91 research outputs found
ELABORATING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS WITH EXPERTS USING A MULTICRITERIA EVALUATION TOOL. THE CASE OF SOIL BORNE DISEASE CONTROL IN MARKETGARDENING CROPPING SYSTEMS
International audienceMarket-gardening cropping systems in protected cultivation are very sensitive to soil-borne pests and diseases. Their productivity used to rely on pesticides, but alternative systems have now to be found for environmental, societal and health reasons. Many cultural techniques are known to provide some control of soilborne diseases, but are only partially efficient. The aim of the project is to design alternative systems with professionals, by improving the efficiency of the present techniques and/or imagining more innovative systems. The research project takes place in two steps. The first one consists in building a tool to assess the resistance or resilience of a given cropping system to soil-borne pests; the second one consists in using the tool with professionals in order to build alternative cropping and farming systems in cooperation. The model built for evaluation is a qualitative multicriteria tool. As scientific knowledge is not available for each technique or combination of techniques, empirical knowledge collected from growers and technical advisers is used to fill the gaps. The model is already built for root-knot nematodes and under construction for the other fungi. The second step will consist in using the tool with technical advisers and growers to redesign cropping systems and select the promising ones that should be put into trial in R&D stations. Co-building farming systems with stakeholders appears as an absolute necessity, to imagine solutions both efficient and acceptable for growers. The presentation will enable to discuss how combining expert and scientific knowledge may not only fill the knowledge gap, but also enable to build innovative solutions thanks to the diversity of experts' standpoints
Theoretical and practical convergence of a self-adaptive penalty algorithm for constrained global optimization
This paper proposes a self-adaptive penalty function and presents a penalty-based algorithm for solving nonsmooth and nonconvex constrained optimization problems. We prove that the general constrained optimization problem is equivalent to a bound constrained problem in the sense that they have the same global solutions. The global minimizer of the penalty function subject to a set of bound constraints may be obtained by a population-based meta-heuristic. Further, a hybrid self-adaptive penalty firefly algorithm, with a local intensification search, is designed, and its convergence analysis is established. The numerical experiments and a comparison with other penalty-based approaches show the effectiveness of the new self-adaptive penalty algorithm in solving constrained global optimization problems.The authors would like to thank the referees, the Associate Editor
and the Editor-in-Chief for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the paper.
This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT
- FundažcËao para a CiËencia e Tecnologia within the projects UID/CEC/00319/2013 and
UID/MAT/00013/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Transcranial direct current stimulation combined with upper limb functional training in children with spastic, hemiparetic cerebral palsy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
The aim of the proposed study is to perform a comparative analysis of functional training effects for the paretic upper limb with and without transcranial direct current stimulation over the primary motor cortex in children with spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy
Epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection and sepsis in critically ill patients: âAbSeSâ, a multinational observational cohort study and ESICM Trials Group Project
Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection in an international cohort of ICU patients according to a new system that classifies cases according to setting of infection acquisition (community-acquired, early onset hospital-acquired, and late-onset hospital-acquired), anatomical disruption (absent or present with localized or diffuse peritonitis), and severity of disease expression (infection, sepsis, and septic shock). Methods: We performed a multicenter (n = 309), observational, epidemiological study including adult ICU patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal infection. Risk factors for mortality were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The cohort included 2621 patients. Setting of infection acquisition was community-acquired in 31.6%, early onset hospital-acquired in 25%, and late-onset hospital-acquired in 43.4% of patients. Overall prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was 26.3% and difficult-to-treat resistant Gram-negative bacteria 4.3%, with great variation according to geographic region. No difference in prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was observed according to setting of infection acquisition. Overall mortality was 29.1%. Independent risk factors for mortality included late-onset hospital-acquired infection, diffuse peritonitis, sepsis, septic shock, older age, malnutrition, liver failure, congestive heart failure, antimicrobial resistance (either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria, or carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria) and source control failure evidenced by either the need for surgical revision or persistent inflammation. Conclusion: This multinational, heterogeneous cohort of ICU patients with intra-abdominal infection revealed that setting of infection acquisition, anatomical disruption, and severity of disease expression are disease-specific phenotypic characteristics associated with outcome, irrespective of the type of infection. Antimicrobial resistance is equally common in community-acquired as in hospital-acquired infection
A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)
Meeting abstrac
Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne) management in vegetable crop production : the challenge of an agronomic system analysis
Root-knot nematodes are a growing concern for vegetable producers, because chemical nematicides are gradually disappearing. Alternative techniques based on agronomic practices are needed to solve the problem. This review analyzes the most recent studies related to these techniques and their combinations and identifies the most effective ones. Based on an agronomic point of view, the analysis focuses on a description of agricultural factors and practices, rather than on biological processes. Several alternative techniques are considered, including sanitation, soil management, organic amendments, fertilization, biological control and heat-based methods. We analyzed the effects of each practice and interactions among techniques and found large variations among studies. Many practices are only partially effective for nematode control; thus, combining control methods in a systemic analysis presents a challenge. We outline such an ongoing systemic approach and identify key future research studies
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