Формирование этапов выбора приоритетных стратегий развития порта

У статті розглянуті етапи процесу вибору пріоритетних стратегій розвитку порту. В умовах ринкової економіки обґрунтовано таку послідовність етапів: встановлення базового набору альтернативних стратегій, формування критеріїв оцінки альтернативних стратегій, обґрунтування шкали вимірювання переваг стратегій, вибір методу оцінки альтернативних стратегій, вибір пріоритетних стратегій. Визначено зміст кожного з етапів вибору пріоритетних стратегій розвитку порту.The stages of process of choice of priorities strategies of development of port are considered in the article. In the conditions of market economy the following sequence of stages is grounded: establishments of base set of alternative strategies, establishments of criteria of estimation of alternative strategies choice of scale of measuring of preference of strategies, choice of method of estimation of alternative strategies, choice of priorities strategies maintenance of each of stages of choice of priorities strategies of development of port is Certain

Towards integrated management of the pests and pathogens of cassava in Africa

Studies on pathogenic agents of cultivated plants are generally organised on a binomial basis with examination of a host plant and specific parasites or pests. As cassava in Africa has few important pests and they display a limited range of biological features and relations with the host, it was feasible for ORSTOM (L'Institut français de recherche scientifique pour le développement en coopératon) researchers to study each of them over a period of 25 years in Côte d'lvoire, Congo and Togo and such work is currently in progress in Benin and France. The diseases and pests concerned are African cassava mosaic disease and its whitefly vector (Bemisia tahaci), cassava bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv manihotis, cassava mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti), and cassava green mite (Mononychelus progresivus). Research initially concerned only specific cassava-pathogen or cassava-pest combinations, without attention being paid to the system as a whole, despite obvious epidemic convergences resulting from a common environment, analogies between effects on the host plant and probable interactions between the various pests of the same crop. A biocenotic approach was developed to integrate the various research activities. It is aimed at analysis of the functioning of plant-pathogen and plant-pest systems and enables the design and evaluation of options for integrated management. 'Transversal' comparisons of cassava parasite models cover pathogenic agents (pests and diseases) and their variability, their biological cycles and the climatic factors affecting them, relations with the host (genetic variability, physiology and crop management), the effect of entomophagous species and entomopathogens on phytophagous pests and the integration potential of modelling. The ORSTOM studies show the complexity of the ecology of pathogenic agents and pests in the cassava biocenosis. The extent of the cassava cropping area and the variety of production situations, the variability of pests (phytophagous and entomophagous organisms) and diseases and the many interactions between the factors regulating epidemic mechanisms leads to a complex mosaic whose structure is described. The various sequences of analysis of a system of parasite constraints are shown in matrix form (variability of pathogenic agents, vectors and phytophagous organisms, host-parasite relation modes, epidemiology and population dynamics, modelling) for the various organisms investigated to date. The analysis reveals the fundamental achievements and gaps in knowledge and also the most appropriate areas for combining approaches. The body of knowledge assembled at different sites, during different periods and concerning a variety of organisms and the analysis of this knowledge show that it is not necessary at this stage to collect new information but to make a synthesis (modelling) that will open up original lines of research with combinations of approaches and solutions

Diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin in critically ill immunocompromised patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recognizing infection is crucial in immunocompromised patients with organ dysfunction. Our objective was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin (PCT) in critically ill immunocompromised patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This prospective, observational study included patients with suspected sepsis. Patients were classified into one of three diagnostic groups: no infection, bacterial sepsis, and nonbacterial sepsis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We included 119 patients with a median age of 54 years (interquartile range [IQR], 42-68 years). The general severity (SAPSII) and organ dysfunction (LOD) scores on day 1 were 45 (35-62.7) and 4 (2-6), respectively, and overall hospital mortality was 32.8%. Causes of immunodepression were hematological disorders (64 patients, 53.8%), HIV infection (31 patients, 26%), and solid cancers (26 patients, 21.8%). Bacterial sepsis was diagnosed in 58 patients and nonbacterial infections in nine patients (7.6%); 52 patients (43.7%) had no infection. PCT concentrations on the first ICU day were higher in the group with bacterial sepsis (4.42 [1.60-22.14] vs. 0.26 [0.09-1.26] ng/ml in patients without bacterial infection, <it>P </it>< 0.0001). PCT concentrations on day 1 that were > 0.5 ng/ml had 100% sensitivity but only 63% specificity for diagnosing bacterial sepsis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.851 (0.78-0.92). In multivariate analyses, PCT concentrations > 0.5 ng/ml on day 1 independently predicted bacterial sepsis (odds ratio, 8.6; 95% confidence interval, 2.53-29.3; <it>P </it>= 0.0006). PCT concentrations were not significantly correlated with hospital mortality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite limited specificity in critically ill immunocompromised patients, PCT concentrations may help to rule out bacterial infection.</p

40Ar/39Ar ages of the sill complex of the Karoo large igneous province: implications for the Pliensbachian-Toarcian climate change.

