1.15 PW-850 J compressed beam demonstration using the PETAL facility.

The Petawatt Aquitaine Laser (PETAL) facility was designed and constructed by the French Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) as an additional PW beamline to the Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) facility. PETAL energy is limited to 1 kJ at the beginning due to the damage threshold of the final optics. In this paper, we present the commissioning of the PW PETAL beamline. The first kJ shots in the amplifier section with a large spectrum front end, the alignment of the synthetic aperture compression stage and the initial demonstration of the 1.15 PW @ 850 J operations in the compression stage are detailed. Issues encountered relating to damage to optics are also addressed.

Experimental demonstration of a synthetic aperture compression scheme for multi-Petawatt high-energy lasers.

We present the experimental demonstration of a subaperture compression scheme achieved in the PETAL (PETawatt Aquitaine Laser) facility. We evidence that by dividing the beam into small subapertures fitting the available grating size, the sub-beam can be individually compressed below 1 ps, synchronized below 50 fs and then coherently added thanks to a segmented mirror.

Evaluation of the vestibular autorotation test (VAT) for measuring vestibular oculomotor reflex in clinical research.

BACKGROUND: A method is needed to measure parameters of vertigo and disequilibrium. Our objective was to ascertain whether the vestibular autorotation test (VAT) gives numerical data on the vestibular oculomotor reflex (VOR) that are useful for clinical research. METHODS: A VAT was carried out on 17 healthy young volunteers twice, with an interval of 7 days (group A), and on a single occasion on another 17 volunteers of similar age and health (group B). The parameters studied were vertical and horizontal gains and phases and horizontal eye velocity symmetry. The resulting values were paired inter-session in the same individuals of group A, and between the first test of group A with the test in group B, chosen at random. Variances for the sets of numbers in each parameter as a whole and for each frequency of stimulation were calculated and statistical validity was determined. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the inter-session and inter-individual results. Variances of gain (horizontal and vertical) were small, but variances of phase and symmetry were large. An analysis of frequencies of stimulation revealed that variances increased with the elevation of frequency. CONCLUSIONS: For clinical research and evaluation, the VAT affords sufficiently consistent figures for vertical and horizontal gain in the entire spectrum of frequencies tested (2-5.9 Hz) and for horizontal phases between 2-3.9 Hz. Vertical phases and horizontal asymmetry vary too greatly for our stated purpose.

Paraganglioma timpánico y adenoma hipofisiario: ¿Nueva variedad de neoplasia endócrina múltiple tipo I? / Tympanic paraganglioma and hypophysiary adenoma. a new variant of type I multiple endocrine neoplasm?

Se reporta el caso de una paciente con presentación simultánea de paraganglioma timpánico y adenoma hipofisiario. Esta asociación puede representar una variedad del síndrome de neoplasia endócrina múltiple (NEM) tipo I que no ha sido descrita. Los paragangliomas timpánicos están embriológicamente relacionados a los feocromocitomas que pueden formar parte del síndrome de NEW tipo II. Los paragangliomas y los adenomas hipofisiarios se derivan de la cresta neural y pueden corresponder al síndrome de NEW tipo II y tipo y tipo I respectivamente. Estos tumores se presentan con un patrón de herancia autosómico dominante, y se ha reportado que ocurre cierta sobreposición entre los tumores del síndrome de NEM Tipo I y Tipo II

Characterization of the Pasteurella multocida skp and firA genes.

A 2.9-kb fragment of the Pasteurella multocida (Pm) genome encoding proteins p25 (25 kDa) and p28 (28 kDa) has previously been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli (Ec). In the present paper, the nucleotide (nt) sequence of a 1.8-kb subfragment encoding the two proteins is described. The cloned fragment contains three open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 is incomplete. ORF2 is homologous to the skp gene of Ec. ORF3 overlaps ORF2 and is highly homologous to the firA gene of Ec. The skp and firA genes are part of an operon governing the first steps of lipid A synthesis. Comparing the nt sequence with the N-terminal sequences of p25 and p28 revealed that the two proteins are encoded by ORF2 (skp). The preprotein p28 is converted into p25 by cleavage of a 23-amino-acid leader peptide. Though it serologically cross-reacts with porin H of Pm, p25 is not related to known bacterial porins.

[IMAGE: molecular integration of the analysis of the human genome and its expression]. / IMAGE: intégration au niveau moléculaire de l'analyse du génome humain et de son expression.

We have developed an integrated approach for the analysis of human cDNA libraries from neuromuscular tissues, based on the acquisition of primary structural, expression and mapping data. 26,938 sequence signatures (over 7 million bases) have been derived from both ends of skeletal muscle and brain cDNA clones. Primary redundancy analysis and classification of database similarities made it possible to characterize by structural data about 8,000 human gene transcripts, the majority of which is catalogued for the first time. Collecting hybridization signatures of complex cDNA probes derived from the tissues of origin to cDNA clones arrayed on high density filters provided a global and quantifiable view of the complexity and level of expression of the different transcripts. The development of 2,792 eSTS markers amplifiable by PCR defined the chromosomal localization of some 2,500 genes corresponding to the transcripts sequenced. The data collected are part of the corpus of the human gene transcript catalog and the genic map of the human genome.

Human lymphocyte cDNA ordered library analyzed by 2D gel electrophoresis. 1. Pooling strategy and matching of gel patterns.

