Quand la langue rend la licorne toute chèvre

La république des lettres a toujours été une communauté internationale. Et la plupart d’entre nous, faute d’avoir la chance d’être brillamment multilingues, n’accédons au trésor commun que par le biais de la traduction. C’est au travers d’un interprète que nous découvrons les mots des grandes figures de la littérature mondiale – Tolstoï, Boccace, Dumas, Kafka, sans parler de ce rigolo d’Argentin aveugle au nom quasi imprononçable. Lorsque nous lisons un livre traduit, nous savons implicitemen..

Effects of sulphite on yeasts with special reference to intracellular buffering capacity

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX174847 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Seasonal and daily variation in blood and urine concentrations of free-ranging Angolan free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus) in hot roosts in southern Africa

Urine and plasma concentrations and haematocrits were measured in free-ranging Angolan free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus) inhabiting thermally-challenging roosts in the Komatipoort region of South Africa. Samples were collected in both autumn and summer, from bats caught emerging from roosts before feeding (pre-feed- ing), and those returning after foraging (post-prandial). Post-prandial bats exhibited higher body fluid concentrations, but lower haematocrits, than individuals caught prior to feeding, reflecting raised excretory mineral and nitrogenous loads and replenishment of body water pools during nocturnal foraging. Pre-feeding concentrations of both urine (2637 ± 506 mOsm/kg; n = 16) and plasma (331.5 ± 25.9mOsm/kg; n = 24) were significantly higher in summer than autumn (urine: 2157 ± 454mOsm/kg; n = 8; plasma: 294.5 ± 35.2 mOsm/kg; n = 18) reflecting the greater dehydration stresses within hotter roost microclimates, and a moderate kidney concentrating ability in this species. Haematocrits of pre-feeding animals were not, however, influenced by season and in both instances exceeded 53%, indicative of the higher oxygen carrying capacity needed for sustained flight in volant insectivores and also the defense of the rheologica! properties of blood. The ability of Mops condylurus to withstand a thermally-challenging roost milieu reflects, in part, its tolerance to dehydration, rather than the maintenance of water balance through exceptional renal concentrating ability

Survival tactics within thermally-challenging roosts: heat tolerance and cold sensitivity in the Angolan free-tailed bat, Mops condylurus

We studied roost microclimates, thermal preferences and temperature-related variation in body temperatures and flight abilities of M. condylurus from three roosts in man-made structures in South Africa. Roosts were characterized by marked spatio-temporal variability in ambient temperature and relative humidity on a daily and seasonal basis. Microclimates were thermally challenging, being very hot (>40°C) for several hours daily in summer and autumn, and cold (<10°C) for much of the night in winter Thermal preference tests revealed that the bats actively selected temperature zones (35°- 42°C) in which basal metabolic rate could be maintained, and above the minimum necessary for sustained flight. This presumably allowed them to minimize energy costs of thermoregulation without compromising reproductive activity or their ability to avoid predators. Bats displayed pronounced heat tolerance and hyperthermia in response to prolonged experimental exposure to high temperatures (40°C). They also exhibited cold-sensitivity, characterized by hypothermia and entry into torpor, when exposed to ambient temperatures below the thermal neutral zone. This response to low ambient temperatures would conserve energy in cold periods when the high energetic costs of foraging may not be met owing to reduced insect availability. We hypothesize that this broad roosting tolerance has energetic, ecological and evolutionary benefits that outweigh attendant disadvantages, which are largely compensated for by an unusual physiology

Association between temperament related traits and SNPs in the serotonin and oxytocin systems in Merino sheep

ABSTRACT Animal temperament is defined as the consistent behavioral and physiological differences that are seen between individuals in response to the same stressor. Neurotransmitter systems, like serotonin and oxytocin in the central nervous system, underlie variation in behavioral traits in humans and other animals. Variations like single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes for tryptophan 5-hydroxylase (TPH2), the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), the serotonin receptor (HTR2A), and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) are associated with behavioral phenotype in humans. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify SNPs in those genes and to test if those variations are associated with the temperament in Merino sheep. Using ewes from the University of Western Australia temperament flock, that has been selected on emotional reactivity for more than 20 generations, eight SNPs (rs107856757, rs107856818, rs107856856 and rs107857156 in TPH2, rs20917091 in SLC6A4, rs17196799 and rs17193181 in HTR2A, and rs17664565 in OXTR) were found to be distributed differently between calm and nervous sheep. These eight SNPs were then genotyped in 260 sheep from a flock that has never been selected on emotional reactivity, followed by the estimation of the behavioral traits of those 260 sheep using an arena test and an isolation box test. We found that several SNPs in TPH2 (rs107856757, rs107856818, rs107856856 and rs107857156) were in strong linkage disequilibrium, and all were associated with behavioral phenotype in the non-selected sheep. Similarly, rs17196799 in HTR2A was also associated with the behavioral phenotype

These may not be the courses you are seeking: a systematic review of open online courses in health professions education

Introduction: Open Online Courses (OOCs) are increasingly presented as a possible solution to the many challenges of higher education. However, there is currently little evidence available to support decisions around the use of OOCs in health professions education. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the available evidence describing the features of OOCs in health professions education and to analyse their utility for decisionmaking using a self-developed framework consisting of point scores around effectiveness, learner experiences, feasibility, pedagogy and economics. Methods: Electronic searches of PubMed, Medline, Embase, PsychInfo and CINAHL were made up to April 2019 using keywords related to OOC variants and health professions. We accepted any type of full text English publication with no exclusions made on the basis of study quality. Data were extracted using a custom-developed, a priori critical analysis framework comprising themes relating to effectiveness, economics, pedagogy, acceptability and learner experience. Results: 54 articles were included in the review and 46 were of the lowest levels of evidence, and most were offered by institutions based in the United States (n = 11) and United Kingdom (n = 6). Most studies provided insufficient course detail to make any confident claims about participant learning, although studies published from 2016 were more likely to include information around course aims and participant evaluation. In terms of the five categories identified for analysis, few studies provided sufficiently robust evidence to be used in formal decision making in undergraduate or postgraduate curricula. Conclusion: This review highlights a poor state of evidence to support or refute claims regarding the effectiveness of OOCs in health professions education. Health professions educators interested in developing courses of this nature should adopt a critical and cautious position regarding their adoption

Technology Challenges of SURROUND: A Constellation of Small Satellites Around the Sun for Tracking Solar Radio Bursts

The SURROUND mission proposes the operational monitoring and forecasting of space weather events using a constellation of five small satellites in orbit around the Sun. This unique mission concept would enable the localisation and tracking of solar events with unprecedented accuracy. The small payload combined with high launch requirements makes this an ideal candidate mission for a distributed constellation of small spacecraft and provides an opportunity for technical development in the areas of deep space communication, propulsion, and survivability. The baseline configuration for SURROUND proposes the deployment of spacecraft to Earth-Sun Lagrange points L1, L4, and L5, and two additional spacecraft in Earth leading (\u3c 1AU) and trailing (\u3e 1AU) orbits. However, the development and realisation of such a constellation in deep space presents a number of challenges, particularly when the use of small spacecraft is considered. This paper presents the conceptual design for the proposed SURROUND constellation, principally focusing on the key technical challenges of deploying the spacecraft into their desired locations around the Sun and subsequently communicating the collected data back to Earth. In addition to the key propulsion system and communications architecture trades, additional technological challenges of the mission are also considered, including attitude control, radiation hardening, and electromagnetic compatibility