École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux

Abstract The lysyl oxidase–like protein LOXL2 has been suggested to contribute to tumor progression and metastasis, but in vivo evidence has been lacking. Here we provide functional evidence that LOXL2 is a key driver of breast cancer metastasis in two conditional transgenic mouse models of PyMT-induced breast cancer. LOXL2 ablation in mammary tumor cells dramatically decreased lung metastasis, whereas LOXL2 overexpression promoted metastatic tumor growth. LOXL2 depletion or overexpression in tumor cells does not affect extracellular matrix stiffness or organization in primary and metastatic tumors, implying a function for LOXL2 independent of its conventional role in extracellular matrix remodeling. In support of this likelihood, cellular and molecular analyses revealed an association of LOXL2 action with elevated levels of the EMT regulatory transcription factor Snail1 and expression of several cytokines that promote premetastatic niche formation. Taken together, our findings established a pathophysiologic role and new function for LOXL2 in breast cancer metastasis. Cancer Res; 77(21); 5846–59. ©2017 AACR.

The electrical dipoles of eyes change by eye movements and blinks, producing a signal known as an electrooculogram (EOG). A fraction of EOGs contaminate the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalogram, EEG). Ocular artefact (OA) is a collective term used to represent EEG contaminating potentials caused by eye movements and blinks. A procedure for quantifying the effectiveness of an algorithm for removing OA from the EEG was devised. This enabled the similarity between the EEG waveforms before contamination by OA and the contaminated EEG waveforms following their processing by an OA removal method to be measured. Four methods for OA removal were included in the study: extended independent component analysis (ICA), joint approximation diagonalisation of eigenmatrices (JADE), principal component analysis (PCA) and EOG subtraction. The operation of JADE and ICA is subject to amplitude scaling and channel permutation. Procedures were incorporated to estimate the amplitude of the recovered EEG waveforms and to allocate them to the correct channels. It was demonstrated that the signal separation techniques of JADE and extended ICA were more effective than EOG subtraction and PCA for removing OA from the EEG. EOG subtraction was shown to cause attenuation of the recovered EEG waveforms. The effect of additive Gaussian noise on the performance of the four OA removal methods was also investigated. This indicated that the performance of the methods was unaffected by an additive Gaussian noise source, as long as the signal-to-noise ratio remained above 50.

Abstract Cancer stem cells (CSC) are considered responsible for tumor initiation, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis. A comprehensive knowledge of the mechanisms governing the acquisition and maintenance of cancer stemness is crucial for the development of new therapeutic approaches in oncology. E2A basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors are associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor progression, but knowledge of their functional contributions to cancer biology is still limited. Using a combination of in vivo and in vitro analyses in a novel PyMT-E2A conditional knockout mouse model and derived primary tumor cell lines, we report here an essential role of E2A in stemness, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance in breast cancer. Targeted deletion of E2A in the mammary gland impaired tumor-initiating ability and dedifferentiation potential and severely compromised metastatic competence of PyMT-driven mammary tumors. Mechanistic studies in PyMT-derived cell lines indicated that E2A actions are mediated by the upregulation of Snai1 transcription. Importantly, high E2A and SNAIL1 expression occurred in aggressive human basal-like breast carcinomas, highlighting the relevance of the E2A–Snail1 axis in metastatic breast cancer. In addition, E2A factors contributed to the maintenance of genomic integrity and resistance to PARP inhibitors in PyMT and human triple-negative breast cancer cells. Collectively, these results support the potential for E2A transcription factors as novel targets worthy of translational consideration in breast cancer. Significance: These findings identify key functions of E2A factors in breast cancer cell stemness, metastasis, and drug resistance, supporting a therapeutic vulnerability to targeting E2A proteins in breast cancer.

