Global Sensitivity Analysis of Stochastic Computer Models with joint metamodels

The global sensitivity analysis method, used to quantify the influence of uncertain input variables on the response variability of a numerical model, is applicable to deterministic computer code (for which the same set of input variables gives always the same output value). This paper proposes a global sensitivity analysis methodology for stochastic computer code (having a variability induced by some uncontrollable variables). The framework of the joint modeling of the mean and dispersion of heteroscedastic data is used. To deal with the complexity of computer experiment outputs, non parametric joint models (based on Generalized Additive Models and Gaussian processes) are discussed. The relevance of these new models is analyzed in terms of the obtained variance-based sensitivity indices with two case studies. Results show that the joint modeling approach leads accurate sensitivity index estimations even when clear heteroscedasticity is present

Approche du genre au travers du mobilier funéraire issu de cinq nécropoles danubiennes

In the modern society dominated by man, feminist studies on gender can be interpreted as a reconsideration of social system and his history. It is in this context that archaeology will consider the gender question. In first case, results of archaeological studies have been used as examples to illustrate man/ woman inequality. However, the archaeology has evolved to become an important part of the gender studies. Instead of asking the question of real signification of gender and his roots, the aim of this thesis ask the question of the sexual identity as social construction. The main corpus is composed by material culture in the funerary danubian context. Considering age and sex factors in our corpus, could we tell that objects can reveal the social identity of people in the past? Outcomes seem to indicate that artifact could indeed be related to gender's identity, but as well at task-differentiation.Face à une société et une science dominées par l'homme, les études féministes sur le genre se posent comme une remise en cause du système social et visent à la prise en compte de la femme dans tous les aspects de la société et la reconnaissance de son historicité. C'est donc dans cette optique que l'archéologie va entrer dans la question du genre et servir dans un premier temps de point d'appui à la recherche des origines qui sous-tendent l'inégalité des rapports hommes-femmes. Toutefois, l'archéologie va peu à peu se détacher de son rôle de témoin que lui donne l'anthropologie pour développer ses propres axes de recherches sur le genre et mettre en place sa propre méthodologie. Loin des débats théoriques sur la question du genre et de l'origine des inégalités, ce mémoire pose la question de l'identification de l'identité sexuelle, en tant que construction sociale, au travers de la culture matérielle issue des contextes funéraires danubiens. Ainsi, la répartition différentielle du mobilier funéraire, fondée sur la corrélation âge-sexe et nature des biens matériels, semble révéler des objets à valeur masculine et féminine ; l'outillage poli étant réservé aux hommes tandis que les femmes sont associées préférentiellement aux biens de mouture. De plus, la vocation de certains biens mobiliers, connotés de sauvage ou de domestique, semblent témoigner d'une répartition sexuelle des tâches des individus dans l'agriculture

Catalysis of the electrochemical reduction of oxygen by bacteria isolated from electro-active biofilms formed in seawater

Biofilmsformed in aerobic seawater on stainless steel are known to be efficient catalysts of the electrochemicalreduction of oxygen. Based on their genomic analysis, seven bacterial isolates were selected and a cyclic voltammetry (CV) procedure was implemented to check their electrocatalytic activity towards oxygenreduction. All isolates exhibited close catalytic characteristics. Comparison between CVs recorded with glassy carbon and pyrolytic graphite electrodes showed that the catalytic effect was not correlated with the surface area covered by the cells. The low catalytic effect obtained with filtered isolates indicated the involvement of released redox compounds, which was confirmed by CVs performed with adsorbed iron–porphyrin. None of the isolates were able to form electro-activebiofilms under constant polarization. The capacity to catalyze oxygenreduction is shown to be a widespread property among bacteria, but the property detected by CV does not necessarily confer the ability to achieve stable oxygenreduction under constant polarization

Open Innovation in the Public Sector: A Dynamic Capabilities Perspective and the Role of Information Technology

Public sector organizations (PSOs) are facing important structural, financial, environmental, and technological pressures. To adapt and respond to this complex and changing environment, PSOs need to deploy new innovative and collaborative approaches to capture and capitalize on specialized knowledge coming from a wider number of contributors. Open innovation (OI) is one such promising approach. Drawing on a dynamic capabilities perspective and based on an analysis of 100 case study reports of OI initiatives, we identified 16 key organizational actions deployed by PSOs to implement OI initiatives. Data analysis showed that PSOs’ dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and transforming are enacted and collectively used to engage in OI initiatives through these 16 organizational actions. In virtually all of these organizational actions, information technology (IT) plays a key role either as a central support tool or as an outcome

Comparing Numerical Comparison Tasks: A Meta-Analysis of the Variability of the Weber Fraction Relative to the Generation Algorithm

Since more than 15 years, researchers have been expressing their interest in evaluating the Approximate Number System (ANS) and its potential influence on cognitive skills involving number processing, such as arithmetic. Although many studies reported significant and predictive relations between ANS and arithmetic abilities, there has recently been an increasing amount of published data that failed to replicate such relationship. Inconsistencies lead many researchers to question the validity of the assessment of the ANS itself. In the current meta-analysis of over 68 experimental studies published between 2004 and 2017, we show that the mean value of the Weber fraction (w), the minimal amount of change in magnitude to detect a difference, is very heterogeneous across the literature. Within young adults, w might range from <10 to more than 60, which is critical for its validity for research and diagnostic purposes. We illustrate here the concern that different methods controlling for non-numerical dimensions lead to substantially variable performance. Nevertheless, studies that referred to the exact same method (e.g., Panamath) showed high consistency among them, which is reassuring. We are thus encouraging researchers only to compare what is comparable and to avoid considering the Weber fraction as an abstract parameter independent from the context. Eventually, we observed that all reported correlation coefficients between the value of w and general accuracy were very high. Such result calls into question the relevance of computing and reporting at all the Weber fraction. We are thus in disfavor of the systematic use of the Weber fraction, to discourage any temptation to compare given data to some values of w reported from different tasks and generation algorithms

Neonate Intestinal Immune Response to CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide Stimulation

Background: The development of mucosal vaccines is crucial to efficiently control infectious agents for which mucosae are the primary site of entry. Major drawbacks of these protective strategies are the lack of effective mucosal adjuvant. Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides that contain several unmethylated cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG-ODN) motifs are now recognized as promising adjuvants displaying mucosal adjuvant activity through direct activation of TLR9-expressing cells. However, little is known about the efficacy of these molecules in stimulating the intestinal immune system in neonates. Methodology/Principal Findings: First, newborn mice received CpG-ODN orally, and the intestinal cytokine and chemokine response was measured. We observed that oral administration of CpG-ODN induces CXC and CC chemokine responses and a cellular infiltration in the intestine of neonates as detected by immunohistochemistry. We next compared the efficiency of the oral route to intraperitoneal administration in stimulating the intestinal immune responses of both adults and neonates. Neonates were more responsive to TLR9-stimulation than adults whatever the CpG-ODN administration route. Their intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) indirectly responded to TLR9 stimulation and contributed to the CXC chemokine response, whereas other TLR9-bearing cells of the lamina-propria produced CC chemokines and Th1-type cytokines. Moreover, we showed that the intestine of adult exhibited a significantly higher level of IL10 at homeostasis than neonates, which might be responsible for the unresponsiveness to TLR9-stimulation, as confirmed by our findings in IL10-deficient mice. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first report that deciphers the role played by CpG-ODN in the intestine of neonates. This work clearly demonstrates that an intraperitoneal administration of CpG-ODN is more efficient in neonates than in adults to stimulate an intestinal chemokine response due to their lower IL-10 intestinal level. In addition we report the efficiency of the oral route at inducing intestinal chemokine responses in neonate that might be taken into consideration for further vaccine development against neonatal diseases

Interface roughness transport in THz quantum cascade detectors

Infrared Detectors based on a Quantum Cascade have been proposed to suppress the dark current which is identified as a limiting factor in Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors. Those detectors have been mostly designed for the 3-5um and 8-12um range of wavelength. For detector operating in the THz range a complete change of regime of transport is expected since the photon energy is lower than the Longitudinal Optical (LO) phonon energy. Using a two dimensional code of transport we have identified Interface Roughness (IR) as the key interaction in such a structure. We have used scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to evaluate the IR parameters (magnitude of the roughness and mean distance between defects) instead of the classical mobility measurements. Finally, we used these parameters to study their influence on the resistance of the device