South Green bioinformatics platform : Plateforme collaborative de bioinformatique verte héraultaise

Drivers and other road users often encounter situations where priority is unclear or ambiguous, but must be resolved, for example, after arriving at an intersection nearly simultaneously. The participants in such scenarios reach agreement by communicating; while instinctive to humans, this is a significant challenge for autonomous vehicles. Currently, the nature of interaction for resolving ambiguous road situations between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles remains mostly in the realm of speculation, for which no direct means for expressing intent and acknowledgment has yet been established. This thesis approaches the challenge by contributing a model and approach for planning that can produce actions that are expressive and encode certain aspects of intent; the result is communicative in that vehicle-pedestrian coordination arises via a negotiation of intent in a prototypical unsignalized intersection crossing scenario. We deliberately construct a prototypical crossing setting with a vehicle and one pedestrian at an unsignalized intersection such that there is substantial ambiguity in crossing order. A decision-theoretic model is then used for capturing this scenario along with its ambiguity as uncertainty arising from non-determinism and partial observability. We solve the problem by first proposing a Markov decision process to express the interaction at the intersection. Next, we focus on the partial-observability and include it in the model to generate a sequence of vehicle actions by solving via a state-of-the-art online solver. We implement the approach on a self-driving Ford Lincoln MKZ platform and examine an experimental setting involving real-time interaction. The experiment shows that the method achieves safe and efficient navigation. We analyze the resulting policy in detail in simulation and examine the coupled behavior of the vehicle and pedestrian, interpreting evidence for implicit communication that emerges as the two resolve ambiguity to achieve safe and efficient navigation

Partial Facetectomy for Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis

Background. Several different techniques exist to address the pain and disability caused by isolated nerve root impingement. Failure to adequately decompress the lumbar foramen may lead to failed back surgery syndrome. However, aggressive treatment often causes spinal instability or may require fusion for satisfactory results. We describe a novel technique for decompression of the lumbar nerve root and demonstrate its effectiveness in relief of radicular symptoms. Methods. Partial facetectomy was performed by removal of the medial portion of the superior facet in patients with lumbar foraminal stenosis. 47 patients underwent the procedure from 2001 to 2010. Those who demonstrated neurogenic claudication without spinal instability or central canal stenosis and failed conservative management were eligible for the procedure. Functional level was recorded for each patient. These patients were followed for an average of 3.9 years to evaluate outcomes. Results. 27 of 47 patients (57%) reported no back pain and no functional limitations. Eight of 47 patients (17%) reported moderate pain, but had no limitations. Six of 47 patients (13%) continued to experience degenerative symptoms. Five of 47 patients (11%) required additional surgery. Conclusions. Partial facetectomy is an effective means to decompress the lumbar nerve root foramen without causing spinal instability

Acute toxicity of 8 antidepressants: What are their modes of action?

International audienc

In situ dynamics of microbial communities during decomposition of wheat, rape, and alfalfa residues.

13 pagesInternational audienceMicrobial communities are of major importance in the decomposition of soil organic matter. However, the identities and dynamics of the populations involved are still poorly documented. We investigated, in an 11-month field experiment, how the initial biochemical quality of crop residues could lead to specific decomposition patterns, linking biochemical changes undergone by the crop residues to the respiration, biomass, and genetic structure of the soil microbial communities. Wheat, alfalfa, and rape residues were incorporated into the 0-15 cm layer of the soil of field plots by tilling. Biochemical changes in the residues occurring during degradation were assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy. Qualitative modifications in the genetic structure of the bacterial communities were determined by bacterial-automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. Bacterial diversity in the three crop residues at early and late stages of decomposition process was further analyzed from a molecular inventory of the 16S rDNA. The decomposition of plant residues in croplands was shown to involve specific biochemical characteristics and microbial community dynamics which were clearly related to the quality of the organic inputs. Decay stage and seasonal shifts occurred by replacement of copiotrophic bacterial groups such as proteobacteria successful on younger residues with those successful on more extensively decayed material such as Actinobacteria. However, relative abundance of proteobacteria depended greatly on the composition of the residues, with a gradient observed from alfalfa to wheat, suggesting that this bacterial group may represent a good indicator of crop residues degradability and modifications during the decomposition process

