Varietà scrittorie in ambito celtico

Cet article revient sur la question de l’existence d’un alphabet celtique « national » et de l’identification de celui-ci avec le lépontique ou avec le gallo-grec. Il retrace avec précision l’histoire des différents types d’écriture de la langue celtique : le lépontique – des inscriptions les plus anciennes, comme celle de la « tombe du Guerrier » de Sesto Celende, à la phase de romanisation ; le gallo-grec ; le celtibérique. En conclusion, même si l’alphabet lépontique a été utilisé dans un vaste espace, on ne peut pas le considérer comme porteur de l’identité celtique ; cette dernière ne se s’est pas exprimée à travers l’écriture. L’article revient aussi sur l’hypothétique interdit druidique relatif à l’écriture et propose plutôt de lier l’absence de développement de l’écriture au fait que le monde celtique ne possédait pas de structures urbaines.This paper wonder if a celtic “nationalˮ alphabet exists and if the lepontic or the gallo-greek might be this “nationalˮ alphabet. The history of each alphabet is drawn with precision : lepontic –from the oldest inscriptions, as the one discovered into the “tomb of the Warrior” at Sesto Celende, to the romanization ; gallo-greek ; celiberic. In conclusion, even if the lepontic alphabet has been used in a wide area, it can’t be considered as something that carried celtic identity ; this identity does not express itself through writing. The paper also deals with the fact that druids would forbidden to write and propose instead that not writing is linked to the lack of urban culture in the celtic world

Protein families, natural history and biotechnological aspects of spider silk.

Spiders are exceptionally diverse and abundant organisms in terrestrial ecosystems and their evolutionary success is certainly related to their capacity to produce different types of silks during their life cycle, making a specialized use on each of them. Presenting particularly tandemly arranged amino acid repeats, silk proteins (spidroins) have mechanical properties superior to most synthetic or natural high-performance fibers, which makes them very promising for biotechnology industry, with putative applications in the production of new biomaterials. During the evolution of spider species, complex behaviors of web production and usage have been coupled with anatomical specialization of spinning glands. Spiders retaining ancestral characters, such as the ones belonging to the Mygalomorph group, present simpler sorts of webs used mainly to build burrows and egg sacs, and their silks are produced by globular undifferentiated spinning glands. In contrast, Araneomorphae spiders have a complex spinning apparatus, presenting up to seven morphologically distinct glands, capable to of rigidness and elasticity associated with distinct behaviors. Aiming to provide a discussion involving a number of spider silks? biological aspects, in this review we present descriptions of members from each family of spidroin identified from five spider species of the Brazilian biodiversity, and an evolutionary study of them in correlation with the anatomical specialization of glands and spider?s spinning behaviors. Due to the biotechnological importance of spider silks for the production of new biomaterials, we also discuss about the new possible technical and biomedical applications of spider silks and the current status of it

Tortugas marinas en aguas argentinas

Con la ayuda de los sensores remotos y los sistemas de posicionamiento geográfico, los científicos están descubriendo varias facetas sobre las vida de las tortugas marinas. Se describe el método para realizar el siguimiento satelital, sus migraciones, y se dan las características de las especies de tortugas marinas encontradas en aguas costeras de la Argentina. Este trabajo de divulgación científica hace hincapié en la importancia de su conservación, según la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, éstas se encuentran en peligro o en peligro crítico de extinción en todo el mundo. Se incluyen al final otras lecturas sugeridas sobre el tema

An investigation of grand battement devant at barre, centre, and in motion using kinematics and electromyography

