Signals exchanged between legumes and Rhizobium: agricultural uses and perspectives

Legumes and rhizobia exchange at least three different, but sometimes complementary sets of signals. Amongst the variety of substances normally and continuously secreted into the rhizosphere by plants are phenolic compounds. Flavonoid components of these mixtures are especially active in inducing rhizobial nodulation genes. Many nod-genes exist. Some (e.g., nodD) serve as regulators of transcription, but most code for enzymes involved in the synthesis of a family of lipo-chito-oligosaccharides (LCOs) called Nod-factors. Nod-factors possess hormone-like properties, are key determinants in nodulation, and allow rhizobia to enter the plant. As Nod-factors also stimulate the synthesis and release of flavonoids from legume roots, the response to inoculation is amplified. Once the bacteria enter the plant, other sets of signals are exchanged between the symbionts. These include extra-cellular polysaccharides (EPSs) as well as proteins externalised via type-three secretion systems. These carbohydrates/proteins may be active in invasion of the root. At the time of writing, only flavonoids and Nod-factors have been chemically synthesised and of these only the former are available in large quantities. Field trials in North America show that seed application of flavonoids stimulates nodulation and nitrogen fixation in soybeans grown at low soil temperatures. The biological basis to these responses is discusse

Investigation of the flow inside an urban canopy immersed into an atmospheric boundary layer using laser Doppler anemometry

Laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) is used to investigate the flow inside an idealized urban canopy consisting of a staggered array of cubes with a 25% density immersed into an atmospheric boundary layer with a Reynolds number of δ+=32,300. The boundary layer thickness to cube height ratio (δ/h=22.7) is large enough to be representative of atmospheric surface layer in neutral conditions. The LDA measurements give access to pointwise time-resolved data at several positions inside the canopy (z=h/4, h/2, and h). Synchronized hot-wire measurements above the canopy (inertial region and roughness sublayer) are also realized to get access to interactions between the different flow regions. The wall-normal mean velocity profile and Reynolds stresses show a good agreement with available data in the literature, although some differences are observed on the standard deviation of the spanwise component. A detailed spectral and integral time scale analysis inside the canopy is then carried out. No clear footprint of a periodic vortex shedding on the sides of the cubes could be identified on the power spectra, owing to the multiple cube-to-cube interactions occuring within a canopy with a building density in the wake interference regime. Results also suggest that interactions between the most energetics scales of the boundary layer and those related to the cube canopy take place, leading to a broadening of the energy peak in the spectra within the canopy. This is confirmed by the analysis of coherence results between the flow inside and above the canopy. It is shown that linear interactions mechanisms are significant, but reduced compared to smooth-wall boundary-layer flow. To our knowledge, this is the first time such results are shown on the dynamics of the flow inside an urban canopy

Application of Laser Doppler Anemometry to estimate turbulent power spectra inside an urban canopy

International audienceIn the present contribution, we propose to make use of Laser Doppler Anemometry to investigate the dynamics of the flow inside an urban canopy immersed into a thick turbulent boundary layer. Previous studies dedicated to such flows (Castro et al. 2006; Reynolds and Castro 2008) have focused the core of their analysis on the roughness sublayer region or on the inertial region. In contrast, the region below the canopy interface have received little attention so far, and only mean velocity or Reynolds stresses data can be found in the literature. Indeed, getting access to the dynamics of the flow inside the canopy represents a real experimental challenge: the flow is turbulent, 3-dimensionnal, and due to the tight clearance, only non-intrusive laser-based techniques such as LDA or PIV can be used. In this contribution, for the first time, a spectral analysis of the flow is carried out inside the canopy region. This is made possible thanks to very thorough LDA measurements as well as the use of advanced post-processing algorithm to compute temporal power spectra. Indeed, LDA measurement yields non-equidistantly spaced data points, and standard FFT algorithms cannot be used. A detailed comparison of various algorithms is undertaken, and a slight improvement is proposed to reduce the impact of measurement noise. Finally, the power spectra inside the canopy are analyzed and the main implications on the flow dynamics are discussed

Superconductivity and charge-carrier localization in ultrathin La1.85Sr0.15CuO4/La2CuO4{\mathrm{La}}_{1.85}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.15}{\mathrm{CuO}}_{4}/{\mathrm{La}}_{2}{\mathrm{CuO}}_{4} bilayers

La1.85Sr0.15CuO4/La2CuO4 (LSCO15/LCO) bilayers with a precisely controlled thickness of N unit cells (UCs) of the former and M UCs of the latter ([LSCO15_N/LCO_M]) were grown on (001)-oriented SrLaAlO4 (SLAO) substrates with pulsed laser deposition (PLD). X-ray diffraction and reciprocal space map (RSM) studies confirmed the epitaxial growth of the bilayers and showed that a [LSCO15_2/LCO_2] bilayer is fully strained, whereas a [LSCO15_2/LCO_7] bilayer is already partially relaxed. The in situ monitoring of the growth with reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) revealed that the gas environment during deposition has a surprisingly strong effect on the growth mode and thus on the amount of disorder in the first UC of LSCO15 (or the first two monolayers of LSCO15 containing one CuO2 plane each). For samples grown in pure N2O gas (growth type B), the first LSCO15 UC next to the SLAO substrate is strongly disordered. This disorder is strongly reduced if the growth is performed in a mixture of N2O and O2 gas (growth type A). Electric transport measurements confirmed that the first UC of LSCO15 next to the SLAO substrate is highly resistive and shows no sign of superconductivity for growth type B, whereas it is superconducting for growth type A. Furthermore, we found, rather surprisingly, that the conductivity of the LSCO15 UC next to the LCO capping layer strongly depends on the thickness of the latter. A LCO capping layer with 7 UCs leads to a strong localization of the charge carriers in the adjacent LSCO15 UC and suppresses superconductivity. The magnetotransport data suggest a similarity with the case of weakly hole doped LSCO single crystals that are in a so-called ‘cluster-spin-glass state.’ We discussed several mechanisms that could lead to such a localization of holes that are embedded in a short-range ordered antiferromagnetic background for the case of a thick LCO capping layer with M=7 but not for a thin one with M=2

