Correlation of lower Cambrian strata is often confounded by provincialism of key fauna. The widespread occurrence of the micromollusc Watsonella crosbyi Grabau, 1900 is therefore an important biostratigraphic signpost with potential for international correlation of lower Cambrian successions. Previous correlations of W. crosbyi from Australia (Normanville Group) suggested an Atdabanian- to Botoman-equivalent age. However, in the upper part of the Mount Terrible Formation, stratigraphic ranges of W. crosbyi and Aldanella sp. cf. golubevi overlap prior to the incoming of vertically burrowed ‘piperock’, which is indicative of an age no earlier than Cambrian Stage 2. The stratigraphic range of W. crosbyi in the Normanville Group, South Australia correlates with the ranges of the taxon in China, France, Mongolia and Siberia (though not Newfoundland). The new Australian data add further support for considering the first occurrence of W. crosbyi a good potential candidate for defining the base of Cambrian Stage 2. The stratigraphic range of W. crosbyi through the lower Cambrian Normanville Group has been determined based on collections from measured sections. Although rare, W. crosbyi is part of an assemblage of micromolluscs including Bemella sp., Parailsanella sp. cf. murenica and a sinistral form of Aldanella (A. sp. cf. A. golubevi). Other fauna present include Australohalkieria sp., Eremactis mawsoni, chancelloriids and Cupitheca sp.

Exploration and extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale have created considerable controversy. At the core of these debates are differing perceptions of the level and types of risks involved with the extraction activities, such as hydraulic fracturing, truck traffic, air emissions, and population growth. Risks described include the potential for human and environmental health implications, as well as community change and economic gain. This article explores the nature of perceived risks associated with Marcellus Shale development by using data from a household survey (N = 1,917) conducted in 2009–10 in Pennsylvania and New York counties located in the core areas of the Marcellus Shale region. The article describes a quantitative measure of risk perceptions. Statistical analyses of the data indicate that trust in institutions responsible for managing the risks associated with development and attitudes related to relationships between people and nature are associated strongly with perceptions of risk. Other associated variables include reported knowledge of environmental, social, and economic impacts, mineral rights ownership, demographic characteristics (gender, income), and state of residence. Implications of these findings are discussed, particularly as related to improving local discourse surrounding Marcellus Shale development.

Environmental Practice 15:108–122 (2013)

Development of unconventional natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale region of the northeastern United States has progressed rapidly over the last decade. The discourse surrounding such development recalls quarter-century-old debates about positive and negative implications for the well-being of such energy boomtowns. Potential support or opposition relates to trust in the industry and its regulators, perceived knowledge, and perceived impacts. Our research project takes advantage of the opportunity for a natural experiment in comparing these elements between two spatially adjacent sites with contrasting approaches to gas development: in Pennsylvania, drilling of unconventional natural gas reserves has been proceeding for nearly a decade, whereas, at the time of this writing, drilling has not begun in New York. A mail survey of a random sample of New York and Pennsylvania residents within the Marcellus region revealed important differences between sites. New York residents were more opposed to development, characterized the industry in a more negative light, and were more likely to have engaged in various forms of public participation. In contrast, respondents did not differ by state on their perceived level of knowledge, even though gas development is more advanced in Pennsylvania. Potential explanations for these findings are offered, as are implications for understanding newly emerging energy boomtowns.

Environmental Practice 14:287–298 (2012)

In this work, thin films of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-based materials were tested as potential candidates for mid-IR transparent contacts on Te-doped GaSb and Si-doped InAs semiconductor wafers. Since these contacts are devoted to be inserted in Sb-based devices which are generally MBE-grown at ∼450°C, low-temperature fabrication processes were particularly tested with a maximum temperature of annealing of 400°C. 50 nm-thick ITO films were deposited on glass, Te-doped GaSb and Si-doped InAs wafers and resistivity of 8.10−4 Ω.cm combined with ∼80% of transmittance at 2 μm and ohmic contacts with a specific resistance of 3.10−4 Ω.cm2 were obtained. Then, in order to improve these properties in the mid-IR, other ITO-based materials were tested: In doped ZnO (IZO) and Zn doped ITO (ITZO). The first results obtained on these materials show that the insertion of 10% of Zn in classical ITO structure results in a degradation of the electrical properties of the layer without a real impact on its optical transmittance near 2 μm. Concerning IZO, a large improvement of the transmittance in the whole visible-mid-IR wavelength range was observed for annealed samples at a temperature as low as 350°C. However, the electrical resistivity appears very sensible to the temperature of annealing.

