Transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) resulted in deactivation of temporal lobe structures, similar to invasive cervical vagus nerve (CVN) stimulation. Presumably, both methods stimulated myelinated afferent beta axons mediating anticonvulsive effects. How numbers of A beta axons in the human ABVN compare to those of the CVN is unknown. The ABVN, CVN, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and thoracic vagus nerve (TVN) were dissected from embalmed bodies. Numbers and calibers of myelinated axons were analyzed in semithin sections. Myelinated axons in the left and right ABVN averaged to 385 and 363, respectively. Numbers of A beta axons measuring 7 mm averaged to 64 and 78 on the left and right, respectively. Numbers of A beta axons in CVN were estimated by subtracting myelinated presumed motor axons in RLN from the total count of CVN. This resulted in 280 and 504 A beta axons on the left and right, respectively, concurring well with the thick myelinated axon count of the ipsilateral TVN (255 and 466, respectively). Thus, the ratio of A beta axons in the ABVN and CVN was 1:5 and 1:6 on the left and right side, respectively. These results indicate that transcutaneous ABVN stimulation might be a promising alternative to invasive CVN stimulation.

The MARS beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron is dedicated to the characterization of radioactive material samples. One great advantage of the beamline is the possibility to characterize about 380 radionuclides by different X-ray techniques in the same place. This facility is unique in Europe. A wide energy range from around 3.5 keV to 36 keV K-edges from K to Cs, and L3 edges from Cd to Am and beyond can be used. The MARS beamline is optimized for X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques (XANES/EXAFS), powder diffraction (XRD) but x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, High Energy Resolution Fluorescence Detected -XAS (HERFD-XAS), X-ray Emission (XES) and -XAS/XRD are also possible. A description of the beamline as well as its performances are given in a first part. Then some scientific examples of XAS studies from users are presented which cover a wide variety of topics in radiochemistry and nuclear materials.