Statistics and State-istics : exclusion categories in the population census (Belgium, 1846-1930)

Peer reviewe

First results of the Instrumentation Line for the deep-sea ANTARES neutrino telescope

In 2005, the ANTARES Collaboration deployed and operated at a depth of 2500 m a so-called Mini Instrumentation Line equipped with Optical Modules (MILOM) at the ANTARES site. The various data acquired during the continuous operation from April to December 2005 of the MILOM confirm the satisfactory performance of the Optical Modules, their front-end electronics and readout system. as well as the calibration devices of the detector. The in situ measurement of the Optical Module time response yields a resolution better than 0.5 ns. The performance of the acoustic positioning system, which enables the spatial reconstruction of the ANTARES detector with a precision of about 10 cm, is verified. These results demonstrate that with the full ANTARES neutrino telescope the design angular resolution of better than 0.3 degrees can be realistically achieved

The data acquisition system for the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES neutrino telescope is being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a large three-dimensional array of photo-multiplier tubes. The data acquisition system of the detector takes care of the digitisation of the photo-multiplier tube signals, data transport, data filtering, and data storage. The detector is operated using a control program interfaced with all elements. The design and the implementation of the data acquisition system are described.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl. Instrum. Meth.

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

Analysis of 273 ancient horse genomes reveals that modern domestic horses originated in the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region.Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare(1). However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling(2-4) at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 bc(3). Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia(5) and Anatolia(6), have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 bc, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association(7) between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 bc(8,9) driving the spread of Indo-European languages(10). This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium bc Sintashta culture(11,12).Descriptive and Comparative Linguistic

Combustible ou non? Analyse multifactorielle et modèles explicatifs sur des ossements brûlés paléolithiques.

International audienc

Un nouveau site à faune de la fin du Pléistocène Moyen dans le Lot : l’aven d’Assier

International audienceWe report the discovery of a karstic site, as a sink, yielding a diversified and well preserved fossil fauna. The morphometric study allows identifying: Equus mosbachensis, Bison priscus ssp., Canis lupus lunellensis, Vulpes vulpes, Oryctolagus cunniculus grenalensis. This association which has a natural origin (pit-fall) is dated of the end of the Middle Pleistocene. The site constitutes a new marker in the fossil record of the Quercy region for this time period.Un site karstique en aven, dans le Lot, livre un matériel fossile diversifié et en bon état de conservation. L’étude morphométrique permet de déterminer : Equus mosbachensis, Bison priscus ssp., Canis lupus lunellensis, Vulpes vulpes, Oryctolagus cunniculus grenalensis. Cette association, qui a une origine naturelle (piégeage), est caractéristique de la fin du Pléistocène moyen. Il représente un nouveau gisement d’aven-piège dans la documentation de la région Quercy pour cette période

Taking into account soils and climate change in assessing the production potential of a legume crop of interest: pea

International audienceIn the current context of climate change and increasing pressure on resources, the agricultural production model isbeing questioned. The challenge of a more autonomous, efficient and sustainable production of proteins must bemet by increasing the use of legumes in French cropping systems. The pea (Pisum sativum L.) crop model “AzodynPea” will be used to identify zones and management techniques favorable to the crop in Burgundy-Franche-Comté(eastern France), taking into account abiotic stresses, such as winter frost or water deficit. The first step in this processis the mapping of current soil properties and current and future climate characteristics of the region. Regionalizeddaily climate data at 8 km resolution were obtained by simulation for the historical period 1980-2005 and for theprospective period 2006-2100, exploring two climate change trajectories: an optimistic (RCP 4.5) and a pessimisticone (RCP 8.5). The soil data were extracted from the Regional Soil Geographical DataBase and then processed tocreate a new semantic database in addition to the spatial data (Soil Map Unit polygons-SMU). The characteristics ofthe majority Soil Typological Units (STU) in each SMU have been kept. Variables such as soil depth, pH and organicmatter were directly read from the database while others such as the soil available water capacity (AWC) or the bulkdensity were deduced from the semantic data using pedotransfer functions. The second step of the process was themapping, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, of historical (1980-2005) and prospective (2006-2100) flowering dates usingclimatic data for two pea varieties (one winter and one spring) and one sowing date per variety

Taking into account soils and climate change in assessing the production potential of a legume crop of interest: pea

International audienceIn the current context of climate change and increasing pressure on resources, the agricultural production model isbeing questioned. The challenge of a more autonomous, efficient and sustainable production of proteins must bemet by increasing the use of legumes in French cropping systems. The pea (Pisum sativum L.) crop model “AzodynPea” will be used to identify zones and management techniques favorable to the crop in Burgundy-Franche-Comté(eastern France), taking into account abiotic stresses, such as winter frost or water deficit. The first step in this processis the mapping of current soil properties and current and future climate characteristics of the region. Regionalizeddaily climate data at 8 km resolution were obtained by simulation for the historical period 1980-2005 and for theprospective period 2006-2100, exploring two climate change trajectories: an optimistic (RCP 4.5) and a pessimisticone (RCP 8.5). The soil data were extracted from the Regional Soil Geographical DataBase and then processed tocreate a new semantic database in addition to the spatial data (Soil Map Unit polygons-SMU). The characteristics ofthe majority Soil Typological Units (STU) in each SMU have been kept. Variables such as soil depth, pH and organicmatter were directly read from the database while others such as the soil available water capacity (AWC) or the bulkdensity were deduced from the semantic data using pedotransfer functions. The second step of the process was themapping, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, of historical (1980-2005) and prospective (2006-2100) flowering dates usingclimatic data for two pea varieties (one winter and one spring) and one sowing date per variety