Skylab 4 visual observations project report

The Skylab 4 Visual Observations Project was undertaken to determine the ways in which man can contribute to future earth-orbital observational programs. The premission training consisted of 17 hours of lectures by scientists representing 16 disciplines and provided the crewmen information on observational and photographic procedures and the scientific significance of this information. During the Skylab 4 mission, more than 850 observations and 2000 photographs with the 70-millimeter Hasselblad and 35-millimeter Nikon cameras were obtained for many investigative areas. Preliminary results of the project indicate that man can obtain new and unique information to support satellite earth-survey programs because of his inherent capability to make selective observations, to integrate the information, and to record the data by describing and photographing the observational sites

The value of non-sport-specific characteristics for talent orientation in young male judo, karate and taekwondo athletes

Background & Study Aim: The present study aims to discriminate young male taekwondo, judo, and karate athletes from two age groups. It is hypothesized that a generic test battery (i.e. consisting of non-sport specific items) can allocate athletes in their respective sports. It is also expected that due to training and experience, differences between sports would be larger in the oldest age group. Material & Methods: Fifty-six highly trained taekwondo, judo, and karate athletes U13 (11.596 ± 0.578 years; n = 30) and U18 (16.097 ± 0.844 years; n = 26) completed five anthropometrical, six physical performance and three motor coordination tests. Discriminant analyses were used to investigate relevant performance measures while MANOVAs were conducted to elucidate the differences between taekwondo, judo and karate. Results: The classification results for both discriminant analyses U13 and U18 showed a perfect classification (100%) of the athletes in their respective sports. U18 showed higher multivariate differences between the three martial arts i.e. for anthropometrical measures (F2.148, P =0.044, ES =0.36), physical performance characteristics (F2.216, P =0.033, ES =0.43) and motor coordination (F6.697, P <0.001, ES =0.49) when compared to their younger counterparts. Judo athletes had the highest scores for sit and reach, handgrip, counter movement jump and balance beam. While taekwondo athletes had the highest scores for sit-ups, sprint 5m and 30m and jumping sideways. Conclusions: Generic talent characteristics allow for a successful discrimination between judo, taekwondo and karate athletes, while the differences between the martial arts profiles are more pronounced in older athletes. © Archives of Budo

Inflammation and CFTR: might neutrophils be the key in cystic fibrosis?

The aim of this hypothesis is to provide new insights into the still unclear mechanisms governing airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis. Although the genetic basis of cystic fibrosis as well as the molecular structure of cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR), the mutated protein which causes the disease, have been well defined, a clear relationship between the genetic defect and the pulmonary pathophysiology, especially chronic infections and neutrophil-dominated airway inflammation has not been established. Cystic fibrosis is thus a unique pathological situation in that neutrophils can be depicted as both an antiinfectious and a proinflammatory cell. In cystic fibrosis there is an emerging picture of an imbalance between these two roles with both a reduction in the antiinfectious efficacy and an augmentation of the proinflammatory functions. Better knowledge of fundamental defects in neutrophil function in cystic fibrosis as well as a novel cellular function of CFTR, which will be reviewed, will allow identification of potentially new clinical targets and aid selective therapeutic action aimed at counteracting the lethal neutrophil-induced airway inflammation. The rationale for colchicine therapy is a significant example of a drug which might act both at the molecular levels on CFTR expression in epithelial cells and on neutrophils to mediate antiinflammatory effects. Preliminary results are presented in this issue (Med Inflamm 1999; 8: 13-15)

Antineutrino emission and gamma background characteristics from a thermal research reactor

The detailed understanding of the antineutrino emission from research reactors is mandatory for any high sensitivity experiments either for fundamental or applied neutrino physics, as well as a good control of the gamma and neutron backgrounds induced by the reactor operation. In this article, the antineutrino emission associated to a thermal research reactor: the OSIRIS reactor located in Saclay, France, is computed in a first part. The calculation is performed with the summation method, which sums all the contributions of the beta decay branches of the fission products, coupled for the first time with a complete core model of the OSIRIS reactor core. The MCNP Utility for Reactor Evolution code was used, allowing to take into account the contributions of all beta decayers in-core. This calculation is representative of the isotopic contributions to the antineutrino flux which can be found at research reactors with a standard 19.75\% enrichment in $^{235}$U. In addition, the required off-equilibrium corrections to be applied to converted antineutrino energy spectra of uranium and plutonium isotopes are provided. In a second part, the gamma energy spectrum emitted at the core level is provided and could be used as an input in the simulation of any reactor antineutrino detector installed at such research facilities. Furthermore, a simulation of the core surrounded by the pool and the concrete shielding of the reactor has been developed in order to propagate the emitted gamma rays and neutrons from the core. The origin of these gamma rays and neutrons is discussed and the associated energy spectrum of the photons transported after the concrete walls is displayed.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, Data in Appendix A and B (13 pages

