Search results for "Defence"
showing 10 items of 472 documents
Aberrant gene expression profiles in Mediterranean sea urchin reproductive tissues after metal exposures
2019
Abstract Marine organisms are simultaneously exposed to numerous pollutants, among which metals probably represent the most abundant in marine environments. In order to evaluate the effects of metal exposure at molecular level in reproductive tissues, we profiled the sea urchin transcriptional response after non-lethal exposures using pathway-focused mRNA expression analyses. Herein, we show that exposures to relatively high concentrations of both essential and toxic metals hugely affected the gonadic expression of several genes involved in stress-response, detoxification, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, without significant changes in gonadosomatic indices. Even though …
Seismic Behavior of Lisbon Mixed Masonry-RC Buildings With Historical Value: A Contribution for the Practical Assessment
2018
The fact that linear analysis is still the most used procedure in the design engineering offices, studies which addresses issues associated to the estimation of the structural behavior factor values are relevant. In this study, the behavior factor of a particular type of mixed masonry-reinforced concrete buildings in Lisbon is estimated. The typology chosen in this study represents 30% of building stock in Lisbon; these buildings were built between 1930 and 1960 and thus were designed without considering the seismic-design requirements proposed in current codes. The evaluation of the behavior factors was based on the use of nonlinear static analyses, performed in the form of the sensitivity…
Transformation of the European security system in the context of current geopolitical challenges
2017
W artykule rozważa się problem modernizacji europejskiego systemu bezpieczeństwa w kontekście współczesnych wyzwań geopolitycznych, zwłaszcza agresywnej polityki Federacji Rosyjskiej. Przeprowadzono analizę kształtowania systemu europejskiego bezpieczeństwa, biorąc pod uwagę wielowymiarowość i zdolność systemu, wyznaczono czynniki zagrożenia i wyzwania, które decydują obecnie o jego funkcjonowaniu. Autorzy zwracają uwagę na nieefektywność europejskiego systemu bezpieczeństwa, jego problemy i możliwe sposoby jego reformowania. Przeanalizowane główne instytucje europejskiego systemu bezpieczeństwa: NATO (szczególny wkład tej struktury w gwarantowanie pokoju i bezpieczeństwa na kontynencie eur…
The powers of masculinization in humanitarian storytelling: the case of the surgeon María Gómez Álvarez in the Varsovia Hospital (Toulouse, 1944–1950)
2020
This contribution is focused on analysing the power of 'masculinization' through which traditional humanitarian storytelling has been shaped. Strongly marked by a patriarchal vision, humanitarian accounts have traditionally hidden the work of women while stressing that performed by men, who appeared represented as true protagonists and, even, as heroes. In particular, this article analyses the professional career of a Spanish female surgeon named Maria Gomez (1914-1975) between 1944 and 1950, when she worked in a small charitable hospital based in Toulouse (France) for improving the health-care conditions of Spanish Republican refugees. Known as Hospital Varsovia or as Walter B. Cannon Memo…
Adding the Mureş River Basin (Transylvania, Romania) to the List of Hotspots with High Contamination with Pharmaceuticals
2020
Background: The Mureș River Basin is a long-term heavily polluted watershed, in a situation of climate changes with increasing water flow and related decreasing dilution capacity. Here, a mixture of emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals were targeted to reveal potential risks regarding the natural lotic ecosystems. Due to the continuous discharge into the environment, pharmaceuticals are gaining persistent organic pollutant characteristics and are considered emerging pollutants. Based on the hazard quotient, this research highlights the dangerous concentrations of carbamazepine, ibuprofen, furosemide, and enalapril in river water. Results: High levels of four pharmaceutical compounds …
Party Positions on Differentiated European Integration in the Nordic Countries: Growing Together, Growing Apart?
2020
The Nordic countries constitute an interesting laboratory for the study of differentiated European Integration. Even though Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden share some historical, cultural, socio-economic and political characteristics, all those countries have ultimately opted for a different kind of relationship with the EU. Whereas Finland, a member of the Eurozone since its inception in 1999, has been considered to be part of the Union’s ‘inner core’ for quite some time, Iceland and Norway, in contrast, have opted to remain outside the EU albeit closely associated via the European Economic Area Agreement. The variation of relationships has also been reflected in Nordic parti…
Biosorption of nickel (II) and zinc (II) from aqueous solutions by the biomass of yeast Yarrowia lipolytica
2017
Abstract This study examined the biosorption process of Ni(II) and Zn(II) from an aqueous solution by dead biomass of Yarrowia lipolytica. Optimum biosorption conditions were determined as a function of pH, biomass dosage, contact time, and temperature. The biosorbent was characterized by FTIR, which indicated the participation of hydroxyl, carboxyl, amide and amine groups in the process of binding the metal ions. The results showed that the biosorption processes of both metal ions closely followed pseudo-second order kinetics. The equilibrium data of Ni(II) and Zn(II) ions at 20, 30 and 40°C fitted the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Langmuir isotherm provided a better fit to the …
Sex roles during conspecific territorial defence in the Zenaida dove, Zenaida aurita
2012
Social monogamy in vertebrates often involves the joint defence of an all-purpose territory by pair members. Although both sexes presumably benefit from holding a territory, sex-related variation is often observed in territory defence at the interspecific level, particularly in birds. Most studies of territorial defence in monogamous birds, however, have been conducted on songbirds or on bird species living in temperate areas. In contrast, data on nonoscine tropical bird species remain scarce. We experimentally studied territorial defence in 20 pairs of Zenaida doves, a tropical and territorial monogamous bird species that maintains year-round pair bonds. Overall, males responded to intrusi…
Dynamics of copper and zinc sedimentation in a lagooning system receiving landfill leachate.
2013
9 pages; International audience; This study characterises the sediment dredged from a lagooning system composed of a settling pond and three lagoons that receive leachates from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill in France. Organic carbon, carbonate, iron oxyhydroxides, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were measured in the sediment collected from upstream to downstream in the lagooning system. In order to complete our investigation of sedimentation mechanisms, leachates were sampled in both dry (spring) and wet (winter) seasonal conditions. Precipitation of calcite and amorphous Fe-oxyhydroxides and sedimentation of organic matter occurred in the settling pond. Since different di…
Changing European storm loss potentials under modified climate conditions according to ensemble simulations of the ECHAM5/MPI-OM1 GCM
2007
Abstract. A simple storm loss model is applied to an ensemble of ECHAM5/MPI-OM1 GCM simulations in order to estimate changes of insured loss potentials over Europe in the 21st century. Losses are computed based on the daily maximum wind speed for each grid point. The calibration of the loss model is performed using wind data from the ERA40-Reanalysis and German loss data. The obtained annual losses for the present climate conditions (20C, three realisations) reproduce the statistical features of the historical insurance loss data for Germany. The climate change experiments correspond to the SRES-Scenarios A1B and A2, and for each of them three realisations are considered. On average, insure…