A method for phenetic analysis of karyotype data has been developed for Leishmania populations. Measurement of size difference between chromosomes recognized by a given DNA probe in different isolates led to the formulation of a Chromosome Size Difference Index (CSDI). The method was applied to phenetic analysis of 4 sets of chromosomes – each set being recognized by a different probe – in 37 L. (Viannia) peruviana isolates sampled along a North–South transect through the Peruvian Andes and, in 11 L. (V.) braziliensis isolates from the Amazonian forest (Peru, Bolivia and Brazil). Karyotype variability was better accounted for by CSDI than by a method based on disjunctive encoding of karyotype data. CSDI evidenced the nature of relationships between L. braziliensis and L. peruviana and it provided a coherent picture of geographical and genomic differentiation among parasite populations. The latter did cluster according to their geographical origin. L. braziliensis was found karyotypically more homogeneous than L. peruviana. Within L. peruviana, Northern populations were closer to L. braziliensis than to Southern L. peruviana populations. The validity of karyotypic populations, or karyodemes, was sustained.

Low-fluence laser interaction with metallic target is investigated in a wide range of irradiance, from 5 × 106 to 1011 W/cm2, with 4- and 30-ns laser-pulse durations and 1.06-μm wavelength. Edge effects are avoided by means of large surfaces of irradiation (5 cm2). Specific diagnostics such as a ballistic pendulum and a piezoelectric quartz gauge are developed to measure the total momentum imparted to the target, as well as the temporal evolution of the stress at the rear side of the target. Specular reflection and sidescattering of the laser light from the target are also measured. The behavior of 2024 aluminum alloy is particularly studied. The results are interpreted in terms of liquid-vapor transition and change in laser absorption.

In light of experimental data, the theoretical analysis of surface absorption is reviewed, showing the dependence on metal temperature and laser wavelength. The thermal and mechanical coupling is also calculated.

Numerical simulations are performed with a 1–D Lagrangian hydrodynamic code including modifications for low-pressure regimes. The multiphase equation of state is extended to take into account negative pressures. An elastoplastic module is introduced into the code. A quite good agreement is obtained with the measurements of the stress and of the mechanical coupling coefficient.

The laser program developed at the Centre d'Etudes de Limeil-Valenton, Saint-Georges, France (CEL-V) is concentrated on a systematic investigation of indirect drive fusion; by comparison with direct drive, this process is expected to provide the required irradiation uniformity with relaxed constraints on laser beam quality. The main concerns are radiative transfer and preheat, hydrodynamic instabilities, and high-density X-ray driven implosions. Ablative implosion experiments have been conducted with the two beams at the Phebus facility (5 kJ, 1.3 ns, 0.35 μm). Symmetry was proved to be controlled by the casing structure, following scaling laws describing hohlraum physics. A compressed DT density ∼100 ρ0 (ρ0 liquid DT density) has been deduced from activation measurements. Different aspects of the soft X-ray transfer processes, and particularly of the ablation of a low-Z material, which drives the capsule implosion, are dealt with in detailed investigations. Reported here are results on X-ray reemission and penetration in several materials, and on induced hydrodynamics of accelerated foils. The laser energy required to reach fuel ignition conditions has been evaluated from numerical simulations as well as from analytical models, taking into account hohlraum physics, capsule implosion, hot spot formation, and burn propagation. Several crucial parameters have been drawn, the most important being the radiation temperature. A target gain in the order of 10 appears achievable with a 2-MJ laser.

