Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Many different proteins self-aggregate into insoluble fibrils growing apically by reversible addition of elementary building blocks. But beyond this common principle, the modalities of fibril formation are very disparate, with various intermediate forms which can be reshuffled by minor modifications of physico-chemical conditions or amino-acid sequences. To bypass this complexity, the multifaceted phenomenon of fibril formation is reduced here to its most elementary principles defined for a linear prototype of fibril. Selected generic features, including nucleation, elongation, and conformational recruitment, are modeled using minimalist hypotheses and tools, by separating equilibrium from kinetic aspects and in vitro from in vivo conditions. These reductionist approaches allow to bring out known and new rudiments, including the kinetic and equilibrium effects of nucleation, the dual influence of elongation on nucleation, the kinetic limitations on nucleation and fibril numbers, and the accumulation of complexes in vivo by rescue from degradation. Overlooked aspects of these processes are also pointed: the exponential distribution of fibril lengths can be recovered using various models because it is attributable to randomness only. It is also suggested that the same term "critical concentration" is used for different things, involved in either nucleation or elongation
Journal of Chemical Physics

hal-01263103
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01263103
DOI : 10.1063/1.4940149
PUBMED : 26801045

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The genus Nasutitermes is among the most abundant wood-feeding Termitidae and an extremely diverse and heterogeneous group in terms of its biogeography and morphology. Despite the major role of several Nasutitermes species as structural pests, the phylogenetic status of this genus is still unclear, along with a confused taxonomy and species identification remaining difficult. The first aim of this review was thus to gather and discuss studies concerning the taxonomic status of the genus Nasutitermes in order to clarify this crucial point. Then, our goal was to gain new insights into the management of N. corniger, considered to be the most economically detrimental pest of this genus in South America and a Nasutitermes model species, while filtering available information concerning its biology through the prism of termite control, as well as critically examine the existing methods. We indeed strongly believe that increasing our knowledge of this species’ biological strategies is the key to progress in the challenging question of their sustainable management.
ISSN: 1612-4758

hal-01467356
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01467356
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01467356/document
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01467356/file/Boulogne_2017_Ecologysur termites.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s10340-016-0796-x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Large sand intrusions often exhibit conical morphologies analogous to magmatic intrusions such as saucer-shaped or cup-shaped sills. Whereas some physical processes may be similar, we show with scaled experiments that the formation of conical sand intrusions may be favoured by the pore-pressure gradients prevailing in the host rock before sand injection. Our experiments involve injecting air into a permeable and cohesive analogue material to produce hydraulic fractures while controlling the pore pressure field. We control the state of overpressure in the overburden by applying homogeneous basal pore pressure, and then adding a second local pore pressure field by injecting air via a central injector to initiate hydraulic fractures near the injection point. In experiments involving small vertical effective stresses (small overburden, or high pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure (lambda(fract)) is supralithostatic and two dipping fractures are initiated at the injection point forming a conical structure. From theoretical considerations, we predict that high values of lambda(fract), are due to strong cohesion or high pore fluid overpressure distributed in the overburden. Such conditions are favoured by the pore pressure/stress coupling induced by both pore pressure fields. The dips of cones can be accounted for elastic-stress rotation occurring around the source. Contrary to magmatic chamber models, the aqueous fluid overpressure developed in a parent sandbody (and prevailing before the formation of injectites) may diffuse into the surrounding overburden, thus favouring stress rotation and the formation of inclined sheets far from the parent source. For experiments involving higher vertical effective stresses (thick overburden or low pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure is lower than the lithostatic stress, and a single fracture is opened in mode I which then grows vertically. At a critical depth, the fracture separates into two dilatant branches forming a flat cone. We make use of a P.I.V. (Particle Imaging Velocimetiy) technique to analyse plastic deformation, showing that these inclined fractures are opened in mixed modes. Close to the surface, they change into steep shear bands where fluids can infiltrate. The final morphology of the fracture network is very similar to the common tripartite architecture of various injection complexes, indicating that different mechanisms may be involved in the formation of dykes. Feeder dykes under the sill zones may open as tensile fractures, while overlying dykes may be guided by the deformation induced by the growth of sills. These deformation conditions may also favour the formation of fluid escape structures and pockmarks. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00745640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745640
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.10.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Résumé : International audience
We show that the slope introduced by DeGiorgi-Marino-Tosques is stable with respect to the variational convergence introduced by Wijsman. Applications to the stability of subdifferentials at critical points and to subdifferential sum rules are derived.
ISSN: 0018-9219
Las Vegas, United States

