Silica aerogels are unique lightweight, nanostructured materials with extremely high porosity (usually above 90%), making them particularly attractive for thermal insulation, although their mechanical fragility still requires strategies of reinforcement that may compromise some of their most appealing properties. The use of silica aerogels still needs to be matured for a broad range of other high-performance applications, and even improved for insulation application. This can be achieved by intensely exploring their surface chemistry versatility, by relying on the enormous variety of silane precursors and chemical routes that can be used. In this work, we present two examples of using reactive moieties in the silane precursors for the preparation of silica aerogels for multipurpose application. In the first case, an acrylate containing silane (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) is used along with tetramethyl orthosilicate to produce an organically-modified silica network, which could be reinforced by adding 1,6-bis(trimethoxysilyl)hexane or 1,4-bis(triethoxysilyl)-benzene as spacers and tris[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl] isocyanurate as cross-linker. These hybrid aerogels have shown an interesting combination of thermal insulation and mechanical properties. Moreover, they could be chemically doped with silica-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles imparting magnetic behaviour to the aerogels but also improving their thermal insulation performance and mechanical strength. Their magnetic feature can be useful for several applications including magnetic separation and drug delivery. As a second example, amine and thiol-functionalized aerogels were used as adsorbents to capture heavy metals from wastewater by complexation, and the preparation of these materials could be accomplished using a combination of silanes, including hydrophobic moieties for a compromise to ensure material stability and good adsorption capacities. Removal percentages of heavy metals reaching 90% were found for metal concentrations of environmental relevance. The amine functionality in aerogels is also useful for other purposes, for example to improve the rate capability of silica aerogels to remove carbon dioxide from gaseous streams or environments.

There is considerable experimental effort dedicated to the directional detection of particle dark matter. Gaseous μTPC detectors present the privileged features of being able to reconstruct the track and the energy of the recoil nucleus following the interaction. A precise measurement of the recoil energy is a key point for the directional search strategy. Quenching has to be taken into account, i.e. only a certain fraction of the recoil energy is deposited in the ionization channel. Measurements of the ionization quenching factor for different gas mixture at room temperature have been made with a dedicated ion beam facility at the LPSC of Grenoble.

The Dome C high plateau is unique for coronagraphic observations: sky brightness is reduced, water vapour is low, seeing is excellent and continuity of observations on several weeks is possible. ESCAPE (the Extreme Solar Coronagraphy Antarctic Program Experiment) will perform 2-dimensional spectroscopy of the forbidden line of FeXIV at 530.285 nm: precise line profile analysis will allow the diagnostic of the nature of waves by simultaneous measurements of velocities and intensities in the corona. ESCAPE is proposed to Institut Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) for a campaign in 2012–2013 at Dome C/Concordia since all subsystems are available in particular thanks to an ESA STARTIGER 2010 R&D “Toward a New Generation of Formation Flying Coronagraph”. Using state-of-the-art technologies developed for Space missions (a Three Mirrors Anastigmat telescope, the TMA, a 4 stages Liquid Crystal Tunable-filter Polarimeter, the LCTP) allows us to propose an automated Coronal Green Line full-field Polarimeter for unique observations (waves nature and intensity to address coronal heating) with the best possible performances on Earth and for preparing and testing the technologies for the next steps in Space. No other site would allow such coronagraphic performances (the sky brightness is a factor 2 to 4 better than in Hawaï) and with high spatial resolution (better than an arcsec is possible).

Excellent seeing, coronal conditions, and very low IR thermal background are qualities of the Dome C/Concordia station site that will allow unique solar astrophysics science. We review the science case for inner corona observations (onset of the coronal heating mechanism still poorly understood) and the promises of high angular resolution to disentangle the possible mechanisms at work between waves, convection, and reconnection in this particularly magnetically structured solar atmosphere between the high chromosphere and inner corona. For coronagraphy, IR and high resolution possibilities, Dome C is a case by itself between classical ground-based sites and space opportunities. Telescopes from 50 cm (coronagraphy oriented) to 4 m (full high resolution advantage including IR access) are proposed to benefit from these remarkable observing capabilities. Using 3 × Ø50 cm off-axis telescopes, we first propose a medium size facility (1.4 m equivalent telescope) for very high resolution access, ADSIIC (Antarctica Demonstrator of Solar Interferometric Imaging & Coronagraphy), before the ultimate 9-telescope Solar Facility equivalent to a 4 m diameter telescope: A-FOURMI (Antarctica 4 m Interferometer). Finally, 30 m tower designs and their logistics using standard containers and elementary elements of 6 m maximum length, are presented and discussed. These towers are indeed of general interest also for the other optical and IR telescopes intended for Dome C/Concordia, allowing to get over most of the turbulent ground layer and to reach the best possible permanent seeing conditions (better than half an arcsec).

We present a new powerful tool to simulate the streamer belt of the solar corona based on forward modeling. It takes into account the temporal evolution of the corona and provides both qualitative and quantitative results. Starting from the National Solar Observatory photospheric magnetograms, the position of the neutral line at the source surface (2.5 Rsun) is caculated using the potential field source surface model. The plasma sheet of the streamer belt is centered around the current sheet represented as the radial extension of the neutral line. The 3D electron density is represented with octree compression and the radiance images are computed by a ray-tracing algorithm implementing the Thomson scattering. A multi-octree method allows to simulate the temporal evolution of the streamer belt and to compute the synoptic maps from time-series of generated images. The comparison between the synoptic maps of the streamer belt obtained with the SOHO/LASCO-C2 coronagraph and the simulated synoptic maps constructed from our model shows a global agreement for both radiance profiles and global behaviour of the streamer and confirms earlier findings by Wang et al. (1997) that the streamers are associated with folds in the plasma sheet. However, some features cannot be explained using this method and are interpreted by introducing two types of large-scale structures. Our results suggest that the potential field source surface model is not fully adequate for the description of the fine structure of the streamer belt, even during the time of low solar activity. We present new applications of our method to future coronographic observations with SECCHI/COR-2 on STEREO and SILC on Solar Orbiter.

Commission 21, one of IAU's smallest commissions, consists of some hundred members and consultants working to understand and describe the light of the night sky with emphasis on the diffuse components. Many more work on these topics without being members of the commission. Light is here defined in its broader sense of electromagnetic radiation of any frequency. The diffuse components of the light of the night sky encompass a variety of physical phenomena over the full range of cosmic distance scales and include scattered light, thermal emission, line emission, and any other emission phenomena producing a diffuse light source. These attract interest not only as scientific topics of study in their own right but also as an unwanted foreground or background against which all other sky phenomena are observed. Commission 21 has for mandate to promote research and availability of results on issues related to the diffuse light of the night sky. This document is a report on activities in this field and is not confined to the activities of its members, no distinction is made between work carried out by commission members and non commission members. The report is organized starting with a summary of the state of broad surveys that provide most of the observations. The report on developments in the various disciplines start with the sources closest to the observer known as airglow and progresses by way of the interplanetary and interstellar mediums to the increasingly distant integrated starlight, diffuse galactic light and diffuse emission in other galaxies ending with the extragalactic background radiation.

Rapeseed meal is a common protein supplement in ruminant diets that is characterized by high rumen protein degradability (Bertilsson et al., 1994; Vanhatalo et al., 1995). Appropriate treatment can however reduce ruminal protein degradability and increase the efficiency of protein utilization. RaPass (UM Feeds Marketing, Burton on Trent, Staffs, UK) is a commercial rapeseed meal product that made using the Maillard reaction. This is the non-enzymatic browning reaction between proteins and reducing sugars that protects protein from rumen degradation. Release of the protein at abomasal pH allows the peptide chains to be digested at an efficiency similar to that of untreated rapeseed meal (Moss et al 2000). Cows fed rapeseed meal that was treated to increase the rumen undegradable protein (RUP) content have been reported to perform better than those fed untreated rapeseed meal (Bertilsson et al., 1994). This study evaluated the potential of using RaPass as a protein supplement in dairy cow rations.

It has been known that non spherical silicate particles of a size comparable to the wavelength of light, and aggregates of such particles, produce negative polarization in the backscattering region (e.g. Xing & Hanner 1997, Yanamandra-Fisher & Hanner, 1999). It has now been shown that large aggregates of small absorbing particles of fractal dimension about 2 produce a slightly negative polarization at small phase angles (Levasseur-Regourd et al., 1997). The phase-curves strongly differ from those of Mie spheroidal particles. They are likely to be due to scattering by irregular dust particles and/or fluffy aggregates of numerous submicronic absorbing particles (Levasseur-Regourd et al., 1997; Lumme et al., 1997).

