19 research outputs found
The gilded Buddha - The traditional art of the Newar metal casters in Nepal
No full textThis book celebrates in words and images the traditional metal crafts practised for over a thousand years by the creators of religious Buddhist statues in Nepal. The skills of these artisans are nurtured with deep respect for tradition, regarding religion, iconography and technology. Wax modellers, mould makers, casters, fire-gilders and chasers are among the specialists of the Newar ethnic group, whose work is characterised to this day by a melding of age-old technology, great skill, religious observance and contemplation. There are numerous books and exhibition catalogues dedicated to Buddhist art and iconography but little was available about the craft of the artists who turn the religious imagery into metal casts. This book fills this gap, with a thoroughly documented and historical account of the development of this “archaic” technology. The well-informed text and comprehensive photographic coverage constitute the only up-to-date account and full documentation of an art that is 1300 years old but dying out: the “ritual” production of Buddhist statues in the lost wax casting technique.
The author, Dr. Alex Furger, is an archaeologist who has studied ancient metallurgy and metalworking techniques over the past four decades. He spent twenty-five years at the head of the Roman site of Augusta Raurica and lives in Basel (Switzerland). He is the author of over 130 articles in scientific journals and twelve books in the field of culture history. The fieldwork for this book led him repeatedly to Nepal, where he met and interviewed dozens of craftsmen in their workshops.
This book is addressed to readers interested in culture history, travellers to Asia, collectors of statues of Buddha, (avocational) metalworkers, historians of technology, Buddhists, ethnologists, archaeologists, art historians, scholars of Asia and to libraries and museums
Cytochrome oxidase subunit VI of Trypanosoma brucei is imported without a cleaved presequence and is developmentally regulated at both RNA and protein levels
No full textMitochondrial respiration in the African trypanosome undergoes dramatic developmental stage regulation. This requires co-ordinated control of components encoded by both the nuclear genome and the kinetoplast, the unusual mitochondrial genome of these parasites. As a model for understanding the co-ordination of these genomes, we have examined the regulation and mitochondrial import of a nuclear-encoded component of the cytochrome oxidase complex, cytochrome oxidase subunit VI (COXVI). By generating transgenic trypanosomes expressing intact or mutant forms of this protein, we demonstrate that COXVI is not imported using a conventional cleaved presequence and show that sequences at the N-terminus of the protein are necessary for correct mitochondrial sorting. Analyses of endogenous and transgenic COXVI mRNA and protein expression in parasites undergoing developmental stage differentiation demonstrates a temporal order of control involving regulation in the abundance of, first, mRNA and then protein. This represents the first dissection of the regulation and import of a nuclear-encoded protein into the cytochrome oxidase complex in these organisms, which were among the earliest eukaryotes to possess a mitochondrion
The developmental cell biology of Trypanosoma brucei
No full textTrypanosoma brucei provides an excellent system for studies of many aspects of cell biology, including cell structure and morphology, organelle positioning, cell division and protein trafficking. However, the trypanosome has a complex life cycle in which it must adapt either to the mammalian bloodstream or to different compartments within the tsetse fly. These differentiation events require stage-specific changes to basic cell biological processes and reflect responses to environmental stimuli and programmed differentiation events that must occur within a single cell. The organization of cell structure is fundamental to the trypanosome throughout its life cycle. Modulations of the overall cell morphology and positioning of the specialized mitochondrial genome, flagellum and associated basal body provide the classical descriptions of the different life cycle stages of the parasite. The dependency relationships that govern these morphological changes are now beginning to be understood and their molecular basis identified. The overall picture emerging is of a highly organized cell in which the rules established for cell division and morphogenesis in organisms such as yeast and mammalian cells do not necessarily apply. Therefore, understanding the developmental cell biology of the African trypanosome is providing insight into both fundamentally conserved and fundamentally different aspects of the organization of the eukaryotic cell
A versatile platform for creating a comprehensive UAS-ORFeome library in Drosophila
No full textOverexpression screens are used to explore gene functions in Drosophila, but this strategy suffers from the lack of comprehensive and systematic fly strain collections and efficient methods for generating such collections. Here, we present a strategy that could be used efficiently to generate large numbers of transgenic Drosophila strains, and a collection of 1149 UAS-ORF fly lines that were created with the site-specific ΦC31 integrase method. For this collection, we used a set of 655 genes that were cloned as two variants, either as an open reading frame (ORF) with a native stop codon or with a C-terminal 3xHA tag. To streamline the procedure for transgenic fly generation, we demonstrate the utility of injecting pools of plasmids into embryos, each plasmid containing a randomised sequence (barcode) that serves as a unique identifier for plasmids and, subsequently, fly strains. We also developed a swapping technique that facilitates the rapid exchange of promoters and epitope tags in vivo, expanding the versatility of the ORF collection. The work described here serves as the basis of a systematic library of Gal4/UAS-regulated transgenes
Between Archaeology and Text: The Origins of Rice Consumption and Cultivation in the Middle East and the Mediterranean
No full textAsiatic Rice Oryza sativa L. (Poaceae) is a domesticated grain crop native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, which presently ranks among the most important grains in a global diet. Oryza sativa is comprised of two distinct phylogenetic subspecies, namely japonica and indica, for which genetic evidence indicates at least two centres of domestication: the Lower Yangtze valley for the broad thick-grained japonica (c. 4000 BC) and the Gangetic basin for the thin elongated indica variety (c. 2500 BC) (Fuller et al 2010; idem 2011; Nesbitt et al 2010: 325–7). Modern genetics of landraces from northeast India may indicate a third distinct origin for the so-called aus rice varieties (Londo et al 2006: 9581–2). The genetic history of this taxon is further complicated by post-domestication hybridisation between domesticates and their wild ancestors as well as the presence of rarer forms like the aromatic rice varieties (basmati in South Asia and sadri from Iran) which may be of independent origin (Nesbitt et al 2010: 324–5). In South Asia domesticated rice is attested at various archaeological sites in the Ganges basin from the mid-3rd millennium BC onwards. It subsequently appears at mature and late Harappan levels in north-western India (c. 2000 BC) before arriving at the edge of the eastern Iranian plateau at Pirak on the north Kachi plain in the early 2nd millennium BC (Costantini 1981; Fuller 2006: 36; Sato 2005). The presence of rice at Pirak heralds its gradual westward movement along the Iranian plateau via overland and perhaps even coastal routes into western Iran and Mesopotamia
