The aim of the present work was to address experimentally the possible impact of exposure to air pollution during gestation on the differentiation and function of the gonads of the offspring using a rabbit model. Rabbits were exposed daily to diluted diesel exhaust gas or filtered air from the 3rd until the 27th day of gestation, during which time germ cells migrate in genital ridges and divide, and fetal sex is determined. Offspring gonads were collected shortly before birth (28th day of gestation) or after puberty (7.5 months after birth). The structure of the gonads was analyzed by histological and immunohistological methods. Serum concentrations of testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone were determined using ELISA. The morphology and the endocrine function of the gonads collected just at the arrest of the exposure were similar in polluted and control animals in both sexes. No differences were observed as well in gonads collected after puberty. Sperm was collected at the head of the epididymis in adults. Sperm motility and DNA fragmentation were measured. Among all parameters analyzed, only the sperm DNA fragmentation rate was increased three-fold in exposed males. Mechanisms responsible for these modifications and their physiological consequences are to be further clarified.

A sensor fusion method was developed in order to track crop rows, considering various vegetation levels, for various crops. This application consisted to use a laser sensor, an inertial measurement unit and a color camera, in a fusion mode, to get a set of points corresponding to crop rows and eliminate noise like grass or leaves in environment, in real time. After applying a method such as Hough or Least Square (LS) technique for obtaining the geometric data of the crop line, automatic control operations were applied to realize the crop row tracking operation, with the desired lateral deviation parameter, taking into account the robot angular deviation and the temporal aspect, to realize the task with accuracy and without oscillations. The results showed the robustness of fusion method, to get a stable autonomous navigation for crop row tracking, particularly in the vineyards, with many perturbations such as bumps, hole and mud, and speeds between 1 and 2 m s-1. The mean lateral error between desired and obtained trajectory varied between 0.10 and 0.40 m, depending of speed and perturbations.

SITELLE is the new imaging Fourier transform spectrograph of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. It produces an impressive 4 million spectra in a single datacube in selected bandpasses from 350 to 900 nm. Its large FOV (11′x11′) and its high spatial sampling (0.32′′/pixel, seeing limited) allow us to study extended objects with an unprecedented view (Drissen et al. 2014). SITELLE’s first observations of nearby galaxies revealed its capabilities to conduct detailed studies of emission line regions.

The concept of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease initially stemmed from the developmental programming of metabolic diseases. Reproductive functions and fertility in adulthood may also be programmed during foetal development. We studied the impact of dietary-induced maternal hyperlipidaemia and hypercholesterolaemia (HH), administered at 10 weeks of age and throughout the gestation and lactation, on male reproductive functions of rabbit offspring. Male rabbits born to HH dams and fed a control diet had significantly lighter testes and epididymes compared with rabbits born to control dams at adulthood. No significant changes in sperm concentration, sperm DNA integrity and sperm membrane composition were observed, but serum-free testosterone concentrations were decreased in HH males. This study confirms the importance of maternal metabolic status for the development of male reproductive organs.

Clostridium difficile may be an emerging community-associated pathogen but little is known about its sources of exposure. This study evaluated C. difficile contamination in households and colonization of pets. C. difficile was isolated from 44/836 (5·3%) sites in 26/84 (31%) households. Ribotype 027 was the most common (25%) environmental strain. C. difficile was isolated from 14/139 (10%) dogs. Living with an immunocompromised individual was associated with C. difficile colonization in dogs. All toxigenic strains identified in pets have been isolated from humans in Ontario. C. difficile was isolated concurrently from dogs and the environment in four households, but in all cases canine and environmental ribotypes were different. C. difficile was relatively common in households, suggesting that exposure to this pathogen may be a regular event. There was no evidence that dogs are a significant source of household C. difficile contamination.

A total of 193 sera were examined for antibody to Mycoplasma pneumoniae by three techniques – complement fixation (CF), haemagglutination (HA) and immunofluorescence (IF), the last method being used to assess IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies. The most reliable single test for diagnosis was HA, and the most useful combination of tests was HA with IF (IgM and IgG). The IgA IF was not found to be diagnostically helpful.

A graph G is Ramsey size linear if there is a constant C such that for any graph H with n edges and no isolated vertices, the Ramsey number r(G, H) ≤ Cn. It will be shown that any graph G with p vertices and q ≥ 2p − 2 edges is not Ramsey size linear, and this bound is sharp. Also, if G is connected and q ≤ p + 1, then G is Ramsey size linear, and this bound is sharp also. Special classes of graphs will be shown to be Ramsey size linear, and bounds on the Ramsey numbers will be determined.

A unique combination of in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction and in situ micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to study the growth process of YBa2Cu3O6+x films obtained by metal organic decomposition using trifluoroacetate precursor on LaAlO3 substrates. The techniques give complementary information: x-ray diffraction gives insight into the structural growth, whereas micro-Raman spectroscopy gives information of the chemical composition with additional information on the texture. To perform both experiments in situ, a special high-temperature process chamber was designed.

