The OPERA experiment Target Tracker

The main task of the Target Tracker detector of the long baseline neutrino oscillation OPERA experiment is to locate in which of the target elementary constituents, the lead/emulsion bricks, the neutrino interactions have occurred and also to give calorimetric information about each event. The technology used consists in walls of two planes of plastic scintillator strips, one per transverse direction. Wavelength shifting fibres collect the light signal emitted by the scintillator strips and guide it to both ends where it is read by multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. All the elements used in the construction of this detector and its main characteristics are described.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instrument and Method

Technical design and performance of the NEMO3 detector

The development of the NEMO3 detector, which is now running in the Frejus Underground Laboratory (L.S.M. Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane), was begun more than ten years ago. The NEMO3 detector uses a tracking-calorimeter technique in order to investigate double beta decay processes for several isotopes. The technical description of the detector is followed by the presentation of its performance.Comment: Preprint submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Methods A Corresponding author: Corinne Augier ([email protected]

Morphology and development of the gynoecium in Centrolepidaceae: The most remarkable range of variation in Poales

This paper explores the relative impacts of reduction and polymerization on the evolution of reproductive structures in the small but morphologically diverse family Centrolepidaceae. Centrolepidaceae are closely related to Restionaceae and belong to the large order Poales, which also includes the grasses. In the largest genus of Centrolepidaceae, Centrolepis, the reproductive structures are viewed either as highly unusual aggregations of reduced flowers (the pseudanthial interpretation) or as unique flowers evolved through extreme reduction in the androecium, usually accompanied by a drastic increase in carpel number and elaboration of the entire gynoecium. Comparative data are here presented on gynoecia of all three genera of Centrolepidaceae; these data strongly support the latter (euanthial) interpretation. The combined phenomenon of carpel multiplication and decrease in stamen number is unexpected in a predominantly wind-pollinated lineage. Applying a pseudanthial interpretation would create a considerable morphological gap with reproductive structures of other Poales, whereas accepting a euanthial concept allows an almost continuous morphological series with related taxa

Dis moi ce que tu penses de la propriété intellectuelle, je te dirai qui tu es

Résumé. L’objet de cet article est d’analyser de manière expérimentale les liens supposés entre les préférences sociales des individus et la manière dont ils conçoivent la propriété intellectuelle, en opposant en particulier les approches utilitaristes et déontologiques. Pour ce faire, nous avons mis en place un protocole expérimental original à l’interface de deux courants de littérature : l’un, bien établi, traitant des préférences sociales ; l’autre, naissant, tentant de capter les différentes justifications de l’existence de la propriété intellectuelle. Notre expérience aboutit à deux enseignements majeurs : 1) les sujets utilitaristes semblent changer de conception de la justice sociale dès lors que la question de la propriété intellectuelle est posée; 2) les sujets rawlsiens sont en parfaite cohérence avec l’approche déontologique de la propriété intellectuelle, donnant la priorité aux droits des auteurs et des inventeurs, tout en minimisant les inégalités pouvant en résulter en optant, par exemple, en faveur d’une durée courte de propriété intellectuelle. JEL Codes : C 91 ; D 63 ; O34 Mots-clefs. Préférences sociales, économie expérimentale, Rawls, propriété intellectuell

Experiments on the Reaction of Citizens to New Voting Rules: A Survey

International audienceThis paper is a survey of what we learned from experiments about how innovations in the field of voting are received. Different experimental methods have been used: in the laboratory, on line and in situ. Preferences for voting rules are driven by self-interest, by a quest for simplicity and are also correlated with political attitudes. For most rules, voters show no cognitive barriers to their use, but for more complex rules, serious misunderstanding can appear