Low doses of a neonicotinoid insecticide modify pheromone response thresholds of central but not peripheral olfactory neurons in a pest insect

Insect pest management relies mainly on neurotoxic insecticides, including neonicotinoids, leaving residues in the environment. There is now evidence that low doses of insecticides can have positive effects on pest insects by enhancing various life traits. Because pest insects often rely on sex pheromones for reproduction, and olfactory synaptic transmission is cholinergic, neonicotinoid residues could modify chemical communication. We recently showed that treatments with different sublethal doses of clothianidin could either enhance or decrease behavioural sex pheromone responses in the male moth, Agrotis ipsilon. We investigated now effects of the behaviourally active clothianidin doses on the sensitivity of the peripheral and central olfactory system. We show with extracellular recordings that both tested clothianidin doses do not influence pheromone responses in olfactory receptor neurons. Similarly, in vivo optical imaging does not reveal any changes in glomerular response intensities to the sex pheromone after clothianidin treatments. The sensitivity of intracellularly recorded antennal lobe output neurons, however, is upregulated by a lethal dose 20 times and downregulated by a dose 10 times lower than the lethal dose 0. This correlates with the changes of behavioural responses after clothianidin treatment and suggests the antennal lobe as neural substrate involved in clothianidin-induced behavioural changes

The contamination of the surface of Vesta by impacts and the delivery of the dark material

The Dawn spacecraft observed the presence of dark material, which in turn proved to be associated with OH and H-rich material, on the surface of Vesta. The source of this dark material has been identified with the low albedo asteroids, but it is still a matter of debate whether the delivery of the dark material is associated with a few large impact events, to micrometeorites or to the continuous, secular flux of impactors on Vesta. The continuous flux scenario predicts that a significant fraction of the exogenous material accreted by Vesta should be due to non-dark impactors likely analogous to ordinary chondrites, which instead represent only a minor contaminant in the HED meteorites. We explored the continuous flux scenario and its implications for the composition of the vestan regolith, taking advantage of the data from the Dawn mission and the HED meteorites. We used our model to show that the stochastic events scenario and the micrometeoritic flux scenario are natural consequences of the continuous flux scenario. We then used the model to estimate the amounts of dark and hydroxylate materials delivered on Vesta since the LHB and we showed how our results match well with the values estimated by the Dawn mission. We used our model to assess the amount of Fe and siderophile elements that the continuous flux of impactors would mix in the vestan regolith: concerning the siderophile elements, we focused our attention on the role of Ni. The results are in agreement with the data available on the Fe and Ni content of the HED meteorites and can be used as a reference frame in future studies of the data from the Dawn mission and of the HED meteorites. Our model cannot yet provide an answer to the fate of the missing non-carbonaceous contaminants, but we discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on the journal ICARUS, "Dark and Bright Materials on Vesta" special issu

Olivine or Impact Melt: Nature of the "Orange" Material on Vesta from Dawn

NASA's Dawn mission observed a great variety of colored terrains on asteroid (4) Vesta during its survey with the Framing Camera (FC). Here we present a detailed study of the orange material on Vesta, which was first observed in color ratio images obtained by the FC and presents a red spectral slope. The orange material deposits can be classified into three types, a) diffuse ejecta deposited by recent medium-size impact craters (such as Oppia), b) lobate patches with well-defined edges, and c) ejecta rays from fresh-looking impact craters. The location of the orange diffuse ejecta from Oppia corresponds to the olivine spot nicknamed "Leslie feature" first identified by Gaffey (1997) from ground-based spectral observations. The distribution of the orange material in the FC mosaic is concentrated on the equatorial region and almost exclusively outside the Rheasilvia basin. Our in-depth analysis of the composition of this material uses complementary observations from FC, the visible and infrared spectrometer (VIR), and the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND). Combining the interpretations from the topography, geomorphology, color and spectral parameters, and elemental abundances, the most probable analog for the orange material on Vesta is impact melt

Lymphome T cutané et systémique traité avec succès par greffe haplo-identique

BACKGROUND: Herein, we report a case of systemic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma refractory to standard therapy, the course of which resulted in haplo-identical bone marrow grafting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 53-year-old woman consulted for facial erythema with infiltration, keratotic lesions on the trunk, and adenopathies measuring around 1cm on the axilla and inguinal folds. A diagnosis was made of Sézary syndrome (SS), a leukaemic form of epidermotropic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. After three years of treatment with methotrexate, the patient developed transformed SS with visceral involvement. Given the high risk of relapse and the absence of an HLA-compatible donor, haploidentical bone marrow grafting was performed. The patient was still in complete remission two and a half years later. The disease course was nevertheless marked by the emergence one year after grafting of a Blaschko-distributed lichenoid eruption having histological features consistent with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); treatment with topical betamethasone proved efficacious. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of haploidentical grafting for systemic and transformed cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. This approach could henceforth represent a therapeutic option for patients requiring an allograft in the absence of compatible donors. The Blaschko-distributed lichenoid lesions attributed to chronic GVHD could be the result of reduced immune tolerance to abnormal embryological clones leading to a T-lymphocyte-mediated inflammatory reaction

