La macroflora oligocena de la cuenca de Cervera, Lérida, España (Colección del Museu Comarcal de Cervera)

This paper is the follow-up of another study of the Oligocene macroflora from Cervera (Ebro Basin, Spain), started with the 'Madern Collection' from the Museu de Geologia de Barcelona (Sanz de Siria, 1992). The present paper analyses 226 specimen from the Museu Comarcal de Cervera. 29 species, not mentioned before, are included and 3 new species of the tertiary flora are established. A likely model of the vegetation existing in the area in the low Oligocene is established by comparision with the models existing today of similar content and structure. Similar models are presently located in tropical regions between 15o and 25o latitude north. The main vegetal community that has been found correspond to the tropical deciduous forest. In upper, wetter levels, evergreen forest with laurisilva communities appear. The climate in the low Oligocene in the region was probably of the tropicalk kind, with a long dry period followed by a rain period. The average temperature would be around 22o-26o. Key words: Paleobotany, Macroflora, Oligocene, Paleoecology, Ebro Basin, Cervera, Spain, Museu Comarcal de Cervera.En el presente trabajo se prosigue el estudio de la flora oligocena de Cervera (Lérida, España) iniciado con la 'Colección Madern' del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona (Sanz de Siria, 1992). Se estudian ahora 226 ejemplares depositados en el Museu Comarcal de Cervera. Se menciona la presencia de 29 especies no citadas anteriormente y se crean 3 especies nuevas para la flora terciaria. Asimismo, se determina el posible modelo de vegetación existente en la zona durante el Oligoceno, por comparación con los modelos actuales de parecida composición y estructura. Modelos similares se localizan actualmente en regiones tropicales, entre los 15o y los 25o de latitud Norte. La principal comunidad vegetal encontrada corresponde a bosques tropicales deciduos. En niveles superiores más húmedos aparecen bosques perennifolios de tipo laurisilva. El clima de la región, durante el Oligoceno inferior, parece que fue de tipo tropical, con una estación seca prolongada seguida de un período de lluvias. Las temperaturas medias anuales podrían situarse entre los 22o-26o. Palabras clave: Paleobotánica, Macroflora, Oligoceno, Paleoecología, Cuenca del Ebro, España, Museu Comarcal de Cervera

Estudio paleoecológico y paleoclimático de la macroflora oligocena de Cervera (Lleida, España)

After the taxonomic revision of the macroflora from Cervera (Lleida, Spain) of the 'Martí Madern' (Museu de Geologia de Barcelona and Museu Comarcal de Cervera collections). We present here their palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic study. A likely model of the vegetation existing in the area in the low Oligocene is established by comparison with the models existing today of similar content and structure. Similar models are presently located in tropical regions about 20o latitude North. The main vegetal community that has been found corresponds to the tropical deciduous forest. In superior wetter levels, evergreen forest with laurisilva communities appears. The climate in the early Oligocene in the region was probably of the tropical kind, with a long dry period followed by a rain period. The average temperature would be around 22o - 26o. Key words: Palaeobotany, Macroflora, Oligocene, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology, Ebro Basin, Cervera, Spain.Este trabajo es continuación de las revisiones taxonómicas realizadas de las colecciones de macroflora fósil 'Martí Madern', del Museu se Geologia de Barcelona y del Museu Comarcal de Cervera. Partiendo del estudio del conjunto de taxones fósiles hallado, se obtienen datos paleoecológicos y paleoclimáticos acerca de la cuenca y se intenta establecer el modelo de vegetación que debió existir durante el Oligoceno en esa zona. La principal comunidad vegetal presente correspondió a bosques deciduos de tipo tropical. En niveles superiores se ubicaron bosques perennifolios semejantes a las actuales laurisilvas. El clima en la región en el Oligoceno inferior fue de tipo tropical, con una estación seca prolongada a la que seguía un período de lluvias. Las temperaturas medias podían situarse en torno a los 22o-26o. Palabras clave: Paleobótanica, Macroflora, Oligoceno, Paleoecología, Paleoclimatología, Cuenca del Ebro, Cervera, España

Giant slip lengths of a simple fluid at vibrating solid interfaces

It has been shown recently [PRL 102, 254503 (2009)] that in the plane-plane configuration a mechanical resonator vibrating close to a rigid wall in a simple fluid can be overdamped to a frozen regime. Here, by solving analytically the Navier Stokes equations with partial slip boundary conditions at the solid fluid interface, we develop a theoretical approach justifying and extending these earlier findings. We show in particular that in the perfect slip regime the above mentioned results are, in the plane-plane configuration, very general and robust with respect to lever geometry considerations. We compare the results with those obtained previously for the sphere moving perpendicularly and close to a plane in a simple fluid and discuss in more details the differences concerning the dependence of the friction forces with the gap distance separating the moving object (i.e., plane or sphere) from the fixed plane. Finally, we show that the submicron fluidic effect reported in the reference above, and discussed further in the present work, can have dramatic implications in the design of nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS).Comment: submitted to PRE (see also PRL 102, 254503 (2009)

Dynamical Backaction Cooling with Free Electrons

The ability to cool single ions, atomic ensembles, and more recently macroscopic degrees of freedom down to the quantum groundstate has generated considerable progress and perspectives in Basic and Technological Science. These major advances have been essentially obtained by coupling mechanical motion to a resonant electromagnetic degree of freedom in what is generally known as laser cooling. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the first self-induced coherent cooling mechanism that is not mediated by the electromagnetic field. Using a focused electron beam, we report a 50-fold reduction of the motional temperature of a nanowire. Our result primarily relies on the sub-nanometer confinement of the electron beam and generalizes to any delayed and topologically confined interaction, with important consequences for near-field microscopy and fundamental nanoscale dissipation mechanisms.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Universal Vectorial and Ultrasensitive Nanomechanical Force Field Sensor

