Évolutions de la monnaie et du crédit en France en 2008.

Après plusieurs années de croissance soutenue, la contribution française à l’agrégat M3 de la zone euro a ralenti en 2008. La croissance des crédits au secteur privé, principale source de la création de monnaie, s’est modérée en France comme dans le reste de la zone euro.Monnaie, crédits à l’habitat, crédits aux entreprises.

Évolutions récentes du crédit aux ménages en France.

Les turbulences observées sur les marchés financiers n’ont guère affecté jusqu’à présent la distribution de crédits à l’habitat en France, alors que la demande des ménages a continué de se modérer de manière graduelle.crédits à l’habitat, ménages, endettement, conditions du crédit, taux débiteurs.

Les crédits aux sociétés non financières en France : évolutions récentes.

Particulièrement soutenue jusqu’à ces derniers mois, la croissance des crédits aux entreprises donne, depuis peu, des signes de modération, dans un contexte de consolidation des bilans bancaires et de dégradation de l’environnement macroéconomique.Crédits aux entreprises, taux débiteurs, réintermédiation, financement des entreprises, conditions du crédit.

An unusual cause of difficult weaning in a patient with newly diagnosed small cell lung cancer

AbstractWe describe a patient with acute respiratory insufficiency and difficult ventilator weaning in the ICU ward, leading to diagnosis of small cell lung cancer with superior vena cava superior syndrome. Bilateral vocal cord paralysis caused his respiratory distress and weaning difficulties. Thyroidectomy and neurological problems (such as Parkinson disease and Guillain Barré syndrome) are more common causes of bilateral vocal cord paralysis. Lung cancer patients are also at risk due to mediastinal invasion. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve is more prone to paralysis because of the typical anatomy. In contrary, bilateral vocal cord paralysis is rare and doesn't result in speech problems but rather breathing difficulties. Tracheostomy is the classic therapy, but laser cordectomy and Botulinum toxin injection in the laryngeal muscles are alternatives

Noncollinear magnetic ordering in small Chromium Clusters

We investigate noncollinear effects in antiferromagnetically coupled clusters using the general, rotationally invariant form of local spin-density theory. The coupling to the electronic degrees of freedom is treated with relativistic non-local pseudopotentials and the ionic structure is optimized by Monte-Carlo techniques. We find that small chromium clusters (N \le 13) strongly favor noncollinear configurations of their local magnetic moments due to frustration. This effect is associated with a significantly lower total magnetization of the noncollinear ground states, ameliorating the disagreement between Stern-Gerlach measurements and previous collinear calculations for Cr_{12} and Cr_{13}. Our results further suggest that the trend to noncollinear configurations might be a feature common to most antiferromagnetic clusters.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX plus .eps/.ps figure

Achievements and state of the art of hydrogen fuelled IC engines after twenty years of research at Ghent University

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.Hydrogen could be “the” fuel for the future, not only for fuel cells but certainly for internal combustion engines. The research on hydrogen started at Ghent University in 1990 with the adaptation of a Valmet diesel engine to hydrogen operation (atmospheric, carbureted version) to prove the capability of hydrogen as a fuel for IC engines. Since then several engines were modified for hydrogen use with the state of the art technologies (sequential injection, electronic management units). With European (Craft, Brite) and Belgian grants three buses demonstrated on several levels the application of hydrogen IC engines. At the moment the laboratory test proves an operation with a power output higher than the gasoline engine, with an equal efficiency of the diesel engine and with very low emissions (NOx less than 100 ppm). The interests of the research group of Ghent University was not only for the experimental work, but also the combustion process is simulated (GUEST code). The estimated formula of the laminar flame speed of hydrogen by Verhelst is worldwide used in other research studies. At the moment a doctoral study examines the heat transfer in hydrogen engines, which is so different from the already not very accurate heat transfer models in gasoline and diesel engines. In our laboratory tests, the hydrogen engine is ready for mass production (backfire safe, high power output, high efficiency, very low emissions). But storage on the vehicle recently and infrastructure of the fuel delivery are the bottle-necks for a real implementation of the hydrogen economy. From hydrogen, methanol can be produced on a sustainable way. Methanol is a liquid (no storage problem on het vehicle) and with minor modifications the same infrastructure can be used as for gasoline. Methanol has very good engine characteristics. Will methanol based on hydrogen be then “the” fuel of the future?mp201

Rise time evaluation of the heat flux microsensor (HFM) on a hot-air-gun test rig

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.Investigating the heat transfer inside internal combustion engines is key in the search for higher efficiency, higher power output and lower emissions. To understand the process and to validate model predictions, heat flux measurements inside an engine have to be conducted. In previous works, we have always used a commercially available thermopile to measure the heat transfer in a hydrogen combustion engine, but its large dimensions pose concerns about the sensor’s response time. Therefore, measurements have been done on a calibration rig with a hot air flow as heat source. This paper presents a comparison of the rise time of the thermopile with that of an alternative sensor developed for heat transfer measurements in gas turbines. The papers results in an increased confidence in the thermopile sensor, because its response time is at least as good as that of the alternative sensor. The results do show that the reproducibility of the test rig can be improved. Moreover, due to fluctuations in the heat flux level generated by the source, only the order of magnitude of the measured heat flux of two different experiments was comparable. Therefore, a new calibration rig will be developed to improve the reproducibility and to increase stability of the heat flux level of the heat source.mp201