The History of the European Union (Chinese version)

Descriu i analitza el proc��s d'integraci�� europea des dels seus inicis, els anys cinquanta, fins als nostres dies. L'objectiu consisteix a oferir una visi�� de conjunt d'un proc��s que va comen��ar modestament amb la integraci�� dels mercats del carb�� i de l'acer dels sis membres fundadors i que ha derivat en una Uni�� Europea de 27 estats membres i m��s de 500 milions d'habitants, amb pol��tiques comunes, una cooperaci�� estreta en els ��mbits m��s sensibles de la sobirania estatal i una moneda ��nica en setze estats

Genetic and environmental effects on early life-history traits in salmonids

Les changements environnementaux, tels la temp��rature ou les maladies infectieuses, peuvent influencer l'��volution en induisant de la s��lection, mais ceci �� la seule condition qu'il y ait assez de diversit�� g��n��tique pour les traits en question ou pour l'expression plastique de ces traits. Au cours cette th��se, nous avons ��tudi�� l'effet de potentielles pressions environnementales sur diff��rents ph��notypes de trois repr��sentants des sous familles des salmonid��s: l'ombre commun (Thymallus thymallus; Thymallinae), la truite de rivi��re {Salmo trutta; Salmoninae) et le cor��gone Coregonus palaea (Coregoninae). Les salmonid��s se pr��tent particuli��rement bien �� ce type d'exp��riences car ��tant hautement sensibles aux conditions environnementales, ils montrent une large variabilit�� dans leurs traits morphologiques, comportementaux ainsi que d'histoire de vie, tout en b��n��ficiant d'un large int��r��t g��n��ral. Nous avons test�� si le sexe de l'ombre commun pouvait ��tre modifi�� par la temp��rature, ce qui pourrait ainsi expliquer un changement abrupte de sex ratio observ�� dans l'une des plus grandes populations de Suisse. Nous n'avons trouv�� aucun indice permettant de conclure que la temp��rature puisse induire ce changement chez l'ombre commun ou chez la truite de rivi��re. De plus nous avons ��tudi�� la plasticit�� de d��veloppement ainsi que d'��closion, et avons observ�� des diff��rences entre familles ainsi qu'entre populations. Alors que ces diff��rences comportementales entre populations sugg��raient une adaptation aux conditions environnementales locales, cette pr��diction n'a pas ��t�� confirm��e par une exp��rience de transplantation r��ciproque d'embryons entre cinq rivi��res de la m��me r��gion. Cette ��tude a montr�� que les embryons ne survivaient pas mieux dans leur rivi��re d'origine, indiquant donc une absence d'adaptation locale. Nous avons aussi montr�� que la mortalit�� embryonnaire ��tait influenc��e autant par des "bons g��nes" que par des "g��nes compatibles", que la qualit�� des m��les pouvait ��tre signal��e par leur coloration, et que le fait d'��lever des poissons dans une pisciculture pouvait aboutir a des relations contre-intuitives entre la coloration des m��les et la qualit�� de leur jeunes. Nos r��sultats contribuent ainsi �� une meilleure compr��hension de l'effet de diverses pressions environnementales sur la morphologie, le comportement ou les traits d'histoire de vie chez les salmonid��s. - Environmental changes, such as changes in temperatures or infection levels, can induce selection and drive evolution if there is sufficient genetic variation for the traits or the plasticity in trait expression. In this thesis, we investigated the influence of potential environmental stressors on various phenotypes in representatives of the three salmonid subfamilies: the European grayling (Thymallus thymallus; Thymallinae), the brown trout (,Salmo trutta; Salmoninae), and the whitefish Coregonus palaea (Coregoninae). Salmonids are ideal study species, as they seem sensitive to changing environmental conditions, show considerable variability in morphological, behavioral, and life history traits, and are of broad public interest. We investigated whether temperature-induced sex reversal could explain the sex-ratio distortion found in one of Switzerland's largest grayling populations. We found no evidence of temperature-induced sex reversal in either graylings or brown trout. We also examined plasticity in embryo development and the timing of hatching. We found variation at the level of family and population. Although behavioral differences between populations suggested adaptation to local environmental conditions, no indications of local adaptation could be found in reciprocal transplant experiments carried out over five rivers in the same region. We also demonstrate that embryo development and viability is influenced by 'good genes' and 'compatible genes', that the genetic quality of sires can be signaled by their grey coloration, and that raising larvae in a hatchery environment can produce counter-intuitive relationships between male phenotypes and offspring viability. Our results contribute to the understanding of how changing environmental conditions affect the phenotypes and the heritability of early life-history traits in salmonids.