We have set up an experimental device to optically study the scattering properties of dust particles. Measurements over the 8 — 174° interval of scattering angles are performed on a continuously flowing dust loaded jet illuminated by a polarized red HeNe laser beam. The scattering is averaged over the population of the dust particles in the jet, which can be determined independently, and give the “volume scattering function” for the two directions of polarization directly. While results for spherical particles are in good agreement with Mie theory, those for arbitrary particles show conspicuous deviations.

The availability of relatively large format IR array detectors is incentive for reexamining the classic question of whether or not there are “dust rings” around the sun – a problem for which there are conflicting observational answers. The 1991 eclipse path included a high altitude observatory and provided a potentially ideal opportunity to study the infrared properties and dust content of the corona. Here we report results from an experiment conducted from Mauna Kea using a HgCdTe array detector sensitive to wavelengths between 1-2.5 μm. Surface brightness measurements in the H-band and polarization data in the J-band were obtained over a field-of-view of ±6 R⊙ while K-band images further extend to 15 R⊙ on the western side of the Sun. J-band polarization data and H and K-band surface brightness data clearly show the inhomogeneous structure in the K corona and the ecliptical flattening of the F corona. We see no evidence of a circumsolar, local dust corona (dust rings) out to 15 R⊙.

We have studied the electron irradiation-induced amorphization of the ordered intermetallic compound NizR2 by molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with embedded-atom potentials. Randomly chosen Frenkel pairs and chemical disorder were introduced into the system in separate processes. In both cases, the energy and volume of the system rose above the corresponding levels of a quenched liquid and the calculated diffraction patterns indicated the occurence of a crystalline-to-amorphous transition. In addition, the average shear elastic constant fell to about 50% of its value in the perfect crystal and the system became elastically isotropie. These results indicate that NiZr2 can be amorphized by chemical disorder as well as Frenkel pairs and are in good agreement with experimental observations.

For several generations of readers, Samuel Lubell served as a vivid chronicler and analyst of the complex and varied currents of the American electoral scene. The first of Lubell's books, The Future of American Politics, was his most famous and went through several revised and updated editions, the last in 1965. When the book first appeared in the spring of 1952, V. O. Key, Jr., immediately hailed it in The Saturday Review, writing that “Mr. Lubell has produced by a wide margin the most perceptive general analysis of American politics of the Roosevelt Revolution and the Fair Deal.” (April 12, 1952, p. 31).

Lubell wrote four more books in this field, each in its own way charting the course of American politics from the Eisenhower years (The Revolt of the Moderates in 1956), through the turbulent Sixties (White and Black: Test of a Nation in 1964, revised in 1966, and The Hidden Crisis in American Politics in 1970), ending with President Nixon's triumphal re-election (The Future While It Happened in 1973).

The different components of the light of the night sky have their origin in different formations of matter in the universe - encompassing a huge scale of distances ranging from a few kilometers in the earth’s atmosphere to the most distant known galaxies and beyond. Correspondingly, the borderlines to other Commissions are not very well defined and thus material relevant to Commission 21 can also be found in the reports of other Commissions on the following topics: zodiacal light and zodiacal IR emission (Comm. 22, 44), integrated starlight (33, 25), diffuse galactic light (34), extragalactic background light (47), airglow and atmospheric scattered light (50), and space-borne observations of the LONS (44). From the Commission 21 point of view the connecting link between these various fields is the special techniques utilized in the surface photometric measurements and reductions of background radiations which extend over the entire sky. One crucial problem is the separation of the LONS into its several components. The approach for solving this task is to utilize the different spatial distributions and different broad and narrow band spectral properties of each of the LONS component. Thus the successful measurement and separation of one of the LONS components requires a knowledge of the properties of all the other components. This situation has become apparent in recent years as the infrared background radiation database, provided by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), has been analyzed: both the zodiacal and galactic dust emissions have to be analyzed hand in hand, and both these components must be very accurately mastered before any conclusions are possible on the extragalactic component. It is also obvious that very similar problems are encountered in the ultraviolet and infrared wavelength regions as in the more traditional optical domain. Thus the techniques developed in one of these wavelength domains are directly applicable in the others.

An experimental device, of the nephelometer type, to study the scattering properties of dust particles is presented. A fluidized bed generator produces a continuously flowing aerosol which is illuminated by either a He-Ne laser or a Xenon are lamp with interference filters. The size of the dust particles ranges between 1 and 30 μm. The scattering properties of dust particles are measured in the two directions of polarization. The first results are presented.