Superconducting atomic contacts inductively coupled to a microwave resonator

We describe and characterize a microwave setup to probe the Andreev levels of a superconducting atomic contact. The contact is part of a superconducting loop inductively coupled to a superconducting coplanar resonator. By monitoring the resonator reflection coefficient close to its resonance frequency as a function of both flux through the loop and frequency of a second tone we perform spectroscopy of the transition between two Andreev levels of highly transmitting channels of the contact. The results indicate how to perform coherent manipulation of these states.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, to appear in special issue on break-junctions in JOPC

Première découverte d'un Arthrodire (Placodermi, Vertebrata) dans le Dévonien d'Amérique du Sud

Des plaques dermiques d'un grand Arthrodire eubrachyhtoracide (Placodermi, Vertebrata), provisoirement attribuées à un Dunkleosteidae, ont été découvertes dans les faciès détritique de la Formation de Colpacucho (Famennien), sur la Péninsule de Cumana (Lac Titicaca, Bolivie). Il s'agit de la première découverte de restes d'Arthrodires en Amérique du Sud. Ces plaques d'Arthrodire sont associées à une épine de Chondrichthyen évoquant certaines espèces de "Ctenacanthus" du Famennien et du Carbonifère inférieur (Résumé d'auteur

Testing models of dental development in the earliest bony vertebrates, Andreolepis and Lophosteus

Theories on the development and evolution of teeth have long been biased by the fallacy that chondrichthyans reflect the ancestral condition for jawed vertebrates. However, correctly resolving the nature of the primitive vertebrate dentition is challenged by a dearth of evidence on dental development in primitive osteichthyans. Jaw elements from the Silurian–Devonian stem-osteichthyans Lophosteus and Andreolepis have been described to bear a dentition arranged in longitudinal rows and vertical files, reminiscent of a pattern of successional development. We tested this inference, using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) to reveal the pattern of skeletal development preserved in the sclerochronology of the mineralized tissues. The tooth-like tubercles represent focal elaborations of dentine within otherwise continuous sheets of the dermal skeleton, present in at least three stacked generations. Thus, the tubercles are not discrete modular teeth and their arrangement into rows and files is a feature of the dermal ornamentation that does not reflect a polarity of development or linear succession. These fossil remains have no bearing on the nature of the dentition in osteichthyans and, indeed, our results raise questions concerning the homologies of these bones and the phylogenetic classification of Andreolepis and Lophosteus

D 5.5.2. Report on near-market consumer testing of new improved products and substitutes in Africa. Project AFTER “African Food Tradition rEvisited by Research”

In this deliverable, the reengineered products relating to groups 1 to 3 are tested by consumers in Africa in order to test whether the acceptance meets consumer needs. The summaries are by group. These products were widely different and tested in differing cultures and situations. A common feature, however, is that all products are already commonly consumed by the communities and accepted, particularly with respect to the baseline products. Some products were found to be more acceptable (Gowe and Akpan in Benin, Kenkey in Ghana, Kong and Lanhouin in Senegal, Bissap and Baobab in Senegal), some of similar acceptance (Kitoza in Madagascar) and some were less acceptable (Kishk Sa'eedi in Egypt and Jaabi in Cameroon). Ways forward are discussed in all cases. Group 1: The reengineered group 1 products had mixed acceptance to consumers. Ones that were highly accepted were the reengineered Akpan which was highly accepted regardless of age, gender, socio- professional category and possessions (goods) and the majority (84.9%) expressed an interest for purchasing the reengineered Akpan and the reengineered gowe (n=100 consumers) in Benin, which was strongly accepted and more so than the traditional gowe. However, the reengineered Kenkey in Ghana while being comparable acceptance to the traditional white kenkey this would only meet a niche market. However, for the reengineered Kishk Sa'eedi, it was less acceptable and the difference was due to sour taste and spicy flavour. Group 2:The group 2 products had mixed acceptance among consumers. In the case of Kong in and Lanhouin in Senegal, the reengineered products had improved acceptance while for kitoza in Madagascar, there was no improvement in acceptance apart from those in terms of quality and safety. More specifically, Kong made using liquid smoke novel technique (RLK) had by far the highest acceptance and could easily be integrated as part of the Senegalese cuisine. This shows that there is a potential for RLK on the Senegalese market. Two types of reengineered Lanhouin types (Lanhouin dry powder, Lanhouin dry fillet) were greatly acceptable and the powdered form more than the fillet. In the case of Kitoza, consumer acceptance studies showed that there was no significant difference between all samples tested. Group 3: Group 3 reengineered products had mixed acceptance among consumers. Re-engineered bissap (hibiscus drinks) in Senegal were positively appreciated by consumers in Senegal and better accepted than the traditional commercial infusion used as baseline comparison. However, the new drinks were not perceivably different from the baseline drink to consumers concerning both the traditional character and the nutritional and healthy attributes. The reengineered baobab drinks were positively appreciated by consumers in Senegal and significantly better appreciated than the traditional commercial ones earlier tested. Jaabi (Ziziphus mauritiana). The result is the proposition of a reengineered Yaabande presenting fine texture well appreciated by consumers. However, particle size was critical and this needed to be lower than 125μm. Due to this limit, processors have adopted the manual production of flour of particle size 250μm>Ø>125μm, which is less tiresome, though it appears in second rank in the preference of consumers. The detailed methodology for each product is given for Groups I, II and III respectively. Common to all of the methodologies is the Ethical assessment and consent which is listed as follows: Ethical assessment and consent. The studies have been assessed and approved by the University of Greenwich Research Ethics Committee and the Ethics Committee at CIRAD. Consent was sought from sensory panellists and from adult consumers participating in this study. Enumerators informed participants about the study and explained that their participation was entirely voluntary, that they could stop the interview at any point and that the responses would be anonymous

