Meteor and remote sensing satellites (a collection of articles)

Two short articles are presented that discuss satellite observation. Cloud cover interference of infrared photography is discussed. A file of the cloud cover over France is presented

Does Sex Trade with Violence among Genotypes in Drosophila melanogaster?

The evolutionary forces shaping the ability to win competitive interactions, such as aggressive encounters, are still poorly understood. Given a fitness advantage for competitive success, variance in aggressive and sexual display traits should be depleted, but a great deal of variation in these traits is consistently found. While life history tradeoffs have been commonly cited as a mechanism for the maintenance of variation, the variability of competing strategies of conspecifics may mean there is no single optimum strategy. We measured the genetically determined outcomes of aggressive interactions, and the resulting effects on mating success, in a panel of diverse inbred lines representing both natural variation and artificially selected genotypes. Males of one genotype which consistently lost territorial encounters with other genotypes were nonetheless successful against males that were artificially selected for supernormal aggression and dominated all other lines. Intransitive patterns of territorial success could maintain variation in aggressive strategies if there is a preference for territorial males. Territorial success was not always associated with male mating success however and females preferred ‘winners’ among some male genotypes, and ‘losers’ among other male genotypes. This suggests that studying behaviour from the perspective of population means may provide limited evolutionary and genetic insight. Overall patterns of competitive success among males and mating transactions between the sexes are consistent with mechanisms proposed for the maintenance of genetic variation due to nonlinear outcomes of competitive interactions

The ITGAV rs3738919-C allele is associated with rheumatoid arthritis in the European Caucasian population: a family-based study

The integrin αvβ3, whose αv subunit is encoded by the ITGAV gene, plays a key role in angiogenesis. Hyperangiogenesis is involved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the ITGAV gene is located in 2q31, one of the suggested RA susceptibility loci. Our aim was to test the ITGAV gene for association and linkage to RA in a family-based study from the European Caucasian population

Transcriptome Analysis Describing New Immunity and Defense Genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Background: Large-scale gene expression profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients could provide a molecular description that reflects the contribution of diverse cellular responses associated with this disease. The aim of our study was to identify peripheral blood gene expression profiles for RA patients, using Illumina technology, to gain insights into RA molecular mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings: The Illumina Human-6v2 Expression BeadChips were used for a complete genome-wide transcript profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 18 RA patients and 15 controls. Differential analysis per gene was performed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and P values were adjusted to control the False Discovery Rate (FDR < 5%). Genes differentially expressed at significant level between patients and controls were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) in the PANTHER database to identify biological processes. A differentially expression of 339 Reference Sequence genes (238 down-regulated and 101 up-regulated) between the two groups was observed. We identified a remarkably elevated expression of a spectrum of genes involved in Immunity and Defense in PBMCs of RA patients compared to controls. This result is confirmed by GO analysis, suggesting that these genes could be activated systemically in RA. No significant down-regulated ontology groups were found. Microarray data were validated by real time PCR in a set of nine genes showing a high degree of correlation. Conclusions/Significance: Our study highlighted several new genes that could contribute in the identification of innovative clinical biomarkers for diagnostic procedures and therapeutic interventions

"PIX'ILES 90" : télédétection et milieux insulaires du Pacifique : approches intégrées = Remote sensing and insular environments in the Pacific : integrated approaches

Le Centre de météorologie de Tahiti assure la couverture météorologique de la Polynésie française. Sa mission principale est de nature opérationnelle. Toutefois, les programmes de développement économique institués par le Territoire génèrent le besoin de produits nouveaux. Le Service météorologique est ainsi conduit à renforcer sa composante R et D et à se doter des ressources à traiter les applications immédiates. Le projet SIRUS (Système Intégrant les Ressources Usuelles et les Satellites) vise tout d'abord à créer un outil performant d'aide à la prévision du temps. Il s'agit de mettre en oeuvre des moyens d'acquisition, de traitement, et de présentation des informations météorologiques de toutes origines : données conventionnelles, télédétection satellitaire (principalement la radiométrie), sorties de modèles numériques de prévision. L'ensemble fournira au météorologiste des éléments prévisionnels concaténés aux diverses échéances : signalisation, prévision immédiate, prévision à court ou moyen terme. L'architecture du système, somme toute assez classique, permettra la création de nombreux produits dérivés d'ordre météorologique : champs (de masse, de mouvement, de nébulosité), séries diachroniques... Mais des paramètres plus spécifiquement orientés vers les applications de la télédétection peuvent également être obtenus : champ thermique de surface de la mer, index de végétation, inertie thermique des sols. La première opération d'envergure, qui semble pouvoir être engagée à court terme, est liée au programme de développement de la pêche hauturière soutenu par le Ministère de la Mer. (Résumé d'auteur

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus elemental stoichiometry in aquacultured and wild-caught fish and consequences for pelagic nutrient dynamics

International audienceThe elemental carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) compositions of the whole-body and gut content of wild marine fish inhabiting the Bay of Biscay (Northeast Atlantic) were studied. Furthermore, the literature was examined for studies of aquacultured fish, reporting the elemental composition of the whole-body fish, that of their food, and nutrient assimilation and gross growth efficiencies (GGE). In both wild-caught and aquacultured fish, significant differences in C, N and P elemental composition were found between species, with P being the most variable component. Differences among species in terms of C, N and P content could be explained by varying proportions of storage compounds in whole-body fish, and varying degrees of ossification. Aquacultured fish feces were found to be P-rich, because of a lower P assimilation efficiency, compared to C or N assimilation efficiencies. Examination of aquacultured fish literature also revealed that C, N and P GGE and nutrient resupply ratios agreed with basic principles of homeostatic regulation of whole-body fish elemental composition. Extrapolation of the results to broader marine systems indicated that fish may be important for conveying nutrients toward the ocean interior

Association and Expression Study of PRKCH Gene in a French Caucasian Population with Rheumatoid Arthritis

We study the association between three protein kinase C, eta gene polymorphisms (+8134C/T, rs912620, rs959728), and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred French Caucasian rheumatoid arthritis trio families were genotyped. Relative quantification of protein kinase C, eta mRNA expression was performed from whole blood in 24 unrelated rheumatoid arthritis patients and in 16 healthy controls. Our results showed no significant association or linkage between the protein kinase C, eta polymorphisms, and rheumatoid arthritis. The protein kinase C, eta mRNA was expressed at lower level in rheumatoid arthritis unrelated patients than in healthy controls. This study shows that protein kinase C, eta gene is not a Rheumatoid Arthritis major susceptibility genetic factor in the French Caucasian population. Furthermore, the lower expression of this gene in rheumatoid arthritis patients comparing to healthy controls suggests that protein kinase C, eta could be associated with the patho-physiologic mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis