CAN SHEEP CONTROL LEAFY SPURGE WITHOUT COMPROMISING EFFORTS TO RESTORE NATIVE PLANTS?

This thesis includes two studies on the ecological effects of using sheep to control Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). While sheep can effectively reduce E. esula when used as a long-term management strategy, little is known about their impacts on native plants. The efficacy of sheep grazing for restoration depends both on its potential for controlling undesirable plants and its ability to promote native species that provide key ecosystem goods and services. I investigated the effects of sheep grazing on native plants at both seed and mature-plant stages. To assess impacts on seedling establishment, I measured density of forb and graminoid seedlings in 15 grazed and 15 control (un-grazed) plots; after grazing, plots were treated with one of five experimental seeding treatments that varied by season and density of seed applied. To assess sheep impacts on abundance of mature plants, I measured change in percent stems grazed (pre- to post-grazing) of perennial forbs in 55 plots (including five controls) in an E. esula -invaded area with remnant native plants. Grazed plots had significantly fewer graminoid seedlings than un-grazed ones (28 vs 61/plot, respectively), but forb seedling density did not vary significantly. Mean change in percent stems grazed was higher for non-native than for native forbs (70% vs 23%, respectively), indicating that sheep preferentially grazed non-natives. However, sheep also consumed native forbs when they were abundant. Thus, appropriately timing grazing and careful monitoring of consumption is critical to reduce impacts on native plants. I also conducted a pilot study of the role of sheep as dispersal vectors for plant seeds. I measured seedling germination rates in feces collected from sheep used for E. esula control. Density and species of germinants were recorded from pots with soil enriched with fecal samples from 13 time periods as well as control pots with only soil. A total of 125 seedlings germinated from the feces (80 forbs and 45 graminoids), including five non-native (three forbs, two graminoids) and two native (forb) species. Forb germination rates were highest in late summer samples, while graminoid rates were higher in early-summer and ones. Overall, sheep fecal dispersal favored non-native plants

GLUT3 is induced during epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promotes tumor cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in glucose metabolism and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) constitute two important characteristics of carcinoma progression toward invasive cancer. Despite an extensive characterization of each of them separately, the links between EMT and glucose metabolism of tumor cells remain elusive. Here we show that the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3 contributes to glucose uptake and proliferation of lung tumor cells that have undergone an EMT. RESULTS: Using a panel of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, we demonstrate that GLUT3 is strongly expressed in mesenchymal, but not epithelial cells, a finding corroborated in hepatoma cells. Furthermore, we identify that ZEB1 binds to the GLUT3 gene to activate transcription. Importantly, inhibiting GLUT3 expression reduces glucose import and the proliferation of mesenchymal lung tumor cells, whereas ectopic expression in epithelial cells sustains proliferation in low glucose. Using a large microarray data collection of human NSCLCs, we determine that GLUT3 expression correlates with EMT markers and is prognostic of poor overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our results reveal that GLUT3 is a transcriptional target of ZEB1 and that this glucose transporter plays an important role in lung cancer, when tumor cells loose their epithelial characteristics to become more invasive. Moreover, these findings emphasize the development of GLUT3 inhibitory drugs as a targeted therapy for the treatment of patients with poorly differentiated tumors

Captive reptile mortality rates in the home and implications for the wildlife trade

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rate

Neurochemical Changes in the Mouse Hippocampus Underlying the Antidepressant Effect of Genetic Deletion of P2X7 Receptors.

Recent investigations have revealed that the genetic deletion of P2X7 receptors (P2rx7) results in an antidepressant phenotype in mice. However, the link between the deficiency of P2rx7 and changes in behavior has not yet been explored. In the present study, we studied the effect of genetic deletion of P2rx7 on neurochemical changes in the hippocampus that might underlie the antidepressant phenotype. P2X7 receptor deficient mice (P2rx7-/-) displayed decreased immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) and an attenuated anhedonia response in the sucrose preference test (SPT) following bacterial endotoxin (LPS) challenge. The attenuated anhedonia was reproduced through systemic treatments with P2rx7 antagonists. The activation of P2rx7 resulted in the concentration-dependent release of [3H]glutamate in P2rx7+/+ but not P2rx7-/- mice, and the NR2B subunit mRNA and protein was upregulated in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression was higher in saline but not LPS-treated P2rx7-/- mice; the P2rx7 antagonist Brilliant blue G elevated and the P2rx7 agonist benzoylbenzoyl ATP (BzATP) reduced BDNF level. This effect was dependent on the activation of NMDA and non-NMDA receptors but not on Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1,5). An increased 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation was also observed in the dentate gyrus derived from P2rx7-/- mice. Basal level of 5-HT was increased, whereas the 5HIAA/5-HT ratio was lower in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice, which accompanied the increased uptake of [3H]5-HT and an elevated number of [3H]citalopram binding sites. The LPS-induced elevation of 5-HT level was absent in P2rx7-/- mice. In conclusion there are several potential mechanisms for the antidepressant phenotype of P2rx7-/- mice, such as the absence of P2rx7-mediated glutamate release, elevated basal BDNF production, enhanced neurogenesis and increased 5-HT bioavailability in the hippocampus

PENGARUH SELF ESTEEM, BUDGET EMPHASIS, DAN LOCUS OF CONTROL TERHADAP BUDGETARY SLACK (STUDI EMPIRIS PADA APARATUR ORGANISASI PERANGKAT DAERAH DI KOTA PALANGKA RAYA)

This study aims to determine the effect of self esteem, budget emphasis, and locus of control on budgetary slack. This study uses a quantitative method with a questionnaire as an instrument. The  population in this study were all apparatus of the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) in the City of Palangka Raya. Based on the purposive sampling method, the number of samples obtained was 100 people. The theory used in this research is agency theory. And the type of research in this study is quantitative research with multiple regression testing and validity and reliability testing is performed to determine the quality of the questionnaire used with the help of SPSS 25 software. The results of this study indicate that partially self esteem and budget emphasis variables have positive and significant effects on budgetary slack. While the locus of control has a positive effect on budgetary slack

Effect of 20-years crop rotation and different strategies of fertilization on weed seedbank

Crop rotation is thought to reduce weed density and maintain species diversity, preventing the domination of few competitive weeds. In this work rotations of 1, 2, 4 and 6 years length have been compared in a long-term experiment since 1976. In order to detect the effect of rotation length and fertilization on weed community evolution, a specific study was performed on weed seedbank with soil sampling in 1993 and 2012.Results: show that weed density was not affected by rotation length or fertilization type or rate, and that about 98% of weed species were indifferent to the factors applied. The dominance of Portulaca oleracea and increment of a few grass weeds were consequences of an inadequate management of late emergence and post-harvest weeds. Furthermore, no significant changes in the distribution of seeds longevity groups occurred in the seed-bank from 1993 to 2012. In cropping systems where herbicides are used according to best practices or to In-tegrated Weed Management principles, the effect of rotation on weeds is hard to detect even in long-term experiments. For this, the effect of herbicides must be included in a more general theory of rotational effects

Nefoussa (Djebel) / Adrar n Infusen : Langue et révolution (Témoignage)

L’Encyclopédie berbère se tient habituellement à distance de l’actualité immédiate, l’absence de recul ne permettant pas une analyse sereine des faits et situations et de proposer aux lecteurs un état des connaissances solidement documenté, sinon assuré. Même en matière de productions et d’acteurs culturels contemporains, l’EB adopte une approche prudente et mesurée : seules les « valeurs sûres » – produits et producteurs culturels dont le rôle et l’action sont largement reconnus et incontour..

The new σ-IASI code for all sky radiative transfer calculations in the spectral range 10 to 2760 cm-1: σ-IASI/F2N

The paper describes a recently developed forward model (σ-IASI/F2N) to produce spectral radiances from the far to near-infrared spectrum (100 to 2760 cm-1). The model is a pseudo-monochromatic radiative transfer tool that exploits lookup tables to compute the optical depths of atmospheric gas and clouds. Multiple scattering effects are accurately included in both the Far IR and Thermal IR by using a scaling method for cloud and aerosol radiative properties parameterized in terms of their effective radius, which allows them to be handled adopting the same formalism used in the clear sky. In this paper we apply a novel approach to a classical scaling method in the thermal IR relying on our improved parametrization of backscattering parameter over that used by Chou (Martinazzo et al., 2021), while in the Far IR a corrective term is introduced. The code is written in Fortran and runs on Unix-based (Linux and macOS) or MS Windows operating systems. σ-IASI/F2N can be used to develop custom versions of fast-forward modules for satellite instruments working in the infrared spectral range, such as the Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) and the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) missions. We discuss the σ-IASI/F2N performance in simulating a set of ECMWF analyses at the global scale. For this purpose, we compare observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) flying on MetOp B, and C. Results show that σ-IASI/F2N can easily ingest ECMWF analyses data and accurately reproduce cloud patterns. We also show that the difference between σ-IASI/F2N simulations and corresponding IASI observations is below 1 K in the 8–12 um window region, which is mainly affected by the water vapor continuum absorption and weak lines, while for night-time clear sky, the differences are below 0.3 K. again within the same window region