Die EWWU vor der Euro-Bargeldeinführung: Für eine neue deutsch-französische Initiative zur Vertiefung der europäischen Wirtschaftsintegration

Mit der Euro-Bargeldeinführung am 1. Januar 2002 wird die europäische Integration für die Bürger physisch greifbar. Die einheitliche Währung gibt es allerdings schon seit dem 1. Januar 1999. Wie sieht die Bilanz von mehr als zwei Jahren gemeinsamer Geldpolitik aus? Gibt es eine Koordination der Wirtschaftspolitik? Welche Integrationsschritte sind noch erforderlich? --

Rank-Ordering of topographic variables correlated with temperature

International audienceSpatial variations in temperature may be ascribed to many variables. Among these, variables pertaining to topography are prominent. Thus various topographic variables were calculated from 50 m-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) for three study areas in France and for Slovenia. The "classic" geomatic variables (altitude, aspect, gradient, etc.) are supplemented by the description of landforms (amplitude of humps and hollows). Special care is taken in managing collinearity among variables and building windows with different dimensions. Statistical processing involves linear regressions of daily temperatures taken as the response variables and six topographic variables (explanatory variables). Altitude accounts significantly for the spatial variation in temperatures in 90% of cases, except in the Gironde, a low- lying area (50%). The scale of landforms also appears to be highly correlated to the measured temperature. Variations in the frequency with which topographic descriptors account for temperatures are examined from several standpoints. Al- titude is less frequently taken as an explanatory variable for spatial variation of temperatures in winter (75%) than in spring (80%) and late summer (85%). Minimum temperatures are influenced on average much more by the amplitude of humps and hollows (56%) than maximum temperatures (38%) are. The frequency with which these two landforms ac- count for the spatial variation of temperature is reversed between the minima and maxima

Location-Based Plant Species Prediction Using A CNN Model Trained On Several Kingdoms - Best Method Of GeoLifeCLEF 2019 Challenge

International audienceThis technical report describes the model that achieved the best performance of the GeoLifeCLEF challenge, the objective of which was to evaluate methods for plant species prediction based on their geographical location. Our method is based on an adaptation of the Inception v3 architecture initially dedicated to the classification of RGB images. We modified the input layer of this architecture so as to process the spatialized environmental tensors as images with 77 distinct channels. Using this architecture, we did train several models that mainly differed in the used training data and in the predicted output classes. One of the main objective, in particular, was to compare the performance of a model trained with plant occurrences only to that obtained with a model trained on all available occurrences, including the species of other kingdoms. Our results show that the global model performs consistently better than the plant-specific model. This suggests that the convolutional neural network is able to capture some inter-dependencies among all species and that this information significantly improves the generalisation capacity of the model for any species

Improve learning combining crowdsourced labels by weighting Areas Under the Margin

In supervised learning -- for instance in image classification -- modern massive datasets are commonly labeled by a crowd of workers. The obtained labels in this crowdsourcing setting are then aggregated for training. The aggregation step generally leverages a per worker trust score. Yet, such worker-centric approaches discard each task ambiguity. Some intrinsically ambiguous tasks might even fool expert workers, which could eventually be harmful for the learning step. In a standard supervised learning setting -- with one label per task and balanced classes -- the Area Under the Margin (AUM) statistic is tailored to identify mislabeled data. We adapt the AUM to identify ambiguous tasks in crowdsourced learning scenarios, introducing the Weighted AUM (WAUM). The WAUM is an average of AUMs weighted by worker and task dependent scores. We show that the WAUM can help discarding ambiguous tasks from the training set, leading to better generalization or calibration performance. We report improvements with respect to feature-blind aggregation strategies both for simulated settings and for the CIFAR-10H crowdsourced dataset

Development of a pig jejunal explant culture for studying the gastrointestinal toxicity of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol: histopathological analysis

