1980. L’encyclopédie en colonne

«Ce n’est pas parce qu’il y a chiottes dans Le petit Robert ou gogues qu’il est meilleur.» Alain Rey n’a pas attendu de participer à un morceau de rap en 2007 pour témoigner d’une certaine truculence, puisque ces paroles sont extraites du 249e numéro d’Apostrophes, diffusé le 12 septembre 1980. Le magazine de Bernard Pivot était consacré en cette occasion à «la Guerre des dictionnaires», expression dont on userait plus spontanément pour qualifier, au XIXe siècle, la lutte entre Émile Littré e..

Chemical and physical influences on aerosol activation in liquid clouds: a study based on observations from the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

A simple statistical model to predict the number of aerosols which activate to form cloud droplets in warm clouds has been established, based on regression analysis of data from four summertime Cloud and Aerosol Characterisation Experiments (CLACE) at the high-altitude site Jungfraujoch (JFJ). It is shown that 79 % of the observed variance in droplet numbers can be represented by a model accounting only for the number of potential cloud condensation nuclei (defined as number of particles larger than 80 nm in diameter), while the mean errors in the model representation may be reduced by the addition of further explanatory variables, such as the mixing ratios of O3, CO, and the height of the measurements above cloud base. The statistical model has a similar ability to represent the observed droplet numbers in each of the individual years, as well as for the two predominant local wind directions at the JFJ (northwest and southeast). Given the central European location of the JFJ, with air masses in summer being representative of the free troposphere with regular boundary layer in-mixing via convection, we expect that this statistical model is generally applicable to warm clouds under conditions where droplet formation is aerosol limited (i.e. at relatively high updraught velocities and/or relatively low aerosol number concentrations). A comparison between the statistical model and an established microphysical parametrization shows good agreement between the two and supports the conclusion that cloud droplet formation at the JFJ is predominantly controlled by the number concentration of aerosol particles

Serotonin transporter-deficient mice display enhanced adipose tissue inflammation after chronic high-fat diet feeding.

INTRODUCTION Serotonin is involved in leukocyte recruitment during inflammation. Deficiency of the serotonin transporter (SERT) is associated with metabolic changes in humans and mice. A possible link and interaction between the inflammatory effects of serotonin and metabolic derangements in SERT-deficient mice has not been investigated so far. METHODS SERT-deficient (Sert -/-) and wild type (WT) mice were fed a high-fat diet, starting at 8 weeks of age. Metabolic phenotyping (metabolic caging, glucose and insulin tolerance testing, body and organ weight measurements, qPCR, histology) and assessment of adipose tissue inflammation (flow cytometry, histology, qPCR) were carried out at the end of the 19-week high-fat diet feeding period. In parallel, Sert -/- and WT mice received a control diet and were analyzed either at the time point equivalent to high-fat diet feeding or as early as 8-11 weeks of age for baseline characterization. RESULTS After 19 weeks of high-fat diet, Sert -/- and WT mice displayed similar whole-body and fat pad weights despite increased relative weight gain due to lower starting body weight in Sert -/-. In obese Sert -/- animals insulin resistance and liver steatosis were enhanced as compared to WT animals. Leukocyte accumulation and mRNA expression of cytokine signaling mediators were increased in epididymal adipose tissue of obese Sert -/- mice. These effects were associated with higher adipose tissue mRNA expression of the chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 and presence of monocytosis in blood with an increased proportion of pro-inflammatory Ly6C+ monocytes. By contrast, Sert -/- mice fed a control diet did not display adipose tissue inflammation. DISCUSSION Our observations suggest that SERT deficiency in mice is associated with inflammatory processes that manifest as increased adipose tissue inflammation upon chronic high-fat diet feeding due to enhanced leukocyte recruitment

Chemical and physical influences on aerosol activation in liquid clouds: a study based on observations from the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

A simple statistical model to predict the number of aerosols which activate to form cloud droplets in warm clouds has been established, based on regression analysis of data from four summertime Cloud and Aerosol Characterisation Experiments (CLACE) at the high-altitude site Jungfraujoch (JFJ). It is shown that 79 % of the observed variance in droplet numbers can be represented by a model accounting only for the number of potential cloud condensation nuclei (defined as number of particles larger than 80 nm in diameter), while the mean errors in the model representation may be reduced by the addition of further explanatory variables, such as the mixing ratios of O3, CO, and the height of the measurements above cloud base. The statistical model has a similar ability to represent the observed droplet numbers in each of the individual years, as well as for the two predominant local wind directions at the JFJ (northwest and southeast). Given the central European location of the JFJ, with air masses in summer being representative of the free troposphere with regular boundary layer in-mixing via convection, we expect that this statistical model is generally applicable to warm clouds under conditions where droplet formation is aerosol limited (i.e. at relatively high updraught velocities and/or relatively low aerosol number concentrations). A comparison between the statistical model and an established microphysical parametrization shows good agreement between the two and supports the conclusion that cloud droplet formation at the JFJ is predominantly controlled by the number concentration of aerosol particles

The Time to Offer Treatments for COVID-19

Introduction: COVID-19 has several overlapping phases. Treatment has focused on the late stage of the disease in hospital. Yet, the continuation of the pandemic is by propagation of the disease in outpatients. The current public health strategy relies solely on vaccines to prevent disease. Areas Covered: We searched the major national registries, pubmed.org, and the preprint servers for all ongoing, completed and published trial results with subject numbers of 100 or more on, and used a targeted search to find announcements of unpublished trial results. As of 2/15/2021, we found 111 publications reporting findings in human studies on 14 classes of agents, and on 9 vaccines. There were 62 randomized controlled studies, the rest retrospective observational analyses. Only 21 publications dealt with outpatient care, the rest all in hospitalized patients. Remdesivir and convalescent plasma have emergency use authorization for hospitalized patients in the U.S.A. There is also support for glucocorticoid treatment of the COVID-19 respiratory distress syndrome. Monoclonal antibodies are authorized for outpatients, but the supply is inadequate to treat all at time of diagnosis. Favipiravir, ivermectin, and interferons are approved in certain countries Expert Opinion: Worldwide vaccination is now underway. Vaccines and antibodies are highly antigen specific and new variants are appearing. There is a need for treatment of outpatients who contract the disease, in addition to mass immunization. We call on public health authorities to authorize treatments with known low risk and potential benefit for use in parallel with mass immunization

Standardization of in vitro digestibility and DIAAS method based on the static INFOGEST protocol

Background: The FAO recommends the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) as the measure for protein quality, for which the true ileal digestibility needs to be assessed in humans or pigs. However, due to high costs and ethical concerns, the FAO strongly encourages as well the development of validated in vitro methods, which complement the in vivo experiments. Method: Recently, an in vitro workflow, based on the validated static INFOGEST protocol, was developed and compared towards in vivo data. In parallel to the validation with in vivo data, the repeatability and reproducibility of the in vitro protocol were tested in an international ring trial (RT) with the aim to establish an international ISO standard method within the International Dairy Federation (IDF). Five different dairy products (skim milk powder, whole milk powder, whey protein isolate, yoghurt, and cheese) were analyzed in 32 different laboratories from 18 different countries, across 4 continents. Results: in vitro protein digestibilities based on Nitrogen, free R-NH2, and total amino acids as well as DIAAS values were calculated and compared to in vivo data, where available. Conclusion: The in vitro method is suited for quantification of digestibility and will be further implemented to other food matricesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The CHEOPS mission

The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) was selected in 2012, as the first small mission in the ESA Science Programme and successfully launched in December 2019. CHEOPS is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with important contributions by ten additional ESA Member States. CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to search for transits of exoplanets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. As a follow-up mission, CHEOPS is mainly dedicated to improving, whenever possible, existing radii measurements or provide first accurate measurements for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys and to following phase curves. CHEOPS will provide prime targets for future spectroscopic atmospheric characterisation. Requirements on the photometric precision and stability have been derived for stars with magnitudes ranging from 6 to 12 in the V band. In particular, CHEOPS shall be able to detect Earth-size planets transiting G5 dwarf stars in the magnitude range between 6 and 9 by achieving a photometric precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration. For K stars in the magnitude range between 9 and 12, CHEOPS shall be able to detect transiting Neptune-size planets achieving a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours of integration. This is achieved by using a single, frame-transfer, back-illuminated CCD detector at the focal plane assembly of a 33.5 cm diameter telescope. The 280 kg spacecraft has a pointing accuracy of about 1 arcsec rms and orbits on a sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude. The nominal mission lifetime is 3.5 years. During this period, 20% of the observing time is available to the community through a yearly call and a discretionary time programme managed by ESA.Comment: Submitted to Experimental Astronom

A pair of Sub-Neptunes transiting the bright K-dwarf TOI-1064 characterised with CHEOPS

Funding: TGW, ACC, and KH acknowledge support from STFC consolidated grant numbers ST/R000824/1 and ST/V000861/1, and UKSA grant ST/R003203/1.We report the discovery and characterization of a pair of sub-Neptunes transiting the bright K-dwarf TOI-1064 (TIC 79748331), initially detected in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry. To characterize the system, we performed and retrieved the CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS), TESS, and ground-based photometry, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) high-resolution spectroscopy, and Gemini speckle imaging. We characterize the host star and determine Teff,⋆=4734±67K⁠, R⋆=0.726±0.007R⊙⁠, and M⋆=0.748±0.032M⊙⁠. We present a novel detrending method based on point spread function shape-change modelling and demonstrate its suitability to correct flux variations in CHEOPS data. We confirm the planetary nature of both bodies and find that TOI-1064 b has an orbital period of Pb = 6.44387 ± 0.00003 d, a radius of Rb = 2.59 ± 0.04 R⊕, and a mass of Mb=13.5+1.7−1.8 M⊕, whilst TOI-1064 c has an orbital period of Pc=12.22657+0.00005−0.00004 d, a radius of Rc = 2.65 ± 0.04 R⊕, and a 3σ upper mass limit of 8.5 M⊕. From the high-precision photometry we obtain radius uncertainties of ∼1.6 per cent, allowing us to conduct internal structure and atmospheric escape modelling. TOI-1064 b is one of the densest, well-characterized sub-Neptunes, with a tenuous atmosphere that can be explained by the loss of a primordial envelope following migration through the protoplanetary disc. It is likely that TOI-1064 c has an extended atmosphere due to the tentative low density, however further radial velocities are needed to confirm this scenario and the similar radii, different masses nature of this system. The high-precision data and modelling of TOI-1064 b are important for planets in this region of mass–radius space, and it allow us to identify a trend in bulk density–stellar metallicity for massive sub-Neptunes that may hint at the formation of this population of planets.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl