Viscoroute 2.0: a tool for the simulation of moving load effects on asphalt pavement

As shown by strains measured on full scale experimental aircraft structures, traffic of slow-moving multiple loads leads to asymmetric transverse strains that can be higher than longitudinal strains at the bottom of asphalt pavement layers. To analyze this effect, a model and a software called ViscoRoute have been developed. In these tools, the structure is represented by a multilayered half-space, the thermo-viscoelastic behaviour of asphalt layers is accounted by the Huet-Sayegh rheological law and loads are assumed to move at constant speed. First, the paper presents a comparison of results obtained with ViscoRoute to results stemming from the specialized literature. For thick asphalt pavement and several configurations of moving loads, other ViscoRoute simulations confirm that it is necessary to incorporate viscoelastic effects in the modelling to well predict the pavement behaviour and to anticipate possible damages in the structure.Comment: 27 pages

Béthune – Parking Georges Clémenceau

Date de l'opération : 1991 (SP) ; 1991 (SU) Inventeur(s) : Deloffre Véronique Le projet de parking place Georges Clemenceau, sur deux niveaux de sous-sol, au déboucher de la rue d’Arras, a nécessité une intervention archéologique de trois mois sur cette zone de fortifications et, plus précisément, d’ancienne porte de la ville médiévale. Pour résumer le plan évolutif général, la porte d’Arras (ou encore porte des Fers) est constituée du passage proprement dit, flanqué de deux tours cylindriqu..

Sainte-Thorette – La Chicane

Date de l'opération : 1990 (SU) Inventeur(s) : Deloffre-Roumégoux Véronique Le projet d'ouverture d'une carrière sur 14 ha a nécessité une évaluation archéologique préalable, à la limite des communes de Sainte-Thorette et de Preuilly, sur la rive gauche du Cher, en zone inondable et en bordure d'un paléochenal. Trois côtés d'un enclos fossoyé rectangulaire (50 m x 30 m au moins), orienté nord-ouest/sud-est, ont été mis au jour. Conservé sur une hauteur de 0,80 à 0,90 m, le fossé présente un p..

Contribution à l'étude des puces du chat : enquête épidémiologique en France

Après un bref rappel sur la biologie et l'anatomie des Siphonaptères, cette étude fait le point sur les enquêtes visant à identifier les espèces de puces présentes chez le chat. Ces résultats mondiaux sont ensuite confrontés à l'enquête que l'auteur a menée en France dans 75 départements, grâce à la collaboration de vétérinaires praticiens. Les 8 espèces retrouvées sur 403 chats sont Ctenocephalides felis felis 97,9% Spilopsyllus cuniculi 0,9%, Ctenocephalides canis 0,5% Ceratophyllus sp 0,3%, Xenopsylla cheopis 0,07%, Archeopsylla erinaceï 0,07%, Leptosylla segnis 0,07% et Pulex irritans 0,04%. La prédominance mondiale de Ctenocephalides felis est confirmée, parallèlement à un parasitisme plus varié en France

Developmental expression of DAX1 in the European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax: lack of evidence for sexual dimorphism during sex differentiation

DAX1 (NR0B1), a member of the nuclear receptors super family, has been shown to be involved in the genetic sex determination and in gonadal differentiation in several vertebrate species. In the aquaculture fish European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, and in the generality of fish species, the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation have not been elucidated. The present study aimed at characterizing the European DAX1 gene and its developmental expression at the mRNA level

Un cadre interprétatif pour enrichir la réflexivité : le cas d’une formation à la médiation civile et commerciale

L’interrogation des pratiques professionnelles par les professionnels eux-mêmes en discussion collective leur permet d’améliorer leur compréhension des activités de travail et de développer des compétences à la réflexivité. Dans le champ de l’éducation, un enjeu est de proposer de nouveaux cadres interprétatifs afin que les professionnels perçoivent leur activité sous de nouveaux angles et que les échanges sur les pratiques soient enrichis. Le but de cet article est de proposer un nouveau cadre interprétatif mobilisable pour l’étude des activités professionnelles qui se matérialisent à travers des interactions langagières. Le cadre exploite des modèles, théories, notions, méthodologies issues des sciences du langage et de la psychologie de la communication. L’enjeu de l’article est d’étudier l’apport de ce cadre dans un processus de formation à la médiation civile et commerciale destinée à des avocats et des notaires. Le dispositif de formation exploite la technique du jeu de rôle, les résultats d’analyse des productions émises en jeu de rôle–analyse basée sur le cadre –, une discussion collective consécutive au jeu de rôle et une discussion en allo-confrontation au cours de laquelle les résultats d’analyse mobilisant le cadre sont présentés. De cette étude, il ressort que la restitution des résultats d’analyse du jeu de rôle basée sur ce cadre permet d’éclairer l’activité communicationnelle sous des angles auxquels les formés n’ont pas accès d’emblée, de mettre au jour des dysfonctionnements/phénomènes restés jusque-là inaperçus. Surtout, cette restitution fournit les outils conceptuels à une réflexivité utile, le cas échéant, à l’optimisation des pratiques professionnelles.Reflection on professional practices by professionals themselves in collective discussions allows them to improve their understanding of work activities, and to develop reflexivity skills. In the educational field, one challenge is to offer new interpretive frameworks allowing professionals to perceive their activity in a new light and enhance reflection on practices in collective discussion. The goal of this paper is to present a new interpretive framework that can be used to study professional practices that take place through linguistic interactions. This framework includes models, theories, concepts and methodologies taken from language sciences and the psychology of communication. The issue in this paper is to study how this framework contributes to the process of training lawyers and notaries in civil and commercial mediation. The training system uses: (i) the role-play technique, (ii) the results of the analysis of verbal productions voiced during role-play (analysis based on the framework), (iii) a collective discussion consecutive to the role-play and (iv) a discussion in allo-confrontation, during which the results of the analysis are presented. From this study, we can see that the restitution of the results of the role play analysis based on the framework clarifies the communicational activity from viewpoints that are not immediately accessible to the trainees. It also makes it possible to revise dysfunctions/phenomena that have so far gone unnoticed. Above all, it provides conceptual tools for a reflexivity that might be useful in the optimization of professional practice

