Estudi de les aigües salines a la conca del riu Llobregat i Cardener : implicacions ambientals

L’increment de la salinitat a les aigües subterrànies a prop de la zones de les explotacions mineres salines representa un problema ambiental amb moltes implicacions socio-econòmiques. La part mitja de la conca del riu Llobregat i Cardener és un clar exemple d’aquesta problemàtica. En molts casos l’origen de la salinitat és dubtós, ja que pot provenir del contacte de l’aigua de l’aqüífer amb formacions geològiques salines naturals o per l’afectació de les escombreres produïdes per l’explotació minera de potasses que es troba en aquesta regió. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és demostrar que el Ra pot ser un bon traçador per determinar l’origen de la salinitat de les aigües i complementar les analítiques químiques elementals i dels isòtops del sofre i de l’oxigen del sulfat (δ34SSO4 i δ18OSO4). La presència dels diversos isòtops del Ra en les aigües subterrànies dependrà de la geologia i del temps de residència de l’aigua dins l’aqüífer. L’anàlisi de 12 mostres de la comarca indica que el 226Ra és el millor dels isòtops del Ra que permet diferenciar l’origen de les aigües subterrànies.

A hyperactive quantitative trait locus allele of Arabidopsis BRX contributes to natural variation in root growth vigor.

Quantitative trait loci analysis of natural Arabidopsis thaliana accessions is increasingly exploited for gene isolation. However, to date this has mostly revealed deleterious mutations. Among them, a loss-of-function allele identified the root growth regulator BREVIS RADIX (BRX). Here we present evidence that BRX and the paralogous BRX-LIKE (BRXL) genes are under selective constraint in monocotyledons as well as dicotyledons. Unexpectedly, however, whereas none of the Arabidopsis orthologs except AtBRXL1 could complement brx null mutants when expressed constitutively, nearly all monocotyledon BRXLs tested could. Thus, BRXL proteins seem to be more diversified in dicotyledons than in monocotyledons. This functional diversification was correlated with accelerated rates of sequence divergence in the N-terminal regions. Population genetic analyses of 30 haplotypes are suggestive of an adaptive role of AtBRX and AtBRXL1. In two accessions, Lc-0 and Lov-5, seven amino acids are deleted in the variable region between the highly conserved C-terminal, so-called BRX domains. Genotyping of 42 additional accessions also found this deletion in Kz-1, Pu2-7, and Ws-0. In segregating recombinant inbred lines, the Lc-0 allele (AtBRX(Lc-0)) conferred significantly enhanced root growth. Moreover, when constitutively expressed in the same regulatory context, AtBRX(Lc-0) complemented brx mutants more efficiently than an allele without deletion. The same was observed for AtBRXL1, which compared with AtBRX carries a 13 amino acid deletion that encompasses the deletion found in AtBRX(Lc-0). Thus, the AtBRX(Lc-0) allele seems to contribute to natural variation in root growth vigor and provides a rare example of an experimentally confirmed, hyperactive allelic variant.

Vers une gestion de la nature en termes d'action publique : analyse d'une dynamique d'appropriation des ressources végétales à Tobré, Nord Bénin

