Les abeilles du genre Homalictus Cockerell, 1919 en Nouvelle-Calédonie (Hymenoptera : Apoidea : Halictidae)

Dix espèces de Homalictus Cockerell, 1919 sont inventoriées de Nouvelle-Calédonie, dont sept sont nouvelles : Homalictus curvistriae Donovan & Pauly, H. heliotropiae Pauly & Donovan, H. hienghenensis Donovan & Pauly, H. koghiensis Donovan & Pauly, H. mcphersoni Donovan & Pauly, H. melanasiae Donovan & Pauly, H. projectio Donovan & Pauly. Le mâle de Homalictus cocos Pauly & Munzinger 2003 est décrit pour la première fois

Les Austronomia Michener, 1965 de Nouvelle-Calédonie et de l'archipel du Vanuatu (Hymenoptera : Apoidea : Halictidae : Nomiinae)

Six espèces d'Austronomia Michener, 1965 sont inventoriées de Nouvelle-Calédonie et de l'archipel du Vanuatu. Trois d'entre elles sont nouvelles : A. doensis sp. nov. et A. neocaledonica sp. nov. de la Grande-Terre en Nouvelle-Calédonie, A. loyali sp. nov. des îles Loyauté (NC) et de l'archipel du Vanuatu

Improvement in real time detection and selectivity of phthalocyanine gas sensors dedicated to oxidizing pollutants evaluation

International audienceA sensor microsystem prototype, using copper phthalocyanine thin film as sensitive layer, and dedicated to ozone evaluation, was developed. The methodology implemented is based on cyclic sensor recalibrations by thermal cleaning of the sensitive membrane, and on pollutant concentration quantification according to the kinetics of sensor response. Results of laboratory experiments for various NO2 and O3 concentrations, in the range of 10–200 ppb, illustrate the selectivity of CuPc sensors towards ozone, obtained by our methodology. We have shown that ozone selectivity is especially improved for short time of exposure (few minutes) and for phthalocyanine layer maintained at low temperature (80 °C). For optimal conditions, our microsystem exhibits a threshold lower than 10 ppb, a resolution lower than 10 ppb, and good reproducibility of measurements. Performances obtained in real urban atmosphere are satisfying to ensure real time evaluation of ozone during several days. Long-term stability and the detection of NO2 by associating chemical filters to our microsystem will be also discussed

Coalition and coalition announcement logic

Dynamic epistemic logics which model abilities of agents to make various announcements and influence each other’s knowledge have been studied extensively in recent years. Two notable examples of such logics are Group Announcement Logic and Coalition Announcement Logic. They allow us to reason about what groups of agents can achieve through joint announcements in non-competitive and competitive environments. In this paper, we consider a combination of these logics – Coalition and Group Announcement Logic and provide its complete axiomatisation. Moreover, we partially answer the question of how group and coalition announcement operators interact, and settle some other open problems

High pressure solubility data of carbon dioxide in (tri-iso-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tosylate + water) systems

Ionic liquids are attracting great attention nowadays due to their interesting properties which make them useful in a broad range of applications including reaction media or separation/capture of environmentally hazardous gases such as carbon dioxide. In many cases, for practical and/or economical reasons, the use of aqueous solutions of ILs would be preferable to their use as pure compounds. In this work, high pressure equilibrium data for the {carbon dioxide (CO2) + tri-iso-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tosylate [iBu3MeP][TOS] + water system were measured at temperatures ranging from (276 to 370) K and pressures up to 100 MPa. Measurements were performed using a high-pressure cell with a sapphire window that allows direct observation of the liquid–vapour transition. Mixtures with different IL concentrations were studied in order to check the influence of the amount of IL on the solubility of CO2 in the aqueous mixture. The results show that the presence of IL enhances the solubility of CO2 in the (IL + water) system revealing a salting-in effect of the IL on the solubility of CO2. The appearance of a three phase region was observed for IL concentrations higher than 4 mol% of IL in water when working at pressures between 4 and 8 MPa and temperatures between (280 and 305) K. In this range, the upper limit of the VLE region observed is shown to increase with the temperature being almost independent of the IL initial concentration in the mixture.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)FEDERCICECO, University of Aveir

Electrodes Modification Based on Metal-Free Phthalocyanine: Example of Electrochemical Sensors for the Detection of Acetic Acid

