Cosmic structures, parameters & temperature anisotropies: Status and perspectives

After recalling the current understanding of the formation of the large scale structures of the Universe which the distribution of galaxies revealed, I review what the imprint on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) of the seeds of these structures can tell us, has already told us, and what it should tell us within the next five years.     

Star formation in starburst galaxies from near-IR spectroscopy and evolutionary population synthesis

We show that the combined study of the near-IR Stellar Energy Distribution (SED) and emission lines in IR luminous starburst galaxies, using evolutionary population synthesis, gives constraints both on the star formation (SF) parameters and on the relative spatial distribution of the components (burst stars, evolved stars, H II regions, dust). We also note that the He I λ 2.06/Br _γ ratio, used to constrain the stellar upper mass limit, is sensitive to a variety of other factors that should be accounted for.     

Cosmological Models with Variable G and Λ

Einstein's equations with variable gravitational and cosmological constants are considered in the presence of a perfect fluid for the anizotropic Bianchi I universe in a way which conserving the energy-momentum tensor. Two solutions are found, one of which the cosmological term varies inversely with power law of time. The other of which cosmological term is constant.     

A rational method for determining the swelling pressure of expansive soils: Paired swell test (PS-test)

Acta Geotechnica - Experimental investigations on the expansion behavior of clayey soils are of great importance to correctly understand the response of the soil–foundation. In this context,...     

Properties and Comparison of Some Kriging Sub-model Aggregation Methods

Mathematical Geosciences - Kriging is a widely employed technique across computer experiments, machine learning and geostatistics. An important challenge for kriging is its high costs when dealing...     

Accelerated weathering of hydrophobized sands

Acta Geotechnica - Hydrophobized sands have been suggested as materials for hydraulic barriers in infrastructure. When placed at the interface ground–atmosphere, environmental factors such as...     

Influence d'un changement climatique dû à une hausse de gaz à effet de serre sur l'agriculture au quebec

Abstract

This study, using a climate change scenario generated by the Canadian Climate Centre (CCC) general circulation model (GCM) examines the impacts of such a climate change on agriculture in southern Quebec. Using a crop model from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), yield responses of a variety of cereals, legumes, oleaginous and special crops to climate change are analysed and discussed.

Results show that under the 2 × CO₂ climate scenario the growing season would be longer and accumulation of corn heat units and growing degree days would be more important than under actual climate (1961–1990). One of the more important results of this study is that, on the one hand yield of C₃ cereals would be lower and that of C₄ cereals higher in most agricultural regions. On the other hand, the direct fertilisation effect of increased CO₂ is not considered. It must be cautioned however that we can not generalise results obtained for one legume crop to all legumes.