Uncertainty in the regulation systems of temporary organizations: A challenge for improving the organizational reliability

International audienceMainstream economic and sociological theories tend to analyse organizations as permanent entities. However, industry provides many examples of organizations that are not permanent: construction projects, maintenance tasks, crisis management units, the decommissioning of nuclear plants, etc. In addition, classical theories that argue organizations should be long-lasting are inherited from the industrial revolution. Today, many organizations are becoming less rigid and are moving towards more flexible structures oriented to the short-term. Temporary organizations differ from permanent organizations in that they are designed to have a short lifespan. They are generally created with a specific goal in mind and dissolved once this goal is reached. Different market players interact in these structures: they include distinct legal entities, freelancers or consultants who coordinate their work on a single site or from different geographic areas. Typically the temporary organization is linked to a permanent organization. In other cases, it is fully independent and those involved do not expect to work together once their objectives have been achieved. The unsustainable dimension of these organizations raises many issues in terms of risk and uncertainty. This paper provides a better understanding of temporary organizations, their coordination, their regulatory systems and their links with the permanent parent organization (if there is one). The research described in this paper is based on a literature review. It provides a typology of temporary organizations and analyses their coordination, regulatory systems and reliability issue

Etude de schémas de Runge-Kutta semi-implicites pour la simulation des écoulements de paroi

Pour la simulation de problèmes multi échelles comme les écoulements turbulents, il est possible de combiner deux algorithmes de Runge-Kutta explicites et implicites afin de traiter implicitement l'intégration temporelle seulement dans la direction normale à la paroi, et ainsi de relaxer la contrainte sur le pas de temps. On préserve aussi le caractère peu diffusif et peu dispersif du schéma, et on limite par ailleurs la taille du système à inverser. On présentera l'algorithme et les premiers résultats obtenus en aéroacoustique

Quantitative trait dissection analysis in Eucalytus using RAPD markers: 2. Linkage disequilibrium in a factorial design between E. urophylle and E. Grandis.

International audience.4 13 x 13 factorial design between E. rlr.opllj,llu and E. grmclis, comprising 87 full-sib families, was used to assess the relationships between RAPD marker frequency classes obtained from parental genotypes and the interspecific additive mean (IAM) of the hybrid progeny. For any markcr showing a significant association, the cumulative number of the " present band " allele in the parents was significantly correlated either positively or negatively, with the IAM of the traits studied: i.e. volume, stem taper and wood quality. We discuss the potential origin of such correlations in terms of linkage disequilibrium between QTL allele and marker allele. We also examine the possible use of such information, firstly in order to select the parents for further generations of breeding, and secondly in ordcr to choose thc hybrid families in which QTAs of specific value could be detected and uscd to identify the best trees to be vegetatively propagated for the production of clonal variety

Explaining government revenue windfalls and shortfalls: an analysis for selected EU countries

In recent years, government revenues in many EU countries experienced significant and erratic changes, which, a priori, could not be fully explained by macroeconomic developments or by discretionary fiscal policy measures. We investigate this issue by estimating “unexplained” changes in tax and social contribution revenues, based on proxies for tax revenue bases and elasticities commonly used for forecasting or cyclically adjusting government revenues and taking into account estimates of the impact of legislation changes. This is done for a selection of EU countries, including the “big five” euro area countries (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands) together with Ireland, Latvia and Portugal. We also undertake the same exercise using alternative tax base proxies, either taken from forecasting models or on the basis of our knowledge of the tax system in each country. The results show that, in the aggregate, revenue windfalls and shortfalls have exhibited a broadly cyclical pattern, driven mainly by developments in profit-related taxes and, to a somewhat lesser extent, VAT. Other, more structural factors also play a role, such as declining consumption of fuel and tobacco, as well as factors specific to individual countries, such as developments in property markets. The estimated revenue windfalls and shortfalls can explain a substantial proportion of changes in the euro area cyclically adjusted budget balance over the period 1999-2007. Since these unexplained revenue changes have exhibited a largely cyclical character and might therefore be viewed as partly temporary, this highlights the importance of a careful interpretation of fiscal indicators adjusted for the economic cycle. Except in a small number of cases, the results do not change significantly when alternative tax base proxies are used, suggesting that the potential for improving existing indicators by a better matching of taxes to their bases is likely to be limited. JEL Classification: H20, H68, E62cyclical adjustment, Fiscal forecasting, tax revenues

Swine Influenza Virus Antibodies in Humans, Western Europe, 2009

Serologic studies for swine influenza viruses (SIVs) in humans with occupational exposure to swine have been reported from the Americas but not from Europe. We compared levels of neutralizing antibodies against 3 influenza viruses—pandemic (H1N1) 2009, an avian-like enzootic subtype H1N1 SIV, and a 2007–08 seasonal subtype H1N1—in 211 persons with swine contact and 224 matched controls in Luxembourg. Persons whose profession involved contact with swine had more neutralizing antibodies against SIV and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus than did the controls. Controls also had antibodies against these viruses although exposure to them was unlikely. Antibodies against SIV and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus correlated with each other but not with seasonal subtype H1N1 virus. Sequential exposure to variants of seasonal influenza (H1N1) viruses may have increased chances for serologic cross-reactivity with antigenically distinct viruses. Further studies are needed to determine the extent to which serologic responses correlate with infection

Impurity-enhanced solid-state amorphization : the Ni-Si thin film reaction altered by nitrogen

