Ramallah : une « capitale » déconnectée

National audienceRamallah reflète les limites du pari des accords d’Oslo de 1993, qui rêvaient d’instaurer un État palestinien dans les frontières de la Ligne verte de 1949, malgré la colonisation israélienne. L’Organisation de libération de la Palestine, qui revendiquait Jérusalem, s’était alors résignée à établir une capitale provisoire à Ramallah

Extrapolation of DEM simulations to large time scale. Application to the mixing of powder in a conical screw mixer

International audienceThe paper proposes an original algorithm which allows a long time scale extrapolation of DEM results at a very low computational cost. This algorithm can be adapted to any periodic processes. In this study, it is applied to the mixing process of powders within a conical screw mixer. The results are then compared with long time DEM simulations. It appears that this method is able to predict the DEM results with a very good accuracy

Qualitative and quantitative DEM analysis of cohesive granular material behaviour in FT4 shear tester

International audienceThe macroscopic behaviour of cohesive granular material in the FT4 shear tester is studied using the discrete element method (DEM). The shear test is simulated faithfully to the experimental procedure (filling, compaction, pre-shearing and shearing). The angle of internal friction and the apparent bulk cohesion are the macroscopic properties analysed as a result of the variation of the microscopic parameters: the sliding friction coefficient and the adhesive surface energy. The simplified JKR model was used to account for the cohesive contact between spheres. The results of the shear test show that the adhesive forces influence the dilatancy of the granular bed and the incipient failure point. In general, the shear stress increases with the adhesive energy. The sliding friction coefficient and the adhesive energy affect the yield locus and therefore the angle of internal friction and the apparent cohesion. Two correlations were established between the angle of internal friction and sliding friction coefficient and between cohesion and adhesive energy. The effect of the initial consolidation on the shear test results is also discussed

Essais en bassin du comportement dynamique d'une éolienne flottante sous l'action conjuguée de la houle et du vent

Ce travail porte sur l'étude expérimentale du comportement dynamique d'une éolienne offshore flottante sous l'action conjuguée de la houle et du vent. Pour cela, un nouveau moyen d'essai permettant la génération de vent a été développé sur le bassin de génie océanique de l'École Centrale de Nantes. La qualification aérodynamique de ce dispositif a mis en évidence un faible taux de turbulence et une bonne homogénéité spatiale. Dans un second temps, un modèle réduit d'éolienne flottante a été dimensionné à l'échelle du 1/50e suivant une méthodologie adaptée à ce type d'essai. Le dimensionnement de la maquette est basé sur l'éolienne générique NREL 5MW. Cette éolienne repose sur un flotteur de type semi-submersible (Dutch Tri-floater). Cette maquette a ensuite été étudiée en bassin afin de caractériser son comportement sous l'action de la houle et du vent. L'influence de la directionnalité de la houle et de fluctuations basses fréquences caractéristiques d'un spectre de vent marin est aussi évoquée dans ce document

Can the evaluation of marker placement confidence be used as an indicator of gait kinematic variability?

IntroductionThree-dimensional gait analysis is widely used for the clinical assessment of movement disorders. However, measurement error reduces the reliability of kinematic data and consequently assessment of gait deviations. The identification of high variability is associated with low reliability and those parameters should be ignored or excluded from gait data interpretation. Moreover, marker placement error has been demonstrated to be the biggest source of variability in gait analysis and may be affected by factors intrinsic to the evaluators such as the evaluator's expertise which could be appraised through his/her experience and confidence in marker placement.ObjectivesIn the present study, we hypothesized that confidence in marker placement is correlated with kinematic variability and could potentially be used as part of a score of reliability. Therefore, we have proposed a questionnaire to evaluate qualitatively the confidence of evaluators in lower-limb marker placement. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the presented questionnaire. The secondary objective was to test a possible relationship between marker placement confidence and kinematics variability.MethodsTo do so, test-retest gait data were acquired from two different experimental protocols. One protocol included data from a cohort of 32 pathological and 24 asymptomatic subjects where gait analysis was repeated three times, involving two evaluators. A second protocol included data from a cohort of 8 asymptomatic adults with gait analysis repeated 12 times, per participant, and involving four evaluators with a wider range of experience.ResultsResults demonstrated that the questionnaire proposed is valid and reliable to evaluate qualitatively the confidence of evaluators in placing markers. Indeed, confidence scores were correlated with the actual variability of marker placement and revealed the evaluator's experience and the subjects' characteristics. However, no correlation was observed between confidence scores and kinematic variability and the formulated hypothesis was not supported

Effect of Cyclosporine on Left Ventricular Remodeling After Reperfused Myocardial Infarction

ObjectivesThis study examined the effect of a single dose of cyclosporine administered at the time of reperfusion on left ventricular (LV) remodeling and function by cardiac magnetic resonance 5 days and 6 months after myocardial infarction.BackgroundIn a human study, administration of cyclosporine at the time of acute reperfusion was associated with a smaller infarct size.MethodsTwenty-eight patients of the original cyclosporine study had an acute (at 5 days) and a follow-up (at 6 months) cardiac magnetic resonance study to determine LV volumes, mass, ejection fraction, myocardial wall thickness in infarcted and remote noninfarcted myocardium, and infarct size.ResultsThere was a persistent reduction in infarct size at 6 months in the cyclosporine group compared with the control group of patients (29 ± 15 g vs. 38 ± 14 g; p = 0.04). There was a significant reduction of LV end-systolic volume (and a trend for LV end-diastolic volume; p = 0.07) in the cyclosporine group compared with the control group, both at 5 days and 6 months after infarction. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in either global LV mass or regional wall thickness of the remote noninfarcted myocardium at 5 days or 6 months. Attenuation of LV dilation and improvement of LV ejection fraction by cyclosporine at 6 months were correlated with infarct size reduction.ConclusionsCyclosporine used at the moment of acute myocardial infarction reperfusion persistently reduces infarct size and does not have a detrimental effect on LV remodeling. These results are preliminary and must be supported by further studies. (Ciclosporin A and Acute Myocardial Infarction; NCT00403728

Determination of rapid Deccan eruptions across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary using paleomagnetic secular variation: 2. Constraints from analysis of eight new sections and synthesis for a 3500-m-thick composite section

International audienceThe present paper completes a restudy of the main lava pile in the Deccan flood basalt province (trap) of India. Chenet et al. (2008) reported results from the upper third, and this paper reports the lower two thirds of the 3500-m-thick composite section. The methods employed are the same, i.e., combined use of petrology, volcanology, chemostratigraphy, morphology, K-Ar absolute dating, study of sedimentary alteration horizons, and as the main correlation tool, analysis of detailed paleomagnetic remanence directions. The thickness and volume of the flood basalt province studied in this way are therefore tripled. A total of 169 sites from eight new sections are reported in this paper. Together with the results of Chenet et al. (2008), these data represent in total 70% of the 3500-m combined section of the main Deccan traps province. This lava pile was erupted in some 30 major eruptive periods or single eruptive events (SEE), each with volumes ranging from 1000 to 20,000 km 3 and 41 individual lava units with a typical volume of 1300 km 3. Paleomagnetic analysis shows that some SEEs with thicknesses attaining 200 m were emplaced over distances in excess of 100 km (both likely underestimates, due to outcrop conditions) and up to 800 km. The total time of emission of all combined SEEs could have been (much) less than 10 ka, with most of the time recorded in a very small number of intervening alteration levels marking periods of volcanic quiescence (so-called ''big red boles''). The number of boles, thickness of the pulses, and morphology of the traps suggest that eruptive fluxes and volumes were larger in the older formations and slowed down with more and longer quiescence periods in the end. On the basis of geochronologic results published by Chenet et al. (2007) and paleontological results from Keller et al. (2008), we propose that volcanism occurred in three rather short, discrete phases or megapulses, an early one at $67.5 ± 1 Ma near the C30r/C30n transition and the two largest around 65 ± 1 Ma, one entirely within C29r just before the K-T boundary, the other shortly afterward spanning the C29r/C29n reversal. We next estimate sulfur dioxide (likely a major agent of environmental stress) amounts and fluxes released by SEEs: they would have ranged from 5 to 100 Gt and 0.1 to 1 Gt/a, respectively, over durations possibly as short as 100 years for each SEE. The chemical input of the Chicxulub impact would have been on the same order as that of a very large single pulse. The impact, therefore, appears as important but incremental, neither the sole nor main cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions

Why Are Outcomes Different for Registry Patients Enrolled Prospectively and Retrospectively? Insights from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF).

Background: Retrospective and prospective observational studies are designed to reflect real-world evidence on clinical practice, but can yield conflicting results. The GARFIELD-AF Registry includes both methods of enrolment and allows analysis of differences in patient characteristics and outcomes that may result. Methods and Results: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and ≥1 risk factor for stroke at diagnosis of AF were recruited either retrospectively (n = 5069) or prospectively (n = 5501) from 19 countries and then followed prospectively. The retrospectively enrolled cohort comprised patients with established AF (for a least 6, and up to 24 months before enrolment), who were identified retrospectively (and baseline and partial follow-up data were collected from the emedical records) and then followed prospectively between 0-18 months (such that the total time of follow-up was 24 months; data collection Dec-2009 and Oct-2010). In the prospectively enrolled cohort, patients with newly diagnosed AF (≤6 weeks after diagnosis) were recruited between Mar-2010 and Oct-2011 and were followed for 24 months after enrolment. Differences between the cohorts were observed in clinical characteristics, including type of AF, stroke prevention strategies, and event rates. More patients in the retrospectively identified cohort received vitamin K antagonists (62.1% vs. 53.2%) and fewer received non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (1.8% vs . 4.2%). All-cause mortality rates per 100 person-years during the prospective follow-up (starting the first study visit up to 1 year) were significantly lower in the retrospective than prospectively identified cohort (3.04 [95% CI 2.51 to 3.67] vs . 4.05 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.63]; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Interpretations of data from registries that aim to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF must take account of differences in registry design and the impact of recall bias and survivorship bias that is incurred with retrospective enrolment. Clinical Trial Registration: - URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362)