Testing the efficacy of medium chain fatty acids against rabbit colibacillosis

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) represents a major cause of lethal diarrhea in young mammals. Although the pathogenicity mechanisms of EPEC are now well understood, the intrinsic and environmental factors that control the expression of EPEC virulence remain largely unknown. In the rabbit, suckling reduces pups’ sensitivity to EPEC infection. Hence, we have hypothesized that uncharacterized factors present in doemilkmay mediate this protection. Medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), known to possess antimicrobial properties, are highly abundant in doe milk.We demonstrate that caprylic acid exhibits a clear bacteriostatic effect in vitro against the rabbit EPEC strain E22 (O103:H2:K-), in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo, the dietary inclusion of triglycerides of MCFA did not however reduce the sensitivity of young rabbits challenged with this EPEC strain. The mortality and fecal excretion of EPEC were not reduced, and the bacterial adhesion to ileum was not inhibited. Amount of MCFA reaching the ileal level might have been too low and/or their association to other milk antimicrobials may have been required to observe a positive effect on disease evolution in a context of a highly virulent challenge

Cross-Country Survey on the Decommissioning of Commercial Nuclear Reactors: Status, Insights and Knowledge Gaps

In this survey paper, we bring together the insights from six country case studies on decommissioning commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs). Nuclear decommissioning has often been overlooked in past literature but will gain relevance in future research as more and more NPPs reach the ends of their respective lifetimes. The six countries we selected for our research have commercial nuclear industries that span a wide spectrum in terms of organization, regulation, financial provisions, and production of decommissioning services. Based on the cross comparison of countries and their approaches to decommissioning, we highlight a series of gaps in the existing research that we and other researchers should fill in order to derive best practices for the commercial decommissioning industry

Radiofrequency conical emission from femtosecond filaments in air

International audienceWe show that the broadband conical emission associated with filaments in air extends down to the radiofrequency region. This rf emission which originates from the longitudinal oscillation of charged ions formed during filamentation is strongly enhanced by the presence of a longitudinal static electric field

Damage investigation in CFRP composites using full-field measurement techniques: combination of digital image stereo-correlation, infrared thermography and X-ray tomography

The present work is devoted to damaging process in carbon–fiber reinforced laminated composites. An original experimental approach combining three optical measurement techniques is presented. Image stereo-correlation and infrared thermography, that respectively provide the kinematic and thermal fields on the surface of the composites, are used in live recording during axis and off-axis tensile tests. Special attention is paid to simultaneously conduct these two techniques while avoiding their respective influence. On the other hand, X-ray tomography allows a post-failure analysis of the degradation patterns within the laminates volume. All these techniques are non-destructive (without contact) and offer an interesting full-field investigation of the material response. Their combination allows a coupled analysis of different demonstrations of same degradation mechanisms. For instance, thermal events and densimetric fields show a random location of damage in the early stages of testing. The influence of the material initial anisotropy on damage growth, localization and failure mode can also be clearly put in evidence through various data. In addition to such characterization, this study illustrates at the same time the capabilities of the different full-field techniques and the damage features they can best capture respectively

Application of Laser Doppler Anemometry to estimate turbulent power spectra inside an urban canopy

In the present contribution, we propose to make use of Laser Doppler Anemometry to investigate the dynamics of the flow inside an urban canopy immersed into a thick turbulent boundary layer. Previous studies dedicated to such flows (Castro et al. 2006; Reynolds and Castro 2008) have focused the core of their analysis on the roughness sublayer region or on the inertial region. In contrast, the region below the canopy interface have received little attention so far, and only mean velocity or Reynolds stresses data can be found in the literature. Indeed, getting access to the dynamics of the flow inside the canopy represents a real experimental challenge: the flow is turbulent, 3-dimensionnal, and due to the tight clearance, only non-intrusive laser-based techniques such as LDA or PIV can be used. In this contribution, for the first time, a spectral analysis of the flow is carried out inside the canopy region. This is made possible thanks to very thorough LDA measurements as well as the use of advanced post-processing algorithm to compute temporal power spectra. Indeed, LDA measurement yields non-equidistantly spaced data points, and standard FFT algorithms cannot be used. A detailed comparison of various algorithms is undertaken, and a slight improvement is proposed to reduce the impact of measurement noise. Finally, the power spectra inside the canopy are analyzed and the main implications on the flow dynamics are discussed

X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of the electronic and magnetic proximity effects in YBa2Cu3O7/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3{\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}/{\mathrm{La}}_{2/3}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{1/3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3} and {\mathrm{La}}_{2-{}x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{x}{\mathrm{CuO}}_{4}/{\mathrm{La}}_{2/3}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{1/3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3} multilayers

With x-ray absorption spectroscopy we investigated the orbital reconstruction and the induced ferromagnetic moment of the interfacial Cu atoms in YBa2Cu3O7/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (YBCO/LCMO) and La2−xSrxCuO4/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (LSCO/LCMO) multilayers. We demonstrate that these electronic and magnetic proximity effects are coupled and are common to these cuprate/manganite multilayers. Moreover, we show that they are closely linked to a specific interface termination with a direct Cu-O-Mn bond. We furthermore show that the intrinsic hole doping of the cuprate layers and the local strain due to the lattice mismatch between the cuprate and manganite layers are not of primary importance. These findings underline the central role of the covalent bonding at the cuprate/manganite interface in defining the spin-electronic properties