BENEFICIAL AND PEST INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH TEN FLOWERING PLANT SPECIES GROWN IN QUÉBEC, CANADA

Preventive measures are very important in organic agriculture to minimize pest problems. Conservation biological control is one preventive approach. It includes habitat manipulation through which the agroecosystem may be designed to encourage the activity of beneficial insects. The use of flowering strips is one way to do that. This 3-year study was performed on the Organic Agriculture Innovation Platform in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec. Canada. It comprises data on insect abundance and composition on ten flowering plant species. Data are collected on beneficial insects such as coccinellid predators and predatory bugs. Are also included in this study observations and counts of insect pests which could also be attracted to this flowering plant species and build up in numbers close to the crop which we are aiming to protect

Comparison of aerosol spectrometers: Accounting for evaporation and sampling losses

ABSTRACT: Measuring aerosol size distribution with precision is critical to understand the transmission of pathogens causing respiratory illnesses and to identify risk mitigation strategies. It is however a challenging task as the size of pathogen-carrying particles evolves over time due to evaporation. Although measurement techniques well established in the field of aerosol science are often used to characterize bioaerosols, their performance is seldom assessed with respect to evaporation and deposition in sampling lines. Four instruments providing aerosol size distribution were compared using oil and water-based particles. They each rely on different measurement principles: phase doppler anemometry, light scattering, electrical mobility and aerodynamic impaction. Size distributions of oil-based particles showed consistency across different measurement instruments, but significant discrepancies arose for water-based particles undergoing evaporation. These larger differences result from both evaporation and particle deposition in transit between the sampling point and the measurement inside the instrument. Phase doppler anemometry was best suited for precise size distribution measurement, as it eliminates the need for a sampling line, thereby preventing particle loss or evaporation during transit. With this instrument as a reference, empirical correction factors for evaporation and deposition were derived from dimensionless numbers and experimental data, enabling quantitative assessment of bioaerosol size distribution using different instruments. To obtain the size distribution at the source of the aerosol generation, complete drying of a salt solution was performed. Using the complete drying technique and accounting for losses, sampling instruments can reliably provide this critical information and allow for thorough risk assessment in the context of airborne transmission

Modalités et espaces de pratique de loisirs des baby-boomers et des seniors

The ageing of the population demands renewed thinking about the development of living environments to enhance the well-being of seniors. Leisure and recreation play a key role in the quality of life if this category of population. As such, the municipal sector is called upon to play an important role on this issue. This article presents the results of a survey conducted in 2015 in Montreal with 464 respondents aged 50 and over. The research demonstrates the importance given by elders to free leisure practices and multifunctional outdoor spaces. The results show more or less marked differences between baby boomers (people aged between 50 and 69) and seniors (people aged 70 and over).Le vieillissement de la population commande de renouveler les façons de penser l’aménagement des milieux de vie pour renforcer le bien-être des aînés, dans lequel le loisir joue un rôle clé. À ce titre, le milieu municipal est appelé à jouer un rôle important sur cette problématique. Cet article présente les résultats d’un sondage mené en 2015 à Montréal auprès de 464 répondants âgés de 50 ans et plus. Cette recherche démontre l’importance accordée par les aînés aux pratiques de loisir libres et aux espaces extérieurs multifonctionnels. Finalement, les résultats obtenus révèlent certaines différences plus ou moins marquées entre les baby-boomers (personnes âgées entre 50 et 69 ans) et les seniors (personnes âgées de 70 ans et plus)

Festival and the City: Performativity of Sexual acts in public spheres

In this paper, we address the perception of sexual activities in public spaces and how they become aesthetic, social and cultural intervention once expressed through and embodied within performative events (theatre, street performance, carnival, festival, rave etc). A substantial amount of research has been done on the relation between sexuality and gender about public spaces, and influence of civic and urban identity on public expression of sexuality and gender. We will look at the invented rituals establishing sexuality within a context of performativity through relationships with public spaces. As the case studies, we will use the works of theatre companies La Fura dels Baus and Teatro Oficina. To set up the set of relationships between inside and outside, we will borrow a useful concept on ‘spheres' from the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk to look at the public space as a system of spheres where a different set of rules apply enabling actions to take place. These performances in urban contexts, as well as some festivals and particularly carnivals, become a way of the staging of sexual acts in public space, in opposition to the dominant narrative of private – domestic space. We will look at how collectiveness and civic spaces become essential elements of this phenomenon and its relevance in our contemporary reality as an element of subversion of social structures. We will also examine performative events where sexual acts as a language of human relationship in public spaces bringing intimacy

Des écritures et des plateaux : photographies

Angélica Liddell, Para Romeo Castellucci, 2013 © Angélica Liddell Sur le concept… Mise en scène : Castellucci ©Klaus Lefebvre Sergio Scarlatella dans Le Voile noir du Pasteur Rennes, mise en scène : Romeo Castelluci © Brigitte Enguérand Répétitions En Guise de divertissement Mise en scène : Kossi Efoui © Mickaël Troivaux Photo de spectacle : La Réunification des deux Corées Mise en scène : Joël Pommerat © Elizabeth Carecchio Photos de spectacle May B Mise en scène : Maguy Marin © Claude..

