Parental effects improve escape performance of juvenile reef fish in a high-CO2 world

Rising CO2 levels in the oceans are predicted to have serious consequences for many marine taxa. Recent studies suggest that non-genetic parental effects may reduce the impact of high CO2 on the growth, survival and routine metabolic rate of marine fishes, but whether the parental environment mitigates behavioural and sensory impairment associated with high CO2 remains unknown. Here, we tested the acute effects of elevated CO2 on the escape responses of juvenile fish and whether such effects were altered by exposure of parents to increased CO2 (transgenerational acclimation). Elevated CO2 negatively affected the reactivity and locomotor performance of juvenile fish, but parental exposure to high CO2 reduced the effects in some traits, indicating the potential for acclimation of behavioural impairment across generations. However, acclimation was not complete in some traits, and absent in others, suggesting that transgenerational acclimation does not completely compensate the effects of high CO2 on escape responses.

SISMO-HAÏTI: Projet de coopération pour le calcul de l´aléa et le risque sismique en Haïti

La presentación contiene un resumen de los resultados del proyecto SISMO-HAITI. Se trata de un proyecto de cooperación financiado por la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), y llevado a cabo por un grupo de Universidades españolas, La Universidad de Kanagawa (Japón),los institutos sismológicos de República Dominicana y Puerto Rico y el Observatorio Nacional de Medioambiente y Vulnerabilidad de Haití. Fue coordinado por el Grupo de Investigación en Ingeniería Sísmica de la E.T.S.I. Topografía, Geodesia y Cartografía de la UPM. El objetivo del proyecto fue estimar la peligrosidad sísmica de la Isla de La Española de cara a la implementación del primer código sismorresistente de Haití, y la evaluación del riesgo sísmico en Puerto Príncipe (capital de Haití) como base para elaborar los planes de emergencias ante este riesgo.

SISMO-HAÏTI: Projet de coopération pour le calcul de l´aléa et le risque sismique en Haïti

Le calcul de l´aléa et le risque sismique en Haïti

Structure of the imprinted mouse Snrpn gene and establishment of its parental-specific methylation pattern

The mouse Snrpn gene encodes the Smn protein, which is involved in RNA splicing. The gene maps to a region in the central part of chromosome 7 that is syntenic to the Prader–Willi/Angelman syndromes (PWS-AS) region on human chromosome 15q11-q13. The mouse gene, like its human counterpart, is imprinted and paternally expressed, primarily in brain and heart. We provide here a detailed description of the structural features and differential methylation pattern of the gene. We have identified a maternally methylated region at the 5′ end (DMR1), which correlates inversely with the Snrpn paternal expression. We also describe a region at the 3′ end of the gene (DMR2) that is preferentially methylated on the paternal allele. Analysis of Snrpn mRNA levels in a methylase-deficient mouse embryo revealed that maternal methylation of DMR1 may play a role in silencing the maternal allele. Yet both regions, DMR1 and DMR2, inherit the parental-specific methylation profile from the gametes. This methylation pattern is erased in 12.5-days postcoitum (dpc) primordial germ cells and reestablished during gametogenesis. DMR1 is remethylated during oogenesis, whereas DMR2 is remethylated during spermatogenesis. Once established, these methylation patterns are transmitted to the embryo and maintained, protected from methylation changes during embryogenesis and cell differentiation. Transfections of DMR1 and DMR2 into embryonic stem cells and injection into pronuclei of fertilized eggs reveal that embryonic cells lack the capacity to establish anew the differential methylation pattern of Snrpn. That all PWS patients lack DMR1, together with the overall high resemblance of the mouse gene to the human SNRPN, offers an excellent experimental tool to study the regional control of this imprinted chromosomal domain.

Autoridade parental, incapacidade e melhor interesse da criança : uma reflexão sobre o caso Ashely / Ana Carolina Brochado Teixeira e Luciana Dadalto Penalva. --

Inclui notas explicativas, bibliográficas e bibliografia.

A resource range invariance rule for optimal offspring size predicts patterns of variability in parental phenotypes

Previous analysis of the rules regarding how much more a female should invest in a litter of size C rather than producing a litter with one more offspring revealed an invariance relationship between litter size and the range of resources per offspring in any litter size. The rule is that the range of resources per offspring should be inversely proportional to litter size. Here we present a modification of this rule that relates litter size to the total resources devoted to reproduction at that litter size. The result is that the range of resources devoted to reproduction should be the same for all litter sizes. When parental phenotypes covary linearly with resources devoted to reproduction, then those traits should also show equal ranges within each litter size category (except for litters of one). We tested this prediction by examining the range in body size (=total length) of female mosquito fish (Gambusia hubbsi) at different litter sizes. Because resources devoted to reproduction may take many forms (e.g., nest defense), this prediction may have broad applicability.

Contribution of parental blood pressures to association between low birth weight and adult high blood pressure: cross sectional study

Objective: To examine the possibility that low birth weight is a feature of the inherited predisposition to high blood pressure.

An interspecies hybrid RNA virus is significantly more virulent than either parental virus.

Cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) infects a very wide range of plant species (>1000 species). We recently demonstrated that a previously undescribed gene (2b) encoded by RNA 2 of the tripartite RNA genome of CMV is required for systemic virus spread and disease induction in its hosts. Herein we report that when this CMV gene is replaced by its homologue from tomato aspermy cucumovirus (TAV), the resultant hybrid virus is significantly more virulent, induces earlier onset of systemic symptoms, and accumulates to a higher level in seven host species from three families than either of the parents. Our results indicate that CMV and the TAV 2b protein interact synergistically despite the fact that no synergism occurs in double infections with the two parental viruses. To our knowledge, this is the first example of an interspecific hybrid made from plant or animal RNA viruses that is more efficient in systemic infection of a number of hosts than the naturally occurring parents. As CMV and the hybrid virus accumulated to a similar level in the infected tobacco protoplasts, the observed synergistic responses most likely resulted from an increased efficacy of the hybrid virus in systemic spread in host plants provided by the TAV 2b protein. The relevance of our finding to the application of pathogen-derived resistance is discussed.

Making and Keeping Friends: A social skills game that promotes parental involvement to more effectively address social deficits in children with ADHD

The social deficits of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have great impact on overall functioning and life satisfaction; however, ways of addressing these deficits to promote positive interpersonal functioning have been limited. The following paper explores the literature that highlights these social deficits, identifies skills that are proposed to target these impairments, discusses child and parent factors that are relevant to positive therapeutic change, and describes the development of a therapeutic game that incorporates variables important to treatment success of these interpersonal difficulties.

El estudio de caso como estrategia para el análisis de la violencia filio-parental (VFP)

Las investigaciones sobre la violencia filio-parental (VFP) son escasas y llegan a conclusiones diversas. El estudio de caso como estrategia metodológica puede ser útil para conocer en profundidad un fenómeno del que aún sabemos poco, entendiendo su realidad como proceso y permitiendo su comprensión de forma holística.

Vers une clarification de la répartition des compétences entre l'Union et ses Etats Membres? Une analyse du projet d'articles du Presidium de la Convention = Towards a clarification of the distribution of competences between the Union and its Member States? An analysis of the draft articles of the Presidium of the Convention. Research Paper in Law 1/2003

No abstract.