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The last 60 years have witnessed advanced technological innovation for disaster risk reduction (DRR) with the invention of high-resolution satellite imagery, digital cartography and modern engineering building techniques to high-yielding agricultural production. However, none have been highly satisfying in lessening the impact of disasters. The significant factor for the limited success of modern scientific society is that it views the world from a temporal perspective where humans are believed to be an active agent in modifying every natural possibility into opportunity. The very composite environmental system is simplified whilst extracting resources, resulting in resource depletion and environmental degradation, consequently opening the door for disaster. Technocratic science must recognise the need for a relational or holistic approach rather than believing in reductionist approaches alone whilst dealing with natural calamities. In this context, the knowledge of traditional societies is important to fill up the existing gaps created by the modern society. Traditional knowledge has different sets of ingredients to foster the development of the relational or holistic approach as it involves, interacts and interconnects humans, non-humans (animals and plants) and nature together, setting a perfect balance for sustainable development and DRR. It has vast undocumented observational data of changing natural phenomena, and in today’s scenario of climate change and uncertainty, it can create a path for reliable adaptation measures from climateinduced disasters. Thus, a holistic approach is needed for comprehensive DRR measures where both scientific and traditional knowledge systems can work together. The main purpose of this article was to explore the effective ingredients of traditional knowledge in DRR and how this age-old wisdom can be offered a hand to its integration into and collaboration with scientific research and management for DRR. To fulfil the objectives, a

The interaction of Au particles with few layer graphene is of interest for the formation of the next generation of sensing devices(1). In this paper we investigate the coupling of single gold nanoparticles to a graphene sheet, and multiple gold nanoparticles with a graphene sheet using COMSOL Multiphysics. By using these simulations we are able to determine the electric field strength and associated hot-spots for various gold nanoparticle-graphene systems. The Au nanoparticles were modelled as 8 nm diameter spheres on 1.5 nm thick (5 layers) graphene, with properties of graphene obtained from the refractive index data of Weber(2) and the Au refractive index data from Palik(3). The field was incident along the plane of the sheet with polarisation tested for both s and p. The study showed strong localised interaction between the Au and graphene with limited spread; however the double particle case where the graphene sheet separated two Au nanoparticles showed distinct interaction between the particles and graphene. An offset was introduced (up to 4 nm) resulting in much reduced coupling between the opposed particles as the distance apart increased. Findings currently suggest that the graphene layer has limited interaction with incident fields with a single particle present whilst reducing the coupling region to a very fine area when opposing particles are involved. It is hoped that the results of this research will provide insight into graphene-plasmon interactions and spur the development of the next generation of sensing devices.

Identifying functions for all gene products in all sequenced organisms is a central challenge of the post-genomic era. However, at least 30-50% of the proteins encoded by any given genome are of unknown or vaguely known function, and a large number are wrongly annotated. Many of these 'unknown' proteins are common to prokaryotes and plants. We set out to predict and experimentally test the functions of such proteins. Our approach to functional prediction integrates comparative genomics based mainly on microbial genomes with functional genomic data from model microorganisms and post-genomic data from plants. This approach bridges the gap between automated homology-based annotations and the classical gene discovery efforts of experimentalists, and is more powerful than purely computational approaches to identifying gene-function associations.

Le tome 2 de l‘étude de « définition des réseaux de surveillance de la qualité des masses d’eau côtières de l’île de Mayotte », présente sous forme cartographique les données bancarisées sous format MapInfo. Seules les études intéressantes vis à vis de la DCE et disponibles ont été référencées et prises en compte dans cet exercice (cf. références bibliographique du tome 2). Ce premier exercice de bancarisation, ne se veut pas exhaustif, et devra faire l’objet d’entretiens, d’ajouts réguliers.

Les prochaines échéances imposées par le calendrier de la Directive Cadre sur l’Eau sur les eaux côtières visent à atteindre ou à restaurer le bon état qualitatif et quantitatif de toutes les masses d’eau d'ici l'horizon 2015. Ces objectifs nécessitent la définition du bon état chimique des masses d’eaux, l’évaluation des tendances et la mise en place des programmes de mesures.

Le tome 2 de l‘étude de « définition des réseaux de surveillance de la qualité des masses d’eau côtières de l’île de Mayotte », présente sous forme cartographique les données bancarisées sous format MapInfo. Seules les études intéressantes vis à vis de la DCE et disponibles ont été référencées et prises en compte dans cet exercice (cf. références bibliographique du tome 2). Ce premier exercice de bancarisation, ne se veut pas exhaustif, et devra faire l’objet d’entretiens, d’ajouts réguliers.

Les prochaines échéances imposées par le calendrier de la Directive Cadre sur l’Eau sur les eaux côtières visent à atteindre ou à restaurer le bon état qualitatif et quantitatif de toutes les masses d’eau d'ici l'horizon 2015. Ces objectifs nécessitent la définition du bon état chimique des masses d’eaux, l’évaluation des tendances et la mise en place des programmes de mesures.

Le tome 2 de l‘étude de « définition des réseaux de surveillance de la qualité des masses d’eau côtières de l’île de Mayotte », présente sous forme cartographique les données bancarisées sous format MapInfo. Seules les études intéressantes vis à vis de la DCE et disponibles ont été référencées et prises en compte dans cet exercice (cf. références bibliographique du tome 2). Ce premier exercice de bancarisation, ne se veut pas exhaustif, et devra faire l’objet d’entretiens, d’ajouts réguliers.

Les prochaines échéances imposées par le calendrier de la Directive Cadre sur l’Eau sur les eaux côtières visent à atteindre ou à restaurer le bon état qualitatif et quantitatif de toutes les masses d’eau d'ici l'horizon 2015. Ces objectifs nécessitent la définition du bon état chimique des masses d’eaux, l’évaluation des tendances et la mise en place des programmes de mesures.

Le tome 2 de l‘étude de « définition des réseaux de surveillance de la qualité des masses d’eau côtières de l’île de Mayotte », présente sous forme cartographique les données bancarisées sous format MapInfo. Seules les études intéressantes vis à vis de la DCE et disponibles ont été référencées et prises en compte dans cet exercice (cf. références bibliographique du tome 2). Ce premier exercice de bancarisation, ne se veut pas exhaustif, et devra faire l’objet d’entretiens, d’ajouts réguliers.

Les prochaines échéances imposées par le calendrier de la Directive Cadre sur l’Eau sur les eaux côtières visent à atteindre ou à restaurer le bon état qualitatif et quantitatif de toutes les masses d’eau d'ici l'horizon 2015. Ces objectifs nécessitent la définition du bon état chimique des masses d’eaux, l’évaluation des tendances et la mise en place des programmes de mesures.

Dihydroneopterin aldolase (FolB) catalyzes conversion of dihydroneopterin to 6-hydroxymethyldihydropterin (HMDHP) in the classical folate biosynthesis pathway. However, folB genes are missing from the genomes of certain bacteria from the phyla Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, and Spirochaetes. Almost all of these folB-deficient genomes contain an unusual paralog of the tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis enzyme 6-pyruvoyltetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) in which a glutamate residue replaces or accompanies the catalytic cysteine. A similar PTPS paralog from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is known to form HMDHP from dihydroneopterin triphosphate in vitro and has been proposed to provide a bypass to the FolB step in vivo. Bacterial genes encoding PTPS-like proteins with active-site glutamate, cysteine, or both residues were accordingly tested together with the P. falciparum gene for complementation of the Escherichia coli folB mutation. The P. falciparum sequence and bacterial sequences with glutamate or glutamate plus cysteine were active; those with cysteine alone were not. These results demonstrate that PTPS paralogs with an active-site glutamate (designated PTPS-III proteins) can functionally replace FolB in vivo. Recombinant bacterial PTPS-III proteins, like the P. falciparum enzyme, mediated conversion of dihydroneopterin triphosphate to HMDHP, but other PTPS proteins did not. Neither PTPS-III nor other PTPS proteins exhibited significant dihydroneopterin aldolase activity. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that PTPS-III proteins may have arisen independently in various PTPS lineages. Consistent with this possibility, merely introducing a glutamate residue into the active site of a PTPS protein conferred incipient activity in the growth complementation assay, and replacing glutamate with alanine in a PTPS-III protein abolished complementation.

The European project OPTHER - Optically Driven THz Amplifiers, is focused on the realization of a THz amplifier. This device aims to overcome the actual limitations of THz sources in terms of emitted power, opening the way to the use of THz in monitoring security systems. Two alternative schemes are under study for amplification. In the first one (THz drive signal amplifier) the continuous wave electron beam emitted by the CNT cathode is modulated by the electric field in the interaction structure driven by a THz signal (generated by QCL or laser mixing). In the second one (optically modulated beam THz amplifier), the CNT cathode emits bunches of electrons at the THz rate. Those bunches are transmitted to the interaction structure and generate the amplified output signal.

The European project OPTHER - Optically Driven THz Amplifiers, is focused on the realization of a THz amplifier. This device aims to overcome the actual limitations of THz sources in terms of emitted power, opening the way to the use of THz in monitoring security systems. Two alternative schemes are under study for amplification. In the first one (THz drive signal amplifier) the continuous wave electron beam emitted by the CNT cathode is modulated by the electric field in the interaction structure driven by a THz signal (generated by QCL or laser mixing). In the second one (optically modulated beam THz amplifier), the CNT cathode emits bunches of electrons at the THz rate. Those bunches are transmitted to the interaction structure and generate the amplified output signal.

We present a fully elaborated process to grow arrays of metallic nanowires with controlled geometry and density, based on electrochemical filling of nanopores in track-etched templates. Nanowire growth is performed at room temperature, atmospheric pressure and is compatible with low cost fabrication and large surfaces. This technique offers an excellent control of the orientation, shape and nanowires density. It is applied to fabricate field emission arrays with a good control of the emission site density. We have prepared Co, Ni, Cu and Rh nanowires with a height of 3 mu m, a diameter of 80 nm and a density of similar to 10(7) cm(-2). The electron field emission measurements and total energy distributions show that the as-grown nanowires exhibit a complex behaviour, first with emission activation under high field, followed by unstable emission. A model taking into account the effect of an oxide layer covering the nanowire surface is developed to explain this particular field emission behaviour. Finally, we present an in situ cleaning procedure by ion bombardment that collectively removes this oxide layer, leading to a stable and reproducible emission behaviour. After treatment, the emission current density is similar to 1 mA cm(-2) for a 30 V mu m-1 applied electric field.

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