Copy Number Variation in Intron 1 of SOX5 Causes the Pea-comb Phenotype in Chickens

Pea-comb is a dominant mutation in chickens that drastically reduces the size of the comb and wattles. It is an adaptive trait in cold climates as it reduces heat loss and makes the chicken less susceptible to frost lesions. Here we report that Pea-comb is caused by a massive amplification of a duplicated sequence located near evolutionary conserved non-coding sequences in intron 1 of the gene encoding the SOX5 transcription factor. This must be the causative mutation since all other polymorphisms associated with the Pea-comb allele were excluded by genetic analysis. SOX5 controls cell fate and differentiation and is essential for skeletal development, chondrocyte differentiation, and extracellular matrix production. Immunostaining in early embryos demonstrated that Pea-comb is associated with ectopic expression of SOX5 in mesenchymal cells located just beneath the surface ectoderm where the comb and wattles will subsequently develop. The results imply that the duplication expansion interferes with the regulation of SOX5 expression during the differentiation of cells crucial for the development of comb and wattles. The study provides novel insight into the nature of mutations that contribute to phenotypic evolution and is the first description of a spontaneous and fully viable mutation in this developmentally important gene

Abnormal Wnt and PI3Kinase Signaling in the Malformed Intestine of lama5 Deficient Mice

Laminins are major constituents of basement membranes and are essential for tissue homeostasis. Laminin-511 is highly expressed in the intestine and its absence causes severe malformation of the intestine and embryonic lethality. To understand the mechanistic role of laminin-511 in tissue homeostasis, we used RNA profiling of embryonic intestinal tissue of lama5 knockout mice and identified a lama5 specific gene expression signature. By combining cell culture experiments with mediated knockdown approaches, we provide a mechanistic link between laminin α5 gene deficiency and the physiological phenotype. We show that laminin α5 plays a crucial role in both epithelial and mesenchymal cell behavior by inhibiting Wnt and activating PI3K signaling. We conclude that conflicting signals are elicited in the absence of lama5, which alter cell adhesion, migration as well as epithelial and muscle differentiation. Conversely, adhesion to laminin-511 may serve as a potent regulator of known interconnected PI3K/Akt and Wnt signaling pathways. Thus deregulated adhesion to laminin-511 may be instrumental in diseases such as human pathologies of the gut where laminin-511 is abnormally expressed as it is shown here

Aldo Keto Reductase 1B7 and Prostaglandin F2α Are Regulators of Adrenal Endocrine Functions

Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), represses ovarian steroidogenesis and initiates parturition in mammals but its impact on adrenal gland is unknown. Prostaglandins biosynthesis depends on the sequential action of upstream cyclooxygenases (COX) and terminal synthases but no PGF2α synthases (PGFS) were functionally identified in mammalian cells. In vitro, the most efficient mammalian PGFS belong to aldo-keto reductase 1B (AKR1B) family. The adrenal gland is a major site of AKR1B expression in both human (AKR1B1) and mouse (AKR1B3, AKR1B7). Thus, we examined the PGF2α biosynthetic pathway and its functional impact on both cortical and medullary zones. Both compartments produced PGF2α but expressed different biosynthetic isozymes. In chromaffin cells, PGF2α secretion appeared constitutive and correlated to continuous expression of COX1 and AKR1B3. In steroidogenic cells, PGF2α secretion was stimulated by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and correlated to ACTH-responsiveness of both COX2 and AKR1B7/B1. The pivotal role of AKR1B7 in ACTH-induced PGF2α release and functional coupling with COX2 was demonstrated using over- and down-expression in cell lines. PGF2α receptor was only detected in chromaffin cells, making medulla the primary target of PGF2α action. By comparing PGF2α-responsiveness of isolated cells and whole adrenal cultures, we demonstrated that PGF2α repressed glucocorticoid secretion by an indirect mechanism involving a decrease in catecholamine release which in turn decreased adrenal steroidogenesis. PGF2α may be regarded as a negative autocrine/paracrine regulator within a novel intra-adrenal feedback loop. The coordinated cell-specific regulation of COX2 and AKR1B7 ensures the generation of this stress-induced corticostatic signal

Hemidesmosome integrity protects the colon against colitis and colorectal cancer

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiological and clinical data indicate that patients suffering from IBD with long-standing colitis display a higher risk to develop colorectal high-grade dysplasia. Whereas carcinoma invasion and metastasis rely on basement membrane (BM) disruption, experimental evidence is lacking regarding the potential contribution of epithelial cell/BM anchorage on inflammation onset and subsequent neoplastic transformation of inflammatory lesions. Herein, we analyse the role of the alpha6beta4 integrin receptor found in hemidesmosomes that attach intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) to the laminin-containing BM. DESIGN: We developed new mouse models inducing IEC-specific ablation of alpha6 integrin either during development (alpha6DeltaIEC) or in adults (alpha6DeltaIEC-TAM). RESULTS: Strikingly, all alpha6DeltaIEC mutant mice spontaneously developed long-standing colitis, which degenerated overtime into infiltrating adenocarcinoma. The sequence of events leading to disease onset entails hemidesmosome disruption, BM detachment, IL-18 overproduction by IECs, hyperplasia and enhanced intestinal permeability. Likewise, IEC-specific ablation of alpha6 integrin induced in adult mice (alpha6DeltaIEC-TAM) resulted in fully penetrant colitis and tumour progression. Whereas broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment lowered tissue pathology and IL-1beta secretion from infiltrating myeloid cells, it failed to reduce Th1 and Th17 response. Interestingly, while the initial intestinal inflammation occurred independently of the adaptive immune system, tumourigenesis required B and T lymphocyte activation. CONCLUSIONS: We provide for the first time evidence that loss of IECs/BM interactions triggered by hemidesmosome disruption initiates the development of inflammatory lesions that progress into high-grade dysplasia and carcinoma. Colorectal neoplasia in our mouse models resemble that seen in patients with IBD, making them highly attractive for discovering more efficient therapies.PMC559510