G protein-coupled oestrogen receptor 1, oestrogen receptors and androgen receptor in the sand rat (Psammomys obesus) efferent ducts

Background: The efferent ducts are mainly involved in the reabsorption of the seminiferous tubular fluid. Testosterone and oestrogens regulate efferent ducts functions via their receptors.Materials and methods: This paper presents an experimental investigation on the location of the P450 aromatase, the 17-b oestradiol (E2), the androgen receptor (AR), the oestrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), the oestrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) and the G protein-coupled oestrogen receptor 1 (GPER1) in the efferent ducts using Psammomys obesus as an animal model to highlight the effect of the season on the histology and the distribution of these receptors.Results: We observed a proliferation of the connective tissue, decreasing in the height of the epithelium during the resting season compared to the breeding season. Ciliated cells expressed P450 aromatase, AR, E2, ESR1, ESR2 and GPER1 during both seasons. Basal cells showed a positive staining for the ESR1 and the GPER1 during both season, the AR and E2 during the breeding season and ESR2 during the resting season.Conclusions: Our result shows that the expression of androgen receptor and oestrogen receptors in the efferent ducts vary by season witch suggest that they are largely involved in the regulation of the efferent ducts functions

Crustal and basin evolution of the southwestern Barents Sea: from Caledonian orogeny to continental breakup

A new generation of aeromagnetic data documents the post-Caledonide rift evolution of the southwestern Barents Sea (SWBS) from the Norwegian mainland up to the continent-ocean transition. We propose a geological and tectonic scenario of the SWBS in which the Caledonian nappes and thrust sheets, well-constrained onshore, swing from a NE-SW trend onshore Norway to NW-SE/NNW-SSE across the SWBS platform area. On the Finnmark and Bjarmeland platforms, the dominant inherited magnetic basement pattern may also reflect the regional and post-Caledonian development of the late Paleozoic basins. Farther west, the pre-breakup rift system is characterized by the Loppa and Stappen Highs, which are interpreted as a series of rigid continental blocks (ribbons) poorly thinned as compared to the adjacent grabens and sag basins. As part of the complex western rift system, the Bjørnøya Basin is interpreted as a propagating system of highly thinned crust, which aborted in late Mesozoic time. This thick Cretaceous sag basin is underlain by a deep-seated high-density body, interpreted as exhumed high-grade metamorphic lower crust. The abortion of this propagating basin coincides with a migration and complete reorganization of the crustal extension toward a second necking zone defined at the level of the western volcanic sheared margin and proto-breakup axis. The abortion of the Bjørnøya Basin may be partly explained by its trend oblique to the regional, inherited, structural grain, revealed by the new aeromagnetic compilation, and by the onset of further weakening later sustained by the onset of magmatism to the west

Fullerene-grafted block copolymers used as compatibilizer in P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunctions: morphology and photovoltaic performances

International audienceThe nanostructure of the active layer in polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells is known to have a strong impact on the device performances. Controlling the polymer/fullerene blend morphology is therefore particularly important. In this work, a rod-coil block copolymer, based on a regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) electron-donor rod block and a C-60-grafted coil block, is used as compatibilizer and its influences on the thin film morphology as well as the photovoltaic performances are investigated. It is shown that a small fraction of compatibilizer can enhance the device performances in an otherwise non-optimized process. At higher fractions or long annealing times however, the fullerene-grafted copolymer is found to behave as a nucleation center and triggers the formation of fullerene crystals

Middle Neolithic farming of open-air sites in SE France: new insights from archaeobotanical investigations of three wells found at Les Bagnoles (L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Dépt. Vaucluse, France)

Previous reviews of Middle Neolithic agricultural practice (4400–3500 cal bc) in southern France have highlighted a change in crop assemblages after 4000 cal bc, with a reduction of naked wheat and an increase of emmer and partly of einkorn. The recent investigation of three wells from the site of Les Bagnoles (4250–3800 cal bc) in the periphery of the southern Rhône valley yielded an unprecedented amount of waterlogged uncharred and charred plant macro remains that offer new insights into crop diversity and its changes over time. The results from the wells at Les Bagnoles were compared with other dated sunken features from open-air sites (in contrast to caves and rock shelters), with the aim of identifying patterns sug-gesting changes in the crop spectra between the early (MN1) and late (MN2) Middle Neolithic phases from taphonomically comparable contexts. The results from Les Bagnoles demonstrate that oil crops and pulses are underrepresented in dry sites and that they were a significant part of Middle Neolithic agriculture. They also indicate an increase in the representation of einkorn (instead of emmer) during MN2 that is also visible in other open-air sites. The comparison of the archaeobotani-cal results with silo storage capacity values as a proxy for average production capacity per household leads us to propose a possible drop in naked wheat productivity and opens new questions in factors affecting crop choice at the beginning of the 4th millennium cal bc

Styles of lithospheric extension controlled by underplated mafic bodies

The role of underplated mafic bodies (UPMB) in the localization of deformation is examined using a two-dimensional thermo-mechanical finite element model. Rheological heterogeneity brought about by the UPMB is linked with the following two main physical effects: the UPMB material is assumed to have (1) an anomalous high temperature and (2) a mafic crustal rock composition that is intrinsically weaker than the mantle. The thermal effect will disappear rather quickly, but the rock composition can have an effect at any stage of extension. We show that the UPMB has a strong influence on the style of lithospheric extension, which depends on the thermal condition of the uppermost mantle at the time when the UPMB is emplaced. Since the strength contrast between the weakened and non-weakened regions is the most important factor, the UPMB works more efficiently on the localization of deformation for a colder uppermost mantle. Dependence of the localization of deformation on the temperature and thickness of the UPMB (i.e. more significant localization for the UPMB with higher temperature and greater thickness) also depends on the thermal condition of the uppermost mantle. However, the width of the UPMB has a strong influence on the localization for any thermal condition of the uppermost mantle; a greater amount of thinning is distributed into a narrower weakened region. Such a model behaviour implies that various styles of lithospheric extension, including inward or outward migration of deformation and asymmetric extension, can be simply obtained by considering the emplacement of the UPMB, which also plays an important role in controlling the onset of continental break-up. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved