Cattle methane fluxes measurement over an intensively grazed grassland using eddy covariance

audience: researcherMethane emissions account for 8% of the EU-15 GHG emissions and livestock generates approximately half of these emissions (European Commission, 2009). Recent technological advances in spectroscopy now permit methane flux measurement using eddy covariance. This method has numerous strengths. It can measure fluxes in situ, continuously and across broad areas. This provides information about meadow and cattle emission behaviour throughout the year and across a broad range of climatic conditions. We will present here a one year monitoring of methane exchange between an intensively grazed meadow and the atmosphere obtained using the eddy-covariance method. Methane fluxes exchanged by a grazed meadow were measured continuously since June 2012 at the Dorinne Terrestrial Observatory (50˚ 18’ 44” N; 4˚ 58’ 07” E; 248 m asl.) in Belgium. The site is an intensively pastured meadow of 4.2 ha managed according to the regional common practices where up to 30 Belgian Blue cows are grazing simultaneously. Flux measurements were made with the eddy covariance technique, using a fast CH4 analyzer (Picarro G2311-f) and a sonic anemometer (Campbell Csat3). Carbon dioxide fluxes and various micro-meteorological and soil variables, biomass growth and stocking rate evolution were also measured at the site. Turbulent fluxes were calculated according to standard eddy covariance computation schemes and were filtered for non-stationarity and for low friction velocity (u*) events. During grazing periods, fluxes are dominated by the enteric fermentation source and average 111 nmol m-2 s-1. They are highly variable, probably due to cow movements in and out the measurement footprint and cow digestion rhythm. Despite this spread, a daily emission rhythm is observed with higher emissions during the afternoon. When fluxes are integrated over large periods, methane emissions were found strongly related to cattle stocking rate with a slope of 7.34±0.78 mol CH4 day-1 LSU-1. Further developments are ongoing in order to improve cattle geo-localization through infra-red cameras and individual home-made GPS devices. The two systems will be compared in terms of cost, efficiency and ease of use. During cow-free periods, the methane flux averages 10.5 nmol m-2 s-1 and is highly variable with some production peaks above 100 nmol m-2 s-1. No relation was found between methane fluxes and soil temperature while a weak negative relation was found between methane fluxes and soil humidity. No soil methane absorption has been observed. European Commission. Fifth National Communication from the European Community Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Technical Report - 2009 – 038 (2009)

Calibration of soil moisture sensors for a long-term field experiment

In the framework of the ICOS RI network, a field site in Lonzée, Belgium, is equipped to provide long-term data on greenhouse gas emissions from an agricultural field and the associated environmental variables. Soil moisture is one of the state variables which are monitored with high temporal resolution and with several repetitions in the field to take into account soil heterogeneity. In order to facilitate field installation in combination with agricultural practices, Sentek Enviroscan sensors, a collection of FDR sensors at different depths on a stick, were chosen to measure soil moisture. In this contribution, we will discuss the results of a detailed calibration experiment we performed for this sensor type and compare it to the results we got from a different FDR sensor: the ML3 Thetaprobe. We calibrated the probes for the different soil horizons at 3 different locations in the field using big reconstructed soil columns which were brought to defined soil moisture levels in the lab. The results showed that the universal calibration relationship of the sensors gave quite similar results as the soil-specific calibration up till a moisture content of 40%. We also observed that the higher the soil moisture content becomes, the more difficult it is to obtain a homogeneous distribution of the water in the calibration column which might have an impact on the sensor readings

Death receptor pathways mediate targeted and non-targeted effects of ionizing radiations in breast cancer cells

Delayed cell death by mitotic catastrophe is a frequent mode of solid tumor cell death after γ-irradiation, a widely used treatment of cancer. Whereas the mechanisms that underlie the early γ-irradiation-induced cell death are well documented, those that drive the delayed cell death are largely unknown. Here we show that the Fas, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α death receptor pathways mediate the delayed cell death observed after γ-irradiation of breast cancer cells. Early after irradiation, we observe the increased expression of Fas, TRAIL-R and TNF-R that first sensitizes cells to apoptosis. Later, the increased expression of FasL, TRAIL and TNF-α permit the apoptosis engagement linked to mitotic catastrophe. Treatments with TNF-α, TRAIL or anti-Fas antibody, early after radiation exposure, induce apoptosis, whereas the neutralization of the three death receptors pathways impairs the delayed cell death. We also show for the first time that irradiated breast cancer cells excrete soluble forms of the three ligands that can induce the death of sensitive bystander cells. Overall, these results define the molecular basis of the delayed cell death of irradiated cancer cells and identify the death receptors pathways as crucial actors in apoptosis induced by targeted as well as non-targeted effects of ionizing radiation

Tissue-specific differentiation of colonic macrophages requires TGFβ receptor-mediated signaling

Intestinal macrophages (mφ) form one of the largest populations of mφ in the body and are vital for the maintenance of gut homeostasis. They have several unique properties and are derived from local differentiation of classical Ly6Chi monocytes, but the factors driving this tissue-specific process are not understood. Here we have used global transcriptomic analysis to identify a unique homeostatic signature of mature colonic mφ that is acquired as they differentiate in the mucosa. By comparing the analogous monocyte differentiation process found in the dermis, we identify TGFβ as an indispensable part of monocyte differentiation in the intestine and show that it enables mφ to adapt precisely to the requirements of their environment. Importantly, TGFβR signaling on mφ has a crucial role in regulating the accumulation of monocytes in the mucosa, via mechanisms that are distinct from those used by IL10