8,139 research outputs found
SystĂšmes de croyance Niomankas et gestion des ressources naturelles de mangroves
peer reviewedLe concept de «savoirs endogĂšnes» constitue actuellement lâun des axes majeurs de la rĂ©flexion autour de la problĂ©matique de la conservation de la biodiversitĂ©.
En effet, on se rend de plus en plus compte que lâactivitĂ© de conservation de la diversitĂ© biologique, qui met Ă contribution les organisations locales, les structures Ă©tatiques et les ONG environnementales, ne peut pas seulement sâappuyer sur les connaissances scientifiques. La rĂ©flexion autour des savoirs Ă©cologiques locaux (Technical Ecological Knowledge [TEK]), et leur valorisation, apparaĂźt comme une solution pour une gestion durable et viable des Ă©cosystĂšmes marins et cĂŽtiers, en particulier pour les forĂȘts de mangrove du SinĂ©-Saloum.
Au SĂ©nĂ©gal, lâensemble du littoral subit depuis plusieurs dĂ©cennies les effets de la dĂ©sertification. Les initiatives se multiplient dans la RĂ©serve de la BiosphĂšre du Delta du Saloum [1]*** (RBDS) pour rĂ©habiliter les Ă©cosystĂšmes cĂŽtiers. Il serait intĂ©ressant de voir quels peuvent ĂȘtre les apports des savoirs locaux, ceux des Niominka et SocĂ©, dans la dynamique globale de conservation de la biodiversitĂ© Ă©cologique.
Au moment oĂč des plans de gestion de la mangrove [2] sont en train dâĂȘtre conçus, il serait bon dâintĂ©grer les savoirs Ă©cologiques endogĂšnes dans le processus de leur conception et de mise en Ćuvre. En effet, dans le jeu des interactions entre communautĂ©s locales et ONG, donc intervenants extĂ©rieurs, il peut arriver que des rĂ©actions de rejet se manifestent. Sâil en est ainsi, câest parce que les ONG sont parfois porteuses dâinitiatives qui ne tiennent pas compte des maniĂšres de penser, des rapports qui lient la nature aux populations autochtones, des systĂšmes de conception, de reprĂ©sentation et dâoccupation de lâespace ou dâappropriation des ressources.
Chez les Niominkas du SinĂ©-Saloum, il existe des croyances et perceptions qui ont eu un impact positif sur la protection de lâenvironnement.
Selon lâanthropologue sĂ©nĂ©galais Massaer Diallo [3], «si ce que lâon appelle aujourdâhui âle respect de lâenvironnementâ et la âgestion durable des ressources naturellesâ a des cas Ă©quivalents dans des cultures et sociĂ©tĂ©s dites traditionnelles (rĂ©gies par des logiques endogĂšnes et anciennes), câest parce que ces derniĂšres Ă©taient fondĂ©es sur une conception, des rĂšgles et valeurs qui impliquaient voire Ă©dictaient un rapport harmonieux ou Ă©quilibrĂ© avec la nature (physique, animale et vĂ©gĂ©tale)». En voici quelques illustrations.
La sacralisation de Jiffa, PĂ©thiamak, chez les SĂ©rĂšres de Djilor, fait que ces sites â mĂȘme si ce nâĂ©tait pas lâobjectif recherchĂ© â sont aujourdâhui les moins agressĂ©s dans la communautĂ© rurale [4].
Lâinjonction du gĂ©nie protecteur du Loog, Laga ndong, de ne parler que le sĂ©rĂšre dans la zone de pĂȘche Niamokine â dans un pays oĂč lâĂ©crasante majoritĂ© parle wolof â a favorisĂ© le contrĂŽle du bolong par les Niominkas et la limitation de lâexploitation de ses ressources aux autochtones.
De plus, lâislamisation des sociĂ©tĂ©s traditionnelles sĂ©rĂšres a introduit un rapport de type nouveau entre lâhomme et la nature parce que le fait de couper un arbre ou tout simplement des feuilles dâarbres sans en avoir besoin est associĂ© Ă un pĂ©chĂ©.
Celui qui abuse de la ressource vĂ©gĂ©tale est selon le Coran un pĂ©cheur. En planter, câest attirer la misĂ©ricorde divine sur soi, dit-on dans le texte sacrĂ© des musulmans.
Ces reprĂ©sentations religieuses ont donc des incidences sur lâĂ©quilibre de la nature. Les savoirs Ă©cologiques locaux prĂ©sentent un intĂ©rĂȘt bien particulier mais il faut se garder de faire de lâethnologisme.
