Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Étude du potentiel des actions de réduction des fuites des réseaux d'eau potable

DoctoralLeakage management and control are important tasks to fight against water losses. Grenelle II Act provides for prompting water utility operators to control water losses in water supply systems. Knowledge about the origin of leakage must be improved and new indicators built to assess the potential of water loss reduction. To that end, ONEMA entrusted a three-years study to Cemagref in 2009 with a task on this topic. During my training project, a field experiment allowed to understand the impact of the three folowing actions: -active leakage control - pressure management - infrastructure management. The study began with a bibliographical review and a detailed analysis of the case study area. A methodology was defined in order to set up the different actions on the drinking water network. Implementation and assessment of the impact of the techniques were carried out in collaboration with SAUR compagny (operator of Razac sur l’Isle utility). The effects of each action were assessed and quantified. The quantified effects assessment of each technique stemed from the study allows to compose a practical manual about leakage management.La lutte contre les pertes d’eau est actuellement un enjeu majeur. La loi grenelle II ou la loi n°2010-788 du 12 juillet 2010 portant engagement national pour l’environnement comporte des modalités visant à inciter les gestionnaires des services d’eau à réduire les pertes des réseaux d’eau. L’amélioration de la connaissance des phénomènes à l’origine des fuites et l’étude d’indicateurs sont nécessaires pour évaluer le potentiel de réductions des pertes. Dans cette perspective, l’ONEMA a confié, en 2009, au Cemagref de Bordeaux une étude de trois ans. Au cours de ce projet de fin d’études, une analyse expérimentale du potentiel de réduction des fuites de trois types d’actions a été réalisée : -La recherche active de fuites -La modulation de pression - La gestion patrimoniale ciblée. L’étude a débuté par une bibliographie et une analyse approfondie du terrain d’étude qui ont permis de définir une méthodologie de mise en place de ces actions. La mise en oeuvre et le suivi des impacts de ces techniques ont ensuite été réalisés en lien avec l’agence SAUR de Razac-sur-l’Isle. L’influence de chacune des actions a pu être quantifiée et analysée. L’intérêt de l’étude est de mesurer l’impact de chacune de ces techniques afin de réaliser un guide méthodologique

A new French flash flood warning service

The French State services in charge of flood forecasting supervise about 22,000 km among the 120,000 km of the French rivers within a warning procedure called Vigilance Crues (http://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr). Some recent dramatic flood events on small watershed not covered by Vigilance Crues highlight the need for a new warning procedure to anticipate violent flash floods that regularly affect rapid river-basins. Thus the concept emerged of an automatic warning service specifically dedicated to local crisis managers. This service will be less elaborated than Vigilance Crues, probably with false alarms and missed events sometimes, but it will deliver a first information. The generation of the warning is based on a simple rainfall-runoff hydrological model developed by Irstea on all French rivers, fed with radar-gauge rainfall grids provided by Meteo-France. Every fifteen minutes, the hydrological model estimates the discharges on the rivers eligible to the service and determine if certain thresholds corresponding to a high or very high flood are likely to be exceeded. The last step of the real-time system is to determine which municipalities are concerned with flood risk and send them an automatic warning by voice call, optionally by sms or email. A specific web interface is available for users to monitor the evolution of the flood risk on maps that are updated every 15 minutes. This new flash flood warning service will be operational early 2017 as a free service for about 8,000 French municipalities

A new French flash flood warning service

The French State services in charge of flood forecasting supervise about 22,000 km among the 120,000 km of the French rivers within a warning procedure called Vigilance Crues (http://www.vigicrues.gouv.f

A new French flash flood warning service

The French State services in charge of flood forecasting supervise about 22,000 km among the 120,000 km of the French rivers within a warning procedure called Vigilance Crues (http://www.vigicrues.gouv.f

Présentation du projet Déduction

International audienc

Efficacy of biologics in psoriasis patients under hemodialysis.

International audienc

Comparison of ultraviolet B-induced imbalance of antioxidant status in foreskin- and abdominal skin-derived human fibroblasts.

International audienceUltraviolet B radiation (UVB) is involved in the development of deleterious cutaneous damage. Several changes could be attributed to UVB-induced reactive oxygen species attacks in fibroblasts. However dermal cells from young and adult skin could respond differently to oxidative stress. So antioxidant status and its consequences on cytotoxicity and apoptosis were compared in child foreskin fibroblasts (FF) and adult abdominal skin fibroblasts (AF) in response to UVB. Basal levels of lipid peroxidation tended to be higher in AF than in FF, which could be related to a reshaping of antioxidant defences (higher catalase and lower superoxide dismutase activities). AF and FF appeared to react similarly to high UVB doses as regards cytotoxicity and apoptosis which increased significantly 24h after exposure. The enhancement of cell death could be due to the inherent oxidative stress: glutathione appeared significantly decreased in both cell populations. As a consequence AF, but not FF, presented significantly increased levels of lipid peroxidation, which could be explained by the pre-cited differences of basal antioxidant defences. These results suggest that AF and FF do not respond to UVB by the same pathway