Electroanalytical properties of tetra-tert-butyl phthalocyanine (PcH 2 -tBu) modified electrodes are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The modified electrodes are obtained by CV deposition techniques on gold (Au) and glassy carbon (C) screenprinted electrodes (SPEs) and used for the electrochemical detection of acetic acid (AA). Based on the CV experiments, the electrodeposition mechanism is detailed. The modified PcH 2 -tBu electrodes reveal one oxidation and one reduction peak within the potential window of the working electrodes. In the presence of the analyte (acetic acid), the modified electrodes show sensitivity in the range of 10 mM to 400 mM. For the PcH 2 -tBu modified Au electrode, a limit of detection (LOD) of 5.89 mM (based on the +0.06 V peak) was obtained while for the PcH 2 -tBu modified C electrode a LOD of 17.76 mM (based on the +0.07 V peak) was achieved. A signal decay of 17%, based on 20 experiments, is obtained when gold is used as working electrode. If carbon is used as working electrode a value of 7% is attained. A signal decay is observed after more than 50 cycles of experiments and is more pronounced when higher concentrations of acetic acid are used. A mechanism of sensing is proposed at the end

Reference Correlation of the Viscosity of Squalane from 273 to 373 K at 0.1 MPa

International audienceThe paper presents a new reference correlation for the viscosity of squalane at 0.1 MPa. The correlation should be valuable as it is the first to cover a moderately high viscosity range, from 3 to 118 mPa s. It is based on new viscosity measurements carried out for this work, as well as other critically evaluated experimental viscosity data from the literature. The correlation is valid from 273 to 373 K at 0.1 MPa. The average absolute percentage deviation of the fit is 0.67, and the expanded uncertainty, with a coverage factor k = 2, is 1.5%

Extraction of Biomolecules Using Phosphonium-Based Ionic Liquids + K3PO4 Aqueous Biphasic Systems

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) provide an alternative and efficient approach for the extraction, recovery and purification of biomolecules through their partitioning between two liquid aqueous phases. In this work, the ability of hydrophilic phosphonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) to form ABS with aqueous K3PO4 solutions was evaluated for the first time. Ternary phase diagrams, and respective tie-lines and tie-lines length, formed by distinct phosphonium-based ILs, water, and K3PO4 at 298 K, were measured and are reported. The studied phosphonium-based ILs have shown to be more effective in promoting ABS compared to the imidazolium-based counterparts with similar anions. Moreover, the extractive capability of such systems was assessed for distinct biomolecules (including amino acids, food colourants and alkaloids). Densities and viscosities of both aqueous phases, at the mass fraction compositions used for the biomolecules extraction, were also determined. The evaluated IL-based ABS have been shown to be prospective extraction media, particularly for hydrophobic biomolecules, with several advantages over conventional polymer-inorganic salt ABS

Age at onset as stratifier in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease – effect of ageing and polygenic risk score on clinical phenotypes

Several phenotypic differences observed in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have been linked to age at onset (AAO). We endeavoured to find out whether these differences are due to the ageing process itself by using a combined dataset of idiopathic PD (n = 430) and healthy controls (HC; n = 556) excluding carriers of known PD-linked genetic mutations in both groups. We found several significant effects of AAO on motor and non-motor symptoms in PD, but when comparing the effects of age on these symptoms with HC (using age at assessment, AAA), only positive associations of AAA with burden of motor symptoms and cognitive impairment were significantly different between PD vs HC. Furthermore, we explored a potential effect of polygenic risk score (PRS) on clinical phenotype and identified a significant inverse correlation of AAO and PRS in PD. No significant association between PRS and severity of clinical symptoms was found. We conclude that the observed non-motor phenotypic differences in PD based on AAO are largely driven by the ageing process itself and not by a specific profile of neurodegeneration linked to AAO in the idiopathic PD patients

On-board phthalocyanine gas sensor microsystem dedicated to the monitoring of oxidising gases level in passenger compartments

International audienceThe monitoring of in-vehicle pollutant concentrations by means of an on-board molecular semiconductor gas sensor microsystem is described in this paper. The main objective is to measure in real time with a high level of accuracy the variations of oxidising gases concentration in bus passenger compartments to inform travellers or commuters and to evaluate the assessment of bus drivers' exposure. A self-contained gas sensor microsystem of which the sensitive element is constituted by a thin layer of copper phthalocyanine has been developed, validated at laboratory under controlled experimental conditions and then implemented in a bus of the urban network of Clermont-Ferrand, France. Preliminary in-car measurements realized with commercial analyzers show that nitrogen dioxide is the major oxidising gas present on urban roads and so is considered as the target gas in this study. Tests realized under artificially polluted atmosphere show the high performances obtained with our microsystem, such as high resolution, low threshold, good reproducibility, satisfying concentration range and real time detection. The calibration curve has been determined at laboratory by experiments made under low NO2 concentrations in the range of those measured in urban atmosphere. The relation between sensor microsystem response and gas concentration is established with accuracy. The validation of our microsystem is illustrated by measurements realized under real conditions, i.e. in an urban bus. It shows that NO2 concentration variations are mainly correlated with the nature of roads and that rates of pollutant measured in traffic are always greater than those measured by the nearest stations of the air quality control network