Payments for watershed services in Lombok, Indonesia : uncovering actors' strategies in a "success" story

This factsheet gives a short presentation of a case study conducted in Lombok Island (Indonesia). In 6 pages, it focuses on the complexity of PES scheme embedment in public policies. This factsheet describes and explicitly distinguishes three PES initiatives, and explain the reasons for such an evolution in the design of policy instruments aimed at protecting groundwater resources. The results presented have previously been published in an Working Paper: de Buren G., 2013. La régulation des interdépendances entre la forêt et l'eau potable en Indonésie; études de cas sur le site de Lombok. (1/2013) 369 p., idheap

Development and performance of the Fast Neutron Imaging Telescope for SNM detection

FNIT (the Fast Neutron Imaging Telescope), a detector with both imaging and energy measurement capabilities, sensitive to neutrons in the range 0.8-20 MeV, was initially conceived to study solar neutrons as a candidate design for the Inner Heliosphere Sentinel (IHS) spacecraft of NASA\u27s Solar Sentinels program and successively reconfigured to locate fission neutron sources. By accurately identifying the position of the source with imaging techniques and reconstructing the Watt spectrum of fission neutrons, FNIT can detect samples of special nuclear material (SNM), including heavily shielded and masked ones. The detection principle is based on multiple elastic neutron-proton scatterings in organic scintillators. By reconstructing n-p event locations and sequence and measuring the recoil proton energies, the direction and energy spectrum of the primary neutron flux can be determined and neutron sources identified. We describe the design of the FNIT prototype and present its energy reconstruction and imaging performance, assessed by exposing FNIT to a neutron beam and to a Pu fission neutron source

Quantitative determination of modal content and morphological properties of coal sulphides by digital image analysis as a tool to check their flotation behaviour

An efficient depression of coal sulphides in the flotation process means a healthier environment and may be essential for the sustainability of a coal operation. Nitric and ferric oxidative pre-treatment of coal pyrite have been tested to improve pyrite depression, and the results are compared with those from the process of raw, not pre-treated coal. The removal indexes point to nitric pre-treatment as the best, but depression is still low. The microscopic study of feed and products, coupled to Digital Image Analysis (DIA) in all the cases, provide important clues to understand the behaviour of pyrite, which can be related to quantitative parameters, such as the exposition ratio (ER), and to qualified interpretation of the textures. Pyrite shows in the first float an unexpected hydrophobic behaviour, which is due to its occurrence as framboids, or porous particles which may be intergrown with organic matter and behave as coal. In general, the flotation results can be predicted from the DIA-data, e.g. depression of liberated pyrite into the tailings, increased by oxidative pre-treatments by 300% (ferric) or by > 400% (nitric); or concentration of middlings with lower pyrite ER in the floats. DIA is an efficient tool to obtain some important quantitative informations which otherwise would be inaccessible (e.g. the morphological data on > 1,000,000 pyrite particles for this study), and its use should be enhanced to check ore processing

Viewpoint: filovirus haemorrhagic fever outbreaks: much ado about nothing?

The recent outbreak of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo has put the filovirus threat back on the international health agenda. This paper gives an overview of Marburg and Ebola outbreaks so far observed and puts them in a public health perspective. Damage on the local level has been devastating at times, but was marginal on the international level despite the considerable media attention these outbreaks received. The potential hazard of outbreaks, however, after export of filovirus from its natural environment into metropolitan areas, is argued to be considerable. Some avenues for future research and intervention are explored. Beyond the obvious need to find the reservoir and study the natural history, public health strategies for a more timely and efficient response are urgently needed

Design optimization and performance capabilities of the fast neutron imaging telescope (FNIT)

We describe the design optimization process and performance characterization of a next generation neutron telescope, with imaging and energy measurement capabilities, sensitive to neutrons in the 1-20 MeV energy range. The response of the Fast Neutron Imaging Telescope (FNIT), its efficiency in neutron detection, energy resolution and imaging capabilities were characterized through a combination of lab tests and Monte Carlo simulations. Monte Carlo simulations, together with experimental data, are also being used in the development and testing of the image reconstruction algorithm. FNIT was initially conceived to study solar neutrons as a candidate instrument for the Inner Heliosphere Sentinel (IHS) spacecraft. However, the design of this detector was eventually adapted to locate Special Nuclear Material (SNM) sources for homeland security purposes, by detecting fission neutrons. In either case, the detection principle is based on multiple elastic neutron-proton scatterings in organic scintillator. By reconstructing event locations and measuring the recoil proton energies, the direction and energy spectrum of the primary neutron flux can be determined and neutron sources identified. This paper presents the most recent results arising from our efforts and outlines the performance of the FNIT detector

Organisation of Health Care During an Outbreak of Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1999.

