Comment regarding "On the theoretical determination of the Prigogine-Defay ratio in glass transition"

International audienceGenerally, experimentally determined values of the Prigogine-Defay (PD) ratio are different from unity. This can be explained if one considers that more than one single order parameter are involved in the thermodynamics of the glass transition process. Against the consensual view, Tropin et al. demonstrated that PD ratios can be different from unity even if one single order parameter is involved. This "Comment" aims to discuss fundamental mistakes leading to this conclusion in the recent article "On the theoretical determination of the Prigogine-Defay ratio in glass transition" [ J. Chem. Phys. 136, 124502 (2012)] by Tropin et al

Rôle du Liver X Receptor dans la régulation transcriptionnelle de la lipogenèse

Chez les mammiferes, la lipogenese ou synthese de novo des acides gras joue un rôle essentiel a l'homeostasie energetique. Elle est particulierement active dans le foie. Le Liver X Receptor (LXR) est un recepteur nucleaire de classe II qui est implique dans la regulation de l'expression de genes importants dans cette voie metabolique. Au niveau hepatique, LXR regule directement l'expression de certains genes de la lipogenese et aussi l'expression des facteurs de transcription SREBP-1c et ChREBP intervenant respectivement dans la reponse hepatique a l'insuline et au glucose. Les ligands naturels de LXR sont les oxysterols, des derives oxygenes du cholesterol. Aussi, LXR est avant tout considere et connu comme un senseur du cholesterol. Au cours de ces travaux nous nous sommes interesses in vivo au role de LXR dans la regulation transcriptionnelle de la lipogenese hepatique en fonction de differents stimuli: pharmacologiques, inflammatoires et nutritionnels. Par une approche pharmacologique, nous avons etudie la regulation croisee avec entre LXR et le recepteur active par les proliferateurs de peroxisome (PPAR . Nous avons aussi montre que l'inflammation intestinale est un puissant inhibiteur de la lipogenese hepatique. Enfin, nous avons mis en evidence le role de LXR dans la regulation de la lipogenese en reponse a une carence en acides gras essentiels et a un regime riche en fructose.In mammals, lipogenesis or de novo fatty acid synthesis plays an essential part in energy homeostasis. It is particularly active in the liver. The Liver X Receptor (LXR) is a class II nuclear receptor that regulates the expression of important genes involved in this pathway. In the liver, LXR directly controls the expression of lipogenic genes and also the expression of transcription factors such as SREBP-1c and ChREBP required for the hepatic response to insulin and glucose respectively. Natural ligands for LXR are oxysterols, which are oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol. Therefore, LXR is primarily considered and known as a cholesterol sensor. In this work, we were interested in the role of LXR in the transcriptional control of hepatic lipogenesis in vivo in response to distinct stimuli: pharmacological agonists, gut inflammation and changes in diet composition. Through a pharmacological study, we highlighted the cross-talk between LXR signaling and the regulation of the Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (PPAR ). We have also evidenced that experimentally induced colitis induces a potent inhibition of hepatic lipogenesis. Finally, we have shown that LXR is involved in the regulation of lipogenesis in response to essential fatty acid deficiency and to high fructose.TOULOUSE-INP (315552154) / SudocSudocFranceF

Temperature of systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium

Two phenomenological approaches are currently used in the study of the vitreous state. One is based on the concept of fictive temperature introduced by Tool [Jour. Research Nat. Bur. Standards 34, 199 (1945)] and recently revisited by Nieuwenhuizen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5580 (1998)]. The other is based on the thermodynamics of irreversible processes initiated by De Donder at the beginning of the last century [L'Affinit\'e (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1927)] and recently used by M\"oller and co-workers for a thorough study of the glass transition [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 094505 (2006)]. This latter approach leads to the possibility of describing the glass transition by means of the freezing-in of one or more order parameters connected to the internal structural degrees of freedom involved in the vitrification process. In this paper, the equivalence of the two preceding approaches is demonstrated, not only for glasses, but in a very general way for any system undergoing an irreversible transformation. This equivalence allows the definition of an effective temperature for all systems departed from equilibrium generating a positive amount of entropy. In fact, the initial fictive temperature concept of Tool leads to the generalization of the notion of temperature for systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium, for which glasses are just particular cases

Active Control of Silicon Nanotweezers Detects Enzymatic Reaction at the Molecular Level

International audienceThis work achieved the control of micromachined tweezers for the enhancement of the sensing of DNA molecules and related enzymatic reactions. The mechanical stiffness of the silicon nanotweezers is decreased by feedback design and the sensitivity of the system is drastically improved

New geological and tephrochronological data on the palaeontological site of the Senèze maar (Early Pleistocene, Massif Central, France)

