pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Effect of polynomial interpolations on the estimation performance of a frequency-selective Rayleigh channel in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems

International audienceIn this paper, the authors provide an analytical expression of the mean square error (MSE) and the bit error rate (BER) lower bound of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal transmission over a multipath Rayleigh channel considering estimation errors. For some pilot arrangements, an interpolation is required to perform the channel estimation. Owing to their low complexity, polynomial based interpolations are usually applied at the receiver, which induces estimation and signal errors. Based on a statistical analysis of these errors, the exact MSE expression of the channel estimation is provided. Furthermore, with a geometrical study of the constellation, an analytical BER limit is derived. For a given channel, it is shown that the errors are perfectly characterised by the interpolation method and the frequency gap between the pilot tones. All the steps of the analytical developments are validated through simulations. The proposed analysis then predicts the performance of the receiver, thus enabling the latter to a priori select the interpolation method with minimum complexity, according to a given channel and a BER target
QoS-Aware Management of Monotonic Service Orchestrations

International audienceWe study QoS-aware management of service orchestrations, specifically for orchestrations having a data-dependent workflow. Our study supports multi-dimensional QoS. To capture uncertainty in performance and QoS, we provide support for probabilistic QoS. Under the above assumptions, orchestrations may be non-monotonic with respect to QoS, meaning that strictly improving the QoS of a service may strictly decrease the end-to-end QoS of the orchestration, an embarrassing feature for QoS-aware management. We study monotonicity and provide sucient conditions for it. We then propose a comprehensive theory and methodology for monotonic orchestrations. Generic QoS composition rules are developed via a QoS Calculus, also capturing best service binding/service discovery, however, is not within the scope of this work. Monotonicity provides the rationale for a contract-based approach to QoS-aware management. Although function and QoS cannot be separated in the design of complex orchestrations, we show that our framework supports separation of concerns by allowing the development of function and QoS separately and then "weaving" them together to derive the QoSenhanced orchestration. Our approach is implemented on top of the Orc script language for specifying service orchestrations
Extending Enterprise Architecture Modeling Languages for Domain Specificity and Collaboration: Application to Telecommunications Service Design

International audienceThe competitive market forces organizations to be agile and flexible so as to react robustly to complex events. Modeling helps managing this complexity. However, in order to model an enterprise, many stakeholders, with different expertise, must work together and take decisions. These decisions and their rationale are not always captured explicitly, in a standard, formal manner. The main problem is to persuade stakeholders to capture them. This article synthesizes an approach for capturing and using the rationale behind enterprise modeling decisions. The approach is implemented through a Domain Specific Modeling Language, defined as an extension of a standard Enterprise Architecture Modeling Language. It promotes coordination, enables presenting different stakeholders' points of view, facilities participation and collaboration in modeling activities - activities focused here on Enterprise Architecture viewpoints. To present its benefits, such as rapid prototyping, the approach is applied to large organizations in the context of Telecommunications service design. It is exemplified on modeling and capturing decisions on a conference service
On adaptive stratification

International audienceThis paper investigates the use of stratified sampling as a variance reduction technique for approximating integrals over large dimensional spaces. The accuracy of this method critically depends on the choice of the space partition, the strata, which should be ideally fitted to thesubsets where the functions to integrate is nearly constant, and on the allocation of the number of samples within each strata. When the dimension is large and the function to integrate is complex, finding such partitions and allocating the sample is a highly non-trivial problem. In this work, we investigate a novel method to improve the efficiency of the estimator "on the fly", by jointly sampling and adapting the strata and the allocation within the strata. The accuracy of estimators when this method is used is examined in detail, in the so-called asymptotic regime (\ie\ when both the number of samples and the number of strata are large). We illustrate the use of the method for the computation of the price of path-dependent options in models with both constant and stochastic volatility. The use of this adaptive technique yields variance reduction by factors sometimes larger than 1000 compared to classical Monte Carlo estimators
Mechanical, thermal and acoustical characterizations of an insulating bio-based composite made from sunflower stalks particles and chitosan

International audienceThis study has for objective the determination of thermal, mechanical and acoustical properties of insulating bio-based composite made with chitosan and sunflower's stalks particles. An experimental design was established to find the size grading of particles, the ratio chitosan/sunflower particles and the stress of compaction influencing the thermal and mechanical properties. Composites with a thermal conductivity $(\kappa)$ of 0.056 W/m/K, a maximum stress $(\sigma_{\text{max}})$ of 2 MPa and an acoustic coefficient of absorption $(\alpha)$ of 0.2 were obtained with a ratio of chitosan of 4.3% (w/w) and a size grading of particles higher to 3 mm. These mechanical and thermal performances are competitive with those of other insulating bio-based materials available on the market
A comprehensive probabilistic model of chloride ingress in unsaturated concrete

