Knowledge management and history

Capitalisation of the history of a technology, a technique or a concept within an industrial company is relevant to historians. However it largely exceeds the historical problems from a Knowledge Management point of view. In this context, it can be the subject of specific approaches especially Knowledge Engineering. However, it faces two types of difficulties: - The techniques in History have few modelling tools, and are even rather reticent with the use of such tools. - Knowledge Engineering doesn't often address historical knowledge modelling, for tracing knowledge evolution. It is however possible to develop robust and validated methods, tools and techniques which take into account these two approaches, which, if they function in synergy, appear rich and fertile.History, MASK, Knowledge management, Knowledge engineering, History of techniques

Résultats des campagnes MUSORSTOM : volume 15

La campagne MUSORSTOM 8, réalisée à bord du N.O. "Alis", s'est déroulée dans les eaux de Vanuatu du 19 septembre au 14 octobre 1994. Cent quatre-vingt-six opération de dragages et de chalutages ont eu lieu dans la zone bathyale supérieure, sur les pentes des îles et sur le sommet du guyot Bougainville. De grandes superficies chalutables ont été découvertes entre 300 et 1000 m de profondeur. La faune benthique est riche, bien diversifiée, mais semble d'une composition très différente de celle de Nouvelle-Calédonie : les Spongiaires et les Stylastérides, en particulier, ne contribuent pas de façon significative à la physionomie des peuplements. (Résumé d'auteur

Rapport hydrologique 1989 : vallée de Djiguinoum, Casamance

Au Sénégal, dans la vallée de Djiguinoum située en Basse Casamance, le problème de l'intrusion marine due au battement des marées a été résolu par la construction d'un micro-barrage à vannes levantes. Ce barrage a permis la mise en place et la réussite d'un essai rizicole. Le présent rapport consigne les résultats et premières interprétations de la campagne hydrologique 1989. Le dispositif expérimental et les dispositifs concernant le suivi du bilan hydrologique et hydrochimique sont exposés, tandis que ceux concernant l'agronomie sont rappelés pour mémoire

Le lagon sud-ouest de la Nouvelle-Calédonie : observations préalables à la cartographie bionomique des fonds meubles

Depuis 1984, l'ORSTOM a entrepris des études sur le benthos des fonds meubles du lagon de Nouvelle Calédonie. Ce document expose la méthode utilisée pour réaliser une cartographie bionomique à partir des resultats obtenus par dragages. La liste des espèces collectées dans les 489 stations du lagon sud-ouest sont présentées. Un résumé des études antérieures sur le benthos de la région est esquissé, ainsi qu'une description sommaire des caractéristiques physiques du lagon sud-ouest. Quelques informations préliminaires sur les grands types de fonds et les principaux peuplements sont commentées et cartographiées. Des cartes de répartitions sont fournies pour les espèces les plus fréquentes parmi les mollusques et les echinodermes. Des comparaisons biogéographiques sont faites avec les études réalisées à Madagascar, sur la Grande Barrière de Corail australienne et en Polynésie Française. (Résumé d'auteur

JCuda vectorized and parallelized computation strategy for solving integral equations in electromagnetism on a standard personal computer

International audienceThe paper presents a computation strategy for solving integral equations in electromagnetism. Nowadays, powerful programmable Graphic Processing Units (GPU) can be found in any standard computer. The paper investigates the benefits of the use of GPUs in addition to the CPU one in order to improve computation speed by using integral methods. Java language and the JCuda library, not often used in speed calculation by the computing community, has been used here. A 100 time speed-up is reported in matrix assembly between an optimized traditional CPU computation and a CPU+GPU one. FMM… Index Terms-Fast Multipole Method on GPU, JCuda computing, Pure Java ..

Prospective Evaluation of Ultrasonic Surgical Dissectors in Hepatic Resection: A Cooperative Multicenter Study

Blood loss is the major cause of postoperative mortality and morbidity associated with hepatic resection. A prospective multicenter study was conducted to determine if ultrasonic dissectors (USD) were useful in hepatic resection and could reduce this hemorrhagic risk. Forty-seven hepatic resections were performed in 42 consecutive patients during a two month period in 11 public, surgical centers. Twenty-one patients had primary or secondary malignancies, six had benign tumors, two had biliary cysts, one had cholangiocarcinoma, one had Caroli’s disease, and 11 had hydatid cysts of the liver. Two different USD devices were evaluated (CUSA System-Lasersonics and NIIC-DX 101 T). The hepatic resections tested included a wide range of procedures. Each surgeon had the possibility of choosing between the USD and his own usual technique for each operative step and according to local conditions. The average volume of blood infused, irrespective of the underlying pathology or the procedure performed, was 1.0 L (range 0-4.8 L). Fourteen patients required no transfusions. No operative or immediate postoperative deaths were recorded. Five major complications, all unrelated to the use of the USD, developed in three patients. Access to intra and extraparenchymal arterial and venous tributaries and particularly the control of the hepatic veins were facilitated by USD. While transection of hepatic parenchyma was neither easier nor faster than with conventional techniques, it was found to be less hemorrhagic. Overall appraisal was expressed on an analog scale; the USD was found to be helpful or very helpful in 75 percent of all resections. With regard to the pathology being treated, total or partial excision of hydatid cysts was greatly enhanced by the use of the USD while this benefit was not found for wedge resections of other hepatic lesions. With regard to user friendliness and maintenance, the NIIC-DX 101 T device was preferred. We conclude that the USD facilitates formal hepatic resections. Converging opinions emerging from various surgical centers reinforce this conclusion