France samples

A mean level of PCDD/PCDFs has been reported at 35.6 pg I-TEQg 1 lipids in adipose tissue of citizens of France. Samples analyzed in 1999 were found to have similar levels to those reported for other European countries and the USA. No relation to sex or age of the tissue donor was apparent, and levels can be considered as representative of prevailing concentrations of these compounds in most industrialized countries (Schecter et al., 1994). There was no obvious trend of PCDD/F levels found in adipose tissue in citizens of Japan between 1970 and 1999 (Choi et al., 2002 Takenaka et al., 2002) (Table 16.2). However, in 2000, the concentration of PCDD/Fs was reported as only one-third of the amount in 1999 (Choi et al., 2002). This magnitude of decline seems unlikely over such a short time interval, but a longer term reduction is supported by the downward trend in emission levels of PCDDs and PCDFs following... 

Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). TEM measurements were made on a Jeol JEM -2100 Transmission Electron Microscope operated at an accelerating voltage of 100 kV in the Institut Federatif d Exploration Fonctionnelle des Genomes (Toulouse, France). Samples were negatively stained by a solution of sodium phosphotungstate. 

Penetrability is the depth, expressed in tenths of a millimeter, a standard steel needle penetrates into a bitumen sample at 25°C. The needle carries a weight of 100 g and the test is applied for five seconds. The corresponding test method is relatively difficult to carry out and is defined in France by the standard NF T 66-004, and in the USA by the method ASTM D 583. Penetration is related to the viscosity. 

A bitumen sample is oxidized at high temperature under well defined conditions and its physical characteristics are measured before and after this artificiai ageing process. The method is defined in France as AFNOR T 66-032 and in the USA by ASTM D 2872 (Rolling Thin-Film Oven Test). 

The author would like to thank K. Dohlen from LAM for fruitful discussions, H. Camon, N. Fabre and V. Conedera from Laboratoire d Analyse et d Architecture des Systemes (Toulouse, France) for sample realization, and P. Lanzoni, G. Moreaux from LAM for device characterization. 

The author would like to thank Mr. J.M. Beurtier and Mrs. 1. Le Blanc (CF Comma, Rennes, France) and Dr. G. Nijman (Vredestein AB, Enschede, the Netherlands), and their coworkers for kindly submitting the samples that were used in generating the results discussed in this chapter. 

As part of a study of the secondary chemistry of members of Cistus (the rock-rose) in France, Robles and Garzino (1998) examined the essential oil of C albidus L. Plants were sampled from two areas in Provence characterized by different soil types, calcareous sites west of Marseille, and siliceous sites near Pierrefeu-du-Var and Bormes les Mimosas (PF and BM, respectively, in Fig. 2.23), which lie about 60 km and 80 km to the east, respectively, in the Massif les Maures. Regardless of the soil type, a-zingiberene [88] (Fig. 2.24) was the dominant component. Concentrations of other major components of the plants varied between the two soil types, as summarized in Table 2.6. Many other compounds were present in lesser amounts, but varied little between the two areas. A more recent paper by the same workers (Robles and Garzino, 2000) described an analysis of C. monspeliensis L. leaf oils, the results of which are summarized in Table 2.7. 

The source materials were commercial pectins apple A30 and citrus pectin C73 kindly supplied by Unipectine (France) and Copenhagen Pectin Factory (Denmark) respectively. Polygalacturonic acid samples (named SR) were obtained by acid hydrolysis of a fully de-esterified citrus pectin as previously described [24]. Citrus pectins with different degree of esterification (DE) were obtained by controlled acid de-esterification [8]. 

Small angle neutron scattering measurements were carried out with the PACE diffractometer at the Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, (CE Saclay, France). The q range observed was 3.4 lO" to 0.2 A l. Samples were prepared in deuterated instead of ordinary water to achieve a suitable value for the neutron contrast factor. 

Pickett DA, Murrell MT, Williams RW (1994) Determination of femtogram quantities of protactinium in geologic samples by thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 66 1044-1049 Plagnes V, Causse C, Genty D, Pateme M, Blamart D (2002) A discontinuous climatic record from 187 to 74 ka from a speleothem of the Clamouse Cave (south of France). Earth Planet Sci Lett 201 87-103 Polyak VJ, Asmerom Y (2001) Late Holocene climate and cultural changes in the southwestern United States. Science 294 148-151... 

