438 research outputs found
Quelles technologies le CIRAD peut-il proposer pour redynamiser la filière cocotier ?
Le CIRAD-CP a été amené récemment à préconiser une réorientation des objectifs de la filière cocotier de plusieurs pays producteurs. Cette stratégie repose essentiellement sur une diversification accrue et une plus grande prise en compte des marché locaux, ce qui implique le développement de petites et moyennes unités de transformation sur les lieux de production. La mise en place de telles unités nécessite de pouvoir disposer de technologies pouvant être exploitées efficacement dans de tels contextes et permettant l'obtention de produits de qualité. Dans cette optique, une équipe pluri-disciplinaire du CIRAD a entrepris l'étude de deux procédés relevant des voies humides ou semi-humides : l'extraction après séchage friture, et l'extraction assistée par les enzymes. Les technologies développées sont décrites en détail, et leur adéquation avec les objectifs assignés fait l'objet d'une discussio
Towards an operational use of benthic foraminifera for organic pollution monitoring in open and enclosed marine environments: case histories from the outer shelf off Congo and the Firth of Clyde in Scotland.
Foraminifera are among the most abundant protists in marine benthic environments. Because of their short life cycles, high biodiversity and specific ecological requirements of individual species, foraminifera react quickly to environmental disturbance, and can be successfully employed as bio-indicators of environmental change, such as those brought about by anthropogenic pollution. In the last decennia, foraminifera have been increasingly used to monitor pollution in a wide range of marine environments, such as intertidal mudflats impacted by oil spillages, harbours affected by heavy metal pollution, or eutrophicated continental shelves. Our best examples of anthropogenic eutrophication are 1) a drill cutting disposal sites at the outer continental shelf off Congo, where we observed a zonation of foraminiferal faunas in the 750 m around the discharge point. In the immediate vicinity of the discharge points (within 70 m), faunas are characterised by low foraminiferal densities. Faunas between 70 m and 250 m of the disposal sites have very high foraminiferal densities, with high percentages of opportunistic taxa such as B. aculeata and B. marginata. Between 250 and 750 m, foraminiferal densities decrease, and the percentages of opportunistic species are lower; 2) a sewage sludge disposal on the sea floor in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland) where we used benthic foraminifera and macrofaunal/meiofaunal assemblages to evaluate the impact. These two communities present a very similar distributional pattern around the disposal site. In its immediate vicinity, both groups show impoverished faunas composed exclusively of species tolerant to strong oxygen depletion. This area is surrounded by an aureole of high density faunas dominated by opportunistic species. Still farther away, faunal density decreases, and equilibrium taxa gradually replace opportunistic species. At about 3 Km of the disposal site, both foraminiferal and macro-/meiofaunal taxa become comparable to those found at the reference station. We used these data to develop a quantitative pollution index, values of which are strongly correlated with the distance to the disposal site. This foraminiferal index offers the possibility to quantify the impact of anthropogenic eutrophication in marine environments, but its validity must be tested in wider range of naturally and anthropogenetically impacted marine environments.Foraminifera are among the most abundant protists in marine benthic environments. Because of their short life cycles, high biodiversity and specific ecological requirements of individual species, foraminifera react quickly to environmental disturbance, and can be successfully employed as bio-indicators of environmental change, such as those brought about by anthropogenic pollution. In the last decennia, foraminifera have been increasingly used to monitor pollution in a wide range of marine environments, such as intertidal mudflats impacted by oil spillages, harbours affected by heavy metal pollution, or eutrophicated continental shelves. Our best examples of anthropogenic eutrophication are 1) a drill cutting disposal sites at the outer continental shelf off Congo, where we observed a zonation of foraminiferal faunas in the 750 m around the discharge point. In the immediate vicinity of the discharge points (within 70 m), faunas are characterised by low foraminiferal densities. Faunas between 70 m and 250 m of the disposal sites have very high foraminiferal densities, with high percentages of opportunistic taxa such as B. aculeata and B. marginata. Between 250 and 750 m, foraminiferal densities decrease, and the percentages of opportunistic species are lower; 2) a sewage sludge disposal on the sea floor in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland) where we used benthic foraminifera and macrofaunal/meiofaunal assemblages to evaluate the impact. These two communities present a very similar distributional pattern around the disposal site. In its immediate vicinity, both groups show impoverished faunas composed exclusively of species tolerant to strong oxygen depletion. This area is surrounded by an aureole of high density faunas dominated by opportunistic species. Still farther away, faunal density decreases, and equilibrium taxa gradually replace opportunistic species. At about 3 Km of the disposal site, both foraminiferal and macro-/meiofaunal taxa become comparable to those found at the reference station. We used these data to develop a quantitative pollution index, values of which are strongly correlated with the distance to the disposal site. This foraminiferal index offers the possibility to quantify the impact of anthropogenic eutrophication in marine environments, but its validity must be tested in wider range of naturally and anthropogenetically impacted marine environments