Cette étude se fonde sur des recherches ethnographiques menées autour de la mise en oeuvre d'une politique publique de gestion de la nature à Tobré, une région baatonu au Bénin. L'étude se place dans une dynamique d'appropriation des ressources naturelles en rapport avec l'entrée en jeu de multiples acteurs publics et privés dans l'arène locale de gestion de la nature. En effet, ces acteurs ont acquis ces dernières années de l'expérience et de l'efficacité à la faveur des changements institutionnels et politiques et s'incluent davantage dans le processus de décision au point de suppléer l'Etat dans les actions qui étaient ses prérogatives. L'étude met en lumière les rapports de conflits, de compétitions, de concurrence ou de compromis autour des enjeux sociaux, politiques et économiques de protection de la nature. Elle décrit et analyse les formes d'interactions entre les différents acteurs individuels, collectifs et institutionnels, afin de voir en quoi ces interactions participent du processus de mobilisation d'acteurs locaux et de confrontation de vision, qui finalement définit et oriente les politiques locales de protection de la nature. Pour atteindre cet objectif, l'étude mobilise des apports théoriques de plusieurs disciplines, notamment de la socio- anthropologie du développement, de l'histoire et de la sociologie politique. Elle repose également sur des données empiriques collectées à partir d'une combinaison d'outils techniques, des entretiens et des observations jusqu'au dépouillement de presse et des études de cas. Les principaux résultats montrent que les acteurs locaux, particulièrement les comités de gestion sont parvenus à inscrire la gestion des ressources naturelles dans l'espace public à travers les débats dans les médias, les forums, les marches de protestation, etc. De fait, ils ont été capables d'influer sur le processus de définition et de mise en oeuvre des politiques locales de protection de la nature et donc de reconfigurer l'arène locale de gestion des ressources naturelles. Ce qui amène l'Etat et ses services déconcentrés, en premier lieu les services des Eaux et Forêts et la mairie à pactiser avec ces différents comités, sans pour autant perdre de leur notoriété. Au contraire, ils participent de la gouvernance de l'ensemble des actions et permettent de mettre en place des formes de gestion négociée. - This is an ethnographic research on the implementation of a public policy for the management of natural resources in Tobre, a baatonu village in Benin. The study focuses on the dynamic of natural resources ownership in a context of multiple stakeholders in the public and private sectors. In recent years, these stakeholders have become more experienced and efficient as a result of several institutional and policy changes. The stakeholders are more involved in the decision making process to the point that they can complement the role of the State in natural resources management. This study highlights the conflicts, competition, or compromise associated with the social, political and economic constraints of nature conservation. The interactions between individual, collective and institutional stakeholders were analyzed, to understand their role in the process of mobilizing local stakeholders and confronting their visions. This process ultimately defines and guides local policies on the management of nature. To achieve this goal, this study combined theoretical approaches from developmental socio-anthropology, history and political sociology with empirical data collected using interviews, observations, newspapers analysis and case studies. The results show that local stakeholders, particularly the management committees, were successful at introducing the need for sustainable natural resource management in the mainstream public discourse through the media, forums, and demonstrations. They were able to influence the process of identifying and implementing local policies on nature conservancy. This has encouraged the State, through its forestry services, and the district mayors to collaborate with these committees in the shared governance of natural resources.

Myelin basic protein content of aggregating rat brain cell cultures treated with cytokines and/or demyelinating antibody: effects of macrophage enrichment.

The demyelinative potential of the cytokines interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has been investigated in myelinating aggregate brain cell cultures. Treatment of myelinated cultures with these cytokines resulted in a reduction in myelin basic protein (MBP) content. This effect was additively increased by anti-myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (alpha-MOG) in the presence of complement. Qualitative immunocytochemistry demonstrated that peritoneal macrophages, added to the fetal telencephalon cell suspensions at the start of the culture period, successfully integrated into aggregate cultures. Supplementing the macrophage component of the cultures in this fashion resulted in increased accumulation of MBP. The effect of IFN-gamma on MBP content of cultures was not affected by the presence of macrophages in increased numbers.

Geoepidemiology of autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Autoantibodies against red blood cell antigens are considered the diagnostic hallmark of AIHA: Direct antiglobulin test (DAT) completed by cytofluorometry and specific diagnostic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) allow for a better understanding of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) triggers. Once B-cell tolerance checkpoints are bypassed, the patient loses self-tolerance, if the AIHA is not also caused by an possible variety of secondary pathogenic events such as viral, neoplastic and underlying autoimmune entities, such as SLE or post-transplantation drawbacks; treatment of underlying diseases in secondary AIHA guides ways to curative AIHA treatment. The acute phase of AIHA, often lethal in former times, if readily diagnosed, must be treated using plasma exchange, extracorporeal immunoadsorption and/or RBC transfusion with donor RBCs devoid of the auto-antibody target antigen. Genotyping blood groups (www.bloodgen.com) and narrowing down the blood type subspecificities with diagnostic mAbs help to define the triggering autoantigen and to select well compatible donor RBC concentrates, which thus escape recognition by the autoantibodies.

Projecte d’una explotació bovina d’aptitud càrnia en règim extensiu a “ Can Gummà” de Cabanelles (Alt Empordà)

L’objectiu del projecte és determinar la viabilitat i el rendiment de la instauració d’una explotació bovina d’aptitud càrnia en règim extensiu, aconseguint uns bons nivells de producció i qualitat de la carn. Així mateix i com a complement a l’activitat prevista, es projecta la construcció d’un cobert agrícola de 300 m2 per a emmagatzemar palla i farratges. La finca “Mas Gummà” es troba situada dins terme municipal de Cabanelles, comarca de l’ Alt Empordà, província de Girona. Actualment es dedica a l’agricultura i a la producció ramadera. Pel que fa a la producció agrícola es dedica a la sembra de colza, blat i ordi amb l’objectiu de comercialitzar el gra. Referent a part ramadera es dedica a l’engreix de pocs i a la recria de gallines, en ambdós casos de forma integrada. La finca disposa de 111,23 hectàrees de bosc i de 88,34 hectàrees de terra, incloent la pròpia i l’arrendada

Comparaison de la diversité et de la densité morphologiques dans trois types de données

This paper compares the inflectional diversity and density of adjectives and verbs in French CS, CDS, and ADS samples in a social perspective. The aim of the study is to show that the relation between CS, CDS, and ADS is not identical as far as verb and adjective inflection is concerned. We firstly expected verb inflectional morphology to be less diverse and dense in CDS and CS than in ADS. Conversely, we predicted adjective inflectional diversity and density to be higher in CDS and CS. Interestingly the findings do not exactly match the first prediction. The social implications of the study are discussed.