Meal-induced thermogenesis in obese children with or without familial history of obesity.

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the thermic effect of a meal (TEM) were measured in a group of 26 prepubertal children divided into three groups: (1) children with both parents obese (n = 8, group OB2); (2) children with no obese parents and without familial history of obesity (n = 8, OB0); and (3) normal body weight children (n = 10, C). Average RMR was similar in OB2 and OB0 children (4785 +/- 274 kJ/day vs 5091 +/- 543 kJ/day), but higher (P < 0.05) than in controls (4519 +/- 322 kJ/day). Adjusted for fat-free mass (FFM) mean RMRs were comparable in the three groups of children (4891 +/- 451 kJ/day vs 5031 +/- 451 kJ/day vs 4686 +/- 451 kJ/day in OB2, OB0, and C, respectively). The thermic response to the mixed meal was similar in OB2, OB0 and C groups. The TEM calculated as the percentage of RMR was lower (P < 0.05) in obese than in control children: 10.2% +/- 3.1% vs 10.9% +/- 4.3% vs 14.0% +/- 4.3% in OB2, OB0, and C, respectively. The similar RMR as absolute value as well as adjusted for FFM, and the comparable thermic effect of food in the obese children with or without familial history of obesity, failed to support the view that family history of obesity can greatly influence the RMR and the TEM of the obese child with obese parents.

Contribution of recombination to the evolutionary history of HIV.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: An improved understanding of how recombination affects the evolutionary history of HIV is crucial to understand its current and future evolution. The present review aims to disentangle the manifold effects of recombination on HIV by discussing its effects on the evolutionary history and the adaptive potential of HIV in the context of concepts from evolutionary genetics and genomics. RECENT FINDINGS: The increasing occurrence of secondary contacts between divergent subtype populations (during coinfection) results in increased observations of recombinants worldwide. Recombination is heterogeneous along the HIV genome. Consequences of recombination of HIV evolution are, in combination with other demographic processes, expected to either homogenize the genetic composition of HIV populations (homogenization) or provide the potential for novel adaptations (diversification). New methods in population genomics allow deep characterization of recombinant genome (the segment composition and origin) and their evolutionary trajectories. SUMMARY: HIV recombinants increase worldwide and invade geographical regions where pure subtypes were previously predominant. This trend is expected to continue in the future, as ease to travel worldwide increases opportunities for recombination between divergent HIV strains. While the effects of recombination in HIV are much researched, more effort is required to characterize current HIV recombinant composition and dynamics. This can be achieved with new population genetic and genomic methods.

Inter-informant agreement and prevalence estimates for mood syndromes: Direct interview vs. family history method.

BACKGROUND: The use of the family history method is recommended in family studies as a type of proxy interview of non-participating relatives. However, using different sources of information can result in bias as direct interviews may provide a higher likelihood of assigning diagnoses than family history reports. The aims of the present study were to: 1) compare diagnoses for threshold and subthreshold mood syndromes from interviews to those relying on information from relatives; 2) test the appropriateness of lowering the diagnostic threshold and combining multiple reports from the family history method to obtain comparable prevalence estimates to the interviews; 3) identify factors that influence the likelihood of agreement and reporting of disorders by informants. METHODS: Within a family study, 1621 informant-index subject pairs were identified. DSM-5 diagnoses from direct interviews of index subjects were compared to those derived from family history information provided by their first-degree relatives. RESULTS: 1) Inter-informant agreement was acceptable for Mania, but low for all other mood syndromes. 2) Except for Mania and subthreshold depression, the family history method provided significantly lower prevalence estimates. The gap improved for all other syndromes after lowering the threshold of the family history method. 3) Individuals who had a history of depression themselves were more likely to report depression in their relatives. LIMITATIONS: Low proportion of affected individuals for manic syndromes and lack of independence of data. CONCLUSIONS: The higher likelihood of reporting disorders by affected informants entails the risk of overestimation of the size of familial aggregation of depression.

Crises as a disease of the body politick: a metaphor in the history of nineteenth century economics

This paper examines the use of the medical metaphor in the early theories of crises. It first considers the borrowing of medical terminology and generic references to disease which, notwithstanding their relatively trivial character, illustrate how crises were originally conceived as disturbances (often of a political nature) to a naturally healthy system. Then it shows how a more specific metaphor, the fever of speculation, shifted the emphasis by treating prosperity as the diseased phase, to which crises are a remedy. The metaphor of the epidemic spreading of the disease introduced the theme of the cumulative character of both upswing and downswing, while the similitude with intermittent fevers accounted for the recurring nature of crises. Finally, the paper examines how the medical reflections on the causality of diseases contributed to the epistemology of crises theory, and reflects on the metaphisical shift accompanying the transition from the theories of crises to the theories of cycles.

Evolutionary history of almond tree domestication in the Mediterranean basin.

Genetic diversity of contemporary domesticated species is shaped by both natural and human-driven processes. However, until now, little is known about how domestication has imprinted the variation of fruit tree species. In this study, we reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of the domesticated almond tree, Prunus dulcis, around the Mediterranean basin, using a combination of nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites [i.e. simple sequence repeat (SSRs)] to investigate patterns of genetic diversity. Whereas conservative chloroplast SSRs show a widespread haplotype and rare locally distributed variants, nuclear SSRs show a pattern of isolation by distance with clines of diversity from the East to the West of the Mediterranean basin, while Bayesian genetic clustering reveals a substantial longitudinal genetic structure. Both kinds of markers thus support a single domestication event, in the eastern side of the Mediterranean basin. In addition, model-based estimation of the timing of genetic divergence among those clusters is estimated sometime during the Holocene, a result that is compatible with human-mediated dispersal of almond tree out of its centre of origin. Still, the detection of region-specific alleles suggests that gene flow from relictual wild preglacial populations (in North Africa) or from wild counterparts (in the Near East) could account for a fraction of the diversity observed.

Can we continue to neglect genomic variation in introgression rates when inferring the history of speciation? A case study in a Mytilus hybrid zone.

The use of molecular data to reconstruct the history of divergence and gene flow between populations of closely related taxa represents a challenging problem. It has been proposed that the long-standing debate about the geography of speciation can be resolved by comparing the likelihoods of a model of isolation with migration and a model of secondary contact. However, data are commonly only fit to a model of isolation with migration and rarely tested against the secondary contact alternative. Furthermore, most demographic inference methods have neglected variation in introgression rates and assume that the gene flow parameter (Nm) is similar among loci. Here, we show that neglecting this source of variation can give misleading results. We analysed DNA sequences sampled from populations of the marine mussels, Mytilus edulis and M.��galloprovincialis, across a well-studied mosaic hybrid zone in Europe and evaluated various scenarios of speciation, with or without variation in introgression rates, using an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) approach. Models with heterogeneous gene flow across loci always outperformed models assuming equal migration rates irrespective of the history of gene flow being considered. By incorporating this heterogeneity, the best-supported scenario was a long period of allopatric isolation during the first three-quarters of the time since divergence followed by secondary contact and introgression during the last quarter. By contrast, constraining migration to be homogeneous failed to discriminate among any of the different models of gene flow tested. Our simulations thus provide statistical support for the secondary contact scenario in the European Mytilus hybrid zone that the standard coalescent approach failed to confirm. Our results demonstrate that genomic variation in introgression rates can have profound impacts on the biological conclusions drawn from inference methods and needs to be incorporated in future studies.

