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The aim of the present work has been to develop a model able to represent the propagation and transformation of waves in nearshore areas. The focus is on the phenomena of wave breaking, shoaling, and run-up. These different phenomena are represented through a hybrid approach obtained by the coupling of non-linear Shallow Water equations with the extended Boussinesq equations of Madsen and Sørensen. The novelty is the switch tool between the two modelling equations: a critical free surface Froude criterion. This is based on a physically meaningful new approach to detect wave breaking, which corresponds to the steepening of the wave’s crest which turns into a roller. To allow for an appropriate discretization of both types of equations, we consider a finite element Upwind Petrov Galerkin method with a novel limiting strategy that guarantees the preservation of smooth waves as well as the monotonicity of the results in presence of discontinuities. We provide a detailed discussion of the implementation of the newly proposed detection method, as well as of two other well-known criteria which are used for comparison. An extensive benchmarking on several problems involving different wave phenomena and breaking conditions allows to show the robustness of the numerical method proposed, as well as to assess the advantages and limitations of the different detection methods.

ABSTRACTThe French health authorities extended vaccination against COVID-19 to adolescents in June 2021, during the epidemic resurgence linked to the delta variant and because of insufficient vaccination coverage to ensure collective protection. In May 2021, we conducted a national online cross-sectional survey of 2533 adults in France to study their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and their acceptance of child/adolescent vaccination according to targeted age groups (<6 years; 6–11; 12–17) and its determinants. We applied a multi-model averaged logistic regression for each of these age groups to study the determinants of favorability to vaccination. Among the respondents, 62.7% (1597) accepted COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents, 48.3% (1223) for children aged 6–11 years, and only 31% (783) for children under 6 years. Acceptance increased with fear of contracting COVID-19 and trust in institutions and decreased as the COVID-19 vaccine risk perception score increased. People favorable to vaccination in general and those sensitive to social pressure were also more often favorable to vaccinating children/adolescents than those who were not. Drivers of acceptance were ranked differently for the different age groups. Understanding these differences is essential to anticipating obstacles to vaccination of these age groups and designing appropriate information and motivational strategies to support it.

•Les indications des inhibiteurs de la pompe à protons sont bien respectées.•Certaines indications non présentes dans les recommandations sont justifiables.•D’autres critères que l’indication sont peu conformes aux recommandations.

Crohn disease (CD) can affect patient's quality of life (QOL) with physical, social, and psychological impacts. This study aimed to investigate the QOL of children with CD and its relationship with patient and disease characteristics. Children ages from 10 to 17 years with diagnosed CD for more than 6 months were eligible to this cross-sectional study conducted in 35 French pediatric centers. QOL was assessed by the IMPACT-III questionnaire. Patient and disease characteristics were collected. A total of 218 children (42% of girls) were included at a median age of 14 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 13--16). Median duration of CD was 3.2 years (IQR: 1.7–5.1) and 63% of children were in clinical remission assessed by wPCDAI. Total IMPACT-III score was 62.8 (±11.0). The lowest score was in “emotional functioning” subdomain (mean: 42.8?±?11.2). Clinical remission was the main independent factor associated with QOL of children with CD (5.74 points higher compared with those “with active disease”, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.77--8.70, P?

We examined the understanding of emotional speech by deaf children with cochlear implant (CI). Thirty deaf children with CI and 60 typically developing controls (matched on chronological age or hearing age) performed a computerized task featuring emotional prosody, either embedded in a discrepant context or without any context at all. Across the task conditions, the deaf participants with CI scored lower on the prosody-bases responses than their peers matched on chronological age or hearing age. Additionally, we analyzed the effect of age on determining correct prosody-based responses and we found that hearing age was a predictor of the accuracy of prosody-based responses. We discuss these findings with respect to delay in prosody and intermodal processing. Future research should aim to specify the nature of the cognitive processes that would be required to process prosody.

What constitutes effective teaching of letter learning in early school years is still uncertain. We assessed the impact of a teacher-implemented visuomotor intervention program to teach 5-year-olds’ cursive letter knowledge. We compared a program in which letters were explored with the arm and whole body, with a typical visual training program. Children were tested before and after the intervention with different measures of letter knowledge. We showed a greater improvement in letter recognition following the visuomotor intervention, compared with the visual intervention. Results were mixed for letter handwriting for which we found higher scores on stroke direction and overall quality, but lower scores on fluency following whole body visuomotor teaching. We discuss our results in terms of the link between action and perception, the interaction between the different components of letter knowledge, and the link between fine and gross motor development and handwriting.

Cognitive impairment in adult patients experiencing Wilson disease is now more clearly described, even in liver forms of the disease. Although this condition can appear during childhood, the cognitive abilities of children have not yet been reported in a substantial case series. This retrospective study included 21 children with Wilson disease who had undergone general cognitive assessment. The results argue in favor of a poor working memory capacity in the liver form of the disease, and more extensive cognitive impairments in its neurological form. Extensive neuropsychological investigations on all children experiencing Wilson disease are thus required.

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Accurately mapping the evolving bathymetry under energetic wave breaking is challenging, yet critical for improving our understanding of sandy beach morphodynamics. Though remote sensing is one of the most promising opportunities for reaching this goal, existing depth‐inversion algorithms using linear approaches face major theoretical and/or technical issues in the surf zone, limiting their accuracy over this region. Here, we present a new depth‐inversion approach relying on Boussinesq theory for quantifying nonlinear dispersion effects in nearshore waves. Using high‐resolution datasets collected in the laboratory under diverse wave conditions and beach morphologies, we demonstrate that this approach results in enhanced levels of accuracy in the surf zone (errors typically within 10%) and presents a major improvement over linear methods. The new nonlinear depth‐inversion approach provides significant prospects for future practical applications in the field using existing remote sensing technologies, including continuous lidar scanners and stereo‐imaging systems. The coastal science community currently lacks insights into the morphological evolution of sandy beaches, including rapid changes that occur during storms. This is, to a large extent, explained by the difficulty to monitor the seabed elevation under such conditions in a region of the nearshore where high‐energy waves break. If a relationship can be established between observed wave dynamics at the surface and the water depth below, remote‐sensing technology presents a promising opportunity to reach this goal since it requires no physical interaction with the water environment. However, the existing algorithms to retrieve the water depth rely on the linear wave dispersion relation, which fails at describing the nonlinear dynamics of shoaling and breaking waves. Here, we develop a new depth‐inversion approach based on a Boussinesq theory, which better describes such dynamics. Using a range of wave conditions and beach morphologies, we demonstrate that our approach results in significant improvement compared to the classic approaches, achieving typical accuracy within 10% in regions of the nearshore where waves break. The new nonlinear depth‐inversion approach provides very promising prospects for future practical applications in the field using, for instance, high‐resolution datasets collected with lidar scanners or stereo imaging systems. A new depth‐inversion approach for the nearshore is proposed, based on a Boussinesq theory for quantifying nonlinear dispersion effectsUnprecedented levels of accuracy (typically within 10%) are obtained in the surf zone over both planar and barred beachesImprovement over the linear wave theory method, which overestimates depths by 40% or more in surf zones (up to 80% at the shoreline) A new depth‐inversion approach for the nearshore is proposed, based on a Boussinesq theory for quantifying nonlinear dispersion effects Unprecedented levels of accuracy (typically within 10%) are obtained in the surf zone over both planar and barred beaches Improvement over the linear wave theory method, which overestimates depths by 40% or more in surf zones (up to 80% at the shoreline)

Crescentic bars emerge as free instabilities of the coupling between topography and water motion. Their long term behaviour will be studied in the real case of the French Aquitaine beaches by using the 2DH numerical model MORFO55. For the first time, the equilibrium state of a crescentic bar system is obtained, in the case of steady incident wave conditions. Due to non linear interactions, the final wave length of the system does not inevitably increase with the incident wave height. Finally, the study of variable incident wave conditions suggests that the equilibrium state may depend on the initial conditions.

ABSTRACTIn May 2021, while the immunization campaign was in progress, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants led us to assess attitudes toward participation in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial (VCT) in France. Between the 10th and the 23rd of May 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey among a representative sample of the French population aged 18 and over and a specific sample of the French population over 65. Among the 3,056 respondents, 28.0% (856) would consider participation in a COVID-19 VCT. Factors independently negatively associated with willingness to participate in a COVID-19 VCT were female gender with an adjusted odd ratio (aOR) 0.42 and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.35–0.51, and mistrust in health actors (in their own physician and pharmacists, health ministry, government, scientists in medias, medias and pharmaceutical companies) with aOR 0.86 (95% CI 0.84–0.88) by one-point increase in mistrust in health actors score. Factors positively associated with willingness to participate in a COVID-19 VCT were COVID-19 vaccination or intention to get vaccinated with aOR 4.89 (95% CI 3.15–7.61), being a healthcare worker with aOR 2.051 (95% CI 1.51–2.80), being at risk for severe COVID-19 with aOR 1.39 (95% CI 1.14–1.69) and altruism as the main reason for getting vaccination with aOR 1.56 (95% CI 1.29–1.88). In May 2021, despite COVID 19 vaccine availability, 28% of the French population would agree to participate in a COVID-19 VCT. Mistrust in health actors contributes to a reduction in the intention to participate. Attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination predict attitudes toward participation in a COVID-19 VCT.

ABSTRACTDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, the urgent need for safe and effective vaccines has led to many vaccine trials, implying fast and extensive recruitment of volunteers. In France, until 2020, vaccine clinical research participants were usually recruited locally, through center-based pools of volunteers, and local communication plans. Covireivac is a French public online platform launched on 10/01/2020 that enables national, large-scale recruitment of volunteers for Covid-19 vaccine studies. On the Covireivac website, all adult participants registered online, gave their informed consent, and filled out two online forms with information on their identity, health status (comorbidities, treatments), and known exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Since July 2021, volunteers could mention if their children are interested in participating in a Covid-19 vaccine trial. The objective of this work is to describe Covireivac’s volunteer characteristics registered from 10/01/2020 to 11/02/2022. To identify independent volunteer characteristics associated with a period of registration we performed a multivariate logistic regression. Among 54,424 registrations, 52,391 (96%) were analysed; 61% were male (n= 31,893), median age was 50 y; 13% (n= 6586) were healthcare workers. At registration, 15,879 volunteers (33%) reported at least one comorbidity, among whom 16% (n= 7349) were obese and 17% (n= 8346) had hypertension. Most volunteers registered during the first month (n= 35,876, 66%). The Covireivac platform allowed quick and large recruitment of potential volunteers for Covid-19 vaccine trials and could be used on a larger scale for vaccine trials in France. It could facilitate recruitment in vaccine trials and provide sponsors with better visibility of the recruitment capacities of clinical research centers.

The cross‐shore evolution of individual wave celerity is investigated using two high‐resolution laboratory experiments on bichromatic waves. Individual waves are tracked during their onshore propagation and their characteristics, including celerity, are estimated. The intrawave variability in celerity is low in the shoaling zone but increases strongly after breaking. It is maximum when the infragravity‐wave height to water depth ratio is the largest, that is to say close to the shoreline. There the observed range of individual wave celerity can be as large as the mean celerity value. This variability can be largely explained by the variations in water depth and velocity induced by the infragravity waves. The differences in celerity are such that they lead to the merging of the waves in the inner surf zone for most of the wave conditions considered. Again, the location at which the first waves start merging strongly correlates with the infragravity‐wave height to water depth ratio. The consequences of these findings for celerity‐based depth‐inversion techniques are finally discussed. Surprisingly, accounting for the infragravity‐wave modulation of the velocity field in the celerity estimate does not significantly improve depth estimation in the surf zone. However, it is shown that the occurrence of bore merging decreases significantly the coherence of the wavefield in the surf zone. This loss of coherence could hamper celerity estimation from pixel intensity time series and explain, at least partly, the relatively poor performance of depth‐inversion techniques in the inner surf zone. Individual wave celerity is analyzed using high‐resolution laboratory dataA large intrawave variability in celerity is observed in the inner surf zoneThis variability is largely controlled by the infragravity waves

Ce papier présente le développement d’un modèle simple d’évolution de profil de plage sableuse basé sur une approche à phase moyennée et sur un couplage vagues/transport sédimentaire/évolution bathymétrique. Une nouvelle paramétrisation du transport sédimentaire tenant compte de l’asymétrie des vagues et de l’accélération près du fond est proposée et étudiée ici. Le modèle reproduit la migration des barres vers la plage pendant les épisodes de temps calme et vers le large pour des conditions énergétiques. La prise en compte de l’asymétrie d’accélération améliore sensiblement les performances du modèle. La comparaison du modèle avec les expériences réalisées en canal et avec l’évolution d’une plage australienne sur une période de 2 mois montre des résultats encourageants.

Ce papier présente le développement d’un modèle simple d’évolution de profil de plage sableuse basé sur une approche à phase moyennée et sur un couplage vagues/transport sédimentaire/évolution bathymétrique. Une nouvelle paramétrisation du transport sédimentaire tenant compte de l’asymétrie des vagues et de l’accélération près du fond est proposée et étudiée ici. Le modèle reproduit la migration des barres vers la plage pendant les épisodes de temps calme et vers le large pour des conditions énergétiques. La prise en compte de l’asymétrie d’accélération améliore sensiblement les performances du modèle. La comparaison du modèle avec les expériences réalisées en canal et avec l’évolution d’une plage australienne sur une période de 2 mois montre des résultats encourageants.

Ce papier présente le développement d’un modèle simple d’évolution de profil de plage sableuse basé sur une approche à phase moyennée et sur un couplage vagues/transport sédimentaire/évolution bathymétrique. Une nouvelle paramétrisation du transport sédimentaire tenant compte de l’asymétrie des vagues et de l’accélération près du fond est proposée et étudiée ici. Le modèle reproduit la migration des barres vers la plage pendant les épisodes de temps calme et vers le large pour des conditions énergétiques. La prise en compte de l’asymétrie d’accélération améliore sensiblement les performances du modèle. La comparaison du modèle avec les expériences réalisées en canal et avec l’évolution d’une plage australienne sur une période de 2 mois montre des résultats encourageants.

Le genome de Tribolium castaneum, publie recemment, ne serait-il qu’une goutte de plus versee dans l’ocean genomique ? Non, car Tribolium se distingue a plus d’un titre. D’abord, en tant que coleoptere, il represente un ordre qui compte environ le quart des especes animales. De plus, cet insecte omnivore est un nuisible pour les grains et les farines du monde entier. Enfin, Tribolium est discretement entre dans l’elite des organismes modeles de la genetique. Cet article vise a montrer que Tribolium est un compagnon de laboratoire complementaire de la drosophile, notamment pour la genetique du developpement.

Crescentic bars emerge as free instabilities of the coupling between topography and water motion. Their long term behaviour will be studied in the real case of the French Aquitaine beaches by using the 2DH numerical model MORFO55. For the first time, the equilibrium state of a crescentic bar system is obtained, in the case of steady incident wave conditions. Due to non linear interactions, the final wave length of the system does not inevitably increase with the incident wave height. Finally, the study of variable incident wave conditions suggests that the equilibrium state may depend on the initial conditions.

Crescentic bars emerge as free instabilities of the coupling between topography and water motion. Their long term behaviour will be studied in the real case of the French Aquitaine beaches by using the 2DH numerical model MORFO55. For the first time, the equilibrium state of a crescentic bar system is obtained, in the case of steady incident wave conditions. Due to non linear interactions, the final wave length of the system does not inevitably increase with the incident wave height. Finally, the study of variable incident wave conditions suggests that the equilibrium state may depend on the initial conditions.