Reliable geochronological results gathered so far (n = 76) have considerably constrained the timing of the emplacement of the Karoo large igneous province (LIP). Yet strikingly missing from this dating effortis the huge southern sill complex cropping out in the >0.6 x 10(6) km2 Main Karoo sedimentary basin. We present 16 new 40Ar/39Ar analyses carried out on fresh plagioclase and biotite separates from 15 sill samples collected along a N-S trend in the eastern part of the basin. The results show a large range of plateau and miniplateau ages (176.2 +- 1.3 to 183.8 +- 2.4 Ma), with most dates suggesting a -3 Ma (181-184 Ma) duration for the main sill events. The available age database allows correlation of the Karoo LIP emplacement with the Pliensbachian-Toarcian second-order biotic extinction, the global warming, and the Toarcian anoxic event (provided that adequate calibration between the 40K and 238U decay constant ismade). The mass extinction and the isotopic excursions recorded at the base of the Toarcian appear to be synchronous with both the increase of magma emission of the Karoo LIP and the emplacement of the sills.The CO2 and SO2 derived from both volcanic emissions as well as carbon-rich sedimentary layers intrudedby sills might be the main culprits of the Pliensbachian-Toarcian climate perturbations. We propose that the relatively low eruption rate of the Karoo LIP is one of the main reasons explaining why its impact on thebiosphere is relatively low contrary to, e.g., the CAMP (Triassic-Jurassic) and Siberia (Permo-Triassic) LIPs

Admission of advanced lung cancer patients to intensive care unit: A retrospective study of 76 patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Criteria for admitting patients with incurable diseases to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) remain unclear and have ethical implications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrospectively evaluated MICU outcomes and identified risk factors for MICU mortality in consecutive patients with advanced lung cancer admitted to two university-hospital MICUs in France between 1996 and 2006.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 76 included patients, 49 had non-small cell lung cancer (stage IIIB n = 20; stage IV n = 29). In 60 patients, MICU admission was directly related to the lung cancer (complication of cancer management, n = 30; cancer progression, n = 14; and lung-cancer-induced diseases, n = 17). Mechanical ventilation was required during the MICU stay in 57 patients. Thirty-six (47.4%) patients died in the MICU. Three factors were independently associated with MICU mortality: use of vasoactive agents (odds ratio [OR] 6.81 95% confidence interval [95%CI] [1.77-26.26], p = 0.005), mechanical ventilation (OR 6.61 95%CI [1.44-30.5], p = 0.015) and thrombocytopenia (OR 5.13; 95%CI [1.17-22.5], p = 0.030). In contrast, mortality was lower in patients admitted for a complication of cancer management (OR 0.206; 95%CI [0.058-0.738], p = 0.015). Of the 27 patients who returned home, four received specific lung cancer treatment after the MICU stay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Patients with acute complications of treatment for advanced lung cancer may benefit from MCIU admission. Further studies are necessary to assess outcomes such as quality of life after MICU discharge.</p

Structural Insights into Viral Determinants of Nematode Mediated Grapevine fanleaf virus Transmission

Many animal and plant viruses rely on vectors for their transmission from host to host. Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV), a picorna-like virus from plants, is transmitted specifically by the ectoparasitic nematode Xiphinema index. The icosahedral capsid of GFLV, which consists of 60 identical coat protein subunits (CP), carries the determinants of this specificity. Here, we provide novel insight into GFLV transmission by nematodes through a comparative structural and functional analysis of two GFLV variants. We isolated a mutant GFLV strain (GFLV-TD) poorly transmissible by nematodes, and showed that the transmission defect is due to a glycine to aspartate mutation at position 297 (Gly297Asp) in the CP. We next determined the crystal structures of the wild-type GFLV strain F13 at 3.0 Å and of GFLV-TD at 2.7 Å resolution. The Gly297Asp mutation mapped to an exposed loop at the outer surface of the capsid and did not affect the conformation of the assembled capsid, nor of individual CP molecules. The loop is part of a positively charged pocket that includes a previously identified determinant of transmission. We propose that this pocket is a ligand-binding site with essential function in GFLV transmission by X. index. Our data suggest that perturbation of the electrostatic landscape of this pocket affects the interaction of the virion with specific receptors of the nematode's feeding apparatus, and thereby severely diminishes its transmission efficiency. These data provide a first structural insight into the interactions between a plant virus and a nematode vector

