Atmospheric Pressure Humid Argon DBD Plasma for the Application of Sterilization - Measurement and Simulation of Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Hydrogen Peroxide Formation

Hydrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide have been measured downstream of an atmospheric pressure humid argon dielectric barrier discharge. The yield of the three species was studied as a function of the discharge power and gas flow rate. Hydrogen peroxide was measured after dissolution into water downstream of the discharge, while hydrogen and oxygen were measured in the gas phase. The production rates of both hydrogen and oxygen were found to be at least one order of magnitude greater than that of hydrogen peroxide. In all cases, the molar rate of molecular hydrogen production was more than twice that of molecular oxygen. At various total gas flow rate, and over a range of energy density of 0 to 1500 J/L, the concentration of hydrogen found at the reactor outlet varied from 0 to 1000 ppm, while oxygen reached a maximum concentration of about 400 ppm. The corresponding concentration of hydrogen peroxide that was calculated to have been in the reactor outlet gas did not exceed 11 ppm. Mechanisms for this system based on experiments and a numerical model are presented. The results of experiments on the use of post-discharge effluent gas of humid argon plasma for sterilization purposes (inactivation of E. Coli) bacteria are also presented and discussed in relation to the results of the chemical measurements and simulations

Entre théâtre et poésie : devenir intermédial du poème et dispositif théâtral au tournant des XXe et XXIe siècles

Thèse réalisée en cotutelle avec l'Institut d'Études théâtrales de l'Université Sorbonne nouvelle - Paris 3Désireuse de s’affranchir d’une approche essentialiste et figée de la poésie au théâtre ainsi que d’une lecture générique, cette recherche envisage selon une méthodologie intermédiale les relations entre théâtre et poésie. En analysant un corpus témoin composé de créations textuelles et scéniques, elle montre comment la présence active de la poésie travaille le théâtre, et partant, elle les précise tous deux par leurs interactions. La première partie établit une généalogie de l’intermédialité du théâtre et de la poésie, et des liens dynamiques entre théâtre et poésie. Tout au long du XXe siècle, poésie et théâtre se sont en effet affirmés comme des « hypermédias » (Kattenbelt), mettant respectivement en jeu divers médias, tandis que plusieurs dramaturges ont développé des poésies théâtrales explorant des processus intermédiaux. Sont dégagées et analysées quatre configurations spécifiques à travers les œuvres et réflexions de Mallarmé et Maeterlinck, de Stein et Artaud, de Gauvreau et Novarina et à travers la poésie transmédiale que Cocteau développe entre théâtre et cinématographe. Consacrée au tournant des XXe et XXIe siècles, la deuxième partie élabore une approche théorique du poème théâtral, qui actualise les relations entre théâtre et poésie. Le poème théâtral constitue un dispositif intermédial qui, selon un modèle élaboré par Ortel et Rykner, articule inextricablement trois niveaux : technique, pragmatique et symbolique. Plusieurs traits précisent ce dispositif : sa radicalité dynamique, sa performativité, sa valorisation de l’écriture comme processus, et sa façon de considérer l’impossible comme moteur théâtral. Des analyses d’œuvres textuelles et scéniques de Kane, Malone, Danis, Régy et Lemoine montrent ensuite comment ce dispositif intermédial est activé et ce que le poème théâtral propose au lecteur et au spectateur comme expérience esthétique. Saisir le devenir intermédial de la poésie au théâtre permet de penser un modèle interartial placé sous le signe de l’hospitalité, où les arts, égaux, dialoguent entre eux et échangent, en faisant travailler ensemble leurs hétérogénéités et leurs altérités.In an effort to do away with an essentialist, rigid, and generic approach to poetry in dramatic works, this research looks at the relationship between poetry and drama using an intermedial methodology. By studying a sample corpus made up of textual and theatrical works, this thesis shows how the active presence of poetry is at work in theatre, thereby redefining each of the two concepts through the ways in which they interact. The first chapter traces the genealogy of intermediality within poetry and drama, and that of the dynamic connections between drama and poetry. Throughout the twentieth century, poetry and theatre have come to be seen as « hypermedia » (Kattenbelt), each of them bringing into play various types of media. Meanwhile a number of playwrights started developing dramatic poems exploring intermedial processes. This research identifies and analyses four distinct forms in the thought and works of Mallarmé and Maeterlinck, Stein and Artaud, Gauvreau and Novarina, through the transmedial poetry developed by Cocteau at the confines of drama and cinematography. With a focus on works from the turn of the twentieth to twenty-first century, the second chapter offers a theoretical approach to the dramatic poem, that seeks to bring an updated approach to interactions between drama and poetry. The dramatic poem is an intermedial apparatus that, in Ortel and Rykner's view, inextricably combines the technical, the pragmatic and the symbolic. This apparatus is characterised by its dynamic radicalism, its performativity, its focus on the value of writing as a process and the way in which it conceives of impossibility as a dramatic driving force. Analyses of textual and dramatic works by Kane, Malone, Danis, Régy and Lemoine suggest how intermedial apparatuses are triggered and the kind of aesthetic experience the dramatic poem offers to readers and viewers. Contemplating intermedial processes of poetry in theatre allows for the reframing of an interartial model in an inclusive, hospitable fashion, where all art forms are considered equal, engage in dialogue and exchange, and combine their differences towards a common object

BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGES

International audienceA reduction of more than 4 orders of magnitude of survivors was obtained by exposing a Bacillus Stearothermophilus spores - contaminated surface to an atmospheric pressure DBD post-discharge for 20 minutes. Decontamination mechanisms are investigated assuming that (i) inactivation is obtained when the bacteria DNA is fragmented, (ii) the protein coats are the main protection of the cell core DNA in the case of bacteria spores. The degradation of DNA (plasmid) and protein (RNAse A) samples submitted to the postdischarge is evaluated according to the operating conditions: gas composition, treatment time and sample state, i.e. hydrated or dried samples

A new climate index controlling winter wave activity along the Atlantic coast of Europe: The West Europe Pressure Anomaly

International audienceA pioneering and replicable method based on a 66-year numerical weather and wave hindcast is developed to optimize a climate index based on the sea level pressure (SLP) that best explains winter wave height variability along the coast of western Europe, from Portugal to UK (36–52 ∘ N). The resulting so-called Western Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA) is based on the sea level pressure gradient between the stations Valentia (Ireland) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands). The WEPA positive phase reflects an intensified and southward shifted SLP difference between the Icelandic low and the Azores high, driving severe storms that funnel high-energy waves toward western Europe southward of 52 ∘ N. WEPA outscores by 25–150% the other leading atmospheric modes in explaining winter-averaged significant wave height, and even by a largest amount the winter-averaged extreme wave heights. WEPA is also the only index capturing the 2013/2014 extreme winter that caused widespread coastal erosion and flooding in western Europe

L'évaluation des compétences au baccalauréat : un inconfort intellectuel pour les enseignants: Analyse des pratiques d'évaluation des compétences des correcteurs de biotechnologies biochimie génie-biologique du baccalauréat des sections technologiques STL et ST2S

International audience1. ConstatsLa particularité de cette évaluation est qu'elle combine deux échelles de mesure : ordinale et chiffrée. Pour évaluer, les correcteurs doivent créer un mode de conversion en note des mesures ordinales et se retrouvent dans ce que Schwartz et Durrive (2009) nomment un « inconfort intellectuel ». L'évaluation des compétences apparaît ainsi comme une pratique où les enseignants se laissent déranger à la fois dans leurs savoirs constitués et dans leurs expériences de travail.2. Approche théoriqueElle combine trois champs théoriques : l'évaluation (Mencacci, 2014), la docimologie (Noizet, Caverni, 1978), l'ergologie (Schwartz & Durrive, 2009) et la didactique professionnelle (Pastré, Mayen & Vergnaud, 2006).3. La méthodologie employée est composite :a - Analyse quantitative et qualitative des résultats d'une même copie-test anonymée du baccalauréat 2018 donnée à la totalité des correcteurs de BGB corrigeant d'une académie de France une épreuve écrite : soit 23 correcteurs pour la série ST2S, 9 correcteurs pour la série STL corrigeant l'épreuve de BTK et 7 correcteurs de la série STL corrigeant l'épreuve de CBSV. Ces copies-test ont été données avant harmonisation pour la série ST2S et après harmonisation pour la série STL. L''analyse quantitative permet d'apprécier la corrélation notes/compétences, la fidélité des résultats inter-correcteurs et l'écart entre le correcteur le plus indulgent et le correcteur le moins indulgent.b- Analyse qualitative du référentiel d'évaluation (grilles de corrections) permettant de mettre en évidence les renormalisations des correcteurs de BGB.c- 18 Entretiens (285,02 minutes soit 4h750) à visée ergologique. Ces entretiens ont été menés « à chaud » pendant les corrections des épreuves écrites, orales ou expérimentales des baccalauréats STL et/ou ST2S.d-Enregistrement des débats autour de l'harmonisation de l'épreuve écrite de BPPH en ST2S.4. Résultats intermédiaires- Analyses statistiques : résultats fidèles entre eux ; effet de groupe observé; faibles ou moyennes corrélations entre les notes et les compétences.- Analyses des entretiens : mises en évidence de renormalisations des échelles de mesure : renormalisations des échelles ordinales et de l'échelle chiffrée., hiérarchisation des items, introduction de compensations masquées entre les compétences.5 Conclusion provisoireMise en évidence de renormalisations du modèle de référence tel que présenté par Noizet et Caverni (1978). Ces renormalisations sont des ingéniosités évaluatives mises en place par les correcteurs, dans un souci de justesse et de justice de l'évaluation

