No Difference between the Sexes in Fine-Scale Spatial Genetic Structure of Roe Deer

Background: Data on spatial genetic patterns may provide information about the ecological and behavioural mechanisms underlying population structure. Indeed, social organization and dispersal patterns of species may be reflected by the pattern of genetic structure within a population. [br/] Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the fine-scale spatial genetic structure of a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) population in Trois-Fontaines (France) using 12 microsatellite loci. The roe deer is weakly polygynous and highly sedentary, and can form matrilineal clans. We show that relatedness among individuals was negatively correlated with geographic distance, indicating that spatially proximate individuals are also genetically close. More unusually for a large mammalian herbivore, the link between relatedness and distance did not differ between the sexes, which is consistent with the lack of sex-biased dispersal and the weakly polygynous mating system of roe deer. [br/] Conclusions/Significance: Our results contrast with previous reports on highly polygynous species with male-biased dispersal, such as red deer, where local genetic structure was detected in females only. This divergence between species highlights the importance of socio-spatial organization in determining local genetic structure of vertebrate populations

SPECTRAL CLUSTERING BASED PARCELLATION OF FETAL BRAIN MRI

Many neuroimaging studies are based on the idea that there are distinct brain regions that are functionally or micro-anatomically homogeneous. Obtaining such regions in an au-tomatic way is a challenging task for fetal data due to the lack of strong and consistent anatomical features at the early stages of brain development. In this paper we propose the use of an automatic approach for parcellating fetal cerebral hemi-spheric surfaces into K regions via spectral clustering. Unlike previous methods, our technique has the crucial advantage of only relying on intrinsic geometrical properties of the corti-cal surface and thus being unsupervised. Results on a data-set of fetal brain MRI acquired in utero demonstrated a convinc-ing parcellation reproducibility of the cortical surfaces across fetuses with varying gestational ages and folding magnitude

Effect of curing pressure on machinability of carbon fiber composite

The increasing use of composite materials in aerospace structures and their associated manufacturing and machining processes have shown the need to reengineer traditional tools. This study aims to provide an understanding of the relationship between the manufacturing parameters of carbon fiber/epoxy composites and their machinability. The main objective is to establish a new predictive model for cutting forces during machining as a function of curing pressure, cutting speed and feed rate. The research methodology is based on a multifactorial design of experiments, with input factors being the curing pressure, the feed rate, and the cutting speed. To examine the effect of the composite curing pressure, correlations between the curing pressure and the void content, as well as between the curing pressure and the mechanical properties, are evaluated. The cutting forces are then predicted based on the curing pressure and the cutting parameters

Ingénierie de surface de matériaux composites pour l'aéronautique (chimie et topographie de surface, une aide au démoulage ?)

Actuellement, les moules utilisés pour la réalisation de pièces composites aéronautiques sont à base d'alliages métalliques (FeNi, Invar) très appréciés pour leur faible coefficient de dilatation. Toutefois, ces alliages présentent plusieurs inconvénients (poids, prix, délais de livraison) qui incitent les industriels à se toumer vers d'autres matériaux. Dans ce contexte, les matériaux composites époxy/fibres de carbone sont une altemative intéressante compte tenu de leurs propriétés mécaniques proches del'Invar tout en alliant légèreté et facilité de mis en æuvre. Cependant, avec de tels moules des phénomènes d'adhésion risquent d'intervenir entre la résine époxyde infusée, constituant la future pièce, et le moule lui-même composé d'une résine époxyde. Leur nature proche est susceptible de favoriser des phénomènes de diffusion ou d'interactions moléculaires impliqués dans l'adhésion des polymères.Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse ont donc pour but de minimiser l'ensemble des phénomènes favorisant I'adhésion entre deux résines époxydes (l'une étant réticulée au contact de la seconde). Pour cela, les travaux sont concentrés sur la modification pérenne de la physicochimie ainsi que de la topographie de surface de la résine époxyde composant le moule. Ces deux paramètres sont en effet identifiés comme indispensables pour l'obtention de surfaces au caractère faiblement mouillant, pré-requis pour une bonne adhésion avec un tiers corps. Dans un premier temps, la physicochimie de surface de la résine du moule a étémodifiée durablement grâce à un additif fluoré préalablement greffé à la résine époxyde. Le mécanisme de fluoration de la surface a été étudié et une étape cruciale de migration de l'additif fluoré vers I'interface air / résine au cours de réticulation a été identifiée. Dans un deuxième temps, une rugosité contrôlée à l'échelle micrométrique est appliquée à la surface de la résine ainsi modifiée. Les propriétés de surface qui en découlent sont étudiées et montrent une accentuation du caractère faiblement mouillant des résines fluorées. Enfin, les propriétés d'interfaces entre les résines époxydes modifiées constituant le moule et une résine époxyde vierge représentant une pièce injectée sont étudiées via un test mécanique. Les résultats obtenus (force et type de rupture) sont mis en relation avec les propriétés superficielles de la résine époxyde modifiée.Currently , the molds used for making aircraft composite piecess are made of metal alloys ( FeNi Invar ) popular for their low coefficient of expansion. However, these alloys have several drawbacks ( weight, price , delivery time ) which encourage manufacturers to rotate to other materials. In this context, the epoxy composites / carbon fibers are an interesting altemative given their mechanical properties similar to Invar while combining lightness and ease of implementation . However , with such molds, phenomena of adhesion may occur between the infused epoxy resin constituting the future piece , and the mold itself made of an epoxy resin. Their close nature promotes diffusion phenomena or molecular interactions involved in the adhesion of polymers.The works presented in this thesis is therefore to minimize all phenomena promoting the adhesion between two epoxy resins (one being cured in contact with the second). To do this, the work is focused on sustainable change in the physicochemistry and the surface topography of the epoxy resin component mold. These two parameters are indeed identified as essential for obtaining surfaces prerequisited low wetting character , for good adhesion with a third body. At first , the physicochemistry of the resin surface of the mold was permanently changed using a fluorinated additive grafted beforehand on the epoxy resin. The mechanism of fluorination of the surface has been studied and a critical step in migration of the fluorinated additive towards the air / resin interface during curing has been identified. In a second step , a controlled micrometer scale roughness is applied to the surface of the resin as amended . The surface properties arising are studied and show an accentuation of low wetting character of fluorinated resins . Finally, the properties of interfaces between the modified epoxy resins constituting the mold and blank epoxy resin representing a molded part are studied via a mechanical test. The results obtained ( strength and type of failure ) are put in contact with the surface of the modified epoxy resin properties.LE MANS-BU Sciences (721812109) / SudocSudocFranceF

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects