Libration driven elliptical instability

The elliptical instability is a generic instability which takes place in any rotating flow whose streamlines are elliptically deformed. Up to now, it has been widely studied in the case of a constant, non-zero differential rotation between the fluid and the elliptical distortion with applications in turbulence, aeronautics, planetology and astrophysics. In this letter, we extend previous analytical studies and report the first numerical and experimental evidence that elliptical instability can also be driven by libration, i.e. periodic oscillations of the differential rotation between the fluid and the elliptical distortion, with a zero mean value. Our results suggest that intermittent, space-filling turbulence due to this instability can exist in the liquid cores and sub-surface oceans of so-called synchronized planets and moons

Experimental study of libration-driven zonal flows in non-axisymmetric containers

International audienceOrbital dynamics that lead to longitudinal libration of celestial bodies also result in an elliptically deformed equatorial core-mantle boundary. The non-axisymmetry of the boundary leads to a topographic coupling between the assumed rigidmantle and the underlying low viscosity fluid.The present experimental study investigates theeffect of non axisymmetric boundaries on the zonal flow driven by longitudinal libration. For large enough equatorial ellipticity, we report intermittent space-filling turbulence in particular bands of resonant frequency correlated with larger amplitude zonal flow. The mechanism underlying the intermittent turbulence has yet to be unambiguously determined. Nevertheless, recent numerical simulations in triaxial and biaxial ellipsoids suggest that it may be associated with the growth and collapse of an elliptical instability (Cebron et al., 2012). Outside of the band of resonance, we find that the background flow is laminar and the zonal flow becomes independent of the geometry at first order, in agreement with a non linear mechanism in the Ekman boundary layer (e.g. Calkins et al.; 2010, Sauret and Le Dizes, 2012b)

Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background A substantial number of epidemiologic studies have provided estimates of the relation between exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia, but the results have been heterogeneous. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we synthesized the existing epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of leukemia, including all types combined and the four main subgroups acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Methods A systematic literature review was carried out using two databases 'Medline' and 'Embase' from 1950 through to July 2009. We selected articles which provided information that can be used to estimate the relation between benzene exposure and cancer risk (effect size). Results In total 15 studies were identified in the search, providing 16 effect estimates for the main analysis. The summary effect size for any leukemia from the fixed-effects model was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.23-1.57), but the study-specific estimates were strongly heterogeneous (I2 = 56.5%, Q stat = 34.47, p = 0.003). The random-effects model yielded a summary- effect size estimate of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.37-2.17). Effect estimates from 9 studies were based on cumulative exposures. In these studies the risk of leukemia increased with a dose-response pattern with a summary-effect estimate of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.13-2.39) for low (< 40 ppm-years), 1.90 (95% CI, 1.26-2.89) for medium (40-99.9 ppm-years), and 2.62 (95% CI, 1.57-4.39) for high exposure category (> 100 ppm-years). In a meta-regression, the trend was statistically significant (P = 0.015). Use of cumulative exposure eliminated heterogeneity. The risk of AML also increased from low (1.94, 95% CI, 0.95-3.95), medium (2.32, 95% CI, 0.91-5.94) to high exposure category (3.20, 95% CI, 1.09-9.45), but the trend was not statistically significant. Conclusions Our study provides consistent evidence that exposure to benzene at work increases the risk of leukemia with a dose-response pattern. There was some evidence of an increased risk of AML and CLL. The meta-analysis indicated a lack of association between benzene exposure and the risk of CML

Fluorescence-Tagged Transgenic Lines Reveal Genetic Defects in Pollen Growth—Application to the Eif3 Complex

