Gabriel Camps (1927- 2002)

Gabriel Camps est décédé à Aix-en-Provence, le 6 septembre 2002. Il nous laisse une œuvre considérable consacrée essentiellement à la Préhistoire et à la Protohistoire de la Méditerranée occidentale, plus particulièrement du Maghreb, mais également de la Corse, son dernier “terrain”. Né le 20 mai 1927 à Misserghin, en Oranie, il fit toutes ses études en Algérie, au Lycée d’Oran puis à la faculté de lettres d’Alger, études couronnées par le doctorat ès lettres. Ses deux thèses, toutes les deu..

Cross-evaluation of modelled and remotely sensed surface soil moisture with in situ data in southwestern France

The SMOSMANIA soil moisture network in Southwestern France is used to evaluate modelled and remotely sensed soil moisture products. The surface soil moisture (SSM) measured in situ at 5 cm permits to evaluate SSM from the SIM operational hydrometeorological model of Météo-France and to perform a cross-evaluation of the normalised SSM estimates derived from coarse-resolution (25 km) active microwave observations from the ASCAT scatterometer instrument (C-band, onboard METOP), issued by EUMETSAT and resampled to the Discrete Global Grid (DGG, 12.5 km gridspacing) by TU-Wien (Vienna University of Technology) over a two year period (2007–2008). A downscaled ASCAT product at one kilometre scale is evaluated as well, together with operational soil moisture products of two meteorological services, namely the ALADIN numerical weather prediction model (NWP) and the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) analysis of Météo-France and ECMWF, respectively. In addition to the operational SSM analysis of ECMWF, a second analysis using a simplified extended Kalman filter and assimilating the ASCAT SSM estimates is tested. The ECMWF SSM estimates correlate better with the in situ observations than the Météo-France products. This may be due to the higher ability of the multi-layer land surface model used at ECMWF to represent the soil moisture profile. However, the SSM derived from SIM corresponds to a thin soil surface layer and presents good correlations with ASCAT SSM estimates for the very first centimetres of soil. At ECMWF, the use of a new data assimilation technique, which is able to use the ASCAT SSM, improves the SSM and the root-zone soil moisture analyses

Thermophysical behavior of three algal biodiesels over wide ranges of pressure and temperature

ACLInternational audienc

The ALADIN system and its canonical model configurations AROME CY41T1 and ALARO CY40T1

The ALADIN System is a numerical weather prediction (NWP) system developed by the international ALADIN consortium for operational weather forecasting and research purposes. It is based on a code that is shared with the global model IFS of the ECMWF and the ARPEGE model of Meteo-France. Today, this system can be used to provide a multitude of high-resolution limited-area model (LAM) configurations. A few configurations are thoroughly validated and prepared to be used for the operational weather forecasting in the 16 partner institutes of this consortium. These configurations are called the ALADIN canonical model configurations (CMCs). There are currently three CMCs: the ALADIN baseline CMC, the AROME CMC and the ALARO CMC. Other configurations are possible for research, such as process studies and climate simulations. The purpose of this paper is (i) to define the ALADIN System in relation to the global counterparts IFS and ARPEGE, (ii) to explain the notion of the CMCs, (iii) to document their most recent versions, and (iv) to illustrate the process of the validation and the porting of these configurations to the operational forecast suites of the partner institutes of the ALADIN consortium. This paper is restricted to the forecast model only; data assimilation techniques and postprocessing techniques are part of the ALADIN System but they are not discussed here

Effects of Goat Manure Fertilization on Grain Nutritional Value in Two Contrasting Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Varieties Cultivated at High Altitudes

In this study, the effects of goat manure fertilization (2, 4, 8, and 12 Tn/ha) on the grain yield, organic compounds, and mineral composition of two quinoa varieties (CICA-17 and Regalona Baer) were evaluated under field conditions in Northwest Argentina. The results indicate that fertilization improved the quinoa grain yield and total protein content. Low manure doses positively affected the fatty acid (FA) profile, and significant changes were determined for the monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acid contents of CICA-17 and on the saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents of R. Baer seeds. The amino acid contents were positively affected in CICA-17 and negatively in R. Baer. Soluble sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose), major elements (K, Si, P, Mg, Ca, and Na), minor elements (Fe, Mn, Al, Zn, and Cu), and ultratrace elements (Cr and Li) were detected and discussed in terms of their impact on human nutrition and health. Conclusively, manure addition affected some essential amino acids, the desaturase activity, the n6:n3 and SFA/UFA ratios, the atherogenic index, soluble sugars, and mineral content, and the fatty acid metabolism of each variety was differently affected, especially the C16 and C18 desaturase activity, which responded differently to various manure doses. Manure addition is a promising alternative to improve the nutritional quality and functionality of quinoa grains, but the response is not linear

Biocompatible Nanocomplexes for Molecular Targeted MRI Contrast Agent

Accurate diagnosis in early stage is vital for the treatment of Hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of poly lactic acid–polyethylene glycol/gadolinium–diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA) nanocomplexes using as biocompatible molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. The PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA nanocomplexes were obtained using self-assembly nanotechnology by incubation of PLA–PEG nanoparticles and the commercial contrast agent, Gd–DTPA. The physicochemical properties of nanocomplexes were measured by atomic force microscopy and photon correlation spectroscopy. The T1-weighted MR images of the nanocomplexes were obtained in a 3.0 T clinical MR imager. The stability study was carried out in human plasma and the distribution in vivo was investigated in rats. The mean size of the PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA nanocomplexes was 187.9 ± 2.30 nm, and the polydispersity index was 0.108, and the zeta potential was −12.36 ± 3.58 mV. The results of MRI test confirmed that the PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA nanocomplexes possessed the ability of MRI, and the direct correlation between the MRI imaging intensities and the nano-complex concentrations was observed (r = 0.987). The signal intensity was still stable within 2 h after incubation of the nanocomplexes in human plasma. The nanocomplexes gave much better image contrast effects and longer stagnation time than that of commercial contrast agent in rat liver. A dose of 0.04 mmol of gadolinium per kilogram of body weight was sufficient to increase the MRI imaging intensities in rat livers by five-fold compared with the commercial Gd–DTPA. PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA nanocomplexes could be prepared easily with small particle sizes. The nanocomplexes had high plasma stability, better image contrast effect, and liver targeting property. These results indicated that the PLA–PEG/Gd–DTPA nanocomplexes might be potential as molecular targeted imaging contrast agent

European Space Agency experiments on thermodiffusion of fluid mixtures in space

Abstract.: This paper describes the European Space Agency (ESA) experiments devoted to study thermodiffusion of fluid mixtures in microgravity environment, where sedimentation and convection do not affect the mass flow induced by the Soret effect. First, the experiments performed on binary mixtures in the IVIDIL and GRADFLEX experiments are described. Then, further experiments on ternary mixtures and complex fluids performed in DCMIX and planned to be performed in the context of the NEUF-DIX project are presented. Finally, multi-component mixtures studied in the SCCO project are detailed