Deceptiveness and Neutrality - the ND family of fitness landscapes

When a considerable number of mutations have no effects on fitness values, the fitness landscape is said neutral. In order to study the interplay between neutrality, which exists in many real-world applications, and performances of metaheuristics, it is useful to design landscapes which make it possible to tune precisely neutral degree distribution. Even though many neutral landscape models have already been designed, none of them are general enough to create landscapes with specific neutral degree distributions. We propose three steps to design such landscapes: first using an algorithm we construct a landscape whose distribution roughly fits the target one, then we use a simulated annealing heuristic to bring closer the two distributions and finally we affect fitness values to each neutral network. Then using this new family of fitness landscapes we are able to highlight the interplay between deceptiveness and neutrality.Comment: Genetic And Evolutionary Computation Conference, Seatle : \'Etats-Unis d'Am\'erique (2006

Electrifying light commercial vehicles for city logistics? A total cost of ownership analysis

Different measures are considered by the authorities to tackle the negative impacts of city logistics. Among them, battery electric vehicles are seen as a promising solution, but high purchase cost represents an important barrier to their adoption. However, these vehicles benefit also from low operational costs. This different cost structure between electric and conventional vehicles makes therefore a comprehensive cost analysis necessary for fleet managers who want to assess the real competitiveness of the vehicles. Hence, we developed a total cost of ownership model to assess the competitiveness of quadricycles and light commercial vehicles for freight transport companies. This paper presents the results for 7 battery electric vehicles, 5 diesel vehicles and 3 petrol vehicles. The results of a sensitivity analysis explored also the possible measures that can support their competitiveness. The model shows that battery electric vehicles have a better competitive position than petrol vehicles but they do not compete yet with diesel vehicles. A sensitivity analysis shows however that their total cost of ownership can become lower than diesel vehicles depending on their utilization, future market conditions or government support. Still, electric quadricycles appear to be currently an affordable solution for transport operators to adopt electric vehicles since their total costs of ownership is lower than diesel light commercial vehicles

Grouping levels of exposure with same observable effects before class prediction in toxicogenomics.

International audienceGene expression profiling in toxicogenomics is often used to find molecular signature of toxicants. The range of doses chosen in toxicogenomics studies does not always represent all the possible effects on gene expression: several doses of toxicant can lead to the same observable effect on the transcriptome. This makes the problem of dose exposure prediction difficult to address. We propose a strategy allowing to gather the doses with similar effects prior to the computing of a molecular signature. The different gathering of doses are compared with criteria based on likelihood or Monte Carlo Cross Validation. The molecular signature is then determined via a voting algorithm. Experimental results point out that the obtained classifier has better prediction performances than the classifier computed according to the original labeling

Freight transport in Brussels and its impact on road traffic?

Car traffic is one of the biggest problems faced by sustainable development in the Brussels Region. While the debate regarding the use of cars in the city is important, noise pollution caused by goods vehicles is mentioned much less often. They are responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions, 33% of PM2.5 emissions and up to 32% of PM 10 emissions caused by road transport in the capital. Given that a significant increase in freight transport is predicted, it is necessary to examine this lesser known aspect of mobility in Brussels. The aim of this article is therefore to establish a diagnosis of freight transport in Brussels. The different available sources are brought together in order to better understand the sector’s dynamics. Some of the solutions implemented in the Region to improve the sustainability of delivery operations are also presented.La circulation automobile est l’un des points les plus problématiques du développement durable de la Région bruxelloise. Bien que le débat autour de l’utilisation de la voiture en ville soit important, on évoque bien moins les nuisances générées par les véhicules de marchandises. Pourtant, ceux-ci sont responsables de 25 % des émissions de CO2, de 33 % des émissions de particules PM 2.5 et jusqu’à 32 % des émissions de PM10 émis par les véhicules automobiles circulant dans la capitale. Étant donné que les prévisions annoncent une forte croissance des flux de marchandises, il est nécessaire d’examiner cet aspect moins connu de la mobilité bruxelloise. L’objectif de cet article est donc d’abord d’établir un diagnostic du transport de marchandises à Bruxelles. Les différentes sources disponibles sont ainsi recoupées afin de mieux comprendre les dynamiques du secteur. Ensuite quelques solutions entreprises dans la Région pour améliorer la durabilité des opérations de livraisons sont présentées.Het autoverkeer is van de grootste knelpunten voor de duurzame ontwikkeling van het Brussels Gewest. Het debat over het gebruik van de wagen in de stad is weliswaar belangrijk, maar er wordt veel minder gesproken over de hinder die wordt voortgebracht door de goederenvoertuigen. Ze zorgen evenwel voor 25% van de CO2-emissies, 33% van de emissies van PM 2.5-deeltjes en tot 32% van de emissies van PM 10-deeltjes van de voertuigen die in de hoofdstad rijden. Aangezien de goederenstromen volgens de prognoses fors zullen toenemen, dient dat minder bekende aspect van de Brusselse mobiliteit te worden bestudeerd. Het artikel stelt dus in de eerste plaats een diagnose van het goederenvervoer in Brussel. De verschillende beschikbare bronnen werden daarom samengebracht om de dynamiek van de sector beter te begrijpen. Vervolgens worden enkele oplossingen voorgesteld die in het Gewest werden ingevoerd om de duurzaamheid van de leveringen te verbeteren

Goederenvervoer in Brussel: welke impact op het autoverkeer?

