Undermining, defusing or defending European integration? Assessing public communication of European executives in times of EU politicisation

How do mainstream political executives cue their politicised constituencies on European integration? Moving beyond static expectations that EU politicisation induces executives to either undermine, defuse or defend integration, this article theorises executives’ incentives under different configurations of public and partisan Euroscepticism in their home countries. Expectations are tested on the sentiment and complexity that executives attach to European integration in almost 9,000 public speeches delivered throughout the Euro Crisis. It is found that national leaders faced with sceptical public opinion and low levels of partisan Euroscepticism rhetorically undermine integration, whereas European Commissioners faced with similar conditions are prone to defend it. These responses intensify disproportionally with growing public Euroscepticism, but are moderated by Eurosceptic party strength in surprising ways. When such challenger parties come closer to absorbing the Eurosceptic potential in public opinion, executive communication turns more positive again but also involves less clear rhetorical signals. These findings move beyond existing uniform expectations on mainstream responses to Eurosceptic challenges and highlight the relevance of different domestic configurations of EU politicisation

Plunge milling time optimization via mixed-integer nonlinear programming

International audiencePlunge milling is a recent and efficient production mean for machining deep workpieces, notably in aeronautics. This paper focuses on the minimization of the machining time by optimizing the values of the cutting parameters. Currently, neither Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software nor standard approaches take into account the tool path geometry and the control laws driving the tool displacements to propose optimal cutting parameter values, despite their significant impact. This paper contributes to plunge milling optimization through a Mixed-Integer NonLinear Programming (MINLP) approach, which enables us to determine optimal cutting parameter values that evolve along the tool path. It involves both continuous (cutting speed, feed per tooth) and, in contrast with standard approaches, integer (number of plunges) optimization variables, as well as nonlinear constraints. These constraints are related to the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tool and to the cutting tool, taking into account the control laws. Computational results, validated on CNC machines and on representative test cases of engine housing, show that our methodology outperforms standard industrial engineering know-how approaches by up to 55% in terms of machining time

Computing In-Service Aircraft Reliability

International audienceThis paper deals with the modeling and computation of in-service aircraft reliability at the preliminary design stage. This problem is crucial for aircraft designers because it enables them to evaluate in-service interruption rates, in view of designing the system and of optimizing aircraft support. In the context of a sequence of flight cycles, standard reliability methods are not computationally conceivable with respect to industrial timing constraints. In this paper, first we construct the mathematical framework of in-service aircraft reliability. Second, we use this model in order to demonstrate recursive formulae linking the probabilities of the main failure events. Third, from these analytic developments, we derive relevent reliability bounds. We use these bounds to design an efficient algorithm to estimate operational interruption rate indicators. Finally, we show the usefulness of our approach on real-world cases provided by Airbus

Uncertainty propagation in multi-agent systems for multidisciplinary optimization problems

International audienceBecause of uncertainties on models and variables, deterministic multidisciplinary optimization may achieve under-sizing (without design margins) or over-sizing (with arbitrary design margins). Thus, it is necessary to implement multidisciplinary optimization methods that take into account the uncertainties in order to design systems that are both robust and reliable. Probabilistic methods such as reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) or robust design methods, provide designers with powerful decision-making tools but may involve very time-consuming calculations. New optimization approaches have been developed to deal with such complex problems. Auto-adaptive Multi-Agent Systems (AMAS) is a new approach developed recently, allowing to take into account the various aspects of a multidisciplinary optimization problem (multi-level, computation burden etc.). This approach was suggested for solving complex deterministic optimization problem. Now, the question of the integration of uncertainties in this multi-agent based optimization arises. The aim of this paper is to propose a new methodology for integrating the treatment of uncertainties in an adaptive multi-agent system for sequential optimization. The developed method employs a single loop process in which cycles of deterministic optimization alternate with evaluations of the system reliability. For each cycle, the optimization and the reliability analysis are decoupled from each other. The reliability analysis is carried out at agent level and only after the resolution of the deterministic optimization, to verify the feasibility of the constraints under uncertainties. Following the probabilistic study, the constraints violated (with low reliability) are shifted to the area of feasibility by integrating adaptive safety coeficients whose calculations are based on the agent-level reliability information. The method developed is applied to a conceptual aircraft design problem

Modeling Operational Variability for Robust Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

International audienceThe aim of this paper is to model and propagate operational uncertainties in view of its integration in a multidisciplinary optimization methodology for aircraft robust design. From databases relative to one specic type of long-range airplane, we analyze the variations of four ight parameters (altitude, speed, temperature and range), and build the associated statistical distributions. Then, using an uncertainty propagation methodology, we identify the distribution of operational costs

