Projection methods in conic optimization

There exist efficient algorithms to project a point onto the intersection of a convex cone and an affine subspace. Those conic projections are in turn the work-horse of a range of algorithms in conic optimization, having a variety of applications in science, finance and engineering. This chapter reviews some of these algorithms, emphasizing the so-called regularization algorithms for linear conic optimization, and applications in polynomial optimization. This is a presentation of the material of several recent research articles; we aim here at clarifying the ideas, presenting them in a general framework, and pointing out important techniques

Cinematic and aesthetic cartographies of subjective mutation

This article exmaines the use of cinema as a mapping of subjective mutation in the work of Deleuze, Gauttari and Berardi. Drawing on Deleuze's distinciton between the reduction of the art-work to the symptom and the idea of art as symptomatology, the article focuses on Berardi's use of cinematic examples, posing the quesiton in each case of to what extent they function as symptomatologies or mere symptoms of cultural and subjective mutations in examples ranging from Bergman's Persona to Van Sant's Elephant to finish on speculations about Fincher's The Social Network as a cirtical engagement with subjective mutation in the 21st Century

Quelques paramètres biologiques de Orseolia oryzivora H. & G. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) au Burkina Faso

La cecidomyie africaine du riz, Orseolia oryzivora Harris & Gagne est lfun des principaux insectes ravageurs du riz dans plusieurs pays dfAfrique tropicale dont le Burkina Faso. De nombreux travaux ont ete realises sur lfinsecte mais jusqufici, certains parametres biologiques du diptere nfont pas encore ete explores. Ce travail a ete realise pour permettre  dfameliorer la connaissance du Nematocere dans une perspective de gestion. Ainsi, le developpement post-embryonnaire, la fecondite  potentielle, la fertilite et la sex-ratio de lfinsecte ont ete investigues. Cette etude a ete realisee a Bobo-Dioulasso, dans des cages de dimensions 60 x 90 x 65 cm et dans des conditions proches de celles de la nature. Les stades pre-imaginaux de lfinsecte ont ete prepares, conserves dans lfalcool 70 ‹ et photographies a la loupe binoculaire. La fecondite potentielle moyenne etait de 300 oeufs (192 a 404 oeufs). La fertilite moyenne individuelle etait de 36 descendants des 2 sexes. Les  descendants etaient constitues en majorite de femelles mais la distribution des males etait plus homogene. La sex-ratio obtenue a partir dfindividus sauvages etait de 1: 2,24. La larve neonate, a lfeclosion, mesurait 540 ƒÊm et comportait une petite capsule cephalique. Sur la face ventrale de la jeune larve, dans la partie anterieure a chaque segment, etaient disposees plusieurs rangees paralleles de petits tubercules cuticulaires. La pupe etait libre, elle etait depourvue de cocon. Les ebauches alaires et pedieuses etaient nettement visibles.Mots cles : Cecidomyie, fecondite, fertilite, sex-ratio, developpement

A Fresh Variational-Analysis Look at the Positive Semidefinite Matrices World

International audienceEngineering sciences and applications of mathematics show unambiguously that positive semidefiniteness of matrices is the most important generalization of non-negative real num- bers. This notion of non-negativity for matrices has been well-studied in the literature; it has been the subject of review papers and entire chapters of books. This paper reviews some of the nice, useful properties of positive (semi)definite matrices, and insists in particular on (i) characterizations of positive (semi)definiteness and (ii) the geometrical properties of the set of positive semidefinite matrices. Some properties that turn out to be less well-known have here a special treatment. The use of these properties in optimization, as well as various references to applications, are spread all the way through. The "raison d'être" of this paper is essentially pedagogical; it adopts the viewpoint of variational analysis, shedding new light on the topic. Important, fruitful, and subtle, the positive semidefinite world is a good place to start with this domain of applied mathematics

Junkie love : romance and addiction on the big screen

This article investigates the filmic construction of two disparate but intertwining cultural practices: those engaging in the life-affirming rituals of romantic love and those performing the potentially self-destructive rituals of hard drug consumption. Discussing a number of key feature films from the (mini) genre “junkie love”, it aims to show what happens when elements of mainstream romantic drama merge with the horror conventions of the heroin addiction film. Drawing amongst others on Murray Smith’s theory of “levels of [spectator] engagement” and Greg Smith’s concept of the “emotion system”, the article concludes that junkie love films, using tropes of the romantic tragedy in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet, present a more complex and nuanced approach to drug addicts than the predominantly condemnatory media coverage—one that arguably invites the spectator’s understanding and compassion

Comparative study of T84 and T84SF human colon carcinoma cells: in vitro and in vivo ultrastructural and functional characterization of cell culture and metastasis

To better understand the relationship between tumor heterogeneity, differentiation, and metastasis, suitable experimental models permitting in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary. A new variant cell line (T84SF) exhibiting an altered phenotype was recently selected from a colon cancer cell line (T84) by repetitive plating on TNF-alpha treated human endothelial cells and subsequent selection for adherent cells. The matched pair of cell lines provides a useful system to investigate the extravasation step of the metastatic cascade. Since analysis of morphological differences can be instructive to the understanding of metastatic potential of tumor cells, we compared the ultrastructural and functional phenotype of T84 and T84SF cells in vitro and in vivo. The reported ultrastructural features evidence differences between the two cell lines; selected cells showed a marked pleomorphism of cell size and nuclei, shape, and greater surface complexity. These morphological differences were also coupled with biochemical data showing a distinct tyrosine phosphorylation-based signaling, an altered localization of beta-catenin, MAPK, and AKT activation, as well as an increased expression in T84SF cells of Bcl-X-L, a major regulator of apoptosis. Therefore, these cell lines represent a step forward in the development of appropriate models in vitro and in vivo to investigate colon cancer progression