PURPOSE: In view of current interest in the biological effects of amplitude-modulated microwaves arising from the rapid development of mobile communications, the effects of low-level microwaves on cancer development were investigated using a rat sarcoma model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by injection of benzo(a)pyrene and irradiated with GSM (Global System for Mobile)-modulated 900-MHz microwaves in an anechoic chamber at 55 or 200 microW cm(-2) (75 and 270 mW kg(-1) average whole-body SAR, 2h daily for 2 weeks). Rats were exposed from day 20, 40 or 75 after carcinogen injection. Additional groups of rats were sham-exposed in a second anechoic chamber. Anti-phosphatidylinositol autoantibody levels were evaluated in sera to monitor malignant transformation. RESULTS: Microwave exposure had no effect on the development of tumours. No acceleration or delays in tumour onset were observed. Animal survival was not modified and serum autoantibody levels were similar in exposed and sham-exposed groups. CONCLUSION: Low-level GSM microwave exposure of rat bearing benzo(a)pyrene-induced tumours had no effect on auto-antibody levels, tumour appearance and survival. The low exposure levels used here correspond to exposure limits for whole-body exposure of humans.

In this paper, we investigate the ability of L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems to penetrate soils to retrieve information about subsurface wet structures. Our experiment site, the Pyla dune, is a bare sandy area allowing high radar penetration and known to have large wet subsurface structures (paleosoils) at varying depths. Buried paleosoils, which act as moisture tanks, are detectable with radar, since they present a high permittivity due to their water content. By analyzing airborne polarimetric SAR data, we established that a phase signature is correlated to the buried wet palesoils: a phase difference of 23/spl deg/ between the horizontal (HH) and vertical (VV) channels was clearly observed. It allows detection of the paleosoil down to a larger depth (5.2 m) than when only considering HH and HV amplitude signals (3.5 m). In order to confirm this result, field measurements were performed that led to the same observed phase difference. We could fit our observations to the semiempirical model proposed by Oh and Sarabandi, and we reproduced the observed phenomenon using a two-layer integral equation method (IEM) model of the Pyla dune, which was completed by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations. We show that the soil moisture significantly influences the radar response in terms of phase difference between the copolarized modes. Our study also shows that the single-scattering IEM model reproduces the observed phase difference fairly well for a natural outdoor site when combined to FDTD simulation results. This phase signature could be used as a new tool to map subsurface moisture in arid regions.

Urban planners are facing a growing demand for high performance projects in terms of control and reduction of environmental impacts. However, the complex and multi-dimensional concept of sustainable urban development often loses its core substance when confronted to practice realities of urban projects because of a lack of adapted decision support tools. The question arises as to how the effective consideration of the environment and the limitation of the project impacts can be taken into account as soon as the early design stages? As an answer to this question, we developed NEST (Neighborhood Evaluation for Sustainable Territories), a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool for the built environment at the neighborhood scale. LCA has been increasingly used to assess the environmental impacts of construction products and buildings during the last 25 years. And today, a new trend stems in the application of LCA to larger systems such as urban islets or neighborhoods. NEST addresses early design stages, and uses 3D models of neighborhood projects to quantitatively assess a set of environmental impacts. In this paper we propose a presentation of the tool, and an application through the case study of a new development project for a peri-urban area.

Over the last few years, topics related to sustainable development and energy saving in Western countries led to several research projects aiming to promote the amount of natural daylight used in school buildings. The same issues arise now in Libya, especially those concerning the use of natural daylight. The promotion of natural daylight in the classrooms saves electrical energy and improves the working conditions for both teachers and students. The extreme solar heat in Libya has always been an imperative factor in relation to building heat. Especially during the period from June to August great care is given to avoid overheating while still preserving the use of natural daylight. The present research aims to propose and to test several architectural devices that can be integrated into educational building designs, allowing the penetration of natural daylight while respecting the traditional aestheticism and creating a comfortable school environment.

L’usage de l’expression « visual sociology » est reconnu et stabilisé dans les pays anglo-saxons, mais sa transposition francophone sous l’expression « sociologie visuelle » reste encore précaire et sujette à débat. Ainsi, le label « sociologies visuelles » est explicitement présenté au pluriel pour caractériser un champ francophone encore peu institutionnalisé. Si des visual studies à la sociologie visuelle, un tournant visuel a bien caractérisé les sciences sociales depuis la fin des années 1970, il s’est visiblement traduit par des orientations différentes dans le monde anglophone et le monde francophone. Dans le premier, la visual sociology s’apparente plutôt à une approche d’inspiration ethnographique, centrée sur la photographie plutôt que le film, sous l’impulsion de figures comme Howard Becker et Douglas Harper. Dans le second, la sociologie visuelle se caractérise par une sociologie plus souvent fil­- mique que photographique, notamment autour du thème du travail, et par une activité plus souvent pédagogique que scientifique. Au-delà de la variété de ces sociologies visuelles, nous avons choisi d’identifier trois pistes de recherche particulièrement stimulantes offertes par les approches visuelles : l’articulation entre cas et types, la construction de séquences d’images, et l’exploitation des potentialités d’échange des images, notamment sous la forme de recherches participatives.

