Comparison between chironomid-inferred July temperatures and meteorological data AD 1850-2001 from varved Lake Silvaplana, Switzerland

Inferred temperatures from chironomids preserved in the varved sediment of Lake Silvaplana in the Eastern Swiss Alps were compared with instrumental data obtained from a meteorological station in Sils-Maria, on the shore of Lake Silvaplana, for the time interval 1850-2001. At near-annual resolution, the general patterns of chironomid-inferred temperature changes followed the meteorological record over the last ∼150years (r Pearson=0.65, P=0.01) and 87% of the inferences had deviations from the instrumental data below the root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP). When the inferences were compared with a 2-year running mean in the meteorological data, 94% of the inferences had differences with the instrumental data below the RMSEP, indicating that more than half of the inaccurate inferences may have been due to errors in varve counting. Larger deviations from the instrumental data were also obtained from samples with low percentages of fossil taxa represented in the training set used for temperature reconstruction and/or assemblages with poor fit to temperature. Changes in total phosphorus (TP, as inferred by diatoms) and/or greater precipitation were possible factors affecting the accuracy of the temperature reconstruction. Although these factors might affect the quantitative estimates, obtaining >80% accurate temperature inferences suggests that chironomid analysis is a reliable tool for reconstructing mean July air temperature quantitatively over the last ∼150years in Lake Silvaplan

Effect of fumonisins and Salmonella on digestive flora profiles assessed using a molecular tool (CE-SSCP).

Fumonisins (FB) are mycotoxins frequently found in vegetal feedstuffs, especially in maize used for pig feeding. Among fumonisins, FB1 was the better described toxin. It caused pulmonary and hepatic damages as well as immune response disorders in pigs that were recognised as especially sensitive to FB Intoxication. The FB1 immunosuppressor induced a higher susceptibility of pigs to gut pathogens such as E coli. Effects on Salmonella have poorly been studied despite the frequent asymptomatic carnage in pigs and the presumptive role of nora equilibrium on prevention of Salmonella excretion or re-excretion. To determine the influence of Salmonella carriage, fumonisins or both on digestive flora equilibrium, the use of a molecular technique CE-SSCP (Capillary-Electrophoresis Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism) appeared a good complement to the conventional bacteriological techniques. The objective was to assess the perturbation of nora associated with co-exposition in experimental conditions in absence of clinical sign

Aircraft Numerical "Twin": A Time Series Regression Competition

International audienceThis paper presents the design and analysis of a data science competition on a problem of time series regression from aeronautics data. For the purpose of performing predictive maintenance, aviation companies seek to create aircraft "numerical twins", which are programs capable of accurately predicting strains at strategic positions in various body parts of the aircraft. Given a number of input parameters (sensor data) recorded in sequence during the flight, the competition participants had to predict output values (gauges), also recorded sequentially during test flights, but not recorded during regular flights. The competition data included hundreds of complete flights. It was a code submission competition with complete blind testing of algorithms. The results indicate that such a problem can be effectively solved with gradient boosted trees, after preprocessing and feature engineering. Deep learning methods did not prove as efficient

Quand l’échec thérapeutique confronte les cliniciens…

Dans la pratique clinique, il n’est pas rare de se heurter à des écueils dans le lien transférentiel. Bien des questionnements et sentiments d’impuissance dans le chef des thérapeutes font écho aux défaillances des systèmes humains rencontrés. A la lumière d’une vignette clinique développant un processus thérapeutique ayant débuté il y a dix ans et toujours en cours, nous observons combien un sentiment d’échec peut s’installer petit à petit, colorer la relation entre soignants et patients et questionner la fonction même des professionnels. Des mouvements peuvent alors émerger, de la lassitude au découragement en passant par l’agressivité et le rejet de ceux et celles qui, d’une certaine manière, n’acceptent point l’aide et les soins qui leur sont proposés. Il s’avère in fine utile de considérer quelques attitudes cliniques susceptibles de déjouer, parfois, l’échec dans le lien thérapeutique. Nous évoquerons ainsi trois dimensions, qui sont le cadre d’intervention et son objet, le « travail à plusieurs » et « l’enveloppe partenariale » et les notions de curiosité et de créativité.[When the clinician encounters therapeutic failure] In clinical practice it is not rare to come up against obstacles in the transferential bond. Many questionings and feeling of powerlessness in the therapists’ mind echo those that are met in failed human systems. The clinical case of therapeutic process that began ten years ago throws light on how a feeling of failure can little by little set in. It affects the relation between caregivers and patients and questions the professional’s function. Feelings of lassitude and discouragement emerge, including aggressive discharges from those who, in some way, do not accept the help and care that are proposed to them. In fine, it could be useful to adopt some clinical attitudes that could sometimes avert the failure of therapeutic bonding. We propose a three-dimensional intervention framework and its object. It entails “working together”, a “partnerial envelop” as well as notions of curiosity and creativity