Mapping Expert Uncertainties or Confidence Level in Mining Risk Prevention Plans

Mining Risk Prevention Plans have been developed in France in order to deal with “Post-Mining” issues in a rapid and operational way. This inevitably implies that the final result of those risk analyses might contain a significant part of uncertainty. The study presented herein introduces a framework and some tools that allow experts to express the confidence they have in their evaluation and raise the main difficulties they face in their daily work

Prospective Memory Predictions in Aging : Increased Overconfidence in Older Adults

Funding: This study was founded by a joint grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR; France). We thank Charlotte Caparaos, Sophie Consigny, Clara Delaissiaz and Pauline Lopez for assistance with data collection. Preparation of this manuscript was funded by a joint grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR; France) to MK, CM, KS and CS. CM gratefully acknowledges the support of the Institut Universitaire de France.Peer reviewedPostprin

Evolution monitoring of a solution-mining cavern in salt : identifying and analysing early-warning signals prior to collapse

International audienceRisk management of underground cavities requires a good working knowledge of accidental phenomena like subsidence or large-scale collapse. This was the context when the opportunity was taken to instrument a large size in use saline cavern, so as to test various auscultation techniques available under controlled conditions. A microseismic monitoring network coupled to a surface measurement system was installed to improve our knowledge of the mechanisms that initiate and govern the evolution of the cavern up to its collapse. After a stationary period combined with partial depressurization tests conducted in 2005 and 2007, the cavern appears to have entered into its final evolution phase, and this probably since early 2008. This results in continuous and highly sustained microseismic activity as well as the occurrence of a number of microseismic episodes localized around the cavern roof. The localization of the microseismic events, for some of these episodes, is closely correlated to the quasi-dynamic brine pressure variations and to the evolutions of the roof depth measured at observation boreholes. The microseismic activity turns out to be more precise when it comes to the evolution affecting the mine cavern than the movement measurements taken on the surface or sub-surface

Les activités d'une salle de travaux pratiques informatisée

Utilisation des micro-ordinateurs dans des activités non directives en travaux pratiques de sciences physiques. L'expérimentation a commencé au printemps 1992 juste après l'aménagement des salles nouvellement construites. Les élèves avaient déjà été un peu initiés à l'outil depuis le début de la classe de seconde lors d'expériences de cours ou de travaux pratiques collectifs. Les années suivantes, les activités pourront être pratiquées tout au long de l'année. L'expérience a été faite avec trois classes de première S (jugées de niveau très moyen) durant trois séances de travaux pratiques. La première séance a été consacrée à une initiation à l'outil et les deux autres à l'étude des circuits dérivateurs. Des observations ont pu être faites. D'abord on a pu constater que la plupart des élèves arrivent plus ou moins au résultat (même au passage au circuit intégrateur) aidés en cela par la dynamique de la classe. La remarque essentielle concerne le manque d'aptitude des élèves à l'autonomie, sans doute occasionné par une formation préalable excessivement directive. On sent qu'ils n'osent pas prendre d'initiatives même dans le fonctionnement du logiciel, comme s'ils avaient peur de le détériorer. Aux nombreux collègues qui trouvent que la recherche-action sur l'ordinateur outil de laboratoire traîne en longueur et que le passage à l'acte se fait attendre, nous pouvons répondre que pour que ces techniques soient assimilables il faut qu'elles soient pratiquées par les élèves. Pour cela il faut d'abord que le matériel soit en quantité suffisante dans les collections des laboratoires, ensuite que les enseignants aient suffisamment d'imagination pour concevoir des situations qui ne se contentent pas de reproduire les démarches pédagogiques ancestrales. L'expérience du lycée de Manosque constitue dans ce domaine un modèle qui mérite d'être suivi.Use of computers for no-directing activities in laboratory of physical sciences

Four-particle condensate in strongly coupled fermion systems

Four-particle correlations in fermion systems at finite temperatures are investigated with special attention to the formation of a condensate. Instead of the instability of the normal state with respect to the onset of pairing described by the Gorkov equation, a new equation is obtained which describes the onset of quartetting. Within a model calculation for symmetric nuclear matter, we find that below a critical density, the four-particle condensation (alpha-like quartetting) is favored over deuteron condensation (triplet pairing). This pairing-quartetting competition is expected to be a general feature of interacting fermion systems, such as the excition-biexciton system in excited semiconductors. Possible experimental consequences are pointed out.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, 2 figures, uses psfig.sty (included), to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett., tentatively scheduled for 13 April 1998 (Volume 80, Number 15

Building WF16: construction of a PPNA pisé structure in Southern Jordan

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period in Southwest Asia is essential for our understanding of the transition to sedentary, agricultural communities. Developments in architecture are key to understanding this transition, but many aspects of PPNA architecture remain elusive, such as construction techniques, the selection of building materials, and the functional use of space. The primary aim of the research described within this contribution was to build a PPNA-like structure in order to answer questions about PPNA architecture in general, while specifically addressing issues raised by the excavation of structures at the site of WF16, Southern Jordan. The second aim was to display a ‘PPNA’ building to visitors in Wadi Faynan to enhance their understanding of the period. The experimental construction based on one of the WF16 structures showed that 1) required materials can be acquired locally; 2) a construction technique using mud layers as described in this paper was likely used; 3) flat, or very slightly dome-shaped, roofs are functional and can also be used as a solid working platform; 4) the WF16 small semi-subterranean buildings appear inappropriate for housing a nuclear family unit

