Why pots eat their mother? A general overview on the Near Eastern late Neolithic anthropomorphic pottery

En este artículo se presentan los recipientes cerámicos antropomórficos del Pròximo Oriente, si bien escassos y de Europoa, donde los ejemplos son más numerosos y abundantes. Se propone una tipología formal de seis categories dónde se discuten algunas de las cuestiones relativas como las predominantes formas femeninas, su decoración,usos y significado.Anthropomorphic vessels from the Near East and the European Late Neolithic are presented in this paper. In the first case, the vases are scarce. They are more numerous in the second area. A formal typology structured in six categories is proposed. We discuss also issues relating to the predominantly female form of the containers, their decoration, their uses and their meaning

Changes in tolerance to herbicide toxicity throughout development stages of phototrophic biofilms

Ecotoxicological experiments have been performed in laboratory-scale microcosms to investigate thesensitivity of phototrophic biofilm communities to the alachlor herbicide, in relation to the stages ofphototrophic biofilm maturation (age of the phototrophic biofilms) and physical structure (intact biofilmversus recolonization). The phototrophic biofilms were initially cultivated on artificial supports in aprototype rotating annular bioreactor (RAB) with Taylor–Couette type flow under constant operatingconditions. Biofilms were collected after 1.6 and 4.4 weeks of culture providing biofilms with differentmaturation levels, and then exposed to nominal initial alachlor concentration of 10 ug L−1in either intactor recolonized biofilms for 15 days in microcosms (mean time-weighted average concentration – TWACof 5.52 ± 0.74 ug L−1).At the end of the exposure period, alachlor effects were monitored by a combination of biomass descrip-tors (ash-free dry mass – AFDM, chlorophyll a), structural molecular fingerprinting (T-RFLP), carbonutilization spectra (Biolog) and diatom species composition. We found significant effects that in terms ofAFDM, alachlor inhibited growth of the intact phototrophic biofilms. No effect of alachlor was observedon diatom composition or functional and structural properties of the bacterial community regardless ofwhether they were intact or recolonized. The intact three-dimensional structure of the biofilm did notappear to confer protection from the effects of alachlor. Bacterial community structure and biomass levelof 4.4 weeks – intact phototrophic biofilms were significantly influenced by the biofilm maturation pro-cesses rather than alachlor exposure. The diatom communities which were largely composed of mobileand colonizer life-form populations were not affected by alachlor.This study showed that the effect of alachlor (at initial concentration of 10 ug L−1or mean TWAC of5.52 ± 0.74 ug L−1) is mainly limited to biomass reduction without apparent changes in the ecologicalsuccession trajectories of bacterial and diatom communities and suggested that carbon utilization spec-tra of the biofilm are not damaged resulting. These results confirmed the importance of consideringthe influence of maturation processes or community age when investigating herbicide effects. This isparticularly important with regard to the use of phototrophic biofilms as bio-indicators

A photosynthetic rotating annular bioreactor (Taylor–Couette type flow) for phototrophic biofilm cultures

In their natural environment, the structure and functioning of microbial communities from river phototrophic biofilms are driven by biotic and abiotic factors. An understanding of the mechanisms that mediate the community structure, its dynamics and the biological succession processes during phototrophic biofilm development can be gained using laboratory-scale systems operating with controlled parameters. For this purpose, we present the design and description of a new prototype of a rotating annular bioreactor (RAB) (TayloreCouette type flow, liquid working volume of 5.04 L) specifically adapted for the cultivation and investigation of phototrophic biofilms. The innovation lies in the presence of a modular source of light inside of the system, with the biofilm colonization and development taking place on the stationary outer cylinder (onto 32 removable polyethylene plates). The biofilm cultures were investigated under controlled turbulent flowing conditions and nutrients were provided using a synthetic medium (tap water supplemented with nitrate, phosphate and silica) to favour the biofilm growth. The hydrodynamic features of the water flow were characterized using a tracer method, showing behaviour corresponding to a completely mixed reactor. Shear stress forces on the surface of plates were also quantified by computer simulations and correlated with the rotational speed of the inner cylinder. Two phototrophic biofilm development experiments were performed for periods of 6.7 and 7 weeks with different inoculation procedures and illumination intensities. For both experiments, biofilm biomasses exhibited linear growth kinetics and produced 4.2 and 2.4 mg cm-2 of ash-free dry matter. Algal and bacterial community structures were assessed by microscopy and T-RFLP, respectively, and the two experiments were different but revealed similar temporal dynamics. Our study confirmed the performance and multipurpose nature of such an innovative photosynthetic bioreactor for phototrophic biofilm investigations

A new method for studying Pottery? : Exploring the scanner technology

Los análisis arqueométricos en cerámica suelen ser destructivos y costosos. En este artículo se propone un método alternativo basado en el escáner y el uso de imágenes 2D y 3D. Los resultados exploratorios obtenidos con fragmentos del Neolítico del Próximo Oriente son alentadores. Esta técnica permitirá comparar y superar los métodos utilizados por la arqueología tradicional.Archaeometric researches on ceramics are often destructive and costly. We explore here an alternative method based on scanner technology with 2 and 3D imaging. Exploratory results, obtained with Late Neolithic sherds from the Near East, are encouraging. This technique will allow and overcome the methods used by traditional archaeology

