pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Tax Enforcement in an Agent-Based Model with Endogenous Audits

We generalize the classic Allingham and Sandmo’s model of tax evasion considering heterogeneous agents with different degrees of tax morale and matchable, as opposed to non-matchable, income. The Tax Agency evolves its control scheme, maximizing the revenues from fines, and takes into account some minimal information on the taxpayers. We compare different audit policies and find that the most effective scheme remarkably depends on the way agents update the subjective probability of being audited, on the distribution of matchable income in the population as well as on the level of tax morale. Hence, different features of societies and taxpayers’ behaviors not only affect the compliance rate, as expected, but require the Tax Agency to alter its audit policy in a context-dependent way. In particular, high revenues are obtained performing random audits when agents think they are directed towards peculiar individuals and, conversely, should be biased towards low declarations when taxpayers believe audits are nonspecific or random
Mutations in Radial Spoke Head Protein Genes RSPH9 and RSPH4A Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia with Central-Microtubular-Pair Abnormalities

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous inherited disorder arising from dysmotility of motile cilia and sperm. This is associated with a variety of ultrastructural defects of the cilia and sperm axoneme that affect movement, leading to clinical consequences on respiratory-tract mucociliary clearance and lung function, fertility, and left-right body-axis determination. We performed whole-genome SNP-based linkage analysis in seven consanguineous families with PCD and central-microtubular-pair abnormalities. This identified two loci, in two families with intermittent absence of the central-pair structure (chromosome 6p21.1, Zmax 6.7) and in five families with complete absence of the central pair (chromosome 6q22.1, Zmax 7.0). Mutations were subsequently identified in two positional candidate genes, RSPH9 on chromosome 6p21.1 and RSPH4A on chromosome 6q22.1. Haplotype analysis identified a common ancestral founder effect RSPH4A mutation present in UK-Pakistani pedigrees. Both RSPH9 and RSPH4A encode protein components of the axonemal radial spoke head. In situ hybridization of murine Rsph9 shows gene expression restricted to regions containing motile cilia. Investigation of the effect of knockdown or mutations of RSPH9 orthologs in zebrafish and Chlamydomonas indicate that radial spoke head proteins are important in maintaining normal movement in motile, “9+2”-structure cilia and flagella. This effect is rescued by reintroduction of gene expression for restoration of a normal beat pattern in zebrafish. Disturbance in function of these genes was not associated with defects in left-right axis determination in humans or zebrafish
Presence in Visual Mental Imagery

‘Presence’, the sense of being inside a virtual environment evoked with the help of computer mediation, has come to be a subject well explored in the field of virtual reality. Studies on mental imagery confirm that we can intuitively evoke objects and spaces in our minds and interact with them temporally. We believe that a sense of presence could be experienced in such self-evoked reality as well. This paper explores the experience of presence in visual mental imagery. We studied verbal expressions, physical movements and gestures, exhibited during mental imagery experiences in two scenarios - a guiding task and a mental walk exercise. A ‘protocol analysis’ was performed followed by analysis of time taken and mapping of physical movements. The results evidently point to this spatio-temporal phenomenon of experiencing presence. Furthermore, we present a comparative review on the sense of presence experienced during mental imagery and virtual reality.IIT-ParisTech mobility programm
Surgical site infection after valvular or coronary artery bypass surgery: 2008–2011 French SSI national ISO-RAISIN surveillance

International audienceBackgroundMultisite information regarding surgical site infection (SSI) rates for cardiac surgery programmes is not widely available. Ward characteristics that may affect outcomes have not been analysed previously.AimTo determine individual- and ward-level factors associated with SSI occurrence after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and valvular surgery.MethodsA dataset from the French national SSI database ISO-RAISIN 2008–2011 was used. Only adult patients were included. A standardized questionnaire was completed for each patient who underwent surgery, and patients with and without SSI were characterized. Patients and ward risk factors for SSI were analysed using a multilevel logistic regression model with SSI as binary outcome (two levels: patient and ward).ResultsOut of 8569 patients from 39 wards, the SSI rate was 2.2%. Micro-organisms were isolated in 144 patients (74%): 35% coagulase-negative staphylococci (N = 51), 23% Staphylococcus aureus (N = 33), 6% Escherichia coli (N = 8). Higher probability of SSI was associated with the duration of preoperative hospitalization, the duration of follow-up, the duration of surgery >75th percentile and the SSI rate in the surgery ward. The residual heterogeneity between wards (median odds ratio: 1.53) was as relevant as duration of preoperative hospitalization (odds ratio: 1.57).ConclusionAlthough patient risk factors were more strongly associated with SSI occurrence, this study provided evidence for the existence of a ward-level effect. This should be taken into account when considering possible corrective interventions
Electron capture and ionization processes in high velocity Cn+, C-Ar and Cn+, C-He collisions

International audienceSingle and double electron capture as well as projectile single and multiple ionization processes occurring in 125keV/u Cn+-He, Ar collisions have been studied experimentally and theoretically for 1 ≤ n ≤ 5. The Independent atom and electron (IAE) model has been used to describe the cluster-atom collision. The ion/atom-atom probabilities required for the IAE simulations have been determined by classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) and semiclassical atomic orbital close coupling (SCAOCC) calculations for the Ar and He targets respectively. In general the agreement between experiment and IAE simulations was good, with the exception of double electron capture leading to anionic C−n species
First Triassic palaeomagnetic constraints from Junggar (NW China) and their implications for the Mesozoic tectonics in Central Asia

International audienceNorthwestern China belts result from the Palaeozoic collage of Central Asia and the subsequent reactivations due to far-field effects of the Mesozoic Tibetan and the Cenozoic Himalayan collisions. Triassic is a crucial period to understand and decipher the tectonics related to these two episodes. About 250 oriented palaeomagnetic cores from 43 sites were collected from six sections of Upper Permian to Late Triassic sandstone, in South and West Junggar, Northwestern China. Thermomagnetic, IRM and hysteresis measurements reveal magnetite as the main carrier of the magnetic remanence with minor hematite and maghemite. Stepwise thermal demagnetisation has generally isolated two components. The low temperature component, up to 300-350 °C, displays a direction consistent with the present-day geomagnetic field. The locality-mean directions related to the high temperature component (above 350 °C) were also calculated. Two out of six sections display intense viscous magnetisation and the occurrence of maghemite reveals a possible Cenozoic chemical remagnetisation for these two localities. For the other four localities, we assume that the magnetisation is primary because: (1) AMS measurements reveal a primary fabric, (2) there are local occurrences of antipodal polarities, and (3) palaeolatitudes of tilt-corrected poles are compatible with previous studies. The consistency between the Early Triassic poles of West and South Junggar indicates that Junggar evolved as a rigid block only since Early Mesozoic. The comparison of the Late Palaeozoic and the Early Mesozoic poles of Junggar and those of Siberia and Tarim shows major rotations between the Late Permian and the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. These periods of discrete rotations are characterized by strike-slip faulting in Tianshan and Altai and they may correlate with the major episodes of coarse-grained detrital sedimentation and uplift of the range. Especially, the counter-clockwise rotations of Junggar relative to Tarim and Siberia, which occurred between the Early and the Late Triassic and between the Late Triassic and the Late Jurassic, are accommodated by transpressive tectonics in the Tianshan and the Altai belts. This reactivation is a far-field effect of Tibetan blocks diachronous collisions. Therefore, these first Triassic palaeomagnetic results from Junggar infer that post-Carboniferous rotations were due to the combined effect of the post-orogenic transcurrent movement and the Mesozoic oblique reactivation
Minimum clinically important improvement and patient acceptable symptom state in pain and function in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic back pain, hand osteoarthritis, and hip and knee osteoarthritis: Results from a prospective multinational study.

International audienceOBJECTIVE: To estimate the minimum clinically important improvement (MCII) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) values for 4 generic outcomes in 5 rheumatic diseases and 7 countries. METHODS: We conducted a multinational (Australia, France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, and The Netherlands) 4-week cohort study involving 1,532 patients who were prescribed nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for ankylosing spondylitis, chronic back pain, hand osteoarthritis, hip and/or knee osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. The MCII and PASS values were estimated with the 75th percentile approach for 4 generic outcomes: pain, patient global assessment, functional disability, and physician global assessment, all normalized to a 0-100 score. RESULTS: For the whole sample, the estimated MCII values for absolute change at 4 weeks were -17 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] -18, -15) for pain; -15 (95% CI -16, -14) for patient global assessment; -12 (95% CI -13, -11) for functional disability assessment; and -14 (95% CI -15, -14) for physician global assessment. For the whole sample, the estimated PASS values were 42 (95% CI 40, 44) for pain; 43 (95% CI 41, 45) for patient global assessment; 43 (95% CI 41, 44) for functional disability assessment; and 39 (95% CI 37, 40) for physician global assessment. Estimates were consistent across diseases and countries (for subgroups ≥20 patients). CONCLUSION: This work allows for promoting the use of values of MCII (15 of 100 for absolute improvement, 20% for relative improvement) and PASS (40 of 100) in reporting the results of trials of any of the 5 involved rheumatic diseases with pain, patient global assessment, physical function, or physician global assessment used as outcome criteria
Two-Dimensional Melting of a Crystal of Ferrofluid Spikes

to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett.International audienceWe report the observation of the transition from an ordered solid-like phase to a disordered liquid-like phase of a lattice of spikes on a ferrofluid surface submitted to horizontal sinusoidal vibrations. The melting transition occurs for a critical spike displacement which is experimentally found to follow the Lindemann criterion, for two different lattice topologies (hexagonal and square) and over a wide range of lattice wavelengths. An intermediate hexatic-like phase between the solid and isotropic liquid phases is also observed and characterized by standard correlation functions. This dissipative out-of-equilibrium system exhibits strong similarities with 2D melting in solid-state physics
Adverse conditions improve distinguishability of auditory, motor and perceptuo-motor theories of speech perception: an exploratory Bayesian modeling study

Special Issue: Speech Recognition in Adverse ConditionsInternational audienceIn this paper, we put forward a computational framework for the comparison between motor, auditory, and perceptuo-motor theories of speech communication. We first recall the basic arguments of these three sets of theories, either applied to speech perception or to speech production. Then we expose a unifying Bayesian model able to express each theory in a probabilistic way. Focusing on speech perception, we demonstrate that under two hypotheses, regarding communication noise and inter-speaker variability, providing perfect conditions for speech communication, motor, and auditory theories are indistinguishable. We then degrade successively each hypothesis to study the distinguish- ability of the different theories in ''adverse'' conditions. We first present simulations on a simplified implementation of the model with mono-dimensional sensory and motor variables, and secondly we consider a simulation of the human vocal tract providing more realistic auditory and articulatory variables. Simulation results allow us to emphasise the respective roles of motor and auditory knowledge in various conditions of speech perception in adverse conditions, and to suggest some guidelines for future studies aiming at assessing the role of motor knowledge in speech perception
Strategies for solving index one DAE with non-negative constraints: Application to liquid-liquid extraction

18 pagesInternational audienceLiquid-liquid extraction modeling leads to solve an index one DAE system. For the sake of robustness, it is desirable to account for non-negative constraints. Based on the DASSL architecture (a classical index one DAE solver) we propose and compare three diﬀerent strategies to implement these bound constraints. Each of these strategies corresponds to a diﬀerent Newton modiﬁcation: clipping, damping, or interior point method. The comparisons are made on two test cases: the Robertson ODE problem, and an example from liquid-liquid extraction modeling
Passive monitoring of anisotropy change associated with the Parkfield 2004 earthquake

International audienceWe investigate temporal variations in the polarization of surface waves determined using ambient seismic noise cross-correlations between station pairs at the time of the Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake of September 28, 2004. We use data recorded by the High Resolution Seismic Network's 3-component seismometers located along the San Andreas Fault. Our results show strong variations in azimuthal surface wave polarizations, Psi, for the paths containing station VARB, one of the closest stations to the San Andreas Fault, synchronous with the Parkfield earthquake. Concerning the other station pair, only smooth temporal variations of Y are observed. Two principal contributions to these changes in Y are identified and separated. They are: (1) slow and weak variations due to seasonal changes in the incident direction of seismic noise; and (2) strong and rapid rotations synchronous with the Parkfield earthquake for paths containing station VARB. Strong shifts in Y are interpreted in terms of changes in crack-induced anisotropy due to the co-seismic rotation of the stress field. Because these changes are only observed on paths containing station VARB, the anisotropic layer responsible for the changes is most likely localized around VARB in the shallow crust. These results suggest that the polarization of surface waves may be very sensitive to changes in the orientations of distributed cracks and that implementation of our technique on a routine basis may prove useful for monitoring stress changes deep within seismogenic zones. Citation: Durand, S., J. P. Montagner, P. Roux, F. Brenguier, R. M. Nadeau, and Y. Ricard (2011), Passive monitoring of anisotropy change associated with the Parkfield 2004 earthquake, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L13303, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047875
Concerns of Ageing and Interest in Assistive Technologies – Convenience Sampling of Attendees at an Aged Care Technology Exhibition in China

Part 7: e-Health, the New Frontier of Service Science InnovationInternational audienceAs in many countries, ageing and aged care in China is an important issue. There is a need for more research on the potential for technology to assist older people and their families, particularly given the disappointing levels of adoption in developed countries. Accordingly this paper aims to gain insight into the perceptions of older people and stakeholders in relation to issues of ageing and their interest in adoption of technology. Using convenience sampling, the authors surveyed 277 participants to understand peoples concerns concerning ageing and use of technologies. Results from this study provide a basis for discussion with stakeholders, particularly concerning ageing in China
Characterisation of soils with stony inclusions using geoelectrical measurements