Developmental expression of DAXI in the European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax: lack of evidence for sexual dimorphism during sex differentiation

Background: DAX1 (NR0B1), a member of the nuclear receptors super family, has been shown to be involved in the genetic sex determination and in gonadal differentiation in several vertebrate species. In the aquaculture fish European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, and in the generality of fish species, the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation have not been elucidated. The present study aimed at characterizing the European DAX1 gene and its developmental expression at the mRNA level. Methods: A full length European sea bass DAX1 cDNA (sbDAX1) was isolated by screening a testis cDNA library. The structure of the DAX1 gene was determined by PCR and Southern blot. Multisequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis were used to compare the translated sbDAX1 product to that of other vertebrates. sbDAX1 expression was analysed by Northern blot and relative RT-PCR in adult tissues. Developmental expression of mRNA levels was analysed in groups of larvae grown either at 15°C or 20°C (masculinising temperature) during the first 60 days, or two groups of fish selected for fast (mostly females) and slow growth. Results: The sbDAX1 is expressed as a single transcript in testis and ovary encoding a predicted protein of 301 amino acids. A polyglutamine stretch of variable length in different DAX1 proteins is present in the DNA binding domain. The sbDAX1 gene is composed of two exons, separated by a single 283 bp intron with conserved splice sites in same region of the ligand binding domain as other DAX1 genes. sbDAX1 mRNA is not restricted to the brain-pituitary-gonadal axis and is also detected in the gut, heart, gills, muscle and kidney. sbDAX1 mRNA was detected as early as 4 days post hatching (dph) and expression was not affected by incubation temperature. Throughout gonadal sex differentiation (60–300 dph) no dimorphic pattern of expression was observed. Conclusion: The sbDAX1 gene and putative protein coding region is highly conserved and has a wide pattern of tissue expression. Although gene expression data suggests sbDAX1 to be important for the development and differentiation of the gonads, it is apparently not sex specific

It’s ordered chaos : what really makes polycentrism work

This forum reimagines polycentric governance. It develops ideas of “ordered polycentrism” that can help international relations scholarship make fuller sense of contemporary governance of global affairs. How can we theorize the implicit bonding forces that bring deeper order to the surface disorganization of polycentric governance? We offer a key corrective to actor-focused institutionalist understandings by showing how polycentrism also involves deeper relations and structures. Six contributions offer various avenues to theorize deeper order in polycentric governance, each with reference to a substantive issue area. Jens Steffek draws upon constructivist theory of “norms” to argue that standards acquire autonomous ordering power in polycentric governance of global business. Maryam Deloffre adopts a “metagovernance” perspective to identify norms as aspirational visions structuring the regulation of humanitarian assistance. Next, Frank Gadinger explores polycentrism through the lens of “practices” that organize the everyday activities by multiple actors such as negotiating as well as the objects, technologies and expertise they use in these governance efforts. Zeynep Mencutek highlights “techniques” as micro-carriers of ordering practices in polycentric governance of irregular migration, stretching the limits of institutional rules. Maria Koinova discusses “informality” as a deeper structuring force in the governance of transit migration and diasporas, and how it is shaped by state capacities, political regimes, and regional dynamics. Finally, Jan Aart Scholte adds “underlying order” through macro-frameworks and, with illustrations from Internet governance, suggests that polycentrism is structured through a threefold combination of norms, practices, and underlying orders. Together, the six commentaries offer a menu of ways that future research can explore order in what institutionalism has depicted as chaos

Abundance and Distribution of Enteric Bacteria and Viruses in Coastal and Estuarine Sediments—a Review

The long term survival of fecal indicator organisms (FIOs) and human pathogenic microorganisms in sediments is important from a water quality, human health and ecological perspective. Typically, both bacteria and viruses strongly associate with particulate matter present in freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. This association tends to be stronger in finer textured sediments and is strongly influenced by the type and quantity of clay minerals and organic matter present. Binding to particle surfaces promotes the persistence of bacteria in the environment by offering physical and chemical protection from biotic and abiotic stresses. How bacterial and viral viability and pathogenicity is influenced by surface attachment requires further study. Typically, long-term association with surfaces including sediments induces bacteria to enter a viable-but-non-culturable (VBNC) state. Inherent methodological challenges of quantifying VBNC bacteria may lead to the frequent under-reporting of their abundance in sediments. The implications of this in a quantitative risk assessment context remain unclear. Similarly, sediments can harbor significant amounts of enteric viruses, however, the factors regulating their persistence remains poorly understood. Quantification of viruses in sediment remains problematic due to our poor ability to recover intact viral particles from sediment surfaces (typically <10%), our inability to distinguish between infective and damaged (non-infective) viral particles, aggregation of viral particles, and inhibition during qPCR. This suggests that the true viral titre in sediments may be being vastly underestimated. In turn, this is limiting our ability to understand the fate and transport of viruses in sediments. Model systems (e.g., human cell culture) are also lacking for some key viruses, preventing our ability to evaluate the infectivity of viruses recovered from sediments (e.g., norovirus). The release of particle-bound bacteria and viruses into the water column during sediment resuspension also represents a risk to water quality. In conclusion, our poor process level understanding of viral/bacterial-sediment interactions combined with methodological challenges is limiting the accurate source apportionment and quantitative microbial risk assessment for pathogenic organisms associated with sediments in aquatic environments