A Novel Function for Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein in Translational Activation

Fragile X syndrome, the most frequent form of inherited mental retardation, is due to the absence of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein involved in several steps of RNA metabolism. To date, two RNA motifs have been found to mediate FMRP/RNA interaction, the G-quartet and the “kissing complex,” which both induce translational repression in the presence of FMRP. We show here a new role for FMRP as a positive modulator of translation. FMRP specifically binds Superoxide Dismutase 1 (Sod1) mRNA with high affinity through a novel RNA motif, SoSLIP (Sod1 mRNA Stem Loops Interacting with FMRP), which is folded as three independent stem-loop structures. FMRP induces a structural modification of the SoSLIP motif upon its interaction with it. SoSLIP also behaves as a translational activator whose action is potentiated by the interaction with FMRP. The absence of FMRP results in decreased expression of Sod1. Because it has been observed that brain metabolism of FMR1 null mice is more sensitive to oxidative stress, we propose that the deregulation of Sod1 expression may be at the basis of several traits of the physiopathology of the Fragile X syndrome, such as anxiety, sleep troubles, and autism

Highly plastic genome of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806, a ubiquitous toxic freshwater cyanobacterium

Background The colonial cyanobacterium Microcystis proliferates in a wide range of freshwater ecosystems and is exposed to changing environmental factors during its life cycle. Microcystis blooms are often toxic, potentially fatal to animals and humans, and may cause environmental problems. There has been little investigation of the genomics of these cyanobacteria. Results Deciphering the 5,172,804 bp sequence of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 has revealed the high plasticity of its genome: 11.7% DNA repeats containing more than 1,000 bases, 6.8% putative transposases and 21 putative restriction enzymes. Compared to the genomes of other cyanobacterial lineages, strain PCC 7806 contains a large number of atypical genes that may have been acquired by lateral transfers. Metabolic pathways, such as fermentation and a methionine salvage pathway, have been identified, Conclusion Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 appears to have adopted an evolutionary strategy relying on unusual genome plasticity to adapt to eutrophic freshwater ecosystems, a property shared by another strain of M. aeruginosa (NIES-843). Comparisons of the genomes of PCC 7806 and other cyanobacterial strains indicate that a similar strategy may have also been used by the marine strain Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501 to adapt to other ecological niches, such as oligotrophic open oceans.

Constraints on the structure and seasonal variations of Triton's atmosphere from the 5 October 2017 stellar occultation and previous observations