Life-history consequences of adaptation to larval nutritional stress in Drosophila.

Many animal species face periods of chronic nutritional stress during which the individuals must continue to develop, grow, and/or reproduce despite low quantity or quality of food. Here, we use experimental evolution to study adaptation to such chronic nutritional stress in six replicate Drosophila melanogaster populations selected for the ability to survive and develop within a limited time on a very poor larval food. In unselected control populations, this poor food resulted in 20% lower egg-to-adult viability, 70% longer egg-to-adult development, and 50% lower adult body weight (compared to the standard food on which the flies were normally maintained). The evolutionary changes associated with adaptation to the poor food were assayed by comparing the selected and control lines in a common environment for different traits after 29-64 generations of selection. The selected populations evolved improved egg-to-adult viability and faster development on poor food. Even though the adult dry weight of selected flies when raised on the poor food was lower than that of controls, their average larval growth rate was higher. No differences in proportional pupal lipid content were observed. When raised on the standard food, the selected flies showed the same egg-to-adult viability and the same resistance to larval heat and cold shock as the controls and a slightly shorter developmental time. However, despite only 4% shorter development time, the adults of selected populations raised on the standard food were 13% smaller and showed 20% lower early-life fecundity than the controls, with no differences in life span. The selected flies also turned out less tolerant to adult malnutrition. Thus, fruit flies have the genetic potential to adapt to poor larval food, with no detectable loss of larval performance on the standard food. However, adaptation to larval nutritional stress is associated with trade-offs with adult fitness components, including adult tolerance to nutritional stress.

Les traduccions de Carles Riba i Mari�� Manent al Corpus Literari Digital

Els objectius del projecte ���Les traduccions de Carles Riba i Mari�� Manent al Corpus Literari Digital��� s��n diversos: d���una banda, digitalitzar totes les edicions originals de les traduccions publicades per Carles Riba i Mari�� Manent; d���altra banda, fer un inventari de tots els textos continguts en aquestes traduccions (de poesia, de narrativa i de teatre); i finalment, introduir els registres dins la plataforma del Corpus Literari Digital de la C��tedra M��rius Torres. La digitalitzaci�� ha perm��s de preservar digitalment el patrimoni literari constitu��t per aquestes traduccions de dos dels autors i traductors m��s importants de la literatura catalana del segle XX. L���inventari dels textos de cadascun dels seus volums de traduccions (poemes, narracions i obres de teatre) ha perm��s de constituir una base de dades en la qual es registren totes les versions diferents de cadascun dels textos tradu��ts que Riba i Manent van anar revisant al llarg de la seva vida. Finalment, la inclusi�� d���aquests registres bibliogr��fics dins la plataforma del Corpus Literari Digital de la C��tedra M��rius Torres permet la seva consulta en l��nia i la possibilitat de trobar, per a cada text, totes les seves versions i de visualitzar la imatge del document original, la qual cosa facilitar�� als investigadors l���estudi de la hist��ria textual de les traduccions, la de l���evoluci�� de la llengua liter��ria dels autors, entre altres possibilitats.

