Identification of High Nature Value Farmland in France through Statistical Information and Farm Practices Surveys

The Concept of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland has been evolving over the last fifteen years in Europe. In the European Union this has been closely linked to the aim of integrating environmental concerns in the Common Agricultural Policy. The idea that nature values, environmental qualities, even cultural heritage are linked to or dependent on farming, also underlies and supports the concept of a multifunctional 'European model of farming' which provides benefits other than food. The 'High Nature Value farming' idea thus ties the preservation of biodiversity and wildlife value of the countryside to the need to safeguard the continuation of farming in certain areas with maintenance of specific farming systems associated to the long-term management of these areas. The work presented in the report aims at better identifying and characterising HNV farmland at national level (France) with a farm system approach based on FSS statistical data and specific national surveys, taking into account the whole farm with the total agricultural area and its characteristics. In a first step relevant variables have been selected to calculate the “crop diversity” indicator at NUTS 5. In a second step the crop diversity indicator has been combined overlaid with other data sets from other surveys (“Grassland” Survey and “Forestry” Survey) to build “the landscape elements” and “the extensive crops and grasslands” indicators. In a third step these three indicators have been weighted to calculate a final score and draw maps at municipality scale (NUTS 5).JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Probing material nonlinearity at various depths by time reversal mirrors

International audienceIn this letter, the time reversal mirror is used to focus elastic energy at a prescribed location and to analyze the amplitude dependence of the focus signal, thus providing the nonlinearity of the medium. By varying the frequency content of the focused waveforms, the technique can be used to probe the surface, by penetrating to a depth defined by the wavelength of the focused waves. The validity of this concept is shown in the presence of gradual and distributed damage in concrete by comparing actual results with a reference nonlinear measurement and X ray tomography images

Semiparametrically Efficient Inference Based on Signs and Ranks for Median Restricted Models

Since the pioneering work of Koenker and Bassett (1978), econometric models involving median and quantile rather than the classical mean or conditional mean concepts have attracted much interest.Contrary to the traditional models where the noise is assumed to have mean zero, median-restricted models enjoy a rich group-invariance structure.In this paper, we exploit this invariance structure in order to obtain semiparametrically efficient inference procedures for these models.These procedures are based on residual signs and ranks, and therefore insensitive to possible misspecification of the underlying innovation density, yet semiparametrically efficient at correctly specified densities.This latter combination is a definite advantage of these procedures over classical quasi-likelihood methods.The techniques we propose can be applied, without additional technical difficulties, to both cross-sectional and time-series models.They do not require any explicit tangent space calculation nor any projections on these.

Endotoxin receptor CD14 in PiZ α-1-antitrypsin deficiency individuals

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High-K volcanism in the Afyon region, western Turkey: from Si-oversaturated to Si-undersaturated volcanism

Volcanic rocks of the Afyon province (eastern part of western Anatolia) make up a multistage potassic and ultrapotassic alkaline series dated from 14 to 12 Ma. The early-stage Si-oversaturated volcanic rocks around the Afyon city and further southward are trachyandesitic volcanic activity (14.23 ± 0.09 Ma). Late-stage Si-undersaturated volcanism in the southernmost part of the Afyon volcanic province took place in three episodes inferred from their stratigraphic relationships and ages. Melilite– leucitites (11.50 ± 0.03 Ma), spotted rachyandesites, tephryphonolites and lamproites (11.91 ± 0.13 Ma) formed in the first episode; trachyandesites in the second episode and finally phonotephrites, phonolite, basaltic trachyandesites and nosean-bearing trachyandesites during the last episode. The parameter Q [normative q-(ne + lc + kls + ol)] of western Anatolia volcanism clearly decreased southward with time becoming zero in the time interval 10–15 Ma. The magmatism experienced a sudden change in the extent of Si saturation after 14 Ma, during late-stage volcanic activity of Afyon volcanic province at around 12 Ma, though there was some coexistence of Si-oversaturated and Si-undersaturated magmas during the whole life of Afyon volcanic province

Mineralogy of volcanic rocks in Gusev Crater, Mars: Reconciling Mössbauer, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, and Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer spectra

Complete sets of mineral abundances for relatively unaltered volcanic or volcaniclastic rocks in Gusev Crater have been determined by modeling Mössbauer subspectral areas as mineral weight percentages, and combining those percentages with the proportions of iron-free minerals not detected by Mössbauer (normative plagioclase, apatite, and chromite, as calculated from Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) chemical analyses). Comparisons of synthetic thermal emission spectra calculated for these mineral modes with measured Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) spectra for the same rock classes show either good agreements or discrepancies that we attribute to sodic plagioclase compositions or unmodeled sulfate, glass, or pigeonite. The normative compositions of olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar calculated from APXS data are consistent with spectroscopic constraints on mineral compositions. Systematic variations between olivine abundances in APXS norms (which sample tens of micrometers depth) and olivine proportions measured by Mössbauer (which sample hundreds of micrometers depth) support the hypothesis that dissolution of olivine by acidic fluids has occurred on weathered rock surfaces

Cross-Reactivity of Herpesvirus-Specific CD8 T Cell Lines Toward Allogeneic Class I MHC Molecules

Although association between persistent viral infection and allograft rejection is well characterized, few examples of T-cell cross-reactivity between self-MHC/viral and allogeneic HLA molecules have been documented so far. We appraised in this study the alloreactivity of CD8 T cell lines specific for immunodominant epitopes from human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). CD8 T cell lines were generated after sorting with immunomagnetic beads coated with either pp65495–503/A*0201, BMLF1259–267/A*0201, or BZLF154–64/B*3501 multimeric complexes. Alloreactivity of the CD8 T cell lines against allogeneic class I MHC alleles was assessed by screening of (i) TNF-α production against COS-7 cells transfected with as many as 39 individual HLA class I-encoding cDNA, and (ii) cytotoxicity activity toward a large panel of HLA-typed EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines. We identified several cross-reactive pp65/A*0201-specific T cell lines toward allogeneic HLA-A*3001, A*3101, or A*3201. Moreover, we described here cross-recognition of HLA-Cw*0602 by BZLF1/B*3501-specific T cells. It is noteworthy that these alloreactive CD8 T cell lines showed efficient recognition of endothelial cells expressing the relevant HLA class I allele, with high level TNF-α production and cytotoxicity activity. Taken together, our data support the notion that herpes virus-specific T cells recognizing allo-HLA alleles may promote solid organ rejection

Synchrotron radiation-based experimental determination of the optimal energy for cell radiotoxicity enhancement following photoelectric effect on stable iodinated compounds

This study was designed to experimentally evaluate the optimal X-ray energy for increasing the radiation energy absorbed in tumours loaded with iodinated compounds, using the photoelectric effect. SQ20B human cells were irradiated with synchrotron monochromatic beam tuned at 32.8, 33.5, 50 and 70 keV. Two cell treatments were compared to the control: cells suspended in 10 mg ml1 of iodine radiological contrast agent or cells pre-exposed with 10 mM of iodo-desoxyuridine (IUdR) for 48 h. Our radiobiological end point was clonogenic cell survival. Cells irradiated with both iodine compounds exhibited a radiation sensitisation enhancement. Moreover, it was energy dependent, with a maximum at 50 keV. At this energy, the sensitisation calculated at 10% survival was equal to 2.03 for cells suspended in iodinated contrast agent and 2.60 for IUdR. Cells pretreated with IUdR had higher sensitisation factors over the energy range than for those suspended in iodine contrast agent. Also, their survival curves presented no shoulder, suggesting complex lethal damages from Auger electrons. Our results confirm the existence of the 50 keV energy optimum for a binary therapeutic irradiation based on the presence of stable iodine in tumours and an external irradiation. Monochromatic synchrotron radiotherapy concept is hence proposed for increasing the differential effect between healthy and cancerous tissue irradiation

Seismic and geochemical evidence for large-scale mantle upwelling beneath the eastern Atlantic and western and central Europe

Seismic tomography and the isotope geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks suggest the existence of a large, sheet-like region of upwelling in the upper mantle which extends from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to central Europe and the western Mediterranean. A belt of extension and rifting in the latter two areas appears to lie above the intersection of the centre of the upwelling region with the base of the lithosphere. Lead, strontium and neodymium isotope data for all three regions converge on a restricted composition, inferred to be that of the upwelling mantle

Vitamin D Deficiency and Exogenous Vitamin D Excess Similarly Increase Diffuse Atherosclerotic Calcification in Apolipoprotein E Knockout Mice

Background: Observational data associate lower levels of serum vitamin D with coronary artery calcification, cardiovascular events and mortality. However, there is little interventional evidence demonstrating that moderate vitamin D deficiency plays a causative role in cardiovascular disease. This study examined the cardiovascular effects of dietary vitamin D deficiency and of vitamin D receptor agonist (paricalcitol) administration in apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Methods: Mice were fed atherogenic diets with normal vitamin D content (1.5IU/kg) or without vitamin D. Paricalcitol, or matched vehicle, was administered 3× weekly by intraperitoneal injection. Following 20 weeks of these interventions cardiovascular phenotype was characterized by histological assessment of aortic sinus atheroma, soluble markers, blood pressure and echocardiography. To place the cardiovascular assessments in the context of intervention effects on bone, structural changes at the tibia were assessed by microtomography. Results: Vitamin D deficient diet induced significant reductions in plasma vitamin D (p<0.001), trabecular bone volume (p<0.01) and bone mineral density (p<0.005). These changes were accompanied by an increase in calcification density (number of calcifications per mm2) of von Kossa-stained aortic sinus atheroma (461 versus 200, p<0.01). Paricalcitol administration suppressed parathyroid hormone (p<0.001), elevated plasma calcium phosphate product (p<0.005) and induced an increase in calcification density (472 versus 200, p<0.005) similar to that seen with vitamin D deficiency. Atheroma burden, blood pressure, metabolic profile and measures of left ventricular hypertrophy were unaffected by the interventions. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency, as well as excess, increases atherosclerotic calcification. This phenotype is induced before other measures of cardiovascular pathology associated clinically with vitamin D deficiency. Thus, maintenance of an optimal range of vitamin D signalling may be important for prevention of atherosclerotic calcification