A conceptual model for anticipating the impact of landscape evolution on groundwater recharge in degrading permafrost environments

Temperatures in the arctic and subarctic are rising at more than twice the rate of the global average, driving the accelerated thawing of permafrost across the region. The impacts of permafrost degradation have been studied in the discontinuous permafrost zone at Umiujaq, in northern Quebec, Canada, for over 30 years, but the effects of changing land cover on groundwater recharge is not well understood. The water table fluctuation method was used to compute groundwater recharge using four years of water level data and soil moisture readings from five field sites characteristic of different stages of permafrost degradation and vegetation invasion. Results indicate that as vegetation grows taller, groundwater recharge increases, likely due to increased snow thickness. Results were then combined with a preexisting conceptual model that describes the evolution from tundra to shrubland and forests to create a new model for describing how groundwater recharge is affected by landscape evolution

Enjeux et effets de la narration au nous dans Une rose pour Emily de William Faulkner

Le projet de création Le chasseur inconnu est un roman dont la narration problématique – au nous – constitue la principale particularité. Campé dans un village non identifié dont les habitants se réunissent chaque semaine pour débattre de leurs problèmes et pour potiner, ce texte de fiction se déploie grâce aux voix de narrateurs mystérieux et à leur ton parfois aux limites de l’absurde. L’essai réflexif qui suit le roman propose une étude des enjeux et des effets de la narration au nous dans la nouvelle Une rose pour Emily de William Faulkner.The novel Le chasseur inconnu’s most defining characteristic is its narration ;  an unnatural we narration. The story takes place in an unknown town where villagers meet every week to discuss their problems and to gossip. As the plot unfolds, the mysterious narrators and their absurd voices become increasingly important and stress the narrative peculiarity of the novel. The essay following Le chasseur inconnu offers a study of we narration in William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily

Prostaglandin pathway gene expression in human placenta, amnion and choriodecidua is differentially affected by preterm and term labour and by uterine inflammation

BACKGROUND: Elucidation of the biochemical pathways involved in activation of preterm and term human labour would facilitate the development of effective management and inform judgements regarding the necessity for preterm tocolysis and post-term induction. Prostaglandins act at all stages of human reproduction, and are potentially activators of labour. METHODS: Expression of 15 genes involved in prostaglandin synthesis, transport and degradation was measured by qPCR using tissue samples from human placenta, amnion and choriodecidua at preterm and full-term vaginal and caesarean delivery. Cellular localisation of eight prostaglandin pathway proteins was determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Expression of prostaglandin pathway genes was differentially affected by factors including gestational age at delivery, and the incidence and duration of labour. Chorioamnionitis/deciduitis was associated with upregulation of PTGS2 (prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (prostaglandin G/H synthase and cyclooxygenase)), along with the inflammatory genes IL8 (interleukin 8), S100A8 (S100 calcium binding protein A8) and TLR2 (toll-like receptor 2), in amnion and choriodecidua, and with downregulation of CBR1 (carbonyl reductase 1) and HPGD (hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase 15-(NAD)) in choriodecidua. Protein localisation differed greatly between the various maternal and fetal cell types. CONCLUSIONS: Preterm and term labour are associated with distinct prostaglandin pathway expression profiles; inflammation provokes specific changes, unrelated to the presence of labour; spontaneous and induced term labour are indistinguishable

Impact of Groundwater Flow on Permafrost Degradation and Transportation Infrastructure Stability

INE/AUTC 13.0

Early multifocal stenosis after coronary artery snaring during off-pump coronary artery bypass in a patient with diabetes

AbstractJ Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001;122:1044-

Late Pleistocene yedoma in south-western Yukon (Canada): a remnant of Eastern Beringia?

Yedoma deposits developed from the syngenetic accumulation and freezing of organic-rich and ice-rich sediments during the Late Pleistocene over vast portions of Siberia, Alaska and Yukon Territory. Cryostratigraphic investigations revealed the presence of a yedoma deposit in the Beaver Creek area of south-western Yukon. The Beaver Creek area was not glaciated during the last glacial advance and the cryostratigraphic record comprises Middle Wisconsinian up to Holocene deposits covering the Mirror Creek disintegration moraine. Reworking of glacial deposits by alluvial and solifluction processes and peat accumulation in the depression of the hummocky moraine likely occurred during the Middle Wisconsinian period and was followed during the Late Wisconsinian by the yedoma build-up. A major thaw event interrupted the syngenetic permafrost aggradation which eventually resumed as attested by the upward growth of ice wedges

The Prostaglandin F Synthase Activity of the Human Aldose Reductase AKR1B1 Brings New Lenses to Look at Pathologic Conditions

Prostaglandins are important regulators of female reproductive functions to which aldose reductases exhibiting hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity also contribute. Our work on the regulation of reproductive function by prostaglandins (PGs), lead us to the discovery that AKR1B5 and later AKR1B1were highly efficient and physiologically relevant PGF synthases. PGE2 and PGF2α are the main prostanoids produced in the human endometrium and proper balance in their relative production is important for normal menstruation and optimal fertility. Recent evidence suggests that PGE2/EP2 and PGF2α/FP may constitute a functional dyad with physiological relevance comparable to the prostacyclin-thromboxane dyad in the vascular system. We have recently reported that AKR1B1 was expressed and modulated in association with PGF2α production in response to IL-1β in the human endometrium. In the present study, we show that the human AKR1B1 (gene ID: 231) also known as ALDR1 or ALR2 is a functional PGF2α synthase in different models of living cells and tissues. Using human endometrial cells, prostate, and vascular smooth muscle cells, cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells we demonstrate that IL-1β is able to up regulate COX-2 and AKR1B1 proteins as well as PGF2α production under normal glucose concentrations. We show that the promoter activity of AKR1B1 gene is increased by IL-1β particularly around the multiple stress response region containing two putative antioxidant response elements adjacent to TonE and AP1. We also show that AKR1B1 is able to regulate PGE2 production through PGF2α acting on its FP receptor and that aldose reductase inhibitors like alrestatin, Statil (ponalrestat), and EBPC exhibit distinct and characteristic inhibition of PGF2α production in different cell models. The PGF synthase activity of AKR1B1 represents a new and important target to regulate ischemic and inflammatory responses associated with several human pathologies