ABSTRACTA numerical model solving an extended system of Serre equations using the finite volume method is presented. Comparisons with some analytical solutions show that the numerical model reaches a global discretization error of {O[(Δx)4], O[(Δt)4]}. The numerical implementation of moving shoreline and absorbing-generating boundary conditions should be sufficient to move on into realistic wave propagation problems on a beach. Furthermore, comparisons between numerical and experimental solitary wave shoaling on a beach confirm the capacity of Serre equations to deal with strong nonlinearities.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the detection of micrometastatic cells by immunocytochemistry (ICC) with an anticytokeratin antibody and cytokeratin fragment (CYFRA 21–1) expression detected by an immunofluorescent assay in bone marrow of breast cancer patients. Micrometastatic CK+ cells were screened with a pancytokeratin antibody A45 B/B3 from bone marrow aspiration samples of 102 breast cancer patients (65 primary tumors, 10 local recurrences and 27 distant metastases). CYFRA 21-1 levels were assessed in bone marrow supernatant of these patients before collection of the mononucleated interface cells on a Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient and in 20 control patients. CYFRA 21-1 and CK+ cell detection by ICC were both correlated with clinical stage. CYFRA 21-1 was significantly elevated in patients with micrometastatic disease detected by ICC: 4.77 ng/mL (± 10.87 SD) versus 1.00 ng/mL (± 1.36 SD) in patients with negative ICC (p=0.01). In univariate analysis, a CYFRA 21-1 value ≥1 ng/mL and the presence of CK+ cells were associated with a poorer survival for patients with stage I to III breast cancer (n=65). On multivariate analysis, only pathological nodal status and presence of CK+ cells in bone marrow were independent prognostic factors for overall survival. In conclusion, in this series CYFRA 21-1 was correlated with detection of CK+ cells by ICC in bone marrow, but cannot replace ICC. The presence of CK+ cells in bone marrow remains a strong independent prognostic factor in primary breast cancer.

La génétique évolutive du développement révèle une grande plasticité des mécanismes développementaux. L’exemple de bicoid, le premier morphogène connu, illustre comment un gène essentiel peut changer de fonction au cours de l’évolution. La recherche d’homologues de bicoid a montré que ce gène était spécifique des mouches et absent chez les autres insectes. En fait, il s’avère que bicoid est un gène homéotique Hox3 très dérivé (c’est-à-dire très éloigné de son gène ancestral). Au cours de l’évolution des insectes, le gène Hox3 ancestral a perdu sa fonction homéotique pour acquérir un nouveau rôle maternel et dans les annexes embryonnaires. Dans la lignée menant aux mouches, une duplication de ce nouveau gène a ensuite eu lieu, suivie d’une divergence aboutissant à la création des gènes bicoid et zerknüllt. L’analyse de l’évolution de bicoid, comme celle de nombreux autres gènes du développement, montre la nécessité d’élargir le choix des espèces modèles pour éviter les généralisations hâtives faites à partir d’un modèle particulier.

ABSTRACTIn this paper we present a depth-integrated mathematical model for computing the non-linear transformation of waves in the inner surf zone. First, we analyse wave distortion and dissipation processes from the hyperbolic theory for shock wave. Then, we present a comparison between experimental results by Cox [COX 95] and our numerical simulations, which shows the ability of our numerical model to describe the wave dynamics in the inner surf zone.

Freely decaying turbulent flows in a stably stratified fluid are simulated with a pseudo-spectral numerical code solving the fully nonlinear Navier–Stokes equations under the Boussinesq approximation with periodic boundary conditions. The flow is decomposed into a turbulent field and a horizontal mean flow ū(z, t) defined as the average of the horizontal velocity component in a horizontal plane at height z and time t. Similarly, the density field is decomposed into a turbulent field and a (stable) mean density profile ρ(z, t) defined as the average of the density field in a horizontal plane at height z and time t. Attention is paid to the effect of the turbulent velocity field on an initial z-periodic horizontal mean flow (Simulation A) or an initial z-periodic perturbation of the mean density profile (Simulation B). Both A and B are performed under conditions of moderate and strong stratification and are compared to the non-stratified simulations. Simulation A shows that the turbulence–mean flow interaction is strongly affected by the buoyancy forces. In the absence of a stratification, the mean flow perturbation decays rapidly due to the turbulent diffusion of momentum. When a moderate stratification is applied, the mean flow perturbation decays much more slowly whereas it oscillates and grows with time when the stratification is strong. These results are interpreted by defining a time-dependent eddy viscosity. Whereas the eddy viscosity coefficient has positive values in the non-stratified simulation, it is affected by the buoyancy forces and decreases after a period of order N−1. For large times, the eddy diffusivity oscillates and its time-averaged value over a few turnover timescales is positive but small when the stratification is moderate, and roughly zero when the stratification is strong. These results are interpreted by defining a time-dependent eddy viscosity. Whereas the eddy viscosity coefficient has positive values in the non-stratified simulation, it is affected by the buoyancy forces and decreases after a period of order N−1 in the stratified simulations (where N is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency associated with the background linear stratification). At large time, we find that the eddy viscosity remains roughly zero when the stratification is moderate, whereas it oscillates but remains persistently negative in the strongly stratified case, which causes the horizontal mean flow to accelerate. We conclude that the presence of a stable stratification strongly affects the temporal behaviour of the mean quantities ū and ρ in turbulent flows and partly explains the formation of horizontal layers in stratified geofluids such as oceans and atmospheres.