The first nuclear microbeam with a spatial resolution of 1 pm was built by Watt et al. (1981), and the first sub-micron instrument was built by Grime et al. (1987). Khodja et al. (2001) have published a description of the nuclear microprobe at the Pierre Sue Laboratory in France, which is a national facility dedicated to microbeam analysis. Its unique facility is that it is capable of analysing radioactive samples by means of a dedicated beamline. Figure 4.1 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus. 

Xanthans from several different sources were used in this study Xanthan samples A, B and C were kindly provided as freeze dried powder of ultrasonic degraded xanthan by Dr. B. Tinland, CERMAV, Grenoble, France. The molecular weights of these samples were determined experimentally in dilute solution by Dr. B. Tinland. Xanthan D was kindly provided as pasteurized, ultrafiltrated fermentation broth by Dr. G. Chauveteau, Institut Francais du Petrole, France. Xanthan E was kindly provided as a freeze dried sample from Dr. I. W. Sutherland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Xanthan F was obtained as a commercial, powdered material (Kelzan, Kelco Inc., a Division of Merck, San Diego CA.). Xanthan G was obtained as a commercial concentrated suspension (Flocon 4800, Pfizer, New York, NY)... 

Xanthan samples A, B and C was kindly provided by Dr. B. Tinland, Grenoble, France. Xanthan D was kindly provided Dr. G. Chauveteau,... 

Method The authors use information on all non-hospital sales of pharmaceutical products in 1992 in a sample of countries consisting of the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the UK. The database was provided by Intercontinental Medical Systems (IMS). The empirical analysis is based on the calculation of the Paasche and Laspeyres price indexes and the ratio between them. The descriptive analysis is completed with the econometric analysis (quasi-hedonic model) of the determining factors of the variation in the relative prices of each active ingredient in each country taking the USA as the point of comparison. 

A study carried out in Ireland which also compared oxidative stability and a-tocopherol levels in organic, free-range and conventional breast meat burgers from France, Ireland and the UK showed significant and greater variability between different samples from the same production system, than between production systems. They concluded that oxidative stability and a-tocopherol... 

This research was supported by the NATO Science for Peace programme (Project CARBON SfP 973849) and by a PhD grant from the Conseil Regional du Centre (France) to Frederic Chevallier. Thanks are due to Luc Aymard for providing the samples of milled graphite and to Mathieu Morcrette for building the supply cells both are from Universite de Picardie, Amiens (France). 

Three zeolite crystallite sizes were used, namely 0.02, 1-1.5 and 10-15 pm range The first zeolite sample was obtained from PQ Corporation, the two other were kindly synthesized by the Laboratoire des Materiaux Mineraux , UMR 7016, Mulhouse, France. The three samples had the same framework Si/Al ratio (15) and the same Bronsted acidity (measured by infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine). They were used in their protonic form (HBEA). 

Figure 3.12 Mass spectrum of the organic material sampled from a ceramic sherd from the Bronze Age site of La Fangade (France). The spectrum was obtained by means of Dl MS. Reproduced from Anal. Chem., Regert and Rolando, 74, 5, 965 975, Copyright 2002, with permission from American Chemical Society...

Figure 4.11 Mass spectrum of an archaeological sample made of a mixture of beeswax and birch bark tar from a residue sampled on a ceramic sherd from the Iron Age site of Grand Aunay (Sarthe, France). The spectrum was obtained by Dl El MS on a GCQ Finnigan device equipped with an ion trap analyser. Adapted from Regert and Rolando, 2002 (see colour Plate 1)...

Regert et al. studied [9] a series of 30 Neolithic hafting adhesives from lake dwellings at Chalain (France) using an analytical procedure based on GC/MS analysis involving solvent extraction (dichloromethane) and trimethylsilylation. In the majority of the samples a series of triterpenoid compounds with a lupane structure was clearly identified on the basis of their TMS mass spectra. In particular, the presence of betulin, betulone, lupenone, lupeol and lupa-2,20(29)-dien-28-ol allowed birch bark tar to be identified. In other samples the co-occurrence of other plant biomarkers such as a-amyrin,(3-amyrin... 

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