Sondage du sous-sol martien par un radar basse-fréquence depuis un satellite en orbite basse : analyses physiques et préparation des données

On June 2003, the European Space Agency launched the Mars Express spacecraft toward Mars, with the MARSIS radar on board, for the mapping of the Martian subsurface and the detection of ice and liquid water. Our objectives were to perform a physical analysis of the measurement and to support the future data interpretation. To do so, we developed a MARSIS signal simulation based on MOLA topography of Mars's surface. Due to surface smoothness, we used the Facet Method and modeled the ground through a series of tangent planes that are 500m wide. The simulation includes an underground interface and ionosphere effects on the radar signal. Our results are presented and we test the ground and on board signal processing. A special focus has been set on the difference between North and South surface echoes. The satellite's orbital parameters are taken into account, allowing the simulation to be used for planning purposes.Cette thèse est liée au radar MARSIS, un des équipements de la mission d'exploration Martienne Mars Express dont la maîtrise d'oeuvre est gérée par l'ESA, et le décollage prévu pour Juin 2003. Plus précisément, il s'agit d'étudier le sondage radar basse fréquence de la surface Martienne grâce à un satellite en orbite basse. L'objectif scientifique principal est de cartographier la distribution en eau solide et liquide du sous-sol Martien. Le travail au cours de cette thèse consiste à modéliser le signal radar qui sera employé, et notamment les effets de la propagation à travers l'ionosphère Martienne et de la réflexion sur la surface. Ce travail servira alors d'étape préliminaire à la préparation de la réduction des données de cette mission, et à leur interprétation. La première partie de la thèse a consisté à étudier puis modéliser la propagation d'une onde électromagnétique basse fréquence. Le radar employé est basé sur la technique de la synthèse d'ouverture (SAR), opérant à basse fréquence pour permettre la pénétration de l'onde dans le sol en minimisant les pertes diélectriques. L'analyse de la propagation de cette onde montre que sa traversée à travers l'ionosphère induit d'importantes distorsions, qui consistent en une perte de cohérence de phase pulse à pulse, ce qui va engendrer un étalement du pulse, et en une atténuation de l'onde. L'impact de chaque phénomène est dépendent de la fréquence de l'onde et de la constitution de l'ionosphère, notamment en ce qui concerne sa densité électronique. Ces deux facteurs peuvent réduire significativement la résolution du signal radar et ses capacités de pénétration dans le sol. La seconde partie de la thèse a pour but la modélisation de la surface et du sous-sol. Une grande partie du signal radar sera réfléchie sur l'interface constituée par la surface alors qu'une partie transmise permettra, grâce à des réflexions en profondeur, le sondage effectif du sous-sol. La méthode de numérisation utilisée pour les calculs de réflexions de surface est la méthode dite de modélisation par facettes. Il s'agit de représenter la surface réelle par une suite de facettes planes continue, chacune de celles-ci étant tangente à la surface réelle. Cette méthode a été choisie pour respecter la nature relativement plane de la surface Martienne, grâce à l'utilisation de facettes de taille relativement importante. Cette caractéristique nous permet en outre de réduire le nombre de facettes employées dans le modèle et donc, de le simplifier. Afin de modéliser les interactions sous-sol / onde radar électromagnétique tout en conservant un temps de calcul acceptable, la simulation actuelle n'utilise qu'une seule interface plane dans le sous-sol, dont la profondeur et l'inclinaison peuvent être paramétrées pour modéliser différentes configurations. La simulation ainsi écrite permet de modéliser le signal radar reçu en écho après réflexions sur les différentes interfaces de surface et sous-sol. Différents choix de configurations, que ce soit au niveau de la fréquence radar utilisée ou de la géométrie et de la composition du sol sont utilisables

Room Temperature Coherent and Voltage Tunable Terahertz Emission from Nanometer-Sized Field Effect Transistors

We report on reflective electro-optic sampling measurements of TeraHertz emission from nanometer-gate-length InGaAs-based high electron mobility transistors. The room temperature coherent gate-voltage tunable emission is demonstrated. We establish that the physical mechanism of the coherent TeraHertz emission is related to the plasma waves driven by simultaneous current and optical excitation. A significant shift of the plasma frequency and the narrowing of the emission with increasing channel's current are observed and explained as due to the increase of the carriers density and drift velocity.Comment: 3 figure

Tspan8 is expressed in breast cancer and regulates E-cadherin/catenin signalling and metastasis accompanied by increased circulating extracellular vesicles

