Perceptions of the Maltese public towards local Marine Protected Areas

The marine environment represents a central component of Malta's local environment, and its ecosystem services play a vital role in supporting the economy as well as human well-being. Plans have been made to protect the unique ecology found within Maltese waters through the institution of five marine protected areas (MPAs). This quantitative study assessed the environmental knowledge and attitudes of the Maltese public towards the local marine environment, MPAs and education for sustainable development (ESD). A questionnaire was administered to members of the public (n = 200) at three different locations. The study found that although the Maltese public strongly appreciates the beauty of Malta's marine environment, the level of knowledge surrounding the marine environment is low. Furthermore, the research indicates that while the public agrees that the marine environment should be protected, there is a notable lack of awareness of the five local MPAs. Based on the research findings, a model linking ESD to MPAs and aiming to foster a sense of ownership among the public by encouraging their involvement in the management of local MPAs is proposed.peer-reviewe

Étude microsystémique des facteurs influençant l’anxiété de performance de l’élève athlète

Résumé Cette étude caractérise les facteurs de protection et de risque de l’anxiété de performance associés aux parents, aux entraîneurs et aux enseignants des élèves athlètes des programmes de Sport-études québécois. Le devis qualitatif interprétatif est ancré dans le modèle écologique de Bronfenbrenner. Seize entretiens semi-dirigés individuels documentent le point de vue de quatre trios (élève athlète, parent et entraîneur), celui d’une dyade (élève athlète et parent) et de deux personnes en direction sportive et scolaire. L’analyse thématique révèle plus de facteurs de protection que de facteurs de risque. Les résultats soulignent l’importance d’améliorer les savoirs des enseignants et de mieux définir les attentes académiques envers les élèves athlètes liées au programme de Sport-études. Ils mettent de l’avant la nécessité d’aider les élèves athlètes à modifier leurs schémas de pensées et de promouvoir l’apprentissage par erreur. Finalement, cette étude démontre l’importance de considérer les multiples sources d’influence de l’anxiété de performance. Abstract This study characterizes the protective and risk factors of performance anxiety associated with parents, coaches and teachers of student athletes in Quebec Sport-studies programs. The interpretative qualitative study is anchored in Bronfenbrenner's ecological model. Sixteen semi-structured individual interviews document the perspective of four trios (student athlete, parent and coach), that of a dyad (student athlete and parent) and two people in sports and school management. The thematic analysis reveals more protective factors than risk factors. The results underline the importance of improving the knowledge of teachers and of better defining the academic expectations of student athletes related to the Sport-studies program. They emphasize the need to help student athletes change their thought patterns and promote learning through mistake. Finally, this study demonstrates the importance of considering the multiple sources of influence of performance anxiety

Enquête auprès du public de la bibliothèque municipale de Bordeaux (2002)

Résultats de l\u27enquête de la Bibliothèque municipale de Bordeaux menée auprès du public en 2002. Questionnaire, résultats détaillés et analyse

Metatranscriptomes reveal functional variation in diatom communities from the Antarctic Peninsula

Functional genomics of diatom-dominated communities from the Antarctic Peninsula was studied using comparative metatranscriptomics. Samples obtained from diatom-rich communities in the Bransfield Strait, the western Weddell Sea and sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea/Wilkins Ice Shelf yielded more than 500K pyrosequencing reads that were combined to produce a global metatranscriptome assembly. Multi-gene phylogenies recovered three distinct communities, and diatom-assigned contigs further indicated little read-sharing between communities, validating an assembly-based annotation and analysis approach. Although functional analysis recovered a core of abundant shared annotations that were expressed across the three diatom communities, over 40% of annotations (but accounting for <10% of sequences) were community-specific. The two pelagic communities differed in their expression of N-metabolism and acquisition genes, which was almost absent in post-bloom conditions in the Weddell Sea community, while enrichment of transporters for ammonia and urea in Bransfield Strait diatoms suggests a physiological stance towards acquisition of reduced N-sources. The depletion of carbohydrate and energy metabolism pathways in sea ice relative to pelagic communities, together with increased light energy dissipation (via LHCSR proteins), photorespiration, and NO3 uptake and utilization all pointed to irradiance stress and/or inorganic carbon limitation within sea ice. Ice-binding proteins and cold-shock transcription factors were also enriched in sea ice diatoms. Surprisingly, the abundance of gene transcripts for the translational machinery tracked decreasing environmental temperature across only a 4 degrees C range, possibly reflecting constraints on translational efficiency and protein production in cold environments.Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) [PTDC/MAR/72630]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (under the scope of the International Polar Year (IPY)) [POL2006-00550/CTM]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tandem quadruplication of HMA4 in the zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator noccaea caerulescens

Zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulation may have evolved twice in the Brassicaceae, in Arabidopsis halleri and in the Noccaea genus. Tandem gene duplication and deregulated expression of the Zn transporter, HMA4, has previously been linked to Zn/Cd hyperaccumulation in A. halleri. Here, we tested the hypothesis that tandem duplication and deregulation of HMA4 expression also occurs in Noccaea. A Noccaea caerulescens genomic library was generated, containing 36,864 fosmid pCC1FOSTM clones with insert sizes ~20–40 kbp, and screened with a PCR-generated HMA4 genomic probe. Gene copy number within the genome was estimated through DNA fingerprinting and pooled fosmid pyrosequencing. Gene copy numbers within individual clones was determined by PCR analyses with novel locus specific primers. Entire fosmids were then sequenced individually and reads equivalent to 20-fold coverage were assembled to generate complete whole contigs. Four tandem HMA4 repeats were identified in a contiguous sequence of 101,480 bp based on sequence overlap identities. These were flanked by regions syntenous with up and downstream regions of AtHMA4 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Promoter-reporter b-glucuronidase (GUS) fusion analysis of a NcHMA4 in A. thaliana revealed deregulated expression in roots and shoots, analogous to AhHMA4 promoters, but distinct from AtHMA4 expression which localised to the root vascular tissue. This remarkable consistency in tandem duplication and deregulated expression of metal transport genes between N. caerulescens and A. halleri, which last shared a common ancestor >40 mya, provides intriguing evidence that parallel evolutionary pathways may underlie Zn/Cd hyperaccumulation in Brassicaceae