Retrieving Cloud Characteristics from Ground-Based Daytime Color All-Sky Images

A discussion is presented of daytime sky imaging and techniques that may be applied to the analysis of full-color sky images to infer cloud macrophysical properties. Descriptions of two different types of skyimaging systems developed by the authors are presented, one of which has been developed into a commercially available instrument. Retrievals of fractional sky cover from automated processing methods are compared to human retrievals, both from direct observations and visual analyses of sky images. Although some uncertainty exists in fractional sky cover retrievals from sky images, this uncertainty is no greater than that attached to human observations for the commercially available sky-imager retrievals. Thus, the application of automatic digital image processing techniques on sky images is a useful method to complement, or even replace, traditional human observations of sky cover and, potentially, cloud type. Additionally, the possibilities for inferring other cloud parameters such as cloud brokenness and solar obstruction further enhance the usefulness of sky imagers

A new spin on a compositionalist predictive modelling framework for conservation planning: a tropical case study in Ecuador

Knowledge about spatial biodiversity patterns is a basic criterion for reserve network design. Although herbarium collections hold large quantities of information, the data are often scattered and cannot supply complete spatial coverage. Alternatively, herbarium data can be used to fit species distribution models and their predictions can be used to provide complete spatial coverage and derive species richness maps. Here, we build on previous effort to propose an improved compositionalist framework for using species distribution models to better inform conservation management. We illustrate the approach with models fitted with six different methods and combined using an ensemble approach for 408 plant species in a tropical and megadiverse country (Ecuador). As a complementary view to the traditional richness hotspots methodology, consisting of a simple stacking of species distribution maps, the compositionalist modelling approach used here combines separate predictions for different pools of species to identify areas of alternative suitability for conservation. Our results show that the compositionalist approach better captures the established protected areas than the traditional richness hotspots strategies and allows the identification of areas in Ecuador that would optimally complement the current protection network. Further studies should aim at refining the approach with more groups and additional species information.

Characterization of human pancreatic orthotopic tumor xenografts suitable for drug screening

Background Efforts to identify novel therapeutic options for human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have failed to result in a clear improvement in patient survival to date. Pancreatic cancer requires efficient therapies that must be designed and assayed in preclinical models with improved predictor ability. Among the available preclinical models, the orthotopic approach fits with this expectation, but its use is still occasional. Methods An in vivo platform of 11 orthotopic tumor xenografts has been generated by direct implantation of fresh surgical material. In addition, a frozen tumorgraft bank has been created, ensuring future model recovery and tumor tissue availability. Results Tissue microarray studies allow showing a high degree of original histology preservation and maintenance of protein expression patterns through passages. The models display stable growth kinetics and characteristic metastatic behavior. Moreover, the molecular diversity may facilitate the identification of tumor subtypes and comparison of drug responses that complement or confirm information obtained with other preclinical models. Conclusions This panel represents a useful preclinical tool for testing new agents and treatment protocols and for further exploration of the biological basis of drug responses.

Characterization of human pancreatic orthotopic tumor xenografts suitable for drug screening

Background Efforts to identify novel therapeutic options for human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have failed to result in a clear improvement in patient survival to date. Pancreatic cancer requires efficient therapies that must be designed and assayed in preclinical models with improved predictor ability. Among the available preclinical models, the orthotopic approach fits with this expectation, but its use is still occasional. Methods An in vivo platform of 11 orthotopic tumor xenografts has been generated by direct implantation of fresh surgical material. In addition, a frozen tumorgraft bank has been created, ensuring future model recovery and tumor tissue availability. Results Tissue microarray studies allow showing a high degree of original histology preservation and maintenance of protein expression patterns through passages. The models display stable growth kinetics and characteristic metastatic behavior. Moreover, the molecular diversity may facilitate the identification of tumor subtypes and comparison of drug responses that complement or confirm information obtained with other preclinical models. Conclusions This panel represents a useful preclinical tool for testing new agents and treatment protocols and for further exploration of the biological basis of drug responses.