Backside cavities for thermal tuning optimization of silicon ring resonators

International audienceSilicon ring resonators on SOI substrates are well known and widely studied. They are commonly used in datacom and high-performance computing for wavelength multiplexing and spectral filters. They can be tuned to the desired frequency with resistive heaters, which is the primary power budget of the device. In this work, the impact of backside cavities etched in the bulk silicon of SOI substrates below ring resonators is studied. Simulations show that those backside cavities improve significantly heat confinement and minimizes heat losses usually due to conduction in the Si substrate. Backside cavities have been successfully etched in the bulk of the SOI substrate to improve heat trapping within the silicon rings. The etching process is compatible with the standard silicon photonics interposer process flow. Power consumption studies have been performed with a reference ring resonator on SOI and ring resonators with different backside cavity diameters. These results will be discussed with respect to the backside cavity opening. A 72% power consumption reduction for a 10 µm diameter ring resonator on SOI has been achieved with a backside opening of 100 µm deep and 40µm diameter. The cavities opening did not impact the optical ring performances

René Allio

Les historiens et les spécialistes du théâtre et du cinéma n’auraient-ils pas tendance à sous-estimer René Allio et à le cantonner à ses activités les plus connues (décorateur chez Planchon, auteur de quelques films majeurs) ? Fort de ces questions (et des réponses probables), Double Jeu souhaitait contribuer à une reconnaissance de son œuvre et en inspirer l’étude. À titre d’incitation, l’on trouvera ici quelques articles consacrés à un cinéma qui n’a rien perdu de son exemplarité, ainsi qu’à de multiples activités (scénographie, scénarisation, décentralisation cinématographique) qu’il serait regrettable de négliger

Les campagnes dans les sociétés européennes

« Les campagnes dans les évolutions sociales et politiques en Europe, des années 1830 à la fin des années 1920 : étude comparée de la France, de l'Allemagne, de l'Espagne et de l'Italie », nouvelle question mise au concours du Capes et de l'agrégation, impose de privilégier les aspects politiques et sociaux, en particulier les processus de politisation et les transformations sociales, relatifs à la place et au rôle des campagnes. Mais tandis que le « paysan » a fait l'objet d'articles de dictionnaire et de vastes enquêtes, il n'en est pas de même pour les campagnes. Bien souvent, elles sont définies par opposition à la ville. Aussi convient-il de s'interroger sur les notions d'« émancipation », de « modernisation », d'« intégration ». Toutefois pour comprendre la place complexe des campagnes dans les sociétés européennes, il importe aussi de s'attacher aux « espaces ruraux » et aux États-nations. Le présent ouvrage propose à la fois des synthèses chronologiques sur les campagnes européennes (1830-1848, 1914-1930), des mises au point thématiques (la politisation, la conflictuosité et les conflits, la jeunesse), des éclairages variés sur l'Italie, l'Espagne ou l'Allemagne, des approches problématisées (France) et historiographiques (Allemagne et Italie). Il comporte également une introduction présentant longuement la question et une solide bibliographie conçue comme un instrument de travail commode. Les auteurs entendent donner une approche plurielle des transformations que les campagnes ont connues au cours d'un siècle commençant en 1830, au moment où se met en place, souvent sans à-coup, un nouveau « système productif », et où se fait entendre le fracas des révolutions et des insurrections de 1830 en France et en Italie – ” nourrissant revendications libérales et nationales dans la Confédération germanique ” – et la « clameur » de la guerre civile en Espagne. La période étudiée se referme à la fin des années vingt, lorsque la menace des totalitarismes devient de plus en plus prégnante et au moment de la grande crise de 1929 dont l'onde de choc se fera sentir tantôt immédiatement, tantôt bien des années après en Europe