La diversificación de la oferta turística en las estaciones de media montaña: el caso de la Chapelle en los Alpes franceses del Norte

La Chapelle is a small ski resort in the northern Alps, France. This paper explores the tourist activities offer diversification in mid-altitude mountain areas. The results show that: 1) despite the low altitude ski area (1000-1800 m), the commune’s policy is still heavily in favour of skiing; 2) Summer activities appear to be primarily developed by the ski lift group (mountain biking, devalkart, rollerherbe... thereby creating the need for ski lifts during the summer) rather than local public policy makers. Agritourism, rural and cultural activities appear neglected.Este trabajo estudia la diversificación de la oferta turística en la media montaña (el caso de La Chapelle, pequeña estación de esquí, Alpes del Norte, Francia). 1/ A pesar de la modesta altitud de la zona esquiable (1000-1800 m), La Chapelle apuesta fuertemente por el esquí. 2/ La oferta de verano parece estar más ligada a la organización que administra los telesillas (descenso en bicicletas de montaña, devalkart o rollerherbe que permite rentabilizar los telesillas en verano) que a las políticas públicas locales. El agroturismo, las actividades rurales o culturales no se tienen en cuenta

The production of discourse in four subjects affected with psychosis

We analyze the production of free speeches of three subjects affected with schizophrenia and one affected with paranoïa. We present and discuss the results concerning their linguistic production and the factors most often described as establishing coherence in discourse, i.e. pragmatic connectives and referential expressions, as well as phatic expressions which are supposed to help maintain the relationship between speaker and hearer, facilitating communication. The results are not on the whole unexpected (i.e., on the whole they seem within the norm) and this raises the methodological questions of corpus recording, of the necessity of control corpora from a comparable but normal population and of how to treat those corpora.Nous analysons la production de discours libres chez trois sujets atteints de schizophrénie et un sujet atteint de paranoïa. Nous présentons et nous discutons les résultats en ce qui concerne la production linguistique et les facteurs les plus souvent décrits comme établissant la cohérence discursive, i.e., les connecteurs pragmatiques et les expressions référentielles, ainsi que les expressions phatiques qui sont supposées aider à maintenir la relation entre les interlocuteurs, facilitant, de ce fait, la communication. Les résultats semblent dans l'ensemble être dans la norme, ce qui soulève les questions méthodologiques du recueil du corpus et de la nécessité de corpus contrôle chez une population comparable mais normale, ainsi que du traitement de ces corpus

Космоструктурные позиции золоторудных объектов заангарской части Енисейского кряжа

Изучены космоструктуры заангарский части Енисейского кряжа по материалам мультиспектральных космических систем Modis и Landsat ETM+. Выделены четыре системы кольцевых структур первого порядка, интерпретируемые как глубинные очаги гранитизации. Показаны закономерности размещения золотого оруденения в космогеологических структурах. Выделенные разноранговые космогеологические структуры находят отражение в аномальных структурах геохимических полей

Photoelectrolytic oxidation of organic species at mesoporous tungsten trioxide film electrodes under visible light illumination

Operation of a photoelectrolyser fitted with a semitransparent semiconducting WO3 film photoanode is described. Due to its band-gap energy of 2.5eV, the photoresponse of the WO3 electrode extends into the blue part of the visible spectrum up to 500nm. The WO3 photoanode exhibits particularly high incident photon-to-current efficiencies for the oxidation of several organic species with the maximum occurring at ca. 400nm. Experiments conducted under simulated AM 1.5 solar illumination demonstrated efficient photodegradation of a variety of organic chemicals including small organic molecules as well as EDTA and anthraquinonic Acid Blue 80 dye. Although, due to the inherent mass transport limitations, the described device appears best suited to the treatment of industrial wastewater containing from 100ppm to few gL−1 of impurities, almost complete removal of organic carbon was observed in several photoelectrolysis runs. This is apparently associated with the concomitant photooxidation of sulphate-based supporting electrolyte resulting in the formation of a powerful chemical oxidant-persulphat

