RUFY4 deletion prevents pathological bone loss by blocking endo-lysosomal trafficking of osteoclasts

Mature osteoclasts degrade bone matrix by exocytosis of active proteases from secretory lysosomes through a ruffled border.However,the molecular mechanisms underlying lysosomal trafficking and secretion in osteoclasts remain largely unknown.Here,we show with GeneChip analysis that RUN and FYVE domain-containing protein 4(RUFY4)is strongly upregulated during osteoclastogenesis.Mice lacking Rufy4 exhibited a high trabecular bone mass phenotype with abnormalities in osteoclast function in vivo.Furthermore,deleting Rufy4 did not affect osteoclast differentiation,but inhibited bone-resorbing activity due to disruption in the acidic maturation of secondary lysosomes,their trafficking to the membrane,and their secretion of cathepsin K into the extracellular space.Mechanistically,RUFY4 promotes late endosome-lysosome fusion by acting as an adaptor protein between Rab7 on late endosomes and LAMP2 on primary lysosomes.Consequently,Rufy4-deficient mice were highly protected from lipopolysaccharide-and ovariectomy-induced bone loss.Thus,RUFY4 plays as a new regulator in osteoclast activity by mediating endo-lysosomal trafficking and have a potential to be specific target for therapies against bone-loss diseases such as osteoporosis.

Contribution of SAR Radar Imagery in the Detection of Suspicious Vessels in the Ivorian EEZ

The present work proposed a method for match SAR and AIS data to detect vessels carrying out suspicious activity in the Ivorian EEZ. Two superposition methods, detected AIS and SAR data, based on point-to-point association on the one hand and point-to-line on the other hand, were used to detect suspicious vessels in Ivorian marine waters. The results showed that most vessels detected in the Ivorian EEZ do not declare their positions to avoid being spotted. These funds are likely to practice illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing (INN fishing). This clandestine activity is very recurrent in Ivorian waters. This is illustrated by the number of suspicious vessels detected by SAR radar imagery which is greater compared to declared or authorized vessels.

Detection of Burned Areas through Spectral Indices Analysis of Sentinel-2A Satellite Images in the Abokouamékro Wildlife Reserve (Central, Côte D’Ivoire)

In Côte d’Ivoire, the recurring and unregulated use of bushfires, which cause ecological damage, presents a pressing concern for the custodians of protected areas. This study aims to enhance our comprehension of the dynamics of burnt areas within the Abokouamékro Wildlife Reserve (AWR) by employing the analysis of spectral indices derived from satellite imagery. The research methodology began with the calculation of mean indices and their corresponding spectral sub-indices, including NDVI, SAVI, NDWI, NDMI, BAI, NBR, TCW, TCG, and TCB, utilizing data from the Sentinel-2A satellite image dated January 17, 2022. Subsequently, a fuzzy classification model was applied to these various indices and sub-indices, guided by the degree of membership α, with the goal of effectively distinguishing between burned and unburned areas. Following the classification, the accuracies of the classified indices and sub-indices were validated using the coordinates of 100 data points collected within the AWR through GPS technology. The results revealed that the overall accuracy of all indices and sub-indices declines as the degree of membership α decreases from 1 to 0. Among the mean spectral indices, NDVI-mean, SAVI-mean, NDMI-mean exhibited the highest overall accuracies, achieving 97%, 95%, and 90%, respectively. These results closely mirrored those obtained by sub-indices using band 8 (NDVI-B8, SAVI-B8, and NDMI-B8), which yield respective overall accuracies of 93%, 92%, and 89%. At a degree of membership α = 1, the estimated burned areas for the most effective indices encompassed 2144.38 hectares for NDVI-mean, 1932.14 hectares for mean SAVI-mean, and 4947.13 hectares for mean NDMI-mean. A prospective approach involving the amalgamation of these three indices could have the potential to yield improved outcomes. This study could be a substantial contribution to the discrimination of bushfires in Côte d’Ivoire.

