Io's volcanism controls Jupiter's radio emissions

in Geophysical Research Letters (2013)

Jupiter's sodium nebula showed an enhancement in late May through beginning of June, 2007. This means Io's volcanic activity and the magnetosphere's plasma content increased during this period. On the ... [more ▼]

Jupiter's sodium nebula showed an enhancement in late May through beginning of June, 2007. This means Io's volcanic activity and the magnetosphere's plasma content increased during this period. On the other hand, Jupiter's radio emission called HOM became quiet after the sodium nebula enhancement. The HOM emission is considered to be related to activity of aurorae on Jupiter. These observation results therefore suggest that the increase in plasma supply from Io into Jupiter's magnetosphere weakens its field aligned current, which generates the radio emissions and aurorae on Jupiter. By comparing our observation results to recent model and observation results we add supporting evidence to the possibility that Io's volcanism controls Jupiter's magnetospheric activity. [less ▲]

Dynamic modelling and control of a pilot plant for post-combustion CO2 capture

in Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (2013)

A dynamic model of a post-combustion pilot capture plant is developed using Aspen Plus Dynamics. An innovative process control strategy is studied for regulating the water balance of the process. A ... [more ▼]

A dynamic model of a post-combustion pilot capture plant is developed using Aspen Plus Dynamics. An innovative process control strategy is studied for regulating the water balance of the process. A washing section where the flue gas from the absorber is washed with cold water is included to the process in order to reduce the emissions of amine to the air. Control of the water balance in the solvent loop is successfully achieved by changing the washing water temperature. In previous publications regarding CO2 capture pilot plants, the regulation of the water balance always required a water make-up flow which appears here as unnecessary. Rejection of disturbances and different load reduction scenarios are tested to confirm the efficiency of this strategy. Potential operational problems of this control strategy are identified and solved. [less ▲]

CPLU - rapport d'activité 2012

Report (2013)

Rapport reprenant nos prestations, nos équipes, nos cliniciens..

Spatial distribution of erosion and deposition on an agricultural watershed

in Geophysical Research Abstracts (2013), 15

To better understand the agricultural landscapes evolution becomes an essential preoccupation and, for this, it is needed to take into account the sediments deposition, in a distributed way. As it is not ... [more ▼]

To better understand the agricultural landscapes evolution becomes an essential preoccupation and, for this, it is needed to take into account the sediments deposition, in a distributed way. As it is not possible in practice to study all terrestrial surfaces in detail by instrumenting sectors to obtain data, models of prediction are valuable tools to control the current problems, to predict the future tendencies and to provide a scientific base to the political decisions. In our case, a landscape evolution model is needed, which aims at representing both erosion and sedimentation and dynamically adjusts the landscape to erosion and deposition by modifying the initial digital elevation model. The Landsoil model (Landscape design for Soil conservation under soil use and climate change), among others, could fulfil this objective. It has the advantage to take the soil variability into account. This model, designed for the analysis of agricultural landscape, is suitable for simulations from parcel to catchment scale, is spatially distributed and event-based. Observed quantitative data are essential (notably to calibrate the model) but still limited. Particularly, we lack observations spatially distributed on the watershed. For this purpose, we choose a watershed in Belgium (Wallonia) which is a 124 ha agricultural zone in the loamy region. Its slopes range from 0% to 9%. To test the predictions of the model, comparisons will be done with: - sediment measurements which are done with water samplings in four points on the site to compare the net erosion results; - sediment selective measurements (depth variation observed along graduated bares placed on site) to compare the erosion and deposition results; - very accurate DSM’s (6,76 cm pixel resolution X-Y) obtained by the drone (Gatewing X100) each winter. Besides planning what the landscape evolution should be, a revision of the soil map (drew in 1958) is organized to compare with the past situation and establish how the landscape moved in 50 years. The first results of the sediment measurements and of the pictures of the drone will be showed in the presentation. [less ▲]

Estimation of the fascine efficiency in terms of runoff infiltration and sediments deposition

in Geophysical Research Abstracts (2013), 15

Runoff inundations and mudflows are more and more frequent phenomena. In 2011, Belgium had a lot of its municipalities affected by this problematic. Since then, mitigation measures are more and more set ... [more ▼]

Runoff inundations and mudflows are more and more frequent phenomena. In 2011, Belgium had a lot of its municipalities affected by this problematic. Since then, mitigation measures are more and more set up in agricultural watersheds. The fascines are one of these measures which allow to protect the public and private infrastructures and in the same way, which don’t reduce the famers productivity. They consist in branches faggots piled up between two rows of stakes. These linear constructions are mainly put in place across concentrated runoff axis in order to slow down the water and to filter the mud. Only few quantifications of their effectiveness (in terms of flow and concentration water reduction) exist and are however needed to better recommend these types of mitigation measures. Our experiment aims at measuring discharge and mud concentration reduction due to the fascines in a completely defined context. The tests were realised through fascines planted in field border. A watertight surface of 2,45m to 0,80m carries the water to the fascines. Three types of fascines were tested (willow wood fascine, straw fascine, straw compacted fascine), three different water flows were applied (0,5L/s, 3L/s and 6L/s) and three water concentration in dry soil (13g/L, 26g/L, 38g/L) were used. The different factor combinations were tested. The results show that we can expect a reduction of 60% of the flow for the biggest water flows (proportional efficiency with the water flow). The factor interaction study doesn’t allow to see a difference between the type. About the sediment water concentration, the filtration can reach 50%, the fascine with wood faggots showing a better efficiency. Finally, the difference between the fascine type show that straw fascine can support a biggest watershed (25 hectares) than the wood faggot fascine can (5-10 hectares) but during a smaller return period (one year against five years). [less ▲]

