Global Definition of Animal Law

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The Legal Status of Animals in the French Civil Code

The recognition by the French Civil Code that animals are living and sentient beings: symbolic move, evolution or revolution?France does not have a specific law on animal protection like Switzerland for example. Under French law, rules relating to ''animals'' are scattered in several codes as well as in many other texts (decrees, ordinances circulars). The principal French Codes – out of a total of more than 60 codes – are the Civil Code which deals with civil matters; the Penal Code which deals with criminal matters; the Rural and Marine Fishing Code which mainly deals with the management of land and fishing, public health matters and use of animals; and the Environmental Code which, among others, deals with hunting. In short, it is a real patchwork of provisions that do not constitute a comprehensive and consistent legal framework

Raman-modes of index-identified free-standing single-walled carbon nanotubes

Using electron diffraction on free-standing single-walled carbon nanotubes we have determined the structural indices (n,m) of tubes in the diameter range from 1.4 to 3nm. On the same free-standing tubes we have recorded Raman spectra of the tangential modes and the radial breathing mode. For the smaller diameters (1.4-1.7nm) these measurements confirm previously established radial breathing mode frequency versus diameter relations, and would be consistent with the theoretically predicted proportionality to the inverse diameter. However, for extending the relation to larger diameters, either a yet unexplained environmental constant has to be assumed, or the linear relation has to be abandoned.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, +additional materials (select PostScript to obtain it

La corrida, un acte de cruauté certes, mais conforme à la constitution française

Dos grupos anti-corrida, a saber, el Comité Radicalmente Anti-Corrida Europa y Droits des Animaux efectuaron una queja ante el Tribunal Administrativo de París pidiendo la exclusión de la tauromaquia de la lista del patrimonio inmaterial de Francia. Las corridas fueron añadidas a esta lista, sin ninguna discusión previa ni información, por el ex ministro de Cultura, Frédéric Mitterrand. Ambos grupos alegaron en su denuncia que la sección 7 del artículo 521-1 del código penal (artículo que establece que en caso de actos de crueldad hacia un animal doméstico y los animales silvestres en cautiverio se prevén dos años de prisión y una multa de € 30.000), que establece una excepción explícita para corridas de toros celebradas en las zonas donde éstas son una tradición local ininterrumpida, vulnera el principio de igualdad de protección garantizado por la Constitución francesa. Interpusieron una cuestión prioritaria de constitucionalidad solicitando al Consejo Constitucional la emisión de su fallo sobre la constitucionalidad de la disposición legislativa impugnada y, si las disposiciones vulneran la Constitución, como alegan los dos demandantes, con el fin de derogar la disposición legislativa impugnada. El Consejo Constitucional emitió el 21 de septiembre 2012 su sentencia, según la cual la excepción de las corridas de toros es lo suficientemente precisa para no vulnerar los principios de igualdad de protección garantizados por la Constitución francesa. Los "sabios" (jueces) consideraron que el legislador tiene el derecho de proporcionar las diferencias de trato, siempre y cuando dicha diferencia está en relación directa con el objeto de la ley y concluyó que él (el legislador) no había infringido la Constitución cuando estableció una excepción para las zonas taurinas desde los criterios de "tradición local ininterrumpida ". Este artículo revisa los hechos y argumentos alegados por los demandantes y analiza la decisión efectuada por el Consejo Constitucional.Two anti-corrida groups namely Comite Radicalement Anti-Corrida Europe and Droits des Animaux launched a complaint before the Administrative Court of Paris asking for the bullfighting to be taken off France's heritage list. Bullfighting was added, without any prior discussion and information, to the list by the former culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand. Both groups alleged in their complaint that section 7 of article 521-1 of the criminal code (which article provides that in case of acts of cruelty toward any domestic animal and wild animals held in captivity, two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine) providing an explicit exception for bullfights held in areas where an uninterrupted local tradition can be claimed infringes the equal protection principles guaranteed by the French constitution .They raised therefore a " Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité" (application for a priority preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality) asking for the Constitutional Council to issue its ruling on the constitutionality of the challenged statutory provision and, if the provisions infringe the constitution as alleged by the two plaintiffs, to repeal the challenged statutory provision. The Constitutional Council issued on 21 September 2012 its ruling according to which the bullfighting exception is sufficiently precise so as to not infringe the equal protection principles guaranteed by the French constitution .The "sages" (judges) considered that the lawmaker has the right to provide for differences in treatment as long as such difference is in direct relation with the object of the law and concluded that he (the lawmaker) did not infringe the constitution when providing for an exception for bull-fighting areas since the criteria of "uninterrupted local tradition" is sufficiently precise. This article comes back to the background and the legal arguments raised by the two plaintiffs and analyses the ruling of the Constitutional Council.Deux associations, le Comite Radicalement Anti-Corrida Europe et Droits des Animaux ont saisi le tribunal administratif de Paris d'un recours tendant à l'annulation de la décision d'inscription de la corrida au patrimoine immatériel de la France. La corrida avait été, sans la moindre concertation et information, inscrite à l'inventaire du patrimoine immatériel de la France par l'ancien ministre de al culture, Frédéric Mitterand. Les deux associations soutenaient que l'alinéa 7 de l'article 521-1 du code pénal (article qui sanctionne les actes de cruauté commis sur les animaux domestiques et animaux sauvages tenus en captivité d'une peine de 2 ans d'emprisonnement et 30'000 € d'amende) qui prévoit une exception en faveur des courses de taureaux là où une tradition locale ininterrompue peut être invoquée, viole les principes d'égalité des citoyens garantis par la constitution française. Elles ont en conséquence soulevé une question prioritaire de constitutionnalité par laquelle il était demandé au Conseil Constitutionnel de rendre une décision quant à la conformité de la disposition attaquée à la constitution et, le cas échéant , de prononcer l'inconstitutionnalité de celle-ci . Le Conseil Constitutionnel a rendu sa décision le 21 septembre 2012 selon laquelle l'exception accordée aux courses de taureaux est suffisamment précise pour qu'elle ne viole pas les principes d'égalité garantis par la constitution .Les sages ont considéré que le législateur a le droit de régler de façon différente des situations différentes pourvu que la différence de traitement soit en rapport direct avec l'objet de la loi qui l'établit et conclut qu'il (le législateur) n'a pas violé la constitution en prévoyant une exception pour les régions où sont pratiquées les courses de taureaux au motif que le critère de "tradition locale ininterrompue" est suffisamment précis. Le présent article revient sur les faits et arguments soulevés par les requérantes et analyse la décision rendue par le Conseil Constitutionnel

