910 research outputs found
A lichen protected by a super-hydrophobic and breathable structure
A species of lichen, Lecanora conizaeoides, is shown to be super-hydrophobic. It uses a combination of hydrophobic compounds and multi-layered roughness to shed water effectively. This is combined with gas channels to produce a biological analogue of a waterproof, breathable garment. The particular lichen grows mostly during wet seasons and is unusually resistant to acid rain [Hauck, M., 2003. The Bryotogist 106(2), 257-269; Honegger, R., 1998. Lichenologist 30(3),193-212]. The waterproof, breathable surface allows this lichen to photosynthesise when other species are covered with a layer of water. In addition, rainwater runs off the surface of the organism, reducing its intake of water from above and probably contributing to its resistance to acid rain
Comment on “Transition to the Relativistic Regime in High Order Harmonic Generation”
International audienceIn [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 103902 (2007)], Tarasevitch et al. demonstrate the existence of two generation mechanisms for laser high-order harmonicsfrom overdense plasmas. One of these mechanisms leads to harmonics with frequencies up to the maximum plasmafrequency of the target and occurs even at nonrelativistic laser intensities. We show that the mechanism responsiblefor these harmonics is coherent wake emission (CWE), a process that significantly differs from thequalitative model proposed by these authors, and it leads toa different interpretation of several essential features of this emission
Interactions between landscape changes and host communities can regulate echinococcus multilocularis transmission
An area close to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau region and subject to intensive deforestation contains a large focus of human alveolar echinococcosis while sporadic human cases occur in the Doubs region of eastern France. The current review analyses and compares epidemiological and ecological results obtained in both regions. Analysis of rodent species assemblages within quantified rural landscapes in central China and eastern France shows a significant association between host species for the pathogenic helminth Echinococcus multilocularis, with prevalences of human alveolar echinococcosis and with land area under shrubland or grassland. This suggests that at the regional scale landscape can affect human disease distribution through interaction with small mammal communities and their population dynamics. Lidicker's ROMPA hypothesis helps to explain this association and provides a novel explanation of how landscape changes may result in increased risk of a rodent-borne zoonotic disease
Mechanical tuning of the evaporation rate of liquid on crossed fibers
We investigate experimentally the drying of a small volume of perfectly
wetting liquid on two crossed fibers. We characterize the drying dynamics for
the three liquid morphologies that are encountered in this geometry: drop,
column and a mixed morphology, in which a drop and a column coexist. For each
morphology, we rationalize our findings with theoretical models that capture
the drying kinetics. We find that the evaporation rate depends significantly on
the liquid morphology and that the drying of liquid column is faster than the
evaporation of the drop and the mixed morphology for a given liquid volume.
Finally, we illustrate that shearing a network of fibers reduces the angle
between them, changes the morphology towards the column state, and so enhances
the drying rate of a volatile liquid deposited on it
Phase Properties of Laser High-Order Harmonics Generated on Plasma Mirrors
International audienceAs a high-intensity laser-pulse reflects on a plasma mirror, high-order harmonics of the incident frequency can be generated in the reflected beam. We present a numerical study of the phase properties of these individual harmonics, and demonstrate experimentally that they can be coherently controlled through the phase of the driving laser field. The harmonic intrinsic phase, resulting from the generation process, is directly related to the coherent sub-laser-cycle dynamics of plasma electrons, and thus constitutes a new experimental probe of these dynamics
Shapes, contact angles, and line tensions of droplets on cylinders
Using an interface displacement model we calculate the shapes of
nanometer-size liquid droplets on homogeneous cylindrical surfaces. We
determine effective contact angles and line tensions, the latter defined as
excess free energies per unit length associated with the two contact lines at
the ends of the droplet. The dependences of these quantities on the cylinder
radius and on the volume of the droplets are analyzed.Comment: 26 pages, RevTeX, 10 Figure
Coherent Wake Emission of High-Order Harmonics from Overdense Plasmas
International audienc
Detection by NMR of a "local spin-gap" in quenched CsC60
We present a 13C and 133Cs NMR investigation of the CsC60 cubic quenched
phase. Previous ESR measurements suggest that this phase is metallic, but NMR
reveals contrasting electronic behavior on the local scale. The 13C
spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) exhibits a typical metallic behavior down to
50 K, but indicates that a partial spin-gap opens for T<50 K. Unexpectedly,
133Cs NMR shows that there are two inequivalent Cs sites. For one of these
sites, the NMR shift and (T1T)^{-1} follow an activated law, confirming the
existence of a spin-gap. We ascribe this spin-gap to the occurrence of
localized spin-singlets on a small fraction of the C60 molecules.Comment: 4 figure
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