Les pratiques pastorales d'un berger sur l'alpage de la Vieille Selle: un modèle reproductible?

Des critères de structuration et de gestion de l’espace sont retenus pour caractériser les pratiques pastorales d’un berger sur un alpage

Luminescence from Si nanocrystals in silica deposited by helicon activated reactive evaporation

An alternative method is investigated for the preparation of Si-rich SiO₂films used for the fabrication of light-emitting Si nanocrystalstructures. The technique, helicon-activated reactive evaporation (HARE), combines e-beam evaporation of silicon with plasma activation of a reactive argon–oxygen atmosphere, and has the advantage of being able to produce thick, H-free films suitable for planar photonic device applications. The nanocrystal-rich films were formed by annealing as-deposited films at 1100 °C for 1 h. Room temperature photoluminescence was then measured and compared with that from ion-implanted samples annealed under similar conditions. The HARE-deposited films exhibited strong visible luminescence for a range of excess Si concentrations, demonstrating their potential for the manufacture of such materials. The films also exhibited a concentration dependence comparable to that of ion-implanted samples: the luminescence intensity initially increased with excess Si concentration up to a maximum before decreasing with increasing concentration thereafter. The cause of the decrease at higher concentrations is briefly discussed

Increased conductivity of a hole transport layer due to oxidation by a molecular nanomagnet

Thin film transistors based on polyarylamine poly(N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′bis(4-hexylphenyl)-[1,1′biphenyl]-4,4′-diamine (pTPD) were fabricated using spin coating in order to measure the mobility of pTPD upon oxidation. Partially oxidized pTPD with a molecular magnetic cluster showed an increase in mobility of over two orders of magnitude. A transition in the mobility of pTPD upon doping could also be observed by the presence of a maximum obtained for a given oxidant ratio and subsequent decrease for a higher ratio. Such result agrees well with a previously reported model based on the combined effect of dipolar broadening of the density of states and transport manifold [email protected] [email protected]

Photonic band-gap effects on photoluminescence of silicon nanocrystals embedded in artificial opals

Si nanocrystals were formed in synthetic opals by Si-ion implantation and their optical properties studied using microphotoluminescence and reflection techniques. The properties of areas with high crystalline quality are compared with those of disordered regions of samples. The photoluminescencespectrum from Si nanocrystals embedded in silica spheres is narrowed by the inhibition of emission at wavelengths corresponding to the opalphotonic pseudoband gap (∼690 nm). Measurements of photoluminescencespectra from individual implanted silica spheres is also demonstrated and the number of emitting Si nanocrystals in single brightly emitting spheres is estimated to be of the order of one thousand.This work was supported by GACR (202/03/0789), NATO (PST.CLG.978100), and by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. One of the authors ~J.V.! appreciates financial support from the French government (program Echange)

A hybrid light source with integrated inorganic light-emitting diode and organic polymer distributed feedback grating

We report a compact light source that incorporates a semiconductor light-emitting diode, nanostructured distributed feedback (DFB) Bragg grating and spin-coated thin conjugated polymer film. With this hybrid structure, we transferred electrically generated 390 nm ultraviolet light to an organic polymer via optical pumping and out-couple green luminescence to air through a second-order DFB grating. We demonstrate the feasibility of electrically driven, hybrid, compact light-emitting devices and lasers in the visible range. © IOP Publishing Ltd

Optical properties of structurally-relaxed Si/SiO2_2 superlattices: the role of bonding at interfaces

We have constructed microscopic, structurally-relaxed atomistic models of Si/SiO$_2$ superlattices. The structural distortion and oxidation-state characteristics of the interface Si atoms are examined in detail. The role played by the interface Si suboxides in raising the band gap and producing dispersionless energy bands is established. The suboxide atoms are shown to generate an abrupt interface layer about 1.60 \AA thick. Bandstructure and optical-absorption calculations at the Fermi Golden rule level are used to demonstrate that increasing confinement leads to (a) direct bandgaps (b) a blue shift in the spectrum, and (c) an enhancement of the absorption intensity in the threshold-energy region. Some aspects of this behaviour appear not only in the symmetry direction associated with the superlattice axis, but also in the orthogonal plane directions. We conclude that, in contrast to Si/Ge, Si/SiO$_2$ superlattices show clear optical enhancement and a shift of the optical spectrum into the region useful for many opto-electronic applications.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures (submitted to Phys. Rev. B

Plague Circulation and Population Genetics of the Reservoir Rattus rattus: The Influence of Topographic Relief on the Distribution of the Disease within the Madagascan Focus.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Landscape may affect the distribution of infectious diseases by influencing the population density and dispersal of hosts and vectors. Plague (Yersinia pestis infection) is a highly virulent, re-emerging disease, the ecology of which has been scarcely studied in Africa. Human seroprevalence data for the major plague focus of Madagascar suggest that plague spreads heterogeneously across the landscape as a function of the relief. Plague is primarily a disease of rodents. We therefore investigated the relationship between disease distribution and the population genetic structure of the black rat, Rattus rattus, the main reservoir of plague in Madagascar. METHODOLOGYPRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a comparative study of plague seroprevalence and genetic structure (15 microsatellite markers) in rat populations from four geographic areas differing in topology, each covering about 150-200 km(2) within the Madagascan plague focus. The seroprevalence levels in the rat populations mimicked those previously reported for humans. As expected, rat populations clearly displayed a more marked genetic structure with increasing relief. However, the relationship between seroprevalence data and genetic structure differs between areas, suggesting that plague distribution is not related everywhere to the effective dispersal of rats. CONCLUSIONSSIGNIFICANCE: Genetic diversity estimates suggested that plague epizootics had only a weak impact on rat population sizes. In the highlands of Madagascar, plague dissemination cannot be accounted for solely by the effective dispersal of the reservoir. Human social activities may also be involved in spreading the disease in rat and human populations

Mio-Pliocene Faunal Exchanges and African Biogeography: The Record of Fossil Bovids

The development of the Ethiopian biogeographic realm since the late Miocene is here explored with the presentation and review of fossil evidence from eastern Africa. Prostrepsiceros cf. vinayaki and an unknown species of possible caprin affinity are described from the hominid-bearing Asa Koma and Kuseralee Members (∼5.7 and ∼5.2 Ma) of the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. The Middle Awash Prostrepsiceros cf. vinayaki constitutes the first record of this taxon from Africa, previously known from the Siwaliks and Arabia. The possible caprin joins a number of isolated records of caprin or caprin-like taxa recorded, but poorly understood, from the late Neogene of Africa. The identification of these two taxa from the Middle Awash prompts an overdue review of fossil bovids from the sub-Saharan African record that demonstrate Eurasian affinities, including the reduncin Kobus porrecticornis, and species of Tragoportax. The fossil bovid record provides evidence for greater biological continuity between Africa and Eurasia in the late Miocene and earliest Pliocene than is found later in time. In contrast, the early Pliocene (after 5 Ma) saw the loss of any significant proportions of Eurasian-related taxa, and the continental dominance of African-endemic taxa and lineages, a pattern that continues today