Representing addition and subtraction : learning the formal conventions

The study was designed to test the effects of a structured intervention in teaching children to represent addition and subtraction. In a post-test only control group design, 90 five-year-olds experienced the intervention entitled Bi-directional Translation whilst 90 control subjects experienced typical teaching. Post-intervention testing showed some significant differences between the two groups both in terms of being able to effect the addition and subtraction operations and in being able to determine which operation was appropriate. The results suggest that, contrary to historical practices, children's exploration of real world situations should precede practice in arithmetical symbol manipulation

D 5.3.2.2. Initial report on sensory and African consumer acceptance for Group 2. Project AFTER “African Food Tradition rEvisited by Research”.

The sensory profile and consumer acceptance of Lanhouin, a traditional salted fermented fish made from two types of fish (king fish and cassava fish) and three different fermentation processes (aerobic, semi aerobic and anaerobic condition) were explored. Traditional Lanhouin were sensorially different, with king fish Lanhouin having the highest smell (score of putrid odour) and cassava fish Lanhouin being the whitish. Three classes of consumers' behaviour essentially, those who like all the Lanhouin samples (Lanhouin likers; 35 % of consumers), those who does not prefer king fish Lanhouin from anaerobic fermentation (Lanhouin KFAN dislikers; 37 %) and those who does not like cassava fish Lanhouin from aerobic fermentation (Lanhouin CFA dislikers; 28 %) were identified. Consumers' acceptance was significantly associated with size of fish, whitish colour, dried fish odour and ammoniacal odour. Considering consumers' preference, Lanhouin from king fish with semi aerobic fermentation and Lanhouin from cassava fish (except for aerobic fermentation) were more accepted and could be interesting for reengineering. The similarity in tasting attributes for cassava fish and king fish when used for cooked rice will be helpful to design the form in which Lanhouin can be marketed for large acceptance Considering Kong, no prior work has explored sensory tasting. Four samples were produced for the sensory test: Kong was smoked with wood only and or with wood/coconut. For the sensory evaluation, smoked kong only and smoked kong in sauce and were scored by a semitrained sensory panel. Then, 109 consumers were interviewed. Acceptability was only evaluated on smoked kong. The results show that all four samples were quite distinctive from each other but not when in sauce. Most of the Kong products were on average acceptable but moist kong had a better acceptability than dried kong samples submitted to the same processes of smoking. Consumers were segmented into two three groups as: “indifferent likers” (27%), “dry kong dislikers” (15%), and “dry Kong less preferred” (59%). Clusters really differed in terms of professional activity in fish sector but did not significantly differ in the frequency of consumption. Therefore it appears that, smoked Kong is a main product of consumption in the Senegalese market. Since more than 50% of consumers consumed smoked Kong at least once a week, it appears that Kong is a main product of consumption with a strong potential for the Senegalese market but also for the international market. (Résumé d'auteur

The Epstein-Barr Virus G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Contributes to Immune Evasion by Targeting MHC Class I Molecules for Degradation