The digestive tract is a target for the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), a major cereals grain contaminant of public health concern in Europe and North America. Pig, the most sensitive species to DON toxicity, can be regarded as the most relevant animal model for studying the intestinal effects of DON. A pig jejunal explants culture was developed to assess short-term effects of DON. In a first step, jejunal explants from 9-13 week-old and from 4-5 week-old pigs were cultured in vitro for up to 8 hours. Explants from younger animals were better preserved after 8 hours, as assessed by morphological scores and by villi lengths. In a second step, dose-related alterations of the jejunal tissue were observed, including shortened and coalescent villi, lysis of enterocytes, oedema. After 4h of DON exposure of explants from 4-5 week-old pigs, a no-effect concentration level of 1 µM was estimated (corresponding to diet contaminated with 0.3 mg DON/kg) based on morphological scores, and of 0.2 µM based on villi lengths. In conclusion, our data indicate that pig intestinal explants represent a relevant and sensitive model to investigate the effects of food contaminants

Population Estimate for the Bluenose-East Caribou Herd Using Post-calving Photography

Genetic and spatial analyses suggest that what was previously described as the Bluenose herd of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) comprises three separate populations. Of these, the Bluenose-East caribou herd (BECH) has received little coverage in past surveys. Existing estimates of abundance suggested that current harvest rates of Bluenose-East caribou (~5000 animals/year) might be excessive. We used post-calving photography in June-July 2000 to estimate the size of the BECH. A maximum of 33 radio-collared caribou were available for location in June 2000. We located 30 of these caribou and photographed distinct groups containing 23 collared individuals. Excluding caribou assumed to belong to the neighboring Bluenose-West herd, we photographed a minimum of 84 412 adult and 4193 calf caribou. Using a simple mark-recapture model to account for caribou associated with collared individuals not photographed, we calculated an estimate of 104 000 ± 22 100 (95% CI 84 412 - 126 100) non-calf caribou. A recently published stochastic model produced a considerably higher and more variable estimate of 208 700 (95% CI 112 600 - 474 700). In March 2001, we deployed seven more radio collars in anticipation of repeating the census in 2001, but poor weather conditions precluded the formation of large aggregations. Present densities of Bluenose-East caribou seem high, and we recommend regular monitoring of body condition to assess the potential for a forage-induced population crash.Des analyses génétiques et spatiales suggèrent que ce que l'on a décrit précédemment comme le troupeau de caribous des toundras Bluenose (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) est en fait composé de trois populations distinctes. De ces trois hardes, le troupeau de caribous Bluenose de l'Est (TCBE) n'a pas reçu beaucoup d'attention au cours des relevés antérieurs. Les estimations d'abondance qui existent ont suggéré que le taux de prélèvement actuel de ce caribou (~ 5000 animaux/an) pourrait être excessif. On a eu recours à des clichés pris immédiatement après la mise bas en juin-juillet 2000 pour évaluer la taille du TCBE. En juin 2000, un maximum de 33 caribous munis de colliers émetteurs étaient disponibles pour la localisation. On en a repéré 30 et on a photographié des groupes distincts contenant 23 individus équipés de colliers émetteurs. Si l'on exclut les caribous qui feraient partie de la harde voisine Bluenose de l'Ouest, on a photographié un minimum de 84 412 adultes et 4193 veaux. En utilisant un simple modèle de marquage-recapture pour tenir compte des caribous reliés aux individus munis de colliers émetteurs non photographiés, on en arrive à une estimation du nombre de caribous excluant les veaux de 104 000 ± 22 100 (intervalle de confiance de 95 %: 84 412 - 126 000). Un modèle probabiliste publié récemment a donné une estimation nettement plus élevée et plus variable de 208 700 (intervalle de confiance de 95 %: 112 600 - 474 700). En mars 2001, on a eu recours à sept colliers émetteurs supplémentaires en prévision d'une reprise du recensement en 2001, mais le mauvais temps a empêché la formation de grands regroupements. Les densités actuelles du caribou Bluenose de l'Est semblent élevées, et on recommande une surveillance continue de l'état corporel afin d'évaluer le potentiel d'un effondrement de la population dû à un manque de fourrage

