Au long de l’histoire du mystère : la mafia s’épanchant en mythe

Cet article vise à s'interroger sur la façon dont les mafias se construisent et s'enracinent dans le tissu socio-culturel en se fondant avec et dans le mythologique, et à montrer comment la mythologie mafieuse ou le halo mythologique des mafias sont profondément inscrits dans leur processus communicationnel, jusqu'à créer un « désir de mafia ».Questo studio esamina le modalità messe in opera dalle mafie per costruirsi e radicarsi nel tessuto socio-culturale fondendosi col e nel mitologico. Analizza inoltre la mitologia mafiosa e l’aura mitologica elaborate dalle mafie nell'ambito dei loro processi comunicativi, tanto da generare un vero e proprio « desiderio di mafia »

Biosynthesis and physiology of coenzyme Q in bacteria.

International audienceUbiquinone, also called coenzyme Q, is a lipid subject to oxido-reduction cycles. It functions in the respiratory electron transport chain and plays a pivotal role in energy generating processes. In this review, we focus on the biosynthetic pathway and physiological role of ubiquinone in bacteria. We present the studies which, within a period of five decades, led to the identification and characterization of the genes named ubi and involved in ubiquinone production in Escherichia coli. When available, the structures of the corresponding enzymes are shown and their biological function is detailed. The phenotypes observed in mutants deficient in ubiquinone biosynthesis are presented, either in model bacteria or in pathogens. A particular attention is given to the role of ubiquinone in respiration, modulation of two-component activity and bacterial virulence. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: 18th European Bioenergetic Conference

Raising the stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold power by longitudinal compression gradient in a fiber amplifier

We demonstrate and analyse a novel approach to enhance the threshold power of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fibers, using a longitudinal compressive strain gradient. We derive analytical expressions for the power spectral density of the backscattered Stokes wave in the general case of passive and amplifying optical fibers, by considering the strain and optical power distributions. Our method provides an accurate prediction of the SBS gain spectrum, that we illustrate with a quantitative comparison between measurements and calculations of the SBS Stokes spectra, before and after applying the compression gradient. Our experimental results demonstrate the successful enhancement of the SBS threshold power by a factor of about 3 for the passive fiber and 2 for the amplifying fiber. The enhancement that we manage to calculate in the case of the passive fiber is in perfect agreement with the experimental result

Coherent combining of mid-infrared difference frequency generators

International audienceWe report what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first experimental demonstration of coherent combining of two mid-infrared difference frequency generators by active phase control in continuous-wave regime. Using the phase relation that is inherent to the nonlinear process, we are able to phase-lock and combine the idler waves by the sole phase control of one of the pump waves. This control is done by an all fiber electro-optic modulator. Combining is achieved with an excellent efficiency with a residual phase error of λ/28

Interferon-gamma release assays versus tuberculin skin testing for detection of latent tuberculosis in chronic haemodialysis patients

Background. End stage renal disease increases the risk of reactivating latent tuberculosis (LTBI). Interferon-γ release assays (IGRA) are an alternative to the tuberculin skin test (TST) for detecting LTBI. Methods. Sixty-two hemodialysis patients (46 male, 16 female, aged 65 ± 15 years) from 3 hemodialysis facilities in the Geneva area were submitted to a TST, 2 IGRA (T-SPOT.TB and QuantiFERON Gold in tube: QFT), a chest radiography, and a questionnaire to record social status, country of birth, history of prior TST, tuberculosis (TB), BCG (Bacillus of Calmette-Guérin vaccine), and any cause of immuno-suppression. LTBI was defined as prior "at risk” contact with a case of contagious TB and/or a chest X-ray suggestive of prior TB infection. Results. Positivity rate was 19% for TST, 21% for QFT and 29% for T-SPOT-TB; 8% of QFT and 11% of T-SPOT-TB were indeterminate. Agreement between IGRA was fair (κ= 0.60). After adjusting for age and BCG, OR (Odds Ratio) of having a positive QFT was 4.6-fold (p = 0.029) higher in patients with LTBI vs. those without LTBI. In contrast, no association was found between LTBI and having a positive T-SPOT.TB or a positive TST. As expected, there was a strong association between prior BCG vaccination and having a positive TST (OR 5.3, p = 0.017). QFT was the only test with a significant OR of having LTBI (adjusted OR: 4.4; 95%CI: 1.1 − 17.6; p = 0.034). Among 5 patients with definite prior TB, TST and T-SPOT.TB were positive in 1 and QFT, in 2. Conclusions. In this population, QFT was superior to TST for detecting LTBI, but both IGRAs and TST have important limitations, and are unreliable for screening for LTB

