The Stellar Population of High Redshift Galaxies

Using the VLT we have obtained high quality spectra of about 70 high redshift (1- 4.6) galaxies within the FORS Deep Field (FDF). As expected most of them turn out to be (bright) starburst galaxies and the observed spectra agree with synthetic ones. The equivalent width of the CIV(1550) absorption line turns out to be a good indicator for the galaxies metallicity. Furthermore our high-z starburst galaxies show increasing metal content with decreasing redshift. Compared with local starburst galaxies they tend to be overliminous for their metallicity.Comment: 3 pages, including 4 eps-figures, Latex2e, to appear in proceedings of MPA/ESO/MPE/USM Joint Astronomy Conference on "Lighthouses of the Universe" (Eds.: R. Sunyaev, M. Gilfanov, E. Churazov

Etude Ethnobotanique des plantes médicinales utilisées dans le traitement traditionnel des hépatites virales B et C dans quelques départements du Bénin

L’étude ethnobotanique a été réalisée sur les plantes médicinales utilisées dans le traitement traditionnel des hépatites virales B et C. Elle a été menée dans cinq (05) départements du Bénin et avait pour objectif général d’inventorier et d’apporter davantage d’informations sur quelques plantes médicinales utilisées par la médecine alternative dans le traitement des infections virales B et C. Au cours de cette étude, une comparaison des résultats avec ceux des données bibliographiques concernant l’utilisation des plantes dans le traitement des hépatites virales a été réalisée. Au total, 54 plantes ont été recensées avec leurs modes d’utilisation. La décoction et la boisson sont les modes de préparation et d’administration les plus fréquents. Les feuilles constituent la partie de la plante la plus utilisée au cours des traitements. Aristolochia albida, Euphorbia hirta, Phyllanthus amarus et Opilia celtidifolia sont largement utilisées par les tradipraticiens du Bénin dans le traitement des hépatites virales B et C. Les propriétés antivirales de ces plantes sont certainement induites par des composés chimiques qui devront être identifiés ultérieurement à travers les recherches phytochimiques.Mots clés: Plantes hépatoprotectrices, activité antivirale, hépatite virale, tradithérapeutes, Bénin

Secondary magnetic inclusions in detrital zircons from the Jack Hills, Western Australia, and implications for the origin of the geodynamo

The time of origin of Earth’s dynamo is unknown. Detrital zircon crystals containing ferromagnetic inclusions from the Jack Hills of Western Australia have the potential to contain the oldest records of the geodynamo. It has recently been argued that magnetization in these zircons indicates that an active dynamo existed as far back as 4.2 Ga. However, the ages of ferromagnetic inclusions in the zircons are unknown. Here we present the first detailed characterization of the mineralogy and spatial distribution of ferromagnetic minerals in Jack Hills detrital zircons. We demonstrate that ferromagnetic minerals in most Jack Hills zircons are commonly located in cracks and on the zircons’ exteriors. Hematite is observed to dominate the magnetization of many zircons, while other zircons also contain significant quantities of magnetite and goethite. This indicates that the magnetization of most zircons is likely to be dominantly carried by secondary minerals that could be hundreds of millions to billions of years younger than the zircons’ crystallization ages. We conclude that the existence of the geodynamo prior to 3.5 Ga has yet to be establishe

Detection of sexually transmitted infection and human papillomavirus in negative cytology by multiplex-PCR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and 15 species that cause sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in negative cytology. In addition, we compared the diagnostic performance of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with widely available techniques used to detect HPV.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We recruited 235 women of reproductive age who had negative cytology findings in a liquid-based cervical smear. STIs were identified by multiplex PCR, and HPV genotypes by multiplex PCR, hybrid capture 2, and DNA microaray; discordant results were analyzed by direct sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately 96.6% of patients with negative cytology results were positive for pathogens that cause STIs. The pathogens most frequently detected were <it>Gardnerella vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum</it>. The incidence of HPV in negative cytology was 23.3%. Low-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated with <it>Chalmaydia trachomatis</it>, and high-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated with <it>Group β streptococcus</it>. The analytical sensitivities of the multiplex PCR and DNA microarray were higher than 80%, and the analytical specificity was nearly 100% for all tests.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Multiplex PCR yielded results that most of patients with negative cytology were positive for pathogens that cause STIs, and were more similar to that of DNA microarray, than that of hybrid capture 2 in terms of analytical sensitivity and prediction value of HPV infection.</p

2020 Forum Virtual Posters

Poster Presentations for the 2020 JCCAP Future Directions Foru