The Crisis of a Paradigm. A methodological interpretation of Tohoku and Fukushima catastrophe

Preprint, version 2. Manuscrit soumis à Earth Science Reviews, version révisée. Révision envoyée le 8 Janvier 2016.The 2011 Japanese disaster often presented as a 'new Chernobyl' accumulated the effects of earthquake, tsunami and of the subsequent nuclear accident at Fukushima. In the light of this disaster, we review methodological reasons both from geophysical and philosophical perspectives that lead the scientific and technological communities to flawed conclusions, prime cause of the disaster. The origin of the scientific mistake lies in several factors that challenge a dominant paradigm of seismology: the shallower part of the subduction was considered as weak, unable to produce large earthquakes; a complete breakage of the fault up to the sea-floor was excluded. Actually, it appears that such complete rupture of the subduction interface did characterize megathrust ruptures, but also that hazard evaluations and technical implementation were in line with the flawed con-sensual paradigm. We give a philosophical interpretation to this mistake by weighing the opposition between a prescriptive account and a descriptive account of the dynamics of research. We finally emphasize that imagination, boldness , and openness (especially to alternatives to consensual paradigms) appear as core values for research. Those values may function as both epistemic and ethical standards and are so essential as rigor and precision. Ability to doubt and to consider all uncertainties indeed appears essential when dealing with rare extreme natural hazards that may potentially be catastrophic

Communicating Seismic Risk: the Geoethical Challenges of a People-Centred, Participatory Approach

International audienceThe Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) encourages scientists to participate in bottom-up risk communication approaches that directly engage hazard-prone populations. Effective communication of seismic risks not only has economic impacts in terms of hazard mitigation but also provides social value in potentially empowering the marginalized populations that disproportionately live in high-risk areas. This emphasis on community-focused disaster preparedness, however, presents a novel set of communication challenges for geoscientists. Few scientists have training in or experience of translating their science for lay publics, and conveying complex risk information is especially difficult in circumstances where scientific issues are socially contested and politically charged. Recognising that disaster threats can create troublesome information battlegrounds, this paper explores the ethical and practical aspects of seismic risk communication, motivated by an early-career earth scientists' workshop in Istanbul that voiced the concerns of young geoscientists confronted firsthand by at-risk publics. Those concerns form the basis of a wider review of the risk communication issues that are likely to be encountered if community-centred participatory DRR approaches are to be adopted by earthquake science researchers

Quand la Vache qui rit devançait Félix le chat et Mickey la souris

En 1916, grâce à son inventeur Émile Cohl, le dessin animé fait une rencontre historique avec la bande dessinée française, en la personne de Benjamin Rabier. Un très populaire créateur d’une fresque animale dont les personnages se comportent comme des humains. Ignorant tout de la technique cinématographique, Rabier fait appel à Cohl dont il apprécie la récente animation de la bande dessinée des Pieds Nickelés. René Navarre, ex-interprète des Fantômas de Feuillade, assure la production des « Dessins animés de Benjamin Rabier ». D’octobre 1916 à mars 1917, Cohl et Rabier réalisent trois bandes avec un chien (la Journée de Flambeau, Flambeau au pays des surprises, les Fiançailles de Flambeau), une quatrième avec une cane (les Aventures de Clémentine). La rupture de Cohl avec Navarre entraîne une interruption de la série. Puis Rabier la poursuivra seul et de façon plus espacée jusqu’en 1922. La correspondance entre Rabier et Cohl permet de suivre au jour le jour la gestation de la plus ambitieuse tentative du dessin animé français, quatre ans avant Félix le chat et douze ans avant Mickey la souris.In 1916, thanks to its inventor Émile Cohl, the animated film makes an historic encounter with the French comic strip, in the person of Benjamin Rabier, the very popular creator of series in which animals behave like humans. Quite ignorant of film technique, Rabier contacted Cohl, whose recent animation of the comic strip les Pieds Nickelés he had appreciated. René Navarre, former an actor in Feuillade’s Fantômas, was the producer of the « Cartoons of Benjamin Rabier ». From October 1916 to March 1917, Cohl and Rabier make three films featuring a dog (la Journée de Flambeau, Flambeau au pays des surprises, les Fiançailles de Flambeau), and a fourth with a duck (les Aventures de Clémentine). Cohl’s break from Navarre causes the interruption of the series, which Rabier then continues alone and in a more occasional fashion until 1922. The correspondence between Rabier and Cohl allows us to follow day by day the genesis of the most ambitious French cartoon series, four years before Felix the Cat and twelve years before Mickey Mouse

La cartographie en zones forestières méditerranéennes de la région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

International audienc

Size Effect of Ferroelectric Thin Films - Limit of Size

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in New Caledonia

ABSTRACTCarbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-Ab) ranked third, with a frequency of 24.8%, among 202 strains of multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from clinical samples in the main hospital of New Caledonia in 2004. All CR-Ab isolates were analysed by isoelectric focusing, conjugation, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and PCR for the presence of carbapenemase genes. Fifty CR-Ab isolates produced carbapenemase OXA-23. The isolates belonged to a single clone presenting several subtypes, suggesting an endemic situation. This study further illustrates the widespread prevalence of carbapenemase OXA-23-producing CR-Ab isolates in the South Pacific

Corinth terraces re-visited: Improved paleoshoreline determination using Pleiades-DEMs

International audienceThe newest generation of satellites have greatly improved the capabilities of optical imagery over the last decade. Ground resolution has increased by one order of magnitude (to sub-metric pixel images), and improved sensors allow images to be located with an absolute accuracy of within a few meters. Better-resolved images facilitate refined tectonic studies of faults, basins, terraces, and other geomorphic features as it provides the opportunity to extract detailed topographic information. We have developed high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) in eight locations in Greece from tri-stereo satellite images acquired by the new Pleiades platform of CNES. With 0.5m resolution, these DEMs are state-of-the-art in comparison to previous DEMs made from satellite imagery. In this study we explore the potential of one of these DEMs, in the eastern Gulf of Corinth, for the analysis of a flight of marine terraces

Reconstituer un sol agronomique à partir de sous-produits minéraux et organiques.

La reconstitution d'un sol agronomique représente une excellente solution de traitement et de valorisation de différents matériaux organiques et minéraux ; elle permet un enherbement, des plantations de taillis et d'arbres sur des sites dégradés tels que la garrigue, les maquis, les friches industrielles..

Le comportement des espèces forestières dans les sols amendés avec de forts tonnages de boues d'épuration.

Les villes et les communes possédant des stations d'épuration des eux usées se trouvent souvent confrontées au devenir des boues, sous-produits du traitement des effluents

Haemophilus aphrophilus Endocarditis after Tongue Piercing

Piercing invades subcutaneous areas and has a high potential for infectious complications. The number of case reports of endocarditis associated with piercing is increasing. We studied a 25-year-old man with a pierced tongue, who arrived at Memorial Health University Medical Center with fever, chills, rigors, and shortness of breath of 6 days duration and had an aortic valvuloplasty for correction of congenital aortic stenosis