Hydrochemical Characterization of Groundwater in the Sub-Prefecture of Kokumbo (Ivory Coast)

In the Kokumbo sub-prefecture, groundwater extraction related to gold panning remains a major concern, not to mention the deterioration of its quality. Among the work carried out on water resources, no scientific interest has been shown in groundwater to characterise it. The objective of this study is to contribute to the knowledge of its physico-chemical quality. In situ measurements and physico-chemical analyses using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) were carried out on five (5) human-powered pump (HPP) water samples and six (6) well water samples collected during low and high water seasons. The results show that the physico-chemical quality of the water, which is sometimes turbid, is satisfactory in terms of the mineralization of the borehole and well water, and the pH of the boreholes, while the temperatures of the two waters and the pH of the wells do not comply with WHO standards. The levels of major ions are recommended for consumption. The waters are classified as predominantly bicarbonate-calcium and magnesium (73%) in the dry season and in the flood season, with an equal split between bicarbonate-calcium and magnesium (45.5%) and chloride-calcium and magnesium (45.5%). The elimination of materials responsible for the turbidity of certain waters by managers or populations is essential for drinking water use. The risk linked to this element means that these turbid waters are not recommended for drinking water.

Contribution of a Websig to a Study of the Distribution of Education Staff for Vocational Training in Côte D’ivoire

Education makes it possible to pass from one generation to another, the culture necessary for the development of the personality and the social integration of the individual. Education contributes closely to the supervision of students and remains the responsibility of educators and education inspectors. But each education staff admits the number of students supported. This number is two hundred and eighty (280) students per educator and one thousand two thousand (2000) per education inspector. Our study aims at taking stock of the adequacy between school enrollment and education staff enrollment from a WebSIG for vocational training schools in Côte d’Ivoire. To achieve this, the methodology adopted led us to use the MERISE analysis method for setting up the database, web programming languages (HTML 5, PHP, CSS, XML and JavaScript), AJAX technology, Apache web server, DBMS (MySQL), Google Maps API. The results from the use of WebSIG highlight the disparity in the distribution of education personnel. These results also show which schools remain in need as well as in excess.

Ferns and Lycophytes in Two Areas of Ecotone between Seasonal Semideciduous Forest and Mixed Ombrophilous Forest in Campo Mourão, Paraná, Brazil

The aim of the present study was to present the wealth, ecological characteristics and the floristic similarity of ferns and lycophytes from two forest areas of the municipality of Campo Mour?o, PR, Brazil. The vegetation of the municipality is characterized mainly by an ecotone between the Seasonal Semideciduous Forest and Mixed Ombrophilous Forest. We recorded 56 species, distributed in 31 genera and 16 families. The most representative families were Pteridaceae (14) and Polypodiaceae (11) and the wealthier genre was Thelypteris (6). The terricolous species were predominant (72%) and the preferential environments were riparian vegetation and forest interior (70%). The flora of Campo Mour?o was more similar to the studies conducted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the cophenetic correlation coefficient (r = 0.9058) showed a consistent adjust. In the principal components analysis (PCA) the variance explained by the two principal components was 72.99%. The wealth found in this study corresponds to approximately 11.4% of the flora of ferns and lycophytes of Paraná. Future contributions are needed to increase the knowledge about the flora of ferns and lycophytes in areas of ecotone, mainly in the region of Campo Mour?o, where the studies are scarce.

Effects of Aromatherapy of Himekuromoji (<i>Lindera lancea</i>), Essential Oil on Vital and Stress, Emotion and Cognitive Function of the Elderly in Need of Care

Although there are limited means of delaying the cognitive decline in patients with dementia, aromatherapy contributes to alleviating the pain manifested through peripheral symptoms and psychological expression of dementia as part of dementia control. However, there are no studies that comprehensively verify the stress reduction effect, cognitive function, vital signs, etc. in the elderly requiring long-term care. In this study, we focused on Himekuromoji (Lindera lancea ), which grows naturally in Japan and has no verification cases and decided to verify the possibility of aromatherapy using that essential oil. As a result, olfactory stimulation by Lindera lancea aroma stabilizes the mood and emotions of the client and suppressed the rise in blood pressure. In sentiment analysis, four emotions were quantified using a wearable device. Although the effects of worker emotions on labor productivity have already been elucidated using the same device as in this study, emotional quantification by aromatherapy intervention is unprecedented. There were no significant differences in the four emotions depending on the intervention period and test section, but we were able to capture changes in emotions due to differences in recreational activities. In addition, it is considered that the client was able to spend about 30% of the activity time in a relaxed manner. It was expected that this aromatherapy as complementary and alternative medicine could contribute to the good emotional control of all the people involved. The COVID 19 pandemic has led to restrictions on human-to-human interaction, so the importance of emotional control represented by stress control is increasing for all humankind. Therefore, it was expected that this aromatherapy as complementary and alternative medicine could contribute to the good emotional control of all the people involved.