We have analyzed an ordered library of 4,608 cDNA clones from the CEM human leukemic cell line. The aim was to facilitate gene retrieval, to enable immediate access to cDNA clones and to provide information on the protein expression of the individual clones in a 2D gel readout. The matrix array of 24 x 16 x 12, each position of which contained lambda jacII phage from one plaque, enabled us to establish pools of clones along the three axes (24 pools of complexity 192 cloned entities, 16 pools of complexity 288 and 12 pools of complexity 384). The total cDNA complexity is here reduced to such a level that spots which in more complex gels served as landmark spots are not present in each pool, and thus cannot serve as landmarks anymore. The image analysis of such gels and especially the matching of spots is not reliable under these circumstances. In order to achieve reliable matching, additional samples were created, such that pools were co-electrophoresed according to a special concatenation scheme; these samples then contained over-lapping elements (e.g., pools 1 + 2 + 3 and 3 + 4 + 5 have at least those spots in common, which originate from pool 3). This approach turned out to be feasible and we have completed the matching of one half of the ordered library. Already from the present stage of analysis we have obtained valuable information on the cDNA library and on the distribution of clones in this library.

Human lymphocyte cDNA ordered library analyzed by 2D gel electrophoresis. 3. Analysis of individual clones.

We pursued the goal of obtaining global information on cDNA libraries from lymphocytes by combining data on the genes with data on the expressed proteins. Ordered libraries enabled us to establish the properties of the clones by direct retrieval of individual clones from the matrix (in our system a 24 x 16 x 12 array). We have picked-upon inspection of radiofluorographs obtained from the pools of the library--39 clones and performed a 2D gel analysis on the cell free expressed clonal products and have established also their partial nucleotide sequences. Details on two such clones are reported; clone CEM1001 is a new gene, while clone CEM1002 is a gene for human elongation factor 1-beta.

Benign positional vertigo produces a specific pattern of abnormalities with high frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex testing.

The vestibulo-ocular reflex was studied at high frequencies of active head rotation (2 to 6 Hz) in twenty-three patients with benign positional vertigo (BPPV). Gain and phase measurements were obtained in the vertical and horizontal planes, and the results were compared to those of a control group consisting of 19 asymptomatic age-matched subjects. In the horizontal plane, the phase lead was significantly smaller in patients with BPPV as compared to controls (p < 0.01 at all frequencies). Vertical results did not differ from normals. These findings challenge "cupulolithiasis" as an explanation of the mechanism of BPPV's symptoms.

[Vestibular and oculomotor disorders in patients with congenital strabismus]. / Alteraciones vestibulares y oculomotoras en pacientes con estrabismo congénito.

A group of patients with congenital endotropia or exotropia was investigated in their capacity to perform reflex eye movements. Some patients had a successful surgical correction of their eye defect. The functions measured were the vestibulo-oculomotor reflex, the feedback control loop for searching and following eye movements and the optomotor reflex. A loss in the functional capacity was displayed in all the tests done. The average value of the losses found for the whole group, according to the test used, were from 8 to 27% for the vestibulo-oculomotor reflex; 22 to 42% for the eye tracking feedback loop, and 48% for the optomotor reflex. The deficit was not due to the incorrect eye position, because the successfully operated subjects had the same magnitude of the motor defect than the non-operated patients.

Organization of a functional chicken class II B gene.

Five class II (B-L) B genes are encoded in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of chickens of the B12 haplotype. We report here the nucleotide sequence of one of these genes, B-LBII, as well as the primary structure of a corresponding cDNA. The organization of B-LBII, its 5' flanking region including the promotor region, and the amino acid sequence of its product are compared to mammalian class II B genes and to the previously described B-LBIII gene, which probably is a pseudogene since no B-LBIII transcript could be identified. The 5' flanking region of B-LBII exhibits homologs of transcription-controlling sequence motifs, namely S, X, X2, and Y boxes, of class II A and B genes of rodents and man. However, the promotor region of B-LBIII lacks an equivalent of the S box, displays two nucleic acid substitutions in the core sequence of the Y box, and exhibits a 16 base pair (bp) deletion upstream of the site of initiation of transcription. Therefore, an aberrant promotor region is likely to account for the pseudogene-like nature of B-LBIII, which displays open-reading frames in all exons. The data obtained with the functional B-LBII gene are in line with our previous interpretation that both genomic organization and tertiary structure of class II beta molecules are remarkably conserved between birds and mammals.

A molecular map of the chicken major histocompatibility complex: the class II beta genes are closely linked to the class I genes and the nucleolar organizer.

We have cloned in a cosmid vector four DNA clusters covering 320 kb of the chicken MHC (B complex), including five class II (B-L) beta genes defining two related isotypic families. Additional B complex genes have been revealed using tissue-specific cDNA probes. A cosmid fragment has been used to isolate a cDNA for a class I (B-F) transcript. This transcript, that is by far the most divergent known member of the class I gene family, hybridized to six B-F genes present in the cosmids. One of the clusters was shown to contain two rRNA transcriptional units from the nucleolar organizer region (NOR), marking the telomeric boundary of the B complex. None of the other B complex genes hybridizes to, or has the transcriptional characteristics of mammalian MHC class II alpha or class III genes. The map we have obtained shows that the B complex does not contain well defined class I and class II regions since B-F and B-L beta genes are closely associated with unrelated genes. Moreover, class II beta genes are very closely linked to class I genes in two clusters, and to the NOR in a third one.