Variational assimilation for xenon dynamical forecasts in neutronic using advanced background error covariance matrix modelling

Data assimilation method consists in combining all available pieces of information about a system to obtain optimal estimates of initial states. The different sources of information are weighted according to their accuracy by the means of error covariance matrices. Our purpose here is to evaluate the efficiency of variational data assimilation for the xenon induced oscillations forecasts in nuclear cores. In this paper we focus on the comparison between 3DVAR schemes with optimised background error covariance matrix B and a 4DVAR scheme. Tests were made in twin experiments using a simulation code which implements a mono-dimensional coupled model of xenon dynamics, thermal, and thermal–hydraulic processes. We enlighten the very good efficiency of the 4DVAR scheme as well as good results with the 3DVAR one using a careful multivariate modelling of B

Clinical review: Long-term noninvasive ventilation

Noninvasive positive ventilation has undergone a remarkable evolution over the past decades and is assuming an important role in the management of both acute and chronic respiratory failure. Long-term ventilatory support should be considered a standard of care to treat selected patients following an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. In this setting, appropriate use of noninvasive ventilation can be expected to improve patient outcomes, reduce ICU admission, enhance patient comfort, and increase the efficiency of health care resource utilization. Current literature indicates that noninvasive ventilation improves and stabilizes the clinical course of many patients with chronic ventilatory failure. Noninvasive ventilation also permits long-term mechanical ventilation to be an acceptable option for patients who otherwise would not have been treated if tracheostomy were the only alternative. Nevertheless, these results appear to be better in patients with neuromuscular/-parietal disorders than in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This clinical review will address the use of noninvasive ventilation (not including continuous positive airway pressure) mainly in diseases responsible for chronic hypoventilation (that is, restrictive disorders, including neuromuscular disease and lung disease) and incidentally in others such as obstructive sleep apnea or problems of central drive

Differential influence of instruments in nuclear core activity evaluation by data assimilation

The global activity fields of a nuclear core can be reconstructed using data assimilation. Data assimilation allows to combine measurements from instruments, and information from a model, to evaluate the best possible activity within the core. We present and apply a specific procedure which evaluates this influence by adding or removing instruments in a given measurement network (possibly empty). The study of various network configurations of instruments in the nuclear core establishes that influence of the instruments depends both on the independant instrumentation location and on the chosen network

Facial emotion recognition in Parkinson's disease A review and new hypotheses

International audienceParkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder classically characterized by motor symptoms. Among them, hypomimia affects facial expressiveness and social communication and has a highly negative impact on patients' and relatives' quality of life. Patients also frequently experience nonmotor symptoms, including emotional-processing impairments, leading to difficulty in recognizing emotions from faces. Aside from its theoretical importance, understanding the disruption of facial emotion recognition in PD is crucial for improving quality of life for both patients and caregivers, as this impairment is associated with heightened interpersonal difficulties. However, studies assessing abilities in recognizing facial emotions in PD still report contradictory outcomes. The origins of this inconsistency are unclear, and several questions (regarding the role of dopamine replacement therapy or the possible consequences of hypomimia) remain unanswered. We therefore undertook a fresh review of relevant articles focusing on facial emotion recognition in PD to deepen current understanding of this nonmotor feature, exploring multiple significant potential confounding factors, both clinical and methodological, and discussing probable pathophysiological mechanisms. This led us to examine recent proposals about the role of basal ganglia-based circuits in emotion and to consider the involvement of facial mimicry in this deficit from the perspective of embodied simulation theory. We believe our findings will inform clinical practice and increase fundamental knowledge, particularly in relation to potential embodied emotion impairment in PD. © 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Les concepts de civilisation/culture dans le champ du FLE en France au XXe siècle : entre tradition et modernité

Les concepts naissent et évoluent dans des contextes historiques précis. Cet article s’attache à rendre compte des débats qui, au lendemain des décolonisations et de la perte de l’Empire colonial français, ont parcouru les pages d’une revue modélisante dans le champ du FLE : Le Français dans le Monde et qui ont permis d’interroger les concepts de civilisation et de culture. La remise en question dans les années 1960-1970 de tout un héritage culturel entraînera dans son sillage la réinterprétation du concept de civilisation et la modification des pratiques pédagogiques dans ce qui deviendra l’enseignement des faits culturels. À la vision enchantée et patrimoniale de la « civilisation » française succèdera une représentation démythifiante de la « culture » française qui s’appuiera notamment sur la notion de vie quotidienne. On montrera ici comment cette évolution, dont la revue s’est fait l’écho et qu’elle a favorisée tout au long de ses pages, a mis en scène différents acteurs, organismes, universitaires, auteurs d’articles, directeurs de centres, lecteurs, qui se sont mobilisés autour d’un axe qui a oscillé entre conservateurs et progressistes, tradition et modernité.Concepts are born and evolve in precise historical contexts. This article focuses on rendering the debates that, in the aftermath of the decolonization and the loss of the French colonial empire, were found in the pages of the defining review in the field of FLE (French as a Second Language) : Le Français dans le Monde, and that permitted an interrogation of the concepts of civilization and culture. The questioning in the 1960s and 1970s of an entire cultural heritage drove the reinterpretation of the concept of civilization and changes in the pedagogical practices of what would later become the teaching of cultural facts. To the enchanted and heritage vision of the French ‘civilization’ will succeed a demystifying representation of the French ‘culture’ which will focus in particular on the notion of day to day life. We show here how this evolution, which the review Le Français dans le Monde echoed and encouraged in its pages, staged different actors, organisms, academics, article authors, center directors, readers, that mobilized around an axis which oscillated between conservatives and progressives, tradition and modernity

André Reboullet, Hugo Vera Meigg. Pedro de Valdivia 641, le collège de l’Alliance Française (1940-1958).

Il n’est pas toujours facile de réaliser un ouvrage qui rende compte d’une aventure dont on a été partie prenante : 20 ans environ de la vie d’un collège de l’Alliance Française au Chili, qui recevait des élèves de 5 ans à 17 ans. Les deux auteurs de l’essai, à mi-chemin entre la monographie et le livre de souvenirs, sont un ancien élève, Hugo Vera Meigg, et un ancien directeur français, André Reboullet, qui fut aussi rédacteur en chef de la revue Le Français dans le Monde de 1961 à 1981. Le ..