Organising health care was one of the tasks of the International Scientific and Technical Committee during the 1998-1999 outbreak in Durba/Watsa, in the north-eastern province (Province Orientale), Democratic Republic of Congo. With the logistical support of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), two isolation units were created: one at the Durba Reference Health Centre and the other at the Okimo Hospital in Watsa. Between May 6th, the day the isolation unit was installed and May 19th, 15 patients were admitted to the Durba Health Centre. In only four of them were the diagnosis of Marburg haemorrhagic fever (MHF) confirmed by laboratory examination. Protective equipment was distributed to health care workers and family members caring for patients. Information about MHF, modes of transmission and the use of barrier nursing techniques was provided to health care workers and sterilisation procedures were reviewed. In contrast to Ebola outbreaks, there was little panic among health care workers and the general public in Durba and all health services remained operational

Advanced characterization and simulation of SONNE: a fast neutron spectrometer for Solar Probe Plus

SONNE, the SOlar NeutroN Experiment proposed for Solar Probe Plus, is designed to measure solar neutrons from 1-20 MeV and solar gammas from 0.5-10 MeV. SONNE is a double scatter instrument that employs imaging to maximize its signal-to-noise ratio by rejecting neutral particles from non-solar directions. Under the assumption of quiescent or episodic small-flare activity, one can constrain the energy content and power dissipation by fast ions in the low corona. Although the spectrum of protons and ions produced by nanoflaring activity is unknown, we estimate the signal in neutrons and γ−rays that would be present within thirty solar radii, constrained by earlier measurements at 1 AU. Laboratory results and simulations will be presented illustrating the instrument sensitivity and resolving power

Effects of random alloy disorder, shape deformation, and substrate misorientation on the exciton lifetime and fine structure splitting of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs(111) quantum dots

Using atomistic, million-atom screened pseudopotential theory together with configuration interaction, as well as atomically resolved structures based on experimental characterization, we perform numerical calculations on self-assembled GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs(111) quantum dots that we compare with our experimental data. We show that random alloy disorder in the barrier can cause a symmetry breaking at the single-particle level (distortions of wave functions and lifting of degeneracies) which translates into the appearance of a nonzero exciton fine structure splitting (FSS) at the many-body level. Nevertheless, our results indicate that varying the concentration of aluminum in the random alloyed barrier allows simultaneous tuning of the exciton fine structure splitting and emission wavelength without altering its radiative lifetime tau approximate to 200 ps. Additionally, the optical properties of these quantum dots are predicted to be very robust against both symmetric and asymmetric shape elongation (with FSS 2.2 mu eV), rendering postselection less essential under well-controlled growth conditions. On the other hand, the growth on miscut substrates introduces a structural anisotropy along the quantization axis to which the system is very sensitive: the FSS ranges between 5 and 50 mu eV while the radiative lifetime of the transition is increased up to tau = 400 ps. The numerical results for the FSS are in perfect agreement with our experimental measurements which give FSS = 10 +/- 9 mu eV for 2 degrees miscut angle at x = 0.15

Effect of alumina and titanium nitrides inclusions on mechanical properties in high alloyed steels

peer reviewedevery commercial steel product in varying amounts. Since inclusions significantly influence properties and behaviour of materials and at the same time give indications on the quality of the steel, it is quite interesting to precise their nature and their origin. In this paper concerning a project involved in the COST 517 framework, studied alloys are high alloy steels. The raw materials were obtained from the conventionally electrical cast ingot and the Electro Slag Refining processes. The purpose is to compare various inclusions produced by these different processes and their effect on the mechanical properties. The raw material because of the melting processes themselves, leads to a product with a good to a great cleanliness, and tiny inclusions, which are haphazardly distributed. The actual ASTM E45 chart seems to be inappropriate, as the inclusions founded are too small in size. Therefore, we manage to develop a specific procedure for the study of such inclusions. The different types of inclusions encountered are oxides, titanium nitrides, and manganese sulphides. Studying the effect on mechanical properties, oxides often seem to initiate fatigue fracture