Nouvelles données paléontologiques sur le genre Dissimilites Sarkar, 1954

A nearly complete specimen of a heteromorphic ammonite belonging to the genus Dissimilites Sarkar, 1954 (Ammonoidea, Ancyloceratina) has been collected in the Lower Barremian from south-east France. It is the first time that a such sample has been collected since the discovery by d'Orbigny in 1842 of the first specimens belonging of this taxon. Hypothetic until today, the existence of a spire in the first development of the shell is confirmed and a new diagnosis of the genus is given. Finally, the specific content of the genus is briefly analyzed as also its stratigraphical occurrence.     

Ejaculation provoquée chez le paraplégique

90% of spinal cord injury patients cannot have an ejaculation during either sexual intercourse or masturbation From 1987 to 1993: 52 patients were treated by vibratory stimulation, 21 by electrostimulation, 4 by Physostigmine. Overall success rate during vibratory stimulation is of 65% and 83% if one considers only patients with a sublesional syndrome below T10. We obtained 15 successes among 21 tetraplegic patients and 19 successes among 20 paraplegic patients. Ejaculation was always obtained within three minutes. We did not obtain any success in paraplegic patients group whose lesional level was T12, L1, L2. After having trained the couple for the technique, we realised on two occasions, during ovulation (twelfth to sixteenth day before next menstruation date), intravaginal autoinseminations with a syringe for a minimal duration of one year, necessary time to improve semen quality before treating procreation as a medical issue. Among these 52 patients treated by vibratory stimulation, only 12 couples came to take our advice in order to procreate. Out of the 12 followed up couples, we obtained 3 births and 1 current pregnancy. 16 patients out of the 21 treated by electrostimulation have an ejaculation. Out of the 30 realised ejaculations, 11 were retrograde. Semen volume and quality are much lower to what we obtained by vibratory stimulation. Actually, this technique has not allowed a pregnancy. 2 out of the 4 patients having had a treatment by Physostigmine had an ejaculation. Ejaculation by vibratory stimulation is the easiest technique and it must be proposed as a first purpose. In a second time, proposed intrarectal electrostimulation allows nearly always to get semen if a sufficient number of sympathetic thoracolumbar fibres are preserved.     

L’effet des rayons x sur le protoplasme,le noyau et le chondriome de la cellule végétale d'après les observations sur le vivant

Sans résumé Avec planches I et II     

Chimiothérapie anticancéreuse chez le mâle: risques pour la descendance

Up to now, studies concerning the progeny of males undergoing chemotherapy have been difficult to interpret because of their heterogeneity and conflicting nature. Morever, the long term follow up of children has not been carried out. Experimental studies carried out with the cytostatic drug cyclophosphamide have shown that if mating of male rats takes place during the treatment, the frequency of post-implantation losses and fetal malformations increases. If this mating takes place after a recovery period of one to two seminiferous cycles, there is no malformation but only neonatal deaths, and behavioral disorders in adult progeny including diminished learning capacity. These abnormalities are inherited and can present the characteristics of dominant autosomic syndromes. Biochemical analyses of the brains of the first and second generation offspring from treated males show a decrease in two biochemical substrates of memory: hippocampal choline acetyltransferase and fronto-parietal cortex norepinephrine. Abnormalities can also present complex genetic rearrangements revealed in the third generation by, amongst other things, increases in weight gain. Finally, the experimental results suggest that genetic repair may be possible with time. These data and the uncertainty concerning the consequences of chemotherapy in males should systematically lead to:

- the cryopreservation of sperm before any mutagenic treatment;

- a minimum of two years contraception from the end of treatment;

- the long term follow up of children born from treated fathers.

     

Transmission héréditaire de l’information épigénétique par le gamète mâle

What determines phenotype is one of the most fundamental questions in biology. Historically, most studies have focused on genetics but more recent studies have revealed the existence of epigenetic modifications that are not based on DNA sequencing but are essential for appropriate gene expression. Importantly, these epigenetic modifications can be inherited by the offspring. Thus, both male and female gametes contain inherited epigenetic information.     

Considérations sur la nature,l'origine,et le comportement des elaioplastes chez les Monocotylédones

Résumé L'étude en microscopie photonique et électronique, chez quatre espèces de Monocotylédones, a permis de mettre en évidence en plus de certains caractères concernant leur morphologie et leur répartition, le comportement des élaïoplastes au cours de la mitose et l'origine intracytoplasmique de ces organites sous forme d'amas de vésicules en relation probable avec reticulum endoplasmique. Enfin des rapprochements ont été faits avec les corps centraux des quelques bryophytes et certaines formations particulières aux Desmidiées.

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Summary The study in photonic and electronic microscopy of four species of monocotyledons allowed us to make obvious, in addition to several characteristcs concerning their morphology and repartition, the behaviour of the elaïoplasts during mitosis, and the intracytoplasmic origin of these organelles in the shape of vesicle gatherings probably related to the endoplasmic reticulum. Besides some comparisons have been made with the central bodies of Bryophyts and several formations peculiar to Desmids.

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Zusammenfassung Die licht- und elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchung von vier Monokotyledonenarten ermöglichte uns, zusammen mit bestimmten Kennzeichen ihrer Morphologie und ihrer Verteilung, das Verhalten der Elaioplasten im Laufe der Mitose und die Bildung der Bläschenhaufen, die mit dem endoplasmatischen Reticulum wahrscheinlich in Verbindung stehen, klarzustellen. Schließlich sind Vergleiche mit den Zentralkörpern der Bryophyten und mit gewissen Bildungen, die den Desmidiaceen eigentümlich sind, angestellt worden.

     

Nouvelles données sur le Magdalénien inférieur de la Région Cantabrique : le Niveau F de la grotte de El Cierro (Ribadesella,Asturies, Espagne)

El Cierro Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain), located near the mouth of the River Sella, has yielded one of the most important Upper Palaeolithic sequences in northern Spain. To date, three major occupation periods at the cave have been identified and dated. The first was at the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 8500 BP; ca. 9000 cal BP); the second at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic, in the Younger Dryas (YD) or Greenland Stadial 1 (GS1) (ca. 11.200 BP; 12.700 cal BP) and the third during Greenland Stadial 2 (GS2) (ca. 16.300–15.500 BP; ca. 19.200–18.700 cal BP). This paper describes the stratigraphy documented in the excavations performed by F. Jordá Cerdá and A. Gómez-Fuentes between 1977 and 1979 and presents the first radiocarbon determinations for the first two occupation periods, together with the study of the archaeological materials found in Level F. This level, dated to 15.500 BP (ca. 18.700 cal BP) is characterised by specialised red deer hunting and the gathering of marine resources (winkles). Various artefacts made from animal raw materials have been documented; both finished products and items in the process of being manufactured, as well as portable art objects. The lithic assemblage, consisting mainly of local raw materials with a small proportion of allochthonous flint, is characterised by an abundance of small bladelet cores and backed bladelets. These archaeological remains and the radiocarbon date mean Level F can be attributed to the so-called “Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian”. This period has been documented archaeologically and dated to a similar time at other sites in the River Sella valley and in the rest of northern Spain.     

Les thérapies comportementales et cognitives, l’épicurisme et le stoïcisme

This article aims to show that philosophy, particularly Epicureanism and Stoicism, had an essentially therapeutic role in antiquity — the various schools of philosophy dispensing specific teachings aimed at treating mental suffering, in a precise place (the scholé), with a master and a specified methodology. Of course, it may seem anachronistic to try and compare a modern, progressive and proven therapeutic method such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT, TCC in French) with a frequently dogmatic, 2000-year-old school of philosophy. And yet, the difference is not as clear-cut as we might think, since the two have much in common, such as similar kinds of suffering, a referent (or therapist), common methods (language, reasoning) and a common goal (peace of mind). We therefore intend to try and synthesise the meeting points and also the differences between two main schools of antique philosophy and CBT.     

Développementin vitro de la lignée germinale foetale mâle chez le rat, la souris et l’homme

The key role of the foetal germ cell line in the reproductive capacity of the adult has been known for a long time. More recently, the observed increase in male reproductive disorders such as the decline of sperm count and quality and the increased incidence of testicular cancer has been postulated to be due to alterations of foetal and neonatal testicular development in response to increasing environmental pollution. However, few tools are available to study foetal and neonatal germ cell line development and the effects of physiological or toxic substances on this process. The authors have developed an organ culture system in which foetal or neonatal testis is grown on a filter floating on a synthetic medium free of serum, hormones or biological factors. This study, using rats and mice, first compared the long-term morphological and functional development of Sertoli and germ cells in thisin vivo system. In rats, these cells developed normally over a period of two weeksin vitro. Fewer cells were produced thanin vivo, but a similar level of differentiated function was observed. Germ cells, which are difficult to maintainin vitro, resumed mitosis after a quiescent period, at the same time asin vivo. Similar results were obtained with mouse fetuses, but this model was less efficient. This culture model can be used to study post-natal development of the germ cell lineage in testes derived from foetuses on the last day of foetal life and invalidated for P63, that do not survive after birth. This gene was found to be involved in the regulation of germ apoptosis which resumes after birth in the mouse. Lastly, this model applied to the human species (from 6 to 12 weeks of gestation) showed that testicular architecture and germ cells can be maintained for 4 days with better efficiency at younger stages than at older stages. p]In conclusion, testicular architecture and intercellular communications are sufficiently preserved to sustain gametogenesisin vitro with no added factors. This method is potentially useful to study the effects of various factors, particularly xenobiotics.     