Discrete Matter, Far Fields, and Dark Matter
We show that in cosmology the gravitational action of the far away matter has
quite relevant effects, if retardation of the forces and discreteness of matter
(with its spatial correlation) are taken into account. The expansion rate is
found to be determined by the density of the far away matter, i.e., by the
density of matter at remote times. This leads to the introduction of an
effective density, which has to be five times larger than the present one, if
the present expansion rate is to be accounted for. The force per unit mass on a
test particle is found to be of the order of 0.2cH_0. The corresponding
contribution to the virial of the forces for a cluster of galaxies is also
discussed, and it is shown that it fits the observations if a decorrelation
property of the forces at two separated points is assumed. So it appears that
the gravitational effects of the far away matter may have the same order of
magnitude as the corresponding local effects of dark matter.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure. LaTex documen
Energy Storage in a Hamiltonian System in Partial Contact with a Heat Bath
To understand the mechanism allowing for the long-term storage of excess
energy in proteins, we study a Hamiltonian system consisting of several coupled
pendula in partial contact with a heat bath. It is found that energy storage is
possible when the motion of each pendulum switches between oscillatory
(vibrational) and rotational (phase-slip) modes. The storage time increases
almost exponentially to the square root of the injected energy. The relevance
of our mechanism to protein motors is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to appear in J.Phys.Soc.Jp
Benthic foraminifera as bio-indicators of drill cutting disposal in tropical east Atlantic outer shelf environments
We present a study of benthic foraminiferal faunas from the outer continental shelf off Congo (tropical West Africa), with the aim to determine the impact of the discharge of oily drill cuttings on the sea floor environment, to judge the regenerating capacity of the benthic ecosystem, and to investigate the possibility to develop an environmental monitoring method for open marine continental shelf environments, based on benthic foraminifera. We studied the spatial distribution and microhabitats of living and dead foraminiferal faunas, sampled in April 2003, 4 years after the end of disposal activities, in the upper 3 cm of the sediment at 9 stations (about 180 m depth) offshore Congo, that were subject to various degrees of pollution by oily cuttings from 1993 until 1999. Our results describe a zonation of foraminiferal faunas in the 750 m around the former disposal sites. At the immediate vicinity of the discharge points (within 70 m), faunas are characterized by low foraminiferal densities. Faunas between 70 m and 250 m of the disposal sites have very high foraminiferal densities, with high percentages (about 80%) of opportunistic taxa such as Bulimina aculeata, Bulimina marginata, Textularia sagittula, Trifarina bradyi and Bolivina spp. Between 250 and 750 m from the disposal site, foraminiferal densities decrease, and the percentages of opportunistic species are lower (40–60% of indicator species). These results show that 4 years after the cessation of oily cutting disposal, strong environmental impact is limited to the 250 m around the disposal sites. We used these data to develop a quantitative pollution index, values of which are strongly correlated to distance to the disposal site. This foraminiferal index offers the possibility to quantify the impact of anthropogenic eutrophication in continental shelf environments, but its validity must be tested in other continental shelf environments
Biogenic halocarbons from the Peruvian upwelling region as tropospheric halogen source
Halocarbons are produced naturally in the oceans by biological and chemical processes. They are emitted from surface seawater into the atmosphere, where they take part in numerous chemical processes such as ozone destruction and the oxidation of mercury and dimethyl sulfide. Here we present oceanic and atmospheric halocarbon data for the Peruvian upwelling zone obtained during the M91 cruise onboard the research vessel METEOR in December 2012. Surface waters during the cruise were characterized by moderate concentrations of bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2) correlating with diatom biomass derived from marker pigment concentrations, which suggests this phytoplankton group is a likely source. Concentrations measured for the iodinated compounds methyl iodide (CH3I) of up to 35.4 pmol L−1, chloroiodomethane (CH2ClI) of up to 58.1 pmol L−1 and diiodomethane (CH2I2) of up to 32.4 pmol L−1 in water samples were much higher than previously reported for the tropical Atlantic upwelling systems. Iodocarbons also correlated with the diatom biomass and even more significantly with dissolved organic matter (DOM) components measured in the surface water. Our results suggest a biological source of these compounds as a significant driving factor for the observed large iodocarbon concentrations. Elevated atmospheric mixing ratios of CH3I (up to 3.2 ppt), CH2ClI (up to 2.5 ppt) and CH2I2 (3.3 ppt) above the upwelling were correlated with seawater concentrations and high sea-to-air fluxes. During the first part of the cruise, the enhanced iodocarbon production in the Peruvian upwelling contributed significantly to tropospheric iodine levels, while this contribution was considerably smaller during the second part
Quasi-Homogeneous Thermodynamics and Black Holes
We propose a generalized thermodynamics in which quasi-homogeneity of the
thermodynamic potentials plays a fundamental role. This thermodynamic formalism
arises from a generalization of the approach presented in paper [1], and it is
based on the requirement that quasi-homogeneity is a non-trivial symmetry for
the Pfaffian form . It is shown that quasi-homogeneous
thermodynamics fits the thermodynamic features of at least some
self-gravitating systems. We analyze how quasi-homogeneous thermodynamics is
suggested by black hole thermodynamics. Then, some existing results involving
self-gravitating systems are also shortly discussed in the light of this
thermodynamic framework. The consequences of the lack of extensivity are also
recalled. We show that generalized Gibbs-Duhem equations arise as a consequence
of quasi-homogeneity of the thermodynamic potentials. An heuristic link between
this generalized thermodynamic formalism and the thermodynamic limit is also
discussed.Comment: 39 pages, uses RevteX. Published version (minor changes w.r.t. the
original one
Classical Helium Atom with Radiation Reaction
We study a classical model of Helium atom in which, in addition to the
Coulomb forces, the radiation reaction forces are taken into account. This
modification brings in the model a new qualitative feature of a global
character. Indeed, as pointed out by Dirac, in any model of classical
electrodynamics of point particles involving radiation reaction one has to
eliminate, from the a priori conceivable solutions of the problem, those
corresponding to the emission of an infinite amount of energy. We show that the
Dirac prescription solves a problem of inconsistency plaguing all available
models which neglect radiation reaction, namely, the fact that in all such
models most initial data lead to a spontaneous breakdown of the atom. A further
modification is that the system thus acquires a peculiar form of dissipation.
In particular, this makes attractive an invariant manifold of special physical
interest, the zero--dipole manifold, that corresponds to motions in which no
energy is radiated away (in the dipole approximation). We finally study
numerically the invariant measure naturally induced by the time--evolution on
such a manifold, and this corresponds to studying the formation process of the
atom. Indications are given that such a measure may be singular with respect to
that of Lebesgue.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure
Can Beach Cleans Do More Than Clean-Up Litter? Comparing Beach Cleans to Other Coastal Activities
Coastal visits not only provide psychological benefits but can also contribute to the accumulation of rubbish. Volunteer beach cleans help address this issue, but may only have limited, local impact. Consequently, it is important to study any broader benefits associated with beach cleans. This article examines the well-being and educational value of beach cleans, as well as their impacts on individuals’ behavioral intentions. We conducted an experimental study that allocated students (n = 90) to a beach cleaning, rock pooling, or walking activity. All three coastal activities were associated with positive mood and pro-environmental intentions. Beach cleaning and rock pooling were associated with higher marine awareness. The unique impacts of beach cleaning were that they were rated as most meaningful but linked to lower restorativeness ratings of the environment compared with the other activities. This research highlights the interplay between environment and activities, raising questions for future research on the complexities of person-environment interaction
Benthic foraminifera as bio-indicators of eutrophicated environments
Foraminifera are among the most abundant protists in marine benthic environments (Murray, 1991). Because of their short life cycles, high biodiversity and specific ecological requirements of individual species, foraminifera react quickly to environmental disturbance, and can be successfully employed as bio-indicators of environmental change, such as those brought about by anthropogenic pollution (as defined by Kramer and Botterweg, 1991). Foraminiferal assemblages are easy to collect; foraminifera are commonly abundant, providing a highly reliable database for statistical analysis, even when only small sample volumes are available. Furthermore, many foraminiferal taxa secrete a carbonate shell, and leave an excellent fossil record, that may be used to characterise baseline conditions, and to reconstruct the state of the ecosystem prior to sampling. Studies of the effects of pollution on benthic foraminiferal assemblages, and their possible use as pollution indicators were initiated in the early 1960’s by Resig (1960) and Watkins (1961). In the last decennia, foraminifera have been increasingly used to monitor pollution in a wide range of marine environments, such as intertidal mudflats impacted by oil spillages (Morvan et al., 2004), harbours affected by heavy metal pollution (Armynot Du Châtelet et al., 2004), or eutrophicated continental shelves (Sharifi et al., 1991; Yanko and Flexer, 1991). The goal of our study is to compare different types of eutrophicated environments, under anthropogenic or natural conditions: we used benthic foraminifera as bio-indicators of anthropogenic eutrophication caused by drill cutting discharges (Congo and Gabon), by sewage sludge (Firth of Clyde; Scotland) and by fish farms (Loch Etive; Scotland) and compared the faunal patterns with those observed in the Rhone prodelta, en environment characterised by strong natural eutrophication due to important continental nutrient input
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