Conservatoire national des arts et métiers

About: Conservatoire national des arts et métiers is a education organization based out in Paris, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 3573 authors who have published 7127 publications receiving 141430 citations. The organization is also known as: CNAM & Conservatoire des arts et métiers.

Life-Long Self-Construction

Abstract: In today’s industrialized societies, the current societal issue underlying personal and career development interventions (counselling or education) can be summed up as follows: “How can individuals be helped to direct their own lives within their own human societal context?” This question can be converted into the following scientific question: “What are the factors and processes of life-long self-construction?” In order to answer this question, three major propositions (sociological, cognitive and dynamic-semiotic) need to be articulated. This articulation gives rise to a theoretical construct that differentiates universal processes and specific processes and contents.

Dietary intakes and food sources of n-6 and n-3 PUFA in French adult men and women.

Abstract: The intake of individual n−6 and n−3 PUFA has been estimated in 4,884 adult subjects (2,099 men and 2,785 women), volunteers from the French SU.VI.MAX intervention trial. The food intakes of each subject were recorded in at least ten 24-h record questionnaires completed over a period of 2.5 yr, allowing the estimation of the daily intake of energy; total fat; and linoleic, α-linolenic, arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic (EPA), n−3 docosapentaenoic (DPA), and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids. The mean total fat intake corresponded to 94.1 g/d (36.3% of total energy intake) in men and 73.4 g/d (38.1% of energy) in women. The intake of linoleic acid was 10.6 g/d in men and 8.1 g/d in women, representing 4.2% of energy intake; that of α-linolenic acid was 0.94 g/d in men and 0.74 g/d in women, representing 0.37% of energy intake, with a mean linoleic/α-linolenic acid ratio of 11.3. The mean intakes of long-chain PUFA were: arachidonic acid, 204 mg/d in men and 152 mg/d in women; EPA, 150 mg/d in men and 118 mg/d in women; DPA, 75 mg/d in men and 56 mg/d in women; DHA, 273 mg/d in men and 226 mg/d in women; long-chain n−3 PUFA, 497 mg/d in men and 400 mg/d in women. Ninety-five percent of the sample consumed less than 0.5% of energy as α-linolenic acid, which is well below the current French recommendation for adults (0.8% of energy). In contrast, the mean intakes of long-chain n−6 and n−3 PUFA appear fairly high and fit the current French recommendations (total long-chain PUFA: 500 mg/d in men and 400 mg/d in women; DHA: 120 mg/d in men and 100 mg/d in women). The intakes of α-linolenic acid, and to a lesser extent of linoleic acid, were highly correlated with that of lipids. Whereas the main source of linoleic acid was vegetable oils, all food types contributed to α-linolenic acid intake, the main ones being animal products (meat, poultry, and dairy products). The main source of EPA and DHA (and of total long-chain n−3 PUFA) was fish and seafood, but the major source of DPA was meat, poultry, and eggs. Fish and seafood consumption showed very large interindividual variations, the low consumers being at risk of insufficient n−3 PUFA intake.

HCV burden of infection in Egypt: results from a nationwide survey.

Abstract: Summary. Egypt is the country with the largest hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in the world. In 2008, a Demographic Health Survey (DHS) was carried out in Egypt, providing for the first time a unique opportunity for HCV antibody testing on a nationwide representative sample of individuals. Consenting individuals answered a questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics and iatrogenic exposures, before providing a blood sample for HCV antibody testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Factors independently associated with HCV infection were examined through multivariate logistic regression models. Of 12 780 eligible subjects aged 15–59 years, 11 126 (87.1%) agreed to participate and provided a blood sample. HCV antibody prevalence nationwide was 14.7% (95% CI 13.9–15.5%) in this age group. HCV antibody prevalence gradually increased with age, reaching, in the 50–59 years age group, 46.3% and 30.8% in males and females, respectively. It was higher in males compared to females (17.4% versus 12.2%, respectively, P < 0.001), and in rural compared to urban areas (18.3% versus 10.3%, respectively, P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, age, male sex, poverty, past history of intravenous anti-schistosomiasis treatment, blood transfusion, and living outside of the Frontier Governorates were all significantly associated with an increased risk of HCV infection. In addition, in urban areas, lack of education and being circumcised for females were associated with an increased risk of HCV infection. This study confirmed on a nationwide representative sample the very high HCV antibody prevalence in Egypt. It stresses the urgent need for strengthening prevention efforts, and bringing down the costs of antiviral drugs for countries like Egypt, where the people in the most precarious situations are also those most likely to be infected by the virus.

Gigacycle fatigue of ferrous alloys

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to determine the very long fatigue life of ferrous alloys up to 1 x 10 10 cycles at an ultrasonic frequency of 20 kHz. A good agreement is found with the results from conventional tests at a frequency of 25 Hz by Renault between 10 5 and 10 7 cycles for a spheroidal graphite cast iron. The experimental results show that fatigue failure can occur over 10 7 cycles, and the fatigue endurance stress S max continues to decrease with increasing number of cycles to failure between 10 6 and 10 9 cycles. The evolution of the temperature of the specimen caused by the absorption of ultrasonic energy is studied. The temperature increases rapidly with increasing stress amplitudes. There is a maximum temperature between 10 6 and 10 7 cycles which may be related to the crack nucleation phase. Observations of fracture surfaces were also made by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Subsurface cracking has been established as the initiation mechanism in ultra-high-cycle fatigue (> 10 7 cycles). A surface-subsurface transition in crack initiation location is described for the four low-alloy high-strength steels and a SG cast iron.

Transformations and decompositions of nets

Abstract: We present a set of transformations of place/transition systems which preserve several classical properties of nets namely boundedness, deadlock freeness, liveness and covering by S-invariants. These transformations may simplify or refine a system and allow either to simplify a place/transition system before analysing it or to introduce more details in a given system having some propreties without changing them. We also present a decomposition technique to split a system into subsytems which can be analysed separatly.