Au large de Gatteville-le-Phare à Auderville – Carte archéologique du nord Cotentin

L’opération de carte archéologique menée du 17 au 21 août à partir de Cherbourg avec l’André-Malraux comme navire support avait pour but d’expertiser des déclarations récentes de découvertes de biens culturels maritimes du secteur de Cherbourg (déclarations faites en 2014-2015 par Nicolas Hick) et de tirer parti de la mission pour documenter quelques épaves contemporaines du nord Cotentin parfois très connues des plongeurs locaux mais absentes de l’inventaire archéologique national. L’opérati..

Marck – L’épave Waldam 3

La découverte du site Waldam 3 remonte au printemps 2014 et est le fait de Michel Maquerre, alors président du club de plongée de Calais. L’information a été signalée au Drassm par l’intermédiaire de Dominique Duvet, président du comité archéologie Nord-Pas-de-Calais de la FFESSM. Le site, situé en partie basse de l’estran sur la plage de Waldam, à Marck (62), est mis au jour lors d’une promenade. Il apparaît comme un amoncellement de pierres, dans lequel sont pris des tessons de verre et de ..

Marck – Les épaves Waldam 2 à Waldam 7

Messieurs Michel Maquerre et Dominique Duvet ont signalé mi-juin 2014 au Drassm la présence de sept épaves sur la plage de Waldam à Marck (Pas-de-Calais). L’identification de l’épave dénommée Waldam 1 a été confiée à Alain Richard, spécialiste des épaves contemporaines. Les autres éléments ont fait l’objet d’une visite de terrain le 12 septembre 2014, par deux archéologues du Drassm, en compagnie des inventeurs. Les vestiges des épaves dites Waldam 2, 4, 5 et 6 sont très partiels. Seules sont..

A Modelling Approach to Generating User Acceptance Tests

Software testing, in particular acceptance testing, is a very important step in the development process of any application since it represents a way of matching the users’ expectations with the finished product´s capabilities. Typically considered as a cumbersome activity, many efforts have been made to alleviate the burden of writing tests by, for instance, trying to generate them automatically. However, testing still remains a largely neglected step. In this paper we propose taking advantage of existing requirement artifacts to semi-automatically generate acceptance tests. In particular, we use Scenarios, a requirement artifact used to describe business processes and requirements, and Task/Method models, a modelling approach taken from the Artificial Intelligence field. In order to generate User Acceptance tests, we propose a set of rules that allow transforming Scenarios (typically expressed in natural language), into Task/Methods that can in turn be used to generate the tests. Being high-level tests, close to the user experience, User Acceptance Tests verify that the expectations of the system are met from an end-user’s point of view. Using the proposed ideas, we show how the semi-automated generation of acceptance tests can be implemented by describing an ongoing development of a proof of concept web application designed to support the full process

A Modelling Approach to Generating User Acceptance Tests

Software testing, in particular acceptance testing, is a very important step in the development process of any application since it represents a way of matching the users’ expectations with the finished product´s capabilities. Typically considered as a cumbersome activity, many efforts have been made to alleviate the burden of writing tests by, for instance, trying to generate them automatically. However, testing still remains a largely neglected step. In this paper we propose taking advantage of existing requirement artifacts to semiautomatically generate acceptance tests. In particular, we use Scenarios, a requirement artifact used to describe business processes and requirements, and Task/Method models, a modelling approach taken from the Artificial Intelligence field. In order to generate acceptance tests, we propose a set of rules that allow transforming Scenarios (typically expressed in natural language), into Task/Methods that can in turn be used to generate the tests. Using the proposed ideas, we show how the semi-automated generation of acceptance tests can be implemented by describing an ongoing development of a proof of concept web application designed to support the full process.Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzad

A multi-omics investigation of tacrolimus off-target effects on a proximal tubule cell-line

Introduction: Tacrolimus, an immunosuppressive drug prescribed to a majority of organ transplant recipients is nephrotoxic, through still unclear mechanisms. This study on a lineage of proximal tubular cells using a multi-omics approach aims to detect off-target pathways modulated by tacrolimus that can explain its nephrotoxicity. Methods: LLC-PK1 cells were exposed to 5 µM of tacrolimus for 24 h in order to saturate its therapeutic target FKBP12 and other high-affine FKBPs and favour its binding to less affine targets. Intracellular proteins and metabolites, and extracellular metabolites were extracted and analysed by LC-MS/MS. The transcriptional expression of the dysregulated proteins PCK-1, as well as of the other gluconeogenesis-limiting enzymes FBP1 and FBP2, was measured using RT-qPCR. Cell viability with this concentration of tacrolimus was further checked until 72 h. Results: In our cell model of acute exposure to a high concentration of tacrolimus, different metabolic pathways were impacted including those of arginine (e.g., citrulline, ornithine) (p < 0.0001), amino acids (e.g., valine, isoleucine, aspartic acid) (p < 0.0001) and pyrimidine (p < 0.01). In addition, it induced oxidative stress (p < 0.01) as shown by a decrease in total cell glutathione quantity. It impacted cell energy through an increase in Krebs cycle intermediates (e.g., citrate, aconitate, fumarate) (p < 0.01) and down-regulation of PCK-1 (p < 0.05) and FPB1 (p < 0.01), which are key enzymes in gluconeogenesis and acid-base balance control. Discussion: The variations found using a multi-omics pharmacological approach clearly point towards a dysregulation of energy production and decreased gluconeogenesis, a hallmark of chronic kidney disease which may also be an important toxicity pathway of tacrolimus

