Chemical Ecology of the Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), and Potential for Alternative Control Methods

in Insects (2013), 4(1), 31-54

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) has been a major insect pest to potato farming for over 150 years and various control methods have been established to reduce its impact on potato fields. Crop rotation ... [more ▼]

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) has been a major insect pest to potato farming for over 150 years and various control methods have been established to reduce its impact on potato fields. Crop rotation and pesticide use are currently the most widely used approaches, although alternative methods are being developed. Here we review the role of various volatile and nonvolatile chemicals involved in behavior changes of CPB that may have potential for their control. First, we describe all volatile and nonvolatile chemicals involved in host plant localization and acceptance by CPB beetles, including glycoalcaloids and host plant volatiles used as kairomones. In the second section, we present the chemical signals used by CPB in intraspecific communication, including sex and aggregation pheromones. Some of these chemicals are used by natural enemies of CPBs to locate their prey and are presented in the third section. The last section of this review is devoted a discussion of the potential of some natural chemicals in biological control of CPB and to approaches that already reached efficient field applications. [less ▲]

L’Œnone ovidienne : un personnage parthénien ?

in Revue des Etudes Anciennes (2013), 115

Based on a sharp comparative analysis of diverse preserved stories of the myth of Oenone, this article provides new elements to the study of the sources of Ovid’s Heroides V, Oenone. Lycophron’s ... [more ▼]

Based on a sharp comparative analysis of diverse preserved stories of the myth of Oenone, this article provides new elements to the study of the sources of Ovid’s Heroides V, Oenone. Lycophron’s, Parthenius of Nicaea’s, Conon’s and Apollodorus’s Greek works are compared to their Latin counterparts. Special interest is devoted to Parthenius’s Ἐρωτικὸν Πάθημα 4, Oenone – regarded by the specialists as one of the models of the augustan poet. The role this note (EP4) played in the composition of epistle V of the Heroides is re-examined and new arguments favourable to Ovid’s reusing Parthenius’s work are suggested. This research work does not solely tackle the study of the sources of one of Ovid’s poems, but also diverse tightly intertwined processes of literary creation. [less ▲]

Chemical composition of silage residues sustaining the larval development of the Culicoides obsoletus/Culicoides scoticus species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

in Veterinary Parasitology (2013), 191(1-2), 197-201

Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are biological vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV). Bluetongue is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild ruminants. Since its recent emergence in northern ... [more ▼]

Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are biological vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV). Bluetongue is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild ruminants. Since its recent emergence in northern Europe, this disease has caused considerable economic losses to the sheep and cattle industry. The biotopes, and more particularly the chemical characteristics which are suitable for larval development of the main vector species, are still relatively unknown. This study shows that the larvae of biting midges belonging to the species Culicoides obsoletus and Culicoides scoticus are able to breed in different types of silage residue (maize, grass, sugar beet pulp and their combinations). The chemical composition of substrates strongly influences the presence of the immature stages of these biting midges. Higher lignin and insoluble fibre contents seem to favour their presence and could play the role of a physical support for semi-aquatic larvae. In contrast, higher concentrations of magnesium and calcium are negatively correlated with the presence of these two species. These data will help to locate and monitor the breeding sites of these species and could contribute to the control of these insects on farms. [less ▲]

A literature review of the mechanisms, causes, investigation, and management of vomiting disorders in cats

in Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2013), 15(4), 237-265

International Public Contracts : Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

in Audit, Mathias; Schill, Stephan (Eds.) THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF PUBLIC CONTRACTS (2013)

This paper examines the legal regimes of international contracts concluded by States and public entities. These agreements come in many shape and form. Some of these contracts are long term arrangements ... [more ▼]

This paper examines the legal regimes of international contracts concluded by States and public entities. These agreements come in many shape and form. Some of these contracts are long term arrangements involving massive amount of capital and touching upon key resources of the State. Other contracts are of more limited scope. The paper focuses on the law applicable to such agreements. The importance of determining the law applicable to 'state contracts' follows from the peculiar features of a contractual relation with a State, and most notably the additional risk this creates. As in the domestic context, the State is not a contractual partner like any other. It comes into the contractual relationship with its exorbitant powers and sometimes bad manners. This explains why, in contrast with private agreements, where such clauses are too often neglected, provisions on applicable law and settlement of disputes are often considered the “most sensitive legal issues” in the framework of contracts concluded by States. In this against this background that public international contracts will be examined. The attention will first focus on the determination of the law applicable to such contracts (section 1). Thereafter the focus will be on the various stabilization mechanisms used in practice (section 2). This will include both direct stabilization mechanisms and dispute resolution provisions, as these two elements are central to the legal regime of public international contracts. An attempt will be made to present both the generalprinciples and the current practice of States – even though it is difficult to draw general lessons as contracts concluded by states, which come in various formats and shapes, are not easily accessible. [less ▲]

Etude de modes de production de charbon de bois sur l'axe Lubumbashi-Kasenga

Poster (2013)

Elements de processus stochastiques

Learning material (2013)

Psychologie et psychologisme

Book published by Vrin - à paraître (2013)

L’objectif de ce volume est de faire le point sur la question du psychologisme. Nous voudrions examiner non pas, comme cela est fait traditionnellement, pourquoi et comment il faut critiquer ce type de ... [more ▼]

L’objectif de ce volume est de faire le point sur la question du psychologisme. Nous voudrions examiner non pas, comme cela est fait traditionnellement, pourquoi et comment il faut critiquer ce type de position, mais aller au cœur du problème pour comprendre qu’est-ce que les auteurs qui ont adopté ce point de vue comptaient gagner et quel est, plus précisément, le rapport entre psychologisme et psychologie. C'est ainsi qu’une éventuelle réfutation du psychologisme pourra se fonder dans une véritable compréhension des enjeux et des nuances de cette position. Le psychologisme s’impose comme problème à cause du paradoxe qu’il engendre : d’une part la logique est une des dimensions de la pensée, et donc elle est partie intégrante du domaine de la psychologie. D’autre part, la psychologie elle même prétend être une science et donc elle doit se soumettre aux lois de la logique. La question du psychologisme est donc, en réalité, la question de savoir si c'est bien la logique qui se fonde sur les données de la psychologie ou bien si c'est la psychologie qui doit prendre comme fondement les lois de la logique. On le sait, le terme « psychologisme » a été utilisé surtout par les antipsychologistes, et en un sens péjoratif, pour désigner la prétention de fonder la logique dans la psychologie et de chercher par là-même les fondements de la vérité dans des lois psychologiques qui régissent la connaissance en tant qu’activité concrète de penser. La conséquence souvent déplorée de ce point de vue est que la connaissance - et la vérité qui en est la condition - se trouvent ainsi relativisées : nous entendons désormais par connaissance une activité empirique qui dépend de l’histoire personnelle du sujet connaissant et qui n’a pas de sens indépendamment de ce sujet. Si les arguments « anti-psychologistes », qui ont été formulés à la fin du XIXe siècle par Bolzano, Frege et Husserl entre autres, semblent l’avoir emporté avec succès, nous voudrions inviter les contributeurs à une réflexion sur les effets que cette critique a eu sur la psychologie entendue en un sens large. La psychologie, en tant que science des phénomènes psychiques, se réduit-elle à une prétention psychologiste sur la connaissance ? Ni a-t-il des questions que la psychologie soulève et se donne les moyens de résoudre, qui font de la psychologie un domaine légitime et fécond de la philosophie ? La question en travail sera donc : faut-il être psychologiste pour être psychologue ? Et implicitement il y a-t-il encore un intérêt pour le philosophe de chercher des réponses dans la psychologie et à quelles questions ? Nous proposons donc comme but de ce volume de mesurer d’une part le thème psychologiste concernant la théorie de la connaissance aux autres thèmes, peut-être plus convaincantes, que la psychologie avance à cette époque et d’autre part de mesurer l’effet que les arguments anti-psychologistes ont eu par la suite sur l’évolution de la psychologie comme science et sur sa pertinence philosophique. Nous discuterons cette problématique à partir de Kant et jusqu’à Husserl et Frege, en passant par Fries, Herbart, Beneke, Brentano et Stumpf. Le volume inclura (sous réserve de confirmation) les contributions de Jocelyn Benoist (Université Paris 1, Archives Husserl Paris), Rudolf Bernet (KU Leuven), Federico Boccaccini (ULg), Christian Bonnet (Université Paris 1), Arnaud Dewalque (ULg), Raphaël Ehrsam (Université Paris 1), Denis Fisette (Université du Québec à Montréal), Maria Gyemant (ULg), Martin Kusch (Université de Vienne), Carole Maigné (Université Paris IV, Archives Husserl Paris) et Denis Seron (ULg). [less ▲]

Modeling and Prediction of Nonlinear Environmental System Using Bayesian Methods

in Computers & Electronics in Agriculture (2013), 92

An environmental dynamic system is usually modeled as a nonlinear system described by a set of nonlinear ODEs. A central challenge in computational modeling of environmental systems is the determination ... [more ▼]

An environmental dynamic system is usually modeled as a nonlinear system described by a set of nonlinear ODEs. A central challenge in computational modeling of environmental systems is the determination of the model parameters. In these cases, estimating these variables or parameters from other easily obtained measurements can be extremely useful. This work addresses the problem of monitoring and modeling a leaf area index and soil moisture model (LSM) using state estimation. The performances of various conventional and state-of-the-art state estimation techniques are compared when they are utilized to achieve this objective. These techniques include the extended Kalman filter (EKF), the particle filter (PF), and the more recently developed technique variational filter (VF). Specifically, two comparative studies are performed. In the first comparative study, the state variables (the leaf-area index LAI , the volumetric water content of the soil layer 1, HUR1 and the volumetric water content of the soil layer 2, HUR2) are estimated from noisy measurements of these variables, and the various estimation techniques are compared by computing the estimation root mean square error (RMSE) with respect to the noise-free data. In the second comparative study, the state variables as well as the model parameters are simultaneously estimated. In this case, in addition to comparing the performances of the various state estimation techniques, the effect of number of estimated model parameters on the accuracy and convergence of these techniques are also assessed. The results of both comparative studies show that the PF provides a higher accuracy than the EKF, which is due to the limited ability of the EKF to handle highly nonlinear processes. The results also show that the VF provides a significant improvement over the PF because, unlike the PF which depends on the choice of sampling distribution used to estimate the posterior distribution, the VF yields an optimum choice of the sampling distribution, which also accounts for the observed data. The results of the second comparative study show that, for all techniques, estimating more model parameters affects the estimation accuracy as well as the convergence of the estimated states and parameters. However, the VF can still provide both convergence as well as accuracy related advantages over other estimation methods. [less ▲]

Prediction of residual stresses by FE simulations on bimetallic work rolls during cooling

in Computer Methods in Materials Science (2013), 13(1), 84-91

Bimetallic rolls used in the roughing stands of the Hot Strip Mill require mixed properties as a high wear resistance for the shell material and an enhanced toughness for the core material. The bimetallic ... [more ▼]

Bimetallic rolls used in the roughing stands of the Hot Strip Mill require mixed properties as a high wear resistance for the shell material and an enhanced toughness for the core material. The bimetallic roll studied in this paper is obtained from a vertical spin casting process followed by cooling and subsequent heat treatments. Failure of the compound roll sometimes occurs during the cooling stage of the casting route or later during the thermal treatments. It requires to deeply investigate the thermo mechanical metallurgical interactions generated during cooling and heat treatment in order to find the origin of cracks. For this purpose, a thermo metallurgic mechanical finite element model is used. However these numerical simulations require a high amount of mechanical, thermal and metallurgical parameters. In order to determinate these parameters, a study of available data for estimation of mechanical parameters was performed. Thermo physical parameters were obtained by DTA and DSC methods. Metallurgical characterization by inverse numerical method based on available CCT diagrams was performed to determine the TTT diagrams. First cooling numerical simulations are presented, allowing a rough estimate of residual stresses values and the identification of key parameters for predicting accurate residual stresses by sensitivity analysis. [less ▲]