Etablissements publics de cooperation intercommunale et développement local en Basse-Normandie

We investigate in this paper local development at the level of the french local entities called EPCI (Etablissement Public de Coopération Intercommunale), which gather different city councils of the French region Basse-Normandie. Sets of socio-economic and fiscal variables allow us to characterize with data analysis methods these EPCI. We show that the development of these entities since 1990 may be divided up thanks to a hierarchical classification into rural EPCI versus urban EPCI with, in the case of the Basse-Normandie Region, the specific class of touristic EPCI. In addition we show that the distance from the main urban poles is a disadvantage for the development of a large part of the south rural areas of the Manche Department and some contiguous EPCI from the southwest of the Orne Department. The growth at a sub regional level appears mainly driven by urbanisation and its induced effects that redistribute the growth in the rural neighbourhood.local development, french cities, French region, data analysis methods.

La détermination du nombre des délégués au sein des structures intercommunales : une application de l'indice de pouvoir de Banzhaf

Cet article propose une étude de la représentativité des communes au sein des différents établissements publics de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) bas-normands. Il utilise pour cela la notion d'indice de pouvoir (au sens de Banzhaf), outil de la théorie des jeux coopératifs qui permet de mesurer le pouvoir de vote dans le cas d'une décision prise à la majorité avec quota. Après une étude de la situation bas-normande, les auteurs s'intéressent à l'existence de coalitions préférentielles (qui nuancent le calcul a priori des indices de pouvoir) et à la recherche d'une distribution optimale par commune du nombre des délégués. Cette dernière permet de corriger les écarts de représentativité souvent constatés dans la réalité bas-normande.Indices de pouvoir, représentativité, intercommunalité, application.

Combining NDT tools for analysing the efficiency of repair techniques of wharves: the MAREO project

ISBN: 9780415669863Repair of structures in concrete is still a challenge, especially when access and environment offer a difficult context such as the case of wharves. Concerning the repair of concrete for marine structures, European standards give the requirements in predefined and standardised conditions. However, repair of wharves is performed in harsh conditions such as access, humidity and operator position. These conditions do not enable the direct application of standards. By accounting for these requirements, the repair technique consists in rebuilding the concrete cover and in some cases using protective coating for some beams. In this paper, we focus on the concrete repair techniques. The aim of MAREO project (French project of the National competitive cluster in Civil Engineering and Eco-Building) is to compare several repair techniques carried out in the most complex area for repair: the tidal zone. The project deals with initial performance, sustainability, cost of durability and concrete properties monitoring by Destructive Testing (DT) and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques. The studied NDT techniques are: impact-echo, surface waves, multi-offset radar, and capacitive method. Both, beams placed in natural exposure and slabs specimens placed in accelerated conditions in laboratory are considered. For all the beams, the contaminated concrete was removed using high-velocity water jets (hydro-demolition). The selected techniques are wet shotcrete, dry shotcrete, formed concrete and manual repair. This paper focuses on the ability of NDT techniques to evaluate the changes of properties related to the chloride ingress in concrete both on site and in accelerated laboratory conditions. The interest of each technique and its sensitivity to several physical factors are highlighted. The need of NDT-combination is illustrated

Do personality traits affect productivity?:Evidence from the lab

While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and labor market outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain unexplored. In this paper, we take advantage of a controlled laboratory set-up to explore whether this relationship operates through productivity. Using a real-e ort task, we analyse the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. We nd that more neurotic subjects perform worse, and that more conscientious individuals perform better. These ndings are in line with previous survey studies and suggest that at least part of the e ect of personality on labor market outcomes operates through individual productivity. In addition, we nd evidence that gender and university major a ect the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance

Low-Reynolds-number gravity-driven migration and deformation of bubbles near a free surface

International audienceWe investigate numerically the axisymmetric migration of bubbles toward a free surface, using a boundary-integral technique. Our careful numerical implementation allows to study the bubble(s) deformation and film drainage; it is benchmarked against several tests. The rise of one bubble toward a free surface is studied and the computed bubble shape compared with the results of Princen [J. Colloid Interface Sci. 18, 178 (1963)]. The liquid film between the bubble and the free surface is found to drain exponentially in time in full agreement with the experimental work of Debre'geas et al. [Science 279, 1704 (1998)]. Our numerical results also cast some light on the role played by the deformation of the fluid interfaces and it turns out that for weakly deformed interfaces (high surface tension or a tiny bubble) the film drainage is faster than for a large fluid deformation. By introducing one or two additional bubble(s) below the first one, we examine to which extent the previous trends are affected by bubble-bubble interactions. For instance, for a 2-bubble chain, decreasing the bubblebubble separation increases the deformation of the last bubble in the chain. Finally, the exponential drainage of the film between the free surface and the closest bubble is preserved, yet the drainage is enhanced

EIF4G1 in familial Parkinson's disease: pathogenic mutations or rare benign variants?

International audienceMutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4-gamma (EIF4G1) gene, encoding a component of the eIF4F translation initiation complex, were recently reported as a possible cause for the autosomal dominant form of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we describe the screening of all 31 EIF4G1 coding exons in a series of 251 index cases with autosomal dominant PD, mostly of French origin and in 236 European control subjects. We identified 12 rare coding variants (either nonsynonymous amino acid substitutions or in frame deletions/insertions), including 6 variants present only in cases and 3 in controls. Segregation was possible only for 1 variant (p.E462delInsGK) that was found in 2 affected siblings. In addition, we found 2 previously reported pathogenic variants in 2 isolated patients (p.G686C) and in a control subject (p.R1197W). These data do not support the pathogenicity of several EIF4G1 variants in PD, at least in the French population

Disease Severity and Progression in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Multiple System Atrophy: Validation of the NNIPPS – PARKINSON PLUS SCALE

BACKGROUND The Natural History and Neuroprotection in Parkinson Plus Syndromes (NNIPPS) study was a large phase III randomized placebo-controlled trial of riluzole in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP, n = 362) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA, n = 398). To assess disease severity and progression, we constructed and validated a new clinical rating scale as an ancillary study. METHODS AND FINDINGS Patients were assessed at entry and 6-montly for up to 3 years. Evaluation of the scale's psychometric properties included reliability (n = 116), validity (n = 760), and responsiveness (n = 642). Among the 85 items of the initial scale, factor analysis revealed 83 items contributing to 15 clinically relevant dimensions, including Activity of daily Living/Mobility, Axial bradykinesia, Limb bradykinesia, Rigidity, Oculomotor, Cerebellar, Bulbar/Pseudo-bulbar, Mental, Orthostatic, Urinary, Limb dystonia, Axial dystonia, Pyramidal, Myoclonus and Tremor. All but the Pyramidal dimension demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach α ≥ 0.70). Inter-rater reliability was high for the total score (Intra-class coefficient = 0.94) and 9 dimensions (Intra-class coefficient = 0.80-0.93), and moderate (Intra-class coefficient = 0.54-0.77) for 6. Correlations of the total score with other clinical measures of severity were good (rho ≥ 0.70). The total score was significantly and linearly related to survival (p<0.0001). Responsiveness expressed as the Standardized Response Mean was high for the total score slope of change (SRM = 1.10), though higher in PSP (SRM = 1.25) than in MSA (SRM = 1.0), indicating a more rapid progression of PSP. The slope of change was constant with increasing disease severity demonstrating good linearity of the scale throughout disease stages. Although MSA and PSP differed quantitatively on the total score at entry and on rate of progression, the relative contribution of clinical dimensions to overall severity and progression was similar. CONCLUSIONS The NNIPPS-PPS has suitable validity, is reliable and sensitive, and therefore is appropriate for use in clinical studies with PSP or MSA. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00211224

Production d'un modèle affiné de reconnaissance d'écriture manuscrite avec eScriptorium et évaluation de ses performances

International audienceFor this workshop, participants will take part in the fine-tuning of a handwritten text recognition (HTR) model with eScriptorium. Fine-tuning a model means retraining an initial generic model with a new dataset in order to specialize it in a particular domain.Cet atelier proposera aux participant-es de prendre part à la production d'un modèle affiné de reconnaissance d'écriture manuscrite (REM) à partir de l'application eScriptorium/Kraken et de découvrir une méthodologie pour l'évaluation des performances des modèles de transcription. Un modèle affiné résulte du ré-entraînement d'un premier modèle générique à partir d'un autre jeu de données, avec comme objectif de le spécialiser dans un domaine particulier

Development of a Management Algorithm for Post-operative Pain (MAPP) after total knee and total hip replacement: study rationale and design.

BACKGROUND: Evidence from clinical practice and the extant literature suggests that post-operative pain assessment and treatment is often suboptimal. Poor pain management is likely to persist until pain management practices become consistent with guidelines developed from the best available scientific evidence. This work will address the priority in healthcare of improving the quality of pain management by standardising evidence-based care processes through the incorporation of an algorithm derived from best evidence into clinical practice. In this paper, the methodology for the creation and implementation of such an algorithm that will focus, in the first instance, on patients who have undergone total hip or knee replacement is described. METHODS: In partnership with clinicians, and based on best available evidence, the aim of the Management Algorithm for Post-operative Pain (MAPP) project is to develop, implement, and evaluate an algorithm designed to support pain management decision-making for patients after orthopaedic surgery. The algorithm will provide guidance for the prescription and administration of multimodal analgesics in the post-operative period, and the treatment of breakthrough pain. The MAPP project is a multisite study with one coordinating hospital and two supporting (rollout) hospitals. The design of this project is a pre-implementation-post-implementation evaluation and will be conducted over three phases. The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARiHS) framework will be used to guide implementation. Outcome measurements will be taken 10 weeks post-implementation of the MAPP. The primary outcomes are: proportion of patients prescribed multimodal analgesics in accordance with the MAPP; and proportion of patients with moderate to severe pain intensity at rest. These data will be compared to the pre-implementation analgesic prescribing practices and pain outcome measures. A secondary outcome, the efficacy of the MAPP, will be measured by comparing pain intensity scores of patients where the MAPP guidelines were or were not followed. DISCUSSION: The outcomes of this study have relevance for nursing and medical professionals as well as informing health service evaluation. In establishing a framework for the sustainable implementation and evaluation of a standardised approach to post-operative pain management, the findings have implications for clinicians and patients within multiple surgical contexts