New business opportunities for European companies in Asia within the infrastructure sector - C) energy

This report aims to identify expansion opportunities for European companies with in a selected country that promises the best growth and investment potential. After careful analyses, Vietnam emerges as the most appropriate country to study. Further more, the energy sector is promising and offers a lot of potential. It appears that the Vietnamese Energy sector needs experienced partners as its side to further develop. European companies offer the expertise to close existing gaps and boost Vietnam’s Energy industry, particularly with in the wind power energy market

Behavioral Neuroscience: Crawling Is a No-Brainer for Fruit Fly Larvae

SummaryHow are stereotyped behaviors organized in a simple nervous system? A new study in the Drosophila larva reports that the foraging routine can be performed in the absence of any input from the brain

Récit historique et objet technique : outil de valorisation mutuelle

National audienceDans le domaine de l’histoire des techniques et du patrimoine matériel, l’informatisation est massive, autant sur le plan de l’écriture, que des sources (archives) ou de la valorisation. Cependant les articulations entre ces plans (archive, recherche, valorisation) restent faibles. Ce travail propose un outil numérique de gestion de contenu historique (récits et sources) pour documenter et valoriser les objets du patrimoine technique. En fonction des situations, différentes interfaces permettent d’accéder aux connaissances, une interface de navigation en 3D est ici proposée en exemple. L’objet technique et le travail de l’historien sont conjointement valorisés

Récit historique et objet technique : outil de valorisation mutuelle

National audienceDans le domaine de l’histoire des techniques et du patrimoine matériel, l’informatisation est massive, autant sur le plan de l’écriture, que des sources (archives) ou de la valorisation. Cependant les articulations entre ces plans (archive, recherche, valorisation) restent faibles. Ce travail propose un outil numérique de gestion de contenu historique (récits et sources) pour documenter et valoriser les objets du patrimoine technique. En fonction des situations, différentes interfaces permettent d’accéder aux connaissances, une interface de navigation en 3D est ici proposée en exemple. L’objet technique et le travail de l’historien sont conjointement valorisés

Energy Stores Are Not Altered by Long-Term Partial Sleep Deprivation in Drosophila melanogaster

Recent human studies reveal a widespread association between short sleep and obesity. Two hypotheses, which are not mutually exclusive, might explain this association. First, genetic factors that reduce endogenous sleep times might also impact energy stores, an assertion that we confirmed in a previous study. Second, metabolism may be altered by chronic partial sleep deprivation. Here we address the second assertion by measuring the impact of long-term partial sleep deprivation on energy stores using Drosophila as a model. We subjected flies to long-term partial sleep deprivation via two different methods: a mechanical stimulus and a light stimulus. We then measured whole-body triglycerides and glycogen, two important sources of energy for the fly, and compared them to un-stimulated controls. We also measured changes in energy stores in response to a random circadian clock shift. Sex and line-dependent alterations in glycogen and/or triglyceride levels occurred in response to the circadian clock shift and in flies subjected to a single night of sleep deprivation using light. Thus, consistent with previous studies, our findings suggest that acute sleep loss and changes to the circadian clock can alter metabolism. Significant changes in energy stores were also observed when flies were subjected to chronic sleep loss via the mechanical stimulus, although not the light stimulus. Interestingly, mechanical stimulation resulted in the same change in energy stores even when it was not associated with sleep deprivation, suggesting that the changes are caused by stress rather than sleep loss. These findings emphasize the importance of taking stress into account when evaluating the relationship between sleep loss and metabolism

How do firms agglomerate? A study of FDI in france

This paper studies the determinants of location choice by foreign investors in France using a sample of almost 4000 foreign investments over 10 years and 92 locations. Concerning agglomeration effects, we find very strong evidence of positive spillovers between firms, and identify detailed patterns of clustering, assessing, for instance, the countries of origin and the industries for which those spillovers are the most substantial. Concerning regional policies, we find very little evidence of any positive impact. Finally, we identify a 'learning process' of FDI, the location decisions becoming more remote from the country of origin during the period we study

The process of making an aerodynamically efficient car body for the SAE Supermileage competition

In the summer of 2010, a new body shell for the SAE Supermileage car of Laval University was designed. The complete shell design process included, amongst other steps, the generation of a shape through the parametric shape modeling software Unigraphics NX7 and the evaluation of aerodynamic forces acting on the chassis using the open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software OpenFOAM. The CFD analyses were ran at steady-state using a k-omega-SST turbulence model and roughly 2.5 million cells. An efficient method for evaluating the effect of ambient wind conditions and vehicle trajectory on the track was developed. It considers the proportion of time that the car operates at each combination of velocity and wind yaw angle and computes the overall energy demand of the shell. An iterative process was conducted over a significant number of different shapes, which were generated by joining formula-based guide curves using intersection and tangency conditions. The new shell has a 25 % larger frontal area due to modified design constraints. When aerodynamically compared to the smaller and already highly efficient old vehicle, reductions of 50 % of the negative lift, 15 % of the energy demand when driving forward, and 5 % of the energy demand when turning are achieved by the new design. Also, the drag coefficient is reduced by 20 %. These improvements come from the quasi-NACA profiles on the side and top walls; a reduction of cavities to prevent redundant frontal areas; a short vehicle and smother wheel cover closures; and a thorough study of the nose and tail. This paper describes numerical flow simulations and the changes that were brought to the vehicle body to make it as aerodynamically efficient as possible

How do firms agglomerate? A study of FDI in france

This paper studies the determinants of location choice by foreign investors in France using a sample of almost 4000 foreign investments over 10 years and 92 locations. Concerning agglomeration effects, we find very strong evidence of positive spillovers between firms, and identify detailed patterns of clustering, assessing, for instance, the countries of origin and the industries for which those spillovers are the most substantial. Concerning regional policies, we find very little evidence of any positive impact. Finally, we identify a ‘learning process’ of FDI, the location decisions becoming more remote from the country of origin during the period we study