Younger age at onset and sex predict celiac disease in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: an Italian multicenter study

OBJECTIVE— To estimate the prevalence of biopsy-confirmed celiac disease in Italian children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and to assess whether age at onset of type 1 diabetes is independently associated with diagnosis of celiac disease. RESEARCH DESIGNANDMETHODS— The study group was a clinic-based cohort of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes cared for in 25 Italian centers for childhood diabetes. Yearly screening for celiac disease was performed using IgA/IgG anti-gliadin and IgA anti-endomysium antibodies. RESULTS— Of the 4,322 children and adolescents (age 11.8 4.2 years) identified with type 1 diabetes, biopsy-confirmed celiac disease was diagnosed in 292 (prevalence 6.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.0 –7.6), with a higher risk seen in girls than in boys (odds ratio [OR] 1.93, 1.51–2.47). In 89% of these, diabetes was diagnosed before celiac disease. In logistic regression analyses, being younger at onset of diabetes, being female, and having a diagnosis of a thyroid disorder were independently associated with the risk of having diabetes and celiac disease. In comparison with subjects who were older than 9 years at onset of diabetes, subjects who were younger than 4 years at onset had an OR of 3.27 (2.20–4.85). CONCLUSIONS— We have provided evidence that 1) the prevalence of biopsy-confirmed celiac disease in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes is high (6.8%); 2) the risk of having both diseases is threefold higher in children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 4 years than in those age 9 years; and 3) girls have a higher risk of having both diseases than boys

Detour and break optimising distance, a new perspective on transport and urbanism

International audienceFrom a discussion about the mathematical properties of metrics, we identify three fundamental characteristics of distance, which are optimality, detour and break. We then explore the implications of these properties for transport planning, urbanism and spatial planning. We state that distances contain the idea of optimum and that any distance is associated to a search for optimisation. Pedestrian movements obey this principle and sometimes depart from designed routes. Local sub-optimality conveyed by public transport maps has to be corrected by interventions on public space to relieve the load on central parts of networks. The second principle we state is that detour in distances is most often a means to optimise movement. Fast transport systems generates most of the detour observed in geographical spaces at regional scale. This is why detour has to be taken into account in regional transport policies. The third statement is that breaks in movement contribute to optimising distances. Benches, cafés, pieces of art, railway stations are examples of the urban break. These facilities of break represent an urban paradox: they organise the possibility of a break, of a waste of time in a trip, and they also contribute to optimising distances in a wider network. In that sense break should be considered as a relevant principle for the design of urban space in order to support a pedestrian oriented urban form

Symbiotic Legume Nodules Employ Both Rhizobial Exo- and Endo-Hydrogenases to Recycle Hydrogen Produced by Nitrogen Fixation

BACKGROUND: In symbiotic legume nodules, endosymbiotic rhizobia (bacteroids) fix atmospheric N(2), an ATP-dependent catalytic process yielding stoichiometric ammonium and hydrogen gas (H(2)). While in most legume nodules this H(2) is quantitatively evolved, which loss drains metabolic energy, certain bacteroid strains employ uptake hydrogenase activity and thus evolve little or no H(2). Rather, endogenous H(2) is efficiently respired at the expense of O(2), driving oxidative phosphorylation, recouping ATP used for H(2) production, and increasing the efficiency of symbiotic nodule N(2) fixation. In many ensuing investigations since its discovery as a physiological process, bacteroid uptake hydrogenase activity has been presumed a single entity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Azorhizobium caulinodans, the nodule endosymbiont of Sesbania rostrata stems and roots, possesses both orthodox respiratory (exo-)hydrogenase and novel (endo-)hydrogenase activities. These two respiratory hydrogenases are structurally quite distinct and encoded by disparate, unlinked gene-sets. As shown here, in S. rostrata symbiotic nodules, haploid A. caulinodans bacteroids carrying single knockout alleles in either exo- or-endo-hydrogenase structural genes, like the wild-type parent, evolve no detectable H(2) and thus are fully competent for endogenous H(2) recycling. Whereas, nodules formed with A. caulinodans exo-, endo-hydrogenase double-mutants evolve endogenous H(2) quantitatively and thus suffer complete loss of H(2) recycling capability. More generally, from bioinformatic analyses, diazotrophic microaerophiles, including rhizobia, which respire H(2) may carry both exo- and endo-hydrogenase gene-sets. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In symbiotic S. rostrata nodules, A. caulinodans bacteroids can use either respiratory hydrogenase to recycle endogenous H(2) produced by N(2) fixation. Thus, H(2) recycling by symbiotic legume nodules may involve multiple respiratory hydrogenases