Interactions of iturinic antibiotics with plasma membrane. Contribution of biomimetic membranes.

in Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement = Biotechnology, Agronomy, Society and Environment [=BASE] (2013), ACCEPTED after minor rev

Iturinic antibiotics are produced by Bacillus subtilis strains and constitute a family including iturin A, mycosubtilin and bacillomycins D, F and Lc. They are cyclic lipopeptides having -amino fatty ... [more ▼]

Iturinic antibiotics are produced by Bacillus subtilis strains and constitute a family including iturin A, mycosubtilin and bacillomycins D, F and Lc. They are cyclic lipopeptides having -amino fatty acids linked up to a peptide constituted by seven -aminoacids with an invariable LDDLLDL chiral sequence. The first three -aminoacids containing the tyrosyl residue are the same for all members. They are well-known by their strong antifungal activities but they have also antibacterial and hemolytic properties. These biological properties are due to their amphiphilic nature allowing interactions with different membrane components. Sterols found in plasma membranes are the privileged interaction partners of these lipopeptides. Moreover, the tyrosyl residue of the iturinic antibiotics seems to play an important role during their fixation to the plasma membrane, the result of which is often the cellular lysis. Within plasma membranes, there are particular regions with high sterol content. These microdomains have a different composition compared to the rest of the membrane; they are enriched in certain lipids and proteins and they are involved in many key cellular processes. Their perturbation could then have an important impact on the cell. Due to their composition, these microdomains could constitute the preferential target of iturin antibiotics. This review aims to synthetize the works related to the biological activities of iturinic antibiotics and focusses especially to their understanding at the molecular level with a discussion on the key chemical groups of the iturin antibiotics and on the potentiality of microdomains to constitute a target for these molecules [less ▲]

Origin, biodiversity, and extinction of Cretaceous ichthyosaurs

Doctoral thesis (2013)

Ichthyosauria is a group of reptiles that colonized numerous niches in Mesozoic marine ecosystems. Their Cretaceous representatives were however regarded as undiversified, especially compared to their ... [more ▼]

Ichthyosauria is a group of reptiles that colonized numerous niches in Mesozoic marine ecosystems. Their Cretaceous representatives were however regarded as undiversified, especially compared to their Triassic and Jurassic ancestors, because only a few species are regarded as valid in the Cretaceous. Besides, most of them belong to a single genus, Platypterygius, whose taxonomy and phylogeny are problematic. Therefore, Cretaceous ichthyosaurs have been widely considered as the last members of a group on the decline, although the timing, the cause and the magnitude of their extinction phases greatly vary among authors. Yet, a great part of the Cretaceous ichthyosaur record, the Eurasian material, has been neglected from more than 100 years; theories explaining the evolution of the last ichthyosaurs therefore miss the biggest part of the picture. Notably, how ichthyosaurs diversified and went extinct during the Cretaceous is basically unknown. To tackle these topics, I assess the taxonomy of Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from Eurasia, test their phylogenetic position within a global analysis of post-Triassic ichthyosaurs, evaluate their ecological diversity and analyse their phases of radiation and extinction. Assessment of the Eurasian material led to the discovery of seven new taxa (“Iraq animal”, Acamptonectes densus, “Lenin Form”, Sveltonectes insolitus, Sveltonectes “Ebbo Form”, “Sisteron Form”, “Colossal Form”) and the re-installation of several other taxa as valid (Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi, P. bannovkensis, Cetarthrosaurus walkeri, P. hercynicus). Morphological and phylogenetic evidence suggest Platypterygius hides a very large generic diversity and should be limited to its type species P. platydactylus; however, the interrelationships of the large platypterygiine ichthyosaurs from the Aptian–Cenomanian interval are poorly constrained. Phylogenetic analyses provide robust evidence for disparate origins of Cretaceous ichthyosaurs; these animals actually belonged to three distinct clades that diverged several tens of million years before the Cretaceous. These three clades had contrasted evolutionary histories and colonized disctinct ecological niches during the Cretaceous. Survival and extinction rates demonstrate ichthyosaurs suffered no extinction event at the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary. They were therefore highly diverse during the Cretaceous, although the sampling of some stages remains inadequate. Notably, up to eight genera were present during the late Albian, a few million years before their final extinction. This extinction appears staggered over four phases that span the entire Cenomanian stage; it also forms one of the facets of a much wider event that affected most levels of marine trophic chains during the Cenomanian. Compilation of published data and collaborations with other specialists show that the radiation of snakes, mosasaurs, and numerous lineages of modern fishes, the severe extinctions among cephalopods and rudist bivalves and the complete extinction of ichthyosaurs likely belong to the same global turnover event. The magnitude, diversity and simultaneity of the biotic responses strongly suggest that global physico-chemical factors triggered this profound reorganization of the marine ecosystems, notably the conjunction of a rather brutal onset of extremely high temperatures and sea level, intense marine volcanism and phases of worldwide ocean anoxia. [less ▲]