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus that persists as a largely subclinical infection in the vast majority of adults worldwide. Recent evidence indicates that an important component of the persistence strategy involves active interference with the MHC class I antigen processing pathway during the lytic replication cycle. We have now identified a novel role for the lytic cycle gene, BILF1, which encodes a glycoprotein with the properties of a constitutive signaling G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). BILF1 reduced the levels of MHC class I at the cell surface and inhibited CD8+ T cell recognition of endogenous target antigens. The underlying mechanism involves physical association of BILF1 with MHC class I molecules, an increased turnover from the cell surface, and enhanced degradation via lysosomal proteases. The BILF1 protein of the closely related CeHV15 c1-herpesvirus of the Rhesus Old World primate (80% amino acid sequence identity) downregulated surface MHC class I similarly to EBV BILF1. Amongst the human herpesviruses, the GPCR encoded by the ORF74 of the KSHV c2-herpesvirus is most closely related to EBV BILF1 (15% amino acid sequence identity) but did not affect levels of surface MHC class I. An engineered mutant of BILF1 that was unable to activate G protein signaling pathways retained the ability to downregulate MHC class I, indicating that the immune-modulating and GPCR-signaling properties are two distinct functions of BILF1. These findings extend our understanding of the normal biology of an important human pathogen. The discovery of a third EBV lytic cycle gene that cooperates to interfere with MHC class I antigen processing underscores the importance of the need for EBV to be able to evade CD8+ T cell responses during the lytic replication cycle, at a time when such a large number of potential viral targets are expressed

The braincase and jaws of a Devonian 'acanthodian' and modern gnathostome origins.

Modern gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) emerged in the early Palaeozoic era, but this event remains unclear owing to a scant early fossil record. The exclusively Palaeozoic acanthodians are possibly the earliest gnathostome group and exhibit a mosaic of shark- and bony fish-like characters that has long given them prominence in discussions of early gnathostome evolution. Their relationships with modern gnathostomes have remained mysterious, partly because their un-mineralized endoskeletons rarely fossilized. Here I present the first-known braincase of an Early Devonian (approximately 418-412 Myr bp) acanthodian, Ptomacanthus anglicus, and re-evaluate the interrelationships of basal gnathostomes. Acanthodian braincases have previously been represented by a single genus, Acanthodes, which occurs more than 100 million years later in the fossil record. The braincase of Ptomacanthus differs radically from the osteichthyan-like braincase of Acanthodes in exhibiting several plesiomorphic features shared with placoderms and some early chondrichthyans. Most striking is its extremely short sphenoid region and its jaw suspension, which displays features intermediate between some Palaeozoic chondrichthyans and osteichthyans. Phylogenetic analysis resolves Ptomacanthus as either the most basal chondrichthyan or as the sister group of all living gnathostomes. These new data alter earlier conceptions of basal gnathostome phylogeny and thus help to provide a more detailed picture of the acquisition of early gnathostome characters

The dermal skeleton of the jawless vertebrate Tremataspis mammilata (Osteostraci, stem-Gnathostomata)

Osteostracans are the closest jawless relatives of jawed vertebrates, informing the gradual assembly of the vertebrate mineralised skeleton. Conflicting interpretations of their dermal skeletal histology arise from failure to account for topological variation, obscuring their significance in elucidating vertebrate skeletal evolution. To resolve this, we characterize the cranial and trunk dermal skeleton of a single individual of Tremataspis mammilata (Osteostraci, Thyestiida) at submicron resolution using synchrotron tomography. Our results show that the architecture of the Tremataspis dermal skeleton is, for the most part, conserved over the skeleton and is broadly consistent with previous histological hypotheses based on 2-dimensional thin section study. We resolve debate over the homology of the basal layer, identifying it as osteogenic acellular isopedin rather than odontogenic elasmodine or metaplastic ossification of the stratum compactum of the dermis. We find topological variation between all dermal skeletal elements studied, and particularly between the cranial and postcranial dermal skeleton. This variation can be largely explained by reduction in differentiation due to geometric constraints imposed within smaller skeletal elements, such as scales. Our description of the dermal skeleton of Tremataspis mammilata provides a foundation for interpreting data from cursory topological samples of dermal skeletal diversity obtained in other osteostracans. This reveals general aspects of histological structure that must be primitive for osteostracans and, likely, ancestral jawed vertebrates. Finally, we draw the distinction between hypotheses and descriptions in palaeohistology