Substrate Adaptability of Periplasmic Substrate-binding Proteins as a Function of their Evolutionary Histories

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters play an important role in the uptake of nutrients in bacterial and archaeal cells. The bacterium Thermotoga maritima has an unusually high number of ABC transporters. However, only a few of them have been characterized due to the variety of substrates they can transport and the time consuming efforts needed to thoroughly characterize each ABC transporter. In this work, a technique has been optimized to determine the sugars that interact with the substrate-binding proteins (SBP) of the ABC transporter complexes in Thermotoga maritima. Using this high throughput assay, the ligands of trehalose-binding protein (TreE) and xylose-binding protein (XylE2) in Thermotoga maritima as well as representatives of the mannoside-binding proteins (Man) in the Thermotogaspecies were identified. The phylogeny of the mannose-binding proteins is interesting because of the presence of two paralogous proteins in this family (ManD and ManE). Ten representatives of the mannoside-binding proteins (ManD and ManE) encoded in the Thermotogales were characterized. At 37°C and 60°C, the ManD and ManE homologs bind cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, β-mannotriose, and β-mannotetraose. However, the ManE homologs have additional function, as they are able to bind β-mannobiose, laminaribiose, laminaritriose and sophorose. An examination of the selective pressure that acted on manD and manE and the identification of the residues located in the binding-site of their encoded proteins suggest that early in the evolution of manD and manE, these genes had different codon sites under positive selection which encode important regions of their binding site. Taken together, these analysis suggest that these paralogs likely evolved under different evolutionary constrains

"Philosophie du logiciel libre et démarches d'éducation populaire" Communication aux 7èmes rencontres mondiales du logiciel libre à Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy, 7 juillet 2006. Atelier : Les associations, l'éducation populaire et les logiciels libres

XXXCommunication sur les filiations entre l'éducation populaire et les logiciels libres et leurs enjeux, en faisant un détour par les médias et les technologies d'information et de communication (TIC)

Education populaire et TIC : mise en perspective et enjeux

Popular education and ICTCommunication aux ROUMICS (Rencontres ouvertes du multimédia et de l'internet citoyen et solidaire) organisées par l'association ANIS le 15 juin 2006 à Lille. Thème : Education populaire et TI

Information technology and efficiency in trucking.

In this paper, we develop an econometric model to estimate the impacts of Electronic Vehicle Management Systems (EVMS) on the load factor (LF) of heavy trucks using data at the operational level. This technology is supposed to improve capacity utilization by reducing coordination costs between demand and supply. The model is estimated on a subsample of the 1999 National Roadside Survey, covering heavy trucks travelling in the province of Quebec. The LF is explained as a function of truck, trip and carrier characteristics. We show that the use of EVMS results in a 16 percentage points increase of LF on backhaul trips. However, we also find that the LF of equipped trucks is reduced by about 7.6 percentage points on fronthaul movements. This last effect could be explained by a rebound effect: higher expected LF on the returns lead carriers to accept shipments with lower fronthaul LF. Overall, we find that this technology has increased the tonne-kilometers transported of equipped trucks by 6.3% and their fuel efficiency by 5%.

Information technology and efficiency in trucking

In this paper, we develop an econometric model to estimate the impacts of Electronic Vehicle Management Systems (EVMS) on the load factor (LF) of heavy trucks using data at the operational level. This technology is supposed to improve capacity utilization by reducing coordination costs between demand and supply. The model is estimated on a subsample of the 1999 National Roadside Survey, covering heavy trucks travelling in the province of Quebec. The LF is explained as a function of truck, trip and carrier characteristics. We show that the use of EVMS results in a 16 percentage points increase of LF on backhaul trips. However, we also find that the LF of equipped trucks is reduced by about 7.6 percentage points on fronthaul movements. This last effect could be explained by a rebound effect: higher expected LF on the returns lead carriers to accept shipments with lower fronthaul LF. Overall, we find that this technology has increased the tonne-kilometers transported of equipped trucks by 6.3% and their fuel efficiency by 5%.Information and Communication Technology, Efficiency, Load factor, Trucking, Energy Efficiency

