[en] We analyze data taken using a test bench with a prototype pad chamber designed to work in a high multiplicity environment. For this purpose we use the nonlinear methods presented in a previous paper. We show that the results which can be inferred from our simulation studies are well reproduced by real data. We also show that a global accuracy of 100 μm ( similar eq2% of the pad size) can easily be achieved. The influence of the pad spacing is studied and a way to account for it is proposed. We also discuss the quality of individual errors which can be computed on an event by event basis and show that they can be of the order of 20 to 50 μm (∼0.5-1% of the pad size). Methods which deal with ADC saturation effects are also illustrated. ((orig.))

[en] Three logging probes for measurement of well radioactivity, total density and hydrogen compounds ratio in soils are described. They are light, simple and easy to handle. Scintillation counting is used in the three cases. These well logging probes allow the detection of minerals when a difference of density, of water content or the presence of radioactive materials like uranium are found. An example of application for detection and estimation of phosphates is given

[en] Renewable energies are destined to become major components of our energy mix, replacing fossil fuels and nuclear power. The main drawback of these alternative energies is their intermittency, which can be partly solved by the development of energy storage technologies, in particular electrochemical devices allowing to store them in chemical form. Bioinspired approaches can contribute to this if we know how to translate our knowledge of the natural photosynthesis possessed by some living organisms to react, using the energy of the Sun, water with carbon dioxide to produce energy-rich carbonaceous molecules, the biomass, into artificial photosynthetic devices. This article describes, with the help of some examples, the bioinspired chemistry approach applied to some energy issues

[en] The April 12, 1999 decree gave propane gas distributors the possibility to become public operators for distribution network. It enabled 28 000 French municipalities not supplied by natural gas network to have access to propane gas. What is the challenge for concession firms and for licensors? What has this evolution brought two years after the first public operators agreements signed by the French Ministry of Industry (number of certified operators, tenders for concessions, municipalities connected and number of subscribers)? What are the operator proposals in technical and tariff terms? Outlook for market evolution: number of subscribers connected in the two years to come?

[en] H·E·S·S· (High Energy Stereoscopic System) is fully operational since December 2003. Two AGNs have been detected since the first telescope became operational (June, 2002): PKS 2155-304 and Mkn 421. The BL Lac PKS 2155-304 at redshift z = 0.117 has been observed for over 80 hours during 2002 (mono mode) and 2003 (stereo). The source was found to be active in all periods of observation with a steep spectrum. In early April 2004, flaring activity of Mkn 421 was detected in X-rays with the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) aboard the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite. Mkn 421 has subsequently been monitored with the H·E·S·S· array at very large zenith angles. We will report here on the analysis of these data from H·E·S·S· together with the multiwavelength campaigns on these sources

[en] Before any experiment on reactor driven by an accelerator, computer simulation supplies tools for optimization. Some of the key parameters are neutron production on a heavy target and neutronic distribution flux in the core. During two code benchmarks organized by the NEA-OECD, simulations of energetic incident proton collisions on a thin lead target for the first one, on a thick lead target for the second one, are described. One validation of our numeric codes is based on these results. A preliminary design of a burning waste system using benchmark result analysis and fission focused simulations is proposed

[en] In the context of the search for artificial systems for the photocatalytic reduction of CO₂, porous hybrid solids are a potentially interesting class of materials for heterogeneous catalysis, subject of a growing research effort. This paper presents different solids of interest, in terms of light capture and catalytic properties, highlighting their intrinsic nature or the 'design' strategies that lead to them

[en] In this paper we write down the equation for a scalar conformally coupled field simultaneously for de Sitter (dS), anti-de Sitter (AdS), and Minkowski spacetimes in d dimensions. The curvature dependence appears in a very simple way through a conformal factor. As a consequence the process of curvature free limit, including wave functions limit and two-points functions, turns out to be a straightforward issue. We determine a set of modes, that we call de Sitter plane waves, which become ordinary plane waves when the curvature vanishes

[en] We show that the solutions of the Lovelock equations with spherical, planar, or hyperbolic symmetry are locally isometric to the corresponding static Lovelock black hole. As a consequence, these solutions are locally static: they admit an additional Killing vector that can either be space-like or time-like, depending on the position. This result also holds in the presence of an abelian gauge field, in which case the solutions are locally isometric to a charged static black hole

[en] In this paper the authors present a brief review of theoretical and experimental results concerning the relaxation modes of the contact line between a solid, a liquid and a gas. This study constitutes a first step in view of the elucidation of wetting of non-homogeneous surfaces. The dispersion law giving the characteristic relaxation rate as a function of the wavevector of the deformation is derived from the balance of elastic driving force and dissipation processes. The very anomalous form of the dispersion law is confirmed by experimental measurements achieved on model surfaces using an original method to deform periodically the line