Reading faces: differential lateral gaze bias in processing canine and human facial expressions in dogs and 4-year-old children

Sensitivity to the emotions of others provides clear biological advantages. However, in the case of heterospecific relationships, such as that existing between dogs and humans, there are additional challenges since some elements of the expression of emotions are species-specific. Given that faces provide important visual cues for communicating emotional state in both humans and dogs, and that processing of emotions is subject to brain lateralisation, we investigated lateral gaze bias in adult dogs when presented with pictures of expressive human and dog faces. Our analysis revealed clear differences in laterality of eye movements in dogs towards conspecific faces according to the emotional valence of the expressions. Differences were also found towards human faces, but to a lesser extent. For comparative purpose, a similar experiment was also run with 4-year-old children and it was observed that they showed differential processing of facial expressions compared to dogs, suggesting a species-dependent engagement of the right or left hemisphere in processing emotions

Low Dietary Fiber Intake Links Development of Obesity and Lupus Pathogenesis

Changed dietary habits in Western countries such as reduced fiber intake represent an important lifestyle factor contributing to the increase in inflammatory immune-mediated diseases. The mode of action of beneficial fiber effects is not fully elucidated, but short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and gut microbiota have been implicated. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of dietary fiber on lupus pathology and to understand underlying mechanisms. Here, we show that in lupus-prone NZB/WF1 mice low fiber intake deteriorates disease progression reflected in accelerated mortality, autoantibody production and immune dysregulation. In contrast to our original assumption, microbiota suppression by antibiotics or direct SCFA feeding did not influence the course of lupus-like disease. Mechanistically, our data rather indicate that in low fiber-fed mice, an increase in white adipose tissue mass, fat-inflammation and a disrupted intestinal homeostasis go along with systemic, low-grade inflammation driving autoimmunity. The links between obesity, intestinal leakage and low-grade inflammation were confirmed in human samples, while adaptive immune activation predominantly correlated with lupus activity. We further propose that an accelerated gastro-intestinal passage along with energy dilution underlies fiber-mediated weight regulation. Thus, our data highlight the often-overlooked effects of dietary fiber on energy homeostasis and obesity prevention. Further, they provide insight into how intricately the pathologies of inflammatory immune-mediated conditions, such as obesity and autoimmunity, might be interlinked, possibly sharing common pathways

Diversité des agricultures familiales

Dans un contexte d’interrogation sur les modèles agricoles et de profondes transformations des agricultures et des marchés, cet ouvrage s’attache à revisiter la diversité des formes familiales de production et leurs mutations de par le monde. Dès lors, l’analyse intègre les liens aux marchés, aux territoires et à l’Ailleurs — par le fait migratoire — les enjeux d’autonomie et de sécurité alimentaire, les stratégies de survie et d’accumulation ainsi que les formes d’action collective et politique. L’ouvrage est construit autour de dix-huit études de cas, menées dans les cinq continents. Elles ont toutes été conduites avec un cadre méthodologique, identique et original, inspiré du Sustainable Rural Livehoods (cadre d’identification des moyens de subsistance durables en milieu rural). Revisitée pour cet ouvrage, cette méthode d’observations et d’analyses permet aux auteurs de préciser finement « ce qui fait famille », d’analyser les adaptations du travail des actifs familiaux et les mettre en perspective avec le contexte territorial et les politiques publiques de chaque pays. Écrit à plusieurs mains, par un réseau de chercheurs, cet ouvrage contribue autant à l’approfondissement des savoirs scientifiques sur les agricultures familiales dans le monde qu’à la mise à l’épreuve d’un cadre méthodologique d’analyse et d’observations en milieu rural. Il vise un public de chercheurs, d’enseignants et d’étudiants, agronomes, économistes, sociologues et historiens. Les experts du développement agricole et rural y trouveront un grand intérêt. Plus largement, toute personne qui s’intéresse aux agricultures familiales et à leurs évolutions dans divers contextes sociaux trouvera avantage à cette lecture. Les chercheurs qui ont coordonné cet ouvrage sont agronomes, économistes et géographes, au Cirad ou à l’Inra où ils mènent des recherches sur les systèmes agricoles familiaux à des échelles locales, nationales ou internationales. Cet ouvrage est le fruit d’une démarche de recherche collective et partagée permettant à de nombreux scientifiques des pays du Sud d’exprimer la diversité des réalités agraires contemporaines. Certains coordinateurs ou auteurs de cet ouvrage ont également collaboré à Agricultures familiales et mondes à venir, titre paru en 2014 chez Quae. Ce livre est également disponible en anglais sous le titreDiversity of Family Farming Around the Worldauprès des éditions Springer -www.springer.co

Les tombes protohistoriques d’Arabie Saoudite : de la nécessité d’une approche spatiale (2/2)

Durant les premières phases d’explorations du Royaume saoudien (Cf. billet précédent), la majorité des tombes protohistoriques ont été repérées sur le sommet des reliefs. Ces observations ont laissé supposer que ces structures funéraires étaient construites systématiquement sur les points les plus hauts du paysage (Hashim 1996 : 107, Ingraham et al 1981 : 69, Steimer-Herbet 2001 :187, 188, 283). La construction en élévation de ces monuments funéraires et le choix de positions topographiques p..

The Bronze and Iron Age funerary landscape in central Arabia

International audienceBronze and Iron Age tombs are a critical element in the archaeological landscape of the central Arabian oasis of al-Kharj. The Saudi-French archaeological Mission in al-Kharj identified seventeen necropolises on the ground, two of them comprising several hundred tombs. In the major necropolis at ʿAyn al-Ḍilaʿ, thirteen graves were excavated in 2013 and 2016, yielding data on the funerary practices and shedding light on chronological issues. This field approach was completed by remote-sensing analysis of the oasis of al-Kharj, which led to the geolocation of c.6,000 tumuli. Spatial analysis of these graves shows a distribution strongly dictated by proximity to building material and water sources as much as by land marking. The close proximity of the two main necropolises to palaeolakes raises the matter of the long-lasting activity of this hydrological feature in the area until the early Bronze Age, questioning the duration of the mid-Holocene humid phase in central Arabia. All in all, remote sensing and fieldwork provide us with an insight into the way of life, appropriation of land, and resources as well as the funerary practices of semi-mobile protohistoric populations

The Bronze and Iron Age funerary landscape in central Arabia

International audienceBronze and Iron Age tombs are a critical element in the archaeological landscape of the central Arabian oasis of al-Kharj. The Saudi-French archaeological Mission in al-Kharj identified seventeen necropolises on the ground, two of them comprising several hundred tombs. In the major necropolis at ʿAyn al-Ḍilaʿ, thirteen graves were excavated in 2013 and 2016, yielding data on the funerary practices and shedding light on chronological issues. This field approach was completed by remote-sensing analysis of the oasis of al-Kharj, which led to the geolocation of c.6,000 tumuli. Spatial analysis of these graves shows a distribution strongly dictated by proximity to building material and water sources as much as by land marking. The close proximity of the two main necropolises to palaeolakes raises the matter of the long-lasting activity of this hydrological feature in the area until the early Bronze Age, questioning the duration of the mid-Holocene humid phase in central Arabia. All in all, remote sensing and fieldwork provide us with an insight into the way of life, appropriation of land, and resources as well as the funerary practices of semi-mobile protohistoric populations