concentrations of bactericidal antibiotics are inactive against a subset of persistent biofilm bacteria, which can cause infection recurrence despite prolonged treatments. While the search for a magic bullet antibiotic effective against both planktonic and biofilm bacteria is still active, alternative preventive and curative approaches are currently being developed either limiting adhesion or biofilm formation or targeting biofilm tolerance by killing persister bacteria. Most of these approaches are adjunctive using new molecules in combination with antibiotics. This review presents promising approaches or strategies that could improve our ability to prevent or eradicate bacterial biofilms in medical settings

High resolution 3D laser scanner measurements of a strike-slip fault quantify its morphological anisotropy at all scales

The surface roughness of a recently exhumed strikeslip fault plane has been measured by three independent 3D portable laser scanners. Digital elevation models of several fault surface areas, from 1 m2 to 600 m2, have been measured at a resolution ranging from 5 mm to 80 mm. Out of plane height fluctuations are described by non-Gaussian distribution with exponential long range tails. Statistical scaling analyses show that the striated fault surface exhibits self-affine scaling invariance with a small but significant directional morphological anisotropy that can be described by two scaling roughness exponents, H1 = 0.7 in the direction of slip and H2 = 0.8 perpendicular to the direction of slip

Etude de l'endommagement de structures composites à matrice thermoplastique : application aux réservoirs de stockage hyperbare de l'hydrogène = Study of damages on thermoplastic composite structures: application for hydrogen storage vessels under high pressure

National audienceLe stockage de l'hydrogène est un verrou technologique et scientifique majeur à son utilisation comme vecteur énergétique, en remplacement des sources d'énergie traditionnelles. En effet, aujourd'hui encore, aucune solution « Haute pression » ne satisfait pleinement l'ensemble des spécifications techniques et économiques des industriels. Des progrès sont donc encore nécessaires pour améliorer les performances et la durabilité des réservoirs. Depuis 1998, le CEA travaille sur le développement de réservoirs de stockage haute pression de type IV (liner polymère renforcé d'une structuration composite). L'identification des paramètres matériaux et procédé influents ainsi que des sollicitations susceptibles de modifier les performances et la durabilité des réservoirs doit être prise en compte. En ce sens, les composites à matrice thermoplastique apparaissent comme de bons candidats en terme de durabilité et sécurité (Projet Français HYPE). Cet article présente les premiers résultats de travaux visant à développer les connaissances sur les mécanismes d'endommagement de structures composites à matrice thermoplastique (polyamide) liés à leur procédé de mise en forme (enroulement filamentaire) et leur utilisation pour le stockage hyperbare. Cette étude vise notamment à optimiser les étapes de conception numérique et de fabrication grâce à la connaissance des lois de comportement et de la durabilité du matériau. Dans un premier temps, on s'intéresse à des endommagements sous sollicitations statiques avant de s'intéresser à des sollicitations dynamiques comme l'impact

Friction experiments with elastography: the slow slip and the super-shear regimes

International audienceTo get an insight into the processes underlying dynamic friction that plays an important role in seismic sources for example, we developed a sliding dynamic experiment coupled to elastography imaging. This experimental setup permits to observe simultaneously the frictional interface and the waves emitted in the bulk during slipping. We use soft solids made of hydro-organic gel of PVA, in contact with either glass or sandpaper. The huge interest of such soft solids is that ultrasonic waves allows to observe in real time the rupture nucleation and propagation, as well as shear waves themselves inside the medium. We investigate the friction in two different cases. In the case of friction on sand paper, links are formed between the gel and the sand paper by local pinning. The breaking of these links emits a characteristic wave pattern, and their occurrence is related to the local sliding velocity. In a very different way, when the gel slide on a glass surface, with an interlayer of sand grains, the slip occurs as successive rupture events, with a rupture front crossing the whole surface. We can study then the rupture velocity, and in the cases of ruptures faster than the shear wave velocity, we observe a Mach cone of shear waves

Slc2a10 knock-out mice deficient in ascorbic acid synthesis recapitulate aspects of arterial tortuosity syndrome and display mitochondrial respiration defects

Arterial tortuosity syndrome (ATS) is a recessively inherited connective tissue disorder, mainly characterized by tortuosity and aneurysm formation of the major arteries. ATS is caused by loss-of-function mutations in SLC2A10, encoding the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT10. Former studies implicated GLUT10 in the transport of dehydroascorbic acid, the oxidized form of ascorbic acid (AA). Mouse models carrying homozygous Slc2a10 missense mutations did not recapitulate the human phenotype. Since mice, in contrast to humans, are able to intracellularly synthesize AA, we generated a novel ATS mouse model, deficient for Slc2a10 as well as Gulo, which encodes for L-gulonolactone oxidase, an enzyme catalyzing the final step in AA biosynthesis in mouse. Gulo;Slc2a10 double knock-out mice showed mild phenotypic anomalies, which were absent in single knock-out controls. While Gulo;Slc2a10 double knock-out mice did not fully phenocopy human ATS, histological and immunocytochemical analysis revealed compromised extracellular matrix formation. Transforming growth factor beta signaling remained unaltered, while mitochondrial function was compromised in smooth muscle cells derived from Gulo;Slc2a10 double knock-out mice. Altogether, our data add evidence that ATS is an ascorbate compartmentalization disorder, but additional factors underlying the observed phenotype in humans remain to be determined