Quelques problèmes sanitaires et pathologiques dans l'élevage intensif de la tortue marine (Chelonia mydas, L.) à La Réunion

La conduite technique et la surveillance sanitaire d'un élevage intensif de tortues marines (Chelonia mydas, L.), à La Réunion, durant la phase pilote ont permis de faire un premier bilan de la pathologie observée. Une affection cutanée due à un virus Herpès, déjà décrite aux Caraïbes, touche également la plupart des tortues de l'élevage. L'inventaire bactériologique et fongique a été effectué sur le contenu intestinal, dans l'eau des bassins d'élevage et sur les lésions cutanées. Une parasitose des voies digestives et respiratoires supérieures, entraînant une forte mortalité a été guérie par l'administration de Dimétridazole. Enfin, une parasitose contagieuse due à une petite sangsue (Hirudinés) a dû être traité

Cluster observations of the midaltitude cusp under strong northward interplanetary magnetic field

We report on a multispacecraft cusp observation lasting more than 100 min. We determine the cusp boundary motion and reveal the effect on the cusp size of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) changing from southward to northward. The cusp shrinks at the beginning of the IMF rotation and it reexpands at the rate of 0.40° invariant latitude per hour under stable northward IMF. On the basis of plasma signatures inside the cusp, such as counterstreaming electrons with balanced fluxes, we propose that pulsed dual lobe reconnection operates during the time of interest. SC1 and SC4 observations suggest a long-term regular periodicity of the pulsed dual reconnection, which we estimate to be ~1–5 min. Further, the distances from the spacecraft to the reconnection site are estimated on the basis of observations from three satellites. The distance determined using SC1 and SC4 observations is ~15 RE and that determined from SC3 data is ~8 RE. The large-scale speed of the reconnection site sunward motion is ~16 km s-1. We observe also a fast motion of the reconnection site by SC1, which provides new information about the transitional phase after the IMF rotation. Finally, a statistical study of the dependency of plasma convection inside the cusp on the IMF clock angle is performed. The relationship between the cusp stagnation, the dual lobe reconnection process, and the IMF clock angle is discussed

Methylation landscape in the genome of higher plants of agronomical interest

In eukaryotic cells the methylation of cytosines in DNA is an essential mechanism which is implied in the dynamic organization of the genome structure, in relation to genes expression. Plant genomes contain a significant proportion and variable according to the species, of sequences which are likely to be methylated during the life of the plant. It is known that the establishment and the maintenance of methylation profiles in both genomic areas and specific sequences constitute a crucial mediator in the modulation of genes expression during development. Recent studies have evidenced the implication of epimutations in the adaptation of plants to their environment particularly in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Recently, the complete mapping of methylation in the genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana and rice provided invaluable information on the distribution of methylation within genes in relation to their expression. The impact of changes in the methylation profiles on the characters of agronomic importance has not been intensively studied yet, whereas this question takes a considerable importance in the context of an increasing food demand and foreseen global climate changes. The METHYLANDSCAPE project proposes to isolate genomic DNA sequences on the basis of their degree of methylation and to connect the variation of their methylation profiles with, on the one hand, the expression of the corresponding genes and, on the other hand, with environmental or developmental processes. Thus, it should be possible to identify genes which expression is differentially controlled by methylation during development and/or in situation of stress, and likely to have an influence on the agronomic value of the plant. The METHYLANDSCAPE partners thus propose to bring signification advances in plant genomics on four original species, by integrating DNA methylation mapping and the relationship between epigenome and transcriptome, up to the generation of methylation-sensitive markers linked with characters of agronomic importance. (Texte intégral

Spot-On Skin Lipid Complex as an Adjunct Therapy in Dogs with Atopic Dermatitis: An Open Pilot Study

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of topical skin lipid complex (SLC) in canine atopic dermatitis (AD). Eight dogs with chronic AD and no improvement of main therapy in symptoms, erythema, lichenification, excoriation, and alopecia in the previous month were treated with SLC topically as adjunct therapy at lesion sites twice weekly for 12 weeks. A statistically significant reduction (26.0%, P < 0.05) in the third version of the Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI-03) modification from baseline was recorded 6 weeks after treatment, with marked reduction in the erythema subscore (36.2%, P < 0.005). A significant reduction in excoriation and alopecia subscores was observed 6 weeks after treatment (39.9%, P < 0.05 and 19.9%, P < 0.05, resp.). However, the lichenification subscore was not reduced significantly at 6 or 12 weeks. These findings suggest that topical SLC may have therapeutic and clinical benefits in dogs with AD

