Vuorovaikutteisen suunnittelun haasteet ja mahdollisuudet metsätalouden vesiensuojelussa

Rapport de l'expertise scientifique collectiveLes animaux peuvent-ils éprouver des émotions, peuvent-ils penser, ont-ils une histoire de vie ? Depuis l’Antiquité, les philosophes ont proposé des réponses contrastées à ces questions. Du XIXème siècle à nos jours, la réflexion sur ce que sont les animaux s’est enrichie d’apports scientifiques : théorie de l’évolution, éthologie, neurophysiologie, sciences cognitives. Mais la conscience animale reste toujours l’objet de débats importants dans la communauté scientifique. Ainsi en 2012 un groupe de scientifiques de premier plan a éprouvé la nécessité de publier un manifeste intitulé « Déclaration de Cambridge sur la Conscience », qui énonce qu’«…une convergence de preuves indique que les animaux non humains disposent des substrats neuro-anatomiques, neurochimiques et neurophysiologiques des états conscients ainsi que la capacité d’exprimer des comportements intentionnels...».Les connaissances actuelles, dont cette expertise collective propose une synthèse, montrent que les animaux possèdent un large éventail de capacités cognitives associées à des comportements plus ou moins complexes. Les formes de conscience étudiées chez les humains supposent des capacités cognitives distinctes que l’on retrouve chez certains animaux. Peut-on en postuler que ceux-ci ont des formes de consciences équivalentes à celles de l’homme, sans être forcément identiques ?L’étude des niveaux et des contenus de la conscience chez les animaux est en passe de devenir un enjeu scientifique important en raison de la complexité du sujet et des controverses qu’il ne manquera pas de susciter. Enfin, les acquis scientifiques dans ce domaine invitent à reprendre les réflexions morales concernant les relations que les hommes entretiennent avec les animaux (et particulièrement avec les animaux domestiques

Barcoding T Cell Calcium Response Diversity with Methods for Automated and Accurate Analysis of Cell Signals (MAAACS)

International audienceWe introduce a series of experimental procedures enabling sensitive calcium monitoring in T cell populations by confocal video-microscopy. Tracking and post-acquisition analysis was performed using Methods for Automated and Accurate Analysis of Cell Signals (MAAACS), a fully customized program that associates a high throughput tracking algorithm, an intuitive reconnection routine and a statistical platform to provide, at a glance, the calcium barcode of a population of individual T-cells. Combined with a sensitive calcium probe, this method allowed us to unravel the heterogeneity in shape and intensity of the calcium response in T cell populations and especially in naive T cells, which display intracellular calcium oscillations upon stimulation by antigen presenting cells

Vestigial Is Required during Late-Stage Muscle Differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster Embryos

The Drosophila member of the vestigial-like gene family (vestigial) is known primarily as a transcriptional activator that defines cell identity during Drosophila wing differentiation. We show that during embryo development Vestigial also has a role during specification of muscle–muscle attachments in ventral longitudinal muscles

Small Baseline Stereovision

International audienceThis paper presents a study of small baseline stereovision. It is generally admitted that because of the finite resolution of images, getting a good precision in depth from stereovision demands a large angle between the views. In this paper, we show that under simple and feasible hypotheses, small baseline stereovision can be rehabilitated and even favoured. The main hypothesis is that the images should be band limited, in order to achieve sub-pixel precisions in the matching process. This assumption is not satisfied for common stereo pairs. Yet, this becomes realistic for recent spatial or aerian acquisition devices. In this context, block-matching methods, which had become somewhat obsolete for large baseline stereovision, regain their relevance. A multi-scale algorithm dedicated to small baseline stereovision is described along with experiments on small angle stereo pairs at the end of the paper

Le phénomène d'adhérence en stéréoscopie dépend du critère de corrélation

Dans cette contribution, nous nous intéressons au phénomène de dilatation des reliefs, que l'on rencontre lorsque l'on calcule des cartes de disparité par corrélation. C'est ce phénomène que nous appellons "adhérence". Nous verrons que ce problème est inhérent au principe de corrélation, basée sur la norme L2, et nous démontrerons qu'il peut être fortement réduit par un choix adéquat de la norme de comparaison des fenêtres homologues du couple