Webmapping of Floods in the West of the Ivorian Coast

To provide answers to the problem of the management of its coastal zone, C&ocirc;te d’Ivoire has initiated a pooling of data collected on the coast to feed its environmental information management system. To this end, it was a question of creating an interactive platform for decision support for the development of this coastal zone. To achieve this objective, high spatial resolution raster data from 15 to 90 m from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and land cover vector data from 2017 were collected for processing in Websig software (QGIS 3.4, PostGreSql 10.5, PostGIS), published and displayed in Geoserveur for programming HTML, CSS and JavaScript codes in Atom. The results first made it possible to visualize the main issues in the interface, in particular, the rivers, the classified forests, the degraded forests, the intact forests, the housing and the industrial plantations and then to assess the risks of floods in Sassandra and San-Pédro. For overflow hazards 100 m beyond the shore, it is the houses, part of the forests and some bare soil that are submerged. As for the risks of overflowing 200 to 500 m beyond the shore, it is a large part of the housing, soils and intact forests that will be flooded. This tool must be made available to the final beneficiaries (users) by putting it online and listing it in the main search engines.

Mapping of Coastal Hazards in the South-West of Côte d’Ivoire on SRTM Images

Finding a solution to the coastal risks that are becoming recurrent in C&#244;te d’Ivoire, including the risk of flooding, data collection has been undertaken on the entire coast. High spatial resolution images such as the SRTM images were used to be processed in the Qgis software to evaluate with high precision the overflow hazards of the coastal courses from Tabou to Sassandra, located on the west coast of the country. To do this, the layers of the processed slopes were superimposed on those of the rivers to assess the risks of overflow in the coastal areas concerned. It appears that these areas are marked by low slopes (<16.3%), or even none, likely to increase the intensity of the hazards of overflow of the Sassandra river in Sassandra and the Djiboué lagoon in San-Pédro. The foreseeable risks associated with simulations of overflow distances of 100 to 500 m of the rivers constitute threats to the port activities of San-Pédro that can cause big economic losses for the country, businesses, tourism activities and lodge complexes, coastal resources, and housing. An interactive cartography interface could make it possible to better visualize the results of the processing carried out in a Websig with a view to proposing sustainable solutions for the development of the Integrated Coastal Development and Management Plan of the Ivorian coastal area.

Analysis and Forecasting of the Impact of Climatic Parameters on the Yield of Rain-Fed Rice Cultivation in the Office Riz Mopti in Mali

During the period spanning the 1970s and1980s, countries in the West African Sahel experienced severe drought. Its impact on agriculture and ecosystems has highlighted the importance of monitoring the Sahelian rainy season. In Sahelian countries such as Mali, rainfall is the major determinant of crop production. Unfortunately, rainfall is highly variable in time and space. Therefore, this study is conducted to analyze and forecast the impact of climatic parameters on the rain-fed rice yield cultivation in the Office Riz Mopti region. The data were collected from satellite imagery, archived meteorology data, yield and rice characteristics. The study employed Hanning filter to highlight interannual fluctuation, a test of Pettitt and the standardized precipitation index (SPI) to analyze the rainfall variability. Climate change scenarios under the RCP 8.5 scenario (HadGEM-2 ES) and agroclimatic (Cropwat) model are carried out to simulate the future climate and its impact on rice yields. The results of satellite image classifications of 1986 and 2016 show an increase of rice fields with a noticeable decrease of bare soil. The analysis of the SPI reveals that over the 30 years considered, 56.67% of the rainy seasons were dry (1986-2006) and 43.33% were wet (2007-2015). The modelling approach is applied over 1986-2006 and 2007-2015 periods—considered as typical dry and rainy years—and applied over the future, with forecasts of climate change scenarios in 2034. The results show a decrease in potential yield during dry and slightly wet years. The yields of rain-fed rice will be generally low between 2016 and 2027. Deficits are observed over the entire study area, in comparison with the potential yield. Thus, this situation could expose the population to food insecurity.