BACKGROUND: Mutations in several subunits of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3) cause male transmission defects in Arabidopsis thaliana. To identify the stage of pollen development at which eIF3 becomes essential it is desirable to examine viable pollen and distinguish mutant from wild type. To accomplish this we have developed a broadly applicable method to track mutant alleles that are not already tagged by a visible marker gene through the male lineage of Arabidopsis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Fluorescence tagged lines (FTLs) harbor a transgenic fluorescent protein gene (XFP) expressed by the pollen-specific LAT52 promoter at a defined chromosomal position. In the existing collection of FTLs there are enough XFP marker genes to track nearly every nuclear gene by virtue of its genetic linkage to a transgenic marker gene. Using FTLs in a quartet mutant, which yields mature pollen tetrads, we determined that the pollen transmission defect of the eif3h-1 allele is due to a combination of reduced pollen germination and reduced pollen tube elongation. We also detected reduced pollen germination for eif3e. However, neither eif3h nor eif3e, unlike other known gametophytic mutations, measurably disrupted the early stages of pollen maturation. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: eIF3h and eIF3e both become essential during pollen germination, a stage of vigorous translation of newly transcribed mRNAs. These data delimit the end of the developmental window during which paternal rescue is still possible. Moreover, the FTL collection of mapped fluorescent protein transgenes represents an attractive resource for elucidating the pollen development phenotypes of any fine-mapped mutation in Arabidopsis

Supramolecular recognition of estrogens via molecularly imprinted polymers

The isolation and preconcentration of estrogens from new types of biological samples (acellular and protein-free simulated body fluid) by molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction has been described. In this technique, supramolecular receptors, namely molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are used as a sorbent material. The recognition sites of MIPs were prepared by non-covalent multiple interactions and formed with the target 17β-estradiol as a template molecule. High-performance liquid chromatography with spectroscopic UV, selective, and a sensitive electrochemical CoulArray detector was used for the determination of 17β-estradiol, estrone, and estriol in simulated body fluid which mimicked human plasma

The Mw = 6.3, November 21, 2004, Les Saintes earthquake (Guadeloupe): Tectonic setting, slip model and static stress changes,

International audienceOn November 21, 2004, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred offshore, 10 km south of Les Saintes archipelago in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). There were more than 30000 aftershocks recorded in the following two years, most of them at shallow depth near the islands of the archipelago. The main shock and its main aftershock of February 14, 2005 (Mw = 5.8) ruptured a NE-dipping normal fault (Roseau fault), mapped and identified as active from high-resolution bathymetric data a few years before. This fault belongs to an arc-parallel en echelon fault system that follows the inner edge of the northern part of the Lesser Antilles arc, accommodating the sinistral component of oblique convergence between the North American and Caribbean plates. The distribution of aftershocks and damage (destruction and landslides) are consistent with the main fault plane location and attitude. The slip model of the main shock, obtained by inverting jointly global broadband and local strong motion records, is characterized by two main slip zones located 5 to 10 km to the SE and NW of the hypocenter. The main shock is shown to have increased the Coulomb stress at the tips of the ruptured plane by more than 4 bars where most of the aftershocks occurred, implying that failures on fault system were mainly promoted by static stress changes. The earthquake also had an effect on volcanic activity since the Boiling Lake in Dominica drained twice, probably as a result of the extensional strain induced by the earthquake and its main aftershock

Removal of endocrine-disrupting compounds from water using macroporous molecularly imprinted cryogels in a moving-bed reactor.

Highly efficient removal of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) such as 17beta-estradiol (E2), 4-nonylphenol (NP) and atrazine from water was achieved using a novel macroporous adsorption medium. The medium consisted of a macroporous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) cryogel with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles embedded in it. The MIP was prepared using E2, NP and atrazine as templates. The macroporous composite molecularly imprinted cryogels were formed inside the open-ended protective shells, known as Kaldnes carriers. These adsorbents (defined as Macroporous Gel Particles, MGPs) were evaluated on the removal of E2, NP and atrazine from water using different column configurations, namely column filled with the MGPs (packed-bed column) and in moving-bed reactors (defined here as moving-bed MGPs reactor). Complete binding (> 99%) of E2 from a spiked aqueous solution (1 mg/L) was achieved using E2-MIP/MGPs in a moving-bed MGPs reactor at the retention time in the reactor of 4 min, while only 77% was bound to the nonimprinted medium (NIP/MGPs). Similar results were also obtained for the adsorption medium imprinted with atrazine. All contaminants studied (E2, atrazine and NP) were effectively removed from water at low (environmentally relevant) concentrations by the respective adsorption medium