Implosion experiments performed at Centre d'Etudes de Limeil-Valenton in the indirect drive scheme using the two-beams Nd:glass laser facility Phebus at the energy level = 6 kJ (blue light) are presented. A final density of compressed DT close to 100 ρ0 has been obtained; it has been deduced from radiochemistry of the activated silicon atoms in the pusher. The best irradiance uniformity on the microballoon was evaluated to = 15% rms. Phebus has also been equipped with an optical fiber oscillator to study the effect of a smoothing technique on coupling processes: It appeared that at 0·53 μm absorption efficiency is increased by =15–20%. With the eight-beams Octal laser, hydrodynamic instabilities development in accelerated planar targets has been investigated both for direct and indirect drives; the mixing zone detected at the light-heavy interface does not present visible bubble-and-spike like structures and is less developed in the indirect configuration. Atomic physics in laser plasmas is also deeply studied; a particular effort has been made on absorption spectroscopy, a powerful diagnostic of ionization dynamics in cold and dense plasmas. Experiments have been realized either in multilayered targets or using rear-side X-ray emission of thin Au foils to heat the samples. To reach fuel ignition conditions, more powerful lasers, in the range of megajoule, will be needed. Their design needs further technological developments to reduce the capital cost in $/W. At Limeil, we work mainly on high-damage threshold optical coatings, using the sol-gel process, high-quality, low-cost mirror fabrication, using the replica technics, and incoherent laser pulse generation for beam smoothing.

We present some significant results of collisional excitation X-ray laser experiments in plasmas produced by a laser. We studied the amplification in Ne- and Ni-like ions by varying both the nature and the thickness of targets, the irradiation, and the wavelength of the driving laser. Some potentially interesting scalings as a function of the atomic number of the lasing element are demonstrated in the Ne-like system. An order-of-magnitude increase in gain in the Ni-like experiments was determined.

Developmental orthopaedic disease (DOD) affects all breeds and is a common cause of pain and lameness for horses in sports. A thorough knowledge of between-breed variations for the prevalence of DOD, for its distribution among the various joints and for its severity at earlier stages in the disease process is needed in order to improve the relevance and the cost-effectiveness of DOD screening protocols. However, no prevalence study for DOD simultaneously performed on several breeds with similar farming systems and based on radiographic findings (RF) on quite a large number of joints and views, has been reported earlier. The objective of this study was to describe variations in the prevalence, location and severity of DOD in foals at weaning among Warmbloods (Wb), Standardbreds (St) and Thoroughbreds (Tb) with similar farming systems. DOD assessment was based on RF on the limb joints. A total of 392 foals from 21 volunteer stud farmers were included. To determine the statuses of foals regarding DOD, they were X-rayed on the front- and hind-limb digit, carpus, hock and stifle joints. X-ray data were analysed by three experienced equine veterinarians who gave a common assessment about the entity and the severity of RF. Between-breed variations were analysed in two steps: the first implemented for each anatomical site; the second considered only foals affected by DOD to explore RF association patterns on the affected sites, at foal level. The three breeds were represented by 25.0% of Wb, 41.1% of St and 33.9% of Tb. DOD was present in 66.3% of the foals (95% confidence interval (CI) = 61.6% to 71.0%). Prevalence of foals affected by DOD and distribution of the RF severity score on the anatomical sites differed depending on the breed: Wb foals seemed to be the most affected by DOD. Cluster analyses showed no clear association among sites. However, Wb and Tb foals were preferentially classified together because they were affected on the same sites, whereas St foals were distributed in other classes. The most severely affected sites were the proximal part of the hock and the femoro-patellar joint for Wb and St foals, and the fore fetlock and the distal part of the hock for Tb foals. This is the first epidemiological study reporting between-breed variations in DOD distribution and severity, for the limb joints of foals. These results contribute to broaden the knowledge on DOD and are of great interest to improve detection of DOD within a particular breed.

