Les petites activités de pêche dans le Pacifique Sud

Les cinq archipels qui composent l'actuelle Polynésie française comptent 120 îles dont des îles volcaniques et des atolls, essentiellement aux Tuamotu. Comme pour la plupart des îles du Pacifique, les recherches archéologiques dans cette région en sont encore à leurs balbutiements - les premières fouilles ne datent que des années cinquante - et les connaissances sur la préhistoire sont très fragmentaires, le plus souvent conjecturelles. On pense que les archipels centraux de la Polynésie orientale - au nombre desquelles se trouvent ceux de la Polynésie française - ont été colonisés juste avant notre ère, encore que les dates aussi anciennes soient rares, discutées, et ne se rencontrent qu'aux Cook du Nord et aux Marquises. Ce peuplement s'effectua depuis la Polynésie occidentale (Tonga et/ou Samoa) où des groupes porteurs de la fameuse poterie #lapita$ s'étaient installés plusieurs siècles auparavant au terme d'une rapide expansion depuis l'Asie du Sud-Est et la Mélanésie occidentale et avaient évolué culturellement jusqu'à constituer vers 500 BC "la société polynésienne ancestrale" (GREEN, 1979 ; KIRCH, 1984 ; CONTE, 1992). Les premiers occupants de la Polynésie française, issus de ces populations qui colonisèrent les îles du Pacifique, avaient donc une fréquentation millénaire de la mer et de l'exploitation de ses ressources. (D'après résumé d'auteur

Summer air temperature anomalies in Europe during the century 1811-1910

Solar cycle, volcanic eruptions, sea surface temperature anomalies (ENSO) and increase of the concentration of the greenhouse gases are the main forcing factors in the evolution of the Earth climate. Therefore, a sizeable amount of research is devoted to assess the impact of these factors on the climate parameters, as the mean air temperature. In the present work a study concerning the behaviour of the summer temperatures over Europe during the century 1811-1910 is carried out. The possible influence of the volcanic eruptions and ENSO has been also analysed. The results show the presence of a volcanic signal in the summer temperature during the year following an eruption, even if the anomalous coldest summers do not seem to be driven by the volcanic activity. The connection between thermal anomalies and ENSO events is more uncertain because of the paucity of data. Finally, the anomalous summers—both very cold and very warm—can be explained in terms of the atmospheric circulation, since cold events seem to be associated to persistent blocking systems and warm events are associated to persistent high-pressure patterns

Rainfall over the Central-Western Mediterranean basin in the period 1951-1995. Part I: precipitation trends

Climatic changes due to the anthropic enhancement of the greenhouse effect could modify the hydrological cycle, resulting in a reduction of the precipitation over the Mediterranean basin. In particular, a negative trend over the Italian peninsula could occur with prolonged periods of dryness as that recorded in the biennium 1988-1990. In order to verify if a climatic variability is already detectable, the pluviometric regime over the Central-Western Mediterranean is here analysed for the period 1951-1995. The analysis indicates that a reduction of about 20% in the total precipitation has occurred, which is statistically significant and can have serious impact on the availability of the water supplies

A reduction of the resonant three-wave interaction to the generic sixth Painleve' equation

Among the reductions of the resonant three-wave interaction system to six-dimensional differential systems, one of them has been specifically mentioned as being linked to the generic sixth Painleve' equation P6. We derive this link explicitly, and we establish the connection to a three-degree of freedom Hamiltonian previously considered for P6.Comment: 13 pages, 0 figure, J. Phys. A Special issue "One hundred years of Painleve' VI

Fit Into College: A Program to Improve Physical Activity and Dietary Intake Lifestyles Among College Students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 10-week program could improve physical activity, physical fitness, body weight, dietary intake, and perceptions of exercise and diet among college 30 healthy college freshmen. Outcomes were measured at baseline, and following the 10-week program. The weekly sessions incorporated constructs of the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change and were administered by fitness interns who were junior or senior college students enrolled in health-related majors. The participants presented with low physical activity, physical fitness, and poor dietary intake, and 50% were overweight/obese (BMI \u3e 25). Participants demonstrated gains in their physical fitness and their perceived benefits to engaging in exercise and decreased their perceived barriers to engaging in exercise and a healthy diet. College freshmen presented with low levels of physical activity, poor dietary intake, and excess body weight. A peer-administered program can improve these measures and favorably change perceptions of exercise and diet

Modeling population dynamics and economic growth as competing species: An application to CO2 global emissions

Since the beginning of the last century the world is experiencing an important demographic transition, which will probably impact on economic growth. Many demographers and social scientists are trying to understand the key drivers of such transition as well as its profound implications. A correct understanding will help to predict other important trends of the world primary energy demand and the carbon emission to the atmosphere, which may be leading to an important climate change. This paper proposes a set of coupled differential equations to describe the changes of population, gross domestic product, primary energy consumption and carbon emissions, modeled as competing-species as in Lokta-Volterra prey-predator relations. The predator–prey model is well known in the biological, ecological and environmental literature and has also been applied successfully in other fields. This model proposes a new and simple conceptual explanation of the interactions and feedbacks among the principal driving forces leading to the present transition. The estimated results for the temporal evolution of world population, gross domestic product, primary energy consumption and carbon emissions are calculated from year 1850 to year 2150. The calculated scenarios are in good agreement with common world data and projections for the next 100 years.Population dynamics, economic growth, primary energy consumption, carbon emission model, Lokta-Volterra Equations, Prey-predator model.

Molecular Evaluation of exons 8 and 22 of the SHANK3 gene in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with a complex and heterogeneous etiology. Studies have shown that genetic factors play an important role in the aetiology of these diseases. Recently, de novo mutations, frameshifts and deletions have been described in the SHANK3 gene, also known as ProSAP2 gene, which encodes a synaptic scaffolding protein. All the participants of this study had normal karyotypes and underwent screening for Fragile-X syndrome. Subsequently, they were analyzed by direct sequencing of different points of exons 8 and 22 of the SHANK3 gene. None of the study participants presented with changes in these regions. These findings may be due to the fact that mutations, deletions and duplications of the SHANK3 gene are rare

Angular Analysis of Lambda_b Decays into Lambda v(1-) Applications to Time-Odd Observables and CP violation in Lambda_b Decays (I)

A complete study of teh angualr distributions of the process Lambda_b to Lambda V(1-) with lambda to p pi- and V(J/Psi) to l+l- or V(rho0,omega, phi) to pi+ pi-, K+K- is performed. Emphasis is put on the initial Lambda-b polarization produced in the proton-proton collisions and, without any dynamical assumption, polarized density-matrices of the vector-mesons V are derived and help to construct T-odd observables which allow us to perform tests of both Time-Reversal and CP violation.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure