Science & Mathematics

Les pratiques professionnelles se trouvent modifiées ou investies par des algorithmes. Les outils numériques de visualisation, d’analyse et de communication se multiplient et se perfectionnent de plus en plus. L’enjeu est d’identifier ce que ces outils apportent aux résultats de ces pratiques. La production de nouvelles normes en est-elle plus efficiente ? Comment le recours aux algorithmes et à l’intelligence artificielle sert-il la gestion urbaine et l’essor d’une ville plus inclusive et respectueuse de l’environnement ? Toutes ces questions sont aujourd’hui posées à l’urbanisme et à ses méthodes de gouvernance, de prospective, de planification.

The recent obstacles to European integration have relaunched a debate that makes ethics and transparency core parts of the European agenda. This hints at the possibility of a more demanding regulation of lