Recent progress in inverse methods in France

Given the current level of jet engine performance, improvement of the various turbomachinery components requires the use of advanced methods in aerodynamics, heat transfer, and aeromechanics. In particular, successful blade design can only be achieved via numerical design methods which make it possible to reach optimized solutions in a much shorter time than ever before. Two design methods which are currently being used throughout the French turbomachinery industry to obtain optimized blade geometries are presented. Examples are presented for compressor and turbine applications. The status of these methods as far as improvement and extension to new fields of applications is also reported

A Social-Ecological Examination of Moose in Maine: Habitat, Management, and Changing Seasonality

Maine is a New England state with rich ecosystems and diverse opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. Maine is well known as a popular nature-based tourist destination, and is often associated with its notable moose population. Social-ecological systems in Maine are highly intertwined, and as such, are especially susceptible to impacts resulting from climate change. Moose health in the state is already being negatively impacted by climate change with high infestation rates of winter tick resulting in declining moose health and high moose calf mortality. Given that late winter is a time of high stress and increased mortality of moose due to low resource availability, high energy use, and higher winter tick infestation; understanding winter habitat selection of moose in the context of changing winter weather conditions will be essential in determining how climate change will impact moose landscape use in Maine. Wildlife management is a key mechanism in moderating the relationship between people and wildlife, addressing wildlife diseases and parasites, and maintaining wildlife habitat. Moose management in Maine is essential for maintaining a healthy moose population, providing moose hunting and viewing opportunities, and reducing moose-vehicle collisions. Moose management in Maine is conducted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) and the Wabanaki tribes; policy and management decisions can be guided by stakeholder perceptions and attitudes toward management strategies since part of managing wildlife is meeting the needs and desires of people. This thesis explores the human-moose social-ecological system in Maine with a transdisciplinary approach, and employs a participatory approach to understand the effects of climate change on a social-ecological system to develop related solutions in a tourism dependent community. The aim of this research is to better understand moose landscape use in the context of changing winters, as well as perceptions and support of management strategies addressing moose parasitism in Maine. This thesis has three components: (1) characterization of winter habitat of adult moose; (2) survey of outdoor recreationists; and (3) participatory climate change planning. First, we identified winter habitat selection of adult female moose over the course of six years to explore the potential influence of winter weather and forest composition on moose landscape use. We found that moose selected forested areas to a greater extent than other land cover classes and selected all forest types, deciduous, evergreen, and mixed, equally. We found no influence of snow depth on these mature forest types; however, our results demonstrated increased selection of regenerating forests in years with lower snow density. These results have implications for moose distribution on the winter landscape, and impacts on regenerating forests in Maine and winter weather conditions continue to vary because of climate change. Second, we conducted a survey of moose hunters (in-state and out-of-state) and Maine recreationists to better understand perceptions of moose health, attitudes towards various management strategies, and confidence in MDIFW management efforts. We explored if differences between moose hunters, non-moose hunters, and non-hunters existed in terms of perceptions of moose health in Maine as well as their potential support of specific moose management strategies. We found that beliefs about moose health in Maine were largely moderate, and there was no difference in concerns about moose and winter tick parasitism among groups. Moose hunting was seen as an important part of managing a healthy moose population among all groups. Moose hunters were found to be the most comfortable with increasing moose hunting to reduce parasitism, followed by non-moose hunters. There was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding whether increasing moose hunting to reduce parasitism would have a strong positive or strong negative impact on moose population health. Intention to support moose hunting as a management strategy was neutral with no difference among groups. Confidence in agency management was statistically different between non-hunters and moose hunters, and between non-hunters and non-moose hunters. Self-reported feelings of being up to date on information regarding current moose population health and management was different among all groups, with moose hunters reporting being the most up to date. Further, understanding the impacts and perceptions of climate change needs to be paired with action in order to adapt to changes and promote resilient social-ecological systems. The final research component of this thesis was the joint development and implementation of a series of participatory planning workshops on community climate change adaptation and mitigation. The participatory process used reinforced the idea that collaborative planning and stakeholder driven solution development are key to identifying locally relevant priorities and feasible action steps. There are many social-ecological systems in Maine that are vulnerable to climate change, including the human-moose system; hence, interdisciplinary approaches that integrate biophysical and social science research efforts are essential to addressing impacts to these complex systems into the future

A Qualitative Study of the Perceived Risks of the Impacts of Moose-Winter Tick Interactions on Human Health, Maine Economy, and Maine Culture

In order to answer the question of how people perceive the interactions between winter ticks and moose, and the impacts that these interactions may have on culture, economy, and recreational practices in Maine, interviews were conducted with participants from four stakeholder groups: hunters, outfitters, Wabanaki citizens, and wildlife managers. By using a case study methodology, I was able to explore moose health risk perceptions as described by participants from the four stakeholder groups, and the likely impacts on recreation behavior, livelihoods and economic viability, cultural maintenance, and wildlife management. In this study, multiple data generation techniques (i.e., semi-structured interviews, archival evidence, open ended responses from a questionnaire) were used to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Interviewees were identified using snowball sampling and searching the internet. Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques in NVivo 12 Plus to gain an insight into how these stakeholders viewed the wildlife disease risk associated with winter ticks and moose, as well as how winter tick-moose interactions could impact economic vitality, recreation opportunities, cultural identity, and human health in Maine. While there seemed to be a high level of awareness among participants about ticks in general and the threat of Lyme disease, less was known about winter ticks as a separate species. It became clear that participants knew winter ticks could negatively impact moose, and that moose play a huge role in Maine culture. Hunting and recreational opportunities, cultural identity, and tourism all depend in part on having a healthy moose population. From outfitters leading moose viewing tours to Wabanaki citizens who rely on moose for sustenance, winter ticks are a threat. These perceptions that winter ticks could be having direct negative impacts on moose health and indirect impacts on sociocultural and economic factors in Maine, stress the need for continued research on the biological impacts of winter ticks on moose, and more importantly, how these impacts could affect individuals, communities, businesses, and ecosystems in Maine

Autour de Dürer

Deux ouvrages très différents par la forme et le public attendu sont parus récemment et viennent contribuer à la bibliographie pléthorique de Dürer, établie en 1971 par Matthias Mende. Les éditions Citadelles et Mazenod ont ainsi consacré un de leur volume à l’artiste nurembergeois. L’ouvrage, dont la rédaction a été confiée à Norbert Wolf, historien de l’art allemand, est conformément à la tradition de cette collection généraliste et de très bonne tenue. Le nombre et la qualité des reproduct..

3. Estampes : comment identifier les techniques ?

Parmi les richesses et les difficultés que recèle l’étude de l’estampe, les techniques employées représentent un morceau de choix. Constitutives de l’histoire de cet art, leur reconnaissance est le préalable à toute entreprise de traitement d’un fonds d’estampes. Nous nous proposons dans ce chapitre de dresser un panorama des techniques en prenant soin de les restituer dans le contexte historique et de donner quelques éléments facilitant leur identification pour les non spécialistes. Il n’est..

Hieronymus Cock Company

On ne saurait trop répéter combien la production et la commercialisation de l’estampe ancienne durant ses premiers siècles d’existence sont des éléments passionnants pour qui souhaite comprendre l’importance du médium. Au xvie siècle, la réalité économique des éditeurs de gravures à Rome est maintenant mieux cernée ; en France, peu. Aux Pays-Bas et dans les Flandres, la question a été bien abordée au xviie siècle, mais relativement peu au siècle précédent, tant les nouveautés formelles des ar..

Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care units: an international online survey

Background: On average 7% of patients admitted to intensive-care units (ICUs) suffer from a potentially preventable ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Our objective was to survey attitudes and practices of ICUs doctors in the field of VAP prevention. Methods: A questionnaire was made available online in 6 languages from April, 1st to September 1st, 2012 and disseminated through international and national ICU societies. We investigated reported practices as regards (1) established clinical guidelines for VAP prevention, and (2) measurement of process and outcomes, under the assumption "if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it"; as well as attitudes towards the implementation of a measurement system. Weighted estimations for Europe were computed based on countries for which at least 10 completed replies were available, using total country population as a weight. Data from other countries were pooled together. Detailed country-specific results are presented in an online additional file. Results: A total of 1730 replies were received from 77 countries; 1281 from 16 countries were used to compute weighted European estimates, as follows: care for intubated patients, combined with a measure of compliance to this guideline at least once a year, was reported by 57% of the respondents (95% CI: 54-60) for hand hygiene, 28% (95% CI: 24-33) for systematic daily interruption of sedation and weaning protocol, and 27% (95%: 23-30) for oral care with chlorhexidine. Only 20% (95% CI: 17-22) were able to provide an estimation of outcome data (VAP rate) in their ICU, still 93% (95% CI: 91-94) agreed that "Monitoring of VAP-related measures stimulates quality improvement". Results for 449 respondents from 61 countries not included in the European estimates are broadly comparable. Conclusions: This study shows a low compliance with VAP prevention practices, as reported by ICU doctors in Europe and elsewhere, and identifies priorities for improvement

L’Arbre de Jessé: une image de l’Immaculée Conception?

L’Arbre de Jessé, image de la parenté du Christ et de la Vierge, s’est parfois vu compter au nombre des candidats possibles pour représenter à la fin du Moyen Âge la croyance complexe et contestée de l’Immaculée Conception de la Vierge. L’article se propose de revenir sur la validité d’une telle hypothèse. Jusqu’au xive siècle, la prophétie d’Isaïe, source de l’image de l’Arbre de Jessé, est utilisée par la plupart des théologiens comme un argument en défaveur de la fête et l’image elle-même ne montre aucun élément qui invite à une lecture immaculiste. Pourtant, à la fin du xive siècle, le contexte change: à la recherche d’éléments scripturaires prouvant la réalité du privilège marial, les Franciscains assignent aux préfigurations de la virginité de la Vierge, dont fait partie la virga Jesse, ce nouveau sens. Parallèlement, la représentation de la Vierge dans l’Arbre de Jessé français connaît une transformation radicale: elle est figurée à l’Enfant et adopte parfois les traits de la Femme de l’Apocalypse. Cette mutation iconographique semble découler des questionnements autour de la parenté de la Vierge que les débats sur la conception immaculée de la Vierge ont suscité.The Tree of Jesse, representation of the kinship between Christ and the Virgin, has sometimes been considered as a possible image in the late Middle Ages of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. We would like to question that idea. Until the fourteenth century, Isaiah’s prophecy, on which the Tree of Jesse is based, was used by most theologians as an argument to show the flimsiness of such a theory, as the image itself contains no element which could lead to an immaculist interpretation. Nonetheless, at the end of the fourteenth century, the situation was changing: in search of biblical arguments proving the truthfulness of the immaculate Conception, Franciscans used the foreshadowings of the virginity of Mary, to which the virga Jesse belongs, as new evidence. Meanwhile, the representation of the Virgin in the Tree of Jesse changed dramatically: she was now shown with Jesus as a child and sometimes as the Woman of the Apocalypse. This iconographical transformation seems to have been the result of questionings about the Virgin’s kin, developed through the debate on the Immaculate Conception