41 GHz and 10.6 GHz low threshold and low noise InAs/InP quantum dash two-section mode-locked lasers in L band

International audienceThis paper reports recent results on InAs/InP quantum dash-based, two-section, passively mode- locked lasers pulsing at 41 GHz and 10.6 GHz and emitting at 1.59 lm at 20°C. The 41-GHz device (1 mm long) starts lasing at 25 mA under uniform injection and the 10.6 GHz (4 mm long) at 71 mA. Their output pulses are significantly chirped. The 41-GHz laser exhibits 7 ps pulses after propagation in 60 m of a single-mode fiber. The 10.6-GHz laser generates one picosecond pulses with 545 m of a single-mode fiber. Its single side-band phase noise does not exceed -80 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset, leading to an average timing jitter of 800 fs

Longitudinal Profile Monitor Using Smith-Purcell Radiation: Recent Results from the E-203 Collaboration

TUPC38 - Work supported by seed funding from the John Fell Fund, University of Oxford, Université Paris-Sud, program "Attractivité" and by the ANR under contract ANR-12-JS05-0003-01International audienceWe report on recent measurements made at FACET by the E-203 collaboration to test a longitudinal bunch profile monitor based on Coherent Smith-Purcell radiation. The capacity of this monitor to resolve sub-picosecond bunches will be shown as well as a comparison of profile reconstructed for different beam compression settings. We will also present recent electromagnetic simulations of the interactions between the beam and the grating as well as the expected resolution of such monitor. Comparison between Coherent Smith-Purcell radiation measurement and those made with other techniques will also be discussed. Finally future upgrades of the experiment and steps toward the construction of a single shot longitudinal profile monitor will be presented

Overcoming the Challenges Associated with Image-based Mapping of Small Bodies in Preparation for the OSIRIS-REx Mission to (101955) Bennu

The OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program and is the first U.S. mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth. The most important decision ahead of the OSIRIS-REx team is the selection of a prime sample-site on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu. Mission success hinges on identifying a site that is safe and has regolith that can readily be ingested by the spacecraft's sampling mechanism. To inform this mission-critical decision, the surface of Bennu is mapped using the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite and the images are used to develop several foundational data products. Acquiring the necessary inputs to these data products requires observational strategies that are defined specifically to overcome the challenges associated with mapping a small irregular body. We present these strategies in the context of assessing candidate sample-sites at Bennu according to a framework of decisions regarding the relative safety, sampleability, and scientific value across the asteroid's surface. To create data products that aid these assessments, we describe the best practices developed by the OSIRIS-REx team for image-based mapping of irregular small bodies. We emphasize the importance of using 3D shape models and the ability to work in body-fixed rectangular coordinates when dealing with planetary surfaces that cannot be uniquely addressed by body-fixed latitude and longitude.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures, 2 table

USF-1 Is Critical for Maintaining Genome Integrity in Response to UV-Induced DNA Photolesions

An important function of all organisms is to ensure that their genetic material remains intact and unaltered through generations. This is an extremely challenging task since the cell's DNA is constantly under assault by endogenous and environmental agents. To protect against this, cells have evolved effective mechanisms to recognize DNA damage, signal its presence, and mediate its repair. While these responses are expected to be highly regulated because they are critical to avoid human diseases, very little is known about the regulation of the expression of genes involved in mediating their effects. The Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) is the major DNA–repair process involved in the recognition and removal of UV-mediated DNA damage. Here we use a combination of in vitro and in vivo assays with an intermittent UV-irradiation protocol to investigate the regulation of key players in the DNA–damage recognition step of NER sub-pathways (TCR and GGR). We show an up-regulation in gene expression of CSA and HR23A, which are involved in TCR and GGR, respectively. Importantly, we show that this occurs through a p53 independent mechanism and that it is coordinated by the stress-responsive transcription factor USF-1. Furthermore, using a mouse model we show that the loss of USF-1 compromises DNA repair, which suggests that USF-1 plays an important role in maintaining genomic stability

Mapping Vesta: First Results from Dawn’s Survey Orbit

The geologic objectives of the Dawn Mission [1] are to derive Vesta’s shape, map the surface geology, understand the geological context and contribute to the determination of the asteroids’ origin and evolution.Geomorphology and distribution of surface features will provide evidence for impact cratering, tectonic activity, volcanism, and regolith processes. Spectral measurements of the surface will provide evidence of the compositional characteristics of geological units. Age information, as derived from crater sizefrequency distributions, provides the stratigraphic context for the structural and compositional mapping results, thus revealing the geologic history of Vesta. We present here the first results of the Dawn mission from data collected during the approach to Vesta, and its first discrete orbit phase – the Survey Orbit, which lasts 21 days after the spacecraft had established a circular polar orbit at a radius of ~3000 km with a beta angle of 10°-15°