Et puis, il y a chez les Niominka une forte croyance selon laquelle la mangrove est un don de Dieu. Par consĂ©quent, la pĂ©rennitĂ© des ressources quâelle gĂ©nĂšre est garantie par une divinitĂ©. Quelle est la place de ces croyances dans le processus de dĂ©sintĂ©gration des forĂȘts de mangrove dans le SinĂ© et le Saloum?
Le prĂ©sent article tente de fournir des Ă©lĂ©ments dâapprĂ©ciation sur la place des
savoirs locaux dans la conservation de la diversité biologique chez les communautés
Niominka de la RBDS
The inner radio jet region and the complex environment of SS433
We present multi-frequency VLBA+VLA observations of SS433 at 1.6, 5 and 15
GHz. These observations provide the highest angular resolution radio spectral
index maps ever made for this object. Motion of the components of SS433 during
the observation is detected. In addition to the usual VLBI jet structure, we
detect two radio components in the system at an anomalous position angle. These
newly discovered radio emitting regions might be related to a wind-like
equatorial outflow or to an extension of the accretion disk. We show that the
radio core component is bifurcated with a clear gap between the eastern and
western wings of emission. Modelfitting of the precessing jets and the moving
knots of SS433 shows that the kinematic centre -- i.e. the binary -- is in the
gap between the western and eastern radio core components. Spectral properties
and observed core position shifts suggest that we see a combined effect of
synchrotron self-absorption and external free-free absorption in the innermost
AU-scale region of the source. The spatial distribution of the ionized matter
is probably not spherically symmetric around the binary, but could be
disk-like.Comment: Accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysic
Object identification and characterization with hyperspectral imagery to identify structure and function of Natura 2000 habitats
Habitat monitoring of designated areas under the EU Habitats Directive requires every 6 years information on area, range, structure and function for the protected (Annex I) habitat types. First results from studies on heathland areas in Belgium and the Netherlands show that hyperspectral imagery can be an important source of information to assist the evaluation of the habitat conservation status. Hyperspectral imagery can provide continuous maps of habitat quality indicators (e.g., life forms or structure types, management activities, grass, shrub and tree encroachment) at the pixel level. At the same time, terrain managers, nature conservation agencies and national authorities responsible for the reporting to the EU are not directly interested in pixels, but rather in information at the level of vegetation patches, groups of patches or the protected site as a whole. Such local level information is needed for management purposes, e.g., exact location of patches of habitat types and the sizes and quality of these patches within a protected site. Site complexity determines not only the classification success of remote sensing imagery, but influences also the results of aggregation of information from the pixel to the site level. For all these reasons, it is important to identify and characterize the vegetation patches. This paper focuses on the use of segmentation techniques to identify relevant vegetation patches in combination with spectral mixture analysis of hyperspectral imagery from the Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner (AHS). Comparison with traditional vegetation maps shows that the habitat or vegetation patches can be identified by segmentation of hyperspectral imagery. This paper shows that spectral mixture analysis in combination with segmentation techniques on hyperspectral imagery can provide useful information on processes such as grass encroachment that determine the conservation status of Natura 2000 heathland areas to a large extent. A limitation is that both advanced remote sensing approaches and traditional field based vegetation surveys seem to cause over and underestimations of grass encroachment for specific categories, but the first provides a better basis for monitoring if specific species are not directly considered
A Massive Jet Ejection Event from the Microquasar SS 433 Accompanying Rapid X-Ray Variability
Microquasars occasionally exhibit massive jet ejections which are distinct
from the continuous or quasi-continuous weak jet ejections. Because those
massive jet ejections are rare and short events, they have hardly been observed
in X-ray so far. In this paper, the first X-ray observation of a massive jet
ejection from the microquasar SS 433 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
(RXTE) is reported. SS 433 undergoing a massive ejection event shows a variety
of new phenomena including a QPO-like feature near 0.1 Hz, rapid time
variability, and shot-like activities. The shot-like activity may be caused by
the formation of a small plasma bullet. A massive jet may be consist of
thousands of those plasma bullets ejected from the binary system. The size,
mass, internal energy, and kinetic energy of the bullets and the massive jet
are estimated.Comment: 21 pages including 5 figures, submitted to Ap
A human colonic crypt culture system to study regulation of stem cell-driven tissue renewal and physiological function
The intestinal epithelium is one of the most rapidly renewing tissues in the human body and fulfils vital physiological roles such as barrier function and transport of nutrients and fluid. Investigation of gut epithelial physiology in health and disease has been hampered by the lack of ex vivo models of the native human intestinal epithelium. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in defining intestinal stem cells and in generating intestinal organoid cultures. In parallel, we have developed a 3D culture system of the native human colonic epithelium that recapitulates the topological hierarchy of stem cell-driven tissue renewal and permits the physiological study of native polarized epithelial cells. Here we describe methods to establish 3D cultures of intact human colonic crypts and conduct real-time imaging of intestinal tissue renewal, cellular signalling, and physiological function, in conjunction with manipulation of gene expression by lentiviral or adenoviral transduction. Visualization of mRNA- and protein-expression patterns in cultured human colonic crypts, and cross-validation with crypts derived from fixed mucosal biopsies, is also described. Alongside studies using intestinal organoids, the near-native human colonic crypt culture model will help to bridge the gap that exists between investigation of colon cancer cell lines and/or animal (tissue) studies, and progression to clinical trials. To this end, the near native human colonic crypt model provides a platform to aid the development of novel strategies for the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease and cancer
Multilevel reflectance switching of ultrathin phase-change films
Several design techniques for engineering the visible optical and near-infrared response of a thin film are explored. These designs require optically active and absorbing materials and should be easily grown on a large scale. Switchable chalcogenide phase-change material heterostructures with three active layers are grown here using pulsed laser deposition. Both Fabry-Perot and strong interference principles are explored to tune the reflectance. Robust multilevel switching is demonstrated for both principles using dynamic ellipsometry, and measured reflectance profiles agree well with simulations. We find, however, that switching the bottom layer of a three-layer device does not yield a significant change in reflectance, indicating a maximum in accessible levels. The pulsed laser deposition films grown show promise for optical display applications, with three shown reflectance levels. Published under license by AIP Publishing.</p
The properties of the gamma-ray blazars in the CJ-F VLBI sample
We present first results from the analysis of multi-epoch VLBI observations of the EGRET detected sources [9] in the CJ-F sample (Caltech Jodrell-Flat-spectrum, [10]). These objects form a subsample of 14 sources within the 293 AGN of the full CJ-F sample. 5 GHz VLBI snapshot observations of the CJ-F sources are continuously being performed in order to create a valid database for thorough statistical tests of pc-scale jet motion in AGN. All gamma-bright CJ-F AGN have been observed at least twice with the VLBA, which enables us to investigate jet component motions and paths. In particular, we concentrate on the analysis of those properties supposed to be essential for gamma-ray production, i.e., superluminal motion and bending. A paper discussing the possible relation between morphological changes and gamma-ray flaring/production is in preparation
A Multi-Epoch VLBI Survey of the Kinematics of CJF Sources; Part I: Model-Fit Parameters and Maps
Context: This is the first of a series of papers presenting VLBI observations
of the 293 Caltech-Jodrell Bank Flat-Spectrum (hereafter CJF) sources and their
analysis. Aims: One of the major goals of the CJF is to make a statistical
study of the apparent velocities of the sources. Methods: We have conducted
global VLBI and VLBA observations at 5 GHz since 1990, accumulating thirteen
separate observing campaigns. Results: We present here an overview of the
observations, give details of the data reduction and present the source
parameters resulting from a model-fitting procedure. For every source at every
observing epoch, an image is shown, built up by restoring the model-fitted
components, convolved with the clean beam, into the residual image, which was
made by Fourier transforming the visibility data after first subtracting the
model-fitted components in the uv-plane. Overplotted we show symbols to
represent the model components. Conclusions: We have produced VLBI images of
all but 5 of the 293 sources in the complete CJF sample at several epochs and
investigated the kinematics of 266 AGN.Comment: Figure 1 and Table 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS
and soon at http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/sbritzen/cjf.htm
Images of an equatorial outflow in SS433
We have imaged the X-ray binary SS433 with unprecedented Fourier-plane
coverage at 6cm using simultaneously the VLBA, MERLIN, and the VLA, and also at
20cm with the VLBA. At both wavelengths we have securely detected smooth,
low-surface brightness emission having the appearance of a `ruff' or collar
attached perpendicularly to the well-studied knotty jets in this system,
extending over at least a few hundred AU. We interpret this smooth emission as
a wind-like outflow from the binary, and discuss its implications for the
present evolutionary stage of this system.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter
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