How to survive the GNU AUTOTOOLS

Виживання GNU Autotools зараз на устах у тих, хто використовує Autotools, зокрема Autoconf, Automake та Libtool.Surviving the GNU Autotools is a technical talk for anyone that has to use the Autotools, namely Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool

What Works in a Pediatric Obesity Treatment Program?

Ms. Savoye will present a brief overview of the research and program model of Yale University\u27s Bright Bodies Weight Management Program for Children. She will discuss the components that make the Program unique and successful and include staffing and other operating strategies that have contributed to the sustainability of the treatment model housed throughout the community and operated by the university

Investigation of Neonatal Pulmonary Structure and Function via Proton and Hyperpolarized Gas Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a modality that utilizes the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to yield tomographic images of the body. Proton (1H) MRI has historically been successful in soft tissues but has suffered in the lung due to a variety of technical challenges, such as the low proton-density, rapid T2* relaxation time of the lung parenchymal tissue, and inherent physiological motion in the chest. Recent developments in radial ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI have in part overcome these issues. In addition, there has been much progress in techniques for hyperpolarization of noble gases (3He and 129Xe) out of thermal equilibrium via spin exchange optical pumping, which can greatly enhance the gas NMR signal such that it is detectable within the airspaces of the lung on MRI. The lung is a unique organ due to its complex structural and functional dynamics, and its early development through the neonatal (newborn) period is not yet well understood in normal or abnormal conditions. Pulmonary morbidities are relatively common in infants and are present in a majority of patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, often stemming from preterm birth and/or congenital defects. Current clinical lung imaging in these patients is typically limited to chest x-ray radiography, which does not provide tomographic information and so has lowered sensitivity. More rarely, x-ray computed tomography (CT) is used but exposes infants to ionizing radiation and typically requires sedation, both of which pose increased risks to pediatric patients. Thus the opportunity is ripe for application of novel pulmonary MRI techniques to the infant population. However, MR imaging of very small pulmonary structure and microstructure requires fundamental changes in the imaging theory of both 1H UTE MRI and hyperpolarized gas diffusion MRI. Furthermore, such young patients are often non-compliant, yielding a need for new and innovative techniques for monitoring respiratory and bulk motion. This dissertation describes methodology development and provides experimental results in both 1H UTE MRI and hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe gas diffusion MRI, with investigation into the structure and function of infant lungs at both the macrostructural and microstructural level. In particular, anisotropically restricted gas diffusion within infant alveolar microstructure is investigated as a measurement of airspace size and geometry. Additionally, the phenomenon of respiratory and bulk motion-tracking via modulation of the k-space center\u27s magnitude and phase is explored and applied via UTE MRI in various neonatal pulmonary conditions to extract imaging-based metrics of diagnostic value. Further, the proton-density regime of pulmonary UTE MRI is validated in translational applications. These techniques are applied in infants with various pulmonary conditions, including patients diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula, tracheomalacia, and no suspected lung disease. In addition, explanted lung specimens from both infants with and without lung disease are examined. Development and implementation of these techniques involves a strong understanding of the physics-based theory of NMR, hyperpolarization, and MR imaging, in addition to foundations in hardware, software, and image analysis techniques. This thesis first outlines the theory and background of NMR, MRI, and pulmonary physiology and development (Part I), then proceeds into the theory, equipment, and imaging experiments for hyperpolarized gas diffusion MRI in infant lung airspaces (Part II), and finally details the theory, data processing methods, and applications of pulmonary UTE MRI in infant patients (Part III). The potential for clinical translation of the neonatal pulmonary MRI methods presented in this dissertation is very high, with the foundations of these techniques firmly rooted in the laws of physics

Diffuse transport in clay media: µm to nm scale characterization of pore space and mineral spatial organization

In the framework of radioactive waste repository, clayrock formations are foreseen as barrier materials due to their diffusion properties. In clay materials, the dominant transport mode is diffusive and depends mainly on various parameters such as the mobility of the species in water, the accessible porosity, the pore space geometry and the retardation as a result of reactions such as sorption or ion exchange (Tournassat and Appelo, 2011). In this way, the European CATCLAY project (EURATOM FP7), in the context with research on transport in porous materials, was proposed to describe the cation migration processes in natural clayrocks. The project is structured along 3 RTD workpackages, combining modeling and experimental studies from a simpler, analogous system (monophasic compacted clay system) to clayrocks (Callovo-Oxfordian argillites, Opalinus Clay and Boom Clay). Part of this experimental studies focuses on small scale structure (µm - nm) property of rocks in order to determine how the spatial distribution of mineral and pores at small scales can influence diffusion driven transport of sorbing cations. The present study focuses on compacted illite properties (simpler analogous system) in hopes to extent this study to the natural clayrock formation. Illite was chosen by the way that is the main constituent of clayrock. Compacted illite material represents thus an analogy with the clay matrix constituting clay-rocks. Our approach is mainly based on imaging the small scale structural organization of compacted illite material and analyzing the obtained images in order to extract information on pore space and mineral spatial distribution. Techniques for imaging the texture of illite material like water saturated, in compacted state, were first developed. The first step was to improve classic resin impregnation method in order to preserve the texture without losing the clay confinement and modifying the pore space geometry. This has been done by taking into account the molecule size of the monomer, the low viscosity, the dipole moment (adapted for the clayrock with swelling clay content) and the controlled time polymerization. MMA monomer proved to be the most suitable resin in our study. The small scale structure of impregnated sample was then imaged in 2D using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and in 3D using Focused Ion Beam coupled to Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB/SEM). For TEM observations, a set of ultra-thin serial sections (50 - 100 nm) were cut using a microtome. A set of 2D images were then acquired using a resolution ranged between 100 nm and 10 Å. TEM images clearly show us the multi-scale organization of clay materials (Figure 1 and 2); we observe the 10 Å spacing sheets constituting the illite particles, nanometer size illite clay particles more or less aggregated and the surrounding pores having a size ranging from few hundred nanometers to nanometer. FIB/SEM analysis is currently in progress. From FIB/SEM, a set of serial images can be acquired using the "slice and view" method (Keller et al., 2011). Then, 2D FIB/SEM images need to be aligned to reconstruct a 3D volume. Image resolution is limited to 10-20 nm. Both methodologies (FIB-tomography and TEM techniques) are thus complementary method for the up-scaling characterization of the structural organization of compacted clayey materials. TEM images analysis allow to scale down the resolution size since only a part of the pore space could thus be imaged with FIB/SEM method (Keller et al., 2011). Viewing and performing a qualitative description of images constitute a major result and can help us to better understand how the transfer pathways and retention sites are organized in the porous media. Thanks to image analysis method, pores and minerals can be thresholded from grey level TEM and FIB/SEM images. Quantitative parameters can be then computed based from segmented images. In this objective, we currently focus our analysis in order to determine the size and the morphology of pores, the main geometrical features of clay particles (number of layers, size, shape...), the spatial distribution of clay particles (individual/aggregates, type of contact between the clay particles, orientation...) and the pores connectivity. Quantitative parameters are expected to be used in various transfer modeling approaches. This will be done in the framework of SIMISOL project which is focused on the modeling cation diffusion from atomic to nanometer scales

Sociohistoire des sciences sociales : recherches sur Le Play et ses continuateurs (XIXe-XXe siècles)

Antoine Savoye, professeur à l’Université Paris-VIII L’objectif des conférences était de faire le point sur les travaux relatifs à Le Play et ses continuateurs, produits dans différents champs des sciences sociales au cours des trente dernières années (1970-2000) et qualifiés d’« études leplaysiennes ». Un bilan d’ensemble de ces travaux, appuyé sur une bibliographie générale, a d’abord été dressé. Il a fait apparaître que les deux cents titres recensés se répartissent en trois catégories ell..

Frédéric Le Play : itinéraire, contexte et réception, XIXe-XXe siècles

Antoine Savoye, professeur à l’Université Paris-VIII Compte rendu non communiqué

Enquête sur la jeunesse étudiante de Le Play

Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play (1806-1882), après une période d’oubli, a retrouvé sa place au panthéon des sciences sociales. L’originalité de sa méthode d’enquête, formalisée dans les monographies de familles ouvrières, est reconnue. Les applications de cette méthode, soit par Le Play, soit par ses élèves, ont donné lieu à des ré-évaluations critiques, ouvrant la voie à une actualisation possible. Dans l’attente d’une biographie générale à la mesure du personnage, des vues d’angle sur différents moments de son existence viennent nous éclairer sur les conditions et les circonstances qui ont présidé aux élaborations méthodologiques et théoriques de l’auteur des Ouvriers européens (1855). Dans une perspective de mise en contexte biographique de l’œuvre de Le Play, nous nous proposons ici de revenir sur sa formation intellectuelle initiale alors qu’il est encore étudiant à Paris à la veille de son entrée dans la carrière d’ingénieur. Il en ressort un portrait rectifié du jeune Le Play qui permet de mieux saisir comment il s’est confronté aux idées nouvelles, en particulier au saint-simonisme, sans jamais les adopter tout à fait, mûrissant une œuvre personnelle et originale.After having been consigned to oblivion, Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play (1806-1882) is finally considered one of the pionieers of social science. The originality of his case-study method, as elaborated in his research monographs on workers’ families is widely recognized. Applications of this method, either by Le Play himself or by his disciples, gave rise to some critical reappraisals which pave the way for a possible actualization. Pending a final general biography which still need to be written, I will focus on some key moments of the life of the author of Ouvriers européens that shaped his methodological and theoretical production. In the prospect of a biographic contextualization of Le Play’s work, I shall recount his original intellectual formation, whilst still a student in Paris, just before starting his career as a engineer. As a result, I bring out a refined portay of the young Le Play that enables us to better grasp how he confronted new ideas, particularly saint-simonism, without explicitly endorsing them, thereby giving birth to very personal and original works

Le Play, ses continuateurs et la question du territoire (1855-1914)

Répondant à la suggestion des fondateurs de notre groupe de travail (cf. le « projet à quatre ans », mai 1994), j'ai exploré comment la science sociale leplaysienne traite de la question du Territoire. Plus exactement, il s'agit d'une vue cavalière, étant donné l'amplitude de la période considérée et l'importance numérique des travaux publiés durant cette soixantaine d'années par Le Play et ses continuateurs. La première partie de l'exposé traite de la prise en compte du territoire par la sci..

Impact of Periodic Current Pulses on Li-Ion Battery Performance

International audiencePulse charging and pulse discharging have been reported by many authors in the literature to improve the performance of various secondary electrochemical cells. Only a few authors mentioned the effects of such charge and discharge method on lithium-ion batteries. The overall objective of this work is to experimentally investigate the impact of certain current pulse profiles on the electrical performance of Li-ion batteries. The results highlight a detrimental impact of periodic pulses on the cell performance compared to profiles with constant current