Poured Earth as concrete

International audienceIn order to pour an earthen material in a liquid state, as a concrete, technologies used by concrete and ceramic industries can be transferred to the field of earthen construction. Two different methods should be employed simultaneously. The first relates to theories of grain packing that have led to models of Apollonian packing and spaced packing, commonly used for the development of cement concrete (ultra high performance concrete and self-leveling concrete). It concerns the optimization of the granular skeleton of natural materials. The second relates to the dispersion of the colloidal fraction of earthen materials. In natural soils, clays are organized as porous aggregates composed of several tens of particles. These aggregates trap water that is not used to liquefy the mixture. The dispersion of these aggregates, releasing this interstitial water, liquefies the earthen material without adding water. This dispersion is obtained by adding a small proportion (on the order of a few tenths of a percent by mass relative to the dry material) of deflocculating agents such as those commonly used for the development of industrial ceramics. The combined action of these two methods leads to a solid material that does not crack while drying, and can easily be implemented at a viscosity comparable to that of vibrated concrete with the same tools than those employed by the concrete industry (cement mixer, shuttering, vibrating needle). This new technique is particularly suited for the implementation of slabs and other horizontal surfaces, and also for vertical walls

Poured Earth as concrete

International audienceIn order to pour an earthen material in a liquid state, as a concrete, technologies used by concrete and ceramic industries can be transferred to the field of earthen construction. Two different methods should be employed simultaneously. The first relates to theories of grain packing that have led to models of Apollonian packing and spaced packing, commonly used for the development of cement concrete (ultra high performance concrete and self-leveling concrete). It concerns the optimization of the granular skeleton of natural materials. The second relates to the dispersion of the colloidal fraction of earthen materials. In natural soils, clays are organized as porous aggregates composed of several tens of particles. These aggregates trap water that is not used to liquefy the mixture. The dispersion of these aggregates, releasing this interstitial water, liquefies the earthen material without adding water. This dispersion is obtained by adding a small proportion (on the order of a few tenths of a percent by mass relative to the dry material) of deflocculating agents such as those commonly used for the development of industrial ceramics. The combined action of these two methods leads to a solid material that does not crack while drying, and can easily be implemented at a viscosity comparable to that of vibrated concrete with the same tools than those employed by the concrete industry (cement mixer, shuttering, vibrating needle). This new technique is particularly suited for the implementation of slabs and other horizontal surfaces, and also for vertical walls

Deep and Clear Optical Imaging of Thick Inhomogeneous Samples

Inhomogeneity in thick biological specimens results in poor imaging by light microscopy, which deteriorates as the focal plane moves deeper into the specimen. Here, we have combined selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) with wavefront sensor adaptive optics (wao). Our waoSPIM is based on a direct wavefront measure using a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and fluorescent beads as point source emitters. We demonstrate the use of this waoSPIM method to correct distortions in three-dimensional biological imaging and to improve the quality of images from deep within thick inhomogeneous samples

Live cell division dynamics monitoring in 3D large spheroid tumor models using light sheet microscopy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multicellular tumor spheroids are models of increasing interest for cancer and cell biology studies. They allow considering cellular interactions in exploring cell cycle and cell division mechanisms. However, 3D imaging of cell division in living spheroids is technically challenging and has never been reported.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we report a major breakthrough based on the engineering of multicellular tumor spheroids expressing an histone H2B fluorescent nuclear reporter protein, and specifically designed sample holders to monitor live cell division dynamics in 3D large spheroids using an home-made selective-plane illumination microscope.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As illustrated using the antimitotic drug, paclitaxel, this technological advance paves the way for studies of the dynamics of cell divion processes in 3D and more generally for the investigation of tumor cell population biology in integrated system as the spheroid model.</p

Soft 3D printing of thermoplastic polyurethane: Preliminary study

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is a highly elastic linear polymer composed of soft segments, usually flexible polyester or polyethers. It is widely used in 3D printing technologies using FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication), SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) or inkjet printing. Among these options, FFF is the most common. However, stiffness and hardness values of 3D printed TPU in filament form are higher that it would be desirable for some applications, which require softer materials. Therefore, it was seen necessary to find a new methodology for 3D printing soft TPU. In this way, the present study seeks to be first research study which focuses on the possibility of 3D printing TPU using DIW (Direct Ink Writing) technology with UV light. Firstly, the optimal 3D printing and curing parameters to print soft TPU are determined and then two different TPU formulations are 3D printed. It was concluded that the 3D printing of this TPU is challenging due to several points: (1) the viscosity of the TPU; (2) their main issue is their sticky behavior; and (3) shrinkage which takes place after the thermal treatment and for some applications, it might be problem. Despite that ,TPU appears to be a promising material to be used in different industrial applications.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Balloon test project: Cosmic Ray Antimatter Calorimeter (CRAC)

Cosmic ray observations from balloon flights are discussed. The cosmic ray antimatter calorimeter (CRAC) experiment attempts to measure the flux of antimatter in the 200-600 Mev/m energy range and the isotopes of light elements between 600 and 1,000 Mev/m