Hydrodynamique des sols : bassins versants expérimentaux de Thysse-Kaymor

Ce rapport fait le point sur deux expérimentations menées simultanément sur les bassins expérimentaux de Thysse Kaymor dans la région de Nioro du Rip au Sénégal : l'étude locale de l'infiltration en fonction du mode d'apport lame d'eau ou pluie, l'étude spatiale des relations pluie-ruissellement-état de surface. L'objectif visé de ces études est une meilleure compréhension physique de l'hydrodynamique de surface et souterraine qui doit conduire à une modélisation du ruissellement, complétant ainsi le bilan hydrique simulé actuellement disponibl

Improving estimates of water demand at scheme level using knowledge on farmers' practices

International audienceAccurate estimation of water demand at the irrigation scheme scale is a key requirement for water management, which is made difficult by the large diversity of crops and production systems. The main objective of this study was to estimate irrigation water demand at the farm scale, taking different types of knowledge into account: (i) database study, where water demand is supposed to be the supply (L0); (ii) actual cropping pattern (L1),; (iii) actual irrigation techniques and cropping pattern (L2); and (iv) actual irrigation practices, actual irrigation techniques, and cropping pattern (L3). Farm typology makes easy this estimation as it takes into account various farm characteristics. Firstly, a farm typology was established based on 115 farms surveyed in the irrigation scheme of Borj Toumi Toungar (Tunisia), selected for the study. Secondly, climatic crop water irrigation requirements were estimated using the agro-meteorological water balance model Pilote. Typology results were used to estimate water demand at the scale of family farms taking into account different levels of knowledge Six classes of farming areas were identified based on irrigation subsystems, cropping pattern (fruit tree area, cropping vegetable area and field crop area), intensification crop level and cropped surface. Results showed that supply could not entirely cover the climatic water demand. However, it could nearly meet actual water demand at the farm scale. According to the water demand estimation at different levels, results showed that there were few changes in water demand at farm scale when moving from L1 to L2. At the opposite, actual water demand (L3) represented about half the climatic water demand (L2). Calculations based on farm classes highlighted the importance of actual farm practices. Within the same class, the difference between water demand estimation at different levels of knowledge was remarkable. Network rehabilitation is thus necessary to enable farmers to increase water delivered to crops and limit water stress; the collective network was conceived to deliver a flow of 0.34 l/s/ha in this sector. Given changes in farming and varietal choices, this flow proved insufficient to face the climatic water demand

R-local Delaunay inhibition model

Let us consider the local specification system of Gibbs point process with inhib ition pairwise interaction acting on some Delaunay subgraph specifically not con taining the edges of Delaunay triangles with circumscribed circle of radius grea ter than some fixed positive real value $R$. Even if we think that there exists at least a stationary Gibbs state associated to such system, we do not know yet how to prove it mainly due to some uncontrolled "negative" contribution in the expression of the local energy needed to insert any number of points in some large enough empty region of the space. This is solved by introducing some subgraph, called the $R$-local Delaunay graph, which is a slight but tailored modification of the previous one. This kind of model does not inherit the local stability property but satisfies s ome new extension called $R$-local stability. This weakened property combined with the local property provides the existence o f Gibbs state.Comment: soumis \`{a} Journal of Statistical Physics 27 page

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) proviral DNA load in purified CD4+ cells by LightCycler(® )Real-time PCR

BACKGROUND: The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) proviral DNA persists in infected cells, even after prolonged successful HAART. In the present study, a relative quantification assay of HIV-1 proviral DNA by LightCycler(® )real-time PCR based on SYBR Green I detection was developed in comparison to the number of purified CD4+ cells as estimated by the quantification of the β-globin gene. METHODS: The ability of the designed gag primers to quantify HIV-1 Group M and the PCR efficiency were assessed on HIV-1 reference isolate subtypes A, B, C and D. The 8E5 cell line containing a single defective copy of HIV-1 proviral DNA was used as a standard for both the HIV-1 target gene and the β-globin reference gene. The assay was applied on thirty consecutive patient samples received for RNA viral load determinations and on retrospective samples from fifteen patients undergoing 2 years of structured treatment interruption (STI). RESULTS: The lower limit of quantification was 50 HIV-1 DNA proviral copies per CD4+ cell sample. The dynamic range was from 50 to 10(6 )HIV-1 DNA copies per CD4+ cell sample with intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variability ranging from 3.1% to 37.1%. The β-globin reference gene was quantified down to a limit of 1.5 pg of DNA/μl (approximately 5 cells) with intra- and interassay coefficients of variability ranging from 1.8% to 21%. DNA proviral load varies widely among HIV-1 infected patients. Proviral load and plasma viral load rebound were high in STI patients who took longer to achieve an undetectable plasma viral load under therapy. A statistically significant correlation was observed between DNA proviral load and RNA steady state viral load in STI patients (p-value = 0,012). CONCLUSION: We have developed a fast, sensitive and specific relative quantification assay of HIV-1 proviral DNA in purified CD4+ cells. The assay enables the monitoring of HIV-1 proviral load, which may be useful to monitor therapy efficacy especially in patients with undetectable plasma RNA viral load, and allows the exploration of viral reservoirs