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-00699033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00699033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00699033/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00699033/file/S_IEEE02.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : In the context of an ongoing monitoring study on the impacts of gold-mining activities on critical ecosystem processes, we explored the use of soil Denitrifying Enzyme Activity (DEA) and Substrate Induced Respiration (SIR) as ecosystem indicators in tropical rainforests of French Guiana. We also propose DEA/SIR ratio as ecosystem attribute able to describe the state of an ecosystem and to reflect changes in ecological processes. With this purpose, we measured SIR, DEA and DEA/SIR ratio in five gold-mining areas and five surrounding natural reference rainforests. We also measured indicators in two conditions of spontaneous regeneration of vegetation (stratified or not) and two conditions of soil rehabilitation (prior preparation of soils or not). We showed a high variability of DEA, SIR and DEA/SIR ratio in the natural reference forests. This pointed out the necessity to identify relevant reference systems - i.e. proving a close match in all relevant ecological dimensions - to compare with closed perturbed systems in order to assess the levels of alterations after disturbances. Results showed a high impact of gold mine on microbial processes with a strong decrease of DEA (10-fold lower), SIR (2-fold lower) and DEA/SIR ratio (8-fold lower) in perturbed areas in comparison with natural reference forests. The type of spontaneous vegetation (stratified or not) influenced the values of indicators as well as prior rehabilitation of soils, demonstrating the capacity of DEA. SIR and DEA/SIR ratio to respond in proportion to the perturbation (robustness) and to the different levels of restoration (sensitivity). The systematic decrease of the ratio DEA/SIR observed in the studied perturbed situations demonstrates clearly that the structure of microbial communities has been also modified. The ratio DEA/SIR proved to be robust and sensitive, and able to describe in fairly fine way changes of soil microbial communities in terms of structure and function in gold mine areas and during processes of restoration. We propose to use DEA, SIR and DEA/SIR ratio as bioindicators of both structural and functional aspects of C and N cycling in soils. Together with others bioindicators based on key supporting functions in soils, these indicators should accurately evaluate the ecological potential of natural ecosystems and the levels of degradation in case of land-use changes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 1470-160X

hal-01190730
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190730
DOI : 10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.01.021
PRODINRA : 213639

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Hepatocellular carcinoma treatment by arterial infusion of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum-II (cisplatin) exhibits certain therapeutic efficacy. However, optimizations are required and the mechanisms underlying cisplatin proapoptotic effect remain unclear. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway plays a key role in cell response to cisplatin and the functional specificity of the isoform MAPK/ERK kinase 1 and 2 (MEK1/2) and ERK1/2 could influence this response. The individual contribution of each kinase on cisplatin-induced death was thus analyzed after a transient or stable specific inhibition by RNA interference in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cells Huh-7 or in knockout mice. We demonstrated here that ERK1 played a predominant role over ERK2 in cisplatin-induced death, whereas MEK1 and MEK2 acted in a redundant manner. Indeed, at clinically relevant concentrations of cisplatin, ERK1 silencing alone was sufficient to protect cells from cisplatin-induced death both in vitro, in Huh-7 cells and ERK1(-/-) hepatocytes, and in vivo, in ERK1-deficient mice. Moreover, we showed that ERK1 activity correlated with the induction level of the proapoptotic BH3-only protein Noxa, a critical mediator of cisplatin toxicity. On the contrary, ERK2 inhibition upregulated ERK1 activity, favored Noxa induction and sensitized hepatocarcinoma cells to cisplatin. Our results point to a crucial role of ERK1 in cisplatin-induced proapoptotic signal and lead us to propose that ERK2-specific targeting could improve the efficacy of cisplatin therapy by increasing ERK1 prodeath functions.
ISSN: 0143-3334

inserm-00814096
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00814096
DOI : 10.1093/carcin/bgs317
PUBMED : 23042098

