Une sorcière, trois parapluies, un poisson

International audienc

On the rationality of the singularity locus of a Gough-Stewart platform - biplanar case

We propose to study the singularity locus of a Gough-Stewart platform as a surface defined over the field of rational functions on the the group of rotations. From the geometric properties of this surface we deduce, in the generic biplanar case, a rational parametrization and a family of parallel planes cutting the surface in the conics of a linear pencil, which are uniform for all generic orientations

Herbicide effects on freshwater benthic diatoms: Induction of nucleus alterations and silica cell wall abnormalities

Benthic diatoms are well known bio-indicators of river pollution by nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). Biological indexes, based on diatom sensitivity for non-toxic pollution, have been developed to assess the water quality.Nevertheless, they are not reliable tools to detect pollution by pesticides. Many authors have suggested that toxic agents, like pesticides, induce abnormalities of the diatom cell wall (frustule). High abnormal frustule abundances have been reported in natural diatom communities sampled in streams contaminated by pesticides. However, no direct link was found between the abundances of abnormal frustules in these communities and the pesticide concentrations in stream water. In the present study, a freshwater benthic diatomcommunity, isolated fromnatural biofilm and cultured under controlled conditions, was treated with a known genotoxic herbicide, maleic hydrazide (MH). Cells were exposed to three concentrations of MH (5×10−6, 10−6, 10−7 M) for 6 h followed by a 24 h-recovery time. After MH treatments, nucleus alterations were observed: abnormal nucleus location, micronucleus, multinuclear cell or disruption of the nuclear membrane. A dose-dependent increase of nuclear alterations was observed. The difference between the control (9.65 nuclear alterations per 1000 cells observed (9.65‰), S.D. = 4.23) and the highest concentrations (29.40‰, S.D. = 8.49 for 10−6Mand 35.96‰, S.D. = 3.71 for 5×10−6 M)was statistically significant (Tukey test, P < 0.05). Diatoms also exhibited frustules with deformed morphology and abnormal ornamentation. Significantly increased abundances of abnormal frustules were observed for the highest concentrations (10−6 and 5×10−6 M; Tukey test, P < 0.05). These two parameters tended to increase together (Pearson correlation = 0.702, P < 0.05). The results suggest that the induction of abnormal frustules could be associated with the genotoxic effects of MH. The alterations observed could be related to the effects of MH on the synthesis of the proteins involved in frustule formation or in the regulation of the cytoskeleton of the diatom cells

Geodesic diameter of sets defined by few quadratic equations and inequalities

International audienceWe prove a bound for the geodesic diameter of a subset of the unit ball in $\mathbb{R}^n$ described by a fixed number of quadratic equations and inequalities, which is polynomial in $n$, whereas the known bound for general degree is exponential in $n$. Our proof uses methods borrowed from D'Acunto and Kurdyka (to deal with the geodesic diameter) and from Barvinok (to take advantage of the quadratic nature)

Extra modes of operation and self motions in manipulators designed for Schoenflies motion

We study 4-UPU parallel manipulators performing Schoenflies motion and show that they can have extra modes of operation with 3 degrees of freedom, depending on the geometric parameters of the manipulators. We show that the transition between the different modes occurs along self-motion of the manipulator in the Schoenflies mode

Singular surfaces and cusps in symmetric planar 3-RPR manipulators

International audienceWe study in this paper a class of 3-RPR manipulators for which the direct kinematic problem (DKP) is split into a cubic problem followed by a quadratic one. These manipulators are geometrically characterized by the fact that the moving triangle is the image of the base triangle by an indirect isometry. We introduce a specific coordinate system adapted to this geometric feature and which is also well adapted to the splitting of the DKP. This allows us to obtain easily precise descriptions of the singularities and of the cusp edges. These latter second order singularities are important for nonsingular assembly mode changing. We show how to sort assembly modes and use this sorting for motion planning in the joint space

Sensitivity of freshwater periphytic diatoms to agricultural herbicides

The biomonitoring of pesticide pollution in streams and rivers using algae such as diatoms remains difficult. The responses of diatomcommunities to toxic stress in streamwater are disturbed by the variations of environmental parameters. In this study, periphytic algae collected in situwere exposed under controlled conditions to two major herbicides used in French agriculture (isoproturon and s-metolachlor). Three exposure regimes were tested: 5 and 30gL−1 for 6 days and 30gL−1 for 3 days followed by a recovery period of 3 days. The algal biomasses were assessed from pigment concentrations (chlorophyll a and c) and from live cell density. The highest concentration (30gL−1) of isoproturon inhibited the biomass increase statistically significantly. In periphyton exposed to 5 and 30gL−1 of s-metolachlor, chlorophyll c concentration and live cell densitywere also statistically significantly lower than in the control. Periphyton left to recover after reduced exposure duration (3 days) showed higher growth rates after treatment with s-metolachlor than with isoproturon. Taxonomic identifications showed that species like Melosira varians, Nitzschia dissipata and Cocconeis placentula were not affected by the herbicide exposure. Other species like Eolimna minima and Navicula reichardtiana were more sensitive. Studying diatoms according to their trophic mode showed that facultative heterotroph specieswere statistically significantly favoured by isoproturon exposure at the highest concentration. Results obtained with s-metolachlor exposure showed a disturbance of cell multiplication rather than that of photosynthesis. These results suggest that photosynthesis inhibitors like isoproturon favour species able to survive when the autotroph mode is inhibited

Single File Diffusion of particles with long ranged interactions: damping and finite size effects

We study the Single File Diffusion (SFD) of a cyclic chain of particles that cannot cross each other, in a thermal bath, with long ranged interactions, and arbitrary damping. We present simulations that exhibit new behaviors specifically associated to systems of small number of particles and to small damping. In order to understand those results, we present an original analysis based on the decomposition of the particles motion in the normal modes of the chain. Our model explains all dynamic regimes observed in our simulations, and provides convincing estimates of the crossover times between those regimes.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figure