Assessing land cover changes in the French Pyrenees since the 1940s A semi‐automatic GEOBIA approach using aerial photographs

International audienceAgro-pastoral landscapes of the Pyrenees are subject to fast spontaneous reforestation. The objective of this work is to assess the spatial patterns of land cover changes during the last 70 years in three study sites of the Pyrenees, and to compare the local dynamics in order to observe and to explain similarities and disparities

Evolution of Ossoue Glacier (French Pyrenees) since the end of the Little Ice Age

International audienceLittle is known about the fluctuations of the Pyre-nean glaciers. In this study, we reconstructed the evolution of Ossoue Glacier (42 • 46 N, 0.45 km 2), which is located in the central Pyrenees, from the Little Ice Age (LIA) onwards. To do so, length, area, thickness, and mass changes in the glacier were generated from historical data sets, topo-graphical surveys, glaciological measurements (2001–2013), a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey (2006), and stereo-scopic satellite images (2013). The glacier has receded considerably since the end of the LIA, losing 40 % of its length and 60 % of its area

Spread of Infectious Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus by Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Feces▿

Knowledge of the spreading mechanism of honeybee pathogens within the hive is crucial to our understanding of bee disease dynamics. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of infectious chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) in bee excreta and evaluate its possible role as an indirect route of infection. Samples of paralyzed bees were (i) produced by experimental inoculation with purified virus and (ii) collected from hives exhibiting chronic paralysis. CBPV in bee heads or feces (crude or absorbed onto paper) was detected by reverse transcription-PCR. CBPV infectivity was assessed by intrathoracic inoculation of bees with virus extracted from feces and by placement of naive bees in cages previously occupied by contaminated individuals. CBPV RNA was systematically detected in the feces of naturally and experimentally infected bees and on the paper sheets that had been used to cover the floors of units containing bees artificially infected with CBPV or the floor of one naturally infected colony. Both intrathoracic inoculation of bees with virus extracted from feces and placement of bees in contaminated cages provoked overt disease in naive bees, thereby proving that the excreted virus was infectious and that this indirect route of infection could lead to overt chronic paralysis. This is the first experimental confirmation that infectious CBPV particles excreted in the feces of infected bees can infect naive bees and provoke overt disease by mere confinement of naive bees in a soiled environment

Fourier-limited seeded soft x-ray laser pulse

International audienceWe present what we believe to be the first measurement of the spectral properties of a soft x-ray laser seeded by a high-order harmonic beam. Using an interferometric method, the spectral profile of a seeded Ni-like krypton soft x-ray laser (32.8 nm) generated by optical field ionization has been experimentally determined, and the shortest possible pulse duration has been deduced. The source exhibits a Voigt spectral profile with an FWHM of 3.1±0.3 mÅ, leading to a Fourier-transform pulse duration of 4.7 ps. This value is comparable with the upper limit of the soft x-ray pulse duration determined by experimentally investigating the gain dynamics, from which we conclude that the source has reached the Fourier limit. The measured bandwidth is in good agreement with the predictions of a radiative transfer code, including gain line narrowing and saturation rebroadening

High power electron diode for linear induction accelerator at a flash radiographic facility

International audienceWe investigated a new cathode design and beam transport with the EPURE axis-1 injector in order to increase the beam characteristics at 3.8 MeV, 80 ns FWHM from the 2.0 kA nominal current to 2.6 kA corresponding to an average current density of 82  A/cm2. Such current increase is highly desirable for improving the x-ray dose and hence radiographic performances. To achieve this, a time-dependent model based on the particle-in-cell method was developed in order to simulate the injector. Using results from calculations based on this model, a 17.2 cm AK gap diode with a larger radius cathode (3.175 cm) was designed, manufactured and tested. Experimental and calculated currents and emittances are qualitatively compared. The study provides a detailed understanding of the beam dynamics inside this type of high current, high energy injector

Medical Ontology and Virtual Staff for a Health Network

International audienc

The influence of grain shape, friction and cohesion on granular compaction dynamics

This article is a review of our recent and new experimental works on granular compaction. The effects of various microscopic parameters on the compaction dynamics are addressed, in particular the influence of the grain shape, the friction and the cohesion between the grains. Two dimensional and three dimensional systems are analysed. And the role of dimensionality will be emphasized. Theoretical and numerical investigations provide additional informations about that phenomenon. Indeed numerical models permit us to study the influence of some parameters not easily accessible experimentally. Our results show that the above mentioned parameters have a deep impact on the compaction dynamics. Anisotropic grains lead to two different compaction regimes separated by a "burst" of the packing fraction. Friction is observed to modify how the grains are arranged in the pile. This is confirmed by numerical simulations. Cohesive forces between particles inhibit compaction and lead to extremely low values of the packing fraction

Observation of spectral gain narrowing in a high-order harmonic seeded soft-x-ray amplifier

International audienceWe report an observation of spectral gain narrowing of a high-order harmonic amplified by a soft-x-ray optical-field-ionized plasma. The temporal coherence and spectral linewidth of both the seeded and unseeded soft-x-ray lasers were experimentally measured using a varying-path-difference interferometer. The results showed that the high-order harmonic is subject to a strong spectral narrowing during its propagation in the plasma amplifier without rebroadening at saturation. This is in good agreement with a radiative transfer calculation including gain narrowing and saturation rebroadening

Conceptual graphs for Semantic Web applications

In this paper, we aim at showing the advantages of Conceptual Graph formalism for the Semantic Web through several real-world applications in the framework of Corporate Semantic Webs. We describe the RDF(S)-dedicated semantic search engine, CORESE, based on a correspondence between RDF(S) and Conceptual Graphs, and we illustrate the interest of Conceptual Graphs through the analysis of several real-world applications based on CORESE

Metagenomic Detection of Viral Pathogens in Spanish Honeybees: Co- Infection by Aphid Lethal Paralysis, Israel Acute Paralysis and Lake Sinai Viruses

The situation in Europe concerning honeybees has in recent years become increasingly aggravated with steady decline in populations and/or catastrophic winter losses. This has largely been attributed to the occurrence of a variety of known and "unknown", emerging novel diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated that colonies often can harbour more than one pathogen, making identification of etiological agents with classical methods difficult. By employing an unbiased metagenomic approach, which allows the detection of both unexpected and previously unknown infectious agents, the detection of three viruses, Aphid Lethal Paralysis Virus (ALPV), Israel Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), and Lake Sinai Virus (LSV), in honeybees from Spain is reported in this article. The existence of a subgroup of ALPV with the ability to infect bees was only recently reported and this is the first identification of such a strain in Europe. Similarly, LSV appear to be a still unclassified group of viruses with unclear impact on colony health and these viruses have not previously been identified outside of the United States. Furthermore, our study also reveals that these bees carried a plant virus, Turnip Ringspot Virus (TuRSV), potentially serving as important vector organisms. Taken together, these results demonstrate the new possibilities opened up by high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis to study emerging new diseases in domestic and wild animal populations, including honeybees