pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Asymptotic-Preserving scheme based on a Finite Volume/Particle-In-Cell coupling for Boltzmann- BGK-like equations in the diffusion scaling

International audienceThis work is devoted to the numerical simulation of the collisional Vlasov equation in the diffusion limit using particles. To that purpose, we use a micro-macro decomposition technique introduced by Bennoune, Lemou and Mieussens. Whereas a uniform grid was used to approximate both the micro and the macro part of the full distribution function in their article, we use here a particle approximation for the kinetic (micro) part, the fluid (macro) part being always discretized by standard finite volume schemes. There are many advantages in doing so: (i) the so-obtained scheme presents a much less level of noise compared to the standard particle method; (ii) the computational cost of the micro-macro model is reduced in the diffusion limit since a small number of particles is needed for the micro part; (iii) the scheme is asymptotic preserving in the sense that it is consistent with the kinetic equation in the rarefied regime and it degenerates into a uniformly (with respect to the Knudsen number) consistent (and deterministic) approximation of the limiting equation in the diffusion regime
The proliferation of the toxic cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens following restoration of the largest natural French lake (Lac du Bourget)

International audienceLac du Bourget, in the Alps, is the largest natural French lake. Following major restoration programmes during the 1970s and early 1980s, involving massive efforts to reduce nutrient loads and pollution in the lake, the water quality has improved over the past two decades. This can be inferred from the increase in the nitrate: phosphate ratio, the intensification of the "clear-water phase" (i.e. the increase in the water column transparency in spring), and the reduction in the total phosphorus and chlorophyll a concentrations. However, blooms of the filamentous, phycoerythrin-rich, non-nitrogen fixing and hepatotoxic cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens have occurred since 1996 and have been maintained subsequently, at least during summer and autumn periods. Nutrients (especially phosphorus) are usually thought to be one of the most important factors responsible for cyanobacterial blooms, and so the question is asked if this bloom is a paradoxical outcome of the restoration programs? Using a large set of data taken from surveys of Lac du Bourget, from the literature, and from recent laboratory experiments, and also using field data for the neighboring Lake Geneva, we propose a realistic scenario to account for the population dynamics of the cyanobacterium and the occurrence and maintenance of the bloom in Lac du Bourget. The characteristics of the lake (high water column stability, deepening of the nutrient-depleted layer during the last decade, a long water residence time), local conditions (the nutrient load and charge) and global changes (global warming) all had to be taken into account to explain this bloom. We suggest that the success of P. rubescens in Lac du Bourget is probably due to increased transparency and a longer stratified period following (1) the restriction of other phytoplankton species following reduced phosphorus, which has allowed P. rubescens to make use of organic phosphorus to improve its competitiveness; (2) warmer than average winter/spring periods allowing an earlier water stratification and in fine a competitive advantage to P. rubescens; (3) lower than average surface irradiance, which has also given the low-light preferring P. rubescens an advantage. Finally, this study highlights the importance of long-term data sets in attempting to elucidate the global causes of a major ecological problem (such as this cyanobacterial bloom) and impacts with regard to the function and use of freshwater ecosystems. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
FDI and credit constraints: firm level evidence from China

International audienceIn this paper, we assess the success of the ongoing financial system reforms in China by investigating the extent to which firms are financially constrained. We focus on the role played by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in funding the Chinese corporate sector, and analyze whether incoming foreign investment in China plays an important role in alleviating domestic firms' credit constraints. Using firm-level data on 1300 domestic companies over the period 2000-2002, we confirm that the development of cross-border relationships with foreign firms helps private domestic firms to bypass both the financial and legal obstacles that they face at home
Two-Stage Adaptive Designs In Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models: Application To Pharmacokinetics In Children

International audienceNonlinear mixed effects models (NLMEM) are used in pharmacokinetics to analyse concentrations of patients during drug development, particularly for pediatric studies. Approaches based on the Fisher information matrix can be used to optimize their design. Local design needs some a priori parameter values which might be difficult to guess. Therefore two-stage adaptive designs are useful to provide some flexibility. We implemented in the R function PFIM the Fisher matrix for two-stage designs in NLMEM. We evaluated, with simulations, the impact of one-stage and two-stage designs on the precision of parameter estimation when the true and a priori parameters are different
Categorical and dimensional aspects of co-morbidity in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

-Objective:  

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) defined at the diagnostic level encompasses divergent symptoms and is often associated with other psychiatric problems. The present study examines OCD versus co-morbid symptom patterns in OCD in children and adolescents in order to investigate the presence of diagnostic heterogeneity.

Subjects and Methods:  

A total of 113 outpatients with primary OCD participated. The patients’ and primary caretakers’ responses on semi-structured interviews (child version of Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia and the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) and parents’ responses on the Child Behaviour Checklist were used in the study. Psychiatric diagnoses were related to CBCL syndrome scores and CBCL scores were compared with the Swedish normative data.

Results:  

Co-morbid diagnoses were very common and only one out of five patients had only OCD. The most common group was the neuropsychiatric disorders (47%) where tic disorders were most common (27%), especially among boys (40.8%; P = .006, Fisher’s exact test). Also anxiety disorders were common (39.8%) as were affective disorders (24.8%) neither with any gender differences. Diagnoses of disruptive disorders were less common (8.8%), almost exclusively of the oppositional kind (ODD) (8.8%). From the dimensional point of view using the CBCL, patients with OCD scored higher than Swedish youngster generally do, and some gender differences were seen in that girls scored higher on anxiety and depression while both girls and boys had high scores on thought problems, attention problems and especially aggressive behaviour. Comorbidities explained from 25 to 50% scores of the CBCL sub-syndrome scales, often with both main effects and through complex patterns of interaction with gender, OCD-severity and other co-morbid problems.

Conclusions:  

While co-morbid problems is an important facet of OCD, sub-syndromal levels of symptoms that can be assessed using a dimensional approach, is a large part of the total symptom burden in these youngsters. Our data indicate contributions of different pathways for girls and for boys for several comorbid problems together with OCD-severity
Decision making under uncertainty and inertia constraints: sectoral implications of the when flexibility

International audienceCurrent debates on climate mitigation emphasize the role of the inertia of the economic system. Our aim in this paper is to study more in depth how sectorally differentiated inertia impacts on optimal C02-emission abatement policies. Using the STARTS model, we show that optimal abatement levels and costs differ sensibly among sectors. Differential inertia is the critical determinant of this trade-off, especially in case of a 20-year delay in the action, or in an underestimation of the growth of the transportation sector. In particular, the burden of any additional abatement effort falls on the most flexible sector, i.e. the industry.<br /><br />Debates on mitigation emphasize the role of inertia of the economic system. This paper aims at studying more in depth how sectorally differentiated inertia should influence optimal CO2 emission abatement policies. Using a two-sector version of STARTS, we show that under perfect expectations, optimal abatement profiles and associated costs differ sensibly between a flexible and a rigid sector (transportation). In a second step, we scrutinize the role of the uncertainty by testing the case of a 20-year delay of action and an underestimated growth of the transportation sector. We do this for three concentration ceilings and we point out the magnitude of the burden which falls on the flexible sector. We derive some policy implications for the ranking of public policies and for incentive instruments to be set up at international level
Improved ion acceleration via laser surface plasma waves excitation

International audienceThe possibility of enhancing the emission of the ions accelerated in the interaction of a high intensity ultra-short (<100 fs) laser pulse with a thin target (<10 l0), via surface plasma wave excitation is investigated. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed for laser intensities rangingfrom 10^19 to 10^20 W/cm2.µm2. The surface wave is resonantly excited by the laser via the coupling with a modulation at the target surface. In the cases where the surface wave is excited, we find anenhancement of the maximum ion energy of a factor ~2 compared to the cases where the targetsurface is flat
Southern Tibetan Plateau ice core δ18O reflects abrupt shifts in atmospheric circulation in the late 1970s

International audienceIce cores from the Tibetan Plateau provide high-resolution records of changes in the snow and ice isotopic composition. In the monsoon sector of southern Tibetan Plateau, their climatic interpretation has been controversial. Here, we present a new high-resolution δ18O record obtained from 2206 measurements performed at 2–3 cm depth resolution along a 55.1 m depth ice core retrieved from the Noijinkansang glacier (NK, 5950 m a.s.l.) that spans the period from 1864 to 2006 AD. The data are characterized by high δ18O values in the nineteenth century, 1910s and 1960s, followed by a drop in the late 1970s and a recent increasing trend. The comparison with regional meteorological data and with a simulation performed with the LMDZiso general circulation model leads to the attribution of the abrupt shift in the late 1970s predominantly to changes in regional atmospheric circulation, together with the impact of atmospheric temperature change. Correlation analyses suggest that the large-scale modes of variability (PDO and ENSO, i.e. Pacific Decadal Oscillation and El Nino-Southern Oscillation) play important roles in modulating NK δ18O changes. The NK δ18O minimum at the end of the 1970s coincides with a PDO phase shift, an inflexion point of the zonal index (representing the overall intensity of the surface westerly anomalies over middle latitudes) as well as ENSO, implying interdecadal modulation of the influence of the PDO/ENSO on the Indian monsoon on southern TP precipitation δ18O. While convective activity above North India controls the intra-seasonal variability of precipitation δ18O in southern TP, other processes associated with changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation act at the inter-annual scale
Classification and mapping of anthropogenic landforms on cultivated hillslopes using DEMs and soil thickness data - Example from the SW Parisian Basin, France

International audienceThis study focuses on linear anthropogenic landforms of decametric width on cultivated hillslopes and their relations to soil thickness variability. The 16 ha study area shows a rolling topography supported by Cretaceous chalk of the SW Parisian Basin, France. Two types of landforms were identified: lynchets, similar to those described as soil terraces occurring on downslope field parts in other contexts, and undulations, linear, convex landforms that cut across fields. Accurate DEM construction and a detailed soil thickness survey were performed all over the study area. Soil samples were classified considering their location on specific types of anthropogenic landforms. The classification tree (CT) method was applied to assess whether lynchets and undulations can be discriminated through morphometric attributes (slope, curvature, profile curvature and planform curvature) and soil thickness (CTsoil) or through morphometric attributes only (CTtopo). The CT application establishes predictive classification models to map the spatial distribution of lynchets and undulations over the whole study area. The validation results of the CTsoil and CTtopo applications show model efficiencies of 83% and 67%, respectively. Both models performed well for lynchets. Errors arise mainly from difficulties in unequivocally discriminating gently convex undulations and undifferentiated surfaces, especially when soil thickness is not accounted for. Mean values of soil thickness are 1.08, 0.62 and 0.45 m in lynchets, undulations and undifferentiated areas, respectively. The general shape of the thickened soil is characteristic to each type of anthropogenic landform. Multi-temporal mapping of field border networks shows that undulations are linked to borders that were removed during the latest land consolidation. Lynchets are associated with current field borders. Lynchets and undulations, which cover 39% of the study area, define topographic indicators of human-induced soil accumulations. The method involves perspectives for efficiently mapping and quantifying the anthropogenically modified spatial variability of soil thickness on agricultural hillsides
Initial Particles Position for PSO, in Bound Constrained Optimization

We consider the solution of bound constrained optimization\ud
problems, where we assume that the evaluation of the objective function is costly, its derivatives are unavailable and the use of exact derivative free algorithms may imply a too large computational burden. There is plenty of real applications, e.g. several design optimization problems [1,2], belonging to the latter class, where the objective function must be treated\ud
as a ‘black-box’ and automatic differentiation turns to be unsuitable. Since the objective function is often obtained as the result of a simulation, it might be affected also by noise, so that the use of finite differences may be definitely harmful.\ud
In this paper we consider the use of the evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, where the choice of the parameters is inspired by [4], in order to avoid diverging trajectories of the particles, and help the exploration of the feasible set. Moreover, we extend the ideas in [4] and propose a specific set of initial particles position for the\ud
bound constrained problem
Impact of acoustic airflow nebulization on intrasinus drug deposition of a human plastinated nasal cast: New insights into the mechanisms involved

International audienceThe impact of 100 Hz (Hertz) acoustic frequency airflow on sinus drug deposition of aerosols was investigated using a human plastinated nasal cast. The influence of drug concentration and endonasal anatomical features on the sinus deposition enhanced by the 100 Hz acoustic airflow was also examined. Plastinated models were anatomically, geometrically and aerodynamically validated (endoscopy, CT scans, acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry). Using the gentamicin as a marker, 286 experiments of aerosol deposition were performed. Changes of airborne particles metrology produced under different nebulization conditions (100 Hz acoustic airflow and gentamicin concentration) were also examined. Aerodynamic and geometric investigations highlighted a global behaviour of plastinated models in perfect accordance with a nasal decongested healthy subject. The results of intrasinus drug deposition clearly demonstrated that the aerosols can penetrate into the maxillary sinuses. The 100 Hz acoustic airflow led to increase the deposition of drug into the maxillary sinuses by a factor 2-3 depending on the nebulization conditions. A differential intrasinus deposition of active substance depending on maxillary ostium anatomical features and drug concentration was emphasized. The existence of a specific transport mechanism of penetration of nebulized particles delivered with acoustic airflow was proposed
Revisiting slope influence in turbulent bedload transport: consequences
  for vertical flow structure and transport rate scaling

Gravity-driven turbulent bedload transport has been extensively studied over
the past century in regard to its importance for Earth surface processes such
as natural riverbed morphological evolution. In the present contribution, the
influence of the longitudinal channel inclination angle on gravity-driven
turbulent bedload transport is studied in an idealised framework considering
steady and uniform flow conditions. From an analytical analysis based on the
two-phase continuous equations, it is shown that : (i) the classical slope
correction of the critical Shields number is based on an erroneous formulation
of the buoyancy force, (ii) the influence of the slope is not restricted to the
critical Shields number but affects the whole transport formula and (iii)
pressure-driven and gravity-driven turbulent bedload transport are not
equivalent from the slope influence standpoint. Analysing further the granular
flow driving mechanisms, the longitudinal slope is shown to not only influence
the fluid bed shear stress and the resistance of the granular bed, but also to
affect the fluid flow inside the granular bed - responsible for the transition
from bedload transport to debris flow. The relative influence of these coupled
mechanisms allows us to understand the evolution of the vertical structure of
the granular flow and to predict the transport rate scaling law as a function
of a rescaled Shields number. The theoretical analysis is validated with
coupled fluid-discrete element simulations of idealised gravity-driven
turbulent bedload transport, performed over a wide range of Shields number
values, density ratios and channel inclination angles. In particular, all the
data are shown to collapse onto a master curve when considering the sediment
transport rate as a function of the proposed rescaled Shields number
Gas phase H/D exchange of sodiated amino acids: why do we see zwitterions?

The gas-phase interaction of sodiated amino acids and sodiated amino acid methyl esters with various deuterium donors is investigated by combining results of H/D exchange reactions with those from density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations. Discrepancy between experimentally and theoretically obtained structures for sodium cationized amino acids is explained by deuterium donor caused perturbation of the most stable amino acid conformation. Detailed study of H/D exchange mechanism on sodiated amino acids shows that the H/D exchange reaction is preceded by a multistep quasi-isoenergetic transition (perturbation) from a charge solvated to zwitterionic structure in the amino acid. Although the computation refers to the system AlaNa+ and D2O, these mechanisms apply to all amino acids, except those where a functional side-chain group takes part in the perturbation process. The suggested perturbation mechanism applies also for other deuterium donors such as CD3OD or even ND3 and indicates that a single water molecule suffices to convert the sodiated amino acid from charge solvated to zwitterionic form
Ambient vibration testing and structural identification of a cable-stayed bridge

The paper presents the results of an experimental and theoretical\ud
investigation on the Pietratagliata cable-stayed bridge (Udine,\ud
Italy). Ambient vibration tests were performed in order to\ud
estimate the dynamic characteristics of the lower vibration modes\ud
of the bridge. Structural identification is carried out by means\ud
of a manual tuning procedure based on finite element models of\ud
increasingly accuracy. The analysis allows to improve the\ud
description of boundary conditions and mechanical interaction\ud
between the bridge components. Results from local dynamic\ud
testing are used to estimate the traction on the cables and to\ud
assess the integrity of the suspending system of the bridge
Outcome of the First Electron Microscopy Validation Task Force Meeting

This Meeting Review describes the proceedings and conclusions from the inaugural meeting of the Electron Microscopy Validation Task Force organized by the Unified Data Resource for 3DEM (http://www.emdatabank.org) and held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ on September 28 and 29, 2010. At the workshop, a group of scientists involved in collecting electron microscopy data, using the data to determine three-dimensional electron microscopy (3DEM) density maps, and building molecular models into the maps explored how to assess maps, models, and other data that are deposited into the Electron Microscopy Data Bank and Protein Data Bank public data archives. The specific recommendations resulting from the workshop aim to increase the impact of 3DEM in biology and medicine
Short-Rib Polydactyly and Jeune Syndromes Are Caused by Mutations in WDR60

Short-rib polydactyly syndromes (SRPS I–V) are a group of lethal congenital disorders characterized by shortening of the ribs and long bones, polydactyly, and a range of extraskeletal phenotypes. A number of other disorders in this grouping, including Jeune and Ellis-van Creveld syndromes, have an overlapping but generally milder phenotype. Collectively, these short-rib dysplasias (with or without polydactyly) share a common underlying defect in primary cilium function and form a subset of the ciliopathy disease spectrum. By using whole-exome capture and massive parallel sequencing of DNA from an affected Australian individual with SRPS type III, we detected two novel heterozygous mutations in WDR60, a relatively uncharacterized gene. These mutations segregated appropriately in the unaffected parents and another affected family member, confirming compound heterozygosity, and both were predicted to have a damaging effect on the protein. Analysis of an additional 54 skeletal ciliopathy exomes identified compound heterozygous mutations in WDR60 in a Spanish individual with Jeune syndrome of relatively mild presentation. Of note, these two families share one novel WDR60 missense mutation, although haplotype analysis suggested no shared ancestry. We further show that WDR60 localizes at the base of the primary cilium in wild-type human chondrocytes, and analysis of fibroblasts from affected individuals revealed a defect in ciliogenesis and aberrant accumulation of the GLI2 transcription factor at the centrosome or basal body in the absence of an obvious axoneme. These findings show that WDR60 mutations can cause skeletal ciliopathies and suggest a role for WDR60 in ciliogenesis