A conceptual framework to assess vulnerability. Application to global change stressors on South Indian farmers

The objectives of the paper are (1) to apply Füssels (2007) conceptual framework of vulnerability to a concrete ongoing research and (2) to discuss on the resulting choice of an adequate vulnerability approach. The research aims at assessing the vulnerability of South Indian farmers to global change at two periods of time: medium term (2030-2040) to account for rapid global economic changes, and long term (2045-2065) to account for climate change and variability. The term vulnerability is dened in so many ways that its use has become controversial. Fussel proposed an original conceptual framework of vulnerability based on a common and transversal terminology understandable whatever the scientic domain of concern. This conceptual framework relies on the description of six dimensions of the vulnerability concept. The rst four dimensions describes the vulnerable situation and the last two dimensions explain the factors of vulnerability. Füssel argues that with this set of dimensions, it is possible to class any conceptual approach of vulnerability found in the literature. After the six dimensions were adapted to South Indian farmers vulnerability, the use of a cross-scale integrated approach of vulnerability appears clearly as the most appropriate.[...]

Aging and Lexical Inhibition: The Effect of Orthographic Neighborhood Frequency in Young and Older Adults

The aim of this study was to examine whether the lexical inhibition underlying orthographic neighborhood effects in visual word recognition is changed with aging. To do so, orthographic neighborhood frequency was manipulated for French words that had either no higher frequency neighbor (e.g., taupe), or at least one higher frequency neighbor (e.g., the word loupe has two higher frequency neighbors, coupe and soupe). Young adults (mean age = 20.9 years) and older adults (mean age = 67.8 years) performed a standard lexical decision task. An interaction was found between age group and orthographic neighborhood frequency on word latencies. More precisely, an inhibitory effect of neighborhood frequency was observed for the young adults but not for the older ones. These data are consistent with the assumption of an age-related decline in lexical inhibition and activation. The findings are discussed in the framework of visual word recognition and agin

The relationship between epilithic biofilm stability and its associated meiofauna under two patterns of flood disturbance

Habitat stability is an important driver of ecological community composition and development. River epilithic biofilms are particularly unstable habitats for the establishment of benthic communities because they are regularly disturbed by floods. Our aim was to determine the influence of habitat instability on meiobenthic organisms. We hypothesized that hydrologic variables are the most important predictors of meiofauna distribution. We monitored epilithic communities (meiofauna and microalgae) with a high sampling frequency during 2 sampling periods with contrasting hydrodynamic patterns in a temperate river (the Garonne, France). Nematodes and rotifers dominated meiofaunal assemblages. The critical flow velocity threshold for their maintenance in the biofilm was ,30 cm/s, a result suggesting that meiofauna can resist higher flow velocity within the biofilm than within sediments. Nematode distribution was primarily influenced by the duration of undisturbed periods, whereas rotifer distribution was also correlated with the thickness of the biofilm. During the periods after floods, rotifers were faster colonizers than nematodes. Collectively, our results show that flow regime was an essential driver for biofilm community development

Irrigation as adaptation strategy to climate change—a biophysical and economic appraisal for Swiss maize production

The impact of climate change on Swiss maize production is assessed using an approach that integrates a biophysical and an economic model. Simple adaptation options such as shifts in sowing dates and adjustments of production intensity are considered. In addition, irrigation is evaluated as an adaptation strategy. It shows that the impact of climate change on yield levels is small but yield variability increases in rainfed production. Even though the adoption of irrigation leads to higher and less variable maize yields in the future, economic benefits of this adoption decision are expected to be rather small. Thus, no shift from the currently used rainfed system to irrigated production is expected in the future. Moreover, we find that changes in institutional and market conditions rather than changes in climatic conditions will influence the development of the Swiss maize production and the adoption of irrigation in the futur

The Effect of the Balance of Orthographic Neighborhood Distribution in Visual Word Recognition