International audienceCorrosion induced by chloride ions has become a critical issue for many reinforced concrete structures. The chloride ingress into concrete has been usually simplified as a diffusion problem where the chloride concentration throughout concrete is estimated analytically. However, this simplified approach has several limitations. For instance, it does not consider chloride ingress by convection which is essential to model chloride penetration in unsaturated conditions as spray and tidal areas. This paper presents a comprehensive model of chloride penetration where the governing equations are solved by coupling finite element and finite difference methods. The uncertainties related to the problem are also considered by using random variables to represent the model's parameters and the materials' properties, and stochastic processes to model environmental actions. Furthermore, this approach accounts for: (1) chloride binding capacity; (2) time-variant nature of temperature, humidity and surface chloride concentration; (3) concrete aging; and (4) chloride flow in unsaturated conditions. The proposed approach is illustrated by a numerical example where the factors controlling chloride ingress and the effect of weather conditions were studied. The results stress the importance of including the influence of the random nature of environmental actions, chloride binding, convection and two-dimensional chloride ingress for a comprehensive lifetime assessment
New Transmission Condition Accounting For Diffusion Anisotropy In Thin Layers Applied To Diffusion MRI

International audienceThe Bloch-Torrey Partial Differential Equation (PDE) can be used to model the diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) signal in biological tissue. In this paper, we derive an Anisotropic Diffusion Transmission Condition (ADTC) for the Bloch-Torrey PDE that accounts for anisotropic diffusion inside thin layers. Such diffusion occurs, for example, in the myelin sheath surrounding the axons of neurons. This ADTC can be interpreted as an asymptotic model of order two with respect to the layer thickness and accounts for water diffusion in the normal direction that is low compared to the tangential direction. We prove uniform stability of the asymptotic model with respect to the layer thickness and a mass conservation property. We demonstrate the quadratic accuracy of the ADTC by numerical tests and show that it gives a better approximation of the dMRI signal than a simple transmission condition that assumes isotropic diffusion in the layers
Revisiting and modelling the woodland farming system of the early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), 5600–4900 B.C

International audienceThis article presents the conception and the conceptual results of a modelling representation of the farming systems of the Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK). Assuming that there were permanent fields (PF) then, we suggest four ways that support the sustainability of such a farming system over time: a generalized pollarding and coppicing of trees to increase the productivity of woodland areas for foddering more livestock, which itself can then provide more manure for the fields, a generalized use of pulses grown together with cereals during the same cropping season, thereby reducing the needs for manure. Along with assumptions limiting bias on village and family organizations, the conceptual model which we propose for human environment in the LBK aims to be sustainable for long periods and can thereby overcome doubts about the PFs hypothesis for the LBK farming system. Thanks to a reconstruction of the climate of western Europe and the consequent vegetation pattern and productivity arising from it, we propose a protocol of experiments and validation procedures for both testing the PFs hypothesis and defining its eco-geographical area
Mass transfer coefficients of styrene into water/silicone oil mixtures: New interpretation using the "equivalent absorption capacity" concept.

International audienceThe physical absorption of styrene into water/silicone oil systems at a constant flow rate for mixtures of different compositions (silicone oil volume fraction ϕ = 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 8%, and 10%) was investigated in laboratory-scale bubble reactors using a dynamic absorption method. Experimental results previously analyzed assuming no contact between gas and silicone oil [10] were reconsidered by applying the "equivalent absorption capacity" concept characterized by the value of the styrene partition coefficient between air and the mixture (Hmix). The results indicate that silicone oil addition slightly hinders the styrene mass transfer rate compared to the air/water system. Moreover, a dramatic decrease in KLa values due to silicone oil addition is observed. In comparison with similar measurements available in the literature, it is noted that this decrease in KLa value could be related to the change in the partition coefficient ratio mR = Hwater/Hoil. Two explanations concerning the relationship between the change in a hydrodynamic parameter (KLa) and that in a thermodynamic parameter (mR) are proposed. Finally, it appears questionable to study the change in KLa in terms of silicone oil addition
The Objective Sum Constraint.

