Trends of Social Welfare Systems : From Convergence to Attractiveness, an Exploratory Approach

Trends of Social Welfare Systems : From Convergence to Attractiveness, an Exploratory Approach

Concurrent Segmentation and Localization for Tracking of Surgical Instruments

Real-time instrument tracking is a crucial requirement for various computer-assisted interventions. In order to overcome problems such as specular reflections and motion blur, we propose a novel method that takes advantage of the interdependency between localization and segmentation of the surgical tool. In particular, we reformulate the 2D instrument pose estimation as heatmap regression and thereby enable a concurrent, robust and near real-time regression of both tasks via deep learning. As demonstrated by our experimental results, this modeling leads to a significantly improved performance than directly regressing the tool position and allows our method to outperform the state of the art on a Retinal Microsurgery benchmark and the MICCAI EndoVis Challenge 2015.Comment: I. Laina and N. Rieke contributed equally to this work. Accepted to MICCAI 201

Analyses of Shell Increment and Microgrowth Band Formation to Establish Seasonality of Mesolithic Shellfish Collection

Analyses of Shell Increment and Microgrowth Band Formation to Establish Seasonality of Mesolithic Shellfish Collectio

Genomic Transformation of the Picoeukaryote Ostreococcus tauri

Common problems hindering rapid progress in Plant Sciences include cellular, tissue and whole organism complexity, and notably the high level of genomic redundancy affecting simple genetics in higher plants. The novel model organism Ostreococcus tauri is the smallest free-living eukaryote known to date, and possesses a greatly reduced genome size and cellular complexity(1,2), manifested by the presence of just one of most organelles (mitochondrion, chloroplast, golgi stack) per cell, and a genome containing only ~8000 genes. Furthermore, the combination of unicellularity and easy culture provides a platform amenable to chemical biology approaches. Recently, Ostreococcus has been successfully employed to study basic mechanisms underlying circadian timekeeping(3-6). Results from this model organism have impacted not only plant science, but also mammalian biology(7). This example highlights how rapid experimentation in a simple eukaryote from the green lineage can accelerate research in more complex organisms by generating testable hypotheses using methods technically feasible only in this background of reduced complexity. Knowledge of a genome and the possibility to modify genes are essential tools in any model species. Genomic(1), Transcriptomic(8), and Proteomic(9) information for this species is freely available, whereas the previously reported methods(6,10) to genetically transform Ostreococcus are known to few laboratories worldwide. In this article, the experimental methods to genetically transform this novel model organism with an overexpression construct by means of electroporation are outlined in detail, as well as the method of inclusion of transformed cells in low percentage agarose to allow selection of transformed lines originating from a single transformed cell. Following the successful application of Ostreococcus to circadian research, growing interest in Ostreococcus can be expected from diverse research areas within and outside plant sciences, including biotechnological areas. Researchers from a broad range of biological and medical sciences that work on conserved biochemical pathways may consider pursuing research in Ostreococcus, free from the genomic and organismal complexity of larger model species

Could Tree-related Microhabitats (TreMs) be relevant conservation forestry targets and/or biodiversity indicators ?

Presentation of the results of the research carried out in the last five years within the LIFE Project MIPP and of the National Guidelines for the monitoring of the saproxylic beetles: Osmoderma eremita, Lucanus cervus, Cerambyx cerdo, Rosalia alpina and Morimus asper/funereus

Dégradation de données par publication éphémère

Le respect de la vie privée est un droit fondamental mais difficile à garantir sur Internet. Malgré les recommandations des experts, le principe de minimisation des données -- qui exige notamment que les données soient effacées aussitôt qu'elles ne sont plus strictement nécessaires (rétention minimale) -- est rarement appliqué, en raison d'intérêts divergents entre les hébergeurs des données personnelles et les utilisateurs. Pour diminuer l'impact de ces divergences, une alternative à la rétention minimale a été proposée, la dégradation des données : au lieu d'être complètement effacée, une donnée peut être progressivement dégradée vers des états moins précis qui protègent mieux la vie privée de l'utilisateur tout en conservant (partiellement) l'utilité de la donnée initiale. Cependant, aucune architecture n'existe à l'heure actuelle qui garantisse la dégradation des données sans un gestionnaire de base de données de confiance. En utilisant un système de publication éphémère (une donnée ne peut plus être accédée après une date d'expiration fixée à l'avance), nous proposons dans ce travail une architecture décentralisée qui garantit la dégradation des données sans aucun acteur de confiance dans le système

Orchestrated transcription of biological processes in the marine picoeukaryote Ostreococcus exposed to light/dark cycles

Background: Picoeukaryotes represent an important, yet poorly characterized component of marine phytoplankton. The recent genome availability for two species of Ostreococcus and Micromonas has led to the emergence of picophytoplankton comparative genomics. Sequencing has revealed many unexpected features about genome structure and led to several hypotheses on Ostreococcus biology and physiology. Despite the accumulation of genomic data, little is known about gene expression in eukaryotic picophytoplankton. Results: We have conducted a genome-wide analysis of gene expression in Ostreococcus tauri cells exposed to light/dark cycles (L/D). A Bayesian Fourier Clustering method was implemented to cluster rhythmic genes according to their expression waveform. In a single L/D condition nearly all expressed genes displayed rhythmic patterns of expression. Clusters of genes were associated with the main biological processes such as transcription in the nucleus and the organelles, photosynthesis, DNA replication and mitosis. Conclusions: Light/Dark time-dependent transcription of the genes involved in the main steps leading to protein synthesis (transcription basic machinery, ribosome biogenesis, translation and aminoacid synthesis) was observed, to an unprecedented extent in eukaryotes, suggesting a major input of transcriptional regulations in Ostreococcus. We propose that the diurnal co-regulation of genes involved in photoprotection, defence against oxidative stress and DNA repair might be an efficient mechanism, which protects cells against photo-damage thereby, contributing to the ability of O. tauri to grow under a wide range of light intensities

Trahison et résurgence de la matière arthurienne dans la trilogie de Michel Rio Merlin, Morgane, Arthur

Michel Rio’s trilogy, Merlin, Morgane, Arthur, revives the story of the Arthurian kingdom, apparently eliminating the supernatural and enigmatic features that characterise the thirteenth-century cycles. However, transformations of the novelistic substance and poetics maintain certain features and preoccupations inherent in the Arthurian literature of the Middle Ages.La trilogie de Michel Rio, Merlin, Morgane, Arthur, reprend l’histoire du royaume arthurien en évacuant, apparemment, la dimension merveilleuse et énigmatique propre aux cycles du XIIIe siècle. Les transformations du support et de la poétique romanesques rejoignent toutefois, dans le fond, certains traits et certaines préoccupations inhérentes à la littérature arthurienne du Moyen Âge