Generation of Nitric Oxide in the Opossum Lower Esophageal Sphincter during Physiological Experimentation

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), given in vivo, modulates opossum esophageal motor functions by inducing the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which increases nitric oxide (NO) production. Superoxide, a NO scavenger, is generated during this endotoxemia. Superoxide is cleared by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) to protect the physiological function of NO. This study examined whether lower esophageal sphincter (LES) motility, NO release, and iNOS and nitrotyrosine accumulation in the LES are affected by LPS in vitro. Muscle strips from the opossum LES were placed in tissue baths containing oxygenated Krebs buffer. NO release was measured with a chemiluminescence NOx analyzer, and Western blots were performed to analyze iNOS and nitrotyrosine production. The percent change in resting LES tone after a 6-hour exposure to LPS was significantly increased compared to pretreatment values. The percent LES relaxation upon electrical stimulation was significantly decreased in the control group at 6 hours, indicating that the LPS treatment had an effect. The NO concentration in the tissue bath of LPS-treated muscle without nerve stimulation was significantly less than that of LPS treatment combined with SOD/CAT or SOD/CAT alone. iNOS and nitrotyrosine were detectable and increased over time in the LES muscle of both the control and LPS-treated groups. Antioxidant enzymes may play a role in regulating NO-mediated neuromuscular functions in the LES

Education Through Labor: From the deuxième portion du contingent to the Youth Civic Service in West Africa (Senegal/Mali, 1920s-1960s)

International audienceUnder the French colonial regime, the “second portion” of the military was used as labour brigades, compelled to serve for two years in works of public nature. They were encamped in labor camp and were taught the value of work as well as discipline and basic rules of hygiene. After the independence of the francophone West African countries in 1960, postcolonial leaders in Senegal and Mali try to implement a civil service for the youth in order to offer them basic education. In reality, the civil service appears as a way to control and use the recruits for economic purposes echoing in some extent the former colonial “second portion du contingent.” More broadly, through the analysis of the legacies and continuities, I argue that the postcolonial elites perpetuate the “civilizing mission,” no more for the so-called mise en valeur of the colonies but for the development of the territory

SNPLogic: an interactive single nucleotide polymorphism selection, annotation, and prioritization system

SNPLogic (http://www.snplogic.org) brings together single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) information from numerous sources to provide a comprehensive SNP selection, annotation and prioritization system for design and analysis of genotyping projects. SNPLogic integrates information about the genetic context of SNPs (gene, chromosomal region, functional location, haplotypes tags and overlap with transcription factor binding sites, splicing sites, miRNAs and evolutionarily conserved regions), genotypic data (allele frequencies per population and validation method), coverage of commercial arrays (ParAllele, Affymetrix and Illumina), functional predictions (modeled on structure and sequence) and connections or established associations (biological pathways, gene ontology terms and OMIM disease terms). The SNPLogic web interface facilitates construction and annotation of user-defined SNP lists that can be saved, shared and exported. Thus, SNPLogic can be used to identify and prioritize candidate SNPs, assess custom and commercial arrays panels and annotate new SNP data with publicly available information. We have found integration of SNP annotation in the context of pathway information and functional prediction scores to be a powerful approach to the analysis and interpretation of SNP-disease association data

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be based on three arms with six active laser links, between three identical spacecraft in a triangular formation separated by 2.5 million km. LISA is an all-sky monitor and will offer a wide view of a dynamic cosmos using Gravitational Waves as new and unique messengers to unveil The Gravitational Universe. It provides the closest ever view of the infant Universe at TeV energy scales, has known sources in the form of verification binaries in the Milky Way, and can probe the entire Universe, from its smallest scales near the horizons of black holes, all the way to cosmological scales. The LISA mission will scan the entire sky as it follows behind the Earth in its orbit, obtaining both polarisations of the Gravitational Waves simultaneously, and will measure source parameters with astrophysically relevant sensitivity in a band from below $10^{-4}\,$Hz to above $10^{-1}\,$Hz.Comment: Submitted to ESA on January 13th in response to the call for missions for the L3 slot in the Cosmic Vision Programm

BEHAVIOR AND REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF ROCK SANDPIPERS BREEDING ON THE YUKON-KUSKOKWIM RIVER DELTA, ALASKA

We studied Rock Sandpiper (Calidris ptilocnemis) breeding behavior and monitored reproductive success from 1998 to 2005 on the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta, Alaska, USA. We banded 24 adults and monitored 45 nests. Annual return rate of adults ranged between 67 and 100%. Six pairs of Rock Sandpipers bred at our study site for ≥ 2 years, and among these we did not observe mate change (i.e., when both members of a pair returned and each mated with a new individual). Nests were typically initiated by mid-May and 53% of females laid second clutches if first clutches were lost through mid-June. Males regularly incubated clutches during the morning (0800–1259 hrs AKDT) and afternoon (1300–1759 hrs) and rarely during the evening (1800– 2300 hrs), whereas female incubation was relatively consistent throughout the day. Apparent nest success (percent of known nests successfully hatching \u3e 1 chick) among first and second nests was 19 and 44%, respectively (n = 45). A minimum of 44% of hatching nests fledged at least one young. Males cared for young but half of females deserted mate and brood 1–7 days post-hatch. This first description of North American Rock Sandpiper breeding behavior from a color-marked population complements previous work on this species on the Chukotsky Peninsula, Russia