There's no place like home: seedling mortality contributes to the habitat specialisation of tree species across Amazonia

Understanding the mechanisms generating species distributions remains a challenge, especially in hyperdiverse tropical forests. We evaluated the role of rainfall variation, soil gradients and herbivory on seedling mortality, and how variation in seedling performance along these gradients contributes to habitat specialisation. In a 4-year experiment, replicated at the two extremes of the Amazon basin, we reciprocally transplanted 4638 tree seedlings of 41 habitat-specialist species from seven phylogenetic lineages among the three most important forest habitats of lowland Amazonia. Rainfall variation, flooding and soil gradients strongly influenced seedling mortality, whereas herbivory had negligible impact. Seedling mortality varied strongly among habitats, consistent with predictions for habitat specialists in most lineages. This suggests that seedling performance is a primary determinant of the habitat associations of adult trees across Amazonia. It further suggests that tree diversity, currently mostly harboured in terra firme forests, may be strongly impacted by the predicted climate changes in Amazonia

Technical design and characterization of a ground based solar metrology network on Reunion Island

Paper presented to the 3rd Southern African Solar Energy Conference, South Africa, 11-13 May, 2015.The roadmap of Reunion Island regarding energy is to reach autonomy by 2030. Obviously, renewable energies will play a key role in this ambitious project. However, a couple of years ago, a limit set by the French government relatively to the amount of lethal power injected on the electrical grid stopped the thrust: at any time, intermittent sources should not exceed 30 % of the whole production. This is due to the fragility of the grid: rugged topography, no interconnection. The University of La Reunion through the LE2P lab (Energy, Electronic and Process) decided to search a solution by predicting the solar resource in order to erase part of the intermittency of the production coming from the solar plants. Along this track, the first step is to evaluate precisely the resource and study its spatio-temporal variability. To do so, the LE2P gets engaged in deploying, at ground level, a network of monitoring stations. These units should be capable to produce field data responding to specific requirements in terms of acquisition frequency and quality, compatible with the clustering tools and mapping programs developed beside. Today, LE2P team manages a fleet of more than 15 stations, with various configurations, all over Reunion Island and plans to extend its network to neighboring territories. This article proposes to present in details the different components of a typical station, how they have been selected and how they are maintained. We will also see how the lab gets organized in order to propose top quality data to the solar scientific community.cf201

Technical design and characterization of a ground based solar metrology network on Reunion Island

Paper presented to the 3rd Southern African Solar Energy Conference, South Africa, 11-13 May, 2015.The roadmap of Reunion Island regarding energy is to reach autonomy by 2030. Obviously, renewable energies will play a key role in this ambitious project. However, a couple of years ago, a limit set by the French government relatively to the amount of lethal power injected on the electrical grid stopped the thrust: at any time, intermittent sources should not exceed 30 % of the whole production. This is due to the fragility of the grid: rugged topography, no interconnection. The University of La Reunion through the LE2P lab (Energy, Electronic and Process) decided to search a solution by predicting the solar resource in order to erase part of the intermittency of the production coming from the solar plants. Along this track, the first step is to evaluate precisely the resource and study its spatio-temporal variability. To do so, the LE2P gets engaged in deploying, at ground level, a network of monitoring stations. These units should be capable to produce field data responding to specific requirements in terms of acquisition frequency and quality, compatible with the clustering tools and mapping programs developed beside. Today, LE2P team manages a fleet of more than 15 stations, with various configurations, all over Reunion Island and plans to extend its network to neighboring territories. This article proposes to present in details the different components of a typical station, how they have been selected and how they are maintained. We will also see how the lab gets organized in order to propose top quality data to the solar scientific community.cf201

Atividade inseticida de óleos essenciais in natura e nanoencapsulados sobre Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade dos óleos essenciais in natura e nanoencapsulados dos frutos de ambas as espécies vegetais sobre a mortalidade de ninfas de B. tabaci

Antibacterial mono- and sesquiterpene esters of benzoic acids from Iranian propolis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Propolis (bee glue) has been used as a remedy since ancient times. Propolis from unexplored regions attracts the attention of scientists in the search for new bioactive molecules.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From Iranian propolis from the Isfahan province, five individual components were isolated: the prenylated coumarin suberosin <b>1</b>, and four terpene esters: tschimgin (bornyl <it>p</it>-hydroxybenzoate) <b>2</b>, tschimganin (bornyl vanillate) <b>3</b>, ferutinin (ferutinol <it>p</it>-hydroxybenzoate) <b>4, </b>and tefernin (ferutinol vanillate) <b>5</b>. All of them were found for the first time in propolis. Compounds <b>2 </b>- <b>5 </b>demonstrated activity against <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of the present study are consistent with the idea that propolis from unexplored regions is a promising source of biologically active compounds.</p

Role of N-terminal tau domain integrity on the survival of cerebellar granule neurons

Although the role of the microtubule-binding domain of the tau protein in the modulation of microtubule assembly is widely established, other possible functions of this protein have been poorly investigated. We have analyzed the effect of adenovirally mediated expression of two fragments of the N-terminal portion - free of microtubule-binding domain - of the tau protein in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). We found that while the expression of the tau (1-230) fragment, as well as of full-length tau, inhibits the onset of apoptosis, the tau (1-44) fragment exerts a powerful toxic action on the same neurons. The antiapoptotic action of tau (1-230) is exerted at the level of Akt-mediated activation of the caspase cascade. On the other hand, the toxic action of the (1-44) fragment is not prevented by inhibitors of CGN apoptosis, but is fully inhibited by NMDA receptor antagonists. These findings point to a novel, physiological role of the N-terminal domain of tau, but also underlay that its possible proteolytic truncation mediated by apoptotic proteases may generate a highly toxic fragment that could contribute to neuronal death

Identification of Protein Networks Involved in the Disease Course of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis

A more detailed insight into disease mechanisms of multiple sclerosis (MS) is crucial for the development of new and more effective therapies. MS is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. The aim of this study is to identify novel disease associated proteins involved in the development of inflammatory brain lesions, to help unravel underlying disease processes. Brainstem proteins were obtained from rats with MBP induced acute experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a well characterized disease model of MS. Samples were collected at different time points: just before onset of symptoms, at the top of the disease and following recovery. To analyze changes in the brainstem proteome during the disease course, a quantitative proteomics study was performed using two-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) followed by mass spectrometry. We identified 75 unique proteins in 92 spots with a significant abundance difference between the experimental groups. To find disease-related networks, these regulated proteins were mapped to existing biological networks by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). The analysis revealed that 70% of these proteins have been described to take part in neurological disease. Furthermore, some focus networks were created by IPA. These networks suggest an integrated regulation of the identified proteins with the addition of some putative regulators. Post-synaptic density protein 95 (DLG4), a key player in neuronal signalling and calcium-activated potassium channel alpha 1 (KCNMA1), involved in neurotransmitter release, are 2 putative regulators connecting 64% of the identified proteins. Functional blocking of the KCNMA1 in macrophages was able to alter myelin phagocytosis, a disease mechanism highly involved in EAE and MS pathology. Quantitative analysis of differentially expressed brainstem proteins in an animal model of MS is a first step to identify disease-associated proteins and networks that warrant further research to study their actual contribution to disease pathology