Transcription Analysis of Streptococcus thermophilus Phages in the Lysogenic State

AbstractThe transcription of prophage genes was studied in two lysogenic Streptococcus thermophilus cells by Northern blot and primer-extension experiments. In the lysogen containing the cos-site phage Sfi21 only two gene regions of the prophage were transcribed. Within the lysogeny module an 1.6-kb-long mRNA started at the promoter of the phage repressor gene and covered also the next two genes, including a superinfection exclusion (sie) gene. A second, quantitatively more prominent 1-kb-long transcript was initiated at the promoter of the sie gene. Another prophage transcript of 1.6-kb length covered a group of genes without database matches that were located between the lysin gene and the right attachment site. The rest of the prophage genome was transcriptionally silent. A very similar transcription pattern was observed for a S. thermophilus lysogen containing the pac-site phage O1205 as a prophage. Prophages from pathogenic streptococci encode virulence genes downstream of the lysin gene. We speculate that temperate phages from lactic streptococci also encode nonessential phage genes (“lysogenic conversion genes”) in this region that increase the ecological fitness of the lysogen to further their own evolutionary success. A comparative genome analysis revealed that many temperate phages from low GC content Gram-positive bacteria encode a variable number of genes in that region and none was linked to known phage-related function. Prophages from pathogenic streptococci encode toxin genes in this region. In accordance with theoretical predictions on prophage–host genome interactions a prophage remnant was detected in S. thermophilus that had lost most of the prophage DNA while transcribed prophage genes were spared from the deletion process

LCA modelling of cement concrete waste management

Recycling of Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) could be seen as a proper solution to improve environmental performances and conserve natural resources. Keeping a balance between economic pressures and environmentally friendly practices would play an important role in a circular economy with local material recovery and a recycling industry sector. This balance would ensure a sustainable future to this industry as well as essential quality improvements and developments of market for value added products, which are needed to make recycled materials economically viable. Therefore, environmental assessment of circular economy through life cycle assessment has given rise to further research questions, which have to be answered. Replacing natural resources with recycled materials may cause some indirect environmental impacts (either positive or negative) on other products’ life cycles through economic market mechanisms. In fact, according to Ekvall (2000) “indirect effects depend on how the market for recycled materials reacts to a change in supply or demand for the recycled materials, this in turn depends on political constraints, price elasticities, etc. in the market for recycled materials.” Different system models have been developed to assess environmental effects of recycling, through markets mechanisms, using partial equilibrium economic models. However, they are generally applied to global markets, such as metals or fuels. Construction materials are usually managed and handled at local scale. At this scale, market equilibrium will not follow general market equilibrium rules, but will highly depend on local regulations and local technical practices and recycling facilities. Our general aim is to develop a LCA model of cement concrete waste management at local level including market mechanisms in order to identify action levers for both economic and environmental improvements. In this presentation, through a simple example we compare environmental performances between two scenarios of cement concrete waste management: recycling into road construction or inert landfill. For recycling, we use two system modeling. One system model will use a classical substitution assumption without market mechanism. A second one will take into account a simple market mechanism based on qualities requirements, and thus further existing usage of natural and recycled aggregates. This study will serve setting the basic assumptions to develop a more generic conceptual model, based on material flow analysis, qualities of materials, and economic market mechanisms. This model is applied to the case study of Loire-Atlantique in France, using local economic and flow data

Does the pension system’s income statement really matter? A proposal for an NDC scheme with disability and minimum pension benefits

This paper develops an accounting model for monitoring the solvency of a notional defined contribution (NDC) pension scheme with disability and minimum pension benefits. Using the annual report of the Swedish pension system as a benchmark, the “Swedish” actuarial balance is extended by adding an income statement fully explaining the reasons behind the changes in the system’s solvency by type of benefit. In line with the reference model, assets and liabilities are measured at present value at each reporting date, and in each period, included as income or expenses on the Income statement. This accounting framework integrates both contributory and social aspects of public pensions and discloses the real cost of the disability contingency and the redistribution through minimum pensions. Apart from Sweden, this proposal could be especially interesting for improving the reporting of public pensions in countries such as Poland, Italy, Latvia and Norway

Prospective life cycle assessment for nickel slag valorization by mineral carbonation

Nickel slag management is a growing issue for the pyrometallurgical industries. The generated amounts are significant, but the valorization options are limited and low valuable. In the case of New-Caledonia, which is one of the five largest nickel producers in the world, the cumulated stock of slag reaches several tens of million tons and increases by further million tons each year. Currently, only a small amount of this waste is recovered as sand for concrete production. Moreover, pyrometallurgy highly consumes fossil-fuel energy and electricity for ore pre-treatment and nickel extraction, which produces significant CO2 emissions. A new valorization approach is suggested to improve the management of nickel slag and to settle an efficient valorization sector. The process consists of mineralizing CO2 inside slag to produce silico-magnesian cement and supplementary cement materials which would partially replace clinker into cement. The benefit of this technology in a circular economy perspective is double: to reduce two local stocks (slag and CO2 from nickel industries) and to produce building materials with a low environmental impact. However, many questions are to be answered for the organization of the sector (e.g. where to capture CO2, which capture technology to use, where to sell products?) and for the operational conditions of the process (e.g. what mineralization rate to aim, is it required to optimize the process in terms of energy consumption?). A prospective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is achieved with the Brightway framework to assess the organizational scenarios and the operational conditions of the process. The process being currently at a low Technology Readiness Level (TRL), the LCA is projected at the industrial level for a specified time-horizon. It enables to efficiently compare the process with the environmental challenges of the future. The presentation focuses on the production of supplementary cement materials from nickel slag valorization then its use into the production of cement. The slag valorization sector with CCU is modelled (slag preparation, CO2 capture, mineral carbonation, drying, supplementary cement materials production, selling with potential export and cement production), then compared with a future conventional cement. The scenarios which ensure an environmental performance are identified, such as the best values for the operational parameters of the process. These results will help to improve the process in development and will assist in the decision making for the settlement of the sector in New-Caledonia