International audienceConstraint toolkits generally propose a sum constraint where a global objective variable should be equal to a sum of local objective variables, on which bound-consistency is achieved. To solve optimization problems this propagation is poor. Therefore, ad-hoc techniques are designed for pruning the global objective variable by taking account of the interactions between constraints defined on local objective variables. Each technique is specific to each (class of) practical problem. In this paper, we propose a new global constraint which deals with this issue in a generic way. We propose a sum constraint which exploits the propagation of a set of constraints defined on local objective variables
Coseismic and postseismic slip associated with the 2010 Maule Earthquake, Chile: Characterizing the Arauco Peninsula barrier effect

[1] Observations of coseismic and postseismic deformation associated with the 2010 Mw = 8.8 Maule earthquake in south-central Chile provide constraints on the spatial heterogeneities of frictional properties on a major subduction megathrust and how they have influenced the seismic rupture and postseismic effects. We find that the bulk of coseismic slip occurs within a single elongated patch approximately 460 km long and 100 km wide between the depths of 15 and 40 km. We infer three major patches of afterslip: one extends northward along strike and downdip of the major coseismic patch between 40 and 60 km depth; the other two bound the northern and southern ends of the coseismic patch. The southern patch offshore of the Arauco Peninsula is the only place showing resolvable afterslip shallower than 20 km depth. Estimated slip potency associated with postseismic slip in the 1.3 years following the earthquake amounts to 20–30% of that generated coseismically. Our estimates of the megathrust frictional properties show that the Arauco Peninsula area has positive but relatively low (a−b)σn values (0.01 ~ 0.22 MPa), that would have allowed dynamic rupture propagation into this rate-strengthening area and afterslip. Given the only modestly rate-strengthening megathrust friction in this region, the barrier effect may be attributed to its relatively large size of the rate-strengthening patch. Coseismic and postseismic uplift of the Arauco Peninsula exceeds interseismic subsidence since the time of the last major earthquake in 1835, suggesting that coseismic and postseismic deformation has resulted in some permanent strain in the forearc
Comparison of Stochastic and Variational Solutions to ASL fMRI Data Analysis

ISBN 978-3-319-24552-2International audienceFunctional Arterial Spin Labeling (fASL) MRI can provide a quantitative measurement of changes of cerebral blood flow induced by stimulation or task performance. fASL data is commonly analysed using a general linear model (GLM) with regressors based on the canonical hemodynamic response function. In this work, we consider instead a joint detection-estimation (JDE) framework which has the advantage of allowing the extraction of both task-related perfusion and hemodynamic responses not restricted to canonical shapes. Previous JDE attempts for ASL have been based on computer intensive sampling (MCMC) methods. Our contribution is to provide a comparison with an alternative variational expectation-maximization (VEM) algorithm on synthetic and real data
Copper pathology in vulnerable brain regions in Parkinson's disease.
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Copper pathology in PD

International audienceSynchrotron-based x-ray fluorescence microscopy, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting were used to investigate changes in copper (Cu) and Cu-associated pathways in the vulnerable substantia nigra (SN) and locus coeruleus (LC) and in nondegenerating brain regions in cases of Parkinson's disease (PD) and appropriate healthy and disease controls. In PD and incidental Lewy body disease, levels of Cu and Cu transporter protein 1, were significantly reduced in surviving neurons in the SN and LC. Specific activity of the cuproprotein superoxide dismutase 1 was unchanged in the SN in PD but was enhanced in the parkinsonian anterior cingulate cortex, a region with α-synuclein pathology, normal Cu, and limited cell loss. These data suggest that regions affected by α-synuclein pathology may display enhanced vulnerability and cell loss if Cu-dependent protective mechanisms are compromised. Additional investigation of copper pathology in PD may identify novel targets for the development of protective therapies for this disorder
Geometrical barriers and lower critical field in MgB2 single crystals

International audienceThe first penetration field sHpd has been deduced from local magnetization and specific heat measurements in magnesium diboride single crystals. For Ha ic, the geometrical barriers (GB) play a dominant role in the irreversibility mechanism. In thin samples, neglecting the GB in this direction would then lead to a large overestimation of Hc1 deduced from Hp through the standard elliptical formula. The lower critical field is found to be isotropic at low temperature (0.11±0.01 T)
The protective role of immunoglobulins in fungal infections and inflammation

International audienceIncreased incidence of fungal infections in the immunocompromised individuals and fungi-mediated allergy and inflammatory conditions in immunocompetent individuals is a cause of concern. Consequently, there is a need for efficient therapeutic alternatives to treat fungal infections and inflammation. Several studies have demonstrated that antibodies or immunoglobulins have a role in restricting the fungal burden and their clearance. However, based on the data from monoclonal antibodies, it is now evident that the efficacy of antibodies in fungal infections is dependent on epitope specificity, abundance of protective antibodies, and their isotype. Antibodies confer protection against fungal infections by multiple mechanisms that include direct neutralization of fungi and their antigens, inhibition of growth of fungi, modification of gene expression, signaling and lipid metabolism, causing iron starvation, inhibition of polysaccharide release, and biofilm formation. Antibodies promote opsonization of fungi and their phagocytosis, complement activation, and antibody-dependent cell toxicity. Passive administration of specific protective monoclonal antibodies could also prove to be beneficial in drug resistance cases, to reduce the dosage and associated toxic symptoms of anti-fungal drugs. The longer half-life of the antibodies and flexibilities to modify their structure/forms are additional advantages. The clinical data obtained with two monoclonal antibodies should incite interests in translating pre-clinical success into the clinics. The anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory role of antibodies in fungal inflammation could be exploited by intravenous immunoglobulin or IVIg
Biochemical characterization and modulation of LH/CG-receptor during human trophoblast differentiation.
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LH/CG-R in human trophoblast differentiation.