Improving the treatment and remission of major depression in homeless people with severe mental illness: the multicentric French Housing First (FHF) program. French Housing First Study Group Running title: Major depression in homeless people with severe mental disorders

International audienceObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with violent behavior in a large multicenter sample of Homeless Schizophrenia (SZ) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) (HSB) subjects.MethodsThis multicenter study was conducted in 4 French cities: Lille, Marseille, Paris and Toulouse. Violent behavior was defined by at least one episode of verbal or physical violence in the last 6 months.ResultsOverall, 675 HSB patients, mean aged 38 years and 82.5% men were included, 458 SZ (68.4%) and 212 BD (31.6%). During the 6 months before evaluation, 213 (34.3%) committed at least one physical or verbal violence. In multivariate analysis, violence has been associated with younger age (aOR = 0.96[0.94–0.99], p = .001), number of nights in the street (aOR = 1.01[1.01–1.01]), BD diagnosis (aOR = 1.63[1.01–2.65], p = .04), higher current illness severity (CGI score) (aOR = 1.32[1.07–1.64], p = .01), higher rates of current manic episode (aOR = 2.24[1.32–3.81], p = .002), current alcohol use disorder (aOR = 2.05 [1.33–3.15], p = .001), antisocial personality disorder (aOR = 2.51[1.55–4.07], p < .001) and with antidepressant consumption (aOR = 2.01[1.01–4.04], p = .04). No specific antipsychotic or mood stabilizer has been associated with decreased rates of violent behavior, however clozapine, lithium and carbamazepine remained poorly prescribed.ConclusionIn case of violent behavior in HSB subjects, clinicians should focus in priority on the treatment of mania, antidepressant iatrogenic effect and alcohol use disorder by pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. Clozapine, lithium and carbamazepine should be chosen as the treatments of reference in this population but may be hard to manage in some cases.The current clinical trial number is NCT01570712

Interest of colchicine for the treatment of cystic fibrosis patients. Preliminary report.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by persistent inflammation. Antiinflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids and ibuprofen, have proved to slow the decline of pulmonary function although their use is limited because of frequent adverse events. We hypothesized that colchicine could be an alternative treatment because of its antiinflammatory properties and upregulatory effect on cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) closely related proteins. We herein present results obtained in an open study of eight CF children treated with colchicine for at least 6 months. Clinical status was better in all patients and respiratory function tests significantly improved in five. Median duration of antibiotherapy decreased significantly. These preliminary results support our hypothesis of a beneficial effect of colchicine in CF patients and stress the need for a controlled therapeutic trial

Double down on remote sensing for biodiversity estimation. A biological mindset

In the light of unprecedented planetary changes in biodiversity, real-time and accurate ecosystem and biodiversity assessments are becoming increasingly essential for informing policy and sustainable development. Biodiversity monitoring is a challenge, especially for large areas such as entire continents. Nowadays, spaceborne and airborne sensors provide information that incorporate wavelengths that cannot be seen nor imagined with the human eye. This is also now accomplished at unprecedented spatial resolutions, defined by the pixel size of images, achieving less than a meter for some satellite images and just millimeters for airborne imagery. Thanks to different modeling techniques, it is now possible to study functional diversity changes over different spatial and temporal scales. At the heart of this unifying framework are the “spectral species”—sets of pixels with a similar spectral signal—and their variability over space. The aim of this paper is to summarize the power of remote sensing for directly estimating plant species diversity, particularly focusing on the spectral species concept

Effets comparatifs des acides gras omega-3 (ALA, EPA, DHA) sur la sensibilité à l’insuline des cellules musculaires C2C12 dans un contexte lipotoxique

Objectifs :Etudier le rôle des ω3 sur la lipotoxicité induite par l’acide gras saturé palmitate (PAL, C16:0) dans un modèle de cellule musculaire C2C12.Identifier les effets propres de chaque w3 (ALA, EPA et DHA) à dose équivalente sur la fluidité des membranes et la réponse à l’insuline.Suivre le devenir intracellulaire du [1-14C]-palmitate en présence d’un w3 et définir les classes de lipides altérées.Rechercher les voies de signalisation impliquées dans la modulation de la réponse à l’insuline