Results and conjectures on the Sandpile Identity on a lattice

International audienceIn this paper we study the identity of the Abelian Sandpile Model on a rectangular lattice.This configuration can be computed with the burning algorithm, which, starting from the empty lattice, computes a sequence of configurations, the last of which is the identity.We extend this algorithm to an infinite lattice, which allows us to prove that the first steps of the algorithm on a finite lattice are the same whatever its size.Finally we introduce a new configuration, which shares the intriguing properties of the identity, but is easier to study

Ecoute microsismique appliquée aux versants instables, exemple des ruines de Séchilienne (Isère, 38)

International audienceField observations and movements measured since 1985 by the Lyon CETE (Public works regional engineering office) monitoring system at the Ruines de Séchilienne show that the slope deformation and fault mechanisms are complex. To provide a deeper understanding of these mechanisms, INERIS has been investigating the site through the instrumentation of deep drillholes since 2009. An experimental multi-parameter monitoring system was installed on the western edge of the large active zone. It uses an integrated technology platform which combines microseismic, geotechnical, hydrogeological, meteorological and 3D displacements. The article outlines the objectives and the methodology applied by INERIS to meet the requirements of early warning multi-parameter systems applied to unstable rock slopes. The studied site and the main characteristics of the system are presented. Items dealing with the system calibration and characterization data are described and preliminary data are givenLes observations et les mouvements mesurés, depuis 1985, par le système de surveillance du CETE de Lyon sur le mouvement des Ruines de Séchilienne, montrent que les mécanismes de déformation et rupture du versant sont complexes. Pour progresser dans la compréhension de ces mécanismes, l'INERIS contribue depuis 2009 aux investigations menées sur le site par forages profonds. Un système d'observation multi-paramètres a ainsi été installé en bordure Ouest de la zone active. Il fait appel à une plateforme technologique intégrée qui combine des mesures microsismiques, géotechniques, hydrologiques, météorologiques et des mesures de déplacement tridimensionnel. L'article décrit les objectifs de la démarche et la méthodologie mise en oeuvre par l'INERIS pour répondre aux exigences des systèmes d'alerte précoce multi-paramètres, appliqués aux mouvements de versants instables. Le site d'étude et les principales caractéristiques du dispositif sont présentés. Des considérations sur le calibrage du système et la qualification des données sont décrites et les premières données sont présentées

Médecine générale en milieu rural (freins à l'installation)

Introduction : L accès aux soins est inégal en France. Les zones rurales sont particulièrement touchées car elles cumulent les départs en retraite massifs des médecins et les réticences d installation des nouveaux diplômés. L objectif de cette étude est de définir les freins à l installation en milieu rural chez les futurs médecins. Matériel et méthodes : Cette étude qualitative a été menée par voie téléphonique auprès de médecins généralistes et d internes travaillant en France métropolitaine. Le recueil des données a été réalisé entre le 27 avril et le 15 août 2013 par entretiens semi-dirigés. Résultats : Dix-huit entretiens ont permis de dégager trois types de freins à l installation en milieu rural. Les premiers étaient liés à la ruralité : problème de la définition de la ruralité, isolement global et difficultés d emploi pour le conjoint. Venaient ensuite les freins liés à la pratique de la médecine en milieu rural : isolement professionnel, surcharge de travail et proximité de la population. Les derniers freins étaient liés à la formation : sélection initiale des étudiants et stage ambulatoire en milieu rural. Conclusion : Les freins à l installation en milieu rural sont nombreux et non résolus par les mesures incitatives actuelles. Cependant les internes semblent porter un intérêt certain à l exercice de la médecine en zone rurale. L enjeu est donc de considérer les attentes des jeunes médecins pour espérer les voir s installer en zone rurale. D autres études pourraient préciser les motivations à l installation en milieu rural et évaluer l impact réel des mesures incitatives.Introduction: Health care access is unequal on the French territory. Rural areas are particularly affected as they accumulate both high level of aging doctor population leaving for retirement and reluctances to settle there from new graduates. The objective of this study is to identify the obstacles to settlement in rural areas for future physicians. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was conducted by telephone among general practitioners and residents working in France. Data collection was conducted between April 27 and August 15, 2013 by semi-structured interviews. Results: Eighteen interviews were conducted and three types of settlement brakes in rural areas emerged. The first was related to rurality itself: the problem of rurality definition, overall isolation and employment difficulties for the spouses. The second obstacle was related to medical practice in rural areas: professional isolation, heavy workload and proximity with the population. The last brake was related to student s training: initial selection of doctors-to-be and ambulatory care internship in rural areas. Conclusion: Obstacles to settlement in rural areas are numerous and not resolved by the current incentive measures. However residents seem to be interested in the practice of medicine in rural areas. The challenge is therefore to take young doctors expectations into consideration to hope to see them settling in rural areas. Further studies may clarify motivations for settlement in rural area and assess the real impact of incentives.GRENOBLE1-BU Médecine pharm. (385162101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Communication plateforme EcoFoodSystem et projet AIL4WaterQuality

EcoFoodSystem, ce sont quatre systèmes de productions innovants, implantés depuis plus de deux ans dans les parcelles expérimentales de Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech. Ces systèmes se veulent en rupture par rapport aux pratiques conventionnelles : rotations longues, cultures diversifiées, absence d’herbicides, pâturage des parcelles ou encore système vegan. Chaque système est une option possible pour produire une alimentation suffisante tout en préservant les ressources naturelles. Une trame de biodiversité fait partie du dispositif et différents suivis de base sont réalisés dans tout l’essai (rendements, sol, …) Le projet AIL4WaterQuality a pour objectif de réaliser un monitoring hydrologique de ces systèmes, tant pour mesurer leur résilience face à des sécheresses ou à de l’eau en excès que pour mesurer leur impact sur la qualité de l’eau. Ce projet est financé par la SPGE et se réalise en partenariat avec le CRA-W, Greenotec et Protect’eau.AIL4WaterQualit

Rapid detection of snakes modulates spatial orienting in infancy

Recent evidence for an evolved fear module in the brain comes from studies showing that adults, children and infants detect evolutionarily threatening stimuli such as snakes faster than non-threatening ones. A decisive argument for a threat detection system efficient early in life would come from data showing, in young infants, a functional threat-detection mechanism in terms of “what” and “where” visual pathways. The present study used a variant of Posner’s cuing paradigm, adapted to 7–11-month-olds. On each trial, a threat-irrelevant or a threat-relevant cue was presented (a flower or a snake, i.e., “what”). We measured how fast infants detected these cues and the extent to which they further influenced the spatial allocation of attention (“where”). In line with previous findings, we observed that infants oriented faster towards snake than flower cues. Importantly, a facilitation effect was found at the cued location for flowers but not for snakes, suggesting that these latter cues elicit a broadening of attention and arguing in favour of sophisticated “what–where” connections. These results strongly support the claim that humans have an early propensity to detect evolutionarily threat-relevant stimuli

: Recueil de fiches pédagogiques du réseau MAPS

DoctoralLe réseau thématique MAPS «Modélisation multi-Agent appliquée aux Phénomènes Spatialisés » propose depuis 2009 des évènements scientifiques ayant pour but de diffuser les pratiques de modélisations multi-agents au sein des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société (SHS). Ce collectif pluridisciplinaire de chercheurs, d’enseignants-chercheurs et de doctorants est labellisé en tant que ≪ réseau thématique » par le Réseau National des Systèmes Complexes (GIS RNSC) et bénéficie du soutien du CNRS au titre de la Formation Permanente. Depuis 2009, plusieurs modèles ont été développés au cours d'événements MAPS. Ces modèles ont fait l'objet de fiches pédagogiques détaillées destinées aux communautés éducatives et universitaires et en particulier aux enseignants qui souhaiteraient faire découvrir la modélisation à leurs étudiants, mais aussi à ceux qui envisagent d’approfondir certains aspects avec un public plus averti. Elles sont également destinées à tous les curieux qui souhaiteraient découvrir ce que la modélisation apporte aux SHS, du point de vue heuristique et du point de vue opérationnel. Enfin, elles sont aussi des supports pour toutes les personnes qui souhaiteraient diffuser les réflexions scientifiques sur la modélisation et la simulation qui ont présidé à la rédaction de ces fiches