Context. A stellar occultation by Neptune's main satellite, Triton, was observed on 5 October 2017 from Europe, North Africa, and the USA. We derived 90 light curves from this event, 42 of which yielded a central flash detection. Aims. We aimed at constraining Triton's atmospheric structure and the seasonal variations of its atmospheric pressure since the Voyager 2 epoch (1989). We also derived the shape of the lower atmosphere from central flash analysis. Methods. We used Abel inversions and direct ray-tracing code to provide the density, pressure, and temperature profiles in the altitude range similar to 8 km to similar to 190 km, corresponding to pressure levels from 9 mu bar down to a few nanobars. Results. (i) A pressure of 1.18 +/- 0.03 mu bar is found at a reference radius of 1400 km (47 km altitude). (ii) A new analysis of the Voyager 2 radio science occultation shows that this is consistent with an extrapolation of pressure down to the surface pressure obtained in 1989. (iii) A survey of occultations obtained between 1989 and 2017 suggests that an enhancement in surface pressure as reported during the 1990s might be real, but debatable, due to very few high S/N light curves and data accessible for reanalysis. The volatile transport model analysed supports a moderate increase in surface pressure, with a maximum value around 2005-2015 no higher than 23 mu bar. The pressures observed in 1995-1997 and 2017 appear mutually inconsistent with the volatile transport model presented here. (iv) The central flash structure does not show evidence of an atmospheric distortion. We find an upper limit of 0.0011 for the apparent oblateness of the atmosphere near the 8 km altitude.J.M.O. acknowledges financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Social Fund (ESF) through the PhD grant SFRH/BD/131700/2017. The work leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's H2020 2014-2021 ERC grant Agreement nffi 669416 "Lucky Star". We thank S. Para who supported some travels to observe the 5 October 2017 occultation. T.B. was supported for this research by an appointment to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Post-Doctoral Program at the Ames Research Center administered by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) through a contract with NASA. We acknowledge useful exchanges with Mark Gurwell on the ALMA CO observations. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium).Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. J.L.O., P.S.-S., N.M. and R.D. acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709), they also acknowledge the financial support by the Spanish grant AYA-2017-84637-R and the Proyecto de Excelencia de la Junta de Andalucia J.A. 2012-FQM1776. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no. 687378, as part of the project "Small Bodies Near and Far" (SBNAF). P.S.-S. acknowledges financial support by the Spanish grant AYA-RTI2018-098657-J-I00 "LEO-SBNAF". The work was partially based on observations made at the Laboratorio Nacional de Astrofisica (LNA), Itajuba-MG, Brazil. The following authors acknowledge the respective CNPq grants: F.B.-R. 309578/2017-5; R.V.-M. 304544/2017-5, 401903/2016-8; J.I.B.C. 308150/2016-3 and 305917/2019-6; M.A. 427700/20183, 310683/2017-3, 473002/2013-2. This study was financed in part by the Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior -Brasil (CAPES) -Finance Code 001 and the National Institute of Science and Technology of the e-Universe project (INCT do e-Universo, CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). G.B.R. acknowledges CAPES-FAPERJ/PAPDRJ grant E26/203.173/2016 and CAPES-PRINT/UNESP grant 88887.571156/2020-00, M.A. FAPERJ grant E26/111.488/2013 and A.R.G.Jr. FAPESP grant 2018/11239-8. B.E.M. thanks CNPq 150612/2020-6 and CAPES/Cofecub-394/2016-05 grants. Part of the photometric data used in this study were collected in the frame of the photometric observations with the robotic and remotely controlled telescope at the University of Athens Observatory (UOAO; Gazeas 2016). The 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope is operated on Helmos Observatory by the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. Observations with the 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope were carried out under OPTICON programme. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730890. This material reflects only the authors views and the Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The 1. 2m Kryoneri telescope is operated by the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. The Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA) is managed by the Fondazione Clement Fillietroz-ONLUS, which is supported by the Regional Government of the Aosta Valley, the Town Municipality of Nus and the "Unite des Communes valdotaines Mont-Emilius". The 0.81 m Main Telescope at the OAVdA was upgraded thanks to a Shoemaker NEO Grant 2013 from The Planetary Society. D.C. and J.M.C. acknowledge funds from a 2017 'Research and Education' grant from Fondazione CRT-Cassa di Risparmio di Torino. P.M. acknowledges support from the Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia ref. PTDC/FISAST/29942/2017 through national funds and by FEDER through COMPETE 2020 (ref. POCI010145 FEDER007672). F.J. acknowledges Jean Luc Plouvier for his help. S.J.F. and C.A. would like to thank the UCL student support observers: Helen Dai, Elise Darragh-Ford, Ross Dobson, Max Hipperson, Edward Kerr-Dineen, Isaac Langley, Emese Meder, Roman Gerasimov, Javier Sanjuan, and Manasvee Saraf. We are grateful to the CAHA, OSN and La Hita Observatory staffs. This research is partially based on observations collected at Centro Astronomico HispanoAleman (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by Junta de Andalucia and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (IAA-CSIC). This research was also partially based on observation carried out at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN) operated by Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC). This article is also based on observations made with the Liverpool Telescope operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Partially based on observations made with the Tx40 and Excalibur telescopes at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre in Teruel, a Spanish Infraestructura Cientifico-Tecnica Singular (ICTS) owned, managed and operated by the Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon (CEFCA). Tx40 and Excalibur are funded with the Fondos de Inversiones de Teruel (FITE). A.R.R. would like to thank Gustavo Roman for the mechanical adaptation of the camera to the telescope to allow for the observation to be recorded. R.H., J.F.R., S.P.H. and A.S.L. have been supported by the Spanish projects AYA2015-65041P and PID2019-109467GB-100 (MINECO/FEDER, UE) and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1366-19. Our great thanks to Omar Hila and their collaborators in Atlas Golf Marrakech Observatory for providing access to the T60cm telescope. TRAPPIST is a project funded by the Belgian Fonds (National) de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) under grant PDR T.0120.21. TRAPPIST-North is a project funded by the University of Liege, and performed in collaboration with Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakesh. E.J. is a FNRS Senior Research Associate