In the present work we studied the karyotype stability during long-term in vitro maintenance in 3 cloned strains of Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana, Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and a hybrid between both species. Only the L. (V.) peruviana strain showed an unstable karyotype, even after subcloning. Four chromosomes were studied in detail, each of them characterized by homologous chromosomes of different size (heteromorphy). Variations in chromosome patterns during in vitro maintenance were rapid and discrete, involving loss of heteromorphy or appearance of additional chromosome size variants. The resulting pattern was not the same according to experimental conditions (subinoculation rate or incubation temperature), and interestingly, this was associated with differences in growth behaviour of the respective parasites. No change in total ploidy of the cells was observed by flow cytometry. We discuss several mechanisms that might account for this variation of chromosome patterns, but we favour the occurrence of aneuploidy, caused by aberrant chromosome segregation during mitosis. Our results provide insight into the generation of karyotype diversity in natural conditions and highlight the relativity of the clone concept in parasitology.

High power RF device performance decreases as operation temperature increases (e.g. decreasing electron mobility affects cut-off frequencies and degrades device reliability). Therefore determination of device temperature is a key issue for device topology optimisation. In this work the temperature variation of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors grown either on silicon or sapphire substrate under bias operation was measured by micro Raman scattering spectroscopy. Temperature measurements up to power dissipation of 16 W for 4 mm development devices were carried out and a peak temperature of 650 K was determined. The difference of thermal resistance for similar devices grown on the two different substrates was assessed. The thermal resistances of different device topologies were compared to optimise the component design.

The high power RF device performance decreases as the operation temperature increases (e.g. fall of electron mobility impacting the cut-off frequencies and degradation of device reliability). Therefore the determination of device temperature is a key issue for device topology optimisation. In this work the temperature variation of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors grown either on silicon or sapphire substrates under bias operation was measured by micro Raman scattering spectroscopy. The differences in thermal resistance for similar devices grown on the two different substrates were assessed. The thermal resistances of different device topologies were compared in order to optimise the component design. The temperature measurement across the gate and along the component fingers were made to quantify the thermal gradient of the device. Temperature measurement up to a power dissipation of 16 W for a 4 mm development device was carried out and the peak temperature of 650 K was determined.

The high power RF device performance decreases as operation temperature increases (e.g. fall of electron mobility impacting the cut-off frequencies and degradation of device reliability). Therefore the determination of device temperature is a key issue for device topology optimisation. This work presents the comparison between pulsed I-V at different temperature and DC measurements of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown on two different substrates: sapphire and silicon. This technique allows the determination of mean channel temperature and the device thermal resistance. The thermal resistance is a classical way to define the average channel temperature as a function of the dissipated power. In this work the thermal resistance ratio of the HEMT grown on sapphire compared to the one grown on silicon is found to be 1.7 instead of 3 as expected from straightforward thermal conductivity ratio. This lower difference is clearly attributed to the contribution of the GaN buffer layer.

The long bones of vertebrates, such as the tibiae and femurs of humans, extend in length by means of genotypic and phenotypic changes orchestrated by the chondrocytes comprising growth plate cartilage. Among the constituents synthesized by these cartilage cells, osteopontin (OPN), a phosphorylated glycoprotein, is thought to play a critical role in events leading to normal growth plate function and ultimate mineralization of the deeper zones of this cartilage region. The precise role of OPN, however, is uncertain with regard to mineralization, and present evidence supports the alternative possibilities that the protein may be either facilitative or inhibitory to mineral deposition. in order to investigate OPN function in a model growth plate, cartilage from normal 1-11 day old postnatal mice was examined by the novel techique of laser capture microdissection (LCM) followed by RT-PCR to obtain a measure of OPN gene expression by chondrocytes of known age and specific location in the plate. LCM permits identification of individual or clusters of cells within a tissue section and subsequent unique isolation (“capture”) of such cells for a variety of molecular analyses.

