Measurement of the ßß decay half-life of 130Te with the NEMO-3 detector.

We report results from the NEMO-3 experiment based on an exposure of 1275 days with 661 g of (130)Te in the form of enriched and natural tellurium foils. The ßß decay rate of (130)Te is found to be greater than zero with a significance of 7.7 standard deviations and the half-life is measured to be T(½)(2ν) = [7.0 ± 0.9(stat) ± 1.1(syst)] × 10(20) yr. This represents the most precise measurement of this half-life yet published and the first real-time observation of this decay.

Metals tolerance in moderately thermophilic isolates from a spent copper sulfide heap, closely related to Acidithiobacillus caldus, Acidimicrobium ferrooxidans and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans.

Selective enrichments enabled the recovery of moderately thermophilic isolates with copper bioleaching ability from a spent copper sulfide heap. Phylogenetic and physiological characterization revealed that the isolates were closely related to Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, Acidithiobacillus caldus and Acidimicrobium ferrooxidans. While isolates exhibited similar physiological characteristics to their corresponding type strains, in general they displayed similar or greater tolerance of high copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt concentrations. Considerable variation was found between species and between several strains related to S. thermosulfidooxidans. It is concluded that adaptation to metals present in the bioleaching heap from which they were isolated contributed to but did not entirely explain high metals tolerances. Higher metals tolerance did not confer stronger bioleaching performance, suggesting that a physical, mineralogical or chemical process is rate limiting for a specific ore or concentrate.

Grazing Incidence X-ray diffraction on Langmuir films: toward atomic resolution.

We have analyzed grazing incidence diffration (GIXD) data from condensed phases of Langmuir films of long-chain fatty acids at the air-water interface by using a new method consisting of a careful extraction of the structure factors followed by fitting of molecular parameters. We show that, contrary to the general belief, the information contained in GIXD spectra is enough to obtain near-atomic structural information. In particular, we directly determine for the first time the orientation of the chain backbone planes and of the carboxylic headgroups and we evaluate chain conformation defects. This new method allowed us to evidence a new phase of symmetry p2gm at high pressure, corresponding to a minimum in lattice energy, but never observed.

Simple classical mapping of the spin-polarized quantum electron gas: distribution functions and local-field corrections

We use the now well known spin unpolarized exchange-correlation energy E(xc) of the uniform electron gas as the basic "many-body" input to determine the temperature T(q) of a classical Coulomb fluid having the same correlation energy as the quantum system. It is shown that the spin-polarized pair distribution functions (SPDFs) of the classical fluid at T(q), obtained using the hypernetted chain equation, are in excellent agreement with those of the T = 0 quantum fluid obtained by quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. These methods are computationally simple and easily applied to problems which are currently beyond QMC simulations. Results are presented for the SPDFs and the local-field corrections to the response functions of the electron fluid at T = 0 and finite T.

Observation of a two-step mechanism in the formation of a superstructure of cadmium-behenic acid Langmuir monolayer: evidence of an intermediate structure.

By means of grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, the structure of a behenic acid monolayer spread over chloride salt solutions of cadmium is observed to evolve from the tilted L2 phase to the superstructure (corresponding to an organized monolayer of ions in addition to the ordered organic film), through an intermediate phase. The studied salt concentrations are below the so-called "threshold" needed for the formation of this superstructure. This kinetic process involving two first-order phase transitions is confirmed by Brewster angle microscopy experiments and surface pressure-area isotherms measured at different times after monolayer deposition.

Variation of the in-plane structure with depth revealed by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction in a thin Langmuir-Blodgett film.

Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction is used to characterize the molecular arrangement of ultrathin Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) multilayers. Using two angles of incidence of the beam allowing its penetration either throughout the complete depth of the film or only through the external layers, we show that it is possible to discriminate between the molecular packing of the deeper monolayers and that of the external monolayers of the LB film.

L-band x-ray absorption of radiatively heated nickel.

Absorption of L-M and L-N transitions of nickel has been measured using point projection spectroscopy. The x-ray radiation from laser-irradiated gold cavities was used to heat volumetrically nickel foils "tamped with carbon" up to 20 eV. Experimental spectra have been analyzed with calculations based on the spin-orbit split arrays statistical approach and performed for each ionic species Ni5+ to Ni11+. Using a least-squares fit, this method provides an ion distribution broader than at local thermodynamic equilibrium, which is explained by spatial and temporal temperature gradients. A major improvement in the simulation of the absolute value of transmission is obtained with a resolved transition array statistical calculation that reproduces the experimental spectrum with the nominal areal mass density by taking into account the saturation of narrow lines.

[Preventive treatment of thrombosis: audit on heparin prescription]. / Traitement prophylactique de la thrombose: audit sur la prescription des héparines. Comité du Médicament du CHG de Meaux.

An audit has been carried out, in a French general hospital, studying the use of heparins in preventive indications, to assess concordance between prescriptions and thrombotic risk, before and one year after the diffusion of national guidelines. Platelet monitoring frequency has also been studied. On a defined day, 550 patients were admitted, and 113 treated with preventive heparinotherapy (low molecular-weight heparin: 98 per cent). 52.2 per cent of patients received a correct regimen, while 4.4 per cent of underprescriptions and 43.4 per cent of overprescriptions were observed. Platelet monitoring protocol was respected in 44 per cent of cases, while it was insufficient for 41 per cent and not carried out in 15 per cent. The results of this study have been communicated to all the prescriptors. Another audit done one year later showed that 81 per cent of doses were adapted to the thrombotic risk, 2 per cent were too low, and 17 per cent too high. The efficiency of this kind of process shows that it should be generalized to all the sensitive therapeutic classes.

Evidence of 131I and (134,137)Cs activities in Bordeaux, France due to the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, low-background gamma spectrometry measurements were performed with HPGe detectors at the PRISNA platform located at the CENBG laboratory in Bordeaux, France. Different kinds of samples were collected and measured between March 26 and May 14, 2011. The first fission product observed was (131)I with maximum activity values of 2.4 mBq/m(3) in atmospheric dusts in air, 3.5 Bq/L in rain water, 15 Bq/kg in grass and 0.9 Bq/L in cow milk. The (134,137)Cs isotopes were also detected in air and in grass at a maximum level of 0.2 mBq/m(3) and 0.7 Bq/kg respectively, around one order of magnitude less than (131)I activity, but they were below detection limits in the other samples. All these activity values were consistent with others measured in France by IRSN and were well below those reported in May 1986 after the Chernobyl accident.