Extreme wave activity during 2013/2014 winter and morphological impacts along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Studies of coastal vulnerability due to climate change tend to focus on the consequences of sea level rise, rather than the complex coastal responses resulting from changes to the extreme wave climate. Here we investigate the 2013/2014 winter wave conditions that severely impacted the Atlantic coast of Europe and demonstrate that this winter was the most energetic along most of the Atlantic coast of Europe since at least 1948. Along exposed open-coast sites, extensive beach and dune erosion occurred due to offshore sediment transport. More sheltered sites experienced less erosion and one of the sites even experienced accretion due to beach rotation induced by alongshore sediment transport. Storm wave conditions such as were encountered during the 2013/2014 winter have the potential to dramatically change the equilibrium state (beach gradient, coastal alignment, and nearshore bar position) of beaches along the Atlantic coast of Europe

RADIATION KINETICS AND CHEMICAL REACTIVITY OF BARRIER DISCHARGES IN HUMID ARGON

International audienceThe technique of spatially resolved cross-correlation spectroscopy was used to record two-dimensional luminosity distributions for the selected spectral bands of molecular nitrogen (λ=337.1 nm), OH-radical (λ=308 nm), and two spectral lines of excited Ar (λ=750.4 nm and λ=763.5 nm) emitted by the microdischarges of the barrier discharge in flowing humid argon at atmospheric pressure. Concentrations of two stable reaction products of H2O decomposition (H2 and O2) in argon plasma were determined experimentally as functions of humidity. Comparison of these results with the corresponding measurements of radiation kinetics permitted a detailed analysis of the influence of the discharge mechanism on its chemical reactivity in humid argon to be accomplished

Sleep Disorders in Adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome: Review of the Literature and Clinical Recommendations Based on the Experience of the French Reference Centre

Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare, genetic, multisymptomatic, neurodevelopmental disease commonly associated with sleep alterations, including sleep-disordered breathing and central disorders of hypersomnolence. Excessive daytime sleepiness represents the main manifestation that should be addressed by eliciting the detrimental effects on quality of life and neurocognitive function from the patients’ caregivers. Patients with PWS have impaired ventilatory control and altered pulmonary mechanics caused by hypotonia, respiratory muscle weakness, scoliosis and obesity. Consequently, respiratory abnormalities are frequent and, in most cases, severe, particularly during sleep. Adults with PWS frequently suffer from sleep apnoea syndrome, sleep hypoxemia and sleep hypoventilation. When excessive daytime sleepiness persists after adequate control of sleep-disordered breathing, a sleep study on ventilatory treatment, followed by an objective measurement of excessive daytime sleepiness, is recommended. These tests frequently identify central disorders of hypersomnolence, including narcolepsy, central hypersomnia or a borderline hypersomnolent phenotype. The use of wake-enhancing drugs (modafinil, pitolisant) is discussed in multidisciplinary expert centres for these kinds of cases to ensure the right balance between the benefits on quality of life and the risk of psychological and cardiovascular side effects

Renewed global partnerships and redesigned roadmaps for rabies prevention and control

Canine rabies, responsible for most human rabies deaths, is a serious global public health concern. This zoonosis is entirely preventable, but by focusing solely upon rabies prevention in humans, this "incurable wound" persists at high costs. Although preventing human deaths through canine rabies elimination is feasible, dog rabies control is often neglected, because dogs are not considered typical economic commodities by the animal health sector. Here, we demonstrate that the responsibility of managing rabies falls upon multiple sectors, that a truly integrated approach is the key to rabies elimination, and that considerable progress has been made to this effect. Achievements include the construction of global rabies networks and organizational partnerships; development of road maps, operational toolkits, and a blueprint for rabies prevention and control; and opportunities for scaling up and replication of successful programs. Progress must continue towards overcoming the remaining challenges preventing the ultimate goal of rabies elimination

The Blueprint for Rabies Prevention and Control: A Novel Operational Toolkit for Rabies Elimination

Rabies is a prime example of a neglected tropical disease that mostly affects communities suffering from inequitable health care [1]. The false perception that rabies impacts on society are low is due to case under-reporting and limited awareness of the disease burden [2], [3]. Effective tools for elimination of terrestrial rabies are available [4]. While the sustained deployment of these tools has led to some remarkably successful interventions [5], [6], canine rabies continues to claim lives in rabies-endemic countries and areas of re-emergence, where >95% of human deaths occur as a result of bites by rabid domestic dogs [7], [8]. Control programs targeting dogs can effectively reduce the risk of rabies to humans [3], [9]. However, the design and implementation of such programs still pose considerable challenges to local governments, and a lack of easy-to-use guidelines has been identified as an important reason for this