Tunable SiO2 to SiOxCyH films by ozone assisted chemical vapor deposition from tetraethylorthosilicate and hexamethyldisilazane mixtures

Silica and silica-based materials with tunable functionalities are frequently encountered in low-k material applications, porous membranes, and microelectonic devices. In the present study, an innovative O2/O3 assisted CVD process for the deposition of such films at moderate temperature is presented, based on a dual precursor chemistry from hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). Films with tunable carbon content were obtained through variation of the HMDS flow ratio. A comprehensive FT-IR study reveals the transition of the material from a SiOxCyH type film containing -CH3 moieties, to a methyl-free SiOx film with the increase of the temperature. At the same time the water contact angle of 81.0° at 400°C is decreased to 52.8° at 550°C, related to the absence of methyl moieties in the latter. Ion beam analysis (IBA) confirms the lack of carbon in the films when deposition temperatures are equal to or exceed 500°C. The resistance to liquid corrosion is investigated as a function of the deposition temperature; SiOx type films present a low Pliskin etching rate of 15 Å.s-1, with this value increasing to 60 Å.s-1 for the SiOxCy:CH3 films produced at the lower temperatures. It is found that the addition of HMDS to a TEOS chemistry can be utilized to modulate the film composition from SiOx to SiOxCyH and by such, tune the film functional properties, in particular its etching rate, opening the way to the development of new sacrificial films

Parcs éoliens du premier appel d’offres éolien en mer

L’année 2015 a permis de mener à bien la deuxième partie du programme d’évaluation archéologique des parcs éoliens du 1er appel d’offres initié en 2014. Le présent résumé fait état de l’ensemble des opérations menées en 2014 et en 2015, soit six opérations (OA 2524, 2525, 2772, 2773, 2777 et 2787) menées sur quatre départements, au large de Saint-Nazaire (44), Saint-Brieuc (22), Courseulles-sur-Mer (14) et Fécamp (76). Rappel du contexte d’intervention En avril 2012, le Gouvernement a retenu ..

Network hydration, ordering and composition interplay of chemical vapor deposited amorphous silica films from tetraethyl orthosilicate

The chemical or mechanical performance of amorphous SiO2 films depend on intrinsic physicochemical properties, which are intimately linked to atomic and molecular arrangements in the Si–O–Si network. In this context, the present work focuses on a comprehensive description of SiO2 films deposited from a well-established chemical vapor deposition process involving tetraethyl-orthosilicate, oxygen and ozone, and operating at atmospheric pressure in the range 400–550 °C. The connectivity of the silica network is improved with increasing the deposition temperature (Td) and this is attributed to the decreased content of hydrated species through dehydration-condensation mechanisms. In the same way, the critical load of delamination increases with increasing Td thanks to the silicon substrate oxidation. The utilization of a O2/O3 oxidizing atmosphere involving the oxidation of intermediates species by O2, O3 and O., allows increasing the deposition rate at moderate temperatures, while minimizing carbon, H2O and silanol contents to extremely low values (4.5 at.% of H). The SiOx stoichiometry and Td interplay reveals two distinct behaviors before and above 450 °C. The best corrosion resistance of these films to standard P-etching test is obtained for the minimum silanol content and the best network molecular ordering, with an etching rate of 4.0 ± 0.1 Å/s at pH = 1.5. The elastic modulus and hardness of the films remain stable in the investigated range of deposition temperature, at 64.2 ± 1.7 and 7.4 ± 0.3 GPa respectively, thanks to the low content in silanol groups

Rapid identification of causal mutations in tomato EMS populations via mapping-by-sequencing

The tomato is the model species of choice for fleshy fruit development and for the Solanaceae family. Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutants of tomato have already proven their utility for analysis of gene function in plants, leading to improved breeding stocks and superior tomato varieties. However, until recently, the identification of causal mutations that underlie particular phenotypes has been a very lengthy task that many laboratories could not afford because of spatial and technical limitations. Here, we describe a simple protocol for identifying causal mutations in tomato using a mapping-by-sequencing strategy. Plants displaying phenotypes of interest are first isolated by screening an EMS mutant collection generated in the miniature cultivar Micro-Tom. A recombinant F2 population is then produced by crossing the mutant with a wild-type (WT; non-mutagenized) genotype, and F2 segregants displaying the same phenotype are subsequently pooled. Finally, whole-genome sequencing and analysis of allele distributions in the pools allow for the identification of the causal mutation. The whole process, from the isolation of the tomato mutant to the identification of the causal mutation, takes 6-12 months. This strategy overcomes many previous limitations, is simple to use and can be applied in most laboratories with limited facilities for plant culture and genotyping