81 research outputs found

    The regulator-regulatee interaction : insights taken from a risk-laden business firm

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    The viewpoint taken in this paper is to give a description of the interaction between regulators and regulated organisations, built on an empirical case-study in the French chemical industry

    Learning from Objects: the use of advanced numerical methods to exploit a complete set of information from experimental data, for the Mona Lisa’s Digital-Twin

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    International audienceThe approach to wooden artefacts of historical importance, and panel paintings in particular, is a task that requires a multidisciplinary approach based on experimental observation of the artwork and advanced techniques to make these data actually useful for the knowledge and preservation of the object. This study illustrates how a series of scientific observations and instrumental analyses can be used to construct a numerical simulation that allows a deeper understanding of the physical structure and behaviour of the object itself, namely to construct a hygro-mechanical predictive model (a “Digital-Twin”) of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa panel. Based on specific request from the Louvre Museum, a group of experts with different and complementary skills cooperated and are still cooperating to construct a complete set of experimental observation and non-invasive tests; so, the integration of the collected data made the construction possible of the panel’s Digital-Twin. This paper also specifically examines how the Digital-Twin can be used to compare two framing conditions of the panel; although the two experimental configurations are not inherently comparable, the comparison is made possible by the introduction of a technique of projection of the fields obtained as results of the two analyses, named the Projected Model Comparison (PMC), which has been developed specifically for this research

    A threefold perspective on the role of a pockmark in benthic faunal communities and biodiversity patterns

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    Pockmarks are circular-shaped depressions that increase seabed heterogeneity and are characterized by discontinuous fluid emissions. To understand how environmental conditions of pockmarks affect the structure of macroand meiofauna, we investigated two sites in a pockmark field in the northwestern Madagascar margin. In a comparative approach, we explored the community structure of the dominant taxa (Polychaeta, Nematoda and hyaline foraminifera) in each component (macro-, metazoan meiofauna and foraminifera, respectively). The investigated active pockmark showed approximately two times higher meiofauna abundance compared to in a site away from another pockmark field, but macrofauna showed the opposite trend, with almost half density at the pockmark site. However, at both sites, macroand meiofauna showed higher richness and abundance values in the top well-oxygenated layers of the sediment than in the underlaying ones. Polychaeta and Nematoda showed lower richness in the pockmark, opposed to hyaline foraminiferans, but lower evenness in the pockmark was found for the three groups. The detection of gas flares in the water column attests of the recent activity within the pockmark. High amount of sulfur-bearing minerals (mainly pyrite) evidences a production of dissolved free sulfides (not detected at the time of sampling) by sulfate reduction process driven by organic matter degradation and anaerobic oxidation of methane. Furthermore, recent increase in sedimentation rates in the past 70 years and organic matter inputs could have led to higher organic matter degradation rates resulting in reduced conditions and a high oxygen consumption. All this together seem to act as key factors in the determination of variation in richness, abundance and community composition of macrofauna and meiofauna. Additionally, some taxa seem to be more tolerant to these extreme conditions, such as species belonging to the Nematoda genus Desmodora and the phylum Kinorhyncha, which are highly abundant in the pockmark, and hence, may be considered as potential bioindicators of pockmark activity in this area. Further studies are required for a better assessment

    The past, present, and future of the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS)

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    The Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) is a community-driven standard for the organization of data and metadata from a growing range of neuroscience modalities. This paper is meant as a history of how the standard has developed and grown over time. We outline the principles behind the project, the mechanisms by which it has been extended, and some of the challenges being addressed as it evolves. We also discuss the lessons learned through the project, with the aim of enabling researchers in other domains to learn from the success of BIDS

    Is it time, in the process industry, to question the limits of safety audits ?

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    International audienceMany major accidents in the past ten years in the process industry have been challenging industry, regulators but also public's confidence about our ability to prevent them (e.g. Toulouse, 2001, Billy Berclau, 2003, Ghislenghien, 2004, Texas City, 2005, Buncefield, 2005, Macondo,2010, Pembroke, 2011). This abstract intends therefore to provide a critical perspective to the question addressed in the call 'How do I know that I am not going to have a major accident tomorrow?' This question has, in the literature, almost a thirty years old history. It was indeed Perrow's contention that 'normal accidents' could occur from time to time, despite all preventive measures, due the levels of complexity and coupling of certain kind of high risk systems (Perrow, 1984).His approach was very much technological, or structural, leaving not much space in his interpretation to understand the part played by actors, organisations and institutions in the genesis of technological catastrophes. Thus, a sociologist like Vaughan (1996) has been able to extend Perrow's argument, using Turner's incubation framework (Turner, 1978) in order to show that complex socio technical systems could fruitfully be analysed from a historical, dynamic and systemic point of view. Her study of NASA Challenger's accident has become a landmark in the fields of both social and safety sciences

    Approche experimentale des collisions electron-atome a trois electrons actifs. Ionisation et excitation simultanees; double ionisation

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    SIGLEINIST T 75108 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc
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