Dynamic hybrid simulation of batch processes driven by a scheduling module

Simulation is now a CAPE tool widely used by practicing engineers for process design and control. In particular, it allows various offline analyses to improve system performance such as productivity, energy efficiency, waste reduction, etc. In this framework, we have developed the dynamic hybrid simulation environment PrODHyS whose particularity is to provide general and reusable object-oriented components dedicated to the modeling of devices and operations found in chemical processes. Unlike continuous processes, the dynamic simulation of batch processes requires the execution of control recipes to achieve a set of production orders. For these reasons, PrODHyS is coupled to a scheduling module (ProSched) based on a MILP mathematical model in order to initialize various operational parameters and to ensure a proper completion of the simulation. This paper focuses on the procedure used to generate the simulation model corresponding to the realization of a scenario described through a particular scheduling

A threshold model of plastic waste fragmentation: New insights into the distribution of microplastics in the ocean and its evolution over time

Plastic pollution in the aquatic environment has been assessed for many years by ocean waste collection expeditions around the globe or by river sampling. While the total amount of plastic produced worldwide is well documented, the amount of plastic found in the ocean, the distribution of particles on its surface and its evolution over time are still the subject of much debate. In this article, we propose a general fragmentation model, postulating the existence of a critical size below which particle fragmentation becomes extremely unlikely. In the frame of this model, an abundance peak appears for sizes around 1mm, in agreement with real environmental data. Using, in addition, a realistic exponential waste feed to the ocean, we discuss the relative impact of fragmentation and feed rates, and the temporal evolution of microplastics (MP) distribution. New conclusions on the temporal trend of MP pollution are drawn.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

Analyse linguistique des interactions patient/médecin

International audienceCet article présente les premiers résultats d'une étude linguistique initiée dans le cadre d'un projet interdisciplinaire, INTERMEDE, qui réunit des épidémiologues, des sociologues et des linguistes dans le but de comprendre dans quelle mesure les interactions médecin/patient en médecine générale peuvent contribuer à renforcer ou au contraire à réduire les inégalités sociales de santé. L'objectif de ce travail interdisciplinaire est de tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle la nature des interactions varie selon les caractéristiques sociales du patient. Le volet linguistique qui nous occupe vise à mettre en évidence ces variations sur plusieurs dimensions de l'échange langagier – lexicale, énonciative, interactionnelle - de manière à pouvoir calculer dans un stade ultérieur du projet les corrélations possibles entre ces variations linguistiques et les variables sociales dont nous disposons (âge, sexe, catégories socio-professionnelles)

Longitudinal immunomonitoring following Tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis

Poster presentationInternational audienc

Caractérisation phénotypique des vaches laitières portant l'haplotype " fertil+/+ " ou " fertil-/- " pour un QTL de fertilité femelle situé sur le chromosome 3

Au cours de ces dernières années, la fertilité des vaches laitières hautes productrices a fortement diminué, notamment en race Prim'Holstein. Cette baisse de fertilité est en partie liée à une intense sélection de la productivité laitière. Des études réalisées par des généticiens ont mis en évidence plusieurs QTLs (Quantitative Trait Locus) de fertilité femelle chez la vache laitière. Nous avons choisi d'étudier des vaches laitières homozygotes à l'haplotype favorable "fertil+/+" ou défavorable "fertil-/-" pour un QTL de fertilité femelle situé sur le chromosome 3 (QTL-Fert-F-BTA3), ce QTL étant impliqué dans les échecs précoces de la gestation. Plusieurs paramètres ont été étudiés sur quarante cinq génisses puis sur quarante et une vaches en première lactation. Nous avons observé que les primipares "fertil-/-" ont perdu plus de poids que les primipares "fertil+/+" dans les sept premières semaines après vêlage. Dans cette même période, la production laitière ainsi que l'ingéré alimentaire des primipares "fertil-/-" ont été inférieurs à ceux des primipares "fertil+/+". Grâce aux profils de progestérone plasmatique, nous avons constaté que les animaux "fertil+/+" ont repris leur activité ovarienne plus vite que les animaux "fertil-/-" après le vêlage. Nous avons enfin constaté un meilleur taux de réussite à la première insémination artificielle pour les animaux "fertil+/+" que pour les animaux "fertil-/-". La perte de poids après vêlage plus importante chez les animaux "fertil-/-" pourrait expliquer un allongement de l'inactivité ovarienne post-partum et une fertilité plus faible chez ces animaux par rapport aux animaux "fertil+/+"