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

El rol de la innovación en la generación de crecimiento y desarrollo económico en la OCDE

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Estudios InternacionalesEl objetivo general de esta investigación es determinar de qué manera el gasto en investigación y desarrollo (I+D) influye sobre el nivel de ingreso, desarrollo y equidad. La primera parte del trabajo consiste en una descripción de las distintas teorías existentes acerca de las relaciones entre el crecimiento económico y la innovación tecnológica. A continuación, se considera el caso de la OCDE y se presentan datos macroeconómicos de los 35 países integrantes entre 1967 y 2016, enfocándose en el crecimiento económico, el desarrollo humano y la repartición de la renta. En la segunda parte del trabajo, para estos mismos países se presentan los datos de evolución de la innovación y de sus resultados. La última parte del trabajo busca estimar, para los países de la OCDE, la relación que existe por una parte entre el PIB por habitante, el IDH y el coeficiente de GINI con el gasto en I+D. Para ello se recurrió a una regresión lineal con datos para los 35 miembros de la OCDE de 1990 a 2016. En los modelos se consideran otras variables explicativas como el nivel de ahorro, el gasto en capital humano, el nivel de regulación, el grado de apertura económica y el nivel de infraestructura existente. Los resultados mostraron que existe una relación de dependencia entre el PIB/habitante y el gasto en I+D, además de que otras variables como el nivel de ahorro y el capital humano, tenía una influencia significativa. En el caso del IDH, también se identificó una influencia positiva con el gasto en I+D, junto con la tasa de ahorro, el capital humano y el nivel de regulación. Y finalmente para el GINI, el gasto en I+D contribuye a disminuir las desigualdades, junto con la tasa de ahorro, el capital humano, la apertura comercial y el nivel de regulación. Por tanto, se puede concluir que el gasto en I+D contribuye de forma positiva tanto al crecimiento económico, como al desarrollo humano y para mejorar la repartición de la renta

Loyauté des Décisions Algorithmiques : Contribution au débat public initié par la CNIL : Éthique et Numérique

L'éthique des algorithmes s'inscrit dans des débats plus larges : éthique et nouvelles technologies, éthique et technologie du numérique, éthique et déontologie. Les retracer rapidement permet de préciser la notion de loyauté appliquée à celle de décision algorithmique. Le cadre juridique de la « décision individuelle prise sur le fondement d'un traitement algorithmique » est alors précisé. Il apparaît que, dans ce contexte, les notions de précision, transparence ou explicabilité des décisions, biais des algorithmes, sont centrales pour aborder la « loyauté » de ces derniers et les questions éthiques qu'ils soulèvent. Après avoir explicitées puis illustrées ces questions par des exemples (justice prédictive, biologie et santé), leurs propriétés sont ensuite confrontées aux textes juridiques en cours et à venir pour montrer le peu d'adéquation de ces derniers à la grande complexité des algorithmes concernés. Sont finalement envisagées les actions possibles : évolution des textes juridiques, contrôle ou audit des algorithmes mais pourquoi et par qui ? L'acceptabilité de ces nouvelles technologies par les utilisateurs, citoyens et consommateurs, reste encore la principale motivation ou la rare contrainte des industriels du secteur pour moraliser leur pratique

Loyauté des Décisions Algorithmiques : Contribution au débat public initié par la CNIL : Éthique et Numérique