The purpose of this study was to examine grand battement devant in three conditions: at the barre, in the centre, and traveling. The primary focus was to consider weight transfer in the three conditions, and to examine utilisation of the trunk and lower extremity muscles. An extensive review was done in the dance science literature to determine what previous research had been done related to this subject, and to establish what preliminary work might be needed. As indicated by the literature, in order to achieve this research, it was necessary to develop a dance-specific method for the normalisation of surface electromyography data. In phase one of the research, a dance-specific portable anchored dynamometer was developed and tested. The PAD allowed for the collection of maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs), which could then be used to normalise the sEMG data. In phase two of the research, the grand battement was tested in the three conditions, at the barre, in the centre, and traveling. Forty female dancers volunteered (mean age 30.0 ± 13.0 yrs, mean height 1.63 ± 0.06 m, mean mass 59.0 ± 7.4 kg, and 13.9 ± 13.3 yrs of training in ballet and/or modern dance) and were placed in three groups (Training level): beginner (n = 12), intermediate (n = 14) and advanced (n = 14). Dancers executed five grand battement devant in each of the three conditions (Condition) in randomized order. Data were collected with a 7-camera Vicon motion capture system, two Kistler forceplates, and surface electromyography (EMG), using eight muscles bilaterally. Kinematic data were analysed in three intervals: stance to battement initiation, initiation to battement peak, and peak to end. Four variables were investigated: centre of gravity of the full trunk, centre of gravity of the pelvis, centre of gravity of the upper trunk, and centre of mass. EMG data were analysed in four events: stance, initiation, peak, and end. For weight transfer, the main effect of Condition was significant for all four variables in both the x-axis and the y-axis (p < .001). There were no significant differences for Training and no significant Condition x Training interactions. Muscle use varied according to the combination of event and condition that was executed, and these differences were also influenced by the level of training of the dancer and the side of the body used. It is recommended that dance educators consider the importance of allocating sufficient time to each of the three conditions (barre, centre, and traveling), to ensure development of a variety of motor strategies and muscle activation patterns for dance practice.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Molecular, behavioral and anatomical sophistication in spider webs: insights from spinning gland RNA-seq experiments in primitive and modern spiders.

RNA-seq experiments conducted in 454 sequencers were carried out to produce 87.000 short-reads representing the transcriptome of two spiders'spinning glands. We produced sequences from (i) Actinopus sp., a spider from the Mygalomorphae clade, and (ii) Gasteracantha cancriformis, an Orbicularia spider. Mygalomorphae spiders are known to retain a number of primitive morphological and behavioral characters. They use mixtures of a primitive web, soil, and plants only to cover a burrow they make on the ground for shelter and predation.On the other hand, Orbicularia spiders show a number of derivative spider's characters and they are capable to build different and complex silks used in a variety of situations. It is interesting to note that the complexity of web production, usage and behavior in these spiders is reflected both by (i) the variety of the repertoire of protein molecules (spidroins) they use to make their webs and (ii) the complexity of their anatomical spinning gland apparatu used to produce silk. Here we have first conducted a broad analysis of the spinning gland transcriptome in both spiders producing unigenes and categorizing annotated genes in biological functions.Then we started to analyze the number and variety of spider silk proteins and families found in different spider clades.We have shown that spiders using web only for a limited number of situations present a less sophisticated morphological spinning apparatus and produce a small repertoire of spidroin molecules. Phylogenetic analyses were conductedin the 3'region of spidroins and we try to relate (i) the evolution of silk protein families,(ii) the evolutionary complexification of silk production behavior and web usage, and (iii) the appearance of new specialized spinning glands along the evolution of specimens and clades in the Araneae order

Making better use of local data in flood frequency estimation

Flood frequency estimates are an essential part of flood risk management. They are an important ingredient of many important decisions, informing the cost-effectiveness, design and operation of flood defences, flood mapping and planning decisions in flood risk areas. They also inform the National Flood Risk Assessment, the setting of insurance premiums and long-term investment planning. Methods described in the Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH) published in 1999, and many subsequent updates, are considered the industry standard for flood estimation in the UK. They are used extensively by hydrologists from both the public and private sectors. Flood frequency estimates – also known as design flood estimates – are associated with many sources of uncertainty. These hydrological uncertainties often constitute the most uncertain component in any flood study. Uncertainty can lead to difficulty in having confidence in the outputs of studies, whether these are for investment planning, insurance, asset design, development planning or other purposes. As a result, there is considerable benefit to be gained from any reduction in the uncertainty of flood frequency estimation. There are many supplementary sources of information that can help to refine estimates of design floods and potentially reduce uncertainty. Examples include long-term flood history, river level records, photographs of floods and information obtained from field visits. These and similar types of information are defined as ‘local data’. The FEH Local research project aimed to: quantify the uncertainty of design floods estimated from FEH methods develop procedures and guidance for incorporating local and historical data into flood estimation to reduce uncertainties The primary objective of this report is to describe the reviews and research carried out during the FEH Local project. Another output from the project was a document giving guidance to practitioners on how to estimate uncertainty in flood frequency and how to find and incorporate local data. The practitioner guidance, ‘Using Local Data to Reduce Uncertainty in Flood Frequency Estimation’, will be disseminated early in 2017. This report aims to avoid duplication with the practitioner guidance and so is intended mainly for those with an interest in the background to the methods presented in the guidance