A new gene involved in coenzyme Q biosynthesis in Escherichia coli: UbiI functions in aerobic C5-hydroxylation

International audienceCoenzyme Q (ubiquinone or Q) is a redox-active lipid found in organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals in which it plays a crucial role in energy-generating processes. Q biosynthesis is a complex pathway that involves multiple proteins. In this work, we show that the uncharacterized conserved visC gene is involved in Q biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, and we have renamed it ubiI. Based on genetic and biochemical experiments, we establish that the UbiI protein functions in the C5-hydroxylation reaction. A strain deficient in ubiI has a low level of Q and accumulates a compound derived from the Q biosynthetic pathway, which we purified and characterized. We also demonstrate that UbiI is only implicated in aerobic Q biosynthesis and that an alternative enzyme catalyzes the C5-hydroxylation reaction in the absence of oxygen. We have solved the crystal structure of a truncated form of UbiI. This structure shares many features with the canonical FAD-dependent para-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase and represents the first structural characterization of a monooxygenase involved in Q biosynthesis. Site-directed mutagenesis confirms that residues of the flavin binding pocket of UbiI are important for activity. With our identification of UbiI, the three monooxygenases necessary for aerobic Q biosynthesis in E. coli are known

Novel Mechanism for Surface Layer Shedding and Regenerating in Bacteria Exposed to Metal-Contaminated Conditions

Surface layers (S-layers) are components of the cell walls throughout the Bacteria and the Archaea that provide protection for microorganisms against diverse environmental stresses, including metal stress. We have previously characterized the process by which S-layers serve as a nucleation site for metal mineralization in an archaeon for which the S-layer represents the only cell wall component. Here, we test the hypothesis originally proposed in cyanobacteria that a “shedding” mechanism exists for replacing S-layers that have become mineral-encrusted, using Lysinibacillus sp. TchIII 20n38, metallotolerant gram-positive bacterium, as a model organism. We characterize for the first time a mechanism for resistance to metals through S-layer shedding and regeneration. S-layers nucleate the formation of Fe-mineral on the cell surface, depending on physiological state of the cells and metal exposure times, leading to the encrustation of the S-layer and changes in the cell morphology as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Using Nanoscale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, we show that mineral-encrusted S-layers are shed by the bacterial cells after a period of latency (2 days under the conditions tested) in a heterogeneous fashion likely reflecting natural variations in metal stress resistance. The emerging cells regenerate new S-layers as part of their cell wall structure. Given the wide diversity of S-layer bearing prokaryotes, S-layer shedding may represent an important mechanism for microbial survival in metal-contaminated environments

High power multimode fiber amplifier with wavefront reshaping for high beam quality recovery

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Coherent beam combining with an ultrafast multicore Yb-doped fiber amplifier

International audienceActive coherent beam combination using a 7-non-coupled core,polarization maintaining, air-clad, Yb-doped fiber is demonstrated as amonolithic and compact power-scaling concept for ultrafast fiber lasers. Amicrolens array matched to the multicore fiber and an active phasecontroller composed of a spatial light modulator applying a stochasticparallel gradient descent algorithm are utilized to perform coherentcombining in the tiled aperture geometry. The mitigation of nonlineareffects at a pulse energy of 8.9 μJ and duration of 860 fs is experimentallyverified at a repetition rate of 100 kHz. The experimental combiningefficiency results in a far field central lobe carrying 49% of the total power,compared to an ideal value of 76%. This efficiency is primarily limited bygroup delay differences between cores which is identified as the maindrawback of the system. Minimizing these group delay issues, e.g. by usingshort and straight rod-type multicore fibers, should allow a practical powerscaling solution for femtosecond fiber systems