Three distinct sarcomeric patterns of skeletal muscle revealed by SHG and TPEF microscopy.

International audienceWe have extensively characterized the sarcomeric SHG signal as a function of animal species (rat versus xenopus), age (adult versus larval) and tissue preparation (fixed or fresh) and we found that the main feature of this signal is a single peak per mature sarcomere (about 85% of all sarcomeres). The remaining (15%) was found to be either double peak per mature sarcomere or mini sarcomeres (half of a sarcomere) using alpha-actinin immuno detection of the Z-band. The mini sarcomeres are often found in region of pitchfork-like SHG pattern. We suggest that double peak SHG pattern could indicate regions of sarcomeric proteolysis whereas pitchfork-like SHG pattern could reveal sarcomeric assembly

WDPI 2010 - Work Disability Prevention and Integration

International audienceno abstrac

PREMUS 2010 - 7e conférence scientifique internationale sur la prévention des troubles musculosquelettiques

Après Boston en 2007, le congrès PREMUS 2010 (Seventh International Scientific Conference on Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders) s\u27est déroulé en France pour la première fois depuis sa création en 1992. Il s\u27agit du principal congrès international sur les troubles musculosquelettiques (TMS) qui regroupe, tous les trois ans, sous l\u27égide de l\u27International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH - CIST), les spécialistes internationaux du sujet (biomécaniciens, physiologistes, épidémiologistes, médecins du travail, ergonomes, préventeurs, cliniciens, psychologues, sociologues, spécialistes de gestion, etc.). Plus de 650 chercheurs et préventeurs de 40 pays ont participé à ce congrès scientifique de haut niveau qui tient aussi lieu de forum international pour les acteurs de la prévention des TMS des membres et du rachis. Après une présentation des principaux thèmes abordés au cours de la semaine, une sélection des sujets qui ont particulièrement marqué cette 7e conférence est développée

Early detection of invasion risk by exotic plant species introduced in forest arboretum in south-eastern France. Emergence of species of the genus Hakea. Measures for management

L’acclimatation d’espèces végétales exotiques dans le sud-est de la France, en particulier depuis la 2ème moitié du XIXème siècle, a contribué à la domestication d’espèces sauvages destinées à l’horticulture ornementale, l’industrie de la parfumerie ou le paysage. Quelques espèces exotiques se sont naturalisées ; certaines sont devenues envahissantes et impactent la flore indigène à fort taux d’endémisme de cette région. La détection précoce d’espèces en cours de naturalisation et l’évaluation des risques d’invasion biologique permettent d’alerter les politiques publiques pour la mise en place d’opérations de contrôle ou d’éradication. La question est posée pour des espèces végétales ligneuses introduites à partir de 1973 dans un arboretum forestier du massif de l’Estérel. Sur 400 espèces plantées initialement, 13 se naturalisent, parmi lesquelles plusieurs espèces du genre Hakea (Proteaceae), originaires d’Australie. L’objectif de cette étude était de rassembler les données utiles à l’évaluation du risque d’invasion: traits de reproduction, banque de graines, modalités de dispersion, histoire de l’introduction. L’analyse de risque a confirmé que plusieurs espèces peuvent devenir une menace pour l’environnement si elles se naturalisent à l’extérieur de l’arboretum. Deux d’entre elles (Hakea salicifolia (Vent.) B.L. Burtt et Hakea sericea Schrad. & J.C. Wendl.) ont déjà un statut d’espèces exotiques envahissantes dans d’autres pays méditerranéens. L’étude a conduit à la réalisation d’un itinéraire technique et à la sensibilisation des opérateurs locaux pour mettre en place des actions de contrôle. La méthode pourra être appliquée à d’autres arboretums, en particulier ceux qui sont situés en région méditerranéenneThe introduction and acclimatization of exotic plant species in the South-East of France, in particular since the second half of the nineteenth century, have contributed to the domestication of wild species used in ornamental horticulture, perfume industry and landscape. A few species have naturalized, some have become invasive and are impacting the highly endemic indigenous flora. Early detection of naturalizing species and evaluation of biological invasion risk are useful for control or eradication operations. The question arises for woody plant species introduced since 1973 in a forest arboretum of the Esterel Mountains. Out of 400 species planted initially, 13 are naturalizing, among which several species of Hakea genus (Proteaceae) native of Australia. This study aims to assemble useful data for the invasion risk evaluation. These data include reproduction traits, seed bank, dispersion system and introduction history. Risk analysis confirmed that several species can become a threat to the environment if they naturalize outside the arboretum. Two of them (Hakea salicifolia (Vent.) B.L. Burtt and Hakea sericea Schrad. & J.C. Wendl.) already have an invasive status in other Mediterranean countries. Studies lead to the production of a technical itinerary and to the local operators’ awareness to organize control. This method could be applied to other arboretums, especially those situated in the Mediterranean region

The genus <i>Elaphomyces </i>(<i>Ascomycota</i>, <i>Eurotiales</i>):a ribosomal DNA-based phylogeny and revised systematics of European 'deer truffles'

Elaphomyces (‘deer truffles’) is one of the most important ectomycorrhizal fungal genera in temperate and subarctic forest ecosystems, but also one of the least documented in public databases. The current systematics are mainly based on macromorphology, and is not significantly different from that proposed by Vittadini (1831). Within the 49 species recognised worldwide, 23 were originally described from Europe and 17 of these were described before the 20th century. Moreover, very recent phylogenetic treatments of the genus are mainly based on a few extra-European species and most common European species are still poorly documented. Based on an extensive taxonomic sampling mainly made in the biogeographically rich Cantabrian area (Spain), complemented with collections from France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, all currently recognized species in Europe have been sequenced at the ITS and 28S of the rDNA. Combined phylogenetic analyses yielded molecular support to sections Elaphomyces and Ceratogaster (here emended), while a third, basal lineage encompasses the sections Malacodermei and Ascoscleroderma as well as the tropical genus Pseudotulostoma. Species limits are discussed and some taxa formerly proposed as genuine species based on morphology and biogeography are re-evaluated as varieties or forms. Spore size and ornamentation, features of the peridial surface, structure of the peridium, and the presence of mycelium patches attached to the peridial surface emerge as the most significant systematic characters. Four new species: E. barrioi, E. quercicola, E. roseolus and E. violaceoniger, one new variety: E. papillatus var. sulphureopallidus, and two new forms: E. granulatus forma pallidosporus and E. anthracinus forma talosporus are introduced, as well as four new combinations in the genus: E. muricatus var. reticulatus, E. muricatus var. variegatus, E. papillatus var. striatosporus and E. morettii var. cantabricus. Lectotypes and epitypes are designated for most recognised species. For systematic purposes, new infrageneric taxa are introduced: E. sect. Ascoscleroderma stat. nov., E. subsect. Sclerodermei stat. nov., E. subsect. Maculati subsect. nov., E. subsect. Muricati subsect. nov., and E. subsect. Papillati subsect. nov. Lastly, E. laevigatus, E. sapidus, E. sulphureopallidus and E. trappei are excluded from the genus and referred to Rhizopogon roseolus, Astraeus sapidus comb. nov., Astraeus hygrometricus and Terfezia trappei comb. nov. (syn.: Terfezia cistophila), respectively

Polychromatic guide star: feasibility study

International audienceAdaptive optics at astronomical telescopes aims at correcting in real time the phase corrugations of incoming wavefronts caused by the turbulent atmosphere, as early proposed by Babcock. Measuring the phase errors requires a bright source located within the isoplanatic patch of the program source. The probability that such a reference source exists is a function of the wavelength, of the required image quality (Strehl ratio), of the turbulence optical properties, and of the direction of the observation. It turns out that the sky coverage is disastrously low in particular in the visible wavelength range where, unfortunately, the gain in spatial resolution brought by adaptive optics is the largest. Foy and Labeyrie have proposed to overcome this difficulty by creating an artificial point source in the sky in the direction of the observation relying on the backscattered light due to a laser beam. This laser guide star (hereinafter referred to as LGS) can be bright enough to allow us to accurately measure the wavefront phase errors, except for two modes which are the piston (not relevant in this case) and the tilt. Pilkington has emphasized that the round trip time of the laser beam to the mesosphere, where the LGS is most often formed, is significantly shorter than the typical tilt coherence time; then the inverse-return-of-light principle causes deflections of the outgoing and the ingoing beams to cancel. The apparent direction of the LGS is independent of the tilt. Therefore the tilt cannot be measured only from the LGS. Until now, the way to overcome this difficulty has been to use a natural guide star to sense the tilt. Although the tilt is sensed through the entire telescope pupil, one cannot use a faint source because $APEX 90% of the variance of the phase error is in the tilt. Therefore, correcting the tilt requires a higher accuracy of the measurements than for higher orders of the wavefront. Hence current adaptive optics devices coupled with a LGS face low sky coverage. Several methods have been proposed to get a partial sky coverage for the tilt. The only one providing us with a full sky coverage is the polychromatic LGS (hereafter referred to as PLGS). We present here a progress report of the R&D; program Etoile Laser Polychromatique et Optique Adaptative (ELP-OA) carried out in France to develop the PLGS concept. After a short recall of the principles of the PLGS, we will review the goal of ELP-OA and the steps to get over to bring it into play. We finally shortly described the effort in Europe to develop the LGS

