Validating Meteosat-derived surface solar irradiance in Mozambique

International audiencehe solar radiation reaching the ground level on horizontal surfaces is of interest to many domains. The database HelioClim-1 contains daily values of radiation for 21 years: 1985-2005. It has been derived from Meteosat images and covers Europe, Africa and Atlantic Ocean. It is compared to ground-based measurements in Mozambique collected from the World Radiation Data Center. The quality of HelioClim-1 is good: the root mean square difference is approximately 30 W/m², and the correlation coefficient is greater than 0.85. These results are similar to those obtained by previous studies for Europe. HelioClim-1 is freely available through the SoDa Service and offers a reliable and accurate knowledge of the solar radiation and its daily, seasonal and annual variations over recent years

Computing Query Answering With Non-Monotonic Rules: A Case Study of Archaeology Qualitative Spatial Reasoning

International audienceThis paper deals with querying ontology-based knowledge bases equipped with non-monotonic rules through a case study within the framework of Cultural Heritage. It focuses on 3D underwater surveys on the Xlendi wreck which is represented by an OWL2 knowledge base with a large dataset. The paper aims at improving the interactions between the archaeologists and the knowledge base providing new queries that involve non-monotonic rules in order to perform qualitative spatial reasoning. To this end, the knowledge base initially represented in OWL2-QL is translated into an equivalent Answer Set Programming (ASP) program and is enriched with a set of non-monotonic ASP rules suitable to express default and exceptions. An ASP query answering approach is proposed and implemented. Furthermore due to the increased expressiveness of non-monotonic rules it provides spatial reasoning and spatial relations between artifacts query answering which is not possible with query answering languages such as SPARQL and SQWRL

Efficient long-term open-access data archiving in mining industries

Efficient data collection, analysis and preservation are needed to accomplish adequate business decision making. Long-lasting and sustainable business operations, such as mining, add extra requirements to this process: data must be reliably preserved over periods that are longer than that of a typical software life-cycle. These concerns are of special importance for the combined on-line-on-mine-real-time expert system SOLSA (http://www.solsa-mining.eu/) that will produce data not only for immediate industrial utilization, but also for the possible scientific reuse. We thus applied the experience of scientific data publishing to provide efficient, reliable, long term archival data storage. Crystallography, a field covering one of the methods used in the SOLSA expert system, has long traditions of archiving and disseminating crystallographic data. To that end, the Crystallographic Interchange Framework (CIF, [1]) was developed and is maintained by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). This framework provides rich means for describing crystal structures and crystallographic experiments in an unambiguous, human- and machine- readable way, in a standard that is independent of the underlying data storage technology. The Crystallography Open Database (COD, [2]) has been successfully using the CIF framework to maintain its open-access crystallographic data collection for over a decade [3,4]. Since the CIF framework is extensible it is possible to use it for other branches of knowledge. The SOLSA system will generate data using different methods of material identification: XRF, XRD, Raman, IR and DRIFT spectroscopy. For XRD, the CIF is usable out-of-the-box, since we can rely on extensive data definition dictionaries (ontologies) developed by the IUCr and the crystallographic community. For spectroscopic techniques such dictionaries, to our best knowledge, do not exist; thus, the SOLSA team is developing CIF dictionaries for spectroscopic techniques to be used in the SOLSA expert system. All dictionaries will be published under liberal license and communities are encourage to join the development, reuse and extend the dictionaries where necessary. These dictionaries will enable access to open data generated by SOLSA by all interested parties. The use of the common CIF framework will ensure smooth data exchange among SOLSA partners and seamless data publication from the SOLSA project

Biobanking in forestry practices: towards an agency policy?

The conservation-management of living beings is not only an issue in medicine. Based on a collaboration between a sociologist and a geneticist, this paper aims to document the banking practices in the sector of forest genetic resources, which raises specific questions. Drawing on a fieldwork investigation we further explore the various possibilities that biobanking in forestry conceal in terms of diversity of banked entities and banking practices. We argue that there is a consistent heterogeneity of entities and practices, which reflects the distribution of the agency conferred to the involved entities. This heterogeneity is related to the awareness of uncertainties, which change the relative importance of the different modes of agency in biobanking. Beyond seldom recognition of the diversity of modes of agency, we conclude by claiming for the need of a consistent agency policy

Les équipes cyclistes "professionnelles" face aux nouvelles injonctions au professionnalisme

International audienc

Les équipes cyclistes « professionnelles » face aux nouvelles injonctions au professionnalisme

La médiatisation des affaires de dopage a rendu accessibles au public les coulisses de la production de la performance des cyclistes. Confrontées à des contraintes de visibilité de leurs pratiques, les équipes doivent désormais produire des performances crédibles tout en affirmant une identité professionnelle acceptable. Les équipes du cyclisme professionnel sont inégalement armées pour faire face à cette nouvelle donne. Celles qui disposent de ressources technoscientifiques importantes, qui sont adossées à des sponsors aux visées mondiales et sont moins liées à leurs ancrages territoriaux, s’y adaptent plus facilement. Certaines de ces équipes mondialisées font évoluer les normes de production de la performance ; elles contribuent ainsi à réduire l’autonomie du travail des autres équipes et modifient ce que signifie être une équipe professionnelle. Dans cet article, on identifie d’abord les changements structurels, en particulier en termes de visibilité et d’antidopage, qui bouleversent le travail de production de la performance. On s’efforce ensuite de comprendre comment les équipes s’adaptent à ces changements en adoptant de nouvelles modalités de production. Enfin, on analyse les effets de ces adaptations sur la charge de travail des coureurs et les performances produites.Media coverage of doping scandals has taken the general public behind the scenes of performance production in cycling. Now that their practices have been made visible, teams are obliged to produce credible performances whilst at the same time asserting an acceptable professional identity. Professional cycling teams are unequally placed to deal with this new situation. Those with significant techno-scientific resources, backed by sponsors with global objectives and who are less attached to their local roots, find it easier to adapt. Some of these globalised teams evolve the standards of performance production; they thus contribute towards reducing the work autonomy of the other teams and modify what it means to be a professional group. In this article we first identify the structural changes — particularly in terms of transparency and doping prevention — that have turned performance production upside down. We then strive to understand how teams are adapting to these changes by adopting new production methods. Finally, we analyse the effects of these adaptations on the riders’ workloads and on the performances produced.

Relations between pedunculate oak growth and climate on two types of temporarily waterlogged soils (Acidic redoxisol and Pelosol) in the Lorraine Region

The behaviour of 30-year-old pedunculate oak trees growing in Lorraine on two different waterlogged soils (acidic redoxisol and pelosol) was studied. To reduce the constraints arising from excess water during autumn and winter, different drainage techniques were tested (ridge drainage, trenches 10 or 20 m apart). The study focussed on the effects of soil and drainage on the radial growth and on sensitivity to annual weather conditions. On redoxisol, growth was greater by about 10-15 % related to a more moderate groundwater regime (in duration and in intensity) and to deeper root development (altered spatial distribution). Even if extreme frosts in winter caused significant growth reductions in both ecological circumstances, sensitivity to climate appeared higher and after-effects more pronounced on redoxisol (period of study: 1975- 2005). In this situation, a humid and fresh autumn (October and November) the previous year followed by a rather hot and dry spring (May) tends to give rise to a wide ring. In the case of the pelosol, sensitivity to weather conditions and climatic after-effects are less noticeable. A wide ring is produced when the end of the summer (September) of the previous year is cool, followed by a rather cool and wet onset of the current summer (June). Drainage was not found to have any influence in the response to annual weather conditions in either circumstance. Finally, the findings are discussed in the light of our partial knowledge of the functioning of these soils and of the ecophysiological characteristics of the species.Le comportement du Chêne pédonculé sur deux types de sol à nappe temporaire (rédoxisol acide et pélosol différencié) ayant fait l’objet de différents travaux d’assainissement (billons, fossés écartés de 10 ou 20 m) a été analysé en Lorraine. L’étude a porté sur la comparaison des accroissements de chênes âgés d’une trentaine d’années et sur l’analyse de leur sensibilité aux conditions climatiques. La croissance a été supérieure de 10 à 15 % sur rédoxisol en relation avec un régime de nappe moins contraignant (en durée et en intensité) et un enracinement plus important (modification de la répartition spatiale). Même si les fortes crises de croissance ont été identiques dans les deux situations (et essentiellement en relation avec des froids extrêmes en février), les chênes poussant sur rédoxisol ont été plus sensibles aux aléas climatiques avec des arrière-effets plus marqués (période analysée 1975-2005). Dans cette situation, la mise en place du cerne annuel dépend des conditions automnales de l’année précédente puis de celles du début de printemps. Ainsi, un automne pluvieux (octobre) et frais (température minimale de novembre) suivi par un printemps chaud (température minimale de mai) et plutôt sec correspond à la mise en place d’un cerne large. Sur pélosol, les arrière-effets du climat ont été moins marqués. Sur cette station, un cerne large correspond à un début d’été plutôt humide et frais (juin) suivi par une fin d’été fraîche (température maximale de septembre de l’année n-1). Les différentes modalités d’assainissement n’ont pas modifié la sensibilité au climat. Les différences de réponse ont été analysées en regard du fonctionnement de chaque sol et les résultats discutés du point de vue de la physiologie de cette essence

Influence of some characteristics of the students on their motor learning time

Carreiro da Costa et coll. (1997) résument les critères d'efficacité de l'enseignement de la manière suivante: lorsqu'on poursuit des objectifs d'apprentissage, il convient que l'élève soit physiquement engagé, qu'il répète des exercices critères ou directement en relation avec les tâches à apprendre, que son engagement soit couronné de succès, qu'il reçoive des réactions à sa prestation mais également qu'il veuille progresser. Le professeur favorisera l'apprentissage en intervenant sur le nombre de répétitions des tâches, l'organisation des exercices, la variété des activités et l'adaptation de la difficulté au niveau des élèves. ..