Search results for "Tuni"

Road project opportunity costs subject to a regional constraint on greenhouse gas emissions

2012

Abstract France has constrained the Aquitaine region to set up a climate plan to avoid an emission of 2883 ktCO 2 eq for the period 2007–2013. In parallel, the region has decided to carry out the construction of road infrastructures in order to avoid very high congestion costs. Those road projects will involve an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during that period. In the present context of strong sustainability, all emissions (direct and indirect) generated by those projects should be offset. At the regional level, the offsetting of GHG emissions is usually carried out by implementing carbon sequestration projects or projects that reduce energy demand. This paper aims at determin…

Can We Really (All) Work Longer?<br>Trends in Healthy Life Expectancy According to Social Stratum in Germany<br>

2013

Against the background of raising the retirement age to 67 years and the associated lengthening of working lifetimes in higher age groups, this article examines the question of the extent to which this political objective is covered by the health assets of the population. Here, we will first trace trends in “healthy” life expectancy among the total population for different points in time 1989, 1999 and 2009 on the basis of the data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and analyse these against the background of social strata indicators such as income and educational levels. Among others, one significant result is the fact that social differences have a far greater effect on healthy li…

On the pyrophytism in the Mediterranean area

2015

Authors briefly present some observations and reflections on the “seeding strategy” of some plant species (Cistus spp., Cistaceae, in particular) in the Mediterranean area in relation to fire: they conclude it does not seem a specific adaptation to wildfires (as suggested in a relevant part of the recent literature), but a generalistic adaptation to open, high energy and variable habitats with aleatory fluctuations. The difference is important both for theoretical and applied aspects, e.g. for the correct management of Cistus species and of other Mediterranean species and habitats. Fire is undoubtedly a major ecological factor in the Mediterranean area. Many botanists have postulated the re…

Biological properties of carotenoids extracted from Halobacterium halobium isolated from a Tunisian solar saltern

2013

Abstract Background Bioactive molecules have received increasing attention due to their nutraceutical attributes and anticancer, antioxidant, antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing properties. This study aimed to investigate the biological properties of carotenoids extracted from Archaea. Methods Halophilic Archaea strains were isolated from the brine of a local crystallizer pond (TS7) of a solar saltern at Sfax, Tunisia. The most carotenoid-producing strain (M8) was investigated on heptoma cell line (HepG2), and its viability was assessed by the MTT-test. The cells were incubated with different sub-lethal extract rates, with carotenoid concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 μM. Antioxida…

Univacuolar refractile hemocytes from the tunicate Ciona intestinalis are cytotoxic for mammalian erythrocytes in vitro

1996

A discontinuous, Percoll density gradient was used to separate hemocyte populations from the hemolymph of Ciona intestinalis. Hemocytes from each band were examined for their frequency, morphology, and cytotoxic activity against rabbit and sheep erythrocytes; results were expressed as a percentage of hemolysis. Statistical analysis revealed that only the "univacuolar" granulocytes from Band 5, which contain a vacuole of refractile material, were cytotoxic. Cytotoxic activity was inhibited by sphingomyelin. For the first time in tunicates, lytic activity against erythrocytes was assessed by an assay based on plaque-forming cells. Plaques of lysis were revealed against rabbit erythrocytes but…

Deletions in the hepatitis B virus small envelope protein: effect on assembly and secretion of surface antigen particles

1992

The small envelope S protein of hepatitis B virus carrying the surface antigen has the unique property of mobilizing cellular lipids into empty envelope particles which are secreted from mammalian cells. We studied the biogenesis of such particles using site-directed mutagenesis. In this study, we describe the effect of deletions in the N-terminal hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains of the S protein. Whereas short overlapping deletions of hydrophilic sequences flanking the first hydrophobic domain were tolerated, larger deletions of the same sequences were not. Conversely, the hydrophilic region preceding the second hydrophobic domain was not permissive for even short deletions. Deletion of…

The new murine hepatic 3A cell line responds to stress stimuli by activating an efficient Unfolded Protein Response (UPR)

2012

In the present study we have investigated the properties of a novel cell line (3A cells) obtained from the liver of 14.5. days post coitum (dpc) wild-type mouse embryo. 3A cells morphology was characterized by fluorescent localization of F-actin and β-catenin. The expression of specific genes and proteins essential to liver function in these cells was comparable or even more efficient then in the differentiated hepatocytic cell line MMH-D6. 3A cells also showed the capability to excrete molecules in extracellular spaces resembling functional bile canaliculi, glycogen storage activity and the ability to control retinol-binding protein 4 secretion in response to retinol deprivation. Their re…

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to emission from the gamma-ray counterparts of neutrino events

2021

We investigate the possibility of detection of the VHE gamma-ray counterparts to the neutrino astrophysical sources within the Neutrino Target of Opportunity (NToO) program of CTA using the populations simulated by the FIRESONG software to resemble the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux measured by IceCube. We derive the detection probability for different zenith angles and geomagnetic field configurations. The difference in detectability of sources between CTA-North and CTA-South for the average geomagnetic field is not substantial. We investigate the effect of a higher night-sky background and the preliminary CTA Alpha layout on the detection probability.

Penalized regression and clustering in high-dimensional data

The main goal of this Thesis is to describe numerous statistical techniques that deal with high-dimensional genomic data. The Thesis begins with a review of the literature on penalized regression models, with particular attention to least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) or L1-penalty methods. L1 logistic/multinomial regression models are used for variable selection and discriminant analysis with a binary/categorical response variable. The Thesis discusses and compares several methods that are commonly utilized in genetics, and introduces new strategies to select markers according to their informative content and to discriminate clusters by offering reduced panels for popul…

Universities' Reporting on SDGs: Using THE Impact Rankings to Model and Measure Their Contribution to Sustainability

2021

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have voiced growing concerns about sustainability issues since Agenda 2030 was approved, but this is not enough for societal stakeholders seeking and delivering innovation and excellence. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action, and pose a challenge for HEIs as for the efforts made to fulfill them and knowing how to assess their performance. However, the metric management system implemented by HEIs quickly led to rankings emerging, which compare HEIs to metrics not related to the sustainability dimensions of the 17 SDGs. The main aim of the paper is to assess the level of repo…