Third Workshop on Gender, Methodology, and the Ancient Near East: Enhancing Networking and Consolidating an Initiative

Non peer reviewe

Navegar é impreciso: um estudo comparado das críticas de Antonio Candido e Eduardo Lourenço

Doutoramento em Estudos CulturaisEsta tese move-se através de leituras dialogantes do crítico literário, mas também sociólogo brasileiro, Antonio Candido e do crítico literário, também filósofo cultural português, Eduardo Lourenço. Pretende-se um estudo comparado, em especial, de seus ensaísmos de crítica literária, e busca compreender o que separa a intimidade hermenêutica dos dois autores, ambos adeptos de uma transposição de fronteiras do conhecimento. Parte por contrapor as ideias de contradição e heterodoxia, perscrutando, em suas obras, o peso que elas tiveram na construção de uma metodologia crítica, ainda que bastante intuitiva nos dois casos, e como sustentam suas distintas análises literárias: estético-social, para Candido, e estético-ontológica, para Lourenço. Mais especificamente, esta tese empenha-se em refletir sobre seus pensamentos a respeito da crítica literária, suas compreensões no que tange às identidades culturais nacionais, e mesmo transnacionais, sobre o papel que podemos conceder à literatura no mundo contemporâneo enquanto modo de aproximação ao complexo sentido da liberdade, e como encontram no ensaio, cada qual ao seu modo, uma forma não-forma donde emergir suas críticas literárias e pensamentos, que, embora distantes no que há de mais essencial, coincidem na total entrega à primazia do texto literário.This thesis moves within the dialogue readings of the literary critic, but also Brazilian sociologist, Antonio Candido and the literary critic, as well Portuguese cultural philosopher, Eduardo Lourenço. We intent with this comparative study, and especially, of their essays of literary critic, and search to understand what separate the hermeneutics intimacy of these two authors, both supporters of a transposition of the frontiers of knowledge. We start by opposing the ideas of contradiction and heterodoxy, peering, in their works, the weight that they had in the construction of a critical methodology, although very intuitive in both cases, and how they maintain their distinct literary analysis: aesthetic-social for Candido, and aesthetic-ontological, to Lourenço. More specifically, this thesis intents to reflect their thoughts on literary criticism, their comprehensions of the national cultural identities, and even transnational, of the role that we can concede to literature in the contemporary world as a way of approaching to the complex sense of freedom, and how they find within the essay, each in his own way, a form of non form from where to emerge of their literary criticism and thoughts, which, although distant in what is of most essential, coincide on total commitment to the primacy of the literary text

Projeto de figurino para a peça quem não perdoa

Projeto de figurino para a peça “Quem não perdoa”, escrita por Júlia Lopes de Almeida, que se passa no início do século XX na Belle Époque do Rio de Janeiro. O trabalho de criação foi inspirado em fotos, desenhos, indumentária conservada da época, representações sobre o período do fim dos 1800s e início dos 1900s (como, por exemplo, a série Downtown Abbey) e no trabalho da figurinista Beth Filipecki

Uncommon Presentation of Kaposi Sarcoma in an HIV-Negative Patient: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) is a multifocal systemic disease first identified in 1872. It most commonly involves the skin, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, and gastrointestinal tract. There are four clinically distinct subtypes of KS that have been identified: Chronic or classic KS, African endemic KS, KS due to iatrogenic immunosuppression, and AIDS-related epidemic KS. The human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been implicated in all subtypes of KS. We present a unique case of KS in a 79-year-old male with a widespread distribution of skin lesions on his palms, soles, chest, and back. This case report highlights a novel presentation of classical KS in a patient without typically identified risk factors, which served as a barrier to their diagnosis and treatment

Inhibition of the Mitochondrial Permeability Transition for Cytoprotection: Direct versus Indirect Mechanisms

Mitochondria are fascinating organelles, which fulfill multiple cellular functions, as diverse as energy production, fatty acid β oxidation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and detoxification, and cell death regulation. The coordination of these functions relies on autonomous mitochondrial processes as well as on sustained cross-talk with other organelles and/or the cytosol. Therefore, this implies a tight regulation of mitochondrial functions to ensure cell homeostasis. In many diseases (e.g., cancer, cardiopathies, nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases), mitochondria can receive harmful signals, dysfunction and then, participate to pathogenesis. They can undergo either a decrease of their bioenergetic function or a process called mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) that can coordinate cell death execution. Many studies present evidence that protection of mitochondria limits disease progression and severity. Here, we will review recent strategies to preserve mitochondrial functions via direct or indirect mechanisms of MPT inhibition. Thus, several mitochondrial proteins may be considered for cytoprotective-targeted therapies