A set of n triangles sharing a common edge is called a book with n pages and is denoted by $B_{n}$. It is known that the Ramsey number $r ( B_{n} ) $ satisfies $r ( B_{n} ) = ( 4+o ( 1 ) ) n.$ We show that every red–blue edge colouring of $K_{ \lfloor ( 4-\varepsilon ) n \rfloor }$ with no monochromatic $B_{n}$ exhibits quasi-random properties when $\varepsilon$ tends to 0. This implies that there is a constant $c>0$ such that for every red–blue edge colouring of $K_{r ( B_{n} ) }$ there is a monochromatic $B_{n}$ whose vertices span at least $ \lfloor cn^{2} \rfloor $ edges of the same colour as the book.

As an application we find the Ramsey number for a class of graphs.

Background. A limited number of studies have assessed the pathways to care of patients with first-episode psychosis. The aim of the study was to describe the pathways to care of subjects with psychosis between onset of psychosis and first admission, and to examine the demographic and clinical factors influencing access to care.

Method. Number and type of helping contacts since onset of first psychotic symptoms were assessed using multiple sources of information in 86 subjects with psychosis first-admitted in two hospitals of South-Western France. Characteristics independently associated with long delays between onset of symptoms and first helping contact, first treatment and first admission were explored using logistic regressions.

Results. Twelve per cent of subjects were first admitted without any previous helping contact. The patients were seen by a median of two helpers (maximum 7). For most patients (70%), the first helping contact was a health care professional, and the same proportion of patients had a first contact with a GP or a psychiatrist. The type of first contact was not predicted by demographic or clinical characteristics. Subjects with poor pre-morbid functioning or at-risk behaviour were more likely to have a delayed access to care.

Conclusions. The delay in access to care may not be totally attributed to inadequate management by health professionals, but may be a characteristic of the disease itself, at least in part independent of the organization of the health system.

The local structure around Er and Eu atoms introduced into GaN epilayers was studied by means of Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure above the appropriate rare-earth X-ray absorption edge. The samples were doped in situ during growth by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The formation of ErN clusters was found in samples with high average Er concentrations of 32±6% and 12.4±0.8%, estimated by Wavelength Dispersive X-ray analysis. When the average Er concentration is decreased to 6.0±0.2%, 1.6±0.2% and 0.17±0.02%, Er is found in localised clusters of ErGaN phase with high local Er content. Similar behaviour is observed for Eu-doped samples. For an average Eu concentration of 30.5±0.5% clusters of pure EuN occur. Decreasing the Eu concentration to 10.4±0.5% leads to EuGaN clusters with high local Eu content. However, for a sample with an Eu concentration of 14.2±0.5% clustering of Eu was not observed.

The reactions of metal oxides including CuO, ZnO, V2O5, and PbO with 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexaflouro- 2,4-pentanedione (hfacH) were investigated. A hot-wall reactor was used to react hfacH with metal oxide powders to form sufficient quantities of volatile reaction products for characterization by Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), Elemental Analysis (EA), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Mass Spectroscopy (MS), Thermogravimetric Analysis and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). PbO, ZnO and CuO powders reacted rapidly at 200 °C to form the corresponding metal β-diketonates and V2O5 reacted to give OV(hfac)2. A differential cold-wall reactor was to used to measure etch rates of CuOx films as a function of temperature and hfacH partial pressure. AES and XPS analysis of the laser ablation deposited CuOx film annealed in an O2 atmosphere revealed that the film was composed of CuO and Cu2O. Etch rates of up to a I l.βm/min at hfacH partial pressure of 1 Torr at 270 °C were obtained. Laser induced etching of the same CuOx film with hfacH showed evidence of copper oxide removal.

Let A and G be locally compact groups and α a continuous action of G on A, and let denote the semi-direct product of A and G. Then we prove that the left Hilbert algebra of continuous functions with compact support, has the same achieved left Hilbert algebra, as the crossed product of K(A)" by the associated action α̃ of G on . As a consequence we obtain that the canonical weight on is the dual weight of the canonical weight on K(A)".

Following a discussion of two recent papers by Schmidt (1973, 1975), we conclude that for the large amplitude, longer period Cepheids (log P greater than about 1.1), the small colour excesses derived from the six-colour photometry (traditional method or Parsons method) are to be preferred to the large colour excesses derived from the γ-index photometry (Kraft's scale).

Chaque semaine durant une année complète, nous avons dosé les quantités d'enzymes chitinolytiques hépatopancréatiques des gastéropodes Pila leopold-villensis Putz. L'étude des doses ainsi acquises a permis de vérifier que la quantité élaborée de chitinase, avec laquelle la quantité de chitobiase est en relation suit, au niveau du métabolisme basal, une rythmicité concomitante avec la rythmicité climatique saisonnière du régime des eaux et des possibilités d'alimentation chitinique.

Le document présenté est une récapitulation due à un petit commerçant en vins de Véron. Paysan et vigneron, il connaît bien la vigne et le vin ; mais l'intérêt de son commerce domine ses notes, ce qui les rend regrettablement incomplètes. Une autre raison s'y ajoute : sa récapitulation s'étend de 1790 à 1851 et il est probable que ses renseignements les plus anciens sont indirects ; avant 1800 ils sont particulièrement succincts.

Deux autres ordres de difficultés concernent les unités et la forme des renseignements. L'unité de superficie est l'arpent, légèrement inférieur à un demi-hectare ; l'unité de volume la feuillette, ou demi-pièce, soit un peu plus de 110 litres.