The present study investigated whether the balance of neighborhood distribution (i.e., the way orthographic neighbors are spread across letter positions) influences visual word recognition. Three word conditions were compared. Word neighbors were either concentrated on one letter position (e.g.,nasse/basse-lasse-tasse-masse) or were unequally spread across two letter positions (e.g.,pelle/celle-selle-telle-perle), or were equally spread across two letter positions (e.g.,litre/titre-vitre-libre-livre). Predictions based on the interactive activation model [McClelland & Rumelhart (1981). Psychological Review, 88, 375-401] were generated by running simulations and were confirmed in the lexical decision task. Data showed that words were more rapidly identified when they had spread neighbors rather than concentrated neighbors. Furthermore, within the set of spread neighbors, words were more rapidly recognized when they had equally rather than unequally spread neighbors. The findings are explained in terms of activation and inhibition processes in the interactive activation framewor

La cruauté au féminin : mythes et sacrifice dans La Comtesse sanglante de Valentine Penrose

Résumé Ce mémoire consiste en une étude de la transgression en ce qui a trait au lieu, au personnage et aux sacrifices dans La Comtesse sanglante (1962) de Valentine Penrose, une auteure et artiste qui a fait partie du mouvement surréaliste dès 1926. À partir de l’idée directrice du sacrifice et du sacré, nous exposons, dans un premier temps, l’état transgressif de la criminelle historique Erzsébet Báthory, présentée dans le récit comme une beauté fixe masquant une âme monstrueuse. Dans un deuxième temps, nous examinons la cruauté et la théâtralité des sacrifices pulsionnels qui servent la propre déification de la protagoniste. Partant de la théorie de la transgression de Foucault de laquelle nous dégageons l’idée du seuil, le premier chapitre présente la marginalité de l’univers de la meurtrière présenté comme une extension de son corps, du château en tant que structure froide et vide à l’intérieur. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous mettons en corrélation la violence et le sacré en rapport, d’une part, aux mises en scène sacrificielles et au rôle de chaque femme participant aux sacrifices, et d’autre part, à la progression de la cruauté dans le récit. Dans le troisième chapitre sont explorés le phénomène de la rumeur et la filiation mythique du personnage par la réécriture de deux figures monstrueuses : la Méduse et Lilith. Par ces analyses, ce mémoire a pour but de faire connaître davantage l’auteure et de dégager la singularité de la comtesse Báthory dépeinte par Penrose comme l’archétype de la transgression au féminin.Abstract The present thesis is an analysis of transgression in relation to the location, character and sacrifices in La Comtesse sanglante (1962) by Valentine Penrose, an artist and author who became part of the surrealist movement from 1926 onwards. In the first place, beginning with the salient aspects of the sacrifice and the sacred, the thesis will present the transgressive side of the historically notorious Erzsébet Báthory, who is portrayed in the story as a beauty that conceals a monstrous soul. In second place, then, the thesis will discuss the cruelty and theatricality of the compulsive sacrifices that serve to deify the protagonist. Starting from Foucault’s theory of transgression, from which we derive the idea of threshold, the first chapter will present the marginality of the murderess’s universe, which is described as if it were extension of her body, and the castle, as a cold and empty structure within. In the second chapter, the thesis will correlate the violence and the sacred in relation to, firstly, the staging of the sacrifice scenes and the role of each woman who took part in them, and secondly, to the escalation of cruelty in the story. In the third chapter, the thesis will explore the phenomenon of rumor and the main character mythical parentage by the rewriting of two monstrous figures: the medusa and Lilith. Through these analyses, the main goal of this thesis is to promote awareness of this author and to identify the uniqueness of the Countess Báthory, portrayed as the archetype of female transgression

Diversion dirigée du métabolisme cellulaire chez le tabac sauvage Nicotiana benthamiana utilisé comme hôte pour l'expression hétérologue de protéines d'intérêt clinique

