Crassicauda boopis in a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) ship-struck in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean

On 9 November 2015, a juvenile male fin whale of 11·60 m length was observed on the bulb of a merchant vessel in the Channel Terneuzen – Ghent (The Netherlands – Belgium). A severe parasitosis was present in the right heart ventricle and caudal caval vein. Parasites were identified as Crassicauda boopis based on macroscopic and microscopic observations. The sequence of the 18S rRNA gene obtained from the parasite samples was 100% similar to the sequence of the 18S rRNA gene from Crassicauda magna available on GenBank. While adults of C. boopis and C. magna are morphologically distinct and found at different locations in the body, the molecular analysis of the 18S rRNA gene seems insufficient for reliable species identification. Although numerous C. boopis were found, the cause of death was identified as due to the collision with the ship, as suggested by the presence of a large haematoma, and the absence of evidence of renal failure. The young age of this whale and the absence of severe chronic reaction may suggest that the infestation was not yet at an advanced chronic stage

Thermoelectric and micro-Raman measurements of carrier density and mobility in heavily Si-doped GaN wires

International audienceCombined thermoelectric-resistivity measurements and micro-Raman experiments have been performed on single heavily Si-doped GaN wires. In both approaches, similar carrier concentration and mobility were determined taking into account the non-parabolicity of the conduction band. The unique high conductivity of Si-doped GaN wires is explained by a mobility µ=56 cm2 /V s at a carrier concentration n = 2.6 10^20 /cm 3. This is attributed to a more efficient dopant incorporation in Si-doped GaN microwires as compared to Si-doped GaN planar layers. (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Prospects in equine research: continuity and innovation

The Scientific Committee of the French National Studs works in partnership with the main research organisms to adapt equine research to the needs of the industry. Three main objectives have been defined: - strengthen research in areas such as doping, molecular genetics, or disease prevention, and redefine the needs in other fields, such as reproduction, while using existing facilities; - establish multidisciplinary networks to tackle particularly complex subjects, such as genetic improvement associating geneticists, ethologists and biomechanics specialists, or prevention of juvenile osteochondrosis associating locomotion specialists, nutritionists, osteogenesis specialists, epidemiologists and geneticists; - create new teams and facilities to investigate new areas of research, i.e. behaviour and social sciences still in their early days, or economic sciences not yet tackled.Sous l'impulsion du Comité d'orientation scientifique et technique (COST) des Haras nationaux et en partenariat avec les grands organismes de recherche, l'évolution stratégique de la recherche équine, marquée par le souci de mieux répondre aux besoins de la filière, se décline en trois problématiques d'intervention : - des recherches à conforter (lutte contre le dopage, génétique moléculaire, prévention des pathologies) ou à réorienter (reproduction) dans le cadre de dispositifs en place, - des réseaux de recherche pluridisciplinaires à constituer pour aborder des thématiques particulièrement complexes (amélioration génétique associant des généticiens, des éthologues et des biomécaniciens ; prévention des troubles ostéoarticulaires juvéniles associant des pathologistes de la locomotion, des nutritionnistes, des spécialistes de l'ostéogénèse, des épidémiologistes et des généticiens), - des équipes et des dispositifs à créer pour aborder de nouveaux champs de recherche (comportement et sciences sociales qui démarrent ; sciences économiques non abordées à ce jour)

Segond fractures are not a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction failure: Letter to the Editor

Germanium nanowires (NWs) have attractive properties for a variety of applications, including micro- and optoelectronics, memory devices, solar energy conversion, and energy storage, among others. For applications that involve exposure to air, the poor chemical stability and electronic surface passivation of native oxides have remained a long-standing concern. Termination by sulfur-rich surface layers has emerged as a promising strategy for passivation of planar Ge surfaces. Here we discuss experiments on solid-state sulfurization of Ge nanowires in sulfur vapor at near-ambient pressures and at different temperatures. Combined transmission electron microscopy imaging and chemical mapping establishes that Ge NWs remain intact during vapor-phase reaction with S at elevated temperatures, and show the formation of sulfur-rich shells with T-dependent morphology and thickness on the Ge NW surface. Photoluminescence of ensembles of such core-shell nanowires is dominated by strong emission at approximate to 1.85 eV, consistent with luminescence of GeS. Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy on individual NWs establishes that this luminescence originates in thin GeS shells formed by sulfurization of the NWs. Our work establishes direct sulfurization as a viable approach for forming stable, wide-bandgap surface terminations on Ge NWs

Exploring the mobility of mobile phone users

Mobile phone datasets allow for the analysis of human behavior on an unprecedented scale. The social network, temporal dynamics and mobile behavior of mobile phone users have often been analyzed independently from each other using mobile phone datasets. In this article, we explore the connections between various features of human behavior extracted from a large mobile phone dataset. Our observations are based on the analysis of communication data of 100000 anonymized and randomly chosen individuals in a dataset of communications in Portugal. We show that clustering and principal component analysis allow for a significant dimension reduction with limited loss of information. The most important features are related to geographical location. In particular, we observe that most people spend most of their time at only a few locations. With the help of clustering methods, we then robustly identify home and office locations and compare the results with official census data. Finally, we analyze the geographic spread of users' frequent locations and show that commuting distances can be reasonably well explained by a gravity model.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

Epinephrine and short-term survival in cardiogenic shock : an individual data meta-analysis of 2583 patients

Correction Volume: 44 Issue: 11 Pages: 2022-2023 DOI: 10.1007/s00134-018-5372-9Catecholamines have been the mainstay of pharmacological treatment of cardiogenic shock (CS). Recently, use of epinephrine has been associated with detrimental outcomes. In the present study we aimed to evaluate the association between epinephrine use and short-term mortality in all-cause CS patients. We performed a meta-analysis of individual data with prespecified inclusion criteria: (1) patients in non-surgical CS treated with inotropes and/or vasopressors and (2) at least 15% of patients treated with epinephrine administrated alone or in association with other inotropes/vasopressors. The primary outcome was short-term mortality. Fourteen published cohorts and two unpublished data sets were included. We studied 2583 patients. Across all cohorts of patients, the incidence of epinephrine use was 37% (17-76%) and short-term mortality rate was 49% (21-69%). A positive correlation was found between percentages of epinephrine use and short-term mortality in the CS cohort. The risk of death was higher in epinephrine-treated CS patients (OR [CI] = 3.3 [2.8-3.9]) compared to patients treated with other drug regimens. Adjusted mortality risk remained striking in epinephrine-treated patients (n = 1227) (adjusted OR = 4.7 [3.4-6.4]). After propensity score matching, two sets of 338 matched patients were identified and epinephrine use remained associated with a strong detrimental impact on short-term mortality (OR = 4.2 [3.0-6.0]). In this very large cohort, epinephrine use for hemodynamic management of CS patients is associated with a threefold increase of risk of death.Peer reviewe

Centrosome docking at the immunological synapse is controlled by Lck signaling.

Docking of the centrosome at the plasma membrane directs lytic granules to the immunological synapse. To identify signals controlling centrosome docking at the synapse, we have studied cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in which expression of the T cell receptor-activated tyrosine kinase Lck is ablated. In the absence of Lck, the centrosome is able to translocate around the nucleus toward the immunological synapse but is unable to dock at the plasma membrane. Lytic granules fail to polarize and release their contents, and target cells are not killed. In CTLs deficient in both Lck and the related tyrosine kinase Fyn, centrosome translocation is impaired, and the centrosome remains on the distal side of the nucleus relative to the synapse. These results show that repositioning of the centrosome in CTLs involves at least two distinct steps, with Lck signaling required for the centrosome to dock at the plasma membrane