Suspended microchannel resonators (SMRs) are resonant mass sensors that contain liquid within the mechanical structure, therefore minimizing damping associated with the fluidic viscous drag. In this ...paper, we present a novel fabrication process for transparent SMRs with integrated piezoelectric (PZE) transduction, based on thin film depositions and trench filling. Our method allows to finely tune the geometry and the dimensions of the embedded channels, through a short and well-controlled wet etching in KOH. After channel definition, the wafer has a flat surface that enables further microfabrication processing. Piezoelectric (PZE) electrodes are placed on top of each resonator, enabling independent transduction of the devices. Devices are fabricated with a yield higher than 95%, and characterized with and without fluids (water and IPA). PZE-transduced SMRs show a mass responsivity up to 1125±0.06mHz/pg and a non-monotonic dependence of the quality factor on fluidic viscosity. Besides PZE actuation and readout, our fabrication process is compatible with the integration of other types of transducers in close proximity to the fluid, broadening the spectrum of potential applications.
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Summary
The Schmallenberg virus (SBV) has recently emerged in Europe, causing losses to the domestic livestock. A retrospective analysis of serodata was conducted in France for estimating ...seroprevalence of SBV among six wildlife species from 2011–2012 to 2013–2014, that is during the three vector seasons after the emergence of the SBV in France. Our objective was to quantify the exposure of wildlife to SBV and the potential protective effect of elevation such as previously observed for bluetongue. We also compared the spatiotemporal trends between domestic and wild animals at the level of the departments. We tested 2050 sera using competitive ELISA tests. Individual and population risk factors were further tested using general linear models among 1934 individuals. All populations but one exhibited positive results, seroprevalence up to 30% being observed for all species. The average seroprevalence did not differ between species but ranged from 0 to 90% according to the area and period, due to the dynamic pattern of infection. Seroprevalence was on average higher in the lowlands compared to areas located up to 800 m. Nevertheless, seroprevalence above 50% occurred in areas located up to 1500 m. Thus, contrary to what had been observed for bluetongue during the late 2000s in the same areas, SBV could spread to high altitudes and infect all the studied species. The spatial spread of SBV in wildlife did not fully match with SBV outbreaks reported in the domestic livestock. The mismatch was most obvious in mountainous areas where outbreaks in wildlife occurred on average one year after the peak of congenital cases in livestock. These results suggest a much larger spread and vector capacity for SBV than for bluetongue virus in natural areas. Potential consequences for wildlife dynamics are discussed.
We examined the long-term effects (28 years) of habitat loss and phenotypebased selective harvest on body mass, horn size, and horn shape of mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon) in southern France. This ...population has experienced habitat deterioration (loss of 50.8% of open area) since its introduction in 1956 and unrestricted selective hunting of the largest horned males since 1973. Both processes are predicted to lead to a decrease in phenotype quality by decreasing habitat quality and by reducing the reproductive contribution of individuals carrying traits that are targeted by hunters. Body mass and body size of both sexes and horn measurements of males markedly decreased (by 3.4-38.3%) in all age classes from the 1970s. Lamb body mass varied in relation to the spatiotemporal variation of habitat closure within the hunting-free reserve, suggesting that habitat closure explains part of these changes. However, the fact that there was no significant spatial variation in body mass in the early part of the study, when a decline in phenotypic quality already had occurred, provided support for the influence of selective harvesting. We also found that the allometric relationship between horn breadth and horn length changed over the study period. For a given horn length, horn breadth was lower during the second part of the study. This result, as well as changes in horn curve diameter, supports the interpretation that selective harvesting of males based on their horn configuration had evolutionary consequences for horn shape, since this phenotypic trait is less likely to be affected by changes in habitat characteristics. Moreover, males required more time (approximately four years) to develop a desirable trophy, suggesting that trophy hunting favors the reproductive contribution of animals with slow-growing horns. Managers should exploit hunters' desire for trophy males to finance management strategies which ensure a balance between the population and its environment. However, for long-term sustainable exploitation, harvest strategy should also ensure that selectively targeted males are allowed to contribute genetically to the next generations.
Investigating the factors shaping the activity of large herbivores is of prime importance because changes in their activity patterns may indicate physiological stress, which can affect reproduction ...and survival of individuals, and thereby population growth. Although climatic conditions are known to impact the activity patterns of large herbivores, few studies have investigated this relationship at a fine temporal scale. From a continuous monitoring of activity, we assessed the influence of temperature and wind on the summer activity of female mouflon (
Ovis gmelini musimon
Pallas, 1811 ×
Ovis
sp.) facing summer droughts. Females showed a marked bimodal activity pattern, with activity peaks occurring after dawn and before dusk. When temperature increased and wind speed decreased, the morning activity peak occurred earlier, while the evening activity peak was delayed. Hence, under stressing climatic conditions, female mouflon decreased their diurnal activity while increasing their nocturnal activity. However, this nocturnal increase did not prevent the activity rate over 24 h to decrease during hot nonwindy days compared with cool windy days. Although the occurrence of wind mitigated the negative influence of heat on the diurnal activity, wind had no effect at the daily scale. These findings emphasize the importance of working at different temporal scales when assessing the activity patterns of free-ranging vertebrates.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Toxoplasma gondii isolates have been classified into 3 genetic types. Little is known about genotypes of
T. gondii isolates in wild animals in Europe. In this report, genotypes of
T. gondii isolates ...from wildlife in France are described. Sera from wildlife were tested for antibodies to
T. gondii with the modified agglutination test, and the hearts from animals with titers superior or equal to 1:6 were bioassayed individually in mice.
