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Compte rendu de l'ouvrage de Jeffrey S. Ahlman, Living with Nkrumahism. Nation, State and Pan-Africanism in Ghana, Athens, Ohio University Press, coll. « New African Histories », 2017, 322 pages.

To improve energy security and ensure the compliance with stringent climate goals, the European Union is willing to step up its efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of electrification, and in general, of alternative fuels and propulsion methods. Yet, the costs and benefits of imposing norms on vehicle or biofuel mandates should be assessed in light of the uncertainties surrounding these pathways, in terms of e.g. cost of these new technologies. By using robust optimization, we are able to introduce uncertainty simultaneously on a high number of cost parameters without notably impacting the computing time of our model (a French TIMES paradigm model). To account for the different nature of the uncertain parameters we model two kinds of uncertainty propagation with time. We then apply this formal setting to French energy system under carbon constraint. As uncertainty increases, as does technology diversification to hedge against it. In the transportation sector, low-carbon alternatives (CNG, electricity) appear consistently as hedges against cost variations, along with biofuels. Policy implications of diversification strategies are of importance; in that sense, the work undertaken here is a step towards the design of robust technology-oriented energy policies.

In this paper, we study how uncertainties weighing on the climate system impact the optimal technological pathways the world energy system should take to comply with stringent mitigation objectives. We use the TIAM-World model that relies on the TIMES modelling approach. Its climate module is inspired by the DICE model. Using robust optimization techniques, we assess the impact of the climate system parameter uncertainty on energy transition pathways under various climate constraints. Unlike other studies we consider all the climate system parameters which is of primary importance since: (i) parameters and outcomes of climate models are all inherently uncertain (parametric uncertainty); and (ii) the simplified models at stake summarize phenomena that are by nature complex and non linear in a few, sometimes linear, equations so that structural uncertainty is also a major issue. The use of robust optimization allows us to identify economic energy transition pathways under climate constraints for which the outcome scenarios remain relevant for any realization of the climate parameters. In this sense, transition pathways are made robust. We find that the abatement strategies are quite different between the two temperature targets. The most stringent one is reached by investing massively in carbon removal technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) which have yields much lower than traditional fossil fuelled technologies.

Interesarse por la fraseología, disciplina lingüística que estudia les elementos fijos del lenguaje, equivale a interesarse por una realidad de primer orden en la enseñanza- aprendizaje de las Lenguas y del Francés Lengua Extranjera. En efecto, las unidades fraseológicas funcionan como revelador de dominio y calidad lingüísticos por parte del locutor y son numerosos los investigadores que señalan este valor añadido indisociable del empleo de la fraseología. Sin embargo, ante la escasez de estudios sobre la didáctica de la fraseología en lengua francesa, resulta necesario llevar a cabo un trabajo de investigación para hacer propuestas metodológicas y elaborar materiales didácticos. La intención de la autora es emprender una investigación documentada, en la que la realización del estado de la cuestión, nos permitirá luego concretar nuestra propuesta fraseodidáctica. Fruto de estas reflexiones resulta nuestra propuesta de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las construcciones verbales fijas (CVF) en Francés Lengua Extranjera para aprendices adultos de nivel B1 del Marco Europeo Común para las Lenguas. Para llevar a cabo este estudio, se ha elaborado un corpus de CVF a partir del material fraseológico recogido en catorce manuales de FLE comprendidos de 1980 a 2014, para un aprendiz adulto de nivel B1. Esta tesis doctoral se divide en tres capítulos. La primera parte de la investigación consiste en averiguar en qué medida la didáctica de la fraseología, o la fraseodidáctica en Francés Lengua Extranjera dispone de fundamentos metodológicos propios desde la publicación del primer manual publicado en 1909. Para confirmar estos datos, ha sido necesario efectuar una búsqueda bibliográfica de las obras didácticas editadas hasta la fecha, cuyo denominador común es la fraseología.y analizar sus ejes metadidácticas que constituyen unas propuestas pedagógicas originales. El segundo objetivo tiene como punto de partida la hipótesis, legítima, que aboga por la existencia de elementos adicionales que frenan la implantación de esta disciplina lingüística. Lugar que ocupa la fraseología en la enseñanza-aprendizaje del francés lengua materna para poder determinar si las observaciones de los fraseodidácticos que se dedican a la lengua francesa para aprendices no nativos es fundamentada. Para ello, hemos procedido al estudio de las corrientes didácticas que predominan desde los años ochenta, el acercamiento comunicativo y el enfoque orientado a la acción y comprobar de este modo el lugar acordado a la enseñanza del léxico y de las unidades fraseológicas. El tercer objetivo se centra en realizar una aportación para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de construcciones verbales fijas. En este apartado, se trata de evaluar el material fraseológico propuesto y el tratamiento de las unidades fraseológicas en catorce manuales para el aprendiz adulto de nivel B1comprendidos entre 1982 y 2012. El análisis lingüístico quiere demostrar, como se supone de antemano, que no existen fundamentos teóricos ni metodológicos para las UF. Esta carencia de acercamiento nos lleva elaborar un enfoque fraseodidáctico inédito. Esta tesis doctoral aporta una valoración de los fundamentos teóricos y metodológicos sobre los cuales se asienta la didáctica de la fraseología en FLE, así como numerosas informaciones que ningún estudio hasta la fecha había presentado centrado en las aportaciones teóricas y didácticas de los investigadores de manuales de fraseología del FLE. En este sentido, los resultados de esta investigación labor permiten realizar un balance muy interesante y abre el camino a otras investigaciones en este campo