La moléculture végétale est une alternative abordable et sécuritaire pour la production de protéines recombinantes d’intérêt clinique. Cependant, ces protéines sont souvent sujettes à la dégradation par les protéases endogènes dans les cellules végétales. Plusieurs stratégies ont été mises en place pour contrer ce phénomène, incluant notamment la co-expression d’inhibiteurs de protéases compagnons. Peu de données ont décrit toutefois comment la physiologie de la plante hôte, associée en particulier à son développement, a un impact sur l’expression et la protection d’une protéine d’intérêt. Dans ce projet, nous avons évalué les activités de protéases de types cystéine et aspartate dans des feuilles agroinfiltrées de la plante hôte Nicotiana benthamiana, en fonction de leur stade de développement. Nous démontrons que l’expression de l’inhibiteur SlCYS8 de tomate, actif contre les protéases de type cystéine, permet d’augmenter d’environ 40% le rendement en anticorps monoclonal C5-1, notre protéine modèle, dans les feuilles jeunes et matures où les activités protéolytiques sont moindres. Ces résultats prometteurs sur le plan appliqué font ressortir, en revanche, la complexité des processus biochimiques en cause et la pertinence de développer des stratégies complémentaires pour augmenter les teneurs en protéine recombinante. Dans cette optique, une nouvelle approche basée sur une diversion dirigée du métabolisme de défense de la plante hôte a été explorée. Nous démontrons qu’une activation du sentier de l’acide jasmonique induit dans les feuilles la production de protéines de stress, incluant des inhibiteurs de protéases de classes fonctionnelles variées; et une diminution de la teneur en RuBisCO, un contaminant majeur pendant la purification des protéines recombinantes. Sur cette base, nous avons adjoint à notre procédure de transfection un prétraitement des plantes au jasmonate de méthyle, une forme volatile de l’acide jasmonique. Ce prétraitement a permis d’une part de réduire considérablement les teneurs en RuBisCO dans les feuilles, et de doubler d’autre part le taux d’expression et le rendement en anticorps C5-1. Nos données appuient l’utilité éventuelle d’une manipulation du métabolisme de défense sur les rendements en protéine recombinante, complémentaire aux approches basées sur la co-expression d’inhibiteurs de protéases recombinants.Plant molecular farming is an affordable and safe alternative to conventional expression animal and microbial systems for the production of clinically-useful recombinant proteins. However, these proteins are often susceptible to degradation by endogenous proteases of the host plant cells. Several strategies have been described to counter degradation processes including the co-expression of companion protease inhibitors. Few data, however, were available describing how the host plant’s physiology, especially its developmental stage, could impact the expression and protection of a clinically useful heterologous protein. In this study, we assessed changes in the activity of cysteine and aspartate proteases in the widely adopted expression host Nicotiana benthamiana, as a function of leaf age. We demonstrate that the expression of a tomato cysteine protease inhibitor, SlCYS8, allows to increase by nearly 40% the total yield of a model protein, the blood-typing C5-1 monoclonal antibody, in young and mature leaves where proteolytic activities are lower. Our results, while promising in practice, highlighted on the other hand the complexity of biochemical processes involved and the relevance of developing additional strategies to boost recombinant protein accumulation in planta. Towards this end, a new approach based on a deliberate diversion of the host plant defense metabolism was explored. We show that an activation of the jasmonic acid pathway in leaves induces the production of stress-related proteins, including protease inhibitors of various functional classes; and a significant decrease in the content of RuBisCO, a major contaminant during the purification of recombinant proteins. Based on this we included in our transfection procedure a pretreatment of plants with methyl jasmonate, a volatile form of jasmonic acid. This pretreatment significantly reduced RuBisCO levels in leaves, concomitant with a more than twofold increase of C5-1 yield in mature leaves. Our data highlight, overall, the potential of manipulating the host plant’s defense metabolism to increase heterologous protein yields, in complement to current protein protection strategies involving the co-expression of recombinant protease inhibitors