Photodisintegration of three- and four- nucleon systems

Three- and four-nucleon photodisintegration processes are quite efficiently treated by means of effective two-body integral equations in momentum space. We recall some aspects of their derivation, present previous and most recent results obtained within this framework, and discuss general features, trends and effects observed in these investigations: At low energies final-state interaction plays an important role. Even more pronounced is the effect of meson exchange currents. A considerable potential dependence shows up in the low-energy peak region. The different peak heights are found to be closely correlated with the corresponding binding energies. Above the peak region only the difference between potentials with or without p-wave contributions remains relevant. In the differential cross sections the electric quadrupole contributions have to be taken into account. The remarkable agreement between theory and experiment in $p$-$d$ radiative capture is achieved only when incorporating this contribution, together with most of the above-mentioned effects. In the final part of this report we briefly review also methods developed, and results achieved in three- and four- nucleon electrodisintegration. We, in particular, compare them with a recent access to this problem, based on the construction of nucleon-nucleus potentials via Marchenko inversion theory.Comment: 20 pages LaTeX and 22 postscript figures included, uses epsfig.sty and espcrc1.sty. Invited talk at the XVth International Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics (22-26 July, 1997, Groningen, The Netherlands). To be published in the conference proceedings in Nucl. Phys.

Proinflammatory isoforms of IL-32 as novel and robust biomarkers for control failure in HIV-infected slow progressors.

International audienceHIV-infected slow progressors (SP) represent a heterogeneous group of subjects who spontaneously control HIV infection without treatment for several years while showing moderate signs of disease progression. Under conditions that remain poorly understood, a subgroup of these subjects experience failure of spontaneous immunological and virological control. Here we determined the frequency of SP subjects who showed loss of HIV control within our Canadian Cohort of HIV(+) Slow Progressors and identified the proinflammatory cytokine IL-32 as a robust biomarker for control failure. Plasmatic levels of the proinflammatory isoforms of IL-32 (mainly β and γ) at earlier clinic visits positively correlated with the decline of CD4 T-cell counts, increased viral load, lower CD4/CD8 ratio and levels of inflammatory markers (sCD14 and IL-6) at later clinic visits. We present here a proof-of-concept for the use of IL-32 as a predictive biomarker for disease progression in SP subjects and identify IL-32 as a potential therapeutic target

Profiling the landscape of transcription, chromatin accessibility and chromosome conformation of cattle, pig, chicken and goat genomes [FAANG pilot project]

Functional annotation of livestock genomes is a critical and obvious next step to derive maximum benefit for agriculture, animal science, animal welfare and human health. The aim of the Fr-AgENCODE project is to generate multi-species functional genome annotations by applying high-throughput molecular assays on three target tissues/cells relevant to the study of immune and metabolic traits. An extensive collection of stored samples from other tissues is available for further use (FAANG Biosamples ‘FR-AGENCODE’). From each of two males and two females per species (pig, cattle, goat, chicken), strand-oriented RNA-seq and chromatin accessibility ATAC-seq assays were performed on liver tissue and on two T-cell types (CD3+CD4+&CD3+CD8+) sorted from blood (mammals) or spleen (chicken). Chromosome Conformation Capture (in situ Hi-C) was also carried out on liver. Sequencing reads from the 3 assays were processed using standard processing pipelines. While most (50–70%) RNA-seq reads mapped to annotated exons, thousands of novel transcripts and genes were found, including extensions of annotated protein-coding genes and new lncRNAs (see abstract #69857). Consistency of ATAC-seq results was confirmed by the significant proportion of called peaks in promoter regions (36–66%) and by the specific accumulation pattern of peaks around gene starts (TSS) v. gene ends (TTS). Principal Component Analyses for RNA-seq (based on quantified gene expression) and ATAC-seq (based on quantified chromatin accessibility) highlighted clusters characterised by cell type and sex in all species. From Hi-C data, we generated 40kb-resolution interaction maps, profiled a genome-wide Directionality Index and identified from 4,100 (chicken) to 12,100 (pig) topologically-associating do- mains (TADs). Correlations were reported between RNA-seq and ATAC-seq results (see abstract #71581). In summary, we present here an overview of the first multi-species and -tissue annotations of chromatin accessibility and genome architecture related to gene expression for farm animals

Search for an invisibly decaying Higgs boson in e^+e^- collisions at \sqrt{s} = 183 - 189 GeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into invisible particles is performed using the data collected at LEP by the L3 experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 183 GeV and 189 GeV. The integrated luminosities are respectively 55.3 pb^-1 and 176.4 pb^-1. The observed candidates are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model processes. In the hypothesis that the production cross section of this Higgs boson equals the Standard Model one and the branching ratio into invisible particles is 100%, a lower mass limit of 89.2 GeV is set at 95% confidence level

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in e+e- Interactions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for the lightest neutral scalar and neutral pseudoscalar Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is performed using 176.4 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by L3 at a center-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No signal is observed, and the data are consistent with the expected Standard Model background. Lower limits on the masses of the lightest neutral scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons are given as a function of tan(beta). Lower mass limits for tan(beta)>1 are set at the 95% confidence level to be m_h > 77.1 GeV and m_A > 77.1 GeV