Eau dans la ville et développement durable : Actes des treizièmes journées du Diplôme d'études approfondies Sciences et techniques de l'environnement, organisées les 15 et 16 mai 2002, à Créteil

International audienceDix ans que le concept de développement durable, a acquis droit de cité et a quitté le petit cercle restreint des militants et des experts. La France dispose même aujourd'hui d'une.ministre et d'une secrétaire d'état au développement durable. Du fait de cette célébrité soudaine, le développement durable et les principes quilui sont attachés, comme le principe de précaution, se retrouvent souvent employés au mieux à mauvais escient, au pire à contresens. Malgré ces inconvénients, la notion de développement durable a eu le mérite, entre autres, de repositionner le débat environnemental dans le cadre du développement de la société à la fois aux plans économique, social et même, s'agissant des expériences de démocratie participative, politique.Dans ce contexte, le secteur de l'eau apparaît particulièrement crucial..

Design of a new multi-phase experimental simulation chamber for atmospheric photosmog, aerosol and cloud chemistry research

A new simulation chamber has been built at the Interuniversitary Laboratory of Atmospheric Systems (LISA). The CESAM chamber (French acronym for Experimental Multiphasic Atmospheric Simulation Chamber) is designed to allow research in multiphase atmospheric (photo-) chemistry which involves both gas phase and condensed phase processes including aerosol and cloud chemistry. CESAM has the potential to carry out variable temperature and pressure experiments under a very realistic artificial solar irradiation. It consists of a 4.2 m<sup>3</sup> stainless steel vessel equipped with three high pressure xenon arc lamps which provides a controlled and steady environment. Initial characterization results, all carried out at 290–297 K under dry conditions, concerning lighting homogeneity, mixing efficiency, ozone lifetime, radical sources, NO<sub>y</sub> wall reactivity, particle loss rates, background PM, aerosol formation and cloud generation are given. Photolysis frequencies of NO<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> related to chamber radiation system were found equal to (4.2 × 10<sup>−3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>) for <i>J</i><sub>NO<sub>2</sub></sub> and (1.4 × 10<sup>−5</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>) for <i>J</i><sub>O<sup>1</sup>D</sub> which is comparable to the solar radiation in the boundary layer. An auxiliary mechanism describing NO<sub>y</sub> wall reactions has been developed. Its inclusion in the Master Chemical Mechanism allowed us to adequately model the results of experiments on the photo-oxidation of propene-NO<sub>x</sub>-Air mixtures. Aerosol yields for the α-pinene + O<sub>3</sub> system chosen as a reference were determined and found in good agreement with previous studies. Particle lifetime in the chamber ranges from 10 h to 4 days depending on particle size distribution which indicates that the chamber can provide high quality data on aerosol aging processes and their effects. Being evacuable, it is possible to generate in this new chamber clouds by fast expansion or saturation with or without the presence of pre-existing particles, which will provide a multiphase environment for aerosol-droplet interaction

Urban lakes: interaction between phytoplankton dynamics and trace metal speciation

9 p.International audienceUrban lakes have a particular influence on the water cycle in urban catchments. Thermal stratification and a longer residence time of the water within the lake can boost the phytoplankton production. On the other hand, trace metals are naturally found in environment in trace amounts due to erosion and physic-chemical or biological alteration processes. Trace metals are essential to growth and reproduction of organisms. However, they are also well known for their toxic effects on animals and humans. Their ecotoxicity depends on metal properties and chemical speciation (particulate, dissolved: labile or bioavailable and inert fractions). The interaction between phytoplankton production and trace metal speciation is not well understood until present time. The aim of this research is twofold: (1) to analyze the driving processes of the phytoplankton production in an urban lake through physical-chemical and biological field data collection and (2) simultaneously to survey the chemical speciation of trace metals in this lake. To address these issues, a field survey and laboratory analysis, including physical-chemical, biological variables, organic matter and trace metal concentrations, have been designed and implemented in an urban study site: Lake Créteil in France

Zac1 functions through TGFβII to negatively regulate cell number in the developing retina