Tspan8 exhibits a functional role in many cancer types including pancreatic, colorectal, oesophagus carcinoma, and melanoma. We present a first study on the expression and function of Tspan8 in breast cancer. Tspan8 protein was present in the majority of human primary breast cancer lesions and metastases in the brain, bone, lung, and liver. In a syngeneic rat breast cancer model, Tspan8$^{+}$ tumours formed multiple liver and spleen metastases, while Tspan8$^{-}$ tumours exhibited a significantly diminished ability to metastasise, indicating a role of Tspan8 in metastases. Addressing the underlying molecular mechanisms, we discovered that Tspan8 can mediate up‐regulation of E‐cadherin and down‐regulation of Twist, p120‐catenin, and β‐catenin target genes accompanied by the change of cell phenotype, resembling the mesenchymal–epithelial transition. Furthermore, Tspan8$^{+}$ cells exhibited enhanced cell–cell adhesion, diminished motility, and decreased sensitivity to irradiation. As a regulator of the content and function of extracellular vesicles (EVs), Tspan8 mediated a several‐fold increase in EV number in cell culture and the circulation of tumour‐bearing animals. We observed increased protein levels of E‐cadherin and p120‐catenin in these EVs; furthermore, Tspan8 and p120‐catenin were co‐immunoprecipitated, indicating that they may interact with each other. Altogether, our findings show the presence of Tspan8 in breast cancer primary lesion and metastases and indicate its role as a regulator of cell behaviour and EV release in breast cancer

Comparative Analysis of Gene Content Evolution in Phytoplasmas and Mycoplasmas

Phytoplasmas and mycoplasmas are two groups of important pathogens in the bacterial class Mollicutes. Because of their economical and clinical importance, these obligate pathogens have attracted much research attention. However, difficulties involved in the empirical study of these bacteria, particularly the fact that phytoplasmas have not yet been successfully cultivated outside of their hosts despite decades of attempts, have greatly hampered research progress. With the rapid advancements in genome sequencing, comparative genome analysis provides a new approach to facilitate our understanding of these bacteria. In this study, our main focus is to investigate the evolution of gene content in phytoplasmas, mycoplasmas, and their common ancestor. By using a phylogenetic framework for comparative analysis of 12 complete genome sequences, we characterized the putative gains and losses of genes in these obligate parasites. Our results demonstrated that the degradation of metabolic capacities in these bacteria has occurred predominantly in the common ancestor of Mollicutes, prior to the evolutionary split of phytoplasmas and mycoplasmas. Furthermore, we identified a list of genes that are acquired by the common ancestor of phytoplasmas and are conserved across all strains with complete genome sequences available. These genes include several putative effectors for the interactions with hosts and may be good candidates for future functional characterization

Specific Evolution of F1-Like ATPases in Mycoplasmas

F1F0 ATPases have been identified in most bacteria, including mycoplasmas which have very small genomes associated with a host-dependent lifestyle. In addition to the typical operon of eight genes encoding genuine F1F0 ATPase (Type 1), we identified related clusters of seven genes in many mycoplasma species. Four of the encoded proteins have predicted structures similar to the α, β, γ and ε subunits of F1 ATPases and could form an F1-like ATPase. The other three proteins display no similarity to any other known proteins. Two of these proteins are probably located in the membrane, as they have three and twelve predicted transmembrane helices. Phylogenomic studies identified two types of F1-like ATPase clusters, Type 2 and Type 3, characterized by a rapid evolution of sequences with the conservation of structural features. Clusters encoding Type 2 and Type 3 ATPases were assumed to originate from the Hominis group of mycoplasmas. We suggest that Type 3 ATPase clusters may spread to other phylogenetic groups by horizontal gene transfer between mycoplasmas in the same host, based on phylogeny and genomic context. Functional analyses in the ruminant pathogen Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides showed that the Type 3 cluster genes were organized into an operon. Proteomic analyses demonstrated that the seven encoded proteins were produced during growth in axenic media. Mutagenesis and complementation studies demonstrated an association of the Type 3 cluster with a major ATPase activity of membrane fractions. Thus, despite their tendency toward genome reduction, mycoplasmas have evolved and exchanged specific F1-like ATPases with no known equivalent in other bacteria. We propose a model, in which the F1-like structure is associated with a hypothetical X0 sector located in the membrane of mycoplasma cells

Proteomics Characterization of Cytoplasmic and Lipid-Associated Membrane Proteins of Human Pathogen Mycoplasma fermentans M64

Mycoplasma fermentans is a potent human pathogen which has been implicated in several diseases. Notably, its lipid-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs) play a role in immunomodulation and development of infection-associated inflammatory diseases. However, the systematic protein identification of pathogenic M. fermentans has not been reported. From our recent sequencing results of M. fermentans M64 isolated from human respiratory tract, its genome is around 1.1 Mb and encodes 1050 predicted protein-coding genes. In the present study, soluble proteome of M. fermentans was resolved and analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In addition, Triton X-114 extraction was carried out to enrich amphiphilic proteins including putative lipoproteins and membrane proteins. Subsequent mass spectrometric analyses of these proteins had identified a total of 181 M. fermentans ORFs. Further bioinformatics analysis of these ORFs encoding proteins with known or so far unknown orthologues among bacteria revealed that a total of 131 proteins are homologous to known proteins, 11 proteins are conserved hypothetical proteins, and the remaining 39 proteins are likely M. fermentans-specific proteins. Moreover, Triton X-114-enriched fraction was shown to activate NF-kB activity of raw264.7 macrophage and a total of 21 lipoproteins with predicted signal peptide were identified therefrom. Together, our work provides the first proteome reference map of M. fermentans as well as several putative virulence-associated proteins as diagnostic markers or vaccine candidates for further functional study of this human pathogen

The MARSIS Radar, Signal Simulation and Interpretation Using MOLA Topography Data

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