Genes Suggest Ancestral Colour Polymorphisms Are Shared across Morphologically Cryptic Species in Arctic Bumblebees

email Suzanne orcd idCopyright: © 2015 Williams et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Sketch as sletch can : design sketching with imperfect aids and sketchpads of the future

Only abstract in French is available (article is in English) Le role important de l’esquisse et de l’avant-projet na pas eu pour consequence l’évoiution d’instrurnents de CAO correspondant aux besoins de Ia creation. La CAO telle qu’elle existe a 1 ‘heure actuelle favorise la visualisation exacte aux dépens du trait imprécis et intuitif. Ni la technologie de la réalité virtuelle, ni celle du bloc-note électronique ne semblent aller dans Ia direction voulue pour lesquisse. Les fonctions et le charactere propre de lesquisse dans la creation assistée par ordinateur sont encore trop peu connus. De même, la phase de l’esquisse se laisse encore difficilernent approcher dans Ia pédagogie de Ia CAO. Pour pallier a ces manques, I’auteur a choisi deux approches: l'une est d’utiliser les logiciels existants en les détoumant de leur fonctionnalité, l'autre est de chercher la synthèse de modeles théoriques de Ia creation architecturale afin de douner a l’esquisse la place qui Iui revient dans la CAO. La premiere approche a été traduite dans des exercices proposes en atelier (a l’aide du module 3D du logiciel Architrion), dans lesquels les étudiants ont pu donner libre cours a leur imagination. Il leur a toutefois etè demandé de tenir compte dun certain nombre de contraintes. Pour la seconde approche, les modéles de Ia conception architecturale selon Lebahar et Chan ont été retenus comme base de depart étant donné leur complérnentarité. Dans une prochaine phase de I’evolution de Ia CAO, ii sera nécessaire d’effectuer des recherches de psychologie cognitive et d’ergonomie afin de donner aux concepteurs un nouveau type doutil: un outil qui saurait se faire discret afin de ne pas fragiliser la creation, tout en offrant des moyens qui sublimeraient ceux des crayons et des camets de croquis traditionnels, mais en y ajoutant les apports propres de l'électronique

AVOCAAD

The Leonardo da Vinci pilot project AVOCAAD (Added Value of Computer Aided Architectural Design) aims to innovate the use of computers in architecture. Hereto, new course materials and structures are developed. Focus is on new unusual ways to use software in Architecture. In this paper, we first describe the context using the general AVOCAAD statement. In order to give structure to the developed materials, a scheme was developed. This AVOCAAD scheme is given and described. In order to innovate in the architectural curriculum as well as in design offices, exercise materials will be available through the Internet. Hereto, a web- structure for the exercises was developed

AVOCAAD, the Experience

The Leonardo da Vinci project AVOCAAD (Added Value of Computer Aided Architectural Design) aims at stimulating creative and experimental use of computers in the field of Architecture and Construction by the use of new technologies. For this purpose, a large set of exercises and exercise materials was developed and is now available through an interactive web-site. This allows regular students as well as architects in practice to continuously seek for a more interesting and inspiring use of computers and IC-technology, adding value in their own field of interest and work. The interactive web-site generates a virtual forum for exchange of ideas. The AVOCAAD partners as well as the newly joined partners are currently using and testing the available teaching materials (exercises, foreground and background information) with students. Moreover a small design exercise in the context of the project has been the theme of a workshop held at the AVOCAAD 1999 conference. Students and architects were asked to create a design in a predefined space based on experimental architectural music. This paper intends to report on the experiences we gained in using the interactive web-site, the exercises and also doing the workshop. We will address the pedagogical implications of issues like learning environment, continuous and distance learning, and focus on their impact towards CAAD curricula. Examples and results will illustrate the general framework

High-resolution distribution of bumblebees (<i>Bombus</i> spp.) in a mountain area marked by agricultural decline

<p>Since the 1980s, bumblebee species have declined in Europe, partly because of agricultural intensification. Yet little is known about the potential consequences of agricultural decline on bumblebees. In most mountainous areas, agricultural decline from rural exodus is acute and alters landscapes as much as intensive farming. Our study aims at providing a quantitative assessment of agricultural decline through its impact on landscapes, and at characterising bumblebee assemblages associated with land-use types of mountain regions. The studied area (6.2 km²) belongs to the Eyne’s valley in the French Pyrenees, known to host the exceptional number of 33 bumblebee species of the 45 found in continental France. We compare aerial photographs from 1953 and 2000 to quantify agricultural decline. We cross a bumblebee database (2849 observations) with land-use types interpreted from aerial photographs from 2000. Comparison of land-use maps from 1953 and 2000 reveals a strong progression of woodland and urbanised areas, and a decline of agricultural land (pastures and crops), except for hayfields. Spatial correlations between low altitude agro-pastoral structure and the occurrence of bumblebee species shows that bumblebee specific richness is highest in agro-pastoral land-uses (pastures and hayfields) and in the ski area, and poorest in woodland and urbanised areas. Urbanisation and agricultural decline, through increased woodland areas, could lead to a loss of bumblebee diversity in the future. To preserve high bumblebee richness, it is crucial to design measures to maintain open land habitats and the landscape’s spatial heterogeneity through agro-pastoral practices.</p