Het autoverkeer is van de grootste knelpunten voor de duurzame ontwikkeling van het Brussels Gewest. Het debat over het gebruik van de wagen in de stad is weliswaar belangrijk, maar er wordt veel minder gesproken over de hinder die wordt voortgebracht door de goederenvoertuigen. Ze zorgen evenwel voor 25% van de CO2-emissies, 33% van de emissies van PM 2.5-deeltjes en tot 32% van de emissies van PM 10-deeltjes van de voertuigen die in de hoofdstad rijden. Aangezien de goederenstromen volgens de prognoses fors zullen toenemen, dient dat minder bekende aspect van de Brusselse mobiliteit te worden bestudeerd. Het artikel stelt dus in de eerste plaats een diagnose van het goederenvervoer in Brussel. De verschillende beschikbare bronnen werden daarom samengebracht om de dynamiek van de sector beter te begrijpen. Vervolgens worden enkele oplossingen voorgesteld die in het Gewest werden ingevoerd om de duurzaamheid van de leveringen te verbeteren.La circulation automobile est l’un des points les plus problématiques du développement durable de la Région bruxelloise. Bien que le débat autour de l’utilisation de la voiture en ville soit important, on évoque bien moins les nuisances générées par les véhicules de marchandises. Pourtant, ceux-ci sont responsables de 25 % des émissions de CO2, de 33 % des émissions de particules PM 2.5 et jusqu’à 32 % des émissions de PM 10 émis par les véhicules automobiles circulant dans la capitale. Étant donné que les prévisions annoncent une forte croissance des flux de marchandises, il est nécessaire d’examiner cet aspect moins connu de la mobilité bruxelloise. L’objectif de cet article est donc d’abord d’établir un diagnostic du transport de marchandises à Bruxelles. Les différentes sources disponibles sont ainsi recoupées afin de mieux comprendre les dynamiques du secteur. Ensuite quelques solutions entreprises dans la Région pour améliorer la durabilité des opérations de livraisons sont présentées.Car traffic is one of the biggest problems faced by sustainable development in the Brussels Region. While the debate regarding the use of cars in the city is important, noise pollution caused by goods vehicles is mentioned much less often. They are responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions, 33% of PM 2.5 emissions and up to 32% of PM 10 emissions caused by road transport in the capital. Given that a significant increase in freight transport is predicted, it is necessary to examine this lesser known aspect of mobility in Brussels. The aim of this article is therefore to establish a diagnosis of freight transport in Brussels. The different available sources are brought together in order to better understand the sector’s dynamics. Some of the solutions implemented in the Region to improve the sustainability of delivery operations are also presented

The genetic architecture of language functional connectivity

Available online 18 December 2021Language is a unique trait of the human species, of which the genetic architecture remains largely unknown. Through language disorders studies, many candidate genes were identified. However, such complex and multi- factorial trait is unlikely to be driven by only few genes and case-control studies, suffering from a lack of power, struggle to uncover significant variants. In parallel, neuroimaging has significantly contributed to the under- standing of structural and functional aspects of language in the human brain and the recent availability of large scale cohorts like UK Biobank have made possible to study language via image-derived endophenotypes in the general population. Because of its strong relationship with task-based fMRI (tbfMRI) activations and its easiness of acquisition, resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) have been more popularised, making it a good surrogate of functional neuronal processes. Taking advantage of such a synergistic system by aggregating effects across spa- tially distributed traits, we performed a multivariate genome-wide association study (mvGWAS) between genetic variations and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of classical brain language areas in the inferior frontal (pars opercularis, triangularis and orbitalis), temporal and inferior parietal lobes (angular and supramarginal gyri), in 32,186 participants from UK Biobank. Twenty genomic loci were found associated with language FCs, out of which three were replicated in an independent replication sample. A locus in 3p11.1, regulating EPHA3 gene expression, is found associated with FCs of the semantic component of the language network, while a lo- cus in 15q14, regulating THBS1 gene expression is found associated with FCs of the perceptual-motor language processing, bringing novel insights into the neurobiology of language.This research was conducted using the UK Biobank resource un- der application #64984. This project was supported by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie program awarded to Stephanie J. Forkel (Grant agree- ment No. 101028551). Amaia Carrion-Castillo was supported by a Juan de la Cierva fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innova- tion, and a Gipuzkoa Fellows fellowship from the Basque Governmen

Large-scale gene discovery in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera)

Aphids are the leading pests in agricultural crops. A large-scale sequencing of 40,904 ESTs from the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was carried out to define a catalog of 12,082 unique transcripts. A strong AT bias was found, indicating a compositional shift between Drosophila melanogaster and A. pisum. An in silico profiling analysis characterized 135 transcripts specific to pea-aphid tissues (relating to bacteriocytes and parthenogenetic embryos). This project is the first to address the genetics of the Hemiptera and of a hemimetabolous insect.Beatriz Sabater-Muñoz... et al