Elemental composition of ambient aerosols measured with high temporal resolution using an online XRF spectrometer
No full textThe Xact 625 Ambient Metals Monitor was tested during a 3-week field campaign at the rural, traffic-influenced site Härkingen in Switzerland during the summer of 2015. The field campaign encompassed the Swiss National Day fireworks event, providing increased concentrations and unique chemical signatures compared to non-fireworks (or background) periods. The objective was to evaluate the data quality by intercomparison with other independent measurements and test its applicability for aerosol source quantification. The Xact was configured to measure 24 elements in PM10 with 1g h time resolution. Data quality was evaluated for 10 24g h averages of Xact data by intercomparison with 24g h PM10 filter data analysed with ICP-OES for major elements, ICP-MS for trace elements, and gold amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg. Ten elements (S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ba, Pb) showed excellent correlation between the compared methods, with r2 values ≥ g 0.95. However, the slopes of the regressions between Xact 625 and ICP data varied from 0.97 to 1.8 (average 1.28) and thus indicated generally higher Xact elemental concentrations than ICP for these elements. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed, but further investigations are needed. For the remaining elements no conclusions could be drawn about their quantification for various reasons, mainly detection limit issues. An indirect intercomparison of hourly values was performed for the fireworks peak, which brought good agreement of total masses when the Xact data were corrected with the regressions from the 24g h value intercomparison. The results demonstrate that multi-metal characterization at high-time-resolution capability of Xact is a valuable and practical tool for ambient monitoring. © Author(s) 2017.This study has been partly funded by the
Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). M. C. Minguillón acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal Fellowship awarded by
the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.
We thank René Richter and Roland Scheidegger of PSI for their
support during the field campaign. We are grateful to Chris Koch
and John Cooper of Cooper Environmental Services for instructions
on instrument operation and numerous discussions on the results.
Andrés Alastuey, Xavier Querol, and laboratory personnel from
IDAEA-CSIC are also acknowledged. We also thank Julie Swift
and Randy Mercurio of ERG for the ICP-MS analyses.Peer reviewe
Sistema delle fonti e politiche pubbliche in materia di energie rinnovabili: l'esperienza austriaca
No full textThe paper analyzes the energy law within Austrian legal system, with specific reference to renewable energy sources. After a brief retrospective on the evolution of the subject matter, the essay contextualizes the case of Austria under the policies and European sources on renewable energy, specifying the characteristics of the Austrian choices made in this regard. The analysis then develops according to two different perspectives. The first one deals with the system of sources of law, particularly complex not only because of the peculiar object of investigation, but also because of the division of competences and powers between the Bund and the Länder, as reconstructed through the constitutional jurisprudence. The second level of analysis concerns the administrative implementation of norms and focuses on the analysis of processes and administrative measures provided for by federal and regional legislation in this field, in general and for each energy sector. In the light of the framework outlined, the author finally performs some final considerations and a comparison between the Italian and the Austrian experience, assuming that the success of the energy policies is not necessarily affected by the complexity of the subject and / or of the legal system concerned, depending rather on the perception of the axiological value of the investment on renewable sources, as the Austrian case demonstrates
Wingless secretion promotes and requires retromer-dependent cycling of Wntless
No full textWnt ligands are lipid-modified, secreted glycoproteins that control multiple steps during embryogenesis and adult-tissue homeostasis. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying Wnt secretion. Recently, Wntless (Wls/Evi/Srt) was identified as a conserved multi-pass transmembrane protein whose function seems to be dedicated to promoting the release of Wnts. Here, we describe Wls accumulation in the Golgi apparatus of Wnt/Wingless (Wg)-producing cells in Drosophila, and show that this localization is essential for Wg secretion. Moreover, Wls localization and levels critically depend on retromer, a conserved protein complex that mediates endosome-to-Golgi protein trafficking in yeast. In the absence of the retromer components Dvps35 or Dvps26, but in presence of Wg, Wls is degraded and Wg secretion impaired. Our results indicate that Wg, clathrin-mediated endocytosis and retromer sustain a Wls traffic loop from the Golgi to the plasma membrane and back to the Golgi, thereby enabling Wls to direct Wnt secretion
Generation of a versatile BiFC ORFeome library for analyzing protein-protein interactions in live Drosophila
No full textInternational audienceTranscription factors achieve specificity by establishing intricate interaction networks that will change depending on the cell context. Capturing these interactions in live condition is however a challenging issue that requires sensitive and non-invasive methods. We present a set of fly lines, called 'multicolor BiFC library', which covers most of the Drosophila transcription factors for performing Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC). The multicolor BiFC library can be used to probe two different binary interactions simultaneously and is compatible for large-scale interaction screens. The library can also be coupled with established Drosophila genetic resources to analyze interactions in the developmentally relevant expression domain of each protein partner. We provide proof of principle experiments of these various applications, using Hox proteins in the live Drosophila embryo as a case study. Overall this novel collection of ready-to-use fly lines constitutes an unprecedented genetic toolbox for the identification and analysis of protein-protein interactions in vivo