Strength of family history in predicting levels of blood pressure, plasma glucose and cholesterol

Rapport de synth��se : L'histoire familiale refl��te non seulement la susceptibilit�� g��n��tique d'un individu �� certaines maladies mais ��galement ses comportements et habitudes, notamment partag��es au sein d'une famille. L'hypertension art��rielle, le diab��te et l'hypercholest��rol��mie sont des facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaire modifiables hautement pr��valent. L'association entre l'histoire familiale d'hypertension art��rielle ou de diab��te et le risque accru de d��velopper de l'hypertension art��rielle ou du diab��te, respectivement, a ��t�� pr��alablement ��tablie. Par contre, le lien entre l'histoire familiale de facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaire et les traits continus correspondants n'avaient jamais ��t�� mis clairement en ��vidence. De m��me, la signification d'une histoire familiale inconnue n'avait jusqu'alors pas ��t�� d��crite. Ce travail, effectu�� dans le cadre de l'��tude Colaus (Cohorte Lausannoise), une cohorte regroupant un ��chantillon compos�� de 6102 participants ��g��s de 35 �� 75 ans s��lectionn��s au hasard dans la population lausannoise, a permis de d��crire en d��tail la relation entre l'histoire familiale des facteurs de risque cardio-vasculaires et les trait correspondants dans la population ��tudi��e. Les diff��rentes analyses statistiques ont permis de mettre en ��vidence une relation forte entre l'histoire familiale d'hypertension art��rielle, de diab��te ainsi que de l'hypercholest��rol��mie et leurs traits dichotomique et continu correspondants. Les anamn��ses des fr��res et soeurs avaient des valeurs pr��dictives positives plus ��lev��es que les anamn��ses parentales. Ceci signifie que les programmes de d��pistage ne prenant en compte que l'histoire familiale des fr��res et soeurs seraient probablement plus efficaces que ceux qui comportent l'��valuation des anamn��ses paternelle et maternelle. Plus de 40% des participants ignoraient l'histoire familiale d'hypertension d'au moins un des membres de leur famille. Ceux-ci avaient des valeurs de tension art��rielle systolique plus ��lev��es que ceux dont l'histoire familiale ��tait n��gative, permettant de souligner la valeur pr��dictive du fait de ne pas conna��tre l'histoire familiale d'hypertension art��rielle. Ces r��sultats montrent ��galement que, lors d'analyses de la relation entre l'anamn��se familiale de facteurs de risque cardiovasculaires et leurs traits correspondants, les participants donnant des r��ponses n��gatives doivent ��tre distingu��s de ceux qui ne connaissent pas leur anamn��se familiale. Les r��sultats de cette ��tude confirment la place centrale qu'occupe l'anamn��se familiale dans l'��valuation du risque cardio-vasculaire aupr��s de la population g��n��rale. L'importance de cet outil pr��dictif simple et bon march�� ne va cesser d'augmenter avec la disponibilit�� croissante d'information g��n��tique d��taill��e pour les maladies cardiovasculaires communes.

The evolutionary history of the CD209 (DC-SIGN) family in humans and non-human primates

The CD209 gene family that encodes C-type lectins in primates includes CD209 (DC-SIGN), CD209L (L-SIGN) and CD209L2. Understanding the evolution of these genes can help understand the duplication events generating this family, the process leading to the repeated neck region and identify protein domains under selective pressure. We compiled sequences from 14 primates representing 40 million years of evolution and from three non-primate mammal species. Phylogenetic analyses used Bayesian inference, and nucleotide substitutional patterns were assessed by codon-based maximum likelihood. Analyses suggest that CD209 genes emerged from a first duplication event in the common ancestor of anthropoids, yielding CD209L2 and an ancestral CD209 gene, which, in turn, duplicated in the common Old World primate ancestor, giving rise to CD209L and CD209. K(A)/K(S) values averaged over the entire tree were 0.43 (CD209), 0.52 (CD209L) and 0.35 (CD209L2), consistent with overall signatures of purifying selection. We also assessed the Toll-like receptor (TLR) gene family, which shares with CD209 genes a common profile of evolutionary constraint. The general feature of purifying selection of CD209 genes, despite an apparent redundancy (gene absence and gene loss), may reflect the need to faithfully recognize a multiplicity of pathogen motifs, commensals and a number of self-antigens