Miniaturization of force probes into nanomechanical oscillators enables ultrasensitive investigations of forces on dimensions smaller than their characteristic length scale. Meanwhile it also unravels the force field vectorial character and how its topology impacts the measurement. Here we expose an ultrasensitive method to image 2D vectorial force fields by optomechanically following the bidimensional Brownian motion of a singly clamped nanowire. This novel approach relies on angular and spectral tomography of its quasi frequency-degenerated transverse mechanical polarizations: immersing the nanoresonator in a vectorial force field does not only shift its eigenfrequencies but also rotate eigenmodes orientation as a nano-compass. This universal method is employed to map a tunable electrostatic force field whose spatial gradients can even take precedence over the intrinsic nanowire properties. Enabling vectorial force fields imaging with demonstrated sensitivities of attonewton variations over the nanoprobe Brownian trajectory will have strong impact on scientific exploration at the nanoscale

Long-term memory and synapse-like dynamics in two-dimensional nanofluidic channels

International audienceFine-tuned ion transport across nanoscale pores is key to many biological processes, including neurotransmission. Recent advances have enabled the confinement of water and ions to two dimensions, unveiling transport properties inaccessible at larger scales and triggering hopes of reproducing the ionic machinery of biological systems. Here we report experiments demonstrating the emergence of memory in the transport of aqueous electrolytes across (sub)nanoscale channels. We unveil two types of nanofluidic memristors depending on channel material and confinement, with memory ranging from minutes to hours. We explain how large time scales could emerge from interfacial processes such as ionic self-assembly or surface adsorption. Such behavior allowed us to implement Hebbian learning with nanofluidic systems. This result lays the foundation for biomimetic computations on aqueous electrolytic chips

Nanofluidic transport governed by the liquid/vapour interface

Liquid/vapour interfaces govern the behaviour of a wide range of systems but remain poorly understood, leaving ample margin for the exploitation of intriguing functionalities for applications. Here, we systematically investigate the role of liquid/vapour interfaces in the transport of water across apposing liquid menisci in osmosis membranes comprising short hydrophobic nanopores that separate two fluid reservoirs. We show experimentally that mass transport is limited by molecular reflection from the liquid/vapour interface below a certain length scale, which depends on the transmission probability of water molecules across the nanopores and on the condensation probability of a water molecule incident on the liquid surface. This fundamental yet elusive condensation property of water is measured under near-equilibrium conditions and found to decrease from 0.36 ± 0.21 at 30 °C to 0.18 ± 0.09 at 60 °C. These findings define the regime in which liquid/vapour interfaces govern nanofluidic transport and have implications for understanding mass transport in nanofluidic devices, droplets and bubbles, biological components and porous media involving liquid/vapour interfaces.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM (Project R10-CW-09

Prognostic significance of Twist, ZEB1 and Slug in peripheral T-cell lymphomas

AbstractObjectives: To investigate the protein expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition-inducing transcription factors (TFs) Twist, ZEB1 and Slug in peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) and their correlation with clinical parameters.Methods: The expression of these TFs was studied in 53 diagnostic biopsy specimens of several different PTCL subtypes with immunohistochemistry. Patient data were retrospectively collected from patient records and a statistical analysis was performed.Results: All three TFs were widely expressed. ZEB1 and Slug had correlations with clinical outcome. In all PTCL cases, high nuclear ZEB1 percentage correlated with a favorable progression-free survival (PFS) (3-year PFS: 70% vs. 34%; P = 0.010) and strong nuclear Slug intensity correlated with an unfavorable PFS (3-year PFS: 17% vs. 62%; P = 0.036).Discussion: The correlations between PFS and ZEB1 or Slug protein expression have not previously been established in PTCLs. The impact of ZEB1 and Slug expression on prognosis differed from our findings in DLBCL and the impact of ZEB1 expression was in line with current studies on mycosis fungoides and sézary syndrome. The findings may be explained by the roles these TFs play in hematopoiesis.Conclusion: ZEB1 and Slug may have potential clinical value for evaluating prognosis in PTCLs. The study size was small and heterogenous, and larger studies are warranted.Abstract Objectives: To investigate the protein expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition-inducing transcription factors (TFs) Twist, ZEB1 and Slug in peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) and their correlation with clinical parameters. Methods: The expression of these TFs was studied in 53 diagnostic biopsy specimens of several different PTCL subtypes with immunohistochemistry. Patient data were retrospectively collected from patient records and a statistical analysis was performed. Results: All three TFs were widely expressed. ZEB1 and Slug had correlations with clinical outcome. In all PTCL cases, high nuclear ZEB1 percentage correlated with a favorable progression-free survival (PFS) (3-year PFS: 70% vs. 34%; P = 0.010) and strong nuclear Slug intensity correlated with an unfavorable PFS (3-year PFS: 17% vs. 62%; P = 0.036). Discussion: The correlations between PFS and ZEB1 or Slug protein expression have not previously been established in PTCLs. The impact of ZEB1 and Slug expression on prognosis differed from our findings in DLBCL and the impact of ZEB1 expression was in line with current studies on mycosis fungoides and sézary syndrome. The findings may be explained by the roles these TFs play in hematopoiesis. Conclusion: ZEB1 and Slug may have potential clinical value for evaluating prognosis in PTCLs. The study size was small and heterogenous, and larger studies are warranted