Assessment of the Corrosion Inhibition Ability of Eucalyptus globulus Leaf Extract Essential Oil on C24 Steel in a 1M HCl Environment

This study examined the properties of the essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus, an aromatic plant present in Senegal. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by usual gas chromatography (GC/Ir and GC/MS). The main chemical compounds identified were eucalyptol (40.42%), α-phellandrene (8.92%), limonene (7.17%), and α-pinene (6.49%). The inhibitory effect of this essential oil on C24 steel in 1M HCl medium was also evaluated using electrochemical methods. The results indicated a maximum effectiveness of 80.6% at an essential oil concentration of 1.5 g/L and a temperature of 290 K. Beyond this concentration, the effectiveness decreased. We also examined the influence of temperature on the inhibitory action of the essential oil, in a range from 290 to 328 K. We found a decrease in effectiveness with increasing temperature, reaching 48.67% at 328 K. In addition, the thermodynamic quantities were calculated. The isotherm results demonstrated that the adsorption of the essential oil follows the Langmuir isotherm, suggesting a physical adsorption character of this essential oil on the C24 steel

Impact of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on pneumonia in The Gambia: population-based surveillance and case-control studies.

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are used in many low-income countries but their impact on the incidence of pneumonia is unclear. The Gambia introduced PCV7 in August, 2009, and PCV13 in May, 2011. We aimed to measure the impact of the introduction of these vaccines on pneumonia incidence. METHODS: We did population-based surveillance and case-control studies. The primary endpoint was WHO-defined radiological pneumonia with pulmonary consolidation. Population-based surveillance was for suspected pneumonia in children aged 2-59 months (minimum age 3 months in the case-control study) between May 12, 2008, and Dec 31, 2015. Surveillance for the impact study was limited to the Basse Health and Demographic Surveillance System (BHDSS), whereas surveillance for the case-control study included both the BHDSS and Fuladu West Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Nurses screened all outpatients and inpatients at all health facilities in the surveillance area using standardised criteria for referral to clinicians in Basse and Bansang. These clinicians recorded clinical findings and applied standardised criteria to identify patients with suspected pneumonia. We compared the incidence of pneumonia during the baseline period (May 12, 2008, to May 11, 2010) and the PCV13 period (Jan 1, 2014, to Dec 31, 2015). We also investigated the effectiveness of PCV13 using case-control methods between Sept 12, 2011, and Sept 31, 2014. Controls were aged 90 days or older, and were eligible to have received at least one dose of PCV13; cases had the same eligibility criteria with the addition of having WHO-defined radiological pneumonia. FINDINGS: We investigated 18 833 children with clinical pneumonia and identified 2156 cases of radiological pneumonia. Among children aged 2-11 months, the incidence of radiological pneumonia fell from 21·0 cases per 1000 person-years in the baseline period to 16·2 cases per 1000 person-years (23% decline, 95% CI 7-36) in 2014-15. In the 12-23 month age group, radiological pneumonia decreased from 15·3 to 10·9 cases per 1000 person-years (29% decline, 12-42). In children aged 2-4 years, incidence fell from 5·2 to 4·1 cases per 1000 person-years (22% decline, 1-39). Incidence of all clinical pneumonia increased by 4% (-1 to 8), but hospitalised cases declined by 8% (3-13). Pneumococcal pneumonia declined from 2·9 to 1·2 cases per 1000 person-years (58% decline, 22-77) in children aged 2-11 months and from 2·6 to 0·7 cases per 1000 person-years (75% decline, 47-88) in children aged 12-23 months. Hypoxic pneumonia fell from 13·1 to 5·7 cases per 1000 person-years (57% decline, 42-67) in children aged 2-11 months and from 6·8 to 1·9 cases per 1000 person-years (72% decline, 58-82) in children aged 12-23 months. In the case-control study, the best estimate of the effectiveness of three doses of PCV13 against radiological pneumonia was an adjusted odds ratio of 0·57 (0·30-1·08) in children aged 3-11 months and vaccine effectiveness increased with greater numbers of doses (p=0·026). The analysis in children aged 12 months and older was underpowered because there were few unvaccinated cases and controls. INTERPRETATION: The introduction of PCV in The Gambia was associated with a moderate impact on the incidence of radiological pneumonia, a small reduction in cases of hospitalised pneumonia, and substantial reductions of pneumococcal and hypoxic pneumonia in young children. Low-income countries that introduce PCV13 with reasonable coverage can expect modest reductions in hospitalised cases of pneumonia and a marked impact on the incidence of severe childhood pneumonia. FUNDING: GAVI's Pneumococcal vaccines Accelerated Development and Introduction Plan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and UK Medical Research Council

Etude expérimentale d'une couche de mélange anisotherme

Une couche de mélange anisotherme plane est étudiée dans différentes configurations de gradients forcés de vitesse et de température. L'écoulement est mis en oeuvre dans une soufflerie spécialement conçue pour générer des écoulements à basse vitesse avec génération séparée de deux courants à vitesses et températures contrôlées séparément. L'étude utilise une nouvelle technique d'anémométrie par fil chaud à surchauffe programmable dénommée PCTA. Le capteur permet de mesurer simultanément la vitesse et la température à haute fréquence en un même point. Les profils transversaux de vitesse et de température mesurés le long de la direction principale de l'écoulement donnent accès aux paramètres d'expansion de la couche de mélange. Les expansions de l'épaisseur de vorticité et de l'épaisseur de mélange thermique sont comparées, en fonction du paramètre de cisaillement dynamique et du nombre de Richardson. L'utilisation de l'anémomètre PCTA ouvre des perspectives d'analyse fine des interactions vitesse-température dans le mélange turbulent