The Philia project – for the successful integration of the young through their empowerment and social network development

The Philia+ project has been approved for funding within the Erasmus + Programme. Several partners from Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Romania (from higher education and social work institutions) have worked to support the academic success and social inclusion of (pre)adolescents aged 13-18 in foster care, and to enhance, preserve and develop their support networks. Training programmes were held for teachers, trainers and researchers involved in the project, as well as for students and social work professionals and young people in difficulty in the care of associations and organizations providing them social and psychological support. The aim has always been to change their position according to the theoretical DPAPC (empowerment of individuals and communities) framework and to the methodological RAC (collaborative research-action) framework, in order to enable them to understand the mechanism of the social determinism of success and failure and to enhance their support networks. We managed to create two training modules, teasers of experienced testimonies (focus groups, comprehensive conversations), educational films for the two modules, educational films on accompanying Roma and unaccompanied minors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Spin Gap in the Single Spin-1/2 Chain Cuprate Sr1.9_{1.9}Ca0.1_{0.1}CuO3_3

We report $^{63}$Cu nuclear magnetic resonance and muon spin rotation measurements on the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain compound Sr$_{1.9}$Ca$_{0.1}$CuO$_3$. An exponentially decreasing spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T$_1$ indicates the opening of a spin gap. This behavior is very similar to what has been observed for the cognate zigzag spin chain compound Sr$_{0.9}$Ca$_{0.1}$CuO$_2$, and confirms that the occurrence of a spin gap upon Ca doping is independent of the interchain exchange coupling $J'$. Our results therefore generally prove the appearance of a spin gap in an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain induced by a local bond disorder of the intrachain exchange coupling $J$. A low temperature upturn of 1/T$_1$ evidences growing magnetic correlations. However, zero field muon spin rotation measurements down to 1.5 K confirm the absence of magnetic order in this compound which is most likely suppressed by the opening of the spin gap.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Coarctation of the aorta: pre and postoperative evaluation with MRI and MR angiography; correlation with echocardiography and surgery

Aims: To compare MRI and MRA with Doppler-echocardiography (DE) in native and postoperative aortic coarctation, define the best MR protocol for its evaluation, compare MR with surgical findings in native coarctation. Materials and methods: 136 MR studies were performed in 121 patients divided in two groups: Group I, 55 preoperative; group II, 81 postoperative. In group I, all had DE and surgery was performed in 35 cases. In group II, DE was available for comparison in 71 cases. MR study comprised: spin-echo, cine, velocity-encoded cine (VEC) sequences and 3D contrast-enhanced MRA. Results: In group I, diagnosis of coarctation was made by DE in 33 cases and suspicion of coarctation and/or aortic arch hypoplasia in 18 cases. Aortic arch was not well demonstrated in 3 cases and DE missed one case. There was a close correlation between VEC MRI and Doppler gradient estimates across the coarctation, between MRI aortic arch diameters and surgery but a poor correlation in isthmic measurements. In group II, DE detected a normal isthmic region in 31 out of 35 cases. Postoperative anomalies (recoarctation, aortic arch hypoplasia, kinking, pseudoaneurysm) were not demonstrated with DE in 50% of cases. Conclusions: MRI is superior to DE for pre and post-treatment evaluation of aortic coarctation. An optimal MR protocol is proposed. Internal measurement of the narrowing does not correspond to the external aspect of the surgical narrowin

A detector interferometric calibration experiment for high precision astrometry

Context: Exoplanet science has made staggering progress in the last two decades, due to the relentless exploration of new detection methods and refinement of existing ones. Yet astrometry offers a unique and untapped potential of discovery of habitable-zone low-mass planets around all the solar-like stars of the solar neighborhood. To fulfill this goal, astrometry must be paired with high precision calibration of the detector. Aims: We present a way to calibrate a detector for high accuracy astrometry. An experimental testbed combining an astrometric simulator and an interferometric calibration system is used to validate both the hardware needed for the calibration and the signal processing methods. The objective is an accuracy of 5e-6 pixel on the location of a Nyquist sampled polychromatic point spread function. Methods: The interferometric calibration system produced modulated Young fringes on the detector. The Young fringes were parametrized as products of time and space dependent functions, based on various pixel parameters. The minimization of func- tion parameters was done iteratively, until convergence was obtained, revealing the pixel information needed for the calibration of astrometric measurements. Results: The calibration system yielded the pixel positions to an accuracy estimated at 4e-4 pixel. After including the pixel position information, an astrometric accuracy of 6e-5 pixel was obtained, for a PSF motion over more than five pixels. In the static mode (small jitter motion of less than 1e-3 pixel), a photon noise limited precision of 3e-5 pixel was reached

Mise en oeuvre d'un outil d'alerte et de cartographie temps réel des aléas naturels liés aux précipitations dans les régions montagneuses et méditerranéennes du Sud-Est de la France

International audienceDue to its mountainous topography and its Mediterranean climate, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in Southeastern France is particularly prone to flash floods, debris flows and mass movements (landslides and rockfall). A mapping system for these rainfall induced hazards has been tested by local and regional authorities and Government agencies since 2011 as part of the RHYTMME project. This system allows, thank to radar rainfall estimation and rainfall-runoff modelling, the real-time warning and monitoring of flash floods wherever they may occur in the PACA territory. It is also intended to enable, during intense rainfall events, the localisation of the streams susceptible to generate debris flows and of the slopes the more likely to trigger landslides and/or rockfalls

First experimental results of very high accuracy centroiding measurements for the neat astrometric mission

NEAT is an astrometric mission proposed to ESA with the objectives of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zone of nearby solar-type stars. NEAT requires the capability to measure stellar centroids at the precision of 5e-6 pixel. Current state-of-the-art methods for centroid estimation have reached a precision of about 2e-5 pixel at two times Nyquist sampling, this was shown at the JPL by the VESTA experiment. A metrology system was used to calibrate intra and inter pixel quantum efficiency variations in order to correct pixelation errors. The European part of the NEAT consortium is building a testbed in vacuum in order to achieve 5e-6 pixel precision for the centroid estimation. The goal is to provide a proof of concept for the precision requirement of the NEAT spacecraft. In this paper we present the metrology and the pseudo stellar sources sub-systems, we present a performance model and an error budget of the experiment and we report the present status of the demonstration. Finally we also present our first results: the experiment had its first light in July 2013 and a first set of data was taken in air. The analysis of this first set of data showed that we can already measure the pixel positions with an accuracy of about 1e-4 pixel.Comment: SPIE conference proceeding

Hubbard band or oxygen vacancy states in the correlated electron metal SrVO3_3?

We study the effect of oxygen vacancies on the electronic structure of the model strongly correlated metal SrVO$_3$. By means of angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) synchrotron experiments, we investigate the systematic effect of the UV dose on the measured spectra. We observe the onset of a spurious dose-dependent prominent peak at an energy range were the lower Hubbard band has been previously reported in this compound, raising questions on its previous interpretation. By a careful analysis of the dose dependent effects we succeed in disentangling the contributions coming from the oxygen vacancy states and from the lower Hubbard band. We obtain the intrinsic ARPES spectrum for the zero-vacancy limit, where a clear signal of a lower Hubbard band remains. We support our study by means of state-of-the-art ab initio calculations that include correlation effects and the presence of oxygen vacancies. Our results underscore the relevance of potential spurious states affecting ARPES experiments in correlated metals, which are associated to the ubiquitous oxygen vacancies as extensively reported in the context of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the surface of insulating $d^0$ transition metal oxides.Comment: Manuscript + Supplemental Material, 12 pages, 9 figure