Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Advances in groundwater storage monitoring are crucial for water resource management and hydrological processes understanding. The evaluation of water storage changes (WSC) often involve point measurements (observation wells, moisture probes, etc.), which may be inappropriate in heterogeneous media. Over the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in the use of gravimetry for hydrological studies. In the framework of the GHYRAF (Gravity and Hydrology inAfrica) project, 3 yr of repeated absolute gravity measurements using a FG5-type gravimeter have been undertaken at Nalohou, a Sudanian site in northern Benin. Hydrological data are collected within the long-term observing system AMMA-Catch. Once corrected for solid earth tides, ocean loading, air pressure effects, polar motion contribution and non-local hydrology, seasonal gravity variations reach up to 11 μGal, equivalent to a WSC of 260-mm thick infinite layer of water. Absolute temporal gravity data are compared to WSC deduced from neutron probe and water-table variations through a direct modelling approach. First, we use neutronic measurements available for the whole vertical profile where WSC occur (the vadose zone and a shallow unconfined aquifer). The RMSD between observed and modelled gravity variations is 1.61 μGal, which falls within the error bars of the absolute gravity data. Second, to acknowledge for the spatial variability of aquifer properties, we use a 2-D model for specific yield (Sy) derived from resistivity mapping and Magnetic Resonance Soundings (MRS). The latter provides a water content (θMRS) known to be higher than the specific yield. Hence, we scaled the 2-D model of θMRS with a single factor (α). WSC are calculated from water-table monitoring in the aquifer layer and neutronic measurements in the vadose layer. The value of α is obtained with aMonte-Carlo sampling approach, minimizing the RMSD between modelled and observed gravity variations. This leads to α = Sy/θMRS = 0.63 ± 0.15, close to what is found in the literature on the basis of pumping tests experiments, with a RMSD value of 0.94 μGal. This hydrogeophysical experiment is a first step towards the use of time-lapse gravity data as an integrative tool to monitor interannual WSC even in complicated subsurface distribution.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00821181
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00821181
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt146

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Landes Bioscience
Résumé : International audience
In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
Autophagy

hal-00735751
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00735751
PUBMED : 22966490

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We investigate the contribution of atmospheric and its induced non-tidal oceanic loading effects on surface time-varying gravity and tilt measurements for several stations in Western Europe. The ocean response to pressure forcing can be modelled accordingly to the inverted barometer, i.e. assuming that air pressure variations are fully compensated by static sea height changes, or using ocean general circulation models.Wevalidate two runs of theHUGO-mbarotropic ocean model by comparing predicted sea surface height variations with hundred tide-gauge measurements along the European coasts. We then show that global surface pressure field, as well as a barotropic high-resolution ocean model forced by air pressure and winds allow in most cases a significant reduction of the variance of gravity residuals and, to a smaller extends tilt residuals. Wefinally show that precise gravity measurements with superconducting gravimeters allow the observation of large storm surges, occurring in the North Sea, even for inland stations. However, we also confirm that the continental hydrology contribution cannot be neglected. Thanks to their specific sensitivity feature, only tiltmeters closest to the coast can clearly detect the loading due to these storm surges.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00708046
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00708046/file/ETS2008_BOY.pdf
BIBCODE : 2009JGeo...48..182B