3,249 research outputs found
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Ă la recherche dâune « dĂ©mocratie technique ». Enseignements de la confĂ©rence citoyenne sur les OGM en France
This article presents an analysis of the consensus conference on GMOâs held in France in 1998. Centred on the experience of the citizen panel, it also discusses criticisms expressed by various actors in France about this conference, most of which related to the lack of representativeness of a panel of citizens with no prior knowledge or interest in the issue at stake. Our analysis of the deliberations and report of the panel reveals the reflexive endeavour undertaken by these citizens with respect to their own role and representativeness. We show how the members of the panel addressed, from the start, the issue of their role in relation to that of the experts and in the decision-making process; how they constructed their collective identity on the basis of their own definition of their role and how this in turn determined how they interacted with the experts and stakeholders invited to the public conference and the nature of their recommendations. We argue that the work conducted by the citizen panel inaugurates a new form of active representation, which is of a very different nature to representation by elected politicians and to âfigurativeâ representation by professional institutions, trade unions and other non-governmental organisations. This novel form of representation enables the exploration of scientific and technical aspects together with social aspects, from the perspective of âordinary citizensâ. It is indeed the âordinaryâ character of the panel members that is relevant, because the essence of the operation is to inform decision-makers about the views of those who do not speak out and who do not feel represented by political parties, trade unions, or environmental and consumer NGOs. The article demonstrates how these cognitive and political processes were intrinsically intermeshed in the activities of the panel. The extent and nature of this socio-technical exploration was, however, constrained by some aspects of the consensus conference method itself and we discuss ways in which these could be overcome. On the basis of this analysis, the article addresses two more general issues: the relationship between this type of participatory technology assessment initiative and NGO mobilisations and the link with decision-making processes
Exponential decay for the damped wave equation in unbounded domains
We study the decay of the semigroup generated by the damped wave equation in
an unbounded domain. We first prove under the natural geometric control
condition the exponential decay of the semigroup. Then we prove under a weaker
condition the logarithmic decay of the solutions (assuming that the initial
data are smoother). As corollaries, we obtain several extensions of previous
results of stabilisation and control
Predicted FeII Emission-Line Strengths from Active Galactic Nuclei
We present theoretical FeII emission line strengths for physical conditions
typical of Active Galactic Nuclei with Broad-Line Regions. The FeII line
strengths were computed with a precise treatment of radiative transfer using
extensive and accurate atomic data from the Iron Project. Excitation mechanisms
for the FeII emission included continuum fluorescence, collisional excitation,
self-fluorescence amoung the FeII transitions, and fluorescent excitation by
Lyman-alpha and Lyman-beta. A large FeII atomic model consisting of 827 fine
structure levels (including states to E ~ 15 eV) was used to predict fluxes for
approximately 23,000 FeII transitions, covering most of the UV, optical, and IR
wavelengths of astrophysical interest. Spectral synthesis for wavelengths from
1600 Angstroms to 1.2 microns is presented. Applications of present theoretical
templates to the analysis of observations are described. In particular, we
discuss recent observations of near-IR FeII lines in the 8500 Angstrom -- 1
micron region which are predicted by the Lyman-alpha fluorescence mechanism. We
also compare our UV spectral synthesis with an empirical iron template for the
prototypical, narrow-line Seyfert galaxy I Zw 1. The theoretical FeII template
presented in this work should also applicable to a variety of objects with FeII
spectra formed under similar excitation conditions, such as supernovae and
symbiotic stars.Comment: 33 pages, 15 postscript figure
Genetic Variation at Nuclear Loci Fails to Distinguish Two Morphologically Distinct Species of Aquilegia
Aquilegia formosa and pubescens are two closely related species belonging to the columbine genus. Despite their morphological and ecological differences, previous studies have revealed a large degree of intercompatibility, as well as little sequence divergence between these two taxa [1], [2]. We compared the inter- and intraspecific patterns of variation for 9 nuclear loci, and found that the two species were practically indistinguishable at the level of DNA sequence polymorphism, indicating either very recent speciation or continued gene flow. As a comparison, we also analyzed variation at two loci across 30 other Aquilegia taxa; this revealed slightly more differentiation among taxa, which seemed best explained by geographic distance. By contrast, we found no evidence for isolation by distance on a more local geographic scale. We conclude that the extremely low levels of genetic differentiation between A. formosa and A.pubescens at neutral loci will facilitate future genome-wide scans for speciation genes
Curvature tensors on distorted Killing horizons and their algebraic classification
We consider generic static spacetimes with Killing horizons and study
properties of curvature tensors in the horizon limit. It is determined that the
Weyl, Ricci, Riemann and Einstein tensors are algebraically special and
mutually aligned on the horizon. It is also pointed out that results obtained
in the tetrad adjusted to a static observer in general differ from those
obtained in a free-falling frame. This is connected to the fact that a static
observer becomes null on the horizon.
It is also shown that finiteness of the Kretschmann scalar on the horizon is
compatible with the divergence of the Weyl component or
in the freely falling frame. Furthermore finiteness of is compatible
with divergence of curvature invariants constructed from second derivatives of
the Riemann tensor.
We call the objects with finite Krestschmann scalar but infinite
``truly naked black holes''. In the (ultra)extremal versions of these objects
the structure of the Einstein tensor on the horizon changes due to extra terms
as compared to the usual horizons, the null energy condition being violated at
some portions of the horizon surface. The demand to rule out such divergencies
leads to the constancy of the factor that governs the leading term in the
asymptotics of the lapse function and in this sense represents a formal analog
of the zeroth law of mechanics of non-extremal black holes. In doing so, all
extra terms in the Einstein tensor automatically vanish.Comment: 21 pages, To appear in Class. Quant. Gra
A Systematic Analysis of Fe II Emission in Quasars: Evidence for Inflow to the Central Black Hole
Broad Fe II emission is a prominent feature of the optical and ultraviolet
spectra of quasars. We report on a systematical investigation of optical Fe II
emission in a large sample of 4037 z < 0.8 quasars selected from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey. We have developed and tested a detailed line-fitting
technique, taking into account the complex continuum and narrow and broad
emission-line spectrum. Our primary goal is to quantify the velocity broadening
and velocity shift of the Fe II spectrum in order to constrain the location of
the Fe II-emitting region and its relation to the broad-line region. We find
that the majority of quasars show Fe II emission that is redshifted, typically
by ~ 400 km/s but up to 2000 km/s, with respect to the systemic velocity of the
narrow-line region or of the conventional broad-line region as traced by the
Hbeta line. Moreover, the line width of Fe II is significantly narrower than
that of the broad component of Hbeta. We show that the magnitude of the Fe II
redshift correlates inversely with the Eddington ratio, and that there is a
tendency for sources with redshifted Fe II emission to show red asymmetry in
the Hbeta line. These characteristics strongly suggest that Fe II originates
from a location different from, and most likely exterior to, the region that
produces most of Hbeta. The Fe II-emitting zone traces a portion of the
broad-line region of intermediate velocities whose dynamics may be dominated by
infall.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The UV Properties of the Narrow Line Quasar I Zwicky 1
I Zw 1 is the prototype narrow line quasar. We report here the results of our
study of the UV emission of I Zw 1 using a high S/N (50-120) spectrum obtained
with the HST FOS. The following main new results are obtained: 1. The Mg II and
Al III doublets are partially/fully resolved. The measured doublet ratios
verify theoretical predictions that the lines are thermalized in the BLR. 2. A
weak associated UV absorption system is detected in N~V, and possibly also in C
IV and Lya, suggesting an outflow with a velocity of 1870 km/s and velocity
dispersion <300 km/s. 3. Lines from ions of increasing ionization level show
increasing excess blue wing flux, and an increasing line peak velocity shift,
reaching a maximum blueshift of about 2000 km/s for He II 1640. This may
indicate an out-flowing component in the BLR, where the ionization level
increases with velocity, and which is visible only in the approaching
direction. The highest velocity part of this outflow may produce the associated
UV absorption system. 4. The small C III] 1909 EW, and the small C III]
1909/Lya and C III] 1909/Si III] 1892 flux ratios indicate a typical BLR
density of 10^11, i.e. about an order of magnitude larger than implied by C
III] 1909 in most quasars. A BLR component of a higher density is implied by
the EW and doublet ratio of the Al III 1857 doublet. 5. Prominent Fe II UV 191
emission is seen, together with weaker line emission at 1294 and 1871 A. These
three features have been proposed as evidence for significant Lya pumping of
the 8-10 eV levels of Fe II. 6. Significant Fe III emission is present. The Fe
III UV 34 and UV 48 multiplets are clearly resolved, and Fe III UV 1, UV 47, UV
50, and UV 68 may also be present. (Shortened version)Comment: 28 pages, 1 table and 7 figures included. Uses aas2pp4.sty. Scheduled
for the Astrophysical Journal November 10, 1997 issue, Vol. 48
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Lâexperience francaise de lâevaluation technologique interactive des recherche sur les vignes transgeniques
Dans cet article, les auteurs prĂ©sentent une rĂ©flexion sur les jugements de lĂ©gitimitĂ© de lâorganisation de la dĂ©mocratie participative en relatant lâexpĂ©rience originale quâils ont conduite en 2001 et 2002 en France, dans le domaine de la recherche agronomique. Mise sur pied par lâun des trois grands organismes publics de recherche nationaux (lâINRA) qui souhaitait ouvrir la dĂ©libĂ©ration sur sa recherche Ă des acteurs extĂ©rieurs, cette expĂ©rience pilote de coconstruction dâun programme de recherche sur les vignes transgĂ©niques permet dâinterroger non seulement les conditions de la production, par un groupe hybride (chercheurs, professionnels de la vigne et du vin et citoyens ordinaires), dâun avis argumentĂ© sur des questions technoscientifiques, mais aussi les modalitĂ©s de sa rĂ©ception dans lâespace public et dans les milieux concernĂ©s : en lâoccurrence, le monde agricole et plus particuliĂšrement vitivinicole, ainsi que le monde associatif de la lutte anti-OGM
Doppler optical frequency domain reflectometry for remote fiber sensing
Coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry has been widely used to locate static reflectors with high spatial resolution. Here, we present a new type of Doppler optical frequency domain reflectometry that offers simultaneous measurement of the position and speed of moving objects. The system is exploited to track optically levitated "flying" particles inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. As an example, we demonstrate distributed temperature sensing with sub-mm-scale spatial resolution and a standard deviation of similar to 10 degrees C up to 200 degrees C. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreemen
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