Characterisation and sampling of coarse heterogeneous soils is often impossible using common geotechnical in-situ tests once the soil contains particles with a diameter larger than a few decimetres. In this situation geophysical techniques - and particularly electrical measurements - can act as an alternative method for obtaining information about the ground characteristics. This paper deals with the use of electrical tomography on heterogeneous diphasic media consisting of resistive inclusions embedded in a conductive matrix. The adopted approach articulates in three steps: numerical modelling, measurements on a small-scale physical model, and field measurements. Electrical measurements were simulated using finite element analyses, on a numerical model containing a random concentration of inclusions varying from 0 to 40 %. It is shown that for electrode spacing 8 times greater than the radius of inclusions, the equivalent homogeneous resistivity is obtained. In this condition, average measured resistivity is a function of the concentration of inclusions, in agreement with the theoretical laws. To apply these results on real data, a small-scale physical model has been built, where electrical measurements were conducted both on the model and on each phase. From these laboratory measurements, a very satisfying estimation of the percentage of inclusions has been obtained. Finally, the methodology applied to a real experimental site composed of alluvial fan deposits made of limestone rocks embedded in a clayey matrix. The estimated percentage of rock particles obtained via electrical measurements was in accordance with the real grain size distribution
Designing Artifacts for Systems of Information

Part 6: IS DesignInternational audienceThis paper reports an exploratory study of information systems (IS) design professionals that offers insight into the evolution of the systems concept in systems design practice. The analysis distinguishes the current object of this design effort as systems of information (SI). SI differs from IS in that SI seeks to maintain the necessary degree of integrated systematicity while retaining or acquiring the necessary technology. IS, in the past, had an implied capacity to build a complete system from the ground up. SI has an implied constraint that certain technological components must be “taken as given” and the design problem becomes one of maintaining an ideal socio-technical system as the various technologies evolve within and around the system
Athanasius Kircher's Magical Instruments
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An Essay on Science, Religion and Applied Metaphysics (1602-1680)

published version: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039368107000179International audienceIn this paper I endeavour to bridge the gap between the history of material culture and the history of ideas. I do this by focussing on the intersection between metaphysics and technology - what I call 'applied metaphysics' - in the oeuvre of the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher. By scrutinising the interplay between texts, objects and images in Kircher's work, it becomes possible to describe the multiplicity of meanings related to his artefacts. I unearth as yet overlooked metaphysical and religious meanings of the camera obscura, for instance, as well as of various other optical and magnetic devices. Today, instruments and artefacts are almost exclusively seen in the light of a narrow economic and technical concept. Historically, the 'use' of artefacts is much more diverse, however, and I argue that it is time to historicize the concept of 'utility'
Physiological recovery from episodic acid stress does not mean population recovery of Gammarus fossarum

The physiological responses of the acid-sensitive amphipod Gammarus fossarum exposed in situ to acid stress (pH 4.5 and 5.5) and then transferred back to neutral water were investigated. Survival rate and haemolymph [Cl-] and [Na+] were assessed after 24, 48 and 72h of exposure in acidic streams and after a recovery period of 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60h. After 24h, exposure to slightly acidic (pH 5.5) and strongly acidic water (pH 4.5) led to a severe and significant depletion in haemolymph [Na+] and [Cl] compared to organisms exposed in circumneutral water (pH 7.3). However, after only a 12h- period of transfer back in neutral water and whatever the previous exposure time (24, 48 and 72h) in both slightly and strongly acidic water, haemolymph [Na+] and [Cl] were equal or superior to the control level without associated mortality. In spite of this fast physiological recovery capacity, populations of G. fossarum living in streams undergoing episodic acid stresses were drastically affected thus, demonstrating the high acid-sensitivity of this species. We discuss the possible reasons of population regression and the absence of population recovery
Different Approaches to Influence Based on Social Networks and Simple Games

We present an overview of research on a certain model of influence in a social network. Each agent has to make an acceptance/rejection decision, and he has an inclination to choose either the yes-action or the no-action. The agents are embedded in a social network which models influence between them. Due to the influence, a decision of an agent may differ from his preliminary inclination. Such a transformation between the agents' inclinations and their decisions are represented by an influence function. Follower functions encode the players who constantly follow the opinion of a given unanimous coalition. We examine properties of the influence and follower functions and study the relation between them. The model of influence is also compared to the framework of command games in which a simple game is built for each agent. We study the relation between command games and influence functions. We also define influence indices and determine the relations between these indices and some well-known power indices. Furthermore, we enlarge the set of possible yes/no actions to multi-choice games and investigate the analogous tools related to influence in the multi-choice model