La transmission intergénérationnelle des savoirs dans la communauté innue de Mashteuiatsh : les savoir-faire et les savoir-être au coeur des relations entre les Pekuakamiulnuatsh

Le mémoire porte sur l'identification des moyens utilisés et favorisés par les différentes générations de femmes et d'hommes pekuakamiulnuatsh pour transmettre leurs savoirs aux autres générations. On remarque que les rôles attribués à la transmission des savoirs varient en fonction de l'âge de la personne qui transmet et de celle qui reçoit. Les rôles varient également selon la sphère dans laquelle cette transmission est faite. En effet, on privilégie davantage la tradition orale dans la sphère privée, c'est-à-dire dans la famille, alors que l'écrit est fortement utilisé dans la sphère publique, comme à l'école. L'utilisation dynamique des modes de transmission occidentaux et autochtones est nécessaire pour assurer le partage des savoirs et de leurs pratiques dans cette communauté très hétérogène. Elle renforce également l'identité ilnue et rassemble la communauté vers les mêmes projets politiques et culturels.This thesis is about the identification of the ways used and supported by the various generations of Pekuakamiulnuatsh women and men to transmit their knowledge to the other generations. It is pointed out that the roles assigned to the transmission of the knowledge vary according to the age of the person who transmits and the one who receives. The roles also vary according to the sphere in which this transmission is made. Indeed, the private sphere privileges the oral tradition, i.e. in the family, while the writing processus is strongly used in the public sphere, as in the school. The dynamic use of the Western and Indigenous ways of transmission is necessary to counterbalance the knowledge and their practices in this very heterogeneous community. It also reinforces the ilnue identity and gathers the community towards the same political and cultural projects

La société de l’information « appropriée » par l’éducation populaire : une tradition en question

À travers l’analyse des modalités de référence à la société de l’information dans les milieux de l’éducation populaire français, cet article examine ce que le mythe de la société de l’information et les pratiques qui s’en réclament révèlent et génèrent dans ces milieux, mais également ce que l’appropriation de ce projet révèle du projet de société l’information lui-même. En interrogeant la manière dont elle est questionnée, voire appropriée, cet article observe la société de l’information dans ses différentes dimensions (idéologique, politique, technique) et met en lumière les enjeux qu’elle pose aux acteurs visant l’émancipation des citoyens. L’approche généalogique adoptée permet de situer la référence contemporaine à la société de l’information en regard de la tradition d’appropriation des médias spécifique à ces milieux. Ainsi, cet article permet-il de mettre en évidence les continuités et les ruptures que l’usage de la référence à la société de l’information traduit.By analyzing references to the information society in the French popular/community education sector, this paper examines what is generated, but also revealed by the myth of the information society and the practices that are linked to it , but also what the appropriation of this project in this sector reveals about this project itself. By questioning how it is appropriated, this paper discusses the several dimensions of the information society (ideological, political, technical, etc.) and highlights the new challenges faced by actors who are committed to the empowerment of citizens. The genealogical approach to these issues allows us to situate contemporary references to the information society within the tradition of media appropriation rooted in the 19th century which characterizes the French popular/community education sector. Thus, this paper aims at highlighting the continuities and the ruptures that the use of the reference to the information society translates.A través del análisis de las modalidades de referencia a la sociedad de la información en la educación popular francesa, éste artículo investiga lo que revelan el mito de la sociedad de la información y las prácticas relacionadas con este. A la vez se estudia el proyecto de la Sociedad de la Información a partir de la apropiación que de dicho proyecto se realiza en el ámbito educativo. Al estudiar la manera en la que la Sociedad de la Información se cuestiona o se apropia, este artículo caracteriza a la Sociedad de la información en sus distintas dimensiones (ideológica, política, técnica) y arroja luz sobre los retos con que se enfrentan los actores que buscan la emancipación de los ciudadanos. El enfoque genealógico que ha sido adoptado permite relacionar la referencia contemporánea a la sociedad de la información con la tradición de apropiación de los medios de comunicación. Todo ello pone en evidencia las continuidades y las rupturas que surgen del uso de referencias a la sociedad de la información