Organisation spatiale du travail et précarité des chauffeurs-livreurs

À la figure du conducteur de poids lourd en longue distance, on associe généralement l’autonomie opérationnelle et la liberté qui caractérisent la pratique des grands routiers exerçant à distance du donneur d’ordres. C’est généralement en opposition à cette figure qu’on a, plus récemment, décrit celle du chauffeur-livreur conduisant plus fréquemment des véhicules utilitaires légers, pour réaliser des tournées locales qui font l’objet d’une surveillance plus étroite par le donneur d’ordre. Cette activité associée au transport du « dernier kilomètre », indiquant ainsi que le chauffeur ne réalise que le dernier trajet de la chaine de transport, connaît un regain d’intérêt avec l’avènement du e-commerce. Moore et Newsome (2018) décrivent ainsi en Grande-Bretagne la dégradation des conditions de travail et d’emploi des chauffeurs-livreurs et font le lien avec l’externalisation massive opérée par les employeurs. Nous cherchons à approfondir l’analyse en détaillant les raisons de cette précarisation. Nous montrons qu’elle est liée à la mise en œuvre par les groupes de transport d’une sous-traitance qui prend une forme particulière pour le dernier kilomètre, que nous tentons de décrire. Puis, nous insistons sur les inégalités spatiales du développement de ce processus en analysant la manière dont différents facteurs (vitesse de livraison, densité de livraison, composition des parcours des tournées ou stratégies d’entreprises) affectent les conditions de travail.The figure of the long-distance lorry driver is generally associated with the operational autonomy and freedom that characterise the practice of the lorry driver, who operates at a distance from the customer. More recently, the figure of the delivery driver, who more often drives light commercial vehicles on local routes that are more closely supervised by the principal, has generally been described in contrast to this figure. This activity, which is associated with 'last mile' transport, suggesting that the driver only performs the final leg of the transport chain, is experiencing renewed interest with the rise of e-commerce. Moore and Newsome (2018) describe the deterioration of working and employment conditions for delivery drivers in the UK, linking this to massive outsourcing by employers. We seek to deepen the analysis by detailing the reasons for this casualisation. We show that it is linked to the implementation of subcontracting by transport groups, which takes a particular form for the last mile that we attempt to describe. We then focus on the spatial inequalities in the development of this process by analysing the way in which different factors (such as delivery speed, delivery density, route composition and company strategies) affect working conditions

Cluster observations of structures at quasi-parallel bow shocks

International audienceCollisionless quasi-parallel shocks are thought to be composed of a patchwork of short, large-amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) which act to thermalise the plasma, giving rise to a spatially extended and time varying shock transition. With the launch of Cluster, new observations of the three-dimensional shape and size of shock structures are available. In this paper we present SLAMS observations made when the Cluster tetrahedron scale size was ~100km. The SLAMS magnetic field enhancement is typically well correlated between spacecraft on this scale, although small differences are observed. The statistical characteristics of these differences contain information on the typical gradients of magnetic field changes within the SLAM structure which, in the case studied here, occur on scales of 100-150km, comparable with the upstream ion inertial length

Multi-scale magnetic field intermittence in the plasma sheet

This paper demonstrates that intermittent magnetic field fluctuations in the plasma sheet exhibit transitory, localized, and multi-scale features. We propose a multifractal based algorithm, which quantifies intermittence on the basis of the statistical distribution of the 'strength of burstiness', estimated within a sliding window. Interesting multi-scale phenomena observed by the Cluster spacecraft include large scale motion of the current sheet and bursty bulk flow associated turbulence, interpreted as a cross-scale coupling (CSC) process.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Global and local disturbances in the magnetotail during reconnection

We examine Cluster observations of a reconnection event at &lt;I&gt;x&lt;/I&gt;&lt;sub&gt;GSM&lt;/sub&gt;=&amp;minus;15.7 &lt;I&gt;R&lt;sub&gt;E&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/I&gt; in the magnetotail on 11 October 2001, when Cluster recorded the current sheet for an extended period including the entire duration of the reconnection event. The onset of reconnection is associated with a sudden orientation change of the ambient magnetic field, which is also observed simultaneously by Goes-8 at geostationary orbit. Current sheet oscillations are observed both before reconnection and during it. The speed of the flapping motions is found to increase when the current sheet undergoes the transition from quiet to active state, as suggested by an earlier statistical result and now confirmed within one single event. Within the diffusion region both the tailward and earthward parts of the quadrupolar magnetic Hall structure are recorded as an x-line passes Cluster. We report the first observations of the Hall structure conforming to the kinks in the current sheet. This results in relatively strong fluctuations in &lt;I&gt;B&lt;sub&gt;z&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/I&gt;, which are shown to be the Hall signature tilted in the &lt;I&gt;yz&lt;/I&gt; plane with the current sheet

Oxygen Ion Energization Observed At High Altitudes

We present a case study of significant heating (up to 8 keV) perpendicular to the geomagnetic field of outflowing oxygen ions at high altitude (12 RE) above the polar cap. The shape of the distribution functions indicates that most of the heating occurs locally (within 0.2–0.4 RE in altitude). This is a clear example of local ion energization at much higher altitude than usually reported. In contrast to many events at lower altitudes, it is not likely that the locally observed wave fields can cause the observed ion energization. Also, it is not likely that the ions have drifted from some nearby energization region to the point of observation. This suggests that additional fundamentally different ion energization mechanisms are present at high altitudes. One possibility is that the magnetic moment of the ions is not conserved, resulting in slower outflow velocities and longer time for ion energization