Derivation of the Zakharov equations

This paper continues the study of the validity of the Zakharov model describing Langmuir turbulence. We give an existence theorem for a class of singular quasilinear equations. This theorem is valid for well-prepared initial data. We apply this result to the Euler-Maxwell equations describing laser-plasma interactions, to obtain, in a high-frequency limit, an asymptotic estimate that describes solutions of the Euler-Maxwell equations in terms of WKB approximate solutions which leading terms are solutions of the Zakharov equations. Because of transparency properties of the Euler-Maxwell equations, this study is led in a supercritical (highly nonlinear) regime. In such a regime, resonances between plasma waves, electromagnetric waves and acoustic waves could create instabilities in small time. The key of this work is the control of these resonances. The proof involves the techniques of geometric optics of Joly, M\'etivier and Rauch, recent results of Lannes on norms of pseudodifferential operators, and a semiclassical, paradifferential calculus

Location-Based Plant Species Prediction Using A CNN Model Trained On Several Kingdoms - Best Method Of GeoLifeCLEF 2019 Challenge

International audienceThis technical report describes the model that achieved the best performance of the GeoLifeCLEF challenge, the objective of which was to evaluate methods for plant species prediction based on their geographical location. Our method is based on an adaptation of the Inception v3 architecture initially dedicated to the classification of RGB images. We modified the input layer of this architecture so as to process the spatialized environmental tensors as images with 77 distinct channels. Using this architecture, we did train several models that mainly differed in the used training data and in the predicted output classes. One of the main objective, in particular, was to compare the performance of a model trained with plant occurrences only to that obtained with a model trained on all available occurrences, including the species of other kingdoms. Our results show that the global model performs consistently better than the plant-specific model. This suggests that the convolutional neural network is able to capture some inter-dependencies among all species and that this information significantly improves the generalisation capacity of the model for any species

MOMAC: a SAXS/WAXS laboratory instrument dedicated to nanomaterials

International audienceThis article presents the technical characteristics of a newly built small-and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) apparatus dedicated to structural characterization of a wide range of nanomaterials in the powder or dispersion form. The instrument is based on a high-flux rotating anode generator with a molybdenum target, enabling the assessment of highly absorbing samples containing heavy elements. The SAXS part is composed of a collimation system including a multilayer optic and scatterless slits, a motorized sample holder, a vacuum chamber, and a two-dimensional image-plate detector. All the control command is done through a TANGO interface. Normalization and data correction yield scattering patterns at the absolute scale automatically with a q range from 0.03 to 3.2 A ˚ À1. The WAXS part features a multilayer collimating optic and a two-dimensional image-plate detector with variable sample-to-detector distances. The accessible q range is 0.4–9 A ˚ À1 , ensuring a large overlap in q range between the two instruments. A few examples of applications are also presented, namely coupled SAXS/WAXS structure and symmetry determination of gold nanocrystals in solution and characterization of imogolite nanotubes and iron-filled carbon nanotube samples

Overview of LifeCLEF location-based species prediction task 2020 (GeoLifeCLEF)

International audienceUnderstanding the geographic distribution of species is a key concern in conservation. By pairing species occurrences with environmental features, researchers can model the relationship between an environment and the species which may be found there. To advance the state-of-the-art in this area, a large-scale machine learning competition called GeoLifeCLEF 2020 was organized. It relied on a dataset of 1.9 million species observations paired with high-resolution remote sensing imagery, land cover data, and altitude, in addition to traditional low-resolution climate and soil variables. This paper presents an overview of the competition , synthesizes the approaches used by the participating groups, and analyzes the main results. In particular, we highlight the ability of remote sensing imagery and convolutional neural networks to improve predictive performance, complementary to traditional approaches