Infection of Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in North Africa

Free-living adult Ixodes ricinus L. were collected in Amdoun, situated in the Kroumiry mountains in northwestern Tunisia (North Africa). Using direct fluorescence antibody assay, the infection rate of field-collected I. ricinus by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was 30.5% (n = 72). No difference in infection rate was observed between male and female ticks. Spirochetes that had been isolated from I. ricinus from Ain Drahim (Kroumiry Mountains) in 1988 were identified as Borrelia lusitaniae (formerly genospecies PotiB2). This is the first identification of a genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from the continent of Afric

Advancing the Frontier of Peacekeeping Research

The impact of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping on conflict has received a sustained amount of attention in the empirical literature. The advent of new data on UN peacekeeping and new temporal units of analysis have enabled researchers to expand the frontiers of peacekeeping research and undertake a more nuanced examination of peacekeeping effectiveness. In this special section, a series of articles examine how UN peacekeeping affects different types of violence within conflicts and leads to different types of peaceful outcomes. Factors such as the cultural affinity between peacekeepers and local communities, the size of peacekeeping operations and the specific composition of UN forces are shown to be important variables associated with lower levels of casualties and violence and also a higher likelihood of mediation and timely peaceful settlements in civil wars. In the aggregate, these articles suggest that robust peacekeeping is associated with better outcomes in many stages of conflict

Phosphine-alkene ligand-mediated alkyl-alkyl and alkyl-halide elimination processes from palladium(II)

N-Diphenylphosphino-7-aza-benzobicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene (2) behaves as a chelating phosphine–alkene ligand for Pd0 and PdII, promoting direct alkyl–alkyl and indirect alkyl–halide reductive elimination reactions due to the stabilisation of the resulting bis(phosphine–alkene)Pd0 complex

Effects of the electromagnetic field used in hydrocarbon surveys on marine organisms

Controlled Source Electromagnetics (CSEM) technology has been used in the exploration for hydrocarbon reservoirs. It consists of an electric dipole source which is towed horizontally 30-50 m above the seabed or 10 m below the surface. As the electromagnetic (EM) signal propagates through the subsurface it may affect marine organisms that are electro- or magneto-sensitive. A device simulating these conditions (corresponding to three different exposure levels, low, strong, near field) was built to test the effect of EM on marine organisms in laboratory conditions.) Sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus) adults were filmed during a 15-minute near-field EM exposure but showed no significant changes in their behavior, nor any increased mortality. Haddock juveniles (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) were first exposed for 15 minutes to either one of the three EM levels then filmed and tested for magnetic orientation. None of the treatments caused mortality in fish. Juvenile haddock showed significant orientation according to the magnetic field but only after exposure to low and strong EM fields. They also showed a significantly reduced swimming speed following exposure to EM with intensities equivalent to distances of 100 (strong) and 1000 m (low) from the source with an average reduction in speed of 24%. Mean instantaneous swimming velocities of haddock decreased from 1.18 pixel/s (control) to 0.86 and 0.80 pixel/s after exposure to low and strong field levels respectively (GLM estimates), representing speed reductions of 27% and 32% after exposure to each respective level. Changes in swimming speed may affect dispersal of juveniles. However, it is unknown whether the decrease was a physiological or behavioural response. Therefore, it is not possible to make unequivocal conclusions about detrimental effects of CSEM at the population level.publishedVersio

An administrator competency in equity and diversity : new frames of reference and training : an executive summary

Ce document est une traduction de : Synthèse du rapport "Les compétences des directions en matière d’équité et de diversité : pistes pour les cadres de référence et la formation" du Groupe de travail sur les compétences et la formation des directions en matière d’équité et de diversité

Myasthenia gravis-like syndrome induced by expression of interferon gamma in the neuromuscular junction.

Abnormal humoral responses toward motor end plate constituents in muscle induce myasthenia gravis (MG). To study the etiology of this disease, and whether it could be induced by host defense molecules, we examined the consequences of interferon (IFN) gamma production within the neuromuscular junction of transgenic mice. The transgenic mice exhibited gradually increasing muscular weakness, flaccid paralysis, and functional disruption of the neuromuscular junction that was reversed after administration of an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, features which are strikingly similar to human MG. Furthermore, histological examination revealed infiltration of mononuclear cells and autoantibody deposition at motor end plates. Immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that a previously unidentified 87-kD target antigen was recognized by sera from transgenic mice and also by sera from the majority of human MG patients studied. These results suggest that expression of IFN-gamma at motor end plates provokes an autoimmune humoral response, similar to human MG, thus linking the expression of this factor with development of this disease

Do Child Soldiers Influence UN Peacekeeping?

The use of child soldiers in conflicts has received increasing academic attention in recent years. This article examines post-conflict periods to see whether the use of child soldiers mobilizes United Nations peacekeeping operations (UN PKO) in the aftermath of a conflict. Taking into consideration how child soldiers affect conflict and how important their reintegration is to sustainable peace and post-conflict development, we analyse whether the presence of child soldiers in a civil war increases the likelihood of the presence of a PKO. We argue that the UN deems a conflict with child soldiers as a difficult case for conflict resolution, necessitating a response from the international community. This is in line with our empirical results confirming that the use of child soldiers significantly increases the likelihood of peacekeeping

A Proposal for a Methodology of Technical Creativity Mixing TRIZ and Additive Manufacturing

The industry has quickly realized the importance of bringing creativity into product design. The industrial context requires robust and efficient methods and tools to access untapped sources of ideas. Furthermore, Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers a large potential of creativity for product design. This potential is particularly significant at the level of Intermediate Objects. Previous works have demonstrated the interest of AM Intermediate Objects (Rias, 2017) in creativity phases. This new manufacturing process is revolutionizing the value chain associated with product design, from the ideation to the industrialization. The purpose of this paper is to describe the bases for proposing a methodology of technical creativity based on TRIZ and Additive Manufacturing.This research was carried out as part of project CREAM (CREativity in Additive Manufacturing), funded by the National Research Agency (project ANR-18-CE10-0010) in France

Speech Communication

Contains research objectives and summary of research on four research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS04332-14)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32 NS07040-02)National Institutes of Health (Fellowship 1 F22 NS00796-01)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 ROI NS13028-01)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T3Z NS07040-02)National Institutes of Health (Fellowship 1 F22 MH58258-02)U. S. Army- Maryland Procurement Office (Contract MDA904-76-C-0331