Modeling the evolution of the Milky Way from Gaia DR3

Galactic stellar populations are good tracers of the history of the Milky Way. Their study via Gaia astrometric and photometric data should allow to pinpoint the star formation history (SFH) in the disc and halo in a self-consistent dynamical model. Population synthesis models are efficient tools to measure the SFH from the distribution of the stars in the Hess diagram, thanks to different locations of stars according to their age and metallicity. We present the iterative strategy planned to fit the IMF and the SFH of the thin disk using the BGMFast scheme (del Alcazar et al., see poster) based on approximate bayesian computation (ABC) performed with HPC tools and, at the same time, the attempt to keep the self-consistent dynamical model by fitting the gravitational potential of the Milky Way to the stellar kinematics and densities from Gaia data (Robin et al., 2022)

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field