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Organs are programmed to acquire a particular size during development, but the regulatory mechanisms that dictate when dividing progenitor cells should permanently exit the cell cycle and stop producing additional daughter cells are poorly understood. In differentiated tissues, tumor suppressor genes maintain a constant cell number and intact tissue architecture by controlling proliferation, apoptosis and cell dispersal. Here we report a similar role for two tumor suppressor genes, the <it>Zac1 </it>zinc finger transcription factor and that encoding the cytokine TGFβII, in the developing retina.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using loss and gain-of-function approaches, we show that <it>Zac1 </it>is an essential negative regulator of retinal size. <it>Zac1 </it>mutants develop hypercellular retinae due to increased progenitor cell proliferation and reduced apoptosis at late developmental stages. Consequently, supernumerary rod photoreceptors and amacrine cells are generated, the latter of which form an ectopic cellular layer, while other retinal cells are present in their normal number and location. Strikingly, <it>Zac1 </it>functions as a direct negative regulator of a rod fate, while acting cell non-autonomously to modulate amacrine cell number. We implicate TGFβII, another tumor suppressor and cytokine, as a <it>Zac1</it>-dependent amacrine cell negative feedback signal. TGFβII and phospho-Smad2/3, its downstream effector, are expressed at reduced levels in <it>Zac1 </it>mutant retinae, and exogenous TGFβII relieves the mutant amacrine cell phenotype. Moreover, treatment of wild-type retinae with a soluble TGFβ inhibitor and TGFβ receptor II (TGFβRII) conditional mutants generate excess amacrine cells, phenocopying the <it>Zac1 </it>mutant phenotype.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We show here that <it>Zac1 </it>has an essential role in cell number control during retinal development, akin to its role in tumor surveillance in mature tissues. Furthermore, we demonstrate that <it>Zac1 </it>employs a novel cell non-autonomous strategy to regulate amacrine cell number, acting in cooperation with a second tumor suppressor gene, <it>TGFβII</it>, through a negative feedback pathway. This raises the intriguing possibility that tumorigenicity may also be associated with the loss of feedback inhibition in mature tissues.</p

Atmospheric chemistry of isopropyl formate and tert-butyl formate

Article on the atmospheric chemistry of isopropyl formate and tert-butyl formate

The NALCN ion channel is activated by M3 muscarinic receptors in a pancreatic β-cell line

A previously uncharacterized putative ion channel, NALCN (sodium leak channel, non-selective), has been recently shown to be responsible for the tetrodotoxin (TTX)-resistant sodium leak current implicated in the regulation of neuronal excitability. Here, we show that NALCN encodes a current that is activated by M3 muscarinic receptors (M3R) in a pancreatic β-cell line. This current is primarily permeant to sodium ions, independent of intracellular calcium stores and G proteins but dependent on Src activation, and resistant to TTX. The current is recapitulated by co-expression of NALCN and M3R in human embryonic kidney-293 cells and in Xenopus oocytes. We also show that NALCN and M3R belong to the same protein complex, involving the intracellular I–II loop of NALCN and the intracellular i3 loop of M3R. Taken together, our data show the molecular basis of a muscarinic-activated inward sodium current that is independent of G-protein activation, and provide new insights into the properties of NALCN channels

Relating hygroscopicity and optical properties to chemical composition and structure of secondary organic aerosol particles generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) were generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene in the CESAM (French acronym for Experimental Multiphasic Atmospheric Simulation Chamber) simulation chamber. The SOA formation and aging were studied by following their optical, hygroscopic and chemical properties. The optical properties were investigated by determining the particle complex refractive index (CRI). The hygroscopicity was quantified by measuring the effect of relative humidity (RH) on the particle size (size growth factor, GF) and on the scattering coefficient (scattering growth factor, f(RH)). The oxygen to carbon atomic ratios (O : C) of the particle surface and bulk were used as a sensitive parameter to correlate the changes in hygroscopic and optical properties of the SOA composition during their formation and aging in CESAM. The real CRI at 525 nm wavelength decreased from 1.43–1.60 (±0.02) to 1.32–1.38 (±0.02) during the SOA formation. The decrease in the real CRI correlated to the O : C decrease from 0.68 (±0.20) to 0.55 (±0.16). In contrast, the GF remained roughly constant over the reaction time, with values of 1.02–1.07 (±0.02) at 90% (±4.2%) RH. Simultaneous measurements of O : C of the particle surface revealed that the SOA was not composed of a homogeneous mixture, but contained less oxidised species at the surface which may limit water absorption. In addition, an apparent change in both mobility diameter and scattering coefficient with increasing RH from 0 to 30% was observed for SOA after 14 h of reaction. We postulate that this change could be due to a change in the viscosity of the SOA from a predominantly glassy state to a predominantly liquid state