Correlation between parasite prevalence and adult size in a trematode-mollusc system: evidence for evolutionary gigantism in the freshwater snail Galba truncatula?

International audienc

Art-gumentación en un discurso turístico virtual. Madrid en la página web de Turespaña: Spain.info

Turespaña es un organismo creado con el propósito de acometer acciones en el exterior para la promoción de España como destino turístico, por lo que era fundamental que tuviera una persuasiva presencia en Internet. Basándonos en el análisis argumentativo de Amossy, estudiamos la estrategia discursiva desarrollada en la página de Madrid del portal de Spain.info para convencer al visitante virtual de viajar a la capital. Así, en ese contexto digital, mostramos cómo el locutor construye su imagen (ethos) y la de su destinatario, y maneja las relaciones entre ambos para cumplir con sus objetivos

Lifetimes of Confined Acoustic Phonons in Ultra-Thin Silicon Membranes

We study the relaxation of coherent acoustic phonon modes with frequencies up to 500 GHz in ultra-thin free-standing silicon membranes. Using an ultrafast pump-probe technique of asynchronous optical sampling, we observe that the decay time of the first-order dilatational mode decreases significantly from \sim 4.7 ns to 5 ps with decreasing membrane thickness from \sim 194 to 8 nm. The experimental results are compared with theories considering both intrinsic phonon-phonon interactions and extrinsic surface roughness scattering including a wavelength-dependent specularity. Our results provide insight to understand some of the limits of nanomechanical resonators and thermal transport in nanostructures

School integration of mentall y deficient children: a historical study and some present-da y questions

The authors, first of all, present a history of school integration of mental deficient children in France. Secondly, they discuss some contemporary problems on school integration. They conclude that the progress in this domain will be possible only if it is accompanied by a therapeutic situation based on transfer.Os autores tecem, em primeiro lugar, uma história da integração escolar de crianças deficientes mentais na França. Em seguida, discutem algumas questões atuais. Concluem que os progressos nesse domínio só serão possíveis se acompanhados por uma situação terapêutica fundada na transferência

Can microsatellite data allow identification of oleaster Plio-Pleistocene refuge zones in the Mediterranean Basin?

International audienc

Obésité, facteurs socio-démographiques et indicateurs de santé chez les personnes âgées à Marseille

L’objectif de cette étude est triple : (1) déterminer si les facteurs socio-démographiques que sont l’âge, le niveau d’éducation et le statut marital ont le même impact sur l’obésité chez les femmes et chez les hommes, âgés de 60 ans et plus ; (2) évaluer les associations entre d’une part l’obésité et, d’autre part, l’auto-évaluation de la santé, les incapacités physiques et l’estime de soi ; (3) tester le rôle médiateur potentiel des maladies cardio-vasculaires et du diabète sur la relation entre obésité et auto-évaluation de la santé. Pour cela, 400 personnes âgées de 60 à 92 ans, vivant à Marseille, ont été interrogées. Ces rencontres individuelles comprenaient une prise de mesures anthropométriques et un entretien dirigé à l’aide d’un questionnaire (durée moyenne : 1h30). La prévalence de l’obésité dans notre échantillon de population est de 17 %, taux comparable à l’ensemble de la population française du même âge. Nos analyses ont permis de montrer que les corrélats de l’obésité sont fort différents entre les femmes et les hommes âgés. Chez les hommes, seul le statut marital est significativement associé à l’obésité alors que chez les femmes, l’âge, le niveau d’éducation, l’auto-évaluation de la santé et les incapacités physiques sont associés à l’obésité. Enfin, nous avons montré que la relation entre obésité et auto-évaluation de la santé (observée chez les femmes) est une association indirecte « médiée » par les maladies cardio-vasculaires.The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to determine whether the socio-demographic factors of age, level of education and marital status have the same impact on obesity in women and in men aged 60 years and above; (2) to evaluate the associations between obesity on the one hand and self-rated health, physical incapacities and self-esteem on the other; (3) to test the mediatory potential of cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes on the relationship between obesity and self-rated health. For this, 400 persons aged from 60 to 92 years, living in Marseille, were questioned. These individual encounters included anthropometric measurement, and an interview carried out with the aid of a questionnaire (average duration: 1h30). The prevalence of obesity in our population sample is 17%, a rate comparable to the whole of this age group in the French population. Our analyses show that the correlates of obesity are very different between older women and men. For the men, only marital status is significantly associated with obesity while for the women, age, education level, self-rated health and physical incapacities are associated with obesity. Finally we have shown that the relation between obesity and self-rated health (for the women) is an indirect association affected by cardio-vascular diseases

SPI observations of positron annihilation radiation from the 4th galactic quadrant: sky distribution

During its first year in orbit the INTEGRAL observatory performed deep exposures of the Galactic Center region and scanning observations of the Galactic plane. We report on the status of our analysis of the positron annihilation radiation from the 4th Galactic quadrant with the spectrometer SPI, focusing on the sky distribution of the 511 keV line emission. The analysis methods are described; current constraints and limits on the Galactic bulge emission and the bulge-to-disk ratio are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the proceedings of the 5th INTEGRAL worksho

High Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease in HIV-Infected Persons

Background. Atherosclerosis has been assessed in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons by using various methods. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has not been evaluated, however. We studied the cross-sectional prevalence of lower limb PAD in an HIV-infected population. Methods. PAD was assessed using the Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire and by measuring the systolic ankle-brachial blood pressure index (ABI) at rest and after exercise. Patients with PAD were further evaluated by duplex scan of lower limb arteries. Results. Ninety-two consecutive HIV-infected patients were evaluated (23.9% women; mean age, 49.5 years; 61.9% current smokers). Claudication was reported by 15.2% of the patients. PAD was found in 20.7% of the patients: 9.8% had an abnormal ABI (25% decrease after exercise. Of the patients with PAD, 84.2% were investigated with duplex scan, all of whom had atherosclerotic occlusions or stenoses of the iliac or femoral arteries. Age, diabetes, smoking, and low CD4+ T lymphocyte counts were identified as independent predictors of PAD. Conclusions. The prevalence of symptomatic and asymptomatic PAD is high in the HIV-infected population and is much higher than expected (prevalence in the general population, ∼3% at 60 years). This study suggests the presence of an epidemic of PAD ∼20 years earlier in the HIV-infected than in the general population. Larger epidemiological studies are needed to better define risk factors and to evaluate whether PAD is associated with increased mortality, as it is in the general populatio