Estimating discharged plutonium using measurements of structural material activation products

As the US and Russia move to lower numbers of deployed nuclear weapons, transparency regarding the quantity of weapons usable fissile material available in each country may become more important. In some cases detailed historical information regarding material production at individual facilities may be incomplete or not readily available, e.g., at decommissioned facilities. In such cases tools may be needed to produce estimates of aggregate material production as part of a bilateral agreement. Such measurement techniques could also provide increased confidence in declared production quantities

Effects of heme on the structure of the denatured state and folding kinetics of cytochrome b562

Heme-linked proteins, such as cytochromes, are popular subjects for protein folding studies. There is the underlying question of whether the heme affects the structure of the denatured state by cross-linking it and forming other interactions, which would perturb the folding pathway. We have studied wild-type and mutant cytochrome b562 from Escherichia coli, a 106 residue four-α-helical bundle. The holo protein apparently refolds with a half-life of 4 μs in its ferrous state. We have analysed the folding of the apo protein using continuous-flow fluorescence as well as stopped-flow fluorescence and CD. The apo protein folded much more slowly with a half-life of 270 μs that was unaffected by the presence of exogenous heme. We examined the nature of the denatured states of both holo and apo proteins by NMR methods over a range of concentrations of guanidine hydrochloride. The starting point for folding of the holo protein in concentrations of denaturant around the denaturation transition was a highly ordered native-like species with heme bound. Fully denatured holo protein at higher concentrations of denaturant consisted of denatured apo protein and free heme. Our results suggest that the very fast folding species of denatured holo protein is in a compact state, whereas the normal folding pathway from fully denatured holo protein consists of the slower folding of the apo protein followed by the binding of heme. These data should be considered in the analysis of folding of heme proteins.This work was supported by the BBSRC under the SBDA initiative, the EU TMR Life Sciences programme (contract ERBFMRX-CT-98-0230), the MRC and the NIH (grant GM056250 to H.R.). P.D.B. thanks the BBSRC for an Advanced Research Fellowshi

An Overview of Recent Strategies in Pathogen Sensing

Pathogenic bacteria are one of the major concerns in food industries and water treatment facilities because of their rapid growth and deleterious effects on human health. The development of fast and accurate detection and identification systems for bacterial strains has long been an important issue to researchers. Although confirmative for the identification of bacteria, conventional methods require time-consuming process involving either the test of characteristic metabolites or cellular reproductive cycles. In this paper, we review recent sensing strategies based on micro- and nano-fabrication technology. These technologies allow for a great improvement of detection limit, therefore, reduce the time required for sample preparation. The paper will be focused on newly developed nano- and micro-scaled biosensors, novel sensing modalities utilizing microfluidic lab-on-a-chip, and array technology for the detection of pathogenic bacteria

Etat des lieux de la grippe en pédiatrie

LIMOGES-BU Médecine pharmacie (870852108) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Etude de la diversification alimentaire chez 109 nourrissons âgés de 3 mois à 1 an, résident en Haute-Vienne en 2009 (pratiques parentales, pratiques médicales)

Objectif : Définir les modalités de la diversification alimentaire chez les nourrissons âgés de 3 mois à un an résidents en Haute-Vienne, gardés en crèche ou bien consultant en PMI. Méthode : Enquête à travers un questionnaire anonyme auprès de parents de 109 nourrissons gardés en crèche ou consultant en PMI. Enquête auprès des professionnels de santé susceptibles de s occuper de ces mêmes nourrissons (médecins généralistes, médecins pédiatres et médecins de PMI). Résultats : L allaitement maternel exclusif reste en deçà des recommandations de l OMS notamment pour les bébés à risque d atopie. La diversification alimentaire des nourrissons étudiés est en conformité avec les recommandations du PNNS et l AFSSA. Nous n avons pas retrouvé de facteur influençant l âge de début de la diversification alimentaire si ce n est peut être un jeune âge de la mère (20 à 25 ans). Les parents de notre enquête semblent avoir obtenu les informations nécessaires quant à la diététique infantile auprès des différents professionnels de santé et de la petite enfance. Les informations reçues semblent être en conformité avec les différentes recommandations. Conclusion : Malgré ces résultats encourageants, nous avons identifié quelques pistes d amélioration concernant les conseils prodigués par les professionnels de santé et de la petite enfance : Promouvoir et informer sur l allaitement maternel lors du suivi de la grossesse. Différer le début de la diversification alimentaire chez les nourrissons à risque d atopie. Préciser les aspects qualitatifs et quantitatifs du bol alimentaire : intérêts et places des graisses alimentaires, des boissons sucrées et des protéines. Encourager les professionnels de santé à consulter davantage encore les annexes nutritionnelles du carnet de santé de l enfant.LIMOGES-BU Médecine pharmacie (870852108) / SudocSudocFranceF

Paludisme d'importation chez l'enfant en France (à propos de trente enfants de moins de 15 ans hospitalisés dans le service de pédiatrie du CHU de Limoges de 1993 à 2002)

LIMOGES-BU Médecine pharmacie (870852108) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Vibration Energy Harvesting by Means of Piezoelectric Patches: Application to Aircrafts

Vibration energy harvesters in industrial applications usually take the form of cantilever oscillators covered by a layer of piezoelectric material and exploit the resonance phenomenon to improve the generated power. In many aeronautical applications, the installation of cantilever harvesters is not possible owing to the lack of room and/or safety and durability requirements. In these cases, strain piezoelectric harvesters can be adopted, which directly exploit the strain of a vibrating aeronautic component. In this research, a mathematical model of a vibrating slat is developed with the modal superposition approach and is coupled with the model of a piezo-electric patch directly bonded to the slat. The coupled model makes it possible to calculate the power generated by the strain harvester in the presence of the broad-band excitation typical of the aeronautic environment. The optimal position of the piezoelectric patch along the slat length is discussed in relation with the modes of vibration of the slat. Finally, the performance of the strain piezoelectric harvester is compared with the one of a cantilever harvester tuned to the frequency of the most excited slat mode