Grupo residencial «Le Haut du Lièvre». Nancy

The site occupied by this residential group has an area of 35 hectares, and its main axis runs East-West. The view of the city of Nancy is to the South-Southeast. This article describes blocks A and B. Block A is 400 m long, 43 m high, has 15 storeys and 920 dwellings. Block B is 300 m long, 50 m high, has 17 storeys and 800 dwellings. The ground floor has entrances to the lifts, room for storing perambulators, motorbikes, and other available space. Each apartment of the first floor has either 4 or 5 rooms, and apartments on all higher floors have either 3 or 4 rooms. A feature of the construction is that the foundations have been made in the traditional manner, but the structure and enclosing walls have been carried out using a special type of heavy prefabrication technique. In addition to the blocks of flats, the amenities of the residential project have also been completed. Two commercial centres, a cinema, a cultural centre, three schools, a church, a sports ground, garages, and parking sites are already available. In the near future apartment towers will be built, in the shape of a three armed star. These will accommodate 786 further dwellings.El terreno sobre el que se ha construido este núcleo residencial ocupa una extensión de 35 Ha, goza de orieníación axil este-oeste, y sus vistas sobre la ciudad de Nancy se desarrollan en sentido sur-sureste. Las dos unidades que presentamos aquí son los bloques A y B: el A, de 400 m de longitud, 43 m de altura y 15 plantas, contiene 920 viviendas; el B, de 300 m de longitud, 50 m de altura y 17 p lantas, aloja 800 viviendas. En las plantas bajas están: los zaguanes, arranque de comunicaciones verticales y locales para guardar los caches de niños, motos, e tc. Ocupan la primera planta—en cada elemento unitario— dos viviendas, con cuatro y cinco habitaciones, respectivamente; y las restantes plantas, otras dos viviendas con tres y cuatro habitaciones. Como características constructivas señalaremos que la cimentación fue realizada según procedimientos tradicionales, pero la estructura y cerramientos han sido ejecutados a base de un sistema de prefabricación pesada. Paralelamente al programa de viviendas, han sido planeados los servicios del núcleo residencial: dos centros comerciales, un cinematógrafo, un centro cultural, tres grupos escolares, edificios para el culto, campo de deportes, garajes, aparcamientos, etc. Tres edificios-torres en forma de estrella de tres brazos, con un total de 786 viviendas, se construirán en un futuro próximo

Palacio de justicia de Lille – Francia

The article provides a general description of this important building, and also a more detailed discussion of particular aspects of it. There is also a technical commentary of the structure, both in its general and particular nature, and the architectural as well as aesthetic aspects if it are considered. The whole design has formal and structural features that are unusual and noteworthy.Se describe el conjunto total y después se especifican las par tes del edificio del Palacio de Justicia, señalando las dependencias que contiene y la función de cada una. En una segunda parte del artículo se comenta técnicamente la estructura de la obra, también por partes y según su nivel, dando, a la vez, detalles arquitectónicos y estéticos. El conjunto edificado reúne características específicas formales y estructurales que lo destacan y hacen digno de especial atención y mención

Environmental Asbestotic Pleural Plaques in Northeast Corsica: Correlations with Airborne and Pleural Mineralogic Analysis

We report a prevalence study of environmental pleural plaques in subjects over 50 years old from the northeastern Corsican village of Murato, built on asbestos surface deposits. The percentage of plaques was 41%, versus 7.5% in the control village of Vezzani. Although surface deposits contain both chrysotile and tremolite, airborne pollution and asbestos lung burden of exposed inhabitants consist essentially of tremolite as assessed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, TEM analysis of the parietal pleura of three animals bred in exposed areas showed a predominance of short fibers of chrysotile. The respective roles of tremolite and chrysotile in inducing pleural plaques in Corsica should thus be considered.—Environ Health Perspect 102(Suppl 5):251–252 (1994

Comparative proteomic analysis of spermatozoa isolated by swim-up or density gradient centrifugation

Abstract BACKGROUND: Reports about the morphologic and functional characteristics of spermatozoa prepared by density gradient centrifugation (DC) or swim-up (SU) have produced discordant results. We have performed a proteomic comparison of cells prepared by DC and SU providing a molecular insight into the differences between these two methods of sperm cell isolation. METHODS: Protein maps were obtained by 2-dimensional (2-D) separations consisting of isoelectrofocusing (IEF) from pI 3 to 11 followed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. 2-D gels were stained with Sypro Ruby. Map images of DC and SU spermatozoa were compared using dedicated software. Intensities of a given spot were considered different between DC and SU when their group mean differed by >1.5-fold (p<0.05, Anova). RESULTS: No differences were observed for 853 spots, indicating a 98.7% similarity between DC and SU. Five spots were DC>SU and 1 was SU>DC. Proteins present in 3 of the differential spots could be identified. One DC>SU spot contained lactate dehydrogenase C and gamma-glutamylhydrolase, a second DC>SU spot contained fumarate hydratase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-2, and a SU>DC spot contained pyruvate kinase M1/M2. CONCLUSIONS: The differences in protein levels found on comparison of DC with SU spermatozoa indicate possible dissimilarities in their glycolytic metabolism and DNA methylation and suggest that DC cells may have a better capacitation potential

Probing human sperm metabolism using 13C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy

STUDY QUESTION: Can 13C-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) of selected metabolites provide useful information about human sperm metabolism and how glycolysis or oxidative phosphorylation are used by different sperm populations? SUMMARY ANSWER: Sperm populations, prepared by density gradient centrifugation (DGC) and incubated with either 13Cu-glucose, 13Cu-fructose or 13C1-pyruvate, showed consistent evidence of metabolism generating principally lactate and more intermittently bicarbonate, and significantly more lactate was produced from 13Cu-glucose by vital or motile sperm recovered from the 40/80% interface compared to those from the pellet, which could not be accounted for by differences in the non-sperm cells present. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Previous studies have focused on CO2 or other specific metabolite production by human sperm and there remains considerable debate about whether glycolysis and/or oxidative phosphorylation is the more important pathway for ATP production in sperm. STUDY DESIGN SIZE, DURATION: Sperm populations were prepared by DGC and subjected to 13C-MRS to answer the following questions. (i) Is it possible to detect human sperm metabolism of 13C substrates implicated in energy generation? (ii) What are the kinetics of such reactions? (iii) Do different sperm populations (e.g. '80%' pellet sperm and '40%' interface sperm) utilise substrates in the same way? Semen samples from 97 men were used in these experiments; 52 were used in parallel for aims (i) and (ii) and 45 were used for aim (iii). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Sperm populations were prepared from ejaculates of healthy men using a Percoll/Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) DGC and then incubated with a range of 13C-labelled substrates (13Cu-glucose, 13Cu-fructose, 13C1-pyruvate, 13C1-butyrate, 13C3-lactate, 13C2,4-D-3-hydroxybutyrate, 13C5-L-glutamate, 13C1,2-glycine or 13Cu-galactose) along with penicillin/streptomycin antibiotic at 37°C for 4 hours, 24 hours or over 48 hours for an estimated rate constant. Sperm concentration, vitality and motility were measured and, for a subset of experiments, non-sperm cell concentration was determined. A 9.4T magnetic resonance spectrometer was used to acquire 1D 13C, inverse gated 1H decoupled, MRS spectra. Spectrum processing was carried out using spectrometer software and Matlab scripts to determine peak integrals for each spectrum. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: 13Cu-glucose, 13Cu-fructose and 13C1-pyruvate were consistently converted into lactate and, to a lesser extent, bicarbonate. There was a significant correlation between sperm concentration and lactate peak size for 13Cu-glucose and 13Cu-fructose, which was not observed for 13C1-pyruvate. The lactate peak did not correlate with the non-sperm cell concentration up to 6.9 × 106/ml. The concentration of 13Cu-glucose, 13Cu-fructose or 13C1-pyruvate (1.8, 3.6, 7.2 or 14.4 mM) had no influence on the size of the observed lactate peak over a 4 hour incubation. The rate of conversion of 13C1-pyruvate to lactate was approximately three times faster than for 13Cu-glucose or 13Cu-fructose which were not significantly different from each other. After incubating for 4 hours, the utilisation of 13Cu-glucose, 13Cu-fructose or 13C1-pyruvate by sperm from the '40%' interface of the DGC was no different from those from the pellet when normalised to total sperm concentration. However, after normalising by either the vital or motile sperm concentration, there was a significant increase in conversion of 13Cu-glucose to lactate by '40%' interface sperm compared to pellet sperm (Vital = 3.3 ± 0.30 × 106 vs 2.0 ± 0.21 × 106; p = 0.0049; Motile = 7.0 ± 0.75 × 106 vs 4.8 ± 0.13 × 106; p = 0.0032. Mann-Whitney test p < 0.0055 taken as statistically significant). No significant differences were observed for 13Cu-fructose or 13C1-pyruvate. LARGE SCALE DATA: Not applicable. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: Only 13C labelled metabolites that accumulate to a sufficiently high concentration can be observed by 13C MRS. For this reason, intermediary molecules in the metabolic chain are difficult to observe without trapping the molecule at a particular step using inhibitors. Non-sperm cell concentration was typical of the general population and no link was found between these cells and the magnitude of the 13C-lactate peak. However, it is possible that higher concentrations than the maximum observed (6.9 × 106/ml) may contribute to exogenous substrate metabolism in other experiments. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: 13C-MRS can provide information on the underlying metabolism of multiple pathways in live sperm. Dysfunction in sperm metabolism, as a result of either impaired enzymes of lack of metabolisable substrate, could be detected in sperm by a non-destructive assay, potentially offering new treatment options to improve overall sperm quality and outcomes for reproduction. STUDY FUNDING AND COMPETING INTEREST(S): This work was supported by the Medical Research Council Grant MR/M010473/1. The authors declare no conflicts of interest

Construcción de un anfiteatro subterráneo de mil plazas

The Arts and Crafts School of Paris was in need of an auditorium, with accommodation for one thousand persons, suitable for lessons and lectures. Owing to lack of space, it was decided to build it underground, below one of the courtyards. The choice of roof shape was an ellipsoid of revolution, whose major axis is inclined to the horizontal. The maximum diameter is 32 ms and maximum height is 10 ms. The thickness of the roof structure is 50 cms along the lower part, and 20 cms near the crown. This solution was of special interest as it overcame simultaneously two difficulties; namely, the foundation, when this has to be based on fill soil, and the non-interference with the illumination of nearby buildings. In this case the loading on the soil is always less than 380 grams per cm-, even assuming a local settlement of the soil over any area of 20 ms in diameter. Concrete has been transported to the required sites by means of compressed air chutes, with the result that the rate of concreting has not been interfered with. Formwork has been carefully thought out, especially over the zones where the floor surface changes into the auditorium vault. The tubular structure supporting the formwork of the vault has been erected with columns which are normal to the inclined diametral plane of the surface of revolution. Owing to this unusual arrangement, the staff working at the site have often lost their sense of balance.El Conservatorio de Artes y Oficios de París necesitaba un anfiteatro capaz para mil plazas, utilizable para clases y conferencias. Por falta de espacio se decidió construirlo subterráneo en uno de los patios. La solución adoptada fue la de un elipsoide de revolución de eje mayor inclinado respecto de la horizontal con 32 m de diámetro y 10 de altura máxima; el espesor en la parte inferior es de 50 cm y en la superior de 20 centímetros. Esta solución es de particular interés, ya que solventaba de una vez dos problemas: el de cimentación, que, en general, plantean todos los terrenos de relleno, y el de no restar iluminación a los cuerpos y edificios circundantes. La carga sobre el suelo es siempre inferior a 380 gramos por centímetro cuadrado, aun en el supuesto accidental de un asiento local en cualquier zona de apoyo de 20 m de diámetro. El transporte del hormigón se ha realizado por canalizaciones de aire comprimido a fin de no entorpecer el ritmo de hormigonar. Los encofrados han sido detenidamente estudiados, en particular los de la zona de transición entre el suelo y la bóveda que cubre el auditorio. Los entramados tubulares que sostienen los encofrados de dicha bóveda se han montado a base de montantes normales al plano diametral inclinado. Con esta disposición curiosa, el personal que se movía sobre ellos perdía frecuentemente el sentido de la verticalidad y, con ello, el del equilibrio de su propia persona

Edificio La Torre de Lyon – Francia

This article describes an office building composed of a two-level underground garage, a commercial main floor, sixteen office stories, and the top floor for general installations. The structure consists of pile foundations, walls and pillars of reinforced concrete, special bases and ribbed flooring structures prefabricated by the HISA system and fitted with ducts for the various installations; acoustical insulation insured by a floating base plate of the «Assour» type, in addition to special linings; curtain walls on the outside and inside partitions of the «Cloisall» type.Se trata de un edificio de oficinas, compuesto de dos sótanos de garaje, planta baja comercial, dieciséis plantas de oficinas y una superior de instalaciones. Se ha construido a base de: cimientos sobre pilotes; muros y pilares de hormigón armado; placas especiales y nervadas de forjados, prefabricadas por el sistema «HISA», provistas de conductos para el paso de las diferentes instalaciones; aislamiento acústico asegurado por una placa flotante tipo «Assour», además de revestimientos especiales; muros-cortina al exterior, y divisiones internas tipo «Cloisall»

Edificio La Torre de Lyon – Francia

This article describes an office building composed of a two-level underground garage, a commercial main floor, sixteen office stories, and the top floor for general installations. The structure consists of pile foundations, walls and pillars of reinforced concrete, special bases and ribbed flooring structures prefabricated by the HISA system and fitted with ducts for the various installations; acoustical insulation insured by a floating base plate of the «Assour» type, in addition to special linings; curtain walls on the outside and inside partitions of the «Cloisall» type.<br><br>Se trata de un edificio de oficinas, compuesto de dos sótanos de garaje, planta baja comercial, dieciséis plantas de oficinas y una superior de instalaciones. Se ha construido a base de: cimientos sobre pilotes; muros y pilares de hormigón armado; placas especiales y nervadas de forjados, prefabricadas por el sistema «HISA», provistas de conductos para el paso de las diferentes instalaciones; aislamiento acústico asegurado por una placa flotante tipo «Assour», además de revestimientos especiales; muros-cortina al exterior, y divisiones internas tipo «Cloisall»