Abstract This paper reports excess volumes and excess viscosities for binary mixtures of 2-chlorobutane with isomeric butanols at 298.15 K. Excess properties were correlated by means of a Redlich-Kister type equation. A qualitative interpretation of the results in terms of OH-OH and Cl-OH interactions is presented. The Prigogine-Flory-Patterson and Blomfield-Dewan theories have been used to analyze the results. Experimental isentropic compressibilities are also reported. Key Words: Excess volumesexcess viscosities2-chlorobutaneisomeric butanolsbinary mixturesPFP theoryBD theory

Within the future Global Information Grid, complex massively interconnected systems, isolated defense vehicles, sensors and effectors, and infrastructures and systems demanding extremely low failure rates, to which human security operators cannot have an easy access and cannot deliver fast enough reactions to cyber-attacks, need an active, autonomous and intelligent cyber defense. Multi Agent Systems for Cyber Defense may provide an answer to this requirement. This paper presents the concept and architecture of an Autonomous Intelligent Cyber defense Agent (AICA). First, we describe the rationale of the AICA concept. Secondly, we explain the methodology and purpose that drive the definition of the AICA Reference Architecture (AICARA) by NATO's IST-152 Research and Technology Group. Thirdly, we review some of the main features and challenges of Multi Autonomous Intelligent Cyber defense Agent (MAICA). Fourthly, we depict the initially assumed AICA Reference Architecture. Then we present one of our preliminary research issues, assumptions and ideas. Finally, we present the future lines of research that will help develop and test the AICA / MAICA concept.

In this paper, we describe a new computational methodology to select the best regression model to predict a numerical variable of interest Y and to select simultaneously the most interesting numerical explanatory variables strongly linked to Y. Three regression models (parametric, semi-parametric and non-parametric) are considered and estimated by multiple linear regression, sliced inverse regression and random forests. Both the variables selection and the model choice are computational. A measure of importance based on random perturbations is calculated for each covariate. The variables above a threshold are selected. Then a learning/test samples approach is used to estimate the Mean Square Error and to determine which model (including variable selection) is the most accurate. The R package modvarsel (MODel and VARiable SELection) implements this computational approach and applies to any regression datasets. After checking the good behavior of the methodology on simulated data, the R package is used to select the proteins predictive of meat tenderness among a pool of 21 candidate proteins assayed in semitendinosus muscle from 71 young bulls. The biomarkers were selected by linear regression (the best regression model) to predict meat tenderness. These biomarkers, we confirm the predominant role of heat shock proteins and metabolic ones.

Since the development of hydroelectric power at the end of the 19th century, most of the high mountain valleys in the Pyrenees have been equipped with hydropower facilities (dams, water intake structures, aqueducts, penstocks, access routes, etc.). Thus, today many landscapes in the Pyrenees bear witness to the exploitation of this renewable resource. But in the classical imaginary world, these mountain areas are seen as the archetype of the beautiful natural landscape, in accordance with aesthetic values inherited from the 18th century, setting Man against Nature. In this model of representations, the cultural heritage of high mountain areas remains in the shadow of their natural heritage. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, it can be shown that the development of mountain tourism has been closely linked with the development of hydroelectric power infrastructures. This runs counter to these prejudices and may well give rise to new ways of looking at these hybrid landscapes.The cross-border comparison of the Neouvielle and Encantats massifs in the Pyrenees reveals that their hydropower resources are exploited in the same way, but that heritage aspects are managed differently: dismantling of ancillary installations at the dams with a view to protecting the so-called “natural” landscapes in the Neouvielle massif, as opposed to rehabilitating and converting this heritage in the Encantats massifs with a view to developing a form of tourism that takes into account the hybrid nature of the vestiges visible in today’s landscape.