A McCormack TVD scheme is presented for the computation of Saint-Venant equations, in the context of coastal hydrodynamics. The dam-break problem on wet and dry bottoms is used to evaluate and discuss the performances of the scheme. A run-up simulation on a sloping beach is then presented and a comparison using an analytical solution is made. Finally, a bore propagation on a sloping beach is computed.

After entering the oocyte and before the formation of the diploid zygote, the sperm nucleus is transformed into a male pronucleus, a process that involves a series of conserved steps in sexually reproducing animals. Notably, a major modification of the male gamete lies in the decondensation of the highly compact sperm chromatin. We present here the phenotype of sésame(ssm), a maternal effect mutation which affects the formation of the male pronucleus in Drosophila melanogaster.Homozygous ssm185bfemales produce haploid embryos which develop with only the maternally derived chromosomes. These haploid embryos die at the end of embryogenesis. Cytological analyses of the fertilization in eggs laid by ssm185bmutant females showed that both pronuclear migration and pronuclear apposition occurred normally. However, a dramatic alteration of the male pronucleus by which its chromatin failed to fully decondense was systematically observed. Consequently, the affected male pronucleus does not enter the first mitotic spindle, which is organized around only the maternally derived chromosomes. Immunodetection of lamina antigens indicates that a male pronuclear envelope is able to form around the partially decondensed paternal chromatin. This suggests that the maternally provided sésame+function is required for a late stage of sperm chromatin remodeling.

La conduite des essais vaccinaux COVID-19 nécessite le recrutement d’un nombre important de participants dans un délai court. Dans ce contexte, une plateforme nationale informatisée permettant l’auto-inscription de volontaires a été mise en place. Ce concept inédit en France permet de cibler les populations correspondant aux critères d’inclusion, d’assurer une répartition géographique et de garantir aux promoteurs, industriels ou académiques, le recrutement rapide dans les essais. L’objectif du travail présenté ici est de décrire les caractéristiques des volontaires inscrits.

The purposes of this study, in view of previous controversial reports, were to assess retrospectively the frequency and severity of respiratory complications in patients undergoing aortoiliac surgery and to delineate the more significant preoperative risk factors. Excluding extraanatomic procedures, the review of 105 consecutive revascularizations, performed between June 1993 and December 1994, included the study of classic perioperative parameters; preoperative general conditions; and risk factors of the patients: age, sex, weight, diabetes, smoking habits, hypertension, coronary disease, and surgical antecedents with previous revascularizations; and type of arterial lesions: aortoiliac occlusive disease (AOID) or aneurysm. More specific perioperative studies included previous respiratory disease history evaluation, chest radiography, pulmonary function tests (PFT) analysis, and blood gas results. Prior to intervention the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class of patients was ascertained. Intraoperative techniques and conditions including types of incisions and revascularizations, methods of anesthetic monitoring, anesthetic and intubation times, blood and liquids losses and replacements, postoperative course with intensive care stay, and bacteriologic origin of septic pulmonary complications were also reviewed.The total perioperative mortality was 1.9% (two of 105), exclusively related to respiratory failures without primary cardiac origin or pulmonary embolism history. Major respiratory complications occured in 22 patients (20.9%), with a preeminence of pneumonia in 13. The total respiratory complications rate with favorable outcome was 19% (20 patients). Deaths occurred in patients with respiratory distress syndrome (one) and pneumonia with multiorgan failure (one). Univariate analysis demonstrated that only preoperative pathologic PFT and ASA classification were associated with postoperative respiratory complications. Major respiratory risks included forced vital capacity (FVC) <50%, forced expiratory volume (FEV) <1 1, and partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (Paco2) >50 mmHg. Questionable risk factors included intubation time, aortic clamp time, crystalloid replacements, and adjunctive epidural analgesia.

