A review of volatiles in the Martian interior

Multiple observations from missions to Mars have revealed compelling evidence for a volatile-rich Martian crust. A leading theory contends that eruption of basaltic magmas was the ultimate mechanism of transfer of volatiles from the mantle toward the surface after an initial outgassing related to the crystallization of a magma ocean. However, the concentrations of volatile species in ascending magmas and in their mantle source regions are highly uncertain. This work and this special issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science summarize the key findings of the workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior (Nov. 3–4, 2014), the primary open questions related to volatiles in Martian magmas and their source regions, and the suggestions of the community at the workshop to address these open questions

Gene Expression Rhythms in the Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.) across an Annual Cycle

Seasonal environmental changes may affect the physiology of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.), an intertidal filter-feeder bivalve occurring commonly in Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal areas. We investigated seasonal variations in relative transcript abundance of the digestive gland and the mantle (gonads) of males and females. To identify gene expression trends – in terms of relative mRNA abundance- we used a medium-density cDNA microarray (1.7 K probes) in dual-color competitive hybridization analyses. Hierarchical clustering of digestive gland microarray data showed two main branches, distinguishing profiles associated with the “hot” months (May–August) from the other months. Genes involved in chitin metabolism, associated with mussel nutrition and digestion showed higher mRNA levels during summer. Moreover, we found different gene transcriptomic patterns in the digestive glands of males when compared to females, during the four stages of mussel gonadal development. Microarray data from gonadal transcripts also displayed clear patterns during the different developmental phases respect to the resting period (stage I) with peak relative mRNA abundance at the ripe phase (stage III) for both sexes. These data showed a clear temporal pattern in transcriptomic profiles of mussels sampled over an annual cycle. Physiological response to thermal variation, food availability, and reproductive status across months may contribute to variation in relative mRNA abundance

Network Analysis of Oyster Transcriptome Revealed a Cascade of Cellular Responses during Recovery after Heat Shock

Oysters, as a major group of marine bivalves, can tolerate a wide range of natural and anthropogenic stressors including heat stress. Recent studies have shown that oysters pretreated with heat shock can result in induced heat tolerance. A systematic study of cellular recovery from heat shock may provide insights into the mechanism of acquired thermal tolerance. In this study, we performed the first network analysis of oyster transcriptome by reanalyzing microarray data from a previous study. Network analysis revealed a cascade of cellular responses during oyster recovery after heat shock and identified responsive gene modules and key genes. Our study demonstrates the power of network analysis in a non-model organism with poor gene annotations, which can lead to new discoveries that go beyond the focus on individual genes

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system

Large-Scale Meta-GWAS Reveals Common Genetic Factors Linked to Radiation-Induced Acute Toxicities across Cancers

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to identify common genetic susceptibility and shared genetic variants associated with acute radiation-induced toxicity (RIT) across four cancer types (prostate, head and neck, breast, and lung).METHODS: A GWAS meta-analysis was performed using 19 cohorts including 12,042 patients. Acute standardized total average toxicity (rSTATacute) was modelled using a generalized linear regression model for additive effect of genetic variants adjusted for demographic and clinical covariates. LD score regression estimated shared SNP-based heritability of rSTATacute in all patients and for each cancer type.RESULTS: Shared SNP-based heritability of STATacute among all cancer types was estimated at 10% (se = 0.02), and was higher for prostate (17%, se = 0.07), head and neck (27%, se = 0.09), and breast (16%, se = 0.09) cancers. We identified 130 suggestive associated SNPs with rSTATacute (5.0x10-8&lt;P-value&lt;1.0x10-5) across 25 genomic regions. rs142667902 showed the strongest association (effect allele A; effect size -0.17; P-value=1.7x10-7), which is located near DPPA4, encoding a protein involved in pluripotency in stem cells, which are essential for repair of radiation-induced tissue injury. Gene-set enrichment analysis identified 'RNA splicing via endonucleolytic cleavage and ligation' (P = 5.1 x10-6, Pcorrected =0.079) as the top gene set associated with rSTATacute among all patients. In-silico gene expression analysis showed the genes associated with rSTATacute were statistically significantly up-regulated in skin (not sun exposed Pcorrected=0.004; sun exposed Pcorrected=0.026).CONCLUSIONS: There is shared SNP-based heritability for acute RIT across and within individual cancer sites. Future meta-GWAS among large radiotherapy patient cohorts are worthwhile to identify the common causal variants for acute radiotoxicity across cancer types.</p

Hemolymph microbiome of Pacific oysters in response to temperature, temperature stress and infection

Microbiota provide their hosts with a range of beneficial services, including defense from external pathogens. However, host-associated microbial communities themselves can act as a source of opportunistic pathogens depending on the environment. Marine poikilotherms and their microbiota are strongly influenced by temperature, but experimental studies exploring how temperature affects the interactions between both parties are rare. To assess the effects of temperature, temperature stress and infection on diversity, composition and dynamics of the hemolymph microbiota of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), we conducted an experiment in a fully-crossed, three-factorial design, in which the temperature acclimated oysters (8 or 22 °C) were exposed to temperature stress and to experimental challenge with a virulent Vibrio sp. Strain. We monitored oyster survival and repeatedly collected hemolymph of dead and alive animals to determine the microbiome composition by 16s rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing. We found that the microbial dynamics and composition of communities in healthy animals (including infection survivors) were significantly affected by temperature and temperature stress, but not by infection. The response was mediated by changes in the incidence and abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and accompanied by little change at higher taxonomic levels, indicating dynamic stability of the hemolymph microbiome. Dead and moribund oysters, on the contrary, displayed signs of community structure disruption, characterized by very low diversity and proliferation of few OTUs. We can therefore link short-term responses of host-associated microbial communities to abiotic and biotic factors and assess the potential feedback between microbiota dynamics and host survival during disease

Les assurances de l'exploitant agricole

Farcy H. de. Les assurances de l'exploitant agricole. In: Économie rurale. N°24, 1955. pp. 23-40