Éditeur(s) : Université des Antilles Études caribéennes
Résumé : Una introducción a la seguridad turística requiere que nos ocupemos de una revisión bibliográfica. Ciertamente, los planes y los manuales parecen no traducirse en protocolos en momentos de emergencia. Ello sucede pues siempre un estado de emergencia se escapa de toda planificación pero también suele suceder por la falta de definiciones claras respecto a que es la seguridad. En este ensayo, discutiremos los paradigmas y tesis centrales de tres exponentes que han dedicado su vida a dicha tarea. Sevil Somnez, Abraham Pizam y Peter Tarlow han explorado las raíces del terrorismo y la seguridad por más de 20 años, y por eso, a pesar de la crítica, merecen su reconocimiento. La mejor forma de homenajearlos es discutir críticamente sus postulados. Con sus puntos de divergencia, los especialistas se encuentran preocupados por la dependencia occidental del terrorismo con los medios masivos de comunicación, aspecto a discutir en el presente trabajo de revisión.
Une introduction à la sécurité touristique nécessite un examen bibliographique. Certainement, les plans et les manuels semblent ne pas être traduits dans des protocoles de moments de secours. Il s’agit donc toujours d’état d'urgence confronté à l’évènement, sans planification et sans définitions claires de ce qu’est la sécurité. Dans cet essai, nous discuterons les paradigmes et les thèses centrales de trois auteurs qui ont consacré leur vie à la tâche mentionnée ci-dessus. Sevil Somnez, Abraham Pizam et Peter Tarlow ont exploré les racines du terrorisme et la sécurité pendant plus de 20 ans et pour cela, en dépit de la critique, ils méritent notre reconnaissance. La meilleure façon de leur rendre hommage est de discuter de manière critique de leurs postulats. Au-delà de leurs divergences, les spécialistes s’inquiètent de la dépendance occidentale au terrorisme sous le poids des mass-médias, aspect qu’il convient de discuter dans le présent travail de révision.
The specialized literature review is of paramount importance at time of exploring the current problems of tourism security. Certainly, plans and policies provided by guide-books are not being followed in disaster-contests simply chaos and disorder are the nature of emergencies. Beyond any protocol, crises and security are not properly defined by scholars. In this essay-review, we will not pay attention to define what tourism security means, lest by the lens of three senior scholars, Sevil Somnez, Abraham Pizam and Peter Tarlow, who have accomplished this task. They have explored not only the roots of terrorism but security over 20 years. Despite the criticism, they deserve recognition for this legacy. Based on substantial point of divergence, these specialists are concerned by the financial dependency of societies respecting to mass-media and its coverage of terrorist attacks.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
urn:doi:10.4000/etudescaribeennes.7543
http://journals.openedition.org/etudescaribeennes/7543

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : One critical challenge for plants is to maintain an adequate nutrient supply under fluctuating environmental conditions. This is particularly true for epiphytic species that have limited or no access to the pedosphere and often live in harsh climates. Bromeliads have evolved key innovations such as epiphytism, water-absorbing leaf trichomes, tank habit and Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis that enable them to survive under various environmental conditions. Bromeliads encompass diverse ecological types that live on different substrates (they can be terrestrial, epilithic or epiphytic) and vary in their ability to retain water (they can be tank-forming or tankless) and photosynthetic pathway (i.e. C3 or CAM). In this review, we outline the nutritional modes and specializations that enable bromeliads to thrive in a wide range of nutrient-poor (mostly nitrogen-depleted) environments.Important FindingsBromeliads have evolved a great diversity of morphologies and functional adaptations leading to the existence of numerous nutritional modes. Focusing on species that have absorptive foliar trichomes, we review evidence that bromeliads have evolved multi-faceted nutritional strategies to respond to fluctuations in the supply of natural nitrogen (N). These plants have developed mutualistic associations with many different and functionally diverse terrestrial and aquatic microorganisms and metazoans that contribute substantially to their mineral nutrition and, thus, their fitness and survival. Bacterial and fungal microbiota-assisted N provisioning, protocarnivory, digestive mutualisms and myrmecotrophic pathways are the main strategies used by bromeliads to acquire nitrogen. The combination of different nutritional pathways in bromeliads represents an important adaptation enabling them to exploit nutrient-poor habitats. Nonetheless, as has been shown for several other vascular plants, multiple partners are involved in nutrient acquisition indicating that there have been convergent adaptations to nutrient scarcity. Finally, we point out some gaps in the current knowledge of bromeliad nutrition that offer fascinating research opportunities.
ISSN: 1752-9921

hal-01532637
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532637
DOI : 10.1093/jpe/rtv052
PRODINRA : 384521