65 research outputs found

    Quaternary glacial history of the Mediterranean mountains

    Get PDF
    Glacial and periglacial landforms are widespread in the mountains of the Mediterranean region. The evidence for glacial and periglacial activity has been studied for over 120 years and it is possible to identify three phases of development in this area of research. First, a pioneer phase characterized by initial descriptive observations of glacial landforms; second, a mapping phase whereby the detailed distribution of glacial landforms and sediments have been depicted on geomorphological maps; and, third, an advanced phase characterized by detailed understanding of the geochronology of glacial sequences using radiometric dating alongside detailed sedimentological and stratigraphical analyses. It is only relatively recently that studies of glaciated mountain terrains in the Mediterranean region have reached an advanced phase and it is now clear from radiometric dating programmes that the Mediterranean mountains have been glaciated during multiple glacial cycles. The most extensive phases of glaciation appear to have occurred during the Middle Pleistocene. This represents a major shift from earlier work whereby many glacial sequences were assumed to have formed during the last cold stage. Glacial and periglacial deposits from multiple Quaternary cold stages constitute a valuable palaeoclimatic record. This is especially so in the Mediterranean mountains, since mountain glaciers in this latitudinal zone would have been particularly sensitive to changes in the global climate system. © 2006 Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd

    G2 checkpoint abrogation and checkpoint kinase-1 targeting in the treatment of cancer

    Get PDF
    Rigorous quality control steps, termed checkpoints, tightly regulate progression through the cell cycle. DNA-damaging chemotherapy and radiation activate functional cellular checkpoints. These checkpoints can facilitate DNA repair and promote cell death in unrepaired cells. There are at least three DNA damage checkpoints – at G1/S, S, and G2/M – as well as a mitotic spindle checkpoint. Most cancer cells harbour mutations in tumour suppressors and/or oncogenes, which impair certain cell checkpoints. Inhibiting the remaining cell checkpoints – particularly after exposure of cancer cells to chemotherapy and/or radiation – allows cell death, a strategy now being employed in cancer therapeutics. With our increasing knowledge of cell cycle regulation, many compounds have been developed to inhibit specific checkpoint components, particularly at the G2/M transition. One such target is checkpoint kinase-1 (Chk1). We review here the molecular framework of the cell cycle, the rationale for targeting Chk1, the preclinical concepts related to the development of Chk1 inhibitors, and the efficacy and safety results from Chk1 inhibitors now in phase I/II trials

    Copernicus Marine Service ocean state report, issue 4

    Get PDF
    This is the final version. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record. FCT/MCTE

    Verifying Smart Contracts with Cubicle

    No full text
    International audienc

    Optimization of a micronekton model with acoustic data

    No full text
    © 2014 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea 2014. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected] the pelagic foodweb, micronekton at the mid-trophic level (MTL) are one of the lesser known components of the ocean ecosystem despite being a major driver of the spatial dynamics of their predators, of which many are exploited species (e.g. tunas). The Spatial Ecosystem and Population Dynamics Model is one modelling approach that includes a representation of the spatial dynamics of several epi- and mesopelagic MTL functional groups. The dynamics of these groups are driven by physical (temperature and currents) and biogeochemical (primary production, euphotic depth) variables. A key issue to address is the parameterization of the energy transfer from the primary production to these functional groups. We present a method using in situ acoustic data to estimate the parameters with a maximum likelihood estimation approach. A series of twin experiments conducted to test the behaviour of the model suggested that in the ideal case, that is, with an environmental forcing perfectly simulated and biomass estimates directly correlated with the acoustic signal, a minimum of 200 observations over several time steps at the resolution of the model is needed to estimate the parameter values with a minimum error. A transect of acoustic backscatter at 38 kHz collected during scientific cruises north of Hawaii allowed a first illustration of the approach with actual data. A discussion followed regarding the various sources of uncertainties associated with the use of acoustic data in micronekton biomass

    Generating Optimised and Formally Checked Packet Parsing Code

    No full text
    Part 5: Software SecurityInternational audienceWhile implementing distributed applications, the parsing of binary packets is a very difficult and error-prone task the developer has to face. Moreover, these programming mistakes are often the source of distant vulnerabilities. In this paper we present a code-generation library, called Promiwag, for creating optimised and safe packet parsing code. Its input is concise human-readable descriptions of the protocols and the interests of the application in specific pieces of information. Promiwag follows a dependency-based algorithm, and uses high-level optimisation techniques to generate minimal parsing automatons. These automatons can be compiled into C or OCaml code for efficient execution, and to annotatedWhy code. This latter output is then used to automatically prove that for any possible input packet, the generated code cannot perform any illegal memory access, and that no infinite loop can be triggered. We have used our code generator to implement a pretty-printer for Internet protocols, and we provide experimental results on the performance of the generated code
    • 

    corecore