137 research outputs found

    Variations sur un thème de Biot - Une nouvelle formulation déplacement pour les matériaux poreux

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    Une nouvelle formulation du modèle de Biot pour les matériaux poroélastiques est ici proposée, cette formulation diffère par le choix des coordonnées généralisées. Elles sont choisies de manière à simplifier l'expression de l'énergie de déformation. Il est à noter qu'aucune hypothèse supplémentaire n'est ainsi formulée. Cette simplification du formalisme est étendue aux résultats classiques de la théorie de Biot. Une adaptation rigoureuse des modèles fluide équivalent et limp découle alors naturellement du nouveau formalisme. Il est aussi montré que dans le cas particulier de matériaux acoustiques, des simplifications additionnelles du formalisme peuvent être obtenues

    Influence of constructive options on the vibro-acoustic behavior of a wooden lightweight structure

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    This paper aims to present the influence of several constructive options on the vibro-acoustic behavior of a wooden lightweight structure. The experiemental protocol, which was optimised and described in an preceeding paper, allows us to quantify the influence of these constructive options in terms of acoustic level and isolation, eigenfrequencies and vibration mode shapes of the different parts of the structure. The results of this work are coherent and confirmed that the experimental test protocol is functional and repeatable

    An ant-plant mutualism induces shifts in the protist community structure of a tank-bromeliad

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    Although ants may induce community-wide effects via changes in physical habitats in terrestrial environments, their influence on aquatic communities living in plant-held waters remains largely underexplored. The neotropical tank-bromeliad Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) occurs along forest edges in ant-gardens initiated by Camponotus femoratus or by Pachycondyla goeldii. Its leaves form wells that hold rainwater and provide suitable habitats for many aquatic organisms. We postulated that these ant-plant mutualisms indirectly affect the microbial community structure via changes in the environmental conditions experienced by the plants. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the protist communities from 63 tank-bromeliads associated with either C. femoratus or P. goeldii (hereafter Cf-Aechmea and Pg-Aechmea) along a forest edge in French Guiana. For each plant, a large number of environmental variables (including habitat structure, food resources, incident radiation and the presence of aquatic invertebrates) were quantified to determine their relative importance in driving any observed differences across ant-associated plants. Pg-Aechmea are located in sun-exposed areas and hold low volumes of water and low amounts of detritus, whereas Cf-Aechmea are located in partially shaded areas and accumulate higher amounts of water and detritus. Protists (i.e., protozoa and algae) inhabiting Cf-Aechmea exhibit greater richness and abundances than those in Pg-Aechmea. Variations in detritus content, number of leaves, incident radiation, and the epiphyte richness of the ant-garden were the main factors explaining the variation in protist richness. A shift in the functional group composition of protists between bromeliads tended by different ant species suggested that mutualistic ants indirectly mediate changes in the microbial food web

    Rayonnement acoustique de structures de type ossature bois : comparaison entre méthode éléments finis et formulation intégrale

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    Un des points délicats de la construction bois se situe au niveau de l'isolation acoustique des planchers bois. L'objectif de cette article est de déterminer le rayonnement acoustique de ce type de structures (légères et nervurées). Deux méthodes sont présentés, l'une modélisant, par éléments finis, le domaine global (structure in-vivo) et son couplage, l'autre exploitant une méthode combinée (élément finis et formulation intégrale) sur la structure in-vacuo. Un code éléments finis sous licence libre (FreeFem++) est employé dans cette étude en comparaison avec un des codes commerciaux

    Food-web structure in relation to environmental gradients and predator-prey ratios in tank-bromeliad ecosystems

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    Little is known of how linkage patterns between species change along environmental gradients. The small, spatially discrete food webs inhabiting tank-bromeliads provide an excellent opportunity to analyse patterns of community diversity and food-web topology (connectance, linkage density, nestedness) in relation to key environmental variables (habitat size, detrital resource, incident radiation) and predators: prey ratios. We sampled 365 bromeliads in a wide range of understorey environments in French Guiana and used gut contents of invertebrates to draw the corresponding 365 connectance webs. At the bromeliad scale, habitat size (water volume) determined the number of species that constitute food-web nodes, the proportion of predators, and food-web topology. The number of species as well as the proportion of predators within bromeliads declined from open to forested habitats, where the volume of water collected by bromeliads was generally lower because of rainfall interception by the canopy. A core group of microorganisms and generalist detritivores remained relatively constant across environments. This suggests that (i) a highly-connected core ensures food-web stability and key ecosystem functions across environments, and (ii) larger deviations in food-web structures can be expected following disturbance if detritivores share traits that determine responses to environmental changes. While linkage density and nestedness were lower in bromeliads in the forest than in open areas, experiments are needed to confirm a trend for lower food-web stability in the understorey of primary forests