L'éthique des algorithmes s'inscrit dans des débats plus larges : éthique et nouvelles technologies, éthique et technologie du numérique, éthique et déontologie. Les retracer rapidement permet de préciser la notion de loyauté appliquée à celle de décision algorithmique. Le cadre juridique de la « décision individuelle prise sur le fondement d'un traitement algorithmique » est alors précisé. Il apparaît que, dans ce contexte, les notions de précision, transparence ou explicabilité des décisions, biais des algorithmes, sont centrales pour aborder la « loyauté » de ces derniers et les questions éthiques qu'ils soulèvent. Après avoir explicitées puis illustrées ces questions par des exemples (justice prédictive, biologie et santé), leurs propriétés sont ensuite confrontées aux textes juridiques en cours et à venir pour montrer le peu d'adéquation de ces derniers à la grande complexité des algorithmes concernés. Sont finalement envisagées les actions possibles : évolution des textes juridiques, contrôle ou audit des algorithmes mais pourquoi et par qui ? L'acceptabilité de ces nouvelles technologies par les utilisateurs, citoyens et consommateurs, reste encore la principale motivation ou la rare contrainte des industriels du secteur pour moraliser leur pratique

Implications juridiques et éthiques des algorithmes d'intelligence artificielle dans le domaine de la santé

International audienceArtificial Intelligence (AI) is invading our daily lives and the health field, notably to help with diagnosis, makes therapeutic choices or even to aim for precise predictive medicine. Absent from the French bioethics law of July 7, 2011, AI was very present during the "États Généraux" accompanying the revision of the law in 2018. The profusion of ethical guides or recommendations on AI (soft law), motivated by the need to win the trust of users, encourages us to be concerned about their normative force, in connection with the legal texts promulgated since the entry into action on 25 May 2018 of the GDPR (regulation 2016/679/EU general regulation on the protection of personal data). A joint analysis of these texts, of the AI algorithms deployed and of concrete applications in health, enables us to consider the main ethical and legal questions raised in this field: the principle of free and informed consent of the patient faced to the opacity of algorithms, potential risks of discrimination in access to care, public interest or common good expected from research in comparison with risks incurred by opening access to personal data. The responses lead to ethical or regulatory recommendations that are essential for the transparency of these tools: drastic protection of health data, particularly genetic data, and their uses, rigorous research practices to produce reproducible and therefore scientific results, detection of biases before certification of health devices and clarification of the patient information protocol.L'Intelligence Artificielle (IA) envahit nos quotidiens et le domaine de la santé notamment pour aider au diagnostic, faire des choix thérapeutiques ou encore viser une médecine prédictive de précision. Absente de la loi française de bioéthique du 7 juillet 2011, l'IA fut très présente lors des États Généraux accompagnant la révision de la loi en 2018. La profusion de guides ou recommandations éthiques sur l'IA (soft law), motivées par la nécessité de conquérir la confiance des usagers, incite préalablement à se préoccuper de leur vigueur normative, en lien avec les textes juridiques promulgués depuis l'entrée en vigueur le 25 mai 2018 du RGPD (règlement 2016/679/UE règlement général de protection des données personnelles). Une analyse conjointe de ces textes, des algorithmes d'IA déployés et d'applications concrètes en santé permet de poser les principales questions éthiques et légales soulevées dans ce domaine : principe du consentement libre et éclairé du patient face à l'opacité des algorithmes, risques potentiels de discrimination dans l'accès au soin, intérêt public ou bien commun attendu de la recherche en comparaison des risques encourus par l'ouverture de l'accès aux données personnelles. Les réponses conduisent à des recommandations déontologiques ou règlementaires indispensables à la transparence des ces outils : protection drastique des données de santé, notamment génétiques, et de leurs utilisations, rigueur des pratiques de recherche pour produire des résultats reproductibles donc scientifiques, détection des biais avant certification des dispositifs de santé et explicitation du protocole d'information des patients