Comparing structural airframe maintenance strategies based on probabilistic estimates of the remaining useful service life

Structural airframe maintenance is a subset of aircraft maintenance, which is often performed at scheduled intervals to detect and repair cracks that would otherwise affect the safety of the aircraft. With the progress of structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques, which uses on-board sensors and actuators to assess damage status, condition-based maintenance (CBM) is considered as an alternative to traditional scheduled maintenance. By applying SHM techniques, CBM can access damages status as frequently as needed and unscheduled maintenance can be asked once the damage exceeds a particular threshold. Due to the harsh working environment and sensor limitation, the measurement data acquired from SHM is often quite noisy. In this paper, Extended Kalman filter is used to filer the noise to provide an accurate estimation of crack size and crack growth parameters together with their associated uncertainty. This knowledge is used to obtain a probabilistic estimate of the remaining useful service life of the structure. Based on these estimates, two maintenance philosophies are developed and further compared in terms of maintenance stop number or replaced panel number. The results indicate that both these two strategies reduce considerably the maintenance stop number compared to scheduled maintenance

Optimisation multidisciplinaire sous incertitudes en conception préliminaire avion

Les incertitudes sont couramment intégrées dans les méthodes d'optimisation afin d'obtenir des systèmes fiables et/ou robustes. Les systèmes à optimiser de plus en plus complexes font souvent intervenir plusieurs disciplines étroitement couplées : des méthodes spécifiques permettant de propager les incertitudes doivent donc être implémentées. Nous nous intéresserons notamment au problème de conception préliminaire avion dont l'objectif est de minimiser la masse en respectant des contraintes de robustesse et de fiabilité

Beyond seek and destroy: How to generate allelic series using genome editing tools

Genome editing tools have greatly facilitated the functional analysis of genes of interest by targeted mutagenesis. Many usable genome editing tools, including different site-specific nucleases and editor databases that allow single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be introduced at a given site, are now available. These tools can be used to generate high allelic diversity at a given locus to facilitate gene function studies, including examining the role of a specific protein domain or a single amino acid. We compared the effects, efficiencies and mutation types generated by our LbCPF1, SpCAS9 and base editor (BECAS9) constructs for the OsCAO1 gene. SpCAS9 and LbCPF1 have similar efficiencies in generating mutations but differ in the types of mutations induced, with the majority of changes being single-nucleotide insertions and short deletions for SpCAS9 and LbCPF1, respectively. The proportions of heterozygotes also differed, representing a majority in our LbCPF1, while with SpCAS9, we obtained a large number of biallelic mutants. Finally, we demonstrated that it is possible to specifically introduce stop codons using the BECAS9 with an acceptable efficiency of approximately 20%. Based on these results, a rational choice among these three alternatives may be made depending on the type of mutation that one wishes to introduce, the three systems being complementary. SpCAS9 remains the best choice to generate KO mutations in primary transformants, while if the desired gene mutation interferes with regeneration or viability, the use of our LbCPF1 construction will be preferred, because it produces mainly heterozygotes. LbCPF1 has been described in other studies as being as effective as SpCAS9 in generating homozygous and biallelic mutations. It will remain to be clarified in the future, whether the different LbCFP1 constructions have different efficiencies and determine the origin of these differences. Finally, if one wishes to specifically introduce stop codons, BECAS9 is a viable and efficient alternative, although it has a lower efficiency than SpCAS9 and LbCPF1 for creating KO mutations

Experimental and numerical methodology to obtain the probability of detection in eddy current NDT method

The scope of this paper is to define a methodology for building robust PoD curves from numerical modelling. First, an experimental database will be created in a laboratory scenario. A representative sample of inspectors with different certification levels in NDT method will be employed. Multiple inspections will be carried out to include the human influence in the MAPOD calculation. In addition, this study will take into account the impact of using different devices in the High Frequency Eddy Current method (HFEC). Then, a simulation model is created taking into consideration the main uncertainties due to human and device factors. These uncertainties are identified and quantified by the observation of experimental NDT inspection. Then, statistical distributions of these uncertainties are derived and used as inputs of the simulation model. Finally, the simulation PoD model will be compared and validated with the experimental results developed in the laboratory scenario. This comparison provided encouraging results to replace or complete experimental tests by simulation

Development of the VEGANScreener, : a Tool for a Quick Diet Quality Assessment among Vegans in Europe

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