Le CID - Corpus of Interactional Data -: protocoles, conventions, annotations

L'analyse du langage et de la parole repose sur l'étude de domaines variés allant de la phonétique à la pragmatique, tout en prenant en compte les modalités de leur expression. Pour la linguistique moderne, si chaque domaine dispose d'un certain niveau d'autonomie, il ne peut être expliqué que dans son interaction avec les autres : l'information linguistique est le produit de la convergence de multiples sources d'information, information aussi contrainte par l'environnement où le message a été produit. L'analyse linguistique ne peut donc se faire qu'en tenant compte des différentes modalités d'expression de l'information. Mais à ce jour, aucune théorie ne traite de manière intégrée des informations issues des différents niveaux de la chaîne linguistique, qui est par essence un contenu perceptuel multimodal. Bien que de nombreux projets d'annotation se soient développés ces dernières années, des problèmes subsistent: les ressources multimodales annotées n'existent quasiment pas pour le français ; les standards d'annotation ne répondent pas complètement aux besoins et les outils ne sont pas adaptés. Or, le développement de ce type de ressources est utile à plusieurs titres,entre autres la description des informations de chacun des domaines et de leurs interactions. Nous présentons le Corpus of Interactional Data (CID), corpus audio et vidéo comptant actuellement 8h de dilogue en français, les annotations à l'étude (phonétique, prosodique, morphosyntaxique, mimo-gestuelle) et leur état de réalisation

The Science and Practice of Carcinogen Identification and Evaluation

Several national and international health agencies have established programs with the aim of identifying agents and exposures that cause cancer in humans. Carcinogen identification is an activity grounded in the scientific evaluation of the results of human epidemiologic studies, long-term bioassays in experimental animals, and other data relevant to an evaluation of carcinogenicity and its mechanisms. In this commentary, after a brief discussion of the science basis common to the evaluation of carcinogens across different programs, we discuss in more detail the principles and procedures currently used by the IARC Monographs program

Optimization of alkaline protease production by Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from saltpan environment

Proteolytic activity of a Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from Ezzemoul saltpans (Algeria) was studied on agar milk at three concentrations. The phenotypic and phylogenetic studies of this strain show that it represents probably new specie. The fermentation is carried out on two different media, prepared at three pH values. The results showed the presence of an alkaline protease with optimal pH and temperature of 8 and 40°C, respectively. The enzyme is stable up to 90°C, having a residual activity of 79% after 90 min. The enzyme production media are optimized according to statistical methods while using two plans of experiences. The first corresponds to the matrixes of Plackett and Burman in N=16 experiences and N-1 factors, twelve are real and three errors. The second is the central composite design of Box and Wilson. The analysis of the results allowed the selection of two factors having a significant effect on the production of the enzyme (fructose and malt extract), then defining theirs optima (7 g/l of fructose and 12 g/l of malt extract).Keywords: Protease, streptomyces, identification, fermentation, optimizatio

L'Estuaire, vol. 25 (1)

Éditorial -- Sainte-Luce: refuge d'un incorruptible -- Le "Vocabulaire micmac" de Joseph Hamel. L'histoire d'une cueillette de données linguistiques. Partie 2: qui est Joseph Hamel? -- La famille Desrosiers dans la région de Rimouski au XVIIIe siècle. Partie 1: implantation dans la seigneurie de Rimouski -- Les trésors du grenier -- L'année des Français -- Un grand marin gaspésien. Le capitaine Paul M. Fournier -- Matane dans les relations de voyage de Champlain: un 375e anniversaire -- La naissance d'une petite paroisse au coeur de La Mitis: le cas de Sainte-Flavie -- Nouvelles brèves -- Des livres à lire

Role of neo-adjuvant hormonal therapy in the treatment of breast cancer: a review of clinical trials

The clinical benefits of endocrine therapy for patients with hormonosensitive breast cancer are well established. For many years, 5 years of tamoxifen was the gold standard of adjuvant treatment. The recent development of new endocrine agents provides physicians with a more effective therapeutic approach. Nevertheless, the success of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy is much more recent and less reported in the literature. This article reviews the studies published about neoadjuvant endocrine treatment (tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors). According to the literature, neoadjuvant endocrine therapy seems to be effective. In contrast to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant endocrine therapy is well tolerated, with very few patients having to discontinue the treatment because of side effects. It does not constitute a standard treatment but could have potential for elderly women with operable, hormonosensitive, well differentiated and slowly progressing (SBR I) tumor or for patients with lobular MSBR 1 carcinoma (low chemosensitivity). The newer generation of aromatase inhibitors (letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane) appears to be more active (in terms of overall response rates and conservative surgery rate) than tamoxifen. Patients with an estrogen receptor Allred score of 6 and over are more likely to respond and gain a clinical benefit. The optimal duration of neoadjuvant therapy has not yet been investigated in detail. These preliminary results should be confirmed by further studies