Multicentre study on the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF MS for nontuberculous mycobacteria identification

The ability of MALDI-TOF for the identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) has improved recently thanks to updated databases and optimized protein extraction procedures. Few multicentre studies on the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF have been performed so far, none on mycobacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF for the identification of NTM in 15 laboratories in 9 European countries. A total of 98 NTM clinical isolates were grown on Lowenstein-Jensen. Biomass was collected in tubes with water and ethanol, anonymized and sent out to the 15 participating laboratories. Isolates were identified using MALDI Biotyper (Bruker Daltonics). Up to 1330 MALDI-TOF identifications were collected in the study. A score >= 1.6 was obtained for 100% of isolates in 5 laboratories (68.2-98.6% in the other). Species-level identification provided by MALDI-TOF was 100% correct in 8 centres and 100% correct to complex-level in 12 laboratories. In most cases, the misidentifications obtained were associated with closely related species. The variability observed for a few isolates could be due to variations in the protein extraction procedure or to MALDI-TOF system status in each centre. In conclusion, MALDI-TOF showed to be a highly reproducible method and suitable for its implementation for NTM identification

GeneFarm, structural and functional annotation of Arabidopsis gene and protein families by a network of experts

Genomic projects heavily depend on genome annotations and are limited by the current deficiencies in the published predictions of gene structure and function. It follows that, improved annotation will allow better data mining of genomes, and more secure planning and design of experiments. The purpose of the GeneFarm project is to obtain homogeneous, reliable, documented and traceable annotations for Arabidopsis nuclear genes and gene products, and to enter them into an added-value database. This re-annotation project is being performed exhaustively on every member of each gene family. Performing a family-wide annotation makes the task easier and more efficient than a gene-by-gene approach since many features obtained for one gene can be extrapolated to some or all the other genes of a family. A complete annotation procedure based on the most efficient prediction tools available is being used by 16 partner laboratories, each contributing annotated families from its field of expertise. A database, named GeneFarm, and an associated user-friendly interface to query the annotations have been developed. More than 3000 genes distributed over 300 families have been annotated and are available at http://genoplante-info.infobiogen.fr/Genefarm/. Furthermore, collaboration with the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics is underway to integrate the GeneFarm data into the protein knowledgebase Swiss-Pro

GeneFarm, structural and functional annotation of Arabidopsis gene and protein families by a network of experts

Genomic projects heavily depend on genome annotations and are limited by the current deficiencies in the published predictions of gene structure and function. It follows that, improved annotation will allow better data mining of genomes, and more secure planning and design of experiments. The purpose of the GeneFarm project is to obtain homogeneous, reliable, documented and traceable annotations for Arabidopsis nuclear genes and gene products, and to enter them into an added-value database. This re-annotation project is being performed exhaustively on every member of each gene family. Performing a family-wide annotation makes the task easier and more efficient than a gene-by-gene approach since many features obtained for one gene can be extrapolated to some or all the other genes of a family. A complete annotation procedure based on the most efficient prediction tools available is being used by 16 partner laboratories, each contributing annotated families from its field of expertise. A database, named GeneFarm, and an associated user-friendly interface to query the annotations have been developed. More than 3000 genes distributed over 300 families have been annotated and are available at http://genoplante-info.infobiogen.fr/Genefarm/. Furthermore, collaboration with the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics is underway to integrate the GeneFarm data into the protein knowledgebase Swiss-Prot

Brief Communication External globus pallidus stimulation modulates brain connectivity in Huntington's disease

Positron emission tomography with O-15-labeled water was used to study at rest the neurophysiological effects of bilateral external globus pallidus (GPe) deep brain stimulation in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Five patients were compared with a control group in the on and off states of the stimulator. External globus pallidus stimulation decreased neuronal activity and modulated cerebral connectivity within the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuitry, the sensorimotor, and the default-mode networks. These data indicate that GPe stimulation modulates functional integration in HD patients in accordance with the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit model