Origin and evolutionary relationships of giant Galápagos tortoises

Perhaps the most enduring debate in reptile systematics has involved the giant Galápagos tortoises (Geochelone nigra), whose origins and systematic relationships captivated Charles Darwin and remain unresolved to this day. Here we report a phylogenetic reconstruction based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from Galápagos tortoises and Geochelone from mainland South America and Africa. The closest living relative to the Galápagos tortoise is not among the larger-bodied tortoises of South America but is the relatively small-bodied Geochelone chilensis, or Chaco tortoise. The split between G. chilensis and the Galápagos lineage probably occurred 6 to 12 million years ago, before the origin of the oldest extant Galápagos island. Our data suggest that the four named southern subspecies on the largest island, Isabela, are not distinct genetic units, whereas a genetically distinct northernmost Isabela subspecies is probably the result of a separate colonization. Most unexpectedly, the lone survivor of the abingdoni subspecies from Pinta Island (“Lonesome George”) is very closely related to tortoises from San Cristóbal and Española, the islands farthest from the island of Pinta. To rule out a possible recent transplant of Lonesome George, we sequenced DNA from three tortoises collected on Pinta in 1906. They have sequences identical to Lonesome George, consistent with his being the last survivor of his subspecies. This finding may provide guidance in finding a mate for Lonesome George, who so far has failed to reproduce.

O novo § 3º do art. 5º da Constituição e sua eficácia

Inclui notas explicativas e bibliográficas

O Tribunal Penal Internacional : integração ao direito brasileiro e sua importância para a justiça penal internacional

Inclui notas explicativas e bibliográficas

Armanents duplication in Europe: a quantitative assessment. CEPS Policy Brief No. 297, 16 July 2013 [is another Brief with no. 297]

Effectively addressing the issue of duplication in Europe’s defence systems will require a considerable amount of political will and, more importantly, a far-sighted vision of the way to go. Difficult choices will have to be made, and EU member states will have to invest in a complex exercise of coordination of defence and industrial policies and planning. However, the efficient management of EU defence budgets and the maintenance of a viable industrial base demand such efforts. After all, what is at stake is the EU’s ability to guarantee its own security. The author makes a series of proposals to address this issue ahead of the European Council of December 2013, which will be devoted to matters of security and defence.

A tale of oversimplification and deregulation: the mainstream approach to labour market segmentation and the recent responses to the crisis in European countries. WP C.S.D.L.E. “Massimo D’Antona”.INT – 102/2013

After advocating flexibilization of non-standard work contracts for many years, some European and international institutions and several policy makers now indicate the standard employment relationship and its regulation as a cause of segmentation between the labour market of "guaranteed" insiders, employed under permanent contracts with effective protection against unfair dismissal, and the market of the “not-guaranteed” outsiders, working with non-standard contracts. Reforms of employment legislation are therefore being promoted and approved in different countries, allegedly aiming to balance the legal protection afforded to standard and non-standard workers. This article firstly argues that this approach is flawed as it oversimplifies reasons of segmentation as it concentrates on an “insiders-outsiders” discourse that cannot easily be transplanted in continental Europe. After reviewing current legislative changes in Italy, Spain and Portugal, it is then argued that lawmakers are focused on “deregulation” rather than “balancing protection” when approving recent reforms. Finally, the mainstream approach to segmentation and some of its derivative proposals, such as calls to introduce a “single permanent contract”, are called into question, as they seem to neglect the essential role of job protection in underpinning the effectiveness of fundamental and constitutional rights at the workplace.

SnRK1-triggered switch of bZIP63 dimerization mediates the low-energy response in plants

Metabolic adjustment to changing environmental conditions, particularly balancing of growth and defense responses, is crucial for all organisms to survive. The evolutionary conserved AMPK/Snf1/SnRK1 kinases are well-known metabolic master regulators in the low-energy response in animals, yeast and plants. They act at two different levels: by modulating the activity of key metabolic enzymes, and by massive transcriptional reprogramming. While the first part is well established, the latter function is only partially understood in animals and not at all in plants. Here we identified the Arabidopsis transcription factor bZIP63 as key regulator of the starvation response and direct target of the SnRK1 kinase. Phosphorylation of bZIP63 by SnRK1 changed its dimerization preference, thereby affecting target gene expression and ultimately primary metabolism. A bzip63 knock-out mutant exhibited starvation-related phenotypes, which could be functionally complemented by wild type bZIP63, but not by a version harboring point mutations in the identified SnRK1 target sites.

Narraciones,

Nika.--Cayo Aquilío.--Malatesta.--Caruncho.--El mago rojo.--El buen islamita.--Novus.--La tienda de Hipólito.--El país de las maravillas.--Un autócrata.--Filodemo.--Un legado original.

De la cryptographie : essai sur les méthodes de déchiffrement /

"Déchiffrement de la correspondance de Henri IV et du landgrave de Hesse": 2. ptie., p. [95]-107.

Q. Curtius Rufus ad codices parisinos recensitus cum varietate lectionum, supplementis Jo. Freinshemii et selectis Schmiederi variorumque commentariis quibus notas, excursus mappasque et indices addidit N. E. Lemaire.

Vol. 3 has title: Q. Curtius Rufus ad codices parisinos recensitus cum itinerario Alexandri, et Julio Valerio. Æsopi græci translatore quibus apud nos primum editis novos excursus, mappas, imagines, catalogos et indices ... addidit N. E. Lemaire ... "Index editionum [et versionum] Q. Curtii Rufi": v. 3, p. [375]-400.

Observationes Fredenandi Pintiani ... in loca obscura, aut deprauata, historiae naturalis C. Plinij cum retractationibus quoru[m]da[m] locoru[m] geographiae Po[m]ponij Melae ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Caius Suetonius Tranquillus cum annotationibus diuersorum.

Mode of access: Internet.

Commentariorum de bello Aphrodisiensi : libri quinque /

CCFR.

C. Cornelii Taciti Opera : Volum. I.

Mode of access: Internet.