Knowledge management and history

Capitalisation of the history of a technology, a technique or a concept within an industrial company is relevant to historians. However it largely exceeds the historical problems from a Knowledge Management point of view. In this context, it can be the subject of specific approaches especially Knowledge Engineering. However, it faces two types of difficulties: - The techniques in History have few modelling tools, and are even rather reticent with the use of such tools. - Knowledge Engineering doesn't often address historical knowledge modelling, for tracing knowledge evolution. It is however possible to develop robust and validated methods, tools and techniques which take into account these two approaches, which, if they function in synergy, appear rich and fertile.History, MASK, Knowledge management, Knowledge engineering, History of techniques

On a generalization of the Selection Theorem of Mahler

33 pagesInternational audienceThe set ~\uc\dc_{r}~ of point sets of ~\rb^{n}, n \geq 1, having the property that their minimal interpoint distance is greater than a given strictly positive constant ~$r > 0$~ is shown to be equippable by a metric for which it is a compact topological space and such that the Hausdorff metric on the subset ~\uc\dc_{r,f} \subset \uc\dc_{r}~ of the finite point sets is compatible with the restriction of this topology to ~\uc\dc_{r,f}. We show that its subsets of Delone sets of given constants in ~\rb^{n}, n \geq 1, are compact. Three (classes of) metrics, requiring a base point in the ambient space, are given with their corresponding properties, for which we show that their topological equivalence occurs under some assumptions. The point-removal process is proved to be uniformly continuous at infinity. We prove that this compactness Theorem implies the classical Selection Theorem of Mahler. We discuss generalizations of this result to ambient spaces other than ~\rb^{n}. The space ~\uc\dc_{r}~ is the space of equal sphere packings of radius~$r/2$

Major commercial crises in the United States since the Civil War

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1934. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Two Cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis subsp. canetti

We identified an unusual strain of mycobacteria from two patients with pulmonary tuberculosis by its smooth, glossy morphotype and, primarily, its genotypic characteristics. Spoligotyping and restriction fragment length polymorphism typing were carried out with the insertion sequence IS6110 patterns. All known cases of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium canetti have been contracted in the Horn of Africa

Languages for safety-certification related propertis

The Safety Certification of Software-Intensive Systems with Reusable Components project, in short SafeCer (www.safecer.eu),is targeting increased efficiency and reduced time-to-market by composable safety certification of safety- relevant embedded systems. The industrial domains targeted are within automotive and construction equipment, avionics, and rail. Some of the companies involved are: Volvo Tech- nology, Thales, TTTech, and Intecs among others. SafeCer includes more than 30 partners in six different countries and has a budget of e25.7 millions. A primary objective is to provide support for system safety arguments based on arguments and properties of system components as well as to provide support for generation of corresponding evidence in a similar compositional way. By providing support for efficient reuse of certification and stronger links between certification and development, compo- nent reuse will be facilitated, and by providing support for reuse across domains the amount of components available for reuse will increase dramatically. The resulting efficiency and reduced time to market will, together with increased quality and reduced risk, increase competitiveness and pave the way for a cross-domain market for software components qualified for certification

RGTA® or ReGeneraTing Agents mimic heparan sulfate in regenerative medicine: from concept to curing patients

The importance of extracellular matrix (ECM) integrity in maintaining normal tissue function is highlighted by numerous pathologies and situations of acute and chronic injury associated with dysregulation or destruction of ECM components. Heparan sulfate (HS) is a key component of the ECM, where it fulfils important functions associated with tissue homeostasis. Its degradation following tissue injury disrupts this delicate equilibrium and may impair the wound healing process. ReGeneraTing Agents (RGTA®s) are polysaccharides specifically designed to replace degraded HS in injured tissues. The unique properties of RGTA® (resistance to degradation, binding and protection of ECM structural and signaling proteins, like HS) permit the reconstruction of the ECM, restoring both structural and biochemical functions to this essential substrate, and facilitating the processes of tissue repair and regeneration. Here, we review 25 years of research surrounding this HS mimic, supporting the mode of action, pre-clinical studies and therapeutic efficacy of RGTA® in the clinic, and discuss the potential of RGTA® in new branches of regenerative medicine

Nasal High Flow at 25 L/min or Expiratory Resistive Load Do Not Improve Regional Lung Function in Patients With COPD: A Functional CT Imaging Study

BackgroundNasal high flow (NHF) is a non-invasive breathing therapy that is based on the delivery via a large-caliber nasal cannula of heated and humidified air at flow rates that exceed peak inspiratory flow. It is thought that positive airway pressure generated by NHF can help reduce gas trapping and improve regional lung ventilation. There are no data to confirm this hypothesis at flow rates applicable in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.MethodsIn this study, we used non-rigid registration of computed tomography (CT) images acquired at maximal expiration and inspiration to compute regional lung attenuation changes (ΔHU), and lung displacement (LD), indices of regional lung ventilation. Parametric response maps (Galban et al., 2012) were also computed in each experimental condition. Eight COPD patients were assessed at baseline (BL) and after 5 min of NHF and expiratory resistive loading (ERL).ResultsΔHU was: BL (median, IQR): 85 (67.2, 102.8); NHF: 90.7 (57.4, 97.6); ERL: 74.6 (46.4, 89.6) HU (p = 0.531); and LD: 27.8 (22.3, 39.3); 17.6 (15.4, 27.9); and 20.4 (16.6, 23.6) mm (p = 0.120) in the 3 conditions, respectively. No significant difference in trapping was observed. Respiratory rate significantly decreased with both treatments [BL: 17.3 (16.4, 18.9); NHF: 13.7; ERL: 11.4 (9.6, 13.2) bpm; and p < 0.001].ConclusionNeither NHF at 25 L/min nor ERL significantly improved the regional lung ventilation of stable COPD patients with gas trapping, based on functional lung CT imaging. Further study including more subjects is needed to assess the potential effect of NHF on regional lung function at higher flow rates.Clinical Trial Registrationwww.clinicaltrials.gov/under, identifier NCT03821311

Sesquiterpene lactones content in lettuce cultivars affected by microbiological fertilisers and seasons

The principal sesquiterpene lactones (lactucin, lactucopicrin, and its dihydro forms), known as contributors to bitter taste, were measured in green and red coloured lettuce using Ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Six lettuce cultivars (‘Kiribati’, ‘Murai’, ‘Aquino’, ‘Gaugin’, ‘Aleppo’ and ‘Carmesi’) were grown in a greenhouse experiment using microbiological fertilisers (EM Aktiv, Vital Tricho, and their combination) during three successive growing seasons (autumn, winter, and spring). The major sesquiterpene lactone was lactucopicrin with the highest level found in cultivar ‘Carmesi’ (0.65 mg/g dry weight) in autumn with the combination of fertilisers. The concentrations of lactucin, dihydrolactucin and dihydrolactucopicrin ranged from 0.001-0.085, 0.003-0.015, and 0.001-0.056 mg/g dry weight, respectively, and were not found in all lettuce samples. Generally, red cultivars showed higher content of lactones compared to green. Application of Vital Tricho and the combination of fertilisers led to an increased level of lactucopicrin, in some cultivars, in the range of 77-800% compared to unfertilised plants. Higher levels of lactucopicrin were found in the autumn trial compared to spring and winter. The present study suggests that genotype, fertilisers and season jointly affected the quantity of sesquiterpene lactones with emphasis on Vital Tricho, and/or the combination of fertilisers