“Jacques Sternberg: the ABCs of Contempt”

Jacques Sternberg (1923-2006) was a singular figure of the Parisian literary life of the 60s and 70s, but today his name is mostly associated with Alain Resnais and Roland Topor. In 1973, he published a Dictionnaire du mépris, in which the humorist expressed his detestation of mankind in general and of French society under president Pompidou in particular. It was expanded in 1985 under the title Dictionnaire des idées revues. Neither book aims to be funny. Their main interest lies in their titles and in their form. Following in the footsteps of Voltaire, Gustave Flaubert and Ambrose Bierce, Sternberg establishes a strong connection between satire and the dictionary form; but his all-encompassing contempt – an essential ingredient of « true humour » – is of a different brand. He pretends to dislike not only people but literature. The key to this radicality is perhaps to be found in the young man’s experience of the horrors of WW2 and of the camps where his father lost his lifeJacques Sternberg (1923-2006) fut une figure singulière de la scène littéraire parisienne dans les années 1960-1970, aujourd’hui surtout connue pour sa collaboration avec Alain Resnais et Roland Topor. En 1973, il publie un Dictionnaire du mépris où, en 443 entrées (d’Absurde à Zoo en passant par Minable), il exprime sa détestation de l’humanité en général et de la France pompidolienne en particulier. Le livre, qui sera suivi en 1985 par un Dictionnaire des idées revues, est rarement drôle. Son principal intérêt réside dans le recours à la forme alphabétique (empruntée à Voltaire, Flaubert et Ambrose Bierce) et dans son titre. Sternberg, qui prétend ne pas s’intéresser aux gens et ne pas aimer la littérature, se sent comme un prêtre qui ne croirait pas en Dieu. Mais pour lui le mépris est une passion revendiquée, étape nécessaire pour parvenir au « véritable humour », qui a peut-être ses racines dans l’expérience de l’horreur de la guerre et des camps où son père perdit la vie

Végétation et climat dans les forêts du sud-ouest Cameroun depuis 4770 ans BP : analyse pollinique des sédiments du lac Ossa

L'analyse palynologique détaillée d'une carotte prélevée dans le lac Ossa, situé au coeur de la forêt littorale atlantique du SW Cameroun, apporte de nouvelles informations sur l'histoire botanique et climatique de cette région depuis 4 770 ans BP. La microflore pollinique inventoriée, riche et très diversifiée, indique la permanence de l'environnement forestier durant toute cette période. De 4 770 à 2 730 BP, les forêts Biafréenne et afromontagnarde sont bien représentées dans les spectres polliniques. Puis vers 2 730 BP (âge estimé), une modification majeure du paysage apparaît. La forêt de type primaire est remplacée par une forêt perturbée riche en arbres pionniers (#Alchornea, #Macaranga). Ultérieurement on note l'extension du palmier à huile (#Elaeis guineensis$) qui culmine vers 1 600 BP. (Résumé d'auteur

Cook-book for water ecosystem service assessment and valuation

This work proposes a methodological framework for the biophysical assessment and the economic valuation of water ecosystem services at the water body, the catchment and the European scale. It suits the intent of understanding how changes in pressures may affect the delivery and the value of these services. We integrated the existing knowledge with experience of experts and operational needs (collected through a consultation), to propose practical methodologies able to address specific objectives. This report is organized as follows. The first section analyses the objectives of an ecosystem services assessment, explains how and why we selected and designed the methodology proposed, and discusses the concepts of ecosystem services and their integrated assessment and valuation. The results of the consultation of the experts are presented in the second section. The third section (‘cook-book’) exposes, in a concise and practical way, the approach and methodologies proposed to assess and value water ecosystem services. Finally, some major issues related to this methodology are discussed in the last section.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

A low α-linolenic intake during early life increases adiposity in the adult guinea pig

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The composition of dietary fatty acids (FA) during early life may impact adult adipose tissue (AT) development. We investigated the effects of α-linolenic acid (ALA) intake during the suckling/weaning period on AT development and metabolic markers in the guinea pig (GP).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Newborn GP were fed a 27%-fat diet (w/w %) with high (10%-ALA group), moderate (2.4%-ALA group) or low (0.8%-ALA group) ALA content (w/w % as total FA) until they were 21 days old (d21). Then all animals were switched to a 15%-fat diet containing 2% ALA (as total FA) until 136 days of age (d136).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ALA and docosapentaenoic acid measured in plasma triglycerides (TG) at d21 decreased with decreasing ALA intake. Total body fat mass was not different between groups at d21. Adipose tissue TG synthesis rates and proliferation rate of total adipose cells, as assessed by ²H₂O labelling, were unchanged between groups at d21, while hepatic de novo lipogenesis was significantly 2-fold increased in the 0.8%-ALA group. In older GP, the 0.8%-ALA group showed a significant 15-%-increased total fat mass (d79 and d107, p < 0.01) and epididymal AT weight (d136) and tended to show higher insulinemia compared to the 10%-ALA group. In addition, proliferation rate of cells in the subcutaneous AT was higher in the 0.8%-ALA (15.2 ± 1.3% new cells/5d) than in the 10%-ALA group (8.6 ± 1.7% new cells/5d, p = 0.021) at d136. AT eicosanoid profiles were not associated with the increase of AT cell proliferation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A low ALA intake during early postnatal life promotes an increased adiposity in the adult GP.</p

Cold-water corals research in the lab and in the field: (1) growth rates of four CWC species maintained in aquaria, (2) new research areas: the Galicia Bank and the Avilés canyon (Atlantic and Cantabrian Sea), a scientific and methodological approach

Growth rates of 4 Cold-water Coral (CWC) species (Madrepora occulata, Lophe/ia pertusa, Desmophyllum cristagalli and Dendrophyllia cornigera) from the Mediterranean Sea have been measured under the same and controlled laboratory conditions over a nine months period. Results showed that M. occulata grew faster than the other three species, which presented similar growth rates. These results are discussed and also compared with the growth of tropical coral species maintained in aquaria, but in different light and temperature conditions, which corresponded to the usual culture conditions of these corals. It appeared that the zooxanthellate tropical coral Galaxea fascicularis exhibited similar growth rates than the CWC M. oculata. Further we present new research areas on the Atlantic and Cantabrian continental margin, the Galicia Bank and the Aviles canyon, which are part of the zones studied in the Spanish LIFE project INDEMARES, as well as possible targets as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the NATURA 2000 network. Both areas are studied considering an ecosystem approach, aboarding an integrated study of the physical scenario (hydrography, geomorphology), all ecosystem compartments (fish, endo-, epi-, and suprabenthic and benthopelagic fauna) and the trophic relationships between them. All this information, together with the study of the impact of the fisheries working in the areas, will be integrated in a trophodynamic mass-balance model and will be used to identify vulnerable ecosystems (VE) (as the CWC habitats are) and essential fish habitats (EFH). This methodological approach offers a holistic view of these deep-sea ecosystems and can be used to design more effective and successful management strategies for MPA

The Tara Pacific expedition—A pan-ecosystemic approach of the “-omics” complexity of coral reef holobionts across the Pacific Ocean

Coral reefs are the most diverse habitats in the marine realm. Their productivity, structural complexity, and biodiversity critically depend on ecosystem services provided by corals that are threatened because of climate change effects—in particular, ocean warming and acidification. The coral holobiont is composed of the coral animal host, endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, associated viruses, bacteria, and other microeukaryotes. In particular, the mandatory photosymbiosis with microalgae of the family Symbiodiniaceae and its consequences on the evolution, physiology, and stress resilience of the coral holobiont have yet to be fully elucidated. The functioning of the holobiont as a whole is largely unknown, although bacteria and viruses are presumed to play roles in metabolic interactions, immunity, and stress tolerance. In the context of climate change and anthropogenic threats on coral reef ecosystems, the Tara Pacific project aims to provide a baseline of the “-omics” complexity of the coral holobiont and its ecosystem across the Pacific Ocean and for various oceanographically distinct defined areas. Inspired by the previous Tara Oceans expeditions, the Tara Pacific expedition (2016–2018) has applied a pan-ecosystemic approach on coral reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean, drawing an east–west transect from Panama to Papua New Guinea and a south–north transect from Australia to Japan, sampling corals throughout 32 island systems with local replicates. Tara Pacific has developed and applied state-of-the-art technologies in very-high-throughput genetic sequencing and molecular analysis to reveal the entire microbial and chemical diversity as well as functional traits associated with coral holobionts, together with various measures on environmental forcing. This ambitious project aims at revealing a massive amount of novel biodiversity, shedding light on the complex links between genomes, transcriptomes, metabolomes, organisms, and ecosystem functions in coral reefs and providing a reference of the biological state of modern coral reefs in the Anthropocene

Effects of Anesthetic Agents on Brain Blood Oxygenation Level Revealed with Ultra-High Field MRI

During general anesthesia it is crucial to control systemic hemodynamics and oxygenation levels. However, anesthetic agents can affect cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism in a drug-dependent manner, while systemic hemodynamics is stable. Brain-wide monitoring of this effect remains highly challenging. Because T2*-weighted imaging at ultra-high magnetic field strengths benefits from a dramatic increase in contrast to noise ratio, we hypothesized that it could monitor anesthesia effects on brain blood oxygenation. We scanned rat brains at 7T and 17.2T under general anesthesia using different anesthetics (isoflurane, ketamine-xylazine, medetomidine). We showed that the brain/vessels contrast in T2*-weighted images at 17.2T varied directly according to the applied pharmacological anesthetic agent, a phenomenon that was visible, but to a much smaller extent at 7T. This variation is in agreement with the mechanism of action of these agents. These data demonstrate that preclinical ultra-high field MRI can monitor the effects of a given drug on brain blood oxygenation level in the absence of systemic blood oxygenation changes and of any neural stimulation