The knock-out of ARP3a gene affects F-actin cytoskeleton organization altering cellular tip growth, morphology and development in moss Physcomitrella patens.

The seven subunit Arp2/3 complex is a highly conserved nucleation factor of actin microfilaments. We have isolated the genomic sequence encoding a putative Arp3a protein of the moss Physcomitrella patens. The disruption of this ARP3A gene by allele replacement has generated loss-of-function mutants displaying a complex developmental phenotype. The loss-of function of ARP3A gene results in shortened, almost cubic chloronemal cells displaying affected tip growth and lacking differentiation to caulonemal cells. In moss arp3a mutants, buds differentiate directly from chloronemata to form stunted leafy shoots having differentiated leaves similar to wild type. Yet, rhizoids never differentiate from stem epidermal cells. To characterize the F-actin organization in the arp3a-mutated cells, we disrupted ARP3A gene in the previously described HGT1 strain expressing conditionally the GFP-talin marker. In vivo observation of the F-actin cytoskeleton during P. patens development demonstrated that loss-of-function of Arp3a is associated with the disappearance of specific F-actin cortical structures associated with the establishment of localized cellular growth domains. Finally, we show that constitutive expression of the P. patens Arp3a and its Arabidopsis thaliana orthologs efficiently complement the mutated phenotype indicating a high degree of evolutionary conservation of the Arp3 function in land plants.

An improved approach for predicting the distribution of rare and endangered species from occurrence and pseudo-absence data

1. Few examples of habitat-modelling studies of rare and endangered species exist in the literature, although from a conservation perspective predicting their distribution would prove particularly useful. Paucity of data and lack of valid absences are the probable reasons for this shortcoming. Analytic solutions to accommodate the lack of absence include the ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA) and the use of generalized linear models (GLM) with simulated pseudo-absences. 2. In this study we tested a new approach to generating pseudo-absences, based on a preliminary ENFA habitat suitability (HS) map, for the endangered species Eryngium alpinum. This method of generating pseudo-absences was compared with two others: (i) use of a GLM with pseudo-absences generated totally at random, and (ii) use of an ENFA only. 3. The influence of two different spatial resolutions (i.e. grain) was also assessed for tackling the dilemma of quality (grain) vs. quantity (number of occurrences). Each combination of the three above-mentioned methods with the two grains generated a distinct HS map. 4. Four evaluation measures were used for comparing these HS maps: total deviance explained, best kappa, Gini coefficient and minimal predicted area (MPA). The last is a new evaluation criterion proposed in this study. 5. Results showed that (i) GLM models using ENFA-weighted pseudo-absence provide better results, except for the MPA value, and that (ii) quality (spatial resolution and locational accuracy) of the data appears to be more important than quantity (number of occurrences). Furthermore, the proposed MPA value is suggested as a useful measure of model evaluation when used to complement classical statistical measures. 6. Synthesis and applications. We suggest that the use of ENFA-weighted pseudo-absence is a possible way to enhance the quality of GLM-based potential distribution maps and that data quality (i.e. spatial resolution) prevails over quantity (i.e. number of data). Increased accuracy of potential distribution maps could help to define better suitable areas for species protection and reintroduction.

ERPProduction.NET

ERPProduction.NET és el projecte final de carrera desenvolupat amb la tecnologia .NET amb el propòsit de complementar funcionalitat i escalavilitat a qualsevol sistema ERP en la gestió de la informació de les empreses i com a complement del mòdul de gestió de la producció i la planificació.

Yellow fever vaccine induces integrated multilineage and polyfunctional immune responses.

Correlates of immune-mediated protection to most viral and cancer vaccines are still unknown. This impedes the development of novel vaccines to incurable diseases such as HIV and cancer. In this study, we have used functional genomics and polychromatic flow cytometry to define the signature of the immune response to the yellow fever (YF) vaccine 17D (YF17D) in a cohort of 40 volunteers followed for up to 1 yr after vaccination. We show that immunization with YF17D leads to an integrated immune response that includes several effector arms of innate immunity, including complement, the inflammasome, and interferons, as well as adaptive immunity as shown by an early T cell response followed by a brisk and variable B cell response. Development of these responses is preceded, as demonstrated in three independent vaccination trials and in a novel in vitro system of primary immune responses (modular immune in vitro construct [MIMIC] system), by the coordinated up-regulation of transcripts for specific transcription factors, including STAT1, IRF7, and ETS2, which are upstream of the different effector arms of the immune response. These results clearly show that the immune response to a strong vaccine is preceded by coordinated induction of master transcription factors that lead to the development of a broad, polyfunctional, and persistent immune response that integrates all effector cells of the immune system.