In this research, we rekindle an old debate by questioning the impact on mitigating policy evaluation of detailing a subsector in a global energy-transportation model. We chose the refining sector because it is a relevant case of a sector for which representation widely differs across models and because it offers a unique set of complex joint production in the energy sector. To investigate whether the level of detail in the description of the refinery impacts optimal mitigation options, we take the example of a long-term, national, linear programming based, energy-transport system model (TIMES based). We found that the refinery description used in the energy system model matters when trying to evaluate energy or climate policy applied to the transportation sector. It impacts the policy costs but also the technology trajectories chosen at the optimum. Essentially, the balance between energy efficiency and carbon intensity of transport may be affected by the accuracy of the description of the pivotal refining sector. Consequently, increasing this sector accuracy level should not only be motivated by the wish to gain wider quantitative insights on potential evolution of the energy system but also by the wish to improve the robustness of the model outcomes.

International audience

In this research, we rekindle an old debate by questioning the impact on mitigating policy evaluation of detailing a subsector in a global energy-transportation model. We chose the refining sector because it is a relevant case of a sector for which representation widely differs across models and because it offers a unique set of complex joint production in the energy sector. To investigate whether the level of detail in the description of the refinery impacts optimal mitigation options, we take the example of a long-term, national, linear programming based, energy-transport system model (TIMES based). We found that the refinery description used in the energy system model matters when trying to evaluate energy or climate policy applied to the transportation sector. It impacts the policy costs but also the technology trajectories chosen at the optimum. Essentially, the balance between energy efficiency and carbon intensity of transport may be affected by the accuracy of the description of the pivotal refining sector. Consequently, increasing this sector accuracy level should not only be motivated by the wish to gain wider quantitative insights on potential evolution of the energy system but also by the wish to improve the robustness of the model outcomes.

Chronic activation of β-adrenergic (β-AR) pathway causes excessive accumulation of cAMP in cardiomyocytes and participates in pathological cardiac remodeling leading to heart failure (HF). Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are responsible for the degradation of cAMP and cGMP in subcellular compartments. Among the different PDE families, PDE2 is unique in being activated ˜;5-fold by cGMP, thus mediating a negative cross talk between cGMP and cAMP signaling. Recently, we found that PDE2A activity is increased in human HF and this may represent a protective mechanism limiting â-AR cardiotoxicity in chronic HF. Our therapeutic strategy is to target PDE2 with specific activators to treat HF at the early stages. A PDE2 activity assay has been developed, first using a purified PDE2 from bovine adrenal glands, then using a commercial recombinant protein (full-length human PDE2A). We miniaturized a bioluminescent activity assay in 384 well plates, which was validated for High-Throughput Screening (HTS) with an excellent Z-factor (>0.7) on the Ciblot HTS platform. Moreover, an in silico screening based on the binding of molecules on the GAF-B domain (regulatory domain) of PDE2 has been performed on a large library of molecules. As a counter screen, a PDE4 assay has been employed to eliminate nonspecific modulators. Ranking of hits is based on activation efficacy in comparison to 5 μM cGMP, M EC50, Emax and cytotoxicity following chemical resynthesis in a SAR (Structure Activity Relationship) strategy. Several complementary assays are currently under development to confirm the effect of the activators in a Hit to Lead process (cellular assays, cAMP ELISA, co-cristallisation, Biacore). This challenging project is supported by LabEx LERMIT within its new cardiovascular target program

International audience; Étude des traces maçonniques dans le roman à travers les thèmes de la loge, de l'épreuve, du secret, du vénérable, de la vengeance, de l'égalité et de la tolérance, du vœu maçonnique de bienfaisance et d'entraide ; éléments biographiques reliant Jean Potocki à la franc-maçonnerie. Communication suivie d'une discussion.

International audience; Présentation et édition d'une lettre de Mme de Staël à Jean Potocki (2 novembre 1787), d'un billet à Adam-Casimir Czartoryski (?), de deux lettres à Sophie Zamoyska (1808), d'un billet à Rosalie Rzewuska (1808), d'une lettre à Stanislas-Kostka Potocki (19 mai 1810).

International audience; Présentation du contexte franc-maçonnique du « Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse » et des relations de Jean Potocki et de ses proches avec la franc-maçonnerie.