Water governance in France: institutional framework, stakeholders, arrangements and process

The enforcement of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is not such an administrative issue in France as it is in other countries, since competent authorities (water agencies) already have jurisdiction over major watersheds (districts). As far as the WFD implementation is concerned, setting and reaching objectives of water quality (good status) and implementing cost recovery policy are more challenging for France and will require necessary changes and adjustments. Water in France is not managed according to its ownership, but its uses. In this chapter, after (i) an overview of the water governance institutional framework, (ii) the water governance arrangements is tackled: the main stakeholders is described and key issues of the current process of making decision are dealt with, in the general context of implementing the WFD. The original institutional tools developed to integrate different water uses for the sake of ecosystems preservation are also considered

Methodological pathways to improvements of evaluation approaches: the case of irrigated agriculture evaluation

Cette synthèse montre l'évolution des méthodes d'évaluation dans le champ de l'agriculture irriguée, vers une tendance à des méthodologies intégrées. Elle propose quelques outils méthodologiques pour améliorer le processus d'évaluation. / Background: Irrigated agriculture is often evaluated but few reviews of evaluation methodology adapted to this object are available in the literature. Besides, recommendations to improve evaluation in this field are lacking. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to contribute filling this gap. Setting: Not applicable. Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Desk review. Findings: This review shows the evolution of evaluation methodology in the field of irrigated agriculture pointing out a trend towards more comprehensive methodologies. The review also suggests some methodological tools to improve evaluation process

Quadratic optimal functional quantization of stochastic processes and numerical applications

In this paper, we present an overview of the recent developments of functional quantization of stochastic processes, with an emphasis on the quadratic case. Functional quantization is a way to approximate a process, viewed as a Hilbert-valued random variable, using a nearest neighbour projection on a finite codebook. A special emphasis is made on the computational aspects and the numerical applications, in particular the pricing of some path-dependent European options.Comment: 41 page

Upper estimate of martingale dimension for self-similar fractals

We study upper estimates of the martingale dimension $d_m$ of diffusion processes associated with strong local Dirichlet forms. By applying a general strategy to self-similar Dirichlet forms on self-similar fractals, we prove that $d_m=1$ for natural diffusions on post-critically finite self-similar sets and that $d_m$ is dominated by the spectral dimension for the Brownian motion on Sierpinski carpets.Comment: 49 pages, 7 figures; minor revision with adding a referenc

Time separation as a hidden variable to the Copenhagen school of quantum mechanics

The Bohr radius is a space-like separation between the proton and electron in the hydrogen atom. According to the Copenhagen school of quantum mechanics, the proton is sitting in the absolute Lorentz frame. If this hydrogen atom is observed from a different Lorentz frame, there is a time-like separation linearly mixed with the Bohr radius. Indeed, the time-separation is one of the essential variables in high-energy hadronic physics where the hadron is a bound state of the quarks, while thoroughly hidden in the present form of quantum mechanics. It will be concluded that this variable is hidden in Feynman's rest of the universe. It is noted first that Feynman's Lorentz-invariant differential equation for the bound-state quarks has a set of solutions which describe all essential features of hadronic physics. These solutions explicitly depend on the time separation between the quarks. This set also forms the mathematical basis for two-mode squeezed states in quantum optics, where both photons are observable, but one of them can be treated a variable hidden in the rest of the universe. The physics of this two-mode state can then be translated into the time-separation variable in the quark model. As in the case of the un-observed photon, the hidden time-separation variable manifests itself as an increase in entropy and uncertainty.Comment: LaTex 10 pages with 5 figure. Invited paper presented at the Conference on Advances in Quantum Theory (Vaxjo, Sweden, June 2010), to be published in one of the AIP Conference Proceedings serie

Developmental Acquisition of a Rapid Calcium-Regulated Vesicle Supply Allows Sustained High Rates of Exocytosis in Auditory Hair Cells

Auditory hair cells (HCs) have the remarkable property to indefinitely sustain high rates of synaptic vesicle release during ongoing sound stimulation. The mechanisms of vesicle supply that allow such indefatigable exocytosis at the ribbon active zone remain largely unknown. To address this issue, we characterized the kinetics of vesicle recruitment and release in developing chick auditory HCs. Experiments were done using the intact chick basilar papilla from E10 (embryonic day 10) to P2 (two days post-hatch) by monitoring changes in membrane capacitance and Ca2+ currents during various voltage stimulations. Compared to immature pre-hearing HCs (E10-E12), mature post-hearing HCs (E18-P2) can steadily mobilize a larger readily releasable pool (RRP) of vesicles with faster kinetics and higher Ca2+ efficiency. As assessed by varying the inter-pulse interval of a 100 ms paired-pulse depolarization protocol, the kinetics of RRP replenishment were found much faster in mature HCs. Unlike mature HCs, exocytosis in immature HCs showed large depression during repetitive stimulations. Remarkably, when the intracellular concentration of EGTA was raised from 0.5 to 2 mM, the paired-pulse depression level remained unchanged in immature HCs but was drastically increased in mature HCs, indicating that the Ca2+ sensitivity of the vesicle replenishment process increases during maturation. Concomitantly, the immunoreactivity of the calcium sensor otoferlin and the number of ribbons at the HC plasma membrane largely increased, reaching a maximum level at E18-P2. Our results suggest that the efficient Ca2+-dependent vesicle release and supply in mature HCs essentially rely on the concomitant engagement of synaptic ribbons and otoferlin at the plasma membrane

Generalized eigenfunctions and spectral theory for strongly local Dirichlet forms

We present an introduction to the framework of strongly local Dirichlet forms and discuss connections between the existence of certain generalized eigenfunctions and spectral properties within this framework. The range of applications is illustrated by a list of examples

The Lent Particle Method for Marked Point Processes

Although introduced in the case of Poisson random measures (cf [2], [3]), the lent particle method applies as well in other situations. We study here the case of marked point processes. In this case the Malliavin calculus (here in the sense of Dirichlet forms) operates on the marks and the point process doesn’t need to be Poisson. The proof of the method is even much simpler than in the case of Poisson random measures. We give applications to isotropic processes and to processes whose jumps are modified by independent diffusions