Due to the key role of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG) in placental development, the aim of this study was to characterize the human trophoblastic luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LH/CG-R) and to investigate its expression using the in vitro model of human cytotrophoblast differentiation into syncytiotrophoblast. We confirmed by in situ immunochemistry and in cultured cells, that LH/CG-R is expressed in both villous cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts. However, LH/CG-R expression decreased during trophoblast fusion and differentiation, while the expression of hCG and hPL (specific markers of syncytiotrophoblast formation) increased. A decrease in LH/CG-R mRNA during trophoblast differentiation was observed by means of semi-quantitative RT-PCR with two sets of primers. A corresponding decrease ( approximately 60%) in LH/CG-R protein content was shown by Western-blot and immunoprecipitation experiments. The amount of the mature form of LH/CG-R, detected as a 90-kDa band specifically binding (125)I-hCG, was lower in syncytiotrophoblasts than in cytotrophoblasts. This was confirmed by Scatchard analysis of binding data on cultured cells. Maximum binding at the cell surface decreased from 3,511 to about 929 molecules/seeded cells with a kDa of 0.4-0.5 nM. Moreover, on stimulation by recombinant hCG, the syncytiotrophoblast produced less cyclic AMP than cytotrophoblasts, indicating that LH/CG-R expression is regulated during human villous trophoblast differentiation. J. Cell. Physiol. 212: 26-35, 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc
Effect of fresh and mature organic amendments on the phytoremediation of technosols contaminated with high concentrations of trace elements

International audienceOrganic compounds resulting from the decomposition of organic amendments are used in the remediation of trace element (TE) contaminated soils. The mobility, phytoavailability and soil exposure intensity of molybdenum (Mo), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co) and Arsenic (As) were evaluated in the phytoremediation of contaminated technosols after the addition of two organic matter types, fresh ramial chipped wood (RCW) and composted sewage sludge (CSS). The experiment consisted of nine main treatment blocks: (A) 3X unamended soil (NE), (B) 3X soil amended with RCW and (C) 3X soil amended with mature CSS. Total dissolved TE concentrations were determined in soil pore water (SPW) sampled by Rhizon samplers. The soil exposure intensity was assessed by standard Chelex 100 DGT (diffusive gradient in thin films) probes. TE phytoavailability was characterized by growing dwarf beans on potted soils and analyzing their foliar TE concentrations. The results of the present study indicate that the addition of fresh RCW and CSS has a positive effect on contaminated technosols. RCW decreased the mobility of all the studied TE in the SPW, whereas CSS reduced the mobility of Mo, Cr and Co, while it increased the mobility of Zn, Cu and As compared with the NE soil.The Zn soil exposure intensity assessed by DGT was not significantly changed by the addition of RCW and CSS, while the Cr soil exposure intensity was significantly decreased after RCW addition compared with the soil treated with CSS and the NE soil. In contrast Cu and Co were non labile in the three soils. Both RCW and CSS decreased the foliar concentration and the mineral mass of Mo, Zn, Cr, As and Co in the bean leaves but increased the foliar Cu concentration
Irregular locus of the commuting variety of reductive symmetric Lie algebras and rigid pairs

29 pages, 3 tablesInternational audienceThe aim of this paper is to describe the irregular locus of the commuting variety of a reductive symmetric Lie algebra. More precisely, we want to enlighten a remark of Popov. In [Po], the irregular locus of the commuting variety of any reductive Lie algebra is described and its codimension is computed. This provides a bound for the codimension of the singular locus of this commuting variety. [Po, Remark 1.13] suggests that the arguments and methods of [Po] are suitable for obtaining analogous results in the symmetric setting. We show that some difficulties arise in this case and we obtain some results on the irregular locus of the component of maximal dimension of the "symmetric commuting variety". As a by-product, we study some pairs of commuting elements specific to the symmetric case, that we call rigid pairs. These pairs allow us to find all symmetric Lie algebras whose commuting variety is reducible