Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD WB Saunders
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: Environmental surveillance is important in high-risk areas of hospitals to prevent fungal infections in immunosuppressed patients. Conventional culture methods for enumerating environmental fungi are time-consuming. AIM: In this field study, a solid-phase cytometry technique (SPC) and a more conventional culture-based method to quantify fungal contamination of hospital air and surface samples were compared. METHODS: For the air sampling, a liquid cyclone air sampler was used with a flow rate of 300 L/min for 10 min in each of four hospital locations. Surface swabbing was done in two locations, with two different swab types. Samples from all areas were processed by SPC and by culture on malt extract agar. FINDINGS: The mean airborne concentrations of viable fungi determined by SPC were about 1.5-fold higher than the mean concentrations obtained with the culture-based method. These differences for air samples were significant in three hospital environments. No significant difference was observed for surface samples between the two swab types and between the two analytical methods. One of the prominent advantages of SPC was its rapidity in comparison with the culture-based method (5 h versus 5 days). CONCLUSION: In this study, we showed that SPC allows for rapid monitoring of viable fungi in hospital environments. SPC can thus be used to provide an early warning and a rapid implementation of corrective measures. Viable fungi detection may be an important tool to assess infectious risk in wards with immunosuppressed patients.
ISSN: 0195-6701

hal-00874713
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874713
DOI : 10.1016/j.jhin.2012.10.004
PUBMED : 23313088

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The seismic characteristics of focused fluid-related features such as pockmarks and carbonate build-ups on the Nigerian continental slope have been investigated using complementary seismic data sets (reprocessed 3D exploration data and 2D Very High Resolution hull-mounted and near-bottom seismic data) coupled with the results of previous studies (sedimentological, geotechnical and geochemical analyses).The results show different types of fluid-related features within the hemipelagic phase of long duration (∼1 Myr) Turbidite/Hemipelagic cycles. They are the product of the disturbance of the hosting sediments following two main distinct processes: (1) no or low sediment deposition caused by fluid escape associated with seafloor settlement (benthic fauna, carbonate precipitation, gas hydrate formation) and (2) post-depositional erosion, caused either by fluid release (dewatering from underlying features such as channels and upward migration from a deep source) or by collapse (destabilisation of gas hydrates). The temporal evolution reveals a decrease in fluid flow during the hemipelagic deposition as witnessed by the decrease in methanogenic activity and by gas hydrate destabilisation. The spatial distribution of fluid-related features seems to be controlled by the type of fault (small fault or structural lineament).
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-01685513
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685513
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.10.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In the Arokam Tenere, the three studied massifs of granitoids are located around the N-S oriented Raghane mega-shear zone, which separates two of the main domains of the Tuareg shield, the Saharan metacraton and the Central Hoggar. The field observations, AMS analyses and U-Pb zircon dating were completed by a study of Landsat images because of the scarcity of outcrops in several parts of the studied area.;The image analysis allows to distinguish Arokam-East and Abdou granitoids in the eastern plutonic complex. It has also shown that the western plutonic complex corresponds to two different intrusions: the Yvonne granite and granodiorite. This is confirmed by the magnetic fabric that presents different characteristics in the different granitoids. U-Pb zircon dating and field observations show that the Arokam-West basement granite is much older (1915 Ma) than the Hanane granodiorite (582 Ma) in the central plutonic complex. Arokam-East and -West granites then belong to the Eburnean basement. The magnetic fabric of these granites is mainly associated with a post-magmatic deformation, probably of Pan-African age. Yvonne granodiorite is likely contemporaneous of the main displacement along the Raghane shear zone. The Yvonne granite (594 Ma) and Hanane granodiorite have a fabric similar to that previously obtained in most plutons of the Tiririne area. This fabric is related to the regional stress field, associated with the activity of the Raghane shear zone, during the late-magmatic phase in the plutons. On the contrary, the magnetic fabric of the Abdou pluton is still reflecting only the magma flow.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-00617478
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617478
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2011.02.007

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Sci Ltd
Résumé : A detailed morphological analysis of the outer shelf and continental slope of the Western Gulf of Lion is presented, based on swath bathymetry data together with sub-bottom profiles and high resolution seismic reflection profiles. These data reveal two main erosive features, of very different dimensions: the axial incision and the canyon's major valley. The height of axial incisions' flanks with respect to the canyon deepest point (the thalweg) ranges from 40 to 150 m. It creates a small axial erosive path within the canyon's major valley, which is typically bounded by flanks of more than 700 m in height. We interpret the axial incision observed in the sea floor as the imprint of turbidity currents that eroded the floor of canyons during phases of connection to rivers (hyperpycnal turbidity current). Such currents are most likely to have formed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as both proximity of the shoreline (due to the lowstand of sea level) and high detrital sediment supply (due to glacial abrasion upstream) increased the flow of sediments delivered to the canyon heads. Fossil axial incisions, observed in seismic lines, are related to equivalent conditions. The axial incision, however, has a key influence on canyon evolution as it triggers mass wasting of different sizes that affect the canyon's major valley (head and flanks). We interpret the geometry of the canyon's major valley as the result of recurrent activity of axial incisions. These periods of activity occurred during low sea levels at glacial maxima and show a cyclicity of 100,000 years for the last 400,000 years.
Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2005-06 , Vol. 22 , N. 6-7 , P. 805-826

Droits : 2005 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2005/publication-353.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2005.03.011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/353/