A revival of the Gothic tale in French twentieth century literature : Claude Seignolle

It is perhaps the very diversity of his gifts and interests that has prevented Claude Seignolle so far from reaching the wide public that his work deserves. The scholars know him and rightly value his unique contributions to folklore; the novelist know well that his novels are a distinct contribution to literature, written as they are with the pure and forceful eye of the poet. Finally, those who are interested in the devil keep their eyes open for every new tale by this strange diabolist ... These little tales of mystery and horror have a quality which is entirely their own. Seignolle has won a distinct place for himself in literature and his particular temperamental gift of qualities­ poetry, mystery and irony set him apart from most writers of the day. Il est seul dans son genre

Velocity Dealiased Spectral Estimators of Range Migrating Targets using a Single Low-PRF Wideband Waveform

Wideband radars are promising systems that may provide numerous advantages, like simultaneous detection of slow and fast moving targets, high range-velocity resolution classification, and electronic countermeasures. Unfortunately, classical processing algorithms are challenged by the range-migration phenomenon that occurs then for fast moving targets. We propose a new approach where the range migration is used rather as an asset to retrieve information about target velocitiesand, subsequently, to obtain a velocity dealiased mode. More specifically three new complex spectral estimators are devised in case of a single low-PRF (pulse repetition frequency) wideband waveform. The new estimation schemes enable one to decrease the level of sidelobes that arise at ambiguous velocities and, thus, to enhance the discrimination capability of the radar. Synthetic data and experimental data are used to assess the performance of the proposed estimators

The effect of ownership concentration on management behavior in Belgian banks: a case study

Double Degree. A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Master’s Degree in Finance from NOVA – School of Business and Economics and a Masters Degree in Management from Louvain School of ManagementThis thesis identifies two completely different ownership structures in Belgian banks: on one side, there is the concentrated ownership structure with a number of reference shareholders, while on the other side, the ownership is really dispersed and no shareholder has a significantly large stake and ability to influence management’s decisions. Dexia and KBC followed the first model, while Fortis has evolved towards the second one around the year 2000. The mitigating impact that reference shareholders could have had on the – in hindsight – wrong decisions of Belgian banks’ top-managers is found to be very limited. I therefore conclude that the dispersed ownership structure of Fortis was not an important factor in its collapse. Nevertheless, a concentrated ownership structure has been found out to help in case of financial distress, mainly because governments will be more inclined to participate to bailouts when a sound rescue strategy, elaborated with the help of a stable ownership structure, is present.NSBE - UN

Réflexions sur l’espace et le temps dans la phénoménologie de Renaud Barbaras (seconde partie)

Parallèlement à la restitution des linéaments du système de Renaud Barbaras au fil de ses trois pans successifs (1/ phénoménologique, 2/ cosmologique et 3/ métaphysique), on a tenté, dans la première partie de cet article, d’exhiber la primauté ontologique de l’espace sur le temps. En effet, le monde en lui-même s’est avéré être un procès spatialisant auquel aucune temporalité n’est associée dans la mesure où il s’agit d’un espace archaïque se faisant, de toute éternité, au gré d’un mouvement..

Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Electron Probe Analysis of the Interface Between Implants and Host Bone

Bioinert materials (e.g., alumina implants) and bioactive ceramics (e.g., calcium phosphate ceramics, glass -ceramics) are now extensively used in dentistry. However, the physico-chemical interactions at the interfaces between the implant and the host bone are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to define the interactions at these interfaces using a combination of analytical techniques: light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, X-ray microradiography, X-ray diffraction, and infrared specstroscopy. Bioinert (pure titanium) and bioactive materials (hydroxyapatite, beta-tricalcium phosphate and biphasic calcium phosphate) were implanted in dogs, and the implants, recovered after various periods of implantation, were analyzed. The results demonstrated the following: the bioactive materials interact with the biological fluid and the living tissues in a specific manner. This process includes biodissolution/biodegradation, apatite crystal precipitation, and bone formation on the implant surface at the expense of the material. The results are discussed according to the limitations of the analytical techniques used. The medical and chemical word COALESCENCE is suggested to describe the specific interactions of bioactive materials and INTERACTION for the phenomenon of physical contact of the bioinert materials with the host bone

En-deça du sexe et du genre, sur la piste de l’équivocité de l’Eros

Depuis plusieurs décennies maintenant, les discours biologiques et sociologiques monopolisent, au sein du champ scientifique, la réflexion sur le féminin et le masculin. Qu’elles entretiennent ou non un rap- port de rivalité, ces deux types d’approches scientifiques saturent à tel point le paysage intellectuel déployé autour de la question de la différence sexuelle, qu’il peut sembler difficile de dégager une voie qui ne s’en tiendrait pas aux notions dominantes de “sexe” et de “genre”. Néan..

Universal electric-field-driven resistive transition in narrow-gap Mott insulators

One of today's most exciting research frontier and challenge in condensed matter physics is known as Mottronics, whose goal is to incorporate strong correlation effects into the realm of electronics. In fact, taming the Mott insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), which is driven by strong electronic correlation effects, holds the promise of a commutation speed set by a quantum transition, and with negligible power dissipation. In this context, one possible route to control the Mott transition is to electrostatically dope the systems using strong dielectrics, in FET-like devices. Another possibility is through resistive switching, that is, to induce the insulator-to-metal transition by strong electric pulsing. This action brings the correlated system far from equilibrium, rendering the exact treatment of the problem a difficult challenge. Here, we show that existing theoretical predictions of the off-equilibrium manybody problem err by orders of magnitudes, when compared to experiments that we performed on three prototypical narrow gap Mott systems V2-xCrxO3, NiS2-xSex and GaTa4Se8, and which also demonstrate a striking universality of this Mott resistive transition (MRT). We then introduce and numerically study a model based on key theoretically known physical features of the Mott phenomenon in the Hubbard model. We find that our model predictions are in very good agreement with the observed universal MRT and with a non-trivial timedelay electric pulsing experiment, which we also report. Our study demonstrates that the MRT can be associated to a dynamically directed avalanche

Réflexions sur l’espace et le temps dans la phénoménologie de Renaud Barbaras

Alors que la conception habituelle de l’espace et du temps insiste sur la différence insurmontable de leur nature, sur leur incommensurabilité malgré leur coexistence (la réalité se donnant simultanément dans l’espace et le temps), la conception philosophique à laquelle nous voudrions faire droit ici revendique leur articulation. Envisagée phénoménologiquement, cette question de l’articulation ne contrevient pas seulement à l’idée courante selon laquelle l’espace n’a rien à voir avec le temps..

Static and dynamic bearing failure of carbon/epoxy composite joints

International audienceMechanical fastening is a common method used to join composite materials in aeronautical industry. Various studies have been performed dedicated to the behaviour of composite bolted joints under quasi-static loadings, but only few studies deal with the dynamic behaviour (crash or impacts). The aim of this work is to study the loading rate influence on the bearing response of a carbon/epoxy laminate loaded by a pin. For that purpose, a double shear test fixture has been specially designed to measure the global behaviour and the local response around the pin. Infrared thermography and Digital Image Correlation techniques have been used to detect, map and characterize dissipative phenomena evolution. The tests have been performed on a servo-hydraulic jack with a loading rate ranging from 10 −4 m/s to 1 m/s. An increase of the peak bearing load of more than 20% is observed with the loading rate increase. A decrease of the load plateau of more than 60% is obtained. Simultaneous measurements of thermal and kinematic fields in this work give access to the evolution of the damage-related dissipative phenomena close to the pin. These dissipative phenomena were found to be significantly dependent on the loading rate