The volcanic system of Senèze (Domeyrat, Haute-Loire) comprises a basanite flow, scoriae, a maar crater and phreatomagmatic products. New field research and detailed cartography clarify their geometry and geological relationships. The maar contains an important palaeontological site of the Early Pleistocene that yielded forty species of mammals attributed to the biozone MNQ 18 (of which it is the reference locality). The excavations undertaken between 2001 and 2006 recovered new fossils and documented their stratigraphic and geodynamic context. The fossiliferous site is located on the shore of the palaeolake and includes several lacustrine and slope deposits linked to the contemporaneous climatic changes which in turn produced a number of locally fossiliferous findspots which appear to be close in age. The discovery of ten tephras emitted by the Mont-Dore strato-volcano, situated 60 km to the NW allowed development of a remarkable tephrochronological framework. Because of the intense weathering of the tephras, their composition is determined by their mineralogical content (feldspars, brown amphiboles, brown and green diopside, titanite, apatite, zircon, biotite-phlogopite, Fe-Ti oxides) and the chemical composition of feldspars (anorthoclase, sodic sanidine and plagioclases). The study of these tephras reveals the importance of the contemporaneous (mainly trachytic) pyroclastic activity and confirms the polyphased deposition of the site. The 40Ar/39Ar laser dating of alkali feldspars from five tephras shows a relatively narrow range of age comprised between 2.09 and 2.21 \textpm 0.02 Ma (1σ, age relative to ACs-2 standard at 1.201 Ma). Senèze is thus confirmed as a key Early Pleistocene palaeontological site in Europe

The size of plume heterogeneities constrained by Marquesas isotopic stripes

International audienceThe scale and geometry of chemical and isotopic heterogeneities in the source of plumes have important scientific implications on the nature, composition and origin of plumes and on the dynamics of mantle mixing over time. Here, we address these issues through the study of Marquesas Islands, one of the Archipelagoes in Polynesia. We present new Sr, Nd, Pb, Hf isotopes as well as trace element data on lavas from several Marquesas Islands and demonstrate that this archipelago consists of two adjacent and distinct rows of islands with significantly different isotopic compositions. For the entire 5.5 Ma construction period, the northern islands, hereafter called the Ua Huka group, has had systematically higher 87Sr/86Sr and lower 206Pb/204Pb ratios than the southern Fatu Hiva group at any given 143Nd/144Nd value. The shape and curvature of mixing arrays preclude the ambient depleted MORB mantle as one of the mixing end-members. We believe therefore that the entire isotopic heterogeneity originates in the plume itself. We suggest that the two Marquesas isotopic stripes originate from partial melting of two adjacent filaments contained in small plumes or "plumelets" that came from a large dome structure located deep in the mantle under Polynesia. Low-degree partial melting under Marquesas and other "weak" Polynesian hot spot chains (Pitcairn-Gambier, Austral-Cook, Society) sample small areas of the dome and preserve source heterogeneities. In contrast, more productive hot spots build up large islands such as Big Island in Hawaii or Réunion Island, and the higher degrees of melting blur the isotopic variability of the plume source

Closed-loop Control of Silicon Nanotweezers for Improvement of Sensitivity to Mechanical Stiffness Measurement and Bio-Sensing on DNA Molecules

International audienceIn this work we show that implementation of closed loop control to silicon nanotweezers improves the sensitivity of the tool for mechanical characterizations of biological molecules. Micromachined tweezers have already been used for the characterizations of mechanical properties of DNA molecules as well as for the sensing of enzymatic reactions on DNA bundle. However the resolution of the experiments does not allow the sensing on single molecules. Hereafter we show theoretically and experimentally that, reducing the resonance frequency of the system by the implementation of a state feedback, the sensitivity to stiffness variation is enhanced. Such improvement leads to better resolution for detection of enzymatic reactions on DNA

Thermodynamics of small systems by nanocalorimetry: from physical to biological nano-objects

Membrane based nanocalorimeters have been developed for ac calorimetry experiments. It has allowed highly sensitive measurements of heat capacity from solid state physics to complex systems like polymers and proteins. In this article we review what has been developed in ac calorimetry toward the measurement of very small systems. Firstly, at low temperature ac calorimetry using silicon membrane permits the measurement of superconducting sample having geometry down to the nanometer scale. New phase transitions have been found in these nanosystems illustrated by heat capacity jumps versus the applied magnetic field. Secondly, a sensor based on ultra-thin polymer membrane will be presented. It has been devoted to thermal measurements of nanomagnetic systems at intermediate temperature (20K to 300K). Thirdly, three specific polyimide membrane based sensors have been designed for room temperature measurements. One is devoted to phase transitions detection in polymer, the second one to protein folding/unfolding studies and the third one will be used for the study of heat release in living cells. The possibility of measuring systems out of equilibrium will be emphasized