Dynamical modelling of phenotypes in a genome-wide RNAi live-cell imaging assay.

International audienceBACKGROUND: The combination of time-lapse imaging of live cells with high-throughput perturbation assays is a powerful tool for genetics and cell biology. The Mitocheck project employed this technique to associate thousands of genes with transient biological phenotypes in cell division, cell death and migration. The original analysis of these data proceeded by assigning nuclear morphologies to cells at each time-point using automated image classification, followed by description of population frequencies and temporal distribution of cellular states through event-order maps. One of the choices made by that analysis was not to rely on temporal tracking of the individual cells, due to the relatively low image sampling frequency, and to focus on effects that could be discerned from population-levelbehaviour. RESULTS: Here, we present a variation of this approach that employs explicit modelling by dynamic differential equations of the cellular state populations. Model fitting to the time course data allowed reliable estimation of the penetrance and time of appearance of four types of disruption of the cell cycle: quiescence, mitotic arrest, polynucleation and cell death. Model parameters yielded estimates of the duration of the interphase and mitosis phases. We identified 2190 siRNAs that induced a disruption of the cell cycle at reproducible times, or increased the durations of the interphase or mitosis phases. CONCLUSIONS: We quantified the dynamic effects of the siRNAs and compiled them as a resource that can be used to characterize the role of their target genes in cell death, mitosis and cell cycle regulation. The described population-based modelling method might be applicable to other large-scale cell-based assays with temporal readout when only population-level measures are available

Efficient and selective N-alkylation of amines with alcohols catalysed by manganese pincer complexes

Borrowing hydrogen (or hydrogen autotransfer) reactions represent straightforward and sustainable C-N bond-forming processes. In general, precious metal-based catalysts are employed for this effective transformation. In recent years, the use of earth abundant and cheap non-noble metal catalysts for this process attracted considerable attention in the scientific community. Here we show that the selective N-alkylation of amines with alcohols can be catalysed by defined PNP manganese pincer complexes. A variety of substituted anilines are monoalkylated with different (hetero)aromatic and aliphatic alcohols even in the presence of other sensitive reducible functional groups. As a special highlight, we report the chemoselective monomethylation of primary amines using methanol under mild conditions

Mapping quantitative trait loci for seizure response to a GABAA receptor inverse agonist in mice

To define the genetic contributions affecting individual differences in seizure threshold, a beta carboline [methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate (beta-CCM)]-induced model of generalized seizures was genetically dissected in mice. beta-CCM is a GABAA receptor inverse agonist and convulsant. By measuring the latency to generalized seizures after beta-CCM administration to A/J and C57BL6/J mice and their progeny, we estimated a heritability of 0.28 +/- 0.10. A genome wide screen in an F2 population of these parental strains (n = 273) mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on proximal chromosome 7 [logarithm of the likelihood for linkage (LOD) = 3.71] and distal chromosome 10 (LOD = 4.29) for seizure susceptibility, explaining approximately 22 and 25%, respectively, of the genetic variance for this seizure trait. The best fitting logistic regression model suggests that the A/J allele at each locus increases the likelihood of seizures approximately threefold. In a subsequent backcross population (n = 223), we mapped QTLs on distal chromosome 4 (LOD = 2.88) and confirmed the distal chromosome 10 QTLs (LOD = 4.36). In the backcross, the C57BL/6J allele of the chromosome 10 QTL decreases the risk of seizures approximately twofold. These QTLs may ultimately lead to the identification of genes influencing individual differences in seizure threshold in mice and the discovery of novel anticonvulsant agents. The colocalization on distal chromosome 10 of a beta-CCM susceptibility QTL and a QTL for open field ambulation and vertical movement suggests the existence of a single, pleiotropic locus, which we have named Exq1

SOFA: A modular yet efficient simulation framework

International audienceSOFA is a new open source framework primarily targeted at medical simulation research and industry. It is based on a scene graph data structure extended to physical models and abstract algorithms. Additionally, multiple models of the same objects can easily be used to optimize different tasks such as force computation, collision handling, and rendering. This results in a highly flexible architecture able to model and animate a wide range of simulated objects. We explain the main concepts of SOFA and detail an example of application to a surgery procedure

The Beta Problem: A Study of Abell 262

We present an investigation of the dynamical state of the cluster A262. Existing optical line of sight velocities for select cluster galaxies have been augmented by new data obtained with the Automated Multi-Object Spectrograph at Lick Observatory. We find evidence for a virialized early-type population distinct from a late-type population infalling from the Pisces-Perseus supercluster ridge. We also report on a tertiary population of low luminosity galaxies whose velocity dispersion distinguishes them from both the early and late-type galaxies. We supplement our investigation with an analysis of archival X-ray data. A temperature is determined using ASCA GIS data and a gas profile is derived from ROSAT HRI data. The increased statistics of our sample results in a picture of A262 with significant differences from earlier work. A previously proposed solution to the "beta-problem" in A262 in which the gas temperature is significantly higher than the galaxy temperature is shown to result from using too low a velocity dispersion for the early-type galaxies. Our data present a consistent picture of A262 in which there is no "beta-problem", and the gas and galaxy temperature are roughly comparable. There is no longer any requirement for extensive galaxy-gas feedback to drastically overheat the gas with respect to the galaxies. We also demonstrate that entropy-floor models can explain the recent discovery that the beta values determined by cluster gas and the cluster core radii are correlated.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, AAS LaTeX v5.0, Encapsulated Postscript figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

Discovery of X-ray emission rom the distant lensing cluster of galaxies CL2236-04 at z = 0.552

X-ray emission from the distant lensing cluster CL2236-04 at $z$ = 0.552 was discovered by ASCA and ROSAT/HRI observations. If the spherical symmetric mass distribution model of the cluster is assumed, the lensing estimate of the cluster mass is a factor of two higher than that obtained from X-ray observations as reported for many distant clusters. However, the elliptical and clumpy lens model proposed by Kneib et al.(1993) is surprisingly consistent with the X-ray observations assuming that the X-ray emitting hot gas is isothermal and in a hydrostatic equilibrium state. The existence of the cooling flow in the central region of the cluster is indicated by the short central cooling time and the excess flux detected by ROSAT/HRI compared to the ASCA flux. However, it is shown that even if the AXJ2239-0429 has a cooling flow in the central region, the temperature measured by ASCA which is the mean emission-weighted cluster temperature in this case, should not be cooler than and different from the virial temperature of the cluster. Therefore, we conclude that the effect of the clumpiness and non-zero ellipticity in the mass distribution of the cluster are essential to explain the observed feature of the giant luminous arc, and there is no discrepancy between strong lensing and X-ray estimation of the mass of the cluster in this cluster.Comment: 18 pages, including 4 postscripts figs, LaTex. To appear in Part 1 of The Astrophysical Journa