Land Cover Dynamics and Assessment of the Impacts of Agricultural Pressures on Wetlands Based on Earth Observation Data: Case of the Azagny Ramsar Site in Southern Côte d’Ivoire

The Azagny Ramsar site has been the scene of very strong agricultural pressures for several decades. In C&#244;te d’Ivoire, management policies, previously developed and implemented in wetlands, remain very sensitive and vulnerable to environmental changes. It is to overcome these environmental management difficulties that this study was carried out to assess the impacts of mainly industrial agricultural activities on the wetland. To achieve this goal, we mapped the land use dynamics of the study area by a series of Landsat imagery from 1988, 2002, 2008, and 2019 and obtained 11 classes. The spatial analysis of the dynamics of land use from these images has shown that the increase in agricultural operations around the protected area has favored the reduction of several ecosystems of natural plant formations (forests, savannas, mangroves) amounting to 36.34% to the benefit of artificial plant formations such as rubber, oil palm and coconut trees (42.73%). However, these losses of natural plant formations are more accentuated outside the Ramsar site (peripheral zone) than in the Ramsar site with the example of mangroves which have lost 3.27% of their area in the Ramsar site against 33.80% in the peripheral zone between 1988 and 2019. These changes are less accentuated in the Ramsar site than on the periphery thanks to the vigilance of the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserve (OIPR) and natural barriers (watercourses) that surround it.

Multidisciplinary Approach for a Basement Aquifer Location in Tanda Region, C&ocirc;te d’Ivoire

The lack of knowledge about fracture systems in Tanda region has led to an approximative establishment of drilling and so a difficult access to groundwater. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach including satellite imagery and electrical resistivity method was conducted with the main objective to locate productive fractures of water in the study area. Indeed, 195-54, 195-55, 196-54, and 196-55 scenes of Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite images were used. Also, sixty-two (62) vertical electrical soundings (VES) of the Schlumberger configuration and hundred twenty-nine (129) electrical trailing (ET) were performed with a resistivity-meter SYSCAL Pro. Thanks to different treatments applied to satellite images, structural lineaments have been extracted whose main directions are N00-10 (N-S), N90-100 (E-W), N70-80 and N100-110. The interpretation of electrical trailing data made it possible to validate the lineament map by the determination of the fracturing directions. Those are NW-SE, N-S, NE-SW and to some extent E-W. The result of the electrical sounding data showed the presence of three geoelectric layers comprising firstly cuirass and lateritic clays and possibly topsoil, secondly sands and/or clay sandstone and firdly either granites or sandstones or schists. The second geoelectrical layer corresponds to the potential aquifer because of its relatively low electrical resistivity values (13 Ω·m to 180 or 240 Ω·m). In addition, drillings established at the right of these geological structures provided an average water yield of 4.22 m3·h-1, sufficient for rural hydraulic. Moreover, these results made it possible to obtain a correlation between drilling productivity and the major directions of fracturing. This indicates that the most productive directions are in order of importance NE-SW, NW-SE, E-W and finally N-S. They also correspond to the major fracturing directions of Tanda region. These results are encouraging and contribute to a better implementation of future drilling in this region.

French Visions

Architecture and the city are two major constituents of human development which, today more than ever, have to be present in the long-term. The Year of France in China is, for the first time, the occasion to present to the Chinese public a vision of the contemporary French architectural production, not only in France but also in China.

Validation of Three Satellite Precipitation Products in Two South-Western African Watersheds: Bandama (Ivory Coast) and Mono (Togo)

Satellite precipitation products are widely used in different domain, in area where there is a lack in observation. These have different spatio-temporal resolutions consequently resulting in different precipitation amounts depending on the product. The present study validates three satellite products, namely the Climate Hazard group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS), the Climate Research Unit (CRU) and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) over Bandama and Mono river basins for 1981-2005 and 1981-2016 respectively by comparing them to the observation precipitation of the basin. The available studies are focused on the regional scale but not on a watershed scale for hydrological studies. The analysis reveals that all the products are strongly correlated to each other as well as to the observed data at basin level. The Lamb coefficient test shows that most all the chosen basin namely Bandama and Mono presents the same climatic indices. All the products present the same variability and trend as the observation at basins scale. By comparing those products to observation, CHIRPS product following by GPCP give the lowest mean absolute error (MAE) at annual and seasonal time scales while CHIRPS is followed by CRU at monthly scale. Overall, all products overestimate the precipitation at Bandama basin while they underestimate it over Mono river basin. The comparison over 1981-2017 period of the total annual precipitation increasing southern ward (from Sahel to the coastal zone) for all the three studied products which varies from 300 mm to 2400 mm/year. All the three products are not significantly different from one another and they all highlight the same areas of hotspot rainfall in the region. The same conclusion is made at monthly and seasonal scales. Therefore, any of these products especially CHIRPS can be used for study in this region due to its lowest bias and MAE.