    Heat Balanced Bolometer with Sigma-Delta Interface

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    International audienceThis paper presents a single-loop 2nd order sigmadelta interface circuit for a bolometer operating in closed-loop mode. Switched capacitor circuitry is developed to implement the sigma-delta structure. The sigma-delta modulator acts both as digital readout circuit and as a mean of heat feedback. The design approach of the sigma-delta structure and the feedback shaping is explained. The circuit is designed for a realization in AMS CMOS 0.35ÎĽm technology

    Highly Variable Sialylation Status of Donor-Specific Antibodies Does Not Impact Humoral Rejection Outcomes

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    Clinical outcome in antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) shows high inter-individual heterogeneity. Sialylation status of the Fc fragment of IgGs is variable, which could modulate their ability to bind to C1q and/or Fc receptors. In this translational study, we evaluated whether DSA sialylation influence AMR outcomes. Among 938 kidney transplant recipients for whom a graft biopsy was performed between 2004 and 2012 at Lyon University Hospitals, 69 fulfilled the diagnosis criteria for AMR and were enrolled. Sera banked at the time of the biopsy were screened for the presence of DSA by Luminex. The sialylation status of total IgG and DSA was quantified using Sambucus nigra agglutinin-based chromatography. All patients had similar levels of sialylation of serum IgGs (~2%). In contrast, the proportion of sialylated DSA were highly variable (median = 9%; range = 0–100%), allowing to distribute the patients in two groups: high DSA sialylation (n = 44; 64%) and low DSA sialylation (n = 25; 36%). The two groups differed neither on the intensity of rejection lesions (C4d, ptc, and g; p > 0.05) nor on graft survival rates (Log rank test, p = 0.99). in vitro models confirmed the lack of impact of Fc sialylation on the ability of a monoclonal antibody to trigger classical complement cascade and activate NK cells. We conclude that DSA sialylation status is highly variable but has not impact on DSA pathogenicity and AMR outcome

    Immune Responses Elicited in Tertiary Lymphoid Tissues Display Distinctive Features

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    During chronic inflammation, immune effectors progressively organize themselves into a functional tertiary lymphoid tissue (TLT) within the targeted organ. TLT has been observed in a wide range of chronic inflammatory conditions but its pathophysiological significance remains unknown. We used the rat aortic interposition model in which a TLT has been evidenced in the adventitia of chronically rejected allografts one month after transplantation. The immune responses elicited in adventitial TLT and those taking place in spleen and draining lymph nodes (LN) were compared in terms of antibody production, T cell activation and repertoire perturbations. The anti-MHC humoral response was more intense and more diverse in TLT. This difference was associated with an increased percentage of activated CD4+ T cells and a symmetric reduction of regulatory T cell subsets. Moreover, TCR repertoire perturbations in TLT were not only increased and different from the common pattern observed in spleen and LN but also “stochastic,” since each recipient displayed a specific pattern. We propose that the abnormal activation of CD4+ T cells promotes the development of an exaggerated pathogenic immune humoral response in TLT. Preliminary findings suggest that this phenomenon i) is due to a defective immune regulation in this non-professional inflammatory-induced lymphoid tissue, and ii) also occurs in human chronically rejected grafts

    Environmental determinants of macroinvertebrate diversity in small water bodies: insights from tank-bromeliads

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    The interlocking leaves of tank-forming bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) collect rainwater and detritus, thus creating a freshwater habitat for specialized organisms. Their abundance and the possibility of quantifying communities with accuracy give us unparalleled insight into how changes in local to regional environments influence community diversity in small water bodies. We sampled 365 bromeliads (365 invertebrate communities) along a southeastern to northwestern range in French Guiana. Geographic locality determined the species pool for bromeliad invertebrates, and local environments determined the abundance patterns through the selection of traits that are best adapted to the bromeliad habitats. Patterns in community structure mostly emerged from patterns of predator species occurrence and abundance across local-regional environments, while the set of detritivores remained constant. Water volume had a strong positive correlation with invertebrate diversity, making it a biologically relevant measure of the pools' carrying capacity. The significant effects of incoming detritus and incident light show that changes in local environments (e.g., the conversion of forest to cropping systems) strongly influence freshwater communities. Because changes in local environments do not affect detritivores and predators equally, one may expect functional shifts as sets of invertebrates with particular traits are replaced or complemented by other sets with different traits
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