Metabolic and structural connectivity within the default mode network relates to working memory performance in young healthy adults

in NeuroImage (2013)

Studies of functional connectivity suggest that the default mode network (DMN) might be relevant for cognitive functions. Here, we examined metabolic and structural connectivity between major DMN nodes ... [more ▼]

Studies of functional connectivity suggest that the default mode network (DMN) might be relevant for cognitive functions. Here, we examined metabolic and structural connectivity between major DMN nodes, the posterior cingulate (PCC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), in relation to normal working memory (WM). DMN was captured using independent component analysis of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data from 35 young healthy adults (27.1±5.1 years). Metabolic connectivity, a correlation between FDG uptake in PCC and MPFC, was examined in groups of subjects with (relative to median) low (n=18) and high (n=17) performance on digit span backward test as an index of verbal WM. In addition, fiber tractography based on PCC and MPFC nodes as way points was performed in a subset of subjects. FDG uptake in the DMN nodes did not differ between high and low performers. However, significantly (p=0.01) lower metabolic connectivity was found in the group of low performers. Furthermore, as compared to high performers, low performers showed lower density of the left superior cingulate bundle. Verbal WM performance is related to metabolic and structural connectivity within the DMN in young healthy adults. Metabolic connectivity as quantified with FDG-PET might be a sensitive marker of the normal variability in some cognitive functions. [less ▲]

Strongyloidiasis and Infective Dermatitis Alter Human T Lymphotropic Virus-1 Clonality in vivo.

in PLoS Pathogens (2013), 9(4), 1003263

Human T-lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus that persists lifelong by driving clonal proliferation of infected T-cells. HTLV-1 causes a neuroinflammatory disease and adult T-cell leukemia ... [more ▼]

Human T-lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus that persists lifelong by driving clonal proliferation of infected T-cells. HTLV-1 causes a neuroinflammatory disease and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Strongyloidiasis, a gastrointestinal infection by the helminth Strongyloides stercoralis, and Infective Dermatitis associated with HTLV-1 (IDH), appear to be risk factors for the development of HTLV-1 related diseases. We used high-throughput sequencing to map and quantify the insertion sites of the provirus in order to monitor the clonality of the HTLV-1-infected T-cell population (i.e. the number of distinct clones and abundance of each clone). A newly developed biodiversity estimator called "DivE" was used to estimate the total number of clones in the blood. We found that the major determinant of proviral load in all subjects without leukemia/lymphoma was the total number of HTLV-1-infected clones. Nevertheless, the significantly higher proviral load in patients with strongyloidiasis or IDH was due to an increase in the mean clone abundance, not to an increase in the number of infected clones. These patients appear to be less capable of restricting clone abundance than those with HTLV-1 alone. In patients co-infected with Strongyloides there was an increased degree of oligoclonal expansion and a higher rate of turnover (i.e. appearance and disappearance) of HTLV-1-infected clones. In Strongyloides co-infected patients and those with IDH, proliferation of the most abundant HTLV-1(+) T-cell clones is independent of the genomic environment of the provirus, in sharp contrast to patients with HTLV-1 infection alone. This implies that new selection forces are driving oligoclonal proliferation in Strongyloides co-infection and IDH. We conclude that strongyloidiasis and IDH increase the risk of development of HTLV-1-associated diseases by increasing the rate of infection of new clones and the abundance of existing HTLV-1(+) clones. [less ▲]

The dual role of weather forecasts on changes in activity-travel behavior

in Journal of Transport Geography (2013), 28

A deeper understanding of how human activity-travel behavior is affected by various weather conditions is essential for both policy makers and traffic managers. To unravel the ambiguity in findings ... [more ▼]

A deeper understanding of how human activity-travel behavior is affected by various weather conditions is essential for both policy makers and traffic managers. To unravel the ambiguity in findings reported in the literature, the main objective of this paper is to obtain an accurate assessment of how weather forecasts trigger changes in Flemish activity-travel behavior. To this end, data were collected by means of a stated adaptation experiment, which was administered both on the Internet and via traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires. To address the main research question of this paper, two statistical techniques were adopted. The first technique is the computation of Pearson chi-square independence tests. The second approach is the estimation of a GEE-MNL-model. The results from both techniques underscore the dual role of weather forecasts on changes in activity-travel behavior. On the one hand, the results clearly illustrate the significant effect of forecasted weather; the likelihood of changes in activity-travel behavior significantly depends on the weather forecasted. On the other hand, different methods of acquiring weather information (exposure, media source, or perceived reliability) do not impact the probability of behavioral adaptations. This duality may be partially attributable to the discrepancy that exists between weather forecasts and true traffic and roadway conditions. Therefore, the implementation of a road weather information system that is directly linked to the weather forecasts is recommended. [less ▲]