Chronologie du Paléolithique supérieur dans le Nord-Est de la principale île du Japon

Palaeolithic archaeology in Tohoku region has long been discussed on constructing chronology, however it is difficult to build reliable chronological order because of poor stratigraphic excavations. In recent radiocarbon dating has advanced. In this paper I discuss the relation between chronology and radiocarbon dating in Tohoku region. At first, I categorize the Palaeolithic industries and establish the chronology by analyzing tool typology, lithic technology, and stratigraphic data. I correlate it with radiocarbon data from sites in Tohoku region. The result of analysis shows that Upper Palaeolithic industries are divided into 18 categories and 8 periods on chronology. The calibration curve IntCal 13 indicated that oldest Early Upper Palaeolithic site appeared around 37,000 cal BP, and late Upper Palaeolithic started about 27,000 cal BP. The pottery first appeared as far back as around 16,000 cal BP. Now we do not have enough radiocarbon data, so we have to gather and examine more ¹⁴C data.     

Données nouvelles sur le spectre d'hôtes et le parasitisme du nématode entomophageNeoaplectana carpocapsae

Résumé Des essais réalisés au laboratoire en conditions standards et destinés à compléter la connaissance du spectre d'h?tes deNeoaplectana carpocapsae Weiser ont été effectués à Antibes, en Guadeloupe et à Madagascar. 128 espèces d'insectes appartenant aux ordres des Odonates, Dictyoptères, Isoptères, Phasmoptères, Orthoptères, Planipennes, Lépidoptères, Diptères, Coléoptères, Hyménoptères, Homoptères, Hėtéroptères, ont été étudiées ainsi que quelques autres arthropodes (diplopodes et acariens). Les rėsultats ont confirmé le fait que la gamme d'h?tes potentiels deN. carpocapsae est très large malgré quelques cas de résistance chez les Diptères essentiellement. La rapidité d'action deN. carpocapsae, sa capacité à se multiplier dans l'h?te, ainsi que certaines de ses exigences écologiques en vue de son utilisation pratique, ont été examinées.

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Summary Laboratory tests under controlled conditions were carried out in Antibes, Guadeloupe and Madagascar, to investigate the host range ofNeoaplectana carpocapsae Weiser. 128 insect species including members of Odonata, Dictyoptera, Isoptera, Phasmida, Orthoptera, Planipennia, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Homoptera, Heteroptera and a few other arthropods, were tested. Results confirmed that the potential host range ofN. carpocapsae is very broad in spite of some cases of resistance, mainly in Diptera. The effectiveness rapidity of the nematode, its ability to multiply in the host and some other of its ecological requirements for practical use, were also studied.

     

Nouvelles données chronologiques,technologiques et typologiques sur le Paléolithique supérieur ancien de la Plaine roumaine du Danube : le gisement de Giurgiu-Malu Rosu

The optical luminescence dating (OSL) method has been applied to loess deposits associated with a “Late” Aurignacian industry already dated by ¹⁴C. Both dating results are in good agreement. This study demonstrates that lithic industries with some aurignacian tools are still present few thousand years before the Last Maximum Glacial in the Romanian Danube Plain.     

Variation des protéins de l'hémolymphe pendant le cycle de mue,chez Penaeus kerathurus

The variation of hemolymph proteins during the moulting cycle of P. thurus is presented, as well as the variation of the total content of water. The concentration of protein is highly variable, and these are important differences according to the sex and the moulting stage. Forty six protein fractions whose molecular weight ranged from 58000 to 1475000 daltons were identified. In the female, the number of protein fractions was as follows: 38 in stage B, 42 in stage C and 26 in stage D. In the male, the electrophoregram is less diverse. Absence of the fractions that migrate at the level of the lipoproteins is obvious. These lipoproteins, however, are a distinctive feature found in the female specimens studied. The variation of the total water content at the moment of moulting is in the order of 4%, with a maximum of 74.5 in stage B₂ and a minimum of 70.35 in stage D₁D₂. The water/dry weight ratio is negative and not significant in stages B and D; and positive and not significant in stage C. The water/wet weight ratio is also negative and not significant in stages B and D, and positive and not significant in stage C.     

Comparaison des séquences de fragments de restriction répétés spécifiques du chromosome Y humain chez le chimpanzé et le gorille

Analysis of the evolutionary conservation and change of the Y human specific Hae III 2.4 kb repeated sequence were studied between man and anthropoïd species after restriction with EcoRI endonuclease. In chimpanzee, blocks of these repeats are absent, the remaining copies being interspersed with other sequences. A close similarity of the restriction patterns of these sequences is found between gorilla and man.