Composing the Statutes – Norms and Franciscan Identities among Observants in Central and Eastern Europe (c. 1450–1520): A Lexicometrical Approach

Central and eastern Europe constitutes a privileged space to capture the dynamics of rivalry and cooperation affecting the order of the Friars Minor at the end of the Middle Ages. From a comparative perspective, I propose approaching defining texts – statutes and constitutions – of central European observant vicariates with a global analysis to detect their proximities, differences, and accents. Then, focusing on the regulations governing the visitatio, I discuss the process of normalization in a vicariate with a changing institutional position: the Hungarian vicariate from the 1490s to the 1520s. The codification of the visitatio allowed for rivalries and cooperation in the process of writing norms to be highlighted, while relations with the Cismontanes became strained and the peasant war broke out in the spring of 1514

Assessment of the plume theory predictions of crown scorch using transport models

The aim of our work is to study numerically crown scorch as the effectsof a fire line spreading through surface fuel under a tree canopy. Theobjective was to assess the usual assumptions made when one uses the Van Wagner criteria, which are indeed simple predictive models for crown scorch height, to estimate crown scorch. For this purpose the FIRESTAR 2D and FIRETEC wildfire simulators are used. We simulated the fire line by a heat source at ground level and mainly investigated the temperature field. As a first step, we ran computations of thermal plumes with no-wind and with no canopy, for first comparison to plume theory. The influence of crown existence on the temperature field above the heat source, as well as on crown scorch, was then investigated. As a second step, the effect of a wind to the plume, as well as to crown scorch, was shown for the no-canopy and canopy cases

Ramsey CPT Signal Generation with a Miniature Clock Bench and a Dual-Frequency Optical Generator

We demonstrate, for the first time, Ramsey CPT spectroscopy with a miniature electro-optical bench associated to a dual-frequency generator based on combined optical injection locking and optical phase locking techniques Preliminary results show Ramsey CPT resonance with a contrast of 2% at the Cesium D2 line. Frequency difference locking loops lead to a contribution of Dick effect to fractional frequency stability lower than 1.7x10-13 at 1 s, in line with targeted clock stability of 5x10-13 at 1 s

Simulation de la faisabilité d'un plan d'épandage de lisier de porc et conséquences sur les émissions gazeusesau stockage et à l'épandage

Le transfert de lisier hors zone d'excédent structurel et son épandage collectif sont envisagés pour gérer les excédents des exploitations porcines dépassant les seuils réglementaires. La substitution d'engrais chimique permise réduit les impacts sur l'environnement. Cependant, ce transfert nécessite des moyens logistiques en adéquation avec les contraintes de sols, cultures, climat et organisation. Le modèle COMET (COllective Management model of Effluents on a Territory scale) simule la réalisation de plans d'épandage soumis à ces contraintes. Le cas étudié concerne le transfert de lisier de porcs charcutiers de 11 élevages vers 22 exploitations situées à une distance moyenne de 44 km : 57,6 t d'azote sont épandues sur des céréales d'hiver, du maïs, du colza et des prairies. Pour réaliser ce transfert, 4 camions de 25 m3, un stockage intermédiaire de 200 m3 et un épandeur avec enfouisseur (débit de 60 m3 h-1) sont nécessaires. En comparant une fin d'hiver humide (2001) et sèche (2002), les simulations montrent que ces moyens sont insuffisants pour épandre la quantité prévue sur les céréales (83 % réalisé). En conditions de sol médiocres (hydromorphie), le taux de réalisation est inférieur à 50 %. Il en est de même si l'épandeur est peu disponible (3 vs 5 jours par semaine). Le cumul des 2 situations réduit la réalisation au tiers de la prévision, l'épandage sur maïs étant également affecté. Davantage de colza dans l'assolement permet de mieux satisfaire le plan sauf en année humide sur sol hydromorphe. Les émissions gazeuses résultant sont également discutées

A hybrid CMV-H1 construct improves efficiency of PEI-delivered shRNA in the mouse brain

RNA-interference-driven loss of function in specific tissues in vivo should permit analysis of gene function in temporally and spatially defined contexts. However, delivery of efficient short hairpin RNA (shRNA) to target tissues in vivo remains problematic. Here, we demonstrate that efficiency of polyethylenimine (PEI)-delivered shRNA depends on the regulatory sequences used, both in vivo and in vitro. When tested in vivo, silencing of a luciferase target gene by shRNA produced from a hybrid construct composed of the CMV enhancer/promoter placed immediately upstream of an H1 promoter (50%) exceeds that obtained with the H1 promoter alone (20%). In contrast, in NIH 3T3 cells, the H1 promoter was more efficient than the hybrid construct (75 versus 60% inhibition of target gene expression, respectively). To test CMV-H1 shRNA efficiency against an endogenous gene in vivo, we used shRNA against thyroid hormone receptor α1 (TRα1). When vectorized in the mouse brain, the hybrid construct strongly derepressed CyclinD1-luciferase reporter gene expression, CyclinD1 being a negatively regulated thyroid hormone target gene. We conclude that promoter choice affects shRNA efficiency distinctly in different in vitro and in vivo situations and that a hybrid CMV-H1 construct is optimal for shRNA delivery in the mouse brain

