Nouvelles puissances financières et centres de pouvoir

Financial power alone is not sufficient if a state is to exercise an important influence. The former must be coterminous with other forms of power : military, ideological or religious, etc. ... in order for the country to claim a position of limited leadership. Financial power therefore would appear to be only one of the components of total power as a means and not as a final result.Should a limited financial power appear not capable of changing the equilibrium of international markets and, via that, the equilibrium of political relations, it nevertheless is of such a nature, by the disturbances that it can provoke in their operation, to create instability in the latter and in relations among states.The conjuncture of these different points demonstrates clearly that if the rise of the new financial petro-powers can, only lead to gradual change in the relations in this field, it remains sufficiently dangerous to provoke unexpected economic and political disturbances

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Communication faite lors de la journée d\u27étude "L\u27indexation des ressources pédagogiques numériques : un partenariat à créer entre les SCD et les services TICE au sein des universités" organisée par l\u27ENSSIB le 16 novembre 2004. SCORM est une norme qui prend de plus en plus d’importance, tant du côté des plates-formes pédagogiques - pour ses capacités d’interopérabilité - que du côté des contenus pédagogiques pour ses capacités d’indexation. Après avoir présenté les besoins auxquels SCORM tente de répondre, cette communication décrit son modèle d’agrégation puis son environnement d’exécution

Nearfield Acoustic Holography using sparsity and compressive sampling principles

Regularization of the inverse problem is a complex issue when using Near-field Acoustic Holography (NAH) techniques to identify the vibrating sources. This paper shows that, for convex homogeneous plates with arbitrary boundary conditions, new regularization schemes can be developed, based on the sparsity of the normal velocity of the plate in a well-designed basis, i.e. the possibility to approximate it as a weighted sum of few elementary basis functions. In particular, these new techniques can handle discontinuities of the velocity field at the boundaries, which can be problematic with standard techniques. This comes at the cost of a higher computational complexity to solve the associated optimization problem, though it remains easily tractable with out-of-the-box software. Furthermore, this sparsity framework allows us to take advantage of the concept of Compressive Sampling: under some conditions on the sampling process (here, the design of a random array, which can be numerically and experimentally validated), it is possible to reconstruct the sparse signals with significantly less measurements (i.e., microphones) than classically required. After introducing the different concepts, this paper presents numerical and experimental results of NAH with two plate geometries, and compares the advantages and limitations of these sparsity-based techniques over standard Tikhonov regularization.Comment: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (2012

Model-assisted estimation of the genetic variability of tomato growth physiological parameters under contrasted water conditions

Model-assisted estimation of the genetic variability of tomato growth physiological parameters under contrasted water conditions. SEB Gothenburg 201

Brain source localization using a physics-driven structured cosparse representation of EEG signals

International audienceLocalizing several potentially synchronous brain activities with low signal-to-noise ratio from ElectroEncephaloGraphic (EEG) recordings is a challenging problem. In this paper we propose a novel source localization method, named CoRE, which uses a Cosparse Representation of EEG signals. The underlying analysis operator is derived from physical laws satisfied by EEG signals, and more particularly from Poisson's equation. In addition, we show how physiological constraints on sources, leading to a given space support and fixed orientations for current dipoles, can be taken into account in the optimization scheme. Computer results, aiming at showing the feasability of the CoRE technique, illustrate its superiority in terms of estimation accuracy over dictionary-based sparse methods and subspace approaches

SDSSJ150634.27+013331.6: the second compact elliptical galaxy in the NGC5846 group

We report the discovery of the second compact elliptical (cE) galaxy SDSSJ150634.27+013331.6 in the nearby NGC5846 group by the Virtual Observatory (VO) workflow . This object (M_B = -15.98 mag, R_e = 0.24 kpc) becomes the fifth cE where the spatially-resolved kinematics and stellar populations can be obtained. We used archival HST WFPC2 images to demonstrate that its light profile has a two-component structure, and integrated photometry from GALEX, SDSS, UKIDSS, and Spitzer to build the multi-wavelength SED to constraint the star formation history (SFH). We observed this galaxy with the PMAS IFU spectrograph at the Calar-Alto 3.5m telescope and obtained two-dimensional maps of its kinematics and stellar population properties using the full-spectral fitting technique. Its structural, dynamical and stellar population properties suggest that it had a massive progenitor heavily tidally stripped by NGC5846.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure, 1 table. Accepted to MNRAS Letter

Infections with Plasmodium falciparum during pregnancy affect VAR2CSA DBL-5 domain-specific T cell cytokine responses

Background: Current knowledge of human immunological responses to pregnancy-associated malaria-specific Plasmodium falciparum protein VAR2CSA concerns almost exclusively B cell-driven antibody-mediated activity. Knowledge of VAR2CSA-specific T cell-mediated activity is minimal by comparison, with only a single published report of a study investigating VAR2CSA-derived peptide-specific T cell responses. The study described here represents an attempt to redress this balance. Methods: Within the framework of a cohort study of 1037 pregnant Beninese, sub-groups were selected on the basis of the documented presence/absence of infection with P. falciparum and conducted detailed immunological assessments both at inclusion into the study and at delivery. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated, stimulated in vitro, and VAR2CSA DBL-5 domain-specific, IFN-gamma-secreting T-cell frequencies and cytokine responses were quantified using flow cytometric techniques. Multivariate analyses were used to determine primarily whether the T cell-mediated DBL5-specific activity measured was associated with infection by P. falciparum adjusted for gravidity, anaemia and other cofactors. Results: Infections with P. falciparum detected at inclusion were associated with enhanced non-specific TNF responses, whilst diminished non-specific and DBL-5-specific IL-10 responses were associated with infections detected at delivery. Infections during pregnancy led to enhanced non-specific and DBL-5-specific IFN-gamma responses detectable at delivery but to concomitantly lower DBL-5-specific CD8+ IFN-gamma responses. Prospective assessments indicated that non-specific pro-inflammatory responses detectable at inclusion in the study were associated with the occurrence of infections subsequently during pregnancy. Conclusions: The findings represent a first step in elucidating the quantity and quality of cellular immunological responses to VAR2CSA, which will help in the development of the primary vaccine candidate for prevention of pregnancy-associated malaria

Indexation des ressources pédagogiques numériques : un partenariat à créer entre les SCD et les services TICE au sein des universités (L\u27)

Actes de la journée d\u27étude organisée par l\u27ENSSIB le 16 novembre 2004. Au sein des établissements d\u27enseignement supérieur, tous les acteurs impliqués dans les TICE et l\u27enseignement à distance sont en train de prendre conscience de la nécessité d\u27indexer les ressources pédagogiques numériques pour pouvoir les échanger. Mais les normes et standards pédagogiques sont difficiles à appréhender, tant par les acteurs des TICE qui ne sont pas des spécialistes de l\u27indexation que par les bibliothécaires qui ont du mal à se repérer dans l\u27utilisation de ces différents standards, dont le processus de normalisation est en cours. Différents acteurs étudient les possibilités de partenariats sur cette question

Семантичні зміни в лексичному складі російської та української мов

Использование вычислительной техники и радиоэлектроники способствовало формированию специальной группы лексических единиц. Номинация новых явлений и понятий является актуальной проблемой нынешнего этапа развития языка. Изменение семантического наполнения – это один из способов решения данной проблемы. Расширение или сужение семантического объема слов способствует обогащению лексической системы, а именно терминологии.Використання обчислювальної техніки та радіоелектроніки спричинило формування спеціальної групи лексичних одиниць. Номінація нових явищ та понять є актуальною проблемою теперішнього етапу розвитку мови. Зміна семантичного об'єму – це один із засобів вирішення даної проблеми. Звуження або розширення семантичного наповнення сприяє збагаченню лексичної системи, а саме термінології.Using of radio-electronic devices forced the formation of a special group of lexical units. The nomination of new processes and notions is an actual problem of today's language development. Semantic changes of existing units is one of the decisions of the problem. Widening and narrowing of semantic meanings promotes the enrichment of lexical system, especially the system of terminology

Dynamics of Submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum Infections Throughout Pregnancy: A Preconception Cohort Study in Benin.

BACKGROUND: In the context of global malaria elimination efforts, special attention is being paid to submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infections. In pregnant, sub-Saharan African women, such infections are more prevalent than microscopic infections, and are thought to have adverse effects on both mothers' and newborns' health. However, no study has studied the dynamics and determinants of these infections throughout pregnancy. Retard de Croissance Intra-uterin et Paludisme (RECIPAL), a preconception cohort study carried out in Benin between 2014 and 2017, represented a unique opportunity to assess this issue. METHODS: We used data from 273 pregnant Beninese women who were followed-up from preconception to delivery. We studied the dynamics of and factors influencing submicroscopic (and microscopic) P. falciparum infections during the 3 trimesters of pregnancy, using an ordinal logistic mixed model. RESULTS: The incidence rate of submicroscopic P. falciparum infections during pregnancy was 12.7 per 100 person-months (95% confidence interval [CI] 10.8-14.9), compared to 6.7 per 100 person-months (95% CI 5.5-8.1) for microscopic infections. The prevalences were highest in the first trimester for both submicroscopic and microscopic infections. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, we found that those of young age and those with a submicroscopic P. falciparum infection prior to pregnancy were at significantly higher risks of submicroscopic and microscopic infections throughout pregnancy, with a more pronounced effect in the first trimester of pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: The first trimester of pregnancy is a particularly high-risk period for P. falciparum infection during pregnancy, especially for the youngest women. Malaria prevention tools covering the preconception period and early pregnancy are urgently needed to better protect pregnant women and their newborns