Design and optimization of space thermal protection for cryogens - analytic techniques and results topical report

Multilayer insulation against cryogenic environment

Design aspects of explosive mixtures in a vehcile interstage final report

Prevention and control of explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen within vehicle interstag

Age trends in musical preferences in adulthood: 1. Conceptualization and empirical investigation

This article aims to fill some gaps in theory and research on age trends in musical preferences in adulthood by presenting a conceptual model that describes three classes of determinants that can affect those trends. The Music Preferences in Adulthood Model (MPAM) posits that some psychological determinants that are extrinsic to the music (individual differences and social influences), and some that are intrinsic to the music (the perceived inner properties of the music), affect age differences in musical preferences in adulthood. We first present the MPAM, which aims to explain age trends in musical preferences in adulthood, and to identify which variables may be the most important determinants of those trends. We then validate a new test of musical preferences that assesses musical genres and clips in parallel. Finally, with a sample of 4,002 adults, we examine age trends in musical preferences for genres and clips, using our newly developed test. Our results confirm the presence of robust age trends in musical preferences, and provide a basis for the investigation of the extrinsic and intrinsic psychological determinants of musical preferences, in line with the MPAM framework.This research was supported by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada granted to the first author

Inventory of the Economic Zones of the French Territories in the Pacific The ZoNéCo and ZEPOLYF Programmes

Until recent years, no systematic campaign of charting or evaluation of potential had been organized in the immense maritime economic zones of the French territories in the Pacific. The ZoNéCo Programme, for the economic zone of New Caledonia, and the ZEPOLYF Programme, for that of French Polynesia, have instituted a systematic process of drawing up an inventory or assessment of these regions, the method and the first results of which are described here

High on-chip gain spiral Al₂O₃:Er³⁺ waveguide amplifiers

We demonstrate reactively sputtered Al2O3:Er3+ waveguide amplifiers with an erbium concentration of 3.9 × 1020 ions/cm3, capable of achieving over 30 dB small signal net gain at 1532 nm using bidirectional pumping at 1480 nm. We observe on chip output powers of 10.2-13.6 dBm of amplified signal power at 1532 nm for a 12.9 cm waveguide amplifier considering -25.4 dB of lumped coupling losses per facet. Annealing was used to improve the performance of the devices, which were patterned using electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. This result, to our knowledge, represents record breaking on-chip internal net gain for Al2O3:Er3+ waveguide amplifiers, which show promise over other technologies due to wafer scalability and promise of easy monolithic integration with other material platforms to support a wide variety of applications.</p

Thick waveguides of low-stress stoichiometric silicon nitride on sapphire (SiNOS)

Low-stress stoichiometric silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguides with an unprecedented thickness of up to 1350 nm and a width in the range of 2.2 - 2.7 µm are fabricated using a single LPCVD step on sapphire substrates (SiNOS). Optical characterization of proof-of-concept ∼1.35 µm thick waveguides show propagation losses in the order of 0.30 ± 0.01 dB/cm at 1600 nm. The proposed process offers a simple route to high confinement Si3N4 waveguides, enabling applications in nonlinear and mid-IR integrated photonics

Tropical peat deposits undergoing land-use change: the case of Buhandanda and Lushala peatlands (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Discovery of the world’s largest known peat deposit in the Central African Basin creates a need for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to undertake a realistic national assessment of peat carbon. In the study described here we determined physicochemical properties of the Buhandanda and Lushala peat deposits, located in Sud-Kivu Province, to gain insights about their structure and functioning and provide a first estimate of C stocks. A change of land use (to seasonal subsistence agriculture) operating in the last few decades has dramatically modified the vegetation, which was originally dominated by mesophilic forest species. Several peat properties (pH, organic matter content, porosity, dry matter, ash and fibre contents) increased with depth in the peat profile, although some (nitrogen, nitrate, phosphate content and air-filled porosity) decreased and others (bulk density, solids density, C/N) showed no trend. The C densities of peat at the two sites were 68.60 and 60.64 kg m-3, our estimates of mean (± SD) peat thickness were 324 ± 139 and 212 ± 109 cm, and total C storage was 0.136 and 0.023 Mt, for Buhandanda and Lushala, respectively. The range of calibrated radiocarbon dates for a 200 cm deep core collected from Lushala was 648–2005 cal. AD, with a high modern carbon fraction (F14C) near the surface (at depths of 15 cm and 80 cm). Overall, our results indicated that carbon accumulation has declined at these two sites owing to the reduction in litter flux associated with land use change. Using the average C densities and peat thicknesses measured at Lushala and Buhandanda, we estimated that the total C storage in Sud-Kivu peatlands is approximately 1.23 Mt

Annotation management: a Group decision support system for nurses tasks

International audienceWe develop a 5-year empirical investigation that is giving us broad and deep insights to characterise activity management in the palliative ward of an oncology hospital, and offer effective support for group decision-making and collaborative activity of caregivers. Following this observation period, we propose a software prototype based upon annotations in which dealing with patients’ state and evolution is a complex organisational task. We based our conception of an annotation tool on the observations of the rich writing practices of medical professionals. We rely on the innovative strategy of intermediate management to introduce a new technology able to bridge heterogeneous, valuable data flows that addresses both management support and activity support in a single tool

Molecular identification of fungi microfossils in a Neoproterozoic shale rock

Precambrian fossils of fungi are sparse, and the knowledge of their early evolution and the role they played in the colonization of land surface are limited. Here, we report the discovery of fungi fossils in a 810 to 715 million year old dolomitic shale from the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup, Democratic Republic of Congo. Syngenetically preserved in a transitional, subaerially exposed paleoenvironment, these carbonaceous filaments of ~5 μm in width exhibit low-frequency septation (pseudosepta) and high-angle branching that can form dense interconnected mycelium-like structures. Using an array of microscopic (SEM, TEM, and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy) and spectroscopic techniques (Raman, FTIR, and XANES), we demonstrated the presence of vestigial chitin in these fossil filaments and document the eukaryotic nature of their precursor. Based on those combined evidences, these fossil filaments and mycelium-like structures are identified as remnants of fungal networks and represent the oldest, molecularly identified remains of Fungi