Powder processing methodology for fabrication of Copper/Graphite composite materials with enhanced thermal properties

International audienceThis study focuses on the powder processing methodology (PPM) for the fabrication of metal matrix composite using Graphite flakes (Grf) reinforced Copper (Cu). The manufacturing route involved (1) a reductive treatment of Grf powder to purify and increase its quality, (2) the mixing of the Cu and the Grf (0–40 vol%) powders with a fast and efficient Resonant Acoustic (RA) mixer, and finally (3) the cold and hot-pressing of composite powders. Comparison of PPM is made with literature and a usual method used in our laboratory. The quality of Grf after different steps was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and XRD. Microstructure of the composite materials were analyzed by SEM. It was shown that this new PPM demonstrated better composite structural and thermal properties even at low volume fraction of Grf with a maximum of 630 W·m−1·K−1 obtained with 40 vol% of Grf at 70 °C

Synthesis of branched-phosphodiester and mannosecentered fucosylated glycoclusters and their binding studies with Burkholderia ambifaria lectin (BambL)

Universite Montpellier 2, Region Rhoˆne-Alpes Cluster Chimie. A.A.International audienceFive fucosylated glycoclusters exhibiting 4, 6 or 8 residues were synthesised with two different spatial environments based on mannose-centered and branched-phosphodiester scaffolds. Their synthesis was performed in solution using phosphoramidite chemistry to generate phosphodiester linkages, combined with Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The multivalent ligands were evaluated for their ability to bind to Burkholderia ambifaria Lectin (BambL). Binding evaluation was performed through inhibition of hemagglutination (HIA), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). All fucosylated glycoclusters exhibited a higher affinity to BambL than methyl α-L-fucoside. A dissociation constant of 43 nM was observed for the fucocluster exhibiting four residues with the branched-phosphodiester spatial environment corresponding to a 22-fold increase in comparison with methyl α-L-fucoside. These multivalent fucoclusters represent the first example of ligands of high affinity to BambL

U–Th and ¹⁰Be constraints on sediment recycling in proglacial settings, Lago Buenos Aires, Patagonia

International audienceThe estimation of sediment transfer times remains a challenge to our understanding of sediment budgets and the relationships between erosion and climate. Uranium (U) and thorium (Th) isotope disequilibria offer a means of more robustly constraining sediment transfer times. Here, we present new uranium and tho-rium disequilibrium data for a series of nested moraines around Lago Buenos Aires in Argentine Patagonia. The glacial chronology for the area is constrained using in situ cosmogenic 10 Be analysis of glacial outwash. Sediment transfer times within the periglacial domain were estimated by comparing the deposition ages of moraines to the theoretical age of sediment production, i.e., the comminution age inferred from U disequilibrium data and recoil loss factor estimates. Our data show first that the classical comminution age approach must include weathering processes accounted for by measuring Th disequilibrium. Second, our combined data suggest that the pre-deposition history of the moraine sediments is not negligible, as evidenced by the large disequilibrium of the youngest moraines despite the equilibrium of the corresponding glacial flour. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that weathering was more intense before the deposition of the moraines and that the transfer time of the fine sediments to the moraines was on the order of 100-200 kyr. Long transfer times could result from a combination of long sediment residence times in the proglacial lake (recurrence time of a glacial cycle) and the remobilization of sediments from moraines deposited during previous glacial cycles. 10 Be data suggest that some glacial cycles are absent from the preserved moraine record (seemingly every second cycle), supporting a model of reworking moraines and/or fluctuations in the extent of glacial advances. The chronological pattern is consistent with the U-Th disequilibrium data and the 100-200 kyr transfer time. This long transfer time raises the question of the proportion of freshly eroded sediments that escape (or not) the proglacial environments during glacial periods

Less effective selection leads to larger genomes

International audienceThe evolutionary origin of the striking genome size variations found in eukaryotes remains enigmatic. The effective size of populations, by controlling selection efficacy, is expected to be a key parameter underlying genome size evolution. However, this hypothesis has proved difficult to investigate using empirical datasets. Here, we tested this hypothesis using twenty-two de novo transcriptomes and low-coverage genomes of asellid isopods, which represent eleven independent habitat shifts from surface water to resource-poor groundwater. We show that these habitat shifts are associated with higher transcriptome-wide dN/dS. After ruling out the role of positive selection and pseudogenization, we show that these transcriptome-wide dN/dS increases are the consequence of a reduction in selection efficacy imposed by the smaller effective population size of subterranean species. This reduction is paralleled by an important increase in genome size (25% increase on average), an increase also confirmed in subterranean decapods and mollusks. We also control for an adaptive impact of genome size on life history traits but find no correlation between body size, or growth rate, and genome size. We show instead that the independent increases in genome size measured in subterranean isopods are the direct consequence of increasing invasion rates by repeated elements, which are less efficiently purged out by purifying selection. Contrary to selection efficacy, polymorphism is not correlated to genome size. We propose that recent demographic fluctuations and the difficulty to observe polymorphism variations in polymorphism-poor species can obfuscate the link between effective population size and genome size when polymorphism data is used alone