Polychromatic guide star: feasibility study

International audienceAdaptive optics at astronomical telescopes aims at correcting in real time the phase corrugations of incoming wavefronts caused by the turbulent atmosphere, as early proposed by Babcock. Measuring the phase errors requires a bright source located within the isoplanatic patch of the program source. The probability that such a reference source exists is a function of the wavelength, of the required image quality (Strehl ratio), of the turbulence optical properties, and of the direction of the observation. It turns out that the sky coverage is disastrously low in particular in the visible wavelength range where, unfortunately, the gain in spatial resolution brought by adaptive optics is the largest. Foy and Labeyrie have proposed to overcome this difficulty by creating an artificial point source in the sky in the direction of the observation relying on the backscattered light due to a laser beam. This laser guide star (hereinafter referred to as LGS) can be bright enough to allow us to accurately measure the wavefront phase errors, except for two modes which are the piston (not relevant in this case) and the tilt. Pilkington has emphasized that the round trip time of the laser beam to the mesosphere, where the LGS is most often formed, is significantly shorter than the typical tilt coherence time; then the inverse-return-of-light principle causes deflections of the outgoing and the ingoing beams to cancel. The apparent direction of the LGS is independent of the tilt. Therefore the tilt cannot be measured only from the LGS. Until now, the way to overcome this difficulty has been to use a natural guide star to sense the tilt. Although the tilt is sensed through the entire telescope pupil, one cannot use a faint source because $APEX 90% of the variance of the phase error is in the tilt. Therefore, correcting the tilt requires a higher accuracy of the measurements than for higher orders of the wavefront. Hence current adaptive optics devices coupled with a LGS face low sky coverage. Several methods have been proposed to get a partial sky coverage for the tilt. The only one providing us with a full sky coverage is the polychromatic LGS (hereafter referred to as PLGS). We present here a progress report of the R&D; program Etoile Laser Polychromatique et Optique Adaptative (ELP-OA) carried out in France to develop the PLGS concept. After a short recall of the principles of the PLGS, we will review the goal of ELP-OA and the steps to get over to bring it into play. We finally shortly described the effort in Europe to develop the LGS

Worldwide tests of generic attractants, a promising tool for early detection of non-native cerambycid species

A large proportion of the insects which have invaded new regions and countries are emerging species, being found for the first time outside their native range. Being able to detect such species upon arrival at ports of entry before they establish in non-native countries is an urgent challenge. The deployment of traps baited with broad-spectrum semiochemical lures at ports-of-entry and other high-risk sites could be one such early detection tool. Rapid progress in the identification of semiochemicals for cerambycid beetles during the last 15 years has revealed that aggregation-sex pheromones and sex pheromones are often conserved at global levels for genera, tribes or subfamilies of the Cerambycidae. This possibly allows the development of generic attractants which attract multiple species simultaneously, especially when such pheromones are combined into blends. Here, we present the results of a worldwide field trial programme conducted during 2018-2021, using traps baited with a standardised 8-pheromone blend, usually com-plemented with plant volatiles. A total of 1308 traps were deployed at 302 sites covering simultaneously or sequentially 13 European countries, 10 Chinese provinces and some regions of the USA, Canada, Australia, Russia (Siberia) and the Caribbean (Martinique). We intended to test the following hypotheses: 1) if a species is regularly trapped in significant numbers by the blend on a continent, it increases the prob-ability that it can be detected when it arrives in other countries/continents and 2) if the blend exerts an effective, generic attraction to multiple species, it is likely that previously unknown and unexpected spe-cies can be captured due to the high degree of conservation of pheromone structures within related taxa. A total of 78,321 longhorned beetles were trapped, representing 376 species from eight subfamilies, with 84 species captured in numbers greater than 50 individuals. Captures comprised 60 tribes, with 10 tribes including more than nine species trapped on different continents. Some invasive species were captured in both the native and invaded continents. This demonstrates the potential of multipheromone lures as ef-fective tools for the detection of 'unexpected' cerambycid invaders, accidentally translocated outside their native ranges. Adding new pheromones with analogous well-conserved motifs is discussed, as well as the limitations of using such blends, especially for some cerambycid taxa which may be more attracted by the trap colour or other characteristics rather than to the chemical blend

Roadmap on Photovoltaic Absorber Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion

Photovoltaics (PVs) are a critical technology for curbing growing levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and meeting increases in future demand for low-carbon electricity. In order to fulfil ambitions for net-zero carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emissions worldwide, the global cumulative capacity of solar PVs must increase by an order of magnitude from 0.9 TWp in 2021 to 8.5 TWp by 2050 according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is considered to be a highly conservative estimate. In 2020, the Henry Royce Institute brought together the UK PV community to discuss the critical technological and infrastructure challenges that need to be overcome to address the vast challenges in accelerating PV deployment. Herein, we examine the key developments in the global community, especially the progress made in the field since this earlier roadmap, bringing together experts primarily from the UK across the breadth of the photovoltaics community. The focus is both on the challenges in improving the efficiency, stability and levelized cost of electricity of current technologies for utility-scale PVs, as well as the fundamental questions in novel technologies that can have a significant impact on emerging markets, such as indoor PVs, space PVs, and agrivoltaics. We discuss challenges in advanced metrology and computational tools, as well as the growing synergies between PVs and solar fuels, and offer a perspective on the environmental sustainability of the PV industry. Through this roadmap, we emphasize promising pathways forward in both the short- and long-term, and for communities working on technologies across a range of maturity levels to learn from each other.Comment: 160 pages, 21 figure