Solid-state amorphization, the growth of an amorphous phase during annealing, has been studied in a wide variety of thin film structures. Whereas research on the remarkable growth of such a metastable phase has mostly focused on strictly binary systems, far less is known about the influence of impurities on such reactions. In this paper, the influence of nitrogen, introduced via ion implantation, is studied on the solid-state amorphization reaction of thin (35 nm) Ni films with Si, using in situ x-ray diffraction (XRD), ex situ Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, XTEM, and synchrotron XRD. It is shown that due to small amounts of nitrogen (<2 at.%), an amorphous Ni-Si phase grows almost an order of magnitude thicker during annealing than for unimplanted samples. Nitrogen hinders the nucleation of the first crystalline phases, leading to a new reaction path: the formation of the metal-rich crystalline silicides is suppressed in favour of an amorphous Ni-Si alloy; during a brief temperature window between 330 and 350 degrees C, the entire film is converted to an amorphous phase. The first crystalline structure to grow is the orthorhombic NiSi phase. We demonstrate that this impurity-enchanced solid-state amorphization reaction occurs only under specific implantation conditions. In particular, the initial distribution of nitrogen upon implantation is crucial: sufficient nitrogen impurities must be present at the interface throughout the reaction. Introducing implantation damage without nitrogen impurities (e.g. by implanting a noble gas) does not cause the enhanced solid-state amorphization reaction. Moreover, we show that the stabilizing effect of nitrogen on amorphous Ni-Si films (with a composition ranging from 40% to 50% Si) is not restricted to thin film reactions, but is a general feature of the Ni-Si system

Intrinsic defects and mid-gap states in quasi-one-dimensional Indium Telluride

Recently, intriguing physical properties have been unraveled in anisotropic semiconductors, in which the in-plane electronic band structure anisotropy often originates from the low crystallographic symmetry. The atomic chain is the ultimate limit in material downscaling for electronics, a frontier for establishing an entirely new field of one-dimensional quantum materials. Electronic and structural properties of chain-like InTe are essential for better understanding of device applications such as thermoelectrics. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to directly image the in-plane structural anisotropy in tetragonal Indium Telluride (InTe). As results, we report the direct observation of one-dimensional In1+ chains in InTe. We demonstrate that InTe exhibits a band gap of about 0.40 +-0.02 eV located at the M point of the Brillouin zone. Additionally, line defects are observed in our sample, were attributed to In1+ chain vacancy along the c-axis, a general feature in many other TlSe-like compounds. Our STS and DFT results prove that the presence of In1+ induces localized gap state, located near the valence band maximum (VBM). This acceptor state is responsible for the high intrinsic p-type doping of InTe that we also confirm using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.Comment: n

Integration of CT urography improves diagnostic confidence of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in prostate cancer patients

Background: To prove the feasibility of integrating CT urography (CTU) into 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and to analyze the impact of CTU on assigning focal tracer accumulation in the ureteric space to either ureteric excretion or metastatic disease concerning topographic attribution and diagnostic confidence. Methods: Ten prostate cancer patients who underwent 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT including CTU because of biochemical relapse or known metastatic disease were retrospectively analyzed. CTU consisted of an excretory phase 10 min after injection of 80 mL iodinated contrast material. Ureter opacification at CTU was evaluated using the following score: 0, 0% opacification; 1, &lt; 50%; 2, 50–99%; 3, 100%. Topographic attribution and confidence of topographic attribution of focal tracer accumulation in the ureteric space were separately assessed for 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT without and with CTU. Diagnostic confidence was evaluated using the following score: 0, &lt; 25% confidence; 1, 26–50%; 2, 51–75%; 3, 76–100%. Results: At CTU, mean ureter opacification score was 2.6 ± 0.7. At 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT without CTU, mean confidence of topographic attribution of focal tracer accumulation was 2.5 ± 0.7 in total and 2.6 ± 0.7 for metastatic disease. At 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT with CTU, mean confidence of topographic attribution of focal areas of tracer accumulation was significantly higher with 2.9 ± 0.2 in total and 2.7 ± 0.9 for metastatic disease (p &lt; 0.001). In 4 of 34 findings (12%) attribution to either ureteric excretion or metastatic disease was discrepant between 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT without and with CTU (n.s). Conclusions: Integration of CTU into 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT is feasible and increases diagnostic confidence of assigning focal areas of tracer accumulation in the ureteric space to either metastatic disease or ureteric excretion

The need for standardisation in life science research - an approach to excellence and trust

Today, academic researchers benefit from the changes driven by digital technologies and the enormous growth of knowledge and data, on globalisation, enlargement of the scientific community, and the linkage between different scientific communities and the society. To fully benefit from this development, however, information needs to be shared openly and transparently. Digitalisation plays a major role here because it permeates all areas of business, science and society and is one of the key drivers for innovation and international cooperation. To address the resulting opportunities, the EU promotes the development and use of collaborative ways to produce and share knowledge and data as early as possible in the research process, but also to appropriately secure results with the European strategy for Open Science (OS). It is now widely recognised that making research results more accessible to all societal actors contributes to more effective and efficient science; it also serves as a boost for innovation in the public and private sectors. However for research data to be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable the use of standards is essential. At the metadata level, considerable efforts in standardisation have already been made (e.g. Data Management Plan and FAIR Principle etc.), whereas in context with the raw data these fundamental efforts are still fragmented and in some cases completely missing. The CHARME consortium, funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Agency, has identified needs and gaps in the field of standardisation in the life sciences and also discussed potential hurdles for implementation of standards in current practice. Here, the authors suggest four measures in response to current challenges to ensure a high quality of life science research data and their re-usability for research and innovation