The orientations of joints were measured in the region of Guadeloupe (French West Indies) early in 1979. This island consists of a calcareous region (Grande-Terre) and of a volcanic region (Basse-Terre); a group of small islands (Iles des Saintes) to the South is also volcanic. The preferred orientations of the joints were then calculated for each region by the statistical method of Kohlbeck and Scheidegger. It is seen that the preferred joint-orientations on Grande-Terre and the Iles des Saintes agree with those found on the Bahamas and on Barbados. The joints on Basse-Terre are turned by about 45o in comparison with those on Grande-Terre. The joint-orientations on Grande-Terre, Barbados and the Bahamas fit well together with the notions derived from plate tectonic theory (essentially a relative EW displacement between the American and Caribbean Plates); the origin of the anomaly on Basse-Terre is not yet understood.

The production of superoxide anion (O) was measured in relation to 45Ca movement in glass‐adherent polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), and the results were compared with those obtained by ourselves and others on PMNs in suspension. In adherent PMNs, O production stimulated by N‐formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine (FMLP) was of rapid onset and short duration; this was also true of PMNs in suspension. However, O production was insensitive to the concentration of extracellular calcium. Both in adherent and non‐adherent PMNs, O production stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) had a latency time and was of long duration. In adherent PMNs, pretreatment with PMA potentiated the FMLP‐induced O production by lengthening its duration without changing its initial rate. In adherent PMNs, (10‐10‐10‐7M) FMLP induced a fast but transient dose‐dependent increase in 45Ca within 1 min, whereas PMA only released 45Ca about 5 min after its addition to the cell culture medium. Pretreatment of PMNs with 10 or 100 ng/ml PMA for 3 min before stimulation by 10‐7M FMLP reduced the 45Ca efflux observed with FMLP alone. We conclude that O production by adherent PMNs cannot simply be related to Ca2+movement. In comparison with non‐adherent cells, adherence seemed to interfere with the characteristics of both calcium and O generation, probably by modifying the cytoskeleton.

The morphological and functional differentiation of human trophoblast cells ends with the formation of terminally differentiated multinucleated syncytial trophoblasts. This in vivo differentiation is mimicked in vitro during the primary culture of extravillous cytotrophoblasts: isolated mononuclear cytotrophoblasts aggregate and fuse to form syncytia. This in vitro differentiation is associated with an increase in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) expression and a transitory increase in E-cadherin expression during cell aggregation. In the present study, we investigated the expression of pp60c-src during morphological differentiation of trophoblast cells. Cultures were terminated at various time intervals and pp60c-src was analysed by immunocytochemistry using a specific antibody. In addition, pp60c-src was investigated by western blot analysis and its tyrosine kinase activity was measured concomitantly. In mononuclear cytotrophoblasts, pp60c-src was localized at cell-matrix contacts and during the aggregation of cytotrophoblasts, pp60c-src was distributed on the cell surface at points of cell-cell contact being colocalized with EGF-R and E-cadherin. The kinase activity of the pp60c-src protein increased significantly at day 2 when cells were completely aggregated and started to fuse, and remained elevated while cells underwent further differentiation. Inhibition of pp60c-src by herbimycin A at 0.25 to 1 microgram/ml during the first day of culture was associated with a decreased expression of tyrosine kinase activity of EGF-R and an increase in E-cadherin expression. These data suggest that pp60c-src is involved in the modulation of trophoblast cell aggregation and fusion leading to syncytial formation.

Fetal bone resorption was measured by an organ culture technique using fetuses from thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) pregnant rats to investigate the roles of fetal and maternal hormones in the regulation of basal bone resorption in utero. Thyroparathyroidectomized female rats were treated with thyroxine and/or metabolites of vitamin D3. Basal bone resorption was greatly increased in fetuses from TPTX mothers. Administration of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol or 1,24,25-trihydroxycholecalciferol to TPTX female rats normalized the basal bone resorption of the fetus whereas injection of 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol was without effect. Treatment of the TPTX mothers with thyroxine was also shown to normalize basal bone resorption in the fetus.

The metallothionein system in Drosophila melanogasteris composed of two genes, Mtnand Mto. In order to compare the induction properties of these genes, we transformed D. melanogasterwith P-element vectors containing Adhand lacZreporter genes under the control of Mtnand Mtopromoters, respectively. Mtnand Mtotransgenes are mainly expressed in the digestive tract. However, Mtnexpression has been detected also in the fat body. Mtnand Mtotransgenes respond differently to metallic, heat-shock and oxidative stresses. These data confirm that both genes are in part functionally different.

The binding affinities of two steroid anaesthetics, alphaxalone (Alfx) and alphadolone acetate (Alfd), for testosterone-oestradiol-binding globulin (TeBG) and corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) were measured in human serum. In 8 male patients, the effect of i.v. administration of Althesin (a mixture of Alfx and Alfd) on the transport of testosterone (T) and cortisol (F) was studied. Both Alfx and Alfd bind to TeBG and CBG with a relatively high affinity (106M-1). A significant change in the percentage of unbound T was observed during Althesin infusion, with no change in total T concentration or in the TeBG binding parameters. The results suggest that by interaction with TeBG binding sites Alfx and/or Alfd displaced T bound to TeBG, and transiently increased the percentage of unbound T. A significant increase in the concentration of F was observed during althesin infusion, while the percentage of unbound F and the CBG binding parameters were unchanged. The dose of Alfx and Alfd used was not sufficient to alter the transport of F during brief althesin anaesthesia in men.

Expression of the two Drosophila melanogastermetallothionein genes, Mtnand Mto, has been analyzed by in situhybridization during post-embryonic development. Mtnand Mtotranscripts were detected exclusively in the digestive tract of larvae, pupae and adults reared on standard medium. Mtnand Mtoexpression domains overlap, but each gene is also expressed at unique sites. MtnmRNA levels are approximately 10 and 20 times higher than those of Mtoin larvae and adults, respectively. Copper and cadmium ions strongly induce Mtnand MtomRNA accumulation in the midgut. Zinc is a weaker inducer, acting only at high concentrations. Mtngene expression is induced by these three metals in Malpighian tubules, while Mtogene expression in this organ is induced only by zinc. Iron is a poor inducer of metallothionein mRNA accumulation. Functions of MTN and MTO proteins in metal homeostasis and detoxification are considered.

Fetal bone resorption was measured by an organ culture technique using fetuses from intact or thyroparathyroidectomized pregnant rats. These experiments were performed to investigate the effects of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25-DHCC) and salmon calcitonin (SCT) in pregnant rats, on both fetal growth and fetal bone resorption.Pregnant rats were given 0·1–0·5 μg 1,25-DHCC per day from day 17 of gestation: in intact rats bone resorption was increased and fetal growth decreased; 1,25-DHCC probably modified fetal bone resorption in the absence of fetal parathyroid secretion.Infusion of SCT in minipumps (30 mu./h) did not modify plasma calcium levels in either the mother or fetuses, neither was bone resorption altered. In 1,25-DHCC-treated rats, SCT infusion resulted in an increase in fetal weight and a decrease in fetal bone resorption. On the other hand, SCT infusion was found to facilitate phosphate accumulation in fetuses.At the end of the SCT infusion the SCT concentration was 450 ng/l in maternal plasma and 553± 60 ng/l in fetal plasma. Salmon calcitonin was shown to cross the placental barrier in the rats; it may interact with the effects of 1,25-DHCC in the fetus.