Délégation Bretagne et Pays de la Loire

The problem of nutrient inputs to surface waters is reviewed. These inputs lead to eutrophication and an undesirable decrease in water quality. The origin and effects of eutrophication, and the principles of its control are described. The preferred method of control is through the reduction of phosphorus inputs. The origins of phosphorus inputs and methods of limiting these are considered, in particular through physico-chemical and biological treatment processes in sewage treatment plants. It is concluded that efficient control of eutrophication through reduction of phosphorus inputs is possible.

Les scheresses successives de ces dernires annes et tout particulirement 1976, ont rappel au grand public la prcarit de nos ressources en eau mme en France au XX e sicle.Les solutions provisoires adoptes en 1976 pour palier les effets de la pnurie ont montr que la lutte contre la scheresse ne s'improvisait pas tant au niveau des collectivits que des irrigants.Si les limitations, voire les interdictions de prlvements, ont permis en dernier recours de grer la pnurie, elles ne sauraient constituer une solution compatible avec les ncessits modernes d'une matrise de l'eau.Seule une vritable gestion de cette ressource s'appuyant sur une connaissance effective de la demande en eau, de sa localisation et de ses caractristiques d'une part, et de la Trsorerie Eau d'autre part, est de nature prvoir et prvenir par les moyens adquats, les dsquilibres ressources-besoins.En ce qui concerne la demande en eau dans le Bassin "Loire-Bretagne", il apparat que si les prlvements des rseaux de distribution d'eau aux collectivits sont connus avec une bonne prcision (> 90 %) tout comme ceux des industriels, il n'en est pas de mme pour les agriculteurs pratiquant l'irrigation.Or l'irrigation de complment joue dans le Bassin "Loire-Bretagne" un rle trs important dans l'quilibre Ressources-Besoins:Par sa pratique sur un court laps de temps (15 juin -15 aot)Par la variabilit des apports ncessaires (de zro 2500 m 3 / ha d'autant plus importants que l'anne est plus sche)Par la valeur des dbits appels 2,5 m 3 /h/ha.De ce fait, l'Agence de Bassin a t amene rechercher, localiser et identifier les parcelles irrigues.La circonscription de bassin "Loire-Bretagne" couvre

Abstract Amyloidosis are proteinopathies characterized by systemic or organ-specific deposition of proteins in the form of amyloid fibers. Nearly forty proteins have been identified to play a role in these pathologies and the structures of the associated fibers are beginning to be determined by Cryo-EM. However, the molecular events underlying the process, such as fiber nucleation and elongation, are poorly understood, which impairs developing efficient therapies. In most cases, only a few dozen amino acids of the pathological protein are found in the final structure of the fibers, while amyloid peptides comprising 5 to 10 amino acids are involved in fibers nucleation process. The identification and biochemical characterization of these peptides is therefore of major scientific and clinical importance. In silico approaches are limited due to the peptides’ small size and long-distance intra- and intermolecular interactions that occur during nucleation. To address this problem, we developed a novel biochemical method for characterizing and classifying batches of related peptides. Initial work to optimize our approach is based on the reference peptide PHF6 (ß1) from Microtubule Associated Protein Tau (MAPT) as compared to 22 related peptides. We classified these peptides into groups displaying different biochemical properties, and thereby identified new amyloid peptides and peptides with therapeutic potential. We underline that our method is applicable to any family of peptides and could be scaled up for high-throughput analyses.