The aim of this paper is to propose a new spectral analysis method for an on-chip analog-to-digital converter (ADC) dynamic test. ADC characterization by spectral analysis has traditionally been done with discrete Fourier transform. This method imposes restrictions to optimize results; one of these is coherent sampling. Recently, some filter structures have been used for spectral analysis of a sinusoidal signal corrupted by harmonics and noise. In this paper, we present a new filter bank structure used for decomposing a signal into its main spectral components. The main application examined is ADC spectral parameter estimation, like signal-to-noise and distortion ratio, signal to noise ratio, total harmonic distortion, and so on, in noncoherent sampling. Computer simulations are used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed filter bank scheme. This structure is a promising built-in self-test (BIST) approach for ADC ICs.

Un programme interdisciplinaire de recherche est conduit depuis 15 ans sur l'histoire des forêts et l'impact de la métallurgie au bois dans les Pyrénées de l'est. L'objectif est de décrire l'évolution spatiale des paysages forestiers et pastoraux et de saisir les principaux seuils historiques et leurs causes. La méthodologie est basée sur l'étude régressive à grande échelle de sites caractéristiques (vallée ou unités forestières), en utilisant la phytogéographie, la palynologie, l'anthracologie et l'archéologie. Dans toutes les Pyrénées de l'est, en particulier dans les montagnes ariégeoises et catalanes, les restes d'anciennes charbonnières sont innombrables dans l'ensemble de l'aire de la forêt, actuelle ou potentielle. Les charbonnières ont donc été utilisées en tant qu'outil pour l'histoire de l'environnement et la reconstitution des forêts du passé. Deux méthodes sont décrites ici : (i) la méthode anthraco-biogéographique qui est basée sur une démarche géosystémique et permet une approche comparative et spatialité ; (ii) la méthode archéo-environnementale qui permet une étude diachronique précise d'unités forestières limitées et des sites de charbonnage.

EDITORIAL article Front. Psychol., 11 February 2020Sec. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology Volume 11 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00159

Due to the increasing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions related to HVAC applications in the residential sector, thermal energy storage with phase change materials has caught considerable attention in the last years. Their attractive storage capacity can be adapted to meet the energy needs of buildings. In this work, the design process of a prototype of an air-PCM unit is described, and the corresponding experimental tests are detailed. These experiments were carried out on a plus energy house prototype located in the Southwestern France, during the summertime of 2017. The thermal performance of this unit was assessed through indicators such as indoor air temperature, the operating time, and the Discomfort Degree Hours (DDH) within the house. The results suggest that the unit limits the indoor air temperature rise during its operation, keeping the temperature within the thermal comfort and therefore contributing to decreasing the thermal discomfort.

In this paper, a time-domain measurement of quality factor is described. Based on the time-domain measurement principle, we have proposed an integrated architecture. The experimental results performed on a printed circuit board prototype show a measurement accuracy of 0.1%, which is the best theoretical attainable accuracy in our case and only limited by the fundamental quantization error. The circuit design, the performance analysis, and the experimental setup are discussed in this paper.

L’analyse des travaux de fin d’études des étudiants de l’ École du paysage de Versailles permet d’éclairer ce qui reste néanmoins encore une « boîte noire » conceptuelle : le projet de paysage. L’oeil du géographe sur cette base documentaire aussi riche qu’inexploitée est attiré par l’usage qu’ont les étudiants de « la géographie » comme matériau du projet de paysage. Réduite au site, au socle physique, elle est chargée de potentialités paysagères à révéler. L’objectif de cet article est de proposer une analyse des qualités qui lui sont attribuées. Par là, il s’agit aussi de contribuer à expliciter la démarche de conception des paysagistes et les valeurs qui les animent.

ABSTRACT The enantiomeric resolution of (±)-threo methylphenidate (MPH) (Ritalin®) has been achieved on Chiralcel OB column using the mobile phase hexane–ethanol–methanol–trifluoroacetic acid (480 : 9.75 : 9.75 : 0.5, v/v/v/v), containing benzoic acid and phenol as mobile phase additives. Ultraviolet detection was carried out at 230 nm. Molecular modeling was carried out to explain the chiral resolution mechanism of MPH enantiomers.

Murty proved that for all sufficiently large $X$ there exist at least ${c(\ell,\eps) X^{1/{4\ell}-\eps}}$ real quadratic fields with class number divisible by $\ell$ and discriminant not exceeding $X$ in absolute value. We extend this this to number fields of arbitrary degree.