Experiment for Regional Sources and Sinks of Oxidants (EXPRESSO): An overview

International audienceThis paper presents an overview of the Experiment for Regional Sources and Sinks ofOxidents (EXPRESSO) including the objectives of the project, a detailed description of the characteristics of the experimental region and of field instrumentation deployed, and a summary of the main results of all components of the experiment. EXPRESSO is an international, multidisciplinary effort to quantify and better understand the processes controlling surface fluxes of photochemical precursors emitted by vegetation and biomass burning along a tropical forest to savanna gradient in central Africa. The experiment was conducted at the beginning of the dry season in November-December 1996. Three main research tools were deployed during this period: (1) the French research aircraft (Avion de Recherche Atmosph•rique et de T•l•d•tection, Fokker 27), instrumented for chemistry and flux measurements (CNRS-France), (2) two satellite receivers for in situ acquisition of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationadvanced very high resolution radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) imagery for fire detection (EC-JRC, Ispra, Italy), and (3) a 65-m walkup tower installed at a tropical forest site in the Republic of Congo (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado). Average dynamic and turbulence characteristics over savanna and forest ecosystems were retrieved from aircraft measurements. They illustrate the complex atmospheric circulation occurring in this region in the vicinity of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Satellite receivers were operated three times a day to produce maps of fire distribution. Statistics and mapping of burned surfaces t?om NOAA-AVHRR and ERS-Along Track Scanning Radiometer space systems have been developed. The influence ofbiogenic and biomass burning sources on the chemical composition of the lower atmosphere was studied through both aircraft and tower measurements. The EXPRESSO field campaign was followed by modeling efforts (regional and global scales) in which model components are evaluated using the experimental data

MONOMERES ET POLYMERES AMELIORES PORTEURS DE GROUPEMENTS IMIDAZOLES ET BENZIMIDAZOLES ET MEMBRANES A CONDUCTION PROTONIQUE EN CONTENANT POUR LA FABRICATION D'UNE PILE A COMBUSTIBLE

La présente invention concerne principalement des monomères et polymères pouvant être utilisés pour la fabrication d'une membrane à conduction protonique en l'absence d'eau. L'invention concerne également un procédé de fabrication de ces monomères et polymères, les membranes pouvant être fabriquées à partir de ces monomères, ainsi que l'utilisation de ces membranes comme électrolyte solide polymère ou comme membrane échangeuse de protons au sein d'une pile à combustible

Correlation of Parasite Load Determined by Quantitative PCR to Clinical Outcome in a Heart Transplant Patient with Disseminated Toxoplasmosis▿

Disseminated toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in transplant recipients, which results either from reactivation of latent infection or from organ-transmitted primary infection. Preventive measures and diagnostic screening methods differ between countries and are related to the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma spp. in the general population. Here we report a case of disseminated toxoplasmosis in a heart transplant recipient with previous immunity that occurred after cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for the prevention of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia was stopped. Quantitative PCR proved useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of Toxoplasma infection. Decreasing parasitic burdens in sequential samples of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid correlated with a favorable outcome and allowed modulation of the immunosuppressive drug regimen. The duration of anti-Toxoplasma treatment and the need for maintenance prophylaxis are discussed, as well as prophylaxis for solid-organ transplant recipients. Although a rare event in heart transplant recipients, Toxoplasma reactivation must be investigated promptly, since early treatment improves the prognosis

What caused extreme ozone concentrations over Cotonou in December 2005?

International audienceThis paper reports the first record of extreme ozone measurements in Africa. As part of the AMMA program, the ozone vertical profile recorded on 20 December over Cotonou presents exceptionally high ozone concentrations with up to 295 ppb at 1 km altitude. Retroplumes from the Flexpart model show that the air masses sampled at 1 km over Cotonou on this day came from the burning area situated north-east of Cotonou and passed over Lagos, Nigeria, which is highly impacted by urban pollution. We used the Master Mechanism box model to simulate the chemical composition of the plume during its transit. We find that neither the biomass burning emissions of ozone precursors nor additional urban emissions from Lagos are high enough to simulate more than 120-150 ppb of ozone. The only way to reach almost 300 ppb of ozone within a few hours is to feed the air mass with large amounts of reactive VOCs as those recorded in the vicinity of petrochemical area. Sensitivity tests show that 250-600 ppb of VOCs combined with 35-80 ppb of NOx allow the ozone concentrations to be higher than 250 ppb. Nigeria is the first African country with gas extraction and petrochemical industries, and petrochemical explosions frequently happen in the vicinity of Lagos. The hypothesis of a petrochemical explosion in this area is the most likely scenario which could explain the 295 ppb ozone maximum measured over Cotonou, downwind of Lagos

French requirements for the design, manufacture and use of bolts and screws equipping packages for the transport and storage of radioactive material

International audienceIn order to guarantee the behaviour of components important for safety in all conditions of transport, a specific attention should be paid on the bolted flange and screwed assemblies.In this regard, The French nuclear safety authority for defense activities (ASND) and its technical support, the Institute for radiation protection and nuclear safety (IRSN), initiated a working group to identify good practices related to: - the design of screwed assemblies by specifying allowable criteria in all conditions of transport; - the representativeness of screwed components equipping mock-ups or specimens used during drop tests in terms of mechanical properties, dimensions and screws preload; - the hypothesis considered to model, by numerical calculations, the mechanical behavior of the screws; - the manufacturing process to prevent notably the risk of hydrogen embrittlement and the supplying controls to check the as-built properties of the screws; - the instructions for use by listing good practices (star or cross order, time to reach the thermal steady state of the components, markings …).The conclusions of this working group, taking into account transport events feedback and involving the main French applicants (CEA and ORANO TN), will be introduced in a dedicated guidance supported by ASND. The guidance aims at ensuring a high safety level of the radioactive material transportation