Data Management Planning:How Requirements and Solutions are Beginning to Converge

Effective stewardship of data is a critical precursor to making data FAIR.The goal of this paper is to bring an overview of current state of the art of data management and data stewardship planning solutions(DMP).We begin by arguing why data management is an important vehicle supporting adoption and implementation of the FAIR principles,we describe the background,context and historical development,as well as major driving forces,being research initiatives and funders.Then we provide an overview of the current leading DMP tools in the form of a table presenting the key characteristics.Next,we elaborate on emerging common standards for DMPs,especially the topic of machine-actionable DMPs.As sound DMP is not only a precursor of FAIR data stewardship,but also an integral part of it,we discuss its positioning in the emerging FAIR tools ecosystem.Capacity building and training activities are an important ingredient in the whole effort.Although not being the primary goal of this paper,we touch also the topic of research workforce support,as tools can be just as much effective as their users are competent to use them properly.We conclude by discussing the relations of DMP to FAIR principles,as there are other important connections than just being a precursor.

Underwater video cameras allow for detection of North American giant salamanders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) in both captive and wild streams

Captive propagation and translocation are becoming vital components of conservation and management strategies for Eastern hellbender(Cryptobranchus a.alleganiensis)populations.Zoos,aquaria,universities,and state and federal agencies are concomitantly collaborating on the protection,education,and maintenance of captive populations of this unusual,cryptic salamander.Conservation strategies include the use of artificial nesting structures,collection of eggs from the wild,and head-starting individuals in zoos or hatcheries.The effects of these strategies need to be monitored,however,traditional survey and monitoring methods for the species in the wild involves rock-lifting,which has the potential to both harm habitat and alter reproductive behavior.Therefore,there is a need to develop effective,non-invasive and non-destructive methods of monitoring both wild and captive populations of Eastern hellbenders.Herein,we compare two simple,affordable,underwater video and camera systems(borescope and Aqua-Vu cameras)in their ability to 1)facilitate detection of adults under potential cover items and 2)facilitate nest detection and monitoring in both wild and captive environments.Both cameras were successful in detecting individual hellbender presence,albeit with different resolutions and detection times.The borescope was better at accessing deep cavities given its large flexible attachment which allowed for greater flexibility of scanning crevices of adult shelters.However,search time increased and even low levels of suspended sediment reduced visibility with the borescope.The Aqua-Vu camera provided greater overall visibility and faster detection of individuals under both natural and artificial shelters.There was a significant difference in the amount of time required to detect hellbenders with each camera design when searching under natural rocks(borescope:median=67.8 s,Aqua-Vu:median=39.1 s;Kruskal Wallis Test H=15.62,p<0.001)and artificial shelters(borescope:median=30.9 s,Aqua-Vu:median=13 s;Kruskal Wallis Test H=25.23,p<0.0001).We detected 8 natural nests with actively guarding males and only one individual using a wild artificial shelter.We recommend hellbender researchers utilize a combination of underwater video cameras to suit their specific survey goals in both captive and field settings.Moreover,we recommend zoo staff incorporate these methods to not only monitor captive populations but also to potentially record breeding behavior in zoos and aquariums.

PLoSONE：研究揭示去甲肾上腺素改善视力机制

去甲肾上腺素是依赖于动物的行为环境和生理状态的大脑分泌出的一种神经调节物（neuromodulator，也被称作神经调质）。并且通过调控大脑活动来影响许多各种不同的生理功能。它可能最好被称作为一种调节心率和血液流量的激素。而且很多药物，如广为人知的θ-阻断剂，靶向它的效应。它也调节视觉系统。