Du paysage à l’ambiance : le paysage multisensoriel. Propositions théoriques pour une action urbaine sensible

International audienceThis paper proposes an articulation of the two research fields that usually deal with the sensorial and sensible issue and its link with the urban: landscape and ambiance. It presents the characteristics that historically separated the two concepts but also and specificaly the relations and complementary approaches they generate lately to offer a new perspective: the 'multisensorial landscape'. The multisensorial landscape is the result of the combination of ambiance and 'traditional' landscape. Its consideration could allow a more global and operational consideration of human sensibility in urban thinking and planning

Metal insulator transition in modulated quantum Hall systems

The quantum Hall effect is studied numerically in modulated two-dimensional electron systems in the presence of disorder. Based on the scaling property of the Hall conductivity as well as the localization length, the critical energies where the states are extended are identified. We find that the critical energies, which are distributed to each of the subbands, combine into one when the disorder becomes strong, in the way depending on the symmetry of the disorder and/or the periodic potential.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physica

Solid-state diffusion in amorphous zirconolite

his research utilised Queen Mary's MidPlus computational facilities, supported by QMUL Research-IT and funded by EPSRC grant EP/K000128/1. We are grateful to E. Maddrell for discussions and to CSC for support

Temporal Oscillation of Conductances in Quantum Hall Effect of Bloch Electrons

We study a nonadiabatic effect on the conductances in the quantum Hall effect of two-dimensional electrons with a periodic potential. We found that the Hall and longitudinal conductances oscillate in time with a very large frequencies due to quantum fluctuation.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

DNA methylation at the mu-1 opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) promoter predicts preoperative, acute, and chronic postsurgical pain after spine fusion.

INTRODUCTION:The perioperative pain experience shows great interindividual variability and is difficult to predict. The mu-1 opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) is known to play an important role in opioid-pain pathways. Since deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation is a potent repressor of gene expression, DNA methylation was evaluated at the OPRM1 promoter, as a predictor of preoperative, acute, and chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP). METHODS:A prospective observational cohort study was conducted in 133 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis undergoing spine fusion under standard protocols. Data regarding pain, opioid consumption, anxiety, and catastrophizing (using validated questionnaires) were collected before and 2-3 months postsurgery. Outcomes evaluated were preoperative pain, acute postoperative pain (area under curve [AUC] for pain scores over 48 hours), and CPSP (numerical rating scale >3/10 at 2-3 months postsurgery). Blood samples collected preoperatively were analyzed for DNA methylation by pyrosequencing of 22 CpG sites at the OPRM1 gene promoter. The association of each pain outcome with the methylation percentage of each CpG site was assessed using multivariable regression, adjusting for significant (P<0.05) nongenetic variables. RESULTS:Majority (83%) of the patients reported no pain preoperatively, while CPSP occurred in 36% of the subjects (44/121). Regression on dichotomized preoperative pain outcome showed association with methylation at six CpG sites (1, 3, 4, 9, 11, and 17) (P<0.05). Methylation at CpG sites 4, 17, and 18 was associated with higher AUC after adjusting for opioid consumption and preoperative pain score (P<0.05). After adjusting for postoperative opioid consumption and preoperative pain score, methylation at CpG sites 13 and 22 was associated with CPSP (P<0.05). DISCUSSION:Novel CPSP biomarkers were identified in an active regulatory region of the OPRM1 gene that binds multiple transcription factors. Inhibition of binding by DNA methylation potentially decreases the OPRM1 gene expression, leading to a decreased response to endogenous and exogenous opioids, and an increased pain experience

Large-scale study of the NGC 1399 globular cluster system in Fornax

We present a Washington C and Kron-Cousins R photometric study of the globular cluster system of NGC 1399, the central galaxy of the Fornax cluster. A large areal coverage of 1 square degree around NGC 1399 is achieved with three adjoining fields of the MOSAIC II Imager at the CTIO 4-m telescope. Working on such a large field, we can perform the first indicative determination of the total size of the NGC 1399 globular cluster system. The estimated angular extent, measured from the NGC 1399 centre and up to a limiting radius where the areal density of blue globular clusters falls to 30 per cent of the background level, is 45 +/- 5 arcmin, which corresponds to 220 - 275 kpc at the Fornax distance. The bimodal colour distribution of this globular cluster system, as well as the different radial distribution of blue and red clusters, up to these large distances from the parent galaxy, are confirmed. The azimuthal globular cluster distribution exhibits asymmetries that might be understood in terms of tidal stripping of globulars from NGC 1387, a nearby galaxy. The good agreement between the areal density profile of blue clusters and a projected dark-matter NFW density profile is emphasized.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

The VLTI/MIDI view on the inner mass loss of evolved stars from the Herschel MESS sample

The mass-loss process from evolved stars is a key ingredient for our understanding of many fields of astrophysics, including stellar evolution and the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium via stellar yields. One the main unsolved questions is the geometry of the mass-loss process. Taking advantage of the results from the Herschel Mass loss of Evolved StarS (MESS) programme, we initiated a coordinated effort to characterise the geometry of mass loss from evolved red giants at various spatial scales. For this purpose we used the MID-infrared interferometric Instrument (MIDI) to resolve the inner envelope of 14 asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs) in the MESS sample. In this contribution we present an overview of the interferometric data collected within the frame of our Large Programme, and we also add archive data for completeness. We studied the geometry of the inner atmosphere by comparing the observations with predictions from different geometric models. Asymmetries are detected for five O-rich and S-type, suggesting that asymmetries in the N band are more common among stars with such chemistry. We speculate that this fact is related to the characteristics of the dust grains. Except for one star, no interferometric variability is detected, i.e. the changes in size of the shells of non-mira stars correspond to changes of the visibility of less than 10%. The observed spectral variability confirms previous findings from the literature. The detection of dust in our sample follows the location of the AGBs in the IRAS colour-colour diagram: more dust is detected around oxygen-rich stars in region II and in the carbon stars in region VII. The SiC dust feature does not appear in the visibility spectrum of UAnt and SSct, which are two carbon stars with detached shells. This finding has implications for the theory of SiC dust formation.Comment: 43 pages, 31 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Abstract shortened for compilation reasons. Metadata correcte

Quantum Hall Effect on the Hofstadter Butterfly

Motivated by recent experimental attempts to detect the Hofstadter butterfly, we numerically calculate the Hall conductivity in a modulated two-dimensional electron system with disorder in the quantum Hall regime. We identify the critical energies where the states are extended for each of butterfly subbands, and obtain the trajectory as a function of the disorder. Remarkably, we find that when the modulation becomes anisotropic, the critical energy branches accompanying a change of the Hall conductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure