Échanges étudiants : la mobilité internationale dans l’expérience de vie de jeunes Lausannois

Depuis quelques décennies, les mobilités internationales constituent un phénomène d’une ampleur nouvelle. Les changements sociaux qui en découlent et les restructurations individuelles qui s’opèrent à travers les différents espaces investis au cours d’une vie sont encore peu connus ethnographiquement. En relation au contexte d’internationalisation des universités, ce mémoire adresse les expériences d’échange vécues par des étudiants de Lausanne (Suisse) dans le cadre de la mobilité académique, et la manière dont elles influencent leurs choix de vie par la suite. Nous adoptons pour ce faire une perspective historicisée intégrant les spécificités du cadre suisse, ainsi qu’une perspective longitudinale sur la vie des répondants. La recherche est informée par une analyse critique de l’expérience du chercheur dans la mobilité, ainsi que par des entrevues menées auprès de jeunes diplômés lausannois ayant effectué un échange entre 2008 et 2013. Les récits des Lausannois rencontrés permettent de mettre en avant différentes interdépendances sociales changeantes dans le cours de leur vie, nous permettant d’appréhender les expériences d’échange en dehors de leur conception linéaire habituelle. La manière dont est vécue et imaginée la vie, avec les agendas personnels, relationnels et institutionnels, reflète les considérations éthiques, affectives et techniques de ces personnes face à différents lieux habités. Ce mémoire invite ainsi à une réflexion sur la manière dont il est aujourd’hui possible d’être mobile depuis la Suisse.The last few decades have seen an increased mobility of people around the world. Social changes resulting from the circulations and trajectories of these individuals as they move through their life course across different spaces need to be addressed further ethnographically. In this thesis, we examine the experiences of young graduates from Lausanne (Switzerland) in their exchanges as students and the ways these experiences had an impact on the subsequent choices they made in their lives. In order to do this, we take up a historical perspective on the Swiss context and a longitudinal perspective on our respondents’ lives. This study is informed by a critical analysis of the researcher’s own experience of mobility as a student and interviews carried out with young graduates from Lausanne who went abroad as exchange students between 2008 and 2013. The narratives of the young Lausannois show changes in social interdependence as they move through their life course, such that I try to examine their experience of exchange in a non-linear way. The manner in which life is lived and imagined, its personal, relational and institutional calendars, reflects the ethical, affective and technical considerations these young people have regarding the different places they lived in. Thus, this thesis proposes a reflection on the ways in which mobility is possible when the Swiss relational context is the point of departure

La réindustrialisation des territoires ruraux peu denses ? L’implantation d’un projet ambitieux au défi des proximités

Face à la réorganisation territoriale et à la compétition accrue entre les territoires, les villes rurales apparaissent particulièrement fragilisées. Nous interrogeons leurs capacités de rebond et l’importance de certaines ressources locales pour le retour d’activités économiques productives. A partir de l’analyse qualitative d’un projet de transformation de produits agroalimentaires biologiques, projet d’initiative privée qui « atterrit » dans une petite commune rurale de la Vienne, nous vérifions les atouts de la petite ville rurale et confirmons l’importance des ressources foncières (à bas coût et de qualité) et de la proximité physique immédiate entre acteurs dans l’émergence d’activités sur ces territoires. Nous soulignons également leur caractère non suffisant, la construction d’une proximité organisée pour une bonne gouvernance et un ancrage territorial du projet apparaissant indispensables.Faced with territorial reorganization and increased competition between territories, rural towns appear particularly weakened. We question their ability to rebound and the importance of certain local resources for the return of productive economic activities. Based on the qualitative analysis of a project for the transformation of organic agri-food products, a private initiative project which "landed" in a small rural town in Vienne, we verify the advantages of the small rural town and confirm the importance land resources (at low cost and quality) and the immediate physical proximity between the actors in the emergence of activities in these territories. We also underline their insufficient nature, the construction of a proximity necessary for good governance and a territorial anchoring of the project appearing essential

Control of turbulent flow in vertical slot fishways for the migration of small fish species

The improvement of devices that allow the upstream migration of fishes through engineering constructions or natural obstructions in rivers is now a real priority to maintain the biodiversity. Vertical slot fishways are commonly used and are very effective in ensuring unhindered passage of the species of large size fishes

Quantifying the effects of modeling simplifications for structural identification of bridges

Several long span prestressed segmental box girder bridges were built in the early 1980’s and many of them are affected by long-term residual deformations. Although models have been proposed to describe their structural behavior, several uncertainties remain. This paper examines the effects of errors introduced by model simplifications on predicted values. These results are used to improve the estimation of parameter values using model-based data-interpretation strategies. The procedure is illustrated for the Grand-Mere bridge located in Canada. This bridge is affected by excessive long-term vertical displacements. Model simplifications such as the degree of complexity of a model are found to have an important influence on prediction errors. Representing these errors by zero-mean independent Gaussian noise does not adequately describe the relationships between errors observed in this case study. Estimated errors are used during the interpretation of ambient vibration acceleration data recorded on the structure. The interpretation approach employed is based on error-domain model falsification. The study provides ranges of parameter values that can subsequently be used to characterize more accurately aspects such as long-term creep and shrinkage behavior

Grid Analysis of Radiological Data

IGI-Global Medical Information Science Discoveries Research Award 2009International audienceGrid technologies and infrastructures can contribute to harnessing the full power of computer-aided image analysis into clinical research and practice. Given the volume of data, the sensitivity of medical information, and the joint complexity of medical datasets and computations expected in clinical practice, the challenge is to fill the gap between the grid middleware and the requirements of clinical applications. This chapter reports on the goals, achievements and lessons learned from the AGIR (Grid Analysis of Radiological Data) project. AGIR addresses this challenge through a combined approach. On one hand, leveraging the grid middleware through core grid medical services (data management, responsiveness, compression, and workflows) targets the requirements of medical data processing applications. On the other hand, grid-enabling a panel of applications ranging from algorithmic research to clinical use cases both exploits and drives the development of the services

Nouvelles données sur la séquence aurignacienne de la grotte d'Isturitz (communes d'Isturitz et de Saint-Martin-d'Arberoue. Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

Isturitz Cave is located in the western Pyrenees in the heart of the zone of passage and contact between the Aquitaine region and the Vasco-Cantabrian ledge. Excavations during the first half of the 20th century yielded a remarkable archaeological sequence covering the Middle Palaeolithic and the entire Upper Palaeolithic. New research conducted in the Saint-Martin chamber has revealed intensive Aurignacian occupations attributed to the archaic and early phases of this techno-complex. In this paper, we present a synthesis of the principal data that make Isturitz a key site in the study of this period.Située dans les Pyrénées occidentales, au coeur de la zone de passage et de contact entre l'Aquitaine et la corniche vasco-cantabrique, la grotte d'Isturitz a fait l'objet, dans la première moitié du XXe siècle, de fouilles qui ont livré un remarquable ensemble archéologique couvrant le Paléolithique moyen et la quasi-totalité du Paléolithique supérieur. De nouvelles recherches menées dans la salle de Saint-Martin ont mis en évidence d'importantes occupations aurignaciennes attribuées aux phases archaïques et anciennes de ce technocomplexe. Nous ferons dans cet article une synthèse des principales données qui font de la grotte d'Isturitz un site clef pour l'étude de celles-ci

Quantifying the Effects of Modeling Simplifications for Structural Identification of Bridges

Several long-span, prestressed, segmental box girder bridges were built in the early 1980s and many of them are affected by long-term residual deformations. Although some models have been proposed to describe their structural behavior, several uncertainties remain. This paper examines the effects of errors introduced by model simplifications on predicted values. The results are used to improve the estimation of parameter values using model-based data-interpretation strategies. The procedure is illustrated for the Grand-Mere Bridge located in Canada. This bridge is affected by excessive long-term vertical displacements. Model simplifications such as in its degree of complexity are found to have an important influence on prediction errors. Representing these errors by zero-mean independent Gaussian noise does not adequately describe the relationships among the errors observed in this case study. Estimated errors are used in the interpretation of the ambient vibration acceleration data recorded on the structure. The interpretation approach employed is based on error-domain model falsification. This study provides ranges of parameter values that can be used subsequently to characterize more accurately aspects such as long-term creep and shrinkage behavior. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers

Mental health condition of college students compared to non-students during COVID-19 lockdown: the CONFINS study

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of student status on mental health condition during COVID-19 general lockdown in France. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis comparing students and non-students recruited in the same study. SETTING: Participants of the web-based CONFINS study implemented during the general lockdown in France in spring 2020. PARTICIPANTS: 2260 participants (78% women) including 1335 students (59%). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Through an online questionnaire, participants declared if they have experienced suicidal thoughts, coded their perceived stress on a 10-points scale and completed validated mental health scales (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depressive symptoms, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 for anxiety symptoms) during the last 7 days. The effect of college student status on each mental health condition was estimated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Stratified models for students and non-students were performed to identify population-specific factors. RESULTS: Student status was associated with a higher frequency of depressive symptoms (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.58; 95% CI 1.17 to 2.14), anxiety symptoms (aOR=1.51; 95% CI 1.10 to 2.07), perceived stress (n=1919, aOR=1.70, 95% CI 1.26 to 2.29) and suicidal thoughts (n=1919, aOR=1.57, 95% CI 0.97 to 2.53). Lockdown conditions that could be potentially aggravating on mental health like isolation had a higher impact on students than on non-students. CONCLUSIONS: College students were at higher risk of mental health disturbances during lockdown than non-students, even after taking into account several potential confounding factors. A close follow-up and monitoring of students' mental health status is warranted during lockdown periods in this vulnerable population

Genome sequence of the stramenopile Blastocystis, a human anaerobic parasite

International audienceABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Blastocystis is a highly prevalent anaerobic eukaryotic parasite of humans and animals that is associated with various gastrointestinal and extraintestinal disorders. Epidemiological studies have identified different subtypes but no one subtype has been definitively correlated with disease. RESULTS: Here we report the 18.8 Mb genome sequence of a Blastocystis subtype 7 isolate, which is the smallest stramenopile genome sequenced to date. The genome is highly compact and contains intriguing rearrangements. Comparisons with other available stramenopile genomes (plant pathogenic oomycete and diatom genomes) revealed effector proteins potentially involved in the adaptation to the intestinal environment, which were likely acquired via horizontal gene transfer. Moreover, Blastocystis living in anaerobic conditions harbors mitochondria-like organelles. An incomplete oxidative phosphorylation chain, a partial Krebs cycle, amino acid and fatty acid metabolisms and an iron-sulfur cluster assembly are all predicted to occur in these organelles. Predicted secretory proteins possess putative activities that may alter host physiology, such as proteases, protease-inhibitors, immunophilins and glycosyltransferases. This parasite also possesses the enzymatic machinery to tolerate oxidative bursts resulting from its own metabolism or induced by the host immune system. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights into the genome architecture of this unusual stramenopile. It also proposes candidate genes with which to study the physiopathology of this parasite and thus may lead to further investigations into Blastocystis-host interactions

A whole-genome sequence and transcriptome perspective on HER2-positive breast cancers.

HER2-positive breast cancer has long proven to be a clinically distinct class of breast cancers for which several targeted therapies are now available. However, resistance to the treatment associated with specific gene expressions or mutations has been observed, revealing the underlying diversity of these cancers. Therefore, understanding the full extent of the HER2-positive disease heterogeneity still remains challenging. Here we carry out an in-depth genomic characterization of 64 HER2-positive breast tumour genomes that exhibit four subgroups, based on the expression data, with distinctive genomic features in terms of somatic mutations, copy-number changes or structural variations. The results suggest that, despite being clinically defined by a specific gene amplification, HER2-positive tumours melt into the whole luminal-basal breast cancer spectrum rather than standing apart. The results also lead to a refined ERBB2 amplicon of 106 kb and show that several cases of amplifications are compatible with a breakage-fusion-bridge mechanism