Calcium and neuronal development and growth

Conservation Genetics Resources, 2014

The mitogenome is an inescapable tool in conservation biology studies. Yet, its routine sequencing may remain tricky despite next-generation sequencing technologies. An enrichment step is often necessary but not always straightforward depending on the initial DNA quality or quantity. Furthermore, the availability of close mitochondrial DNA reference sequences for non-model species limits the primer design for long-range PCR or bait synthesis. Here we propose an easy and cost-effective protocol without enrichment step for building and sequencing multiplexed Illumina libraries from small quantities of either high-quality or degraded genomic DNA. We validated the approach through the successful assembly of the complete mitogenome of 60 bats and 7 tunicates. Our protocol allows the sequencing and assembly of mitochondrial genomes from non-model species with sufficient coverage for applications in conservation genetics.

Proceedings of the …, 2004

Chiron 45 (2015) 239-266, 2015

In Boiotia only Tanagra has so far produced a series of epitaphs erected by associations for their deceased members. Thanks to a new autopsy of the stones an association without any parallel in the Greek world has come to light, an association of mageiroi. The dossier of the enigmatic Aristiastai is also re-assessed and a new interpretation is offered: they could be a group of soldiers or former soldiers honouring Aristeia, the personification of an award of merit bestowed upon them. Finally, this series of epitaphs is placed in a regional context involving the island of Euboia. Indeed, the closest parallels for such epigraphic practice by associations in Central Greece originate from Chalcis and Eretria, illustrating once more the strong links between Tanagra and its Euboian neighbours, as well as the federative role played by the Euboian gulf.

Hypatia, 2016

Feminist standpoint theory (FST) has a troubled history that has limited its use and development as a core feminist epistemological project. This article revisits debates from its past, and re-examines an apparent central problem: that of the realism identifiable in FST. Looking closely at the criticism leveled against one particular standpoint theorist—Nancy Hartsock—I show the criticism not only to be unfounded, as has previously been argued, but also unnecessary. I demonstrate that the accusations of supposedly realist contradictions in Hartsock’s work are easily resolvable by engagement with critical realism (CR). I argue that CR not only accommodates Hartsock’s conception of realism, and so dissolves any contention, but that CR complements and shores up FST’s central claim: that situated knowledge carries with it an epistemic privilege. Another contemporary conception of realism is being developed—New Materialism (NM)—that, it could be argued, would also be a suitable ontology with which to develop FST. I show how NM could present problems for FST as a fundamentally political project, and conclude that CR offers a more fruitful future collaboration for FST.

Veterinary Research, 2013

EIA (Equine Infectious Anemia) is a blood-borne disease primarily transmitted by haematophagous insects or needle punctures. Other routes of transmission have been poorly explored. We evaluated the potential of EIAV (Equine Infectious Anemia Virus) to induce pulmonary lesions in naturally infected equids. Lungs from 77 EIAV seropositive horses have been collected in Romania and France. Three types of lesions have been scored on paraffin-embedded lungs: lymphocyte infiltration, bronchiolar inflammation, and thickness of the alveolar septa. Expression of the p26 EIAV capsid (CA) protein has been evaluated by immunostaining. Compared to EIAV-negative horses, 52% of the EIAV-positive horses displayed a mild inflammation around the bronchioles, 22% had a moderate inflammation with inflammatory cells inside the wall and epithelial bronchiolar hyperplasia and 6.5% had a moderate to severe inflammation, with destruction of the bronchiolar epithelium and accumulation of smooth muscle cells within the pulmonary parenchyma. Changes in the thickness of the alveolar septa were also present. Expression of EIAV capsid has been evidenced in macrophages, endothelial as well as in alveolar and bronchiolar epithelial cells, as determined by their morphology and localization. To summarize, we found lesions of interstitial lung disease similar to that observed during other lentiviral infections such as FIV in cats, SRLV in sheep and goats or HIV in children. The presence of EIAV capsid in lung epithelial cells suggests that EIAV might be responsible for the broncho-interstitial damages observed.

Journal of Biological …, 2004

Conversion of the cellular α-helical prion protein (PrP C ) into a disease-associated isoform (PrP Sc ) is central to the pathogenesis of prion diseases. Molecules targeting either normal or disease-associated isoforms may be of therapeutic interest, and the antibodies binding ...

Introduction de l'ouvrage L'Objet de l'exposition : l'architecture exposée, Stéphane Doré, Frédéric Herbin (éd.), Bourges, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Art de Bourges, 2015, p. 6-20.

2017

Reporting on research undertaken under the auspices of the C.O.N.T.A.C.T. project, the present paper investigates the roots of xenophobic and homophobic attitudes in Malta and the extent to which these can be pinpointed in the lexical choices made in discriminatory comments posted online in reaction to local news stories pertaining to migrants and members of the LGBTIQ community. Adopting Fairclough's three-dimensional framework (1995), we start off by presenting the values that underlie local discriminatory attitudes as social practice, as these were identified by the participants of four focus group interviews that were conducted at the University of Malta. In this respect, while xenophobia seems to be a far more pressing issue in Malta, homophobia, which is still also present, is taken to be predominantly triggered by deep-rooted religious beliefs and allegiance to heteronormative values. Then, when it comes to xenophobia, the main relevant trigger seems to be the perceived threat that the different collective background of a particular subset of migrants in Malta poses to the local culture. In an attempt to show that these values can also be discerned by examining even the most basic textual characteristics of a dataset comprising xenophobic and homophobic talk in the local context, we turn to identify them by looking at quantitative measures pertaining to lexical choice and metaphorical extension in the relevant parts of our corpus. In this way, we provide evidence for the fundamental – for Critical Discourse Analysis – claim that the textual analysis of a relevant dataset can indeed reveal the axiological framework that underlies the negative stance that the general population may have in relation to particular minorities, showcasing the relevance of discourse analytic methods for the broader understanding of discrimination and hate speech.

A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.