In-depth prospection of Avène Thermal Spring Water reveals an uncommon and stable microbial community.

BACKGROUND: Avène Thermal Spring Water (TSW) exhibits therapeutic properties in the treatment of skin pathologies. Arising from a dolomitic aquifer system, its physico-chemical properties are well-established and its bacteriological quality regularly monitored. The microbiota of this aquifer have been characterized. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe the structure of the bacterial community inhabiting the deep aquifer and to examine its dynamics over time. METHODS: The Avène TSW was collected at the catchment point and filtered through 0.1 µm pore size filters. The sampling was carried out every 3 months to generate a 4-year time series. The DNA extracted from filters was analysed using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, and the microorganisms and their contribution were characterized by the taxonomic assignment of sequence variants generated from each sample. RESULTS: Bacteria were distributed into 39 phyla. Nitrospirae and Proteobacteria were the most prevalent, accounting for 38% and 23% of the total community on average, respectively. A stable pattern was observed throughout the study. A few bacterial species were always detected, forming a core community of likely chemolithoautotrophic organisms which might use energy sources and nutrients produced from water-bedrock interactions. Most of the species were distantly related to organisms described to date. CONCLUSIONS: Avène TSW provided by the deep aquifer system harbours a unique microbial community, shaped by the physico-chemical characteristics of the deep environment. Its remarkable stability over time has revealed a high level of confinement of the water resource.

An estimated shape function for drift in a platelet-transport model.

Prior work has shown that concentration profiles of platelets in flowing whole blood and of platelet-sized beads in flowing blood suspensions can include near-wall excesses. A model to describe this phenomenon was built about a single-component convective diffusion equation. To incorporate redistribution to preferred sites by shear flows of red cell suspensions, the model used a drift shape function (in addition to the commonly used augmented diffusion coefficient). This paper reports experiments that provide an average concentration profile from which the shape function for that model is calculated; the experiments and shape function are for the particular conditions of 40% hematocrit, platelet-sized latex beads (2.5 microns diameter), tube ID of 217 microns, and a wall shear rate of 555 s-1. Less precise estimates of the shape function obtained from data of previous studies indicate that the shape function is similar for the hematocrit of 15%.

Experimental study of the origin of the second-order nonlinearities induced in thermally poled fused silica.

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) experiments at the surfaces and in the volumes of thermally poled commercial fused-silica samples have been performed. The experimental results show, for the first time to our knowledge and in agreement with our model, that second-order nonlinearity is induced on both cathodic and anodic interfaces. No contribution from the bulk of the sample could be detected. Moreover, our data also reveal that reorientable moieties are at the origin of the induced nonlinearity. The second-order susceptibility, evaluated by a surface SHG experiment, is chi((2))(333)~1 pm/V . The estimated susceptibility associated with the dc Kerr effect is negligible.

[Atloido-axoid erosive osteoarthritis. Apropos of 3 cases]. / Arthroses érosives atloïdo-axoïdiennes. A propos de trois observations.

Three cases of unilateral atloido-axis arthropathy are described in women aged 39 to 69 years. The initial diagnosis of arthritis made in view of the severity of the clinical (severe pain and stiffness) and radiological (marked chondrolysis, subchondral erosions), manifestations was contested in the absence of any laboratory abnormality of an inflammatory nature, as well as any bacterial, inflammatory rheumatic or metabolic cause. The final diagnosis made at the time of hospitalisation after 8 to 9 month progression of the disease was osteoarthritis, no subject to any doubt on the basis of the subsequent course. C2-C3 block present in 2 cases was a local factor of joint wear-and-tear. Other severe manifestations of osteoarthritis were seen in 2 patients. By analogy with certain forms of destructive osteoarthritis of the fingers, the term erosive osteoarthritis of the atloido-axis joint is suggested to describe this joint lesion.