T.gondii was isolated from 9 of 14 seropositive red foxes (
Vulpes vulpes), 12 of 33 roe deer (
Capreolus capreolus), 1 of 4 deer (
Cervus elaphus), 1 of 7 mouflons (
Ovis gmelini musimon) and 1 of 2 common mallards (
Anas platyrhynchos). No isolate was obtained by bioassay in mice of 1 fallow deer (
Dama dama) and of 3 European brown hares (
Lepus europaeus). Genotyping of the 24 isolates using PCR-RFLP and microsatellite markers indicated that all were type II and none of these
Toxoplasma isolates was virulent for mice.
Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical systems (M/NEMS) have a lot of potential to be used for sensing in different schemes and operation modes. We focus here on the use of coupled resonators for sensing ...and address the major limitation that these systems face, which stems from a compromise between dynamic range and responsivity. When the system becomes unbalanced, the responsivity drops. To solve this issue, we propose the use of piezoelectric-based stress tuning of the stiffness of the resonators in order to rebalance the system of resonators. With this approach we expect to be able to extend the dynamic range of such systems by some orders of magnitude.
Summary
Bluetongue (BT) was monitored in wildlife in France during two consecutive years corresponding to contrasting incidence rates in livestock: in 2008 at the peak of domestic outbreaks and in ...2009 when very few outbreaks were observed. The disease status of 2 798 ruminants comprising 837 red deer (Cervus elaphus) was explored using ELISA test on serum and real‐time RT‐PCR test on blood or spleen. A large proportion of red deer were seropositive and positive to RT‐PCR in 2008, but also in 2009 (seroprevalence: 47.1% and 24.3%), suggesting that red deer could maintain infection when domestic incidence was negligible. By contrast, low seroprevalence (<3%) and few RT‐PCR positive results were observed in other wild ruminant species, which rather appeared thus as dead‐end hosts. The risk factors of bluetongue circulation during the periods of high (2008) and low (2009) domestic incidence were explored in red deer using logistic mixed models. In this species, prevalence has been mainly influenced by the initial peak of BT in livestock, but also by environmental factor such as elevation and edge density between forest and pastures. Surprisingly, cattle density has a negative influence on prevalence in red deer, possibly due to the protective effect of cattle regarding midges' bites and/or to still unexplained factors dealing with the host/midge interface. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt at measuring the effect of landscape and wildlife/domestic interface on BT prevalence in wildlife in Europe.
The mouflon population of Caroux-Espinouse, southern France, inhabits a highly seasonal area with dry summers. We monitored summer lamb survival during a severe drought in 2003, from early June to ...late August. The survival of 35 radio-tagged lambs over nine two-week periods was strongly affected by the timing of rainfall. Survival depended on the amount of rainfall recorded at a given 14 day period and in the previous 14-21 day period. Survival was not influenced by the exceptionally high mean daily temperature recorded during some periods. Male lamb survival (0.68) tended to be less than female survival (0.81), although not significantly, possibly because of a low sample size. The high lamb mortality (25.7%) recorded during a four-month period is much higher than previous estimates of first-year mortality (less than 10%). We recommend accounting for climatic variation in summer when studying the population dynamics of ungulates.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether proportional cancer incidence is greater among Gulf War veterans compared with non-Gulf War veterans. Methods Files obtained from the ...Defense Manpower Data Center included data for 621,902 veterans who were deployed to the Persian Gulf during the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War (August 2, 1990, to March 1, 1991) and 746,248 non-Gulf War veteran controls. Identification of veterans who received a cancer diagnosis between 1991 and 2006 was accomplished through record linkage of the Defense Manpower Data Center dataset with files from 28 state cancer registries and the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry. By the use of logistic regression, proportional incidence ratios adjusted for demographic and military characteristics were calculated by comparing the proportion of a specific cancer among all cancers in the Gulf War veterans to the proportion of that specific cancer among all cancers in the non-Gulf War veterans. Results Only lung cancer showed a statistically significant relative excess among Gulf War veterans compared with non-Gulf War veterans (adjusted proportional incidence ratios, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.03−1.29). When adjusted for race, age, and sex, the overall proportion of cancers among Gulf War and non-Gulf War veterans was similar (odds ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96−1.02). Conclusions With the exception of lung cancer, there is little evidence of excess risk of cancer associated with Gulf War deployment. A follow-up study is warranted to confirm this finding and to evaluate the role of greater smoking rates among deployed personnel.
Balancing energetic requirements is a complex process governed by the current condition of the animal, its physiological state, and by the local environment. In response to these factors, animals are ...expected to adapt their activity patterns. Based on continuous monitoring of 14 GPS-collared animals in southern France, we studied how environmental conditions and reproductive life-cycle periods shape the monthly activity patterns of free-ranging female mouflon (
Ovis gmelini musimon
× Ovis sp. (Blyth, 1841)). More specifically, we analyzed total daily activity, diurnal activity, length of activity bouts, and number of activity bouts. We performed multivariate analyses to account for the relationship between several intercorrelated explanatory variables and monthly activity variables. Mouflon decreased their daily activity, diurnal activity, and length of activity bouts during the hot summer months. Such changes might allow animals to reduce thermoregulation costs. The resulting higher activity in winter compared with summer indicates that summer is the most limiting period for large herbivores in Mediterranean area. Both the number of active bouts and the daily activity increased during spring, when females have access to increased food quality, which ensures a faster digestion, and when they may face high energetic requirements owing to reproduction.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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