Bilan et perspectives des deux écoles techniques « notions et techniques en écologie » organisées par le Département EFPA

La création du Département «Écologie des Forêts, Prairies et milieux Aquatiques» a suscité de la part des personnels techniques concernés une volonté d’intégration collective sous le concept fédérateur de l’écologie. Pour cela deux écoles techniques ont été organisées sur des notions et méthodes d’écologie par un Comité de pilotage composé de techniciens et de scientifiques. L’objectif visait à familiariser les techniciens aux concepts de l’écologie et à les aider à se situer dans les thématiques de recherche du Département EFPA. Enfin, il s’agissait d’instaurer une communauté de pratique autour de l’écologie. Ces écoles ont rassemblé 79 personnes, en proposant visites sur le terrain et séances en salle. Deux animations ont particulièrement été appréciées, l’une sous forme d’un jeu en préambule, l’autre sous forme de présentations par des binômes techniciens/chercheurs. Les participants sont plutôt convaincus d’avoir progressé sur les notions en écologie et ils ont la volonté d’aller plus loin avec la création d’un Réseau de Technicien en Ecologie (RTE), la mise en place d’une liste de diffusion et l’organisation régulière de rencontres entre membres du réseau

Design of soft-X-ray tomographic system in WEST using GEM detectors

In metallic tokamaks, the interplay between particle transport and MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) activity might lead to impurities accumulation and finally to disruption. Studying such phenomena is thus essential if stationary discharges are to be achieved. Measuring the soft X-ray (SXR) radiation ([0.1 keV; 20 keV]) of magnetic fusion plasmas is a standard way of accessing valuable information on particle transport and MHD. Generally, like at Tore Supra (TS), the analysis is performed with a 2D tomographic system composed of several cameras equipped with silicon barrier diodes (SBD). On WEST the installation of an upper divertor masks many of the actual TS vertical diodes so that no proper tomography is possible. This paper presents the design of a new SXR diagnostic for the WEST project developed in collaboration with IPPLM (Poland) and the Warsaw University of Technology, based on a triple gas electron multiplier (GEM) detector. Preliminary simulations performed to size and position the detector and its electronics inside the vertical thimble are also presented, in particular estimation of magnetic field and temperature variation affecting GEM spatial resolution and signal quality. As a conclusion, perspectives about tomographic capabilities of the new system for studying impurity transport are given

Psychiatric and cognitive phenotype in children and adolescents with myotonic dystrophy

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is the most frequent inherited neuromuscular disorder. The juvenile form has been associated with cognitive and psychiatric dysfunction, but the phenotype remains unclear. We reviewed the literature to examine the psychiatric phenotype of juvenile DM1 and performed an admixture analysis of the IQ distribution of our own patients, as we hypothesised a bimodal distribution. Two-thirds of the patients had at least one DSM-IV diagnosis, mainly attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorder. Two-thirds had learning disabilities comorbid with mental retardation on one hand, but also attention deficit, low cognitive speed and visual spatial impairment on the other. IQ showed a bi-modal distribution and was associated with parental transmission. The psychiatric phenotype in juvenile DM1 is complex. We distinguished two different phenotypic subtypes: one group characterised by mental retardation, severe developmental delay and maternal transmission; and another group characterised by borderline full scale IQ, subnormal development and paternal transmission

Green area index from an unmanned aerial system over wheat and rapeseed crops

Altres ajuts: Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationUnmanned airborne systems (UAS) technology opens new horizons in precision agriculture for effective characterization of the variability in crop state at high spatial resolution and high revisit frequency. Green area index (GAI) is a key agronomic variable involved in many processes and used for decision making. This paper describes a physically based algorithm for estimating GAI from UAS acquisitions. The UAS plane platform used here was equipped with four cameras in green (550 nm), red (660 nm), red-edge (735 nm) and near infrared (790 nm). It provided multiple views by overlapping images along and between the tracks. A lookup table was generated to invert the PROSAIL radiative transfer model using the reflectances in the four bands and the specific view-sun angles for each individual image. The average of the ensemble of solutions corresponding to the individual images allows regularizing the solutions of the ill posed inverse problem. Around six images were required to get stable GAI estimates and the corresponding root mean square error (RMSE) value was used as a proxy for the associated uncertainties. Comparison with ground based measurements showed that the accuracy of UAS GAI estimates over wheat and rapeseed crops was around 0.2 in terms of RMSE. The use of normalized reflectances compared to absolute reflectances improved the performances of GAI estimates (0.17 compared to 0.26 GAI in terms of RMSE) particularly under unstable illumination conditions. High repeatability in the estimates from UAS flights at different acquisition times was observed. The use of the red-edge band normalized (absolute) reflectances brought 30% (10%) improvement of accuracy for the low to medium GAI values

Plasmon electron energy loss spectroscopy and electrical resistivity of AlMn and AlMnSi quasicrystalline phases

International audienceThe electrical resistivity of the icosahedral and decagonal phases is investigated in AlMn and AlMnSi melt-spun ribbons by means of EELS in a dedicated STEM. The RT-resistivity of the i-phase is reported to be 66 μΩ cm and is controlled essentially by the solute content. The intrinsic effect due to the quasiperiodic distribution of the Mn scatterers is weak

APERIODIC'97 - Proceedings Of The International Conference On Aperiodic Crystals

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.51 x 5.08 x 22.23 cmInternational audienc

A Compton scattering and a collimation model for gamma images enhancement

International audienc

Notations de phénologie foliaire sur arbres forestiers

Les gelées tardives au printemps endommagent fréquemment les arbres. Les forestiers doivent donc disposer de matériels de reboisement ayant un rythme de croissance naturelle qui les mettent à l’abri de tels aléas. Aussi, ils recherchent des arbres qui débourrent tard au printemps, tout en conservant une vigueur satisfaisante malgré une durée de végétation plus courte. Pour apprécier ce caractère tardif, nous réalisons une ou plusieurs notations de débourrement qui sont de deux sortes : passages multiples et fréquents en mode binaire (jusqu'à 20 passages de type débourré ou pas débourré) ou nombre de passages réduits mais en classes multiples (5 à 7 classes selon les espèces). Ces observations effectuées depuis des années dans des programmes d’amélioration génétique, servent à étudier les effets du réchauffement climatique sur les arbres

Positive attitudes of French general practitioners towards A/H1N1 influenza-pandemic vaccination: a missed opportunity to increase vaccination uptakes in the general public?: Acceptability of pandemic vaccination among GPs

International audienceAttitudes of general practitioners (GPs) towards A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination are unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with computer-assisted telephone interviewing in the French Regional Panel of General Practices from June 16 to September 22, 2009. Of 1434 respondents representative of GPs in four French regions, 885 (61.7%) were willing to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination for themselves. The personal history of seasonal flu vaccination was the strongest independent predictive factor of willingness to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination (p<.0001). GPs receiving seasonal vaccines every year were more likely to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination than those who were never vaccinated in the prior 3 years (adjusted OR=4.38; 95% CI, 2.44-4.67). Willingness to accept pandemic vaccination was also significantly associated with being on call for emergencies; positive attitudes towards other protective measures against A/H1N1 influenza virus in the practice; and a higher readiness to provide additional consultations in response to the pandemic. In conclusion, GPs showed a high acceptability of A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination. GPs' involvement in the mass vaccination campaign, which has been neglected by French public health authorities, may have increased uptake rates in the general public

Nutritional and Protein Deficiencies in the Short Term following Both Gastric Bypass and Gastric Banding.

BACKGROUND:The number of morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery (BS) has increased dramatically in recent years. Therefore, monitoring food intake and its consequences in terms of nutritional status is necessary to prevent nutritional deficiencies. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of food restriction on nutritional parameters in the short-term (≤3 months) period after BS in morbid obesity. METHOD:In a prospective study, we followed 22 obese women who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (GBP) or adjustable gastric banding (AGB) at baseline (T0) and 1 (T1) and 3 (T3) months after surgery. We evaluated food intake, nutrient adequacy and serum concentrations of vitamins and minerals known to be at risk for deficiency following BS. RESULTS:Before surgery, we observed suboptimal food intakes, leading to a risk of micronutrient deficiencies. Serum analysis confirmed nutritional deficiencies for iron and thiamine for 27 and 23% of the patients, respectively. The drastic energy and food reduction seen in the short term led to very low probabilities of adequacy for nutrients equivalent across both surgeries. Serum analysis demonstrated a continuous decrease in prealbumin during the follow-up, indicating mild protein depletion in 21 and 57% of GBP patients and 50 and 63% of AGB patients, respectively, at T1 and T3. Regarding vitamins and minerals, systematic supplementation after GBP prevented most nutritional deficiencies. By contrast, AGB patients, for whom there is no systematic supplementation, developed such deficiencies. CONCLUSIONS:Our results suggest that cautious monitoring of protein intake after BS is mandatory. Furthermore, AGB patients might also benefit from systematic multivitamin and mineral supplementation at least in the short term