The 2010 very high energy gamma-ray flare & 10 years of multi-wavelength observations of M 87

Abridged: The giant radio galaxy M 87 with its proximity, famous jet, and very massive black hole provides a unique opportunity to investigate the origin of very high energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission generated in relativistic outflows and the surroundings of super-massive black holes. M 87 has been established as a VHE gamma-ray emitter since 2006. The VHE gamma-ray emission displays strong variability on timescales as short as a day. In this paper, results from a joint VHE monitoring campaign on M 87 by the MAGIC and VERITAS instruments in 2010 are reported. During the campaign, a flare at VHE was detected triggering further observations at VHE (H.E.S.S.), X-rays (Chandra), and radio (43 GHz VLBA). The excellent sampling of the VHE gamma-ray light curve enables one to derive a precise temporal characterization of the flare: the single, isolated flare is well described by a two-sided exponential function with significantly different flux rise and decay times. While the overall variability pattern of the 2010 flare appears somewhat different from that of previous VHE flares in 2005 and 2008, they share very similar timescales (~day), peak fluxes (Phi(>0.35 TeV) ~= (1-3) x 10^-11 ph cm^-2 s^-1), and VHE spectra. 43 GHz VLBA radio observations of the inner jet regions indicate no enhanced flux in 2010 in contrast to observations in 2008, where an increase of the radio flux of the innermost core regions coincided with a VHE flare. On the other hand, Chandra X-ray observations taken ~3 days after the peak of the VHE gamma-ray emission reveal an enhanced flux from the core. The long-term (2001-2010) multi-wavelength light curve of M 87, spanning from radio to VHE and including data from HST, LT, VLA and EVN, is used to further investigate the origin of the VHE gamma-ray emission. No unique, common MWL signature of the three VHE flares has been identified.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; Corresponding authors: M. Raue, L. Stawarz, D. Mazin, P. Colin, C. M. Hui, M. Beilicke; Fig. 1 lightcurve data available online: http://www.desy.de/~mraue/m87

CONSTRUCTION - Marché à forfait - Qualification

Le Gall G. CONSTRUCTION - Marché à forfait - Qualification . In: Études et dossiers (Institut d'études judiciaires de Rennes), Tome 4, 1975-1. pp. 73-79

Les circonscriptions marginales aux élections législatives de 1967 et 1968

The marginal constituencies in the 1967 and 1968 parliamentary elections, by Gérard Le Gall and Marc Riglet In the second round of the 1967 and 1968 parliamentary elections, there were a hundred constituencies in which a change in voting of 3% would have meant losing a previously held seat or winning one back. By enumerating these marginal constituencies, it is possible to appreciate the effect that such a change would have had on parliamentary representation. But it is not enough to consider these two precise instances of marginality. A systematic comparison of the phenomenon in 1967 and in 1968 indicates the degrees of mobility or permanence of established situations (evolution of constituencies) and makes it possible to propose hypotheses accounting for the nature of the retreat of the left in the second round in 1968. [Revue française de science politique XXIII (1), février 1973, pp. 86-109.]Les circonscriptions marginales aux élections législatives de 1967 et 1968, par Gérard Le Gall et Marc Riglet Au second tour des élections législatives de 1967 et de 1968, dans une centaine de circonscriptions, un glissement de 3 % des suffrages ferait d'un siège gagné un siège perdu et réciproquement. Le dénombrement de ces circonscriptions marginales permet d'apprécier les effets qu'un tel glissement aurait sur la représentation parlementaire. Mais il convient de ne pas se limiter à ces deux images ponctuelles du phénomène de marginalité. Une comparaison systématique du phénomène en 1967 et en 1968 permet d'apprécier les degrés de mobilité ou de permanence des situations acquises (itinéraires de circonscriptions) et de suggérer des hypothèses propres à rendre compte de la nature du mouvement de recul effectué par la gauche au deuxième tour de 1968. [Revue française de science politique XXIII (1), février 1973, pp. 86-109.]Le Gall Gérard. Les circonscriptions marginales aux élections législatives de 1967 et 1968. In: Revue française de science politique, 23ᵉ année, n°1, 1973. pp. 86-109