In this study, mouse tibiae were dissected, placed in RNAlater (Ambion, Austin, TX) to preserve message, and stored at −20°C. Sections (5 μm thick) of fresh frozen developing epiphyseal growth plates were obtained in a cryostat maintained at −20°C, fixed briefly in 70% ethanol, and stained with eosin. Sections were examined in a Pixcell LCM system (Arcturus Engineering, Mountain View, CA) where chondrocytes were attached to the surface of polymer film substrates and lifted free of sections. in separate experiments, ∼200-1200 cells were captured and analyzed. Substrates were transferred to Eppendorf tubes containing RNA extraction buffer. RNA was extracted from cells by microisolation (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA), DNAse-treated, reverse-transcribed, and then subjected to PCR (40 cycles) with AmpliTaq DNA polymerase (PE Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Ethidium bromide agarose gels revealed OPN mRNA from groups of chondrocytes isolated from whole cartilage and from resting, proliferating, and hypertrophic growth plate zones from the mouse tibiae. Brain cells captured by LCM from the same mouse sections served as positive controls and reactions containing no reverse transcriptase were negative controls. 18S rRNA was used as a marker for semiquantitation and standardization of expressed message from captured cells.

Human subjects vary in the extent to which their body's protein and fat compartments are mobilized for fuel during starvation. Although an inverse association between the initial adiposity and the contribution of protein as fuel during starvation has been known for nearly a century, interest in the quantitative importance and functional significance of the initial percentage fat as a determinant of biological variation in energy-partitioning between protein and fat (and hence in determining the partitioning characteristic of the individual) is relatively recent. The present paper addresses these issues by revisiting the classic Minnesota experiment of semi-starvation and refeeding from a standpoint of system physiology. In a quantitative analysis of the relationship between the initial body composition (ratio FAT0:fat-free mass (FFM)0) and the composition of weight loss (ratio ΔFAT:ΔFFM) in the thirty-two men in the Minnesota study, the arguments are put forward that the fraction of FFM lost when the fat stores reach total depletion is independent of the initial percentage fat, and that this fraction represents the ‘dispensible’ component of the protein compartment that is compatible with life (i.e. the protein energy-reserve, rp). The concepts are developed that (1) the initial percentage body fat (which reflects the initial ratio FAT0:FFM0) provides a ‘memory of partitioning’ which dictates the control of partitioning between protein and fat in such a way that both the protein energy-reserve (rp) and the fat energy-reserve (rf) reach complete depletion simultaneously, a strategy that would ensure maximum length of survival during long-term food scarcity, and that (2) variability in the relative sizes of these two energy reserves (i.e. in rf:rp) could, in addition to the initial percentage fat, also contribute to human variability in energy-partitioning. The basic assumptions underlying this re-analysis of the Minnesota data, and the concepts that are derived from it, have been integrated in the simple mathematical model for predicting the partitioning characteristic of the individual. This model is used to explain how variability in the fraction of the protein compartment that could function as an energy reserve (rp) can be as important as the initial percentage fat in determining inter-individual variability in protein-sparing during the early phase of starvation, in fuel partitioning during prolonged starvation, or in the maximum percentage weight loss during starvation. The elucidation of factors underlying variability in the size of the protein energy-reserve may have important implications for our understanding of the pathophysiology of starvation and age-associated susceptibility to muscle wasting, and in the clinical management of cachexia and obesity.

An experiment has been performed with the LULI Multi-TeraWatt Laser. The acceleration of electrons injected in a plasma wave generated by the laser wakefield mechanism has been observed with a maximum energy gain of 1.5 MeV. It has been shown that the electrons deflected during the interaction, could scatter on the walls of the experimental chamber, and fake a high-energy signal. A special effort has been given in the electron detection to separate the accelerated electrons signal from the background noise.The experimental results agree with theoretical predictions and numerical simulations when 3D effects on the electron beam are taken into account.

We show theoretically that the change in the magnetization structure of magnetic metallic multilayers under the application of a magnetic field shall be generally associated with a significant change of the refractive index. This constitutes a new magnetooptical effect: the magnetorefractive effect.

Optical transmission measurements under an applied magnetic field through [Ni80Fe20/Cu/Co/Cu] multilayers, in the light wavelength region between 2 μm and 20 μm, clearly demonstrate the existence of the predicted effect and are found in reasonnable agreement with the theoretical calculations.