Exploring E-cadherin-peptidomimetics interaction using NMR and computational studies

Cadherins are homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecules whose aberrant expression has often been shown to correlate with different stages of tumor progression. In this work, we investigate the interaction of two peptidomimetic ligands with the extracellular portion of human E-cadherin using a combination of NMR and computational techniques. Both ligands have been previously developed as mimics of the tetrapeptide sequence Asp1-Trp2-Val3-Ile4 of the cadherin adhesion arm, and have been shown to inhibit E-cadherin-mediated adhesion in epithelial ovarian cancer cells with millimolar potency. To sample a set of possible interactions of these ligands with the E-cadherin extracellular portion, STD-NMR experiments in the presence of two slightly different constructs, the wild type E-cadherin-EC1-EC2 fragment and the truncated E-cadherin-(Val3)-EC1-EC2 fragment, were carried out at three temperatures. Depending on the protein construct, a different binding epitope of the ligand and also a different temperature effect on STD signals were observed, both suggesting an involvement of the Asp1-Trp2 protein sequence among all the possible binding events. To interpret the experimental results at the atomic level and to probe the role of the cadherin adhesion arm in the dynamic interaction with the peptidomimetic ligand, a computational protocol based on docking calculations and molecular dynamics simulations was applied. In agreement with NMR data, the simulations at different temperatures unveil high variability/dynamism in ligand-cadherin binding, thus explaining the differences in ligand binding epitopes. In particular, the modulation of the signals seems to be dependent on the protein flexibility, especially at the level of the adhesive arm, which appears to participate in the interaction with the ligand. Overall, these results will help the design of novel cadherin inhibitors that might prevent the swap dimer formation by targeting both the Trp2 binding pocket and the adhesive arm residues. Author summary Classical cadherins are the main adhesive proteins at the intercellular junctions and play an essential role in tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis. A large number of studies have shown that cadherin aberrant expression and/or dysregulation often correlate with pathological processes, such as tumor development and progression. Notwithstanding the emerging role played by cadherins in a number of solid tumors, the rational design of small inhibitors targeting these proteins is still in its infancy, likely due to the challenges posed by the development of small drug-like molecules that modulate protein-protein interactions and to the structural complexity of the various cadherin dimerization interfaces that constantly form and disappear as the protein moves along its highly dynamic and reversible homo-dimerization trajectory. In this work, we study the interaction of two small molecules with the extracellular portion of human E-cadherin using a combination of spectroscopic and computational techniques. The availability of molecules interfering in the cadherin homophilic interactions could provide a useful tool for the investigation of cadherin function in tumors, and potentially pave the way to the development of novel alternative diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in cadherin-expressing solid tumors

Pan-Atlantic analysis of the overlap of a highly migratory species, the leatherback turtle, with pelagic longline fisheries

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Large oceanic migrants play important roles in ecosystems, yet many species are of conservation concern as a result of anthropogenic threats, of which incidental capture by fisheries is frequently identified. The last large populations of the leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, occur in the Atlantic Ocean, but interactions with industrial fisheries could jeopardize recent positive population trends, making bycatch mitigation a priority. Here, we perform the first pan-Atlantic analysis of spatio-temporal distribution of the leatherback turtle and ascertain overlap with longline fishing effort. Data suggest that the Atlantic probably consists of two regional management units: northern and southern (the latter including turtles breeding in South Africa). Although turtles and fisheries show highly diverse distributions, we highlight nine areas of high susceptibility to potential bycatch (four in the northern Atlantic and five in the southern/equatorial Atlantic) that are worthy of further targeted investigation and mitigation. These are reinforced by reports of leatherback bycatch at eight of these sites. International collaborative efforts are needed, especially from nations hosting regions where susceptibility to bycatch is likely to be high within their exclusive economic zone (northern Atlantic: Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Spain, USA and Western Sahara; southern Atlantic: Angola, Brazil, Namibia and UK) and from nations fishing in these high-susceptibility areas, including those located in international waters.Work in Gabon was financially supported by the Large Pelagics Research Center through National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency award no. NA04NMF4550391, the UK Defra Darwin Initiative, the Shellshock Campaign (European Association for Zoos and Aquaria) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council. Sea turtle monitoring programmes in Gabon were financially supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society and by the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership with funding from the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund (United States Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior). Four of the satellite tags were deployed in Canadian waters by M. James (Dalhousie University) and the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, with the funding support of Canadian Sea Turtle Network leatherback field research provided by R. A. Myers, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Environment Canada and WWF-Canada. Work in French Guiana was financially supported by CNES, DEAL and the European Union.This study results from the collaborative effort of 10 data providers, which have satellite-tracked leatherback turtles in the Atlantic Ocean since 1995, through their voluntary participation in the Trans-Atlantic Leatherback Conservation Initiative (TALCIN), a WWF-led initiative. We thank C. Drews (WWF-International) and Jean-Yves Georges (IPHC-CNRS) for having initiated this project. Significant contributions were made by A. Fonseca and M. L. Felix and the WWF Guianas office in fostering this project to secure its continuation. We thank those involved in the sea turtle restoration plan in French Guiana (DEAL, ONCFS, Kulalasi NGO, Kwata, the Reserve Naturelle de l'Amana, Chiefs of Awala and Yalimapo), Yvon Le Maho (IPHC-CNRS) for having initiated the leatherback tracking programme in French Guiana, colleagues from the Regional Program for Sea Turtles Research and Conservation of Argentina–PRICTMA, Aquamarina and Fundación Mundo Marino, the onboard scientific observers from PNOFA-DINARA, the crew and owner of the F/V Torres del Paine, the artisanal fishermen from Kiyú, San José, Uruguay, D. del Bene (PROFAUMA), Z. Di Rienzo and colleagues from Karumbé, the University of Pisa for initiating the satellite tagging programmes in South Africa, and the South African Department of Environmental Affairs for continuing the work in cooperation with Dr Nel from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. We thank M. L. Felix for her efforts in the deployment of satellite tags in Suriname and the Nature Conservation Division Suriname for facilitating these research efforts. P.M. thanks C. Palma for his help in dealing with ICCAT's database, C. Ere, as well as the GIS training and support received from SCGIS and the ESRI Conservation Program, which allowed processing of fishing-effort data. We thank J. Parezo for her careful reading of the manuscript. All authors designed the study and contributed data; S.F, M.S.C., P.M. and M.J.W. compiled the data; S.F., M.A.N. and A.L. coordinated and supervised the project; S.F., M.J.W., P.M. and B.J.G. led the data analysis and interpretation with contributions from all authors; the manuscript was developed by S.F. and M.J.W. as lead authors, with contributions from all authors

Sección 4: Vulnerabilidad socioeconómica del sector pesquero argentino al cambio climático

En primer lugar se caracterizan los aspectos más relevantes de las dimensiones económica y social del sector pesquero argentino. Luego se realizó un análisis de la vulnerabilidad socioeconómica del sector pesquero argentino, sobre la base de las propuestas del IPCC (2014), Allison et al. (2009) y Blasiak et al. (2017).Fil: Gaviola, Saúl Ricardo. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP); Argentina.Fil: Verón, E. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Humanidades; Argentina.Fil: Prosdocimi, L. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Pesca. Subsecretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca; Argentina.Fil: De la Garza, J. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP); Argentina.Fil: Martínez, P. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP); Argentina.Fil: Navarro, G. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Pesca. Subsecretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca; Argentina.Fil: Pájaro, M. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP); Argentina.Fil: Piedrabuena, C. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Pesca. Subsecretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca; Argentina.Fil: Rotta, Lautaro Daniel. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP); Argentina

Evolutionary relationships among barley and <i>Arabidopsis</i> core circadian clock and clock-associated genes

The circadian clock regulates a multitude of plant developmental and metabolic processes. In crop species, it contributes significantly to plant performance and productivity and to the adaptation and geographical range over which crops can be grown. To understand the clock in barley and how it relates to the components in the Arabidopsis thaliana clock, we have performed a systematic analysis of core circadian clock and clock-associated genes in barley, Arabidopsis and another eight species including tomato, potato, a range of monocotyledonous species and the moss, Physcomitrella patens. We have identified orthologues and paralogues of Arabidopsis genes which are conserved in all species, monocot/dicot differences, species-specific differences and variation in gene copy number (e.g. gene duplications among the various species). We propose that the common ancestor of barley and Arabidopsis had two-thirds of the key clock components identified in Arabidopsis prior to the separation of the monocot/dicot groups. After this separation, multiple independent gene duplication events took place in both monocot and dicot ancestors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00239-015-9665-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users