Hétérogénéité horizontale des peuplements microphytoplanctoniques et zooplanctoniques en relation avec les paramètres abiotiques dans la retenue El Kansera (Maroc)

La répartition horizontale du phytoplancton et du zooplancton a été étudiée dans le lac-réservoir El Kansera en période de stabilité thermique, en relation avec certains paramètres abiotiques (transparence, matières en suspension, conductivité, température, oxygène dissous, pH, nutriments azotés et phosphorés).La répartition longitudinale du phytoplancton montre un gradient décroissant, avec des maxima de biomasse (poids frais) situés au 2/3 de la longueur du réservoir, et des pics de chlorophylle a enregistrés vers l'amont de la retenue. L'abondance du zooplancton suit une évolution quasi-analogue à celle du phytoplancton avec en plus, une répartition hétérogène des Rotifères et des différents stades de développement des Crustacés. Les Rotifères et les petits stades de développement des Cladocères ou des Copépodes sont concentrés dans la zone médiane du lac, tandis que les stades adultes de ces Crustacés dominent vers l'aval. La prédation vertébrée des " Carpes Chinoises ", associée à la mauvaise qualité de la nourriture algale en période d'étiage (blooms à Microcystis), seraient à l'origine de cette répartition. Les résultats de cette étude permettent de distinguer 3 zones de la retenue : la zone d'embouchure de l'oued** Beht (station S1) agitée, turbide et peu oxygènée est la moins productive, la zone médiane (stations S2 et S3), constituant la transition entre le milieu lotique et lacustre, est la plus enrichie en peuplements algaux et la plus peuplée par le zooplancton. Enfin, la zone lacustre proprement dite (stations S4 et S5) est assez productive et constitue un site idéal pour les adultes des Crustacés.The goal of this study is to assess the degree of horizontal heterogeneity of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in the lake-reservoir El Kansera (Morocco), in order to define the principal factors responsible for the plankton distribution in the lake.Five stations have been studied; station S1 is the most influenced by allochthonous inputs from oued Beht (a tributary), stations S2 and S3 represent a transition between the lotic and lacustrine environments, and stations S4 and S5 represent true lacustrine conditions.The phytoplankton and zooplankton samplings were carried out during two seasons in 1996 (spring and summer), with a plankton net which consisted of a silk cone (height: 120 cm, mesh size: 40 µm). An average sample was prepared by several vertical tows. The samplings of chlorophyll and abiotic parameters were performed at different depths with a polyvinylchloride bottle with a capacity of 5 L and an automatic closing device. The phytoplankton counting was done according to the method of Legendre and Watt (1972). The algal biomass (µg.L-1) was estimated by chlorophyll-a (method of Lorenzen 1967) and wet weight (method of Lohmann (1908). Zooplankton counting was done in a Dolfuss cell (method of Pont 1983). The biomass of Rotifers, Cladocerans or Copepods (µg.L-1) was calculated according to the method of Dumont et al. (1975) and Bottrell et al. (1976). The physico-chemical analyses were performed at LPEE (Public Laboratory of Essay and Studies). Temperature, pH and conductivity were measured in situ, with a sounding Horiba U7. Dissolved oxygen was measured by the method of Winkler (Rodier 1984). Water transparency was measured by Secchi disc (Reynolds). Suspended matter was determined according to the method of AFNOR (1994). Nitrates and total phosphorus were analysed by colorimetry, respectively after reduction on a cadmium column and mineralization in acid medium (AFNOR 1994).The lake-reservoir El Kansera presents a longitudinal gradient (oued Beht-dyke) of biotic and abiotic parameters in relation both to morphometric and hydrologic characteristics and to the importance of allochthonous inputs and the nutrient cycles (nitrates and phosphorus). The maximum phytoplankton abundance (wet weight) is observed at 2/3 of the lake's length, and the chlorophyll-a peaks are recorded in the upper zone. In the spring, two alga species are dominant in the lake, Scenedesmus ecornis and Cyclotella ocellata, whereas in summer, one species is abundant (Microcystis aeruginosa).Zooplankton abundance shows a similar evolution to that of the phytoplankton, with a longitudinal heterogeneity of Rotifers (Brachionus calyciflorus, Polyarthra vulgaris and Keratella tropica) and different development stages of Cladocerans (Bosminalongirostris and Diaphanosoma brachyurum) and Copepods (Acanthocyclops robustus). Rotifers and the small stages of Crustaceans are concentrated in the median zone, whereas the Crustacean adults are dominant in the deeper point of the reservoir. Vertebrate predation by the " Chinese carp " and the degraded quality of the algae (blooms of Microcystis) also seem to contribute to this distribution.The results of the study, confirmed by the statistical Student test, indicate three zones in the lake-reservoir: the upper zone (station S1), which is located at the mouth of the oued Beht, is the least productive due to its shallow depth, low oxygenation, high turbidity and frequent mixing. The intermediate zone, between lotic and lacustrine conditions (stations S2 and S3), is strongly enriched with nutrients (nitrates and phosphorus) and characterised by a higher productivity; this zone presents dense phytoplanktonic populations. The lacustrine zone (stations S4 and S5) is of intermediate productivity, and offers good conditions for large size classes of Crustacea

Etude de la mortalité des chamelons au Sud du Maroc : enquête rétrospective

Une enquête rétrospective a été réalisée entre janvier et août 1999 dans les provinces d'Oued Eddahab, Laâyoune, Guelmim, Tata, Essaouira, Zagora, Ouarzazate, Errachidia et Figuig. Elle a concerné 252 troupeaux camelins, soit 15 p. 100 des effectifs recensés dans ces régions. La mortalité périnatale du chamelon reste une contrainte majeure au développement de l'élevage camelin avec en moyenne 20,2 p. 100 de la mortalité (16,4 p. 100 en 1996 et 22,9 p. 100 en 1997). L'âge de la mort se situait entre 0 et 6 mois dans plus de 80 p. 100 des cas. Les premières causes de mortalité citées par les éleveurs étaient la diarrhée (72 p. 100), puis, très loin derrière, l'insuffisance alimentaire (9 p. 100), la mortinatalité (6 p. 100) et les abcès (5 p. 100), avec de fortes variations selon les provinces. La typologie des élevages a permis de distinguer quatre classes selon le profil sanitaire et cinq classes selon les pratiques d'élevage. Il existait de fortes corrélations entre la mortalité des chamelons et certaines pathologies des dromadaires adultes, notamment le syndrome respiratoire, la variole, la gale-teigne et d'autres pathologies. La forte homogénéité des modes de conduite n'a pas permis de mettre en évidence des corrélations entre la mortalité et les pratiques d'élevage qui jouaient probablement un rôle important. (Résumé d'auteur

Two-point phase correlations of a one-dimensional bosonic Josephson junction

We realize a one-dimensional Josephson junction using quantum degenerate Bose gases in a tunable double well potential on an atom chip. Matter wave interferometry gives direct access to the relative phase field, which reflects the interplay of thermally driven fluctuations and phase locking due to tunneling. The thermal equilibrium state is characterized by probing the full statistical distribution function of the two-point phase correlation. Comparison to a stochastic model allows to measure the coupling strength and temperature and hence a full characterization of the system

DCMS: A data analytics and management system for molecular simulation

Molecular Simulation (MS) is a powerful tool for studying physical/chemical features of large systems and has seen applications in many scientific and engineering domains. During the simulation process, the experiments generate a very large number of atoms and intend to observe their spatial and temporal relationships for scientific analysis. The sheer data volumes and their intensive interactions impose significant challenges for data accessing, managing, and analysis. To date, existing MS software systems fall short on storage and handling of MS data, mainly because of the missing of a platform to support applications that involve intensive data access and analytical process. In this paper, we present the database-centric molecular simulation (DCMS) system our team developed in the past few years. The main idea behind DCMS is to store MS data in a relational database management system (DBMS) to take advantage of the declarative query interface (i.e., SQL), data access methods, query processing, and optimization mechanisms of modern DBMSs. A unique challenge is to handle the analytical queries that are often compute-intensive. For that, we developed novel indexing and query processing strategies (including algorithms running on modern co-processors) as integrated components of the DBMS. As a result, researchers can upload and analyze their data using efficient functions implemented inside the DBMS. Index structures are generated to store analysis results that may be interesting to other users, so that the results are readily available without duplicating the analysis. We have developed a prototype of DCMS based on the PostgreSQL system and experiments using real MS data and workload show that DCMS significantly outperforms existing MS software systems. We also used it as a platform to test other data management issues such as security and compression

Dynamics of multipartite quantum correlations under decoherence

Quantum discord is an optimal resource for the quantification of classical and non-classical correlations as compared to other related measures. Geometric measure of quantum discord is another measure of quantum correlations. Recently, the geometric quantum discord for multipartite states has been introduced by Jianwei Xu [arxiv:quant/ph.1205.0330]. Motivated from the recent study [Ann. Phys. 327 (2012) 851] for the bipartite systems, I have investigated global quantum discord (QD) and geometric quantum discord (GQD) under the influence of external environments for different multipartite states. Werner-GHZ type three-qubit and six-qubit states are considered in inertial and non-inertial settings. The dynamics of QD and GQD is investigated under amplitude damping, phase damping, depolarizing and flipping channels. It is seen that the quantum discord vanishes for p>0.75 in case of three-qubit GHZ states and for p>0.5 for six qubit GHZ states. This implies that multipartite states are more fragile to decoherence for higher values of N. Surprisingly, a rapid sudden death of discord occurs in case of phase flip channel. However, for bit flip channel, no sudden death happens for the six-qubit states. On the other hand, depolarizing channel heavily influences the QD and GQD as compared to the amplitude damping channel. It means that the depolarizing channel has the most destructive influence on the discords for multipartite states. From the perspective of accelerated observers, it is seen that effect of environment on QD and GQD is much stronger than that of the acceleration of non-inertial frames. The degradation of QD and GQD happens due to Unruh effect. Furthermore, QD exhibits more robustness than GQD when the multipartite systems are exposed to environment.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 4 table

A Physics-based Investigation of Pt-salt Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Local Interconnects

We investigate, by combining physical and electrical measurements together with an atomistic-to-circuit modeling approach, the conductance of doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their eligibility as possible candidate for next generation back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnects. Ab-initio simulations predict a doping-related shift of the Fermi level, which reduces shell chirality variability and improves electrical conductance up to 90% by converting semiconducting shells to metallic. Circuit-level simulations predict up to 88% signal delay improvement with doped vs. pristine CNT. Electrical measurements of Pt-salt doped CNTs provide up to 50% of resistance reduction which is a milestone result for future CNT interconnect technology

Annealing effect on the structural, magnetic and transport properties in the CoxCu1-x granular alloys with 0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.25 prepared by the ion-beam sputtering technique

We have studied the transport and magnetic properties of a metallic granular CoxCu1-x system, with 0.2≤x≤0.25, prepared by using an ion-beam sputtering technique. Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) has been observed for the all studied concentration with the average amplitude around 2%. at 300K. The maximum value has been observed for Co21Cu79 granular alloy after annealing at 450°C for 2h. Above this concentration the MR decreases which is attributed to the percolation effect, which causes a concurrent reduction in magnetic coercivity. The variation of magnetic and transport properties with the concentration and annealing time is discussed.We have studied the transport and magnetic properties of a metallic granular CoxCu1-x system, with 0.2≤x≤0.25, prepared by using an ion-beam sputtering technique. Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) has been observed for the all studied concentration with the average amplitude around 2%. at 300K. The maximum value has been observed for Co21Cu79 granular alloy after annealing at 450°C for 2h. Above this concentration the MR decreases which is attributed to the percolation effect, which causes a concurrent reduction in magnetic coercivity. The variation of magnetic and transport properties with the concentration and annealing time is discussed

Effet de l’oxygène sur les radiations optiques émises lors de la pulvérisation de l’aluminium par un faisceau d’ions

La présence de l’oxygène au voisinage d’une surface métallique lors d’unbombardement ionique, provoque une décroissance du rendement totalde pulvérisation mais elle modifie considérablement les proportions desdiverses espèces éjectées de cette surface. Dans ce travail, nous noussommes intéressés à l’effet de l’oxygène sur la lumière émise lors de lapulvérisation d’une surface d’aluminium par des ions Kr+ d’énergiecinétique de 5 keV. Le spectre de luminescence relevé à une pression de10-7 Torr est comparé à celui mesuré lorsque la cible est soumise à uneatmosphère d’oxygène. L’examen des intensités des raies spectralesmontre que toutes les raies Al I manifestent une dépendance positiveavec la pression en oxygène alors que des raies Al II manifestent unedépendance négative. Nous avons aussi enregistré que des raies Al IIIrestent insensibles à la présence de ce gaz. Ces observations sontcomparées avec les spectres de luminescences de l’alumine bombardéedans les mêmes conditions expérimentales. Les résultats obtenus sontinterprétés dans le cadre du modèle de transfert d’électrons entre lasurface et la particule éjectée. La validité du modèle suggère qu'en présence de l'oxygène, une structure est formée et dont le schéma debandes d'énergie est intermédiaire entre celui de l'aluminium et celui del'alumine.Mots-clés : pulvérisation, émission optique, aluminium, alumine, modèlede transfert d’électrons; analyse de surface, spectroscopie optique