Gestion de la rareté de l’eau à Amman : rationnement de l’offre et pratiques des usagers

Notre article aborde la question du rationnement de l’offre d’eau potable dans la capitale jordanienne Amman. Il étudie la gestion publique-privée du rationnement, ainsi que ses impacts socio-économiques sur les usagers. Si 98 % de la population jordanienne jouit d’un raccordement au réseau d’eau potable, cet accès demeure assujetti à une intermittence en quantité et en qualité. Une situation expliquée par le discours gouvernemental, qui qualifie les villes du pays d’assoiffées, par la rareté hydrique et la croissance démographique. Or, l’étude du cas d’Amman, à travers la délégation, de 1999 à 2006, de la gestion du service au secteur privé, montre que le rationnement de l’offre incombe de façon importante à l’état technique du réseau défaillant, aggravé par les pratiques de connexions illégales et le gaspillage. Cet article met en outre l’accent sur les inégalités dans les usages de l’eau entre pauvres et riches, accrues par le rationnement inadapté aux caractéristiques socio-économiques des ménages. Ainsi, le coût des stratégies alternatives pour un accès adéquat à l’eau devient inabordable pour l’ensemble des familles, confrontées à une tarification progressive dont les effets sont pervers, et met en avant le rôle discriminatoire du revenu.

Massive Science with VO and Grids

There is a growing need for massive computational resources for the analysis of new astronomical datasets. To tackle this problem, we present here our first steps towards marrying two new and emerging technologies; the Virtual Observatory (e.g, AstroGrid) and the computa- tional grid (e.g. TeraGrid, COSMOS etc.). We discuss the construction of VOTechBroker, which is a modular software tool designed to abstract the tasks of submission and management of a large number of compu- tational jobs to a distributed computer system. The broker will also interact with the AstroGrid workflow and MySpace environments. We discuss our planned usages of the VOTechBroker in computing a huge number of n–point correlation functions from the SDSS data and mas- sive model-fitting of millions of CMBfast models to WMAP data. We also discuss other applications including the determination of the XMM Cluster Survey selection function and the construction of new WMAP maps.

A review of the performance of different ventilation and airflow distribution systems in buildings

The objective of this article is to review the scientific literature on airflow distribution systems and ventilation effectiveness to identify and assess the most suitable room air distribution methods for various spaces. In this study, different ventilation systems are classified according to specific requirements and assessment procedures. This study shows that eight ventilation methods have been employed in the built environment for different purposes and tasks. The investigation shows that numerous studies have been carried out on ventilation effectiveness but few studies have been done regarding other aspects of air distribution. Amongst existing types of ventilation systems, the performance of each ventilation methods varies from one case to another due to different usages of the ventilation system in a room and the different assessment indices used. This review shows that the assessment of ventilation effectiveness or efficiency should be determined according to each task of the ventilation system, such as removal of heat, removal of pollutant, supply fresh air to the breathing zone or protecting the occupant from cross infection. The analysis results form a basic framework regarding the application of airflow distribution for the benefit of designers, architects, engineers, installers and building owners.