Decomposition and nitrogen dynamics of wheat residues and impact on wheat growth stages

N mineralisation and immobilisation were quantified in field conditions in the presence or in the absence of wheat residues. The incubation study was conducted in cylinders placed in microplots (no plants were grown in cylinders), and the rest of each microplot was sowed with the wheat crop (Triticum durum var. Massa). N mineralisation and immobilisation depend on the presence or the absence of wheat residues. In absence of residues, a linear model of regression was developed to follow the clear nitrogen mineralisation at different soil levels. Nitrogen mineralisation (mg kg-1), during the five months of wheat development, showed the following decreasing order: 0-15 cm (132.6) > 15-30 cm (120.6) > 30-45 cm (91.3). The mineralisation rate was 24.1, 22.9 and 18.9 mg kg-1 d-1 for 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm levels, respectively. The supply of wheat residues resulted in a five months N immobilisation process. At level 0-15 cm the immobilisation (mg kg-1) showed the following decreasing order: (61.6) > (46.4) > (30.0) for the supply of wheat residues at seeding time, and 15 and 30 d before seeding respectively. At the other levels, the same decreasing order was recorded. The supply of 8 t ha-1 of wheat residues at seeding time, and 15 or 30 d before seeding, decreased the dry matter yield and N accumulation in wheat crop. In consequence, there was no synchronism between the nitrogen liberated by wheat residues decomposition and the wheat growth.     

Y-chromosome haplotypes in Corsica

We studied the distribution of Y-chromosome specific haplotypes (detected by the TaqI polymorphism of probes p49a,f) on a total of 328 Corsican males native of the regions of Ajaccio, Bastia and Corte. Three haplotypes are differential among regions: haplotype XV (A3 C1 D2 F1 I1), preponderant in the North of the island, haplotype V (A2 C0 D0 F1 I1) in the South, and haplotype XII (A3 C0 D1 F1 I0) in the highlands of the centre. Distribution of haplotypes can be explained by Corsican history and geography.     

Ambulatory sleep recording in a healthcare network: a feasibility study

Sleep disorders have a high prevalence: around 20% of insomniacs, 10% hypersomnolent including 2 to 4% of sleep disordered breathing in the general adult population. The low availability of sleep centres implies the research of alternative recording techniques in the natural setting of the patient. The objective was to evaluate an ambulatory recorder and its integration in a managed healthcare network. Fifteen patients had a full set-up at home and ten patients were hooked-up in the hospital but recorded at home. Technical failures occurred in 2/15 with full polysomnographic recordings. Integration within an experimental sleep network is in progress. This managed care network will include training of general practitioners, teletransmissions between GP and sleep specialists for a graded use of available resources including ambulatory monitoring.     

A new species of Lapparentophis from the mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem beds,Morocco, with remarks on the distribution of lapparentophiid snakes

Two isolated trunk vertebrae from the ?uppermost Albian–lower Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco are described and assigned to Lapparentophis, an early snake genus known from coeval deposits in Algeria. The Moroccan specimens represent a new species, Lapparentophis ragei, which can be distinguished from the type and only known species, Lapparentophis defrennei, by its smaller size, its more elongate vertebrae, the presence of parazygosphenal foramina, and paradiapophyses extending anteroventrally closer to the cotyle. The discovery of Lapparentophis in the Kem Kem beds adds to the relatively diverse snake assemblage previously reported from this formation and extends the geographical range of the genus. The distribution of Lapparentophis and lapparentophiid-grade (?lapparentophiid) snakes is discussed. This poorly known family of terrestrial snakes seems to be restricted to the latest Albian–early Cenomanian of North Africa, with the exception of Pouitella from the early–middle Cenomanian of France. As for many other vertebrate taxa of this period, this distribution is consistent with a dispersal event from Africa to the western part of the European archipelago.     

2008—2012年麻疹减毒活疫苗的质量分析

目的对中国2008—2012年连续5年麻疹减毒活疫苗(简称麻疹疫苗)的批签发情况进行总结,评价其麻疹疫苗的总体质量。方法通过对送检样品的资料审查和关键项目的实验室检定,采用趋势分析法对病毒滴度等进行分析和比较,回顾麻疹疫苗质量的整体情况。结果中国麻疹疫苗整体质量较好,批签发通过率为98.6%。疫苗关键指标数据稳定,病毒滴度100%符合国家标准,其中8批疫苗病毒滴度由于超过警戒线企业主动撤检。结论中国麻疹减毒活疫苗的质量稳中有升。国家疫苗批签发程序对确保上市疫苗的质量发挥重要作用,趋势分析在批签发中的应用更加严格保证了上市疫苗的安全性和有效性。     

Les statues-menhirs du Rouergue et du Haut-Languedoc : la posture des jambes et la technique de représentation des effigies féminines et masculines

Wex (1993) observes through the statuary of great historical cultures how body language appears to reflect the evolution of the respective status of man and woman. On the other hand, Serres (1997) reports that the feminine statues-menhirs of his so called groupe rouergat are represented with legs spread out, while masculine statues show broad as well as narrow postures. We examined this observation more systematically and further applied to it the properly ethological reading grid of Wex as a contribution to the history of gender relationships. A preliminary quantitative analysis aimed to determine which attributes give certainty about the sexual identity of the statues-menhirs. Special attention is given to the figures who underwent a gender change.     

Première indication de la présence de phorusracidés,famille d'oiseaux géants d'amérique du sud,dans le tertiaire Européen: Ameghinornis nov. gen. (Aves,ralliformes) des phosphorites du quercy,France

Some bird remains, from the «Phosphorites du Quercy deposits are closely related to the corresponding bones of Phorusrhacidae, an extinct family of birds which underwent an extensive diversification in South America from Oligocene to Pleistocene times. It included many giant flightless species. The form of the Quercy is a rather primitive one, of medium size and of probably somewhat reduced flying ability.The simultaneous occurrence of Phorusrhacidae inFrance and South America is of great biogeographical significance. The Phorusrhacidae seem most probably to be the descendants of a rather primitive group of Ralliformes, already diversified in Gondwanaland prior to its separation into different continental masses.     

Les métapodes d'Equus sensu lato (Mammalia,Périssodactyla)

Biometrical study of the metapodials of modern wild species (E. grevyi, E. burchelli boehmi, E. zebra hartmannae, E. africanus, E. hemionus and E. przewalskii) and some fossil forms (E. stenonis vireti and cf. vireti from the Villafranchian of France and Spain; E. tabeti and E. mauritanicus from the Lower and Middle Pleistocene of Northern Africa; E. mosbachensis from the Middle Pleistocene of Germany). Classical functional and evolutive interpretations of some characters are discussed: development of the distal keel, of the distal supra-articular and articular widths, of the proximal widths and antero-posterior diameters.     

Paranthodon africanus (broom) a stegosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of South Africa

The holotype of Paranthodon africanus (Broom) from the Kirkwood Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Algoa Basin, Cape Province, South Africa consists of a partial skull, the bones of which are very similar to those of Stegosaurus. Both sides of the maxillary tooth crowns have a bulbous cingulum and a very prominent central vertical ridge above the large apical denticle that is bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by four to seven smaller denticles. Diagnostically stegosaurian material is also known from the Lower Cretaceous of England (Craterosaurus) and China (Wuerhosaurus) and the Upper Cretaceous of India (Dravidosaurus).