Discussion of ``2004 IMS Medallion Lecture: Local Rademacher complexities and oracle inequalities in risk minimization'' by V. Koltchinskii

Discussion of ``2004 IMS Medallion Lecture: Local Rademacher complexities and oracle inequalities in risk minimization'' by V. Koltchinskii [arXiv:0708.0083]Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053606000001037 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Ruyer et le transhumanisme

Avant la vogue du transhumanisme, Raymond Ruyer, le philosophe nancéen, dénonça dès les années 1950 les prestiges de la cybernétique. Comme le trans­humanisme, cette idéologie portée par les réussites des premiers ordinateurs digitaux, par la vague du modèle de l’information qui indifférenciait fonctionnement machinique et fonctionnement organique, contestait un privilège de l’humain, notamment celui du monopole de la finalité par l’homme, et remettait en question la nécessité d’une intériorité consciente pour rendre raison des comportements sensés. La critique de Ruyer, au nom du scepticisme philosophique, nous convie à nous assurer si les problèmes dans notre actualité transhumaniste sont bien posés.Before transhumanism became popular, Raymond Ruyer, philosopher from Nancy, denounced, as early as the 1950’s, the prestige of cybernetics. As with transhumanism, this ideology was driven by the successes of the first digital computers and by the wave of an information model that un-differentiated between mechanistic and organic functioning. Cybernetics similarly contested an erstwhile human privilege, particularly that of man’s monopoly of the concept of finality, and questioned the necessity of a conscious interiority to make sense of meaningful and purposeful behavior. Criticism by Ruyer, on behalf of philosophical skepticism, invites us to inquire into whether the problems arising from transhumanist developments are well framed and formulated

Une patrimonialisation muséale de l’histoire coloniale est-elle possible ?

On pourrait s’étonner des controverses françaises contre le postcolonialisme dans un pays ne possédant pas de musée sur l’histoire coloniale. Cet article pose l’hypothèse que cette configuration s’origine dans l’impossibilité de « normaliser » l’histoire coloniale, notamment par une démarche de patrimonialisation.One may be surprised by the French controversies against postcolonialism in a country that does not have a museum on colonial history. This article hypothesizes that this configuration originates in the impossibility of «normalizing» colonial history, notably through a patrimonialization process

p53-dependent stimulation of redox-related genes in the lymphoid organs of γ-irradiated mice—identification of Haeme-oxygenase 1 as a direct p53 target gene

Recent data showed that p53 stimulates the expression of genes encoding not only pro- but also antioxidant enzymes. It was suggested that antioxidant genes could be induced under physiologic levels of stress while the prooxidant ones respond to higher level of stress. Results presented in this article illustrate an additional degree of complexity. We show that the expression of Haeme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1), a stress-inducible gene that codes for an enzyme having antioxidant properties, is stimulated in a p53-dependent manner in the thymus and spleen of irradiated mice. We prove that HO-1 is a direct p53 target gene by showing that the p53RE identified within human and mouse genes is specifically bound by p53. The threshold of irradiation dose required to induce a significant response of HO-1 in the lymphoid organs of the irradiated mice is higher than that for Waf1/p21 that encodes an universal inhibitor of cell cycle. Moreover, induction of HO-1 occurs later than that of Waf1/p21. Finally, the higher stimulation of HO-1 is reached when Waf1/p21 stimulation starts to decrease

Nuevos precursores Al-X-Mo/W (X = Al, Co, V) vía síntesis reticular: Caracterización por 27Al NMR y Raman Microprobe. Aplicación en desulfurización oxidativa (ODS)

Se investigó la actividad de nuevos precursores trimetálicos obtenidos por síntesis reticular, en dos diferentes reacciones de desulfurización oxidativa (ODS): difenilsulfuro a difenilsulfona en presencia de H2O2 y de dibenzotiofeno DBTs mediante terbutilhidroperóxido (t-BuOOH). Se prepararon diversas fases de fórmula general A113-[XMo6] (X= Al (III), Co(III), V(V) y Al13-P[WO4]n combinando el isopolication Keggin [AlO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)12]7+ (Al13) e iso ó heteropolimetalatos del tipo: [XMo6O24H6]3-; [Co2Mo10H4]6-; [WO4]n , [PW9O34]9-, [V2W4]6-. La caracterización se llevó a cabo por XRD, 27Al NMR, FTIR y Raman Microprobe. La estabilidad térmica se estudió por TGA-DTA. Los tests catalíticos se realizaron en batch entre 75 y 80 °C. Los resultados preliminares indican que la actividad ODS aumenta con la densidad electrónica del sustrato, siendo mayor para difenilsulfuro que para DBT. Los catalizadores a base de heteropolimolibdatos presentan una mejor performance en ambas reacciones, mientras el heteroátomo parece mejorar la polarización del enlace Mo-O2t. Catalizadores a base de iso y politungstatos no mostraron actividad excepto aquel conteniendo P como heteroátomo. Asimismo se comprobó por Raman Microprobe, que las fases empleadas conservan su estructura después de la reacción, mostrando la interesante posibilidad de reutilización

Genome Sequences of Two Tunisian Field Strains of Avian <I>Mycoplasma, M. meleagridis<I> and <I>M. gallinarum<I>

International audienceMycoplasma meleagridis and Mycoplasma gallinarum are bacteria that affect birds, but little is known about the genetic basis of their interaction with chickens and other poultry. Here, we sequenced the genomes of M. meleagridis strain MM_26B8_IPT and M. gallinarum strain Mgn_IPT, both isolated from chickens showing respiratory symptoms, poor growth, reduction in hatchability, and loss of production

The Relation Between Temperature, Ozone, and Mortality in Nine French Cities During the Heat Wave of 2003

BACKGROUND: During August 2003, record high temperatures were observed across Europe, and France was the country most affected. During this period, elevated ozone concentrations were measured all over the country. Questions were raised concerning the contribution of O(3) to the health impact of the summer 2003 heat wave. METHODS: We used a time-series design to analyze short-term effects of temperature and O(3) pollution on mortality. Counts of deaths were regressed on temperatures and O(3) levels, controlling for possible confounders: long-term trends, season, influenza outbreaks, day of the week, and bank holiday effects. For comparison with previous results of the nine cities, we calculated pooled excess risk using a random effect approach and an empirical Bayes approach. FINDINGS: For the nine cities, the excess risk of death is significant (1.01%; 95% confidence interval, 0.58–1.44) for an increase of 10 μg/m(3) in O(3) level. For the 3–17 August 2003 period, the excess risk of deaths linked to O(3) and temperatures together ranged from 10.6% in Le Havre to 174.7% in Paris. When we compared the relative contributions of O(3) and temperature to this joint excess risk, the contribution of O(3) varied according to the city, ranging from 2.5% in Bordeaux to 85.3% in Toulouse. INTERPRETATION: We observed heterogeneity among the nine cities not only for the joint effect of O(3) and temperatures, but also for the relative contribution of each factor. These results confirmed that in urban areas O(3) levels have a non-negligible impact in terms of public health