Comportement d'une loutre observée en milieu de journée en action de pêche

Tracks and faeces of otter are abundant around the lac du Jaunay (Vendée) but this animal is very fierce and nocturnal. Nevertheless, an otter was observed in very good condition at midday, in June. It was fishing in a small pound near the lake. This note describes the behaviour of this otter

Le conflit Canada-Brésil sur l'exportation d'aéronefs de transport régional : analyse des récentes décisions de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC)

Avec la signature de l'Accord général sur les tarifs douaniers et le commerce (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) (GATT) en 1948, nombreux sont ceux qui y voyaient enfin une véritable ouverture des marchés puisqu'il s'agissait d'un accord historique ayant précisément pour objet l'élimination des barrières tarifaires et non tarifaires à caractère discriminatoire. Cette ouverture des marchés s'est toutefois avérée plus théorique que pratique à plusieurs égards. En effet, nombre de pays, bien conscients des répercussions de cette ouverture tous azimuts de leurs marchés, ont réagi en mettant au point ce qui allait devenir la nouvelle forme de protectionnisme économique : les subventions à l'exportation. Dans le domaine aéronautique, les compagnies Bombardier et Embraer se disputent, depuis plusieurs années déjà, le contrôle du marché des aéronefs de transport régional. Toutefois, cette concurrence a pris l'allure d'une véritable guerre commerciale lorsque le Canada et le Brésil se sont mutuellement accusés de soutenir leur entreprise nationale au moyen de subventions à l'exportation prohibées par l'Accord sur les subventions et les mesures compensatoires. Puisque le conflit canado-brésilien constitue la première affaire soumise devant l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) concernant précisément des subventions à l'exportation d'aéronefs civils accordées par des pays membres, nous nous proposons de faire le point sur la notion de subvention à l'exportation par l'entremise de l'examen des programmes de subventions contestés. Puis, nous aborderons quelques pistes de solution qui pourraient permettre d'éviter que d'actuels ou d'éventuels programmes de subventions canadiens soient contestés avec succès.With the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1948, many saw this event as the genuine opening of markets since the purpose of this historic agreement was precisely to knock down tariff and discriminatory non-tariff barriers. This opening proved to be more theoretical than practical in many respects. Indeed, the awareness in many countries that this generalized opening of markets would have far-reaching effects led them to react by developing what would become the new economic protectionism : export subsidies. In the field of aviation, the Bombardier and Embraer companies have over the past years been vying for control over regional public carrier aircraft. This competition took a nasty turn, however, when Canada and Brazil mutually accused one another of propping up their national enterprises with export subsidies in violation of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. Since the Canada-Brazil dispute is the first case to be submitted before the World Trade Organization specifically concerning subsidies for exporting civilian aircraft granted by member countries, we attempt to update the concept of export subsidies by examining the contested subsidy programs. We will then explore some possible avenues of solution that may make it possible to avoid having current or future Canadian subsidy programs challenged successfully

Topological transformations of speckles

Deterministic control of coherent random light is highly important for information transmission through complex media. However, only a few simple speckle transformations can be achieved through diffusers without prior characterization. As recently shown, spiral wavefront modulation of the impinging beam allows permuting intensity maxima and intrinsic $\pm 1$-charged optical vortices. Here, we study this cyclic-group algebra when combining spiral phase transforms of charge $n$, with $D_3$- and $D_4$-point-group symmetry star-like amplitude modulations. This combination allows statistical strengthening of permutations and controlling the period to be 3 and 4, respectively. Phase saddle-points are shown to complete the cycle. These results offer new tools to manipulate critical points in speckles.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Rapport sur la numérisation du patrimoine écrit

Remis par Marc Tessier au Ministre de la culture et de la communication et portant sur la numérisation des fonds patrimoniaux des bibliothèques

Enquête sur la répartition de la Genette, Genetta genetta, en Vendée (2001-2002)

The Genet is a little carnivore whose status is not very well-known in Vendée (France). The methods for a county survey about these carnivores are set out in order to get information about its presence. The results will make it possible to map out an atlas showing where it is located and where it lives

Neuropilin Is a Receptor for the Axonal Chemorepellent Semaphorin III

AbstractExtending axons in the developing nervous system are guided to their targets through the coordinate actions of attractive and repulsive guidance cues. The semaphorin family of guidance cues comprises several members that can function as diffusible axonal chemorepellents. To begin to elucidate the mechanisms that mediate the repulsive actions of Collapsin-1/Semaphorin III/D (Sema III), we searched for Sema III–binding proteins in embryonic rat sensory neurons by expression cloning. We report that Sema III binds with high affinity to the transmembrane protein neuropilin, and that antibodies to neuropilin block the ability of Sema III to repel sensory axons and to induce collapse of their growth cones. These results provide evidence that neuropilin is a receptor or a component of a receptor complex that mediates the effects of Sema III on these axons

Presse au défi du numérique (La)

Rapport au ministre de la Culture et de la Communication. Analyse de la situation de la presse française confrontée aux évolutions technologiques et propositions de mesures de soutien