DM-PhyClus: A Bayesian phylogenetic algorithm for infectious disease transmission cluster inference

Background. Conventional phylogenetic clustering approaches rely on arbitrary cutpoints applied a posteriori to phylogenetic estimates. Although in practice, Bayesian and bootstrap-based clustering tend to lead to similar estimates, they often produce conflicting measures of confidence in clusters. The current study proposes a new Bayesian phylogenetic clustering algorithm, which we refer to as DM-PhyClus, that identifies sets of sequences resulting from quick transmission chains, thus yielding easily-interpretable clusters, without using any ad hoc distance or confidence requirement. Results. Simulations reveal that DM-PhyClus can outperform conventional clustering methods, as well as the Gap procedure, a pure distance-based algorithm, in terms of mean cluster recovery. We apply DM-PhyClus to a sample of real HIV-1 sequences, producing a set of clusters whose inference is in line with the conclusions of a previous thorough analysis. Conclusions. DM-PhyClus, by eliminating the need for cutpoints and producing sensible inference for cluster configurations, can facilitate transmission cluster detection. Future efforts to reduce incidence of infectious diseases, like HIV-1, will need reliable estimates of transmission clusters. It follows that algorithms like DM-PhyClus could serve to better inform public health strategies

On Transient heating and dynamic response to acoustic oscillation of a vaporizing droplet

International audienc

On Transient heating and dynamic response to acoustic oscillation of a vaporizing droplet

International audienc

D’une mémoire coloniale à une mémoire du colonial. La reconversion chaotique du Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, ancien musée du Congo Belge

Até muito recentemente, o Museu Real da África Central, na Bélgica, uma instituição nacional outrora dedicada a propaganda colonial, continuava a fornecer uma narrativa pública da realidade congolesa e africana muito marcada pelo seu contexto colonial de criação. O estudo da sua renovação em curso — um processo que começou no início do século XXI — permite-me considerar o papel complexo da materialização oficial da memória belga do colonialismo: à vez, mas também simultaneamente, fornece e é produzido pelos quadros sociais da memória que funcionam na sociedade belga. O artigo lida com o longo sono do museu e a sua última evolução, recolocando-o no contexto científico, política e social do actual ricochete geral da memória do passado colonial no país. A análise do processo de reforma desta instituição (incluindo uma investigação da espectacular exposição temporária denominada «Memoória do Congo. A Era Colonial», que teve lugar em 2005) salienta a emergência de um projecto político e museológico que procura criar uma memória una e fortalecida do colonialismo na Bélgica — uma memória que, na sua concepção, deve ser partilhada com o povo congolês e é vista como uma promessa de relacionamento produtivo e próximo com a antiga colonia. O artigo lida com as expressões e os limites de uma abordagem tão determinada da memória.Until very recently, the Royal Museum for Central Africa, in Belgium, a national institution once dedicated to colonial propaganda, provided a public narrative of the Congolese and the African reality very much tinged with by its colonial context of creation. The study of its on-going renovation — a process that began in the early 2000s — allows me to consider the complex role of this official materialisation of the Belgian memory of colonialism: by turns, but also simultaneously, it provides and is produced by the social frameworks of memory that function in the Belgian society. The article deals with the museum's long sleep and its eventual evolution, replacing it in the scientific, political, and social context of a current general back-fire of the memory of the colonial past in the country. The analysis of the reformation process of this institution (including an investigation of a spectacular temporary exhibition entitled «Memory of the Congo. The Colonial Era», held in 2005) highlights the underlying emergence of a political and museal project which aims to create a unified and allayed memory of colonialism in Belgium — a memory which, in its conception, is supposed to be shared with the Congolese people and that is seen as a promise of fruitful and close relations with the former colony. The article deals with the expressions and the limits of such a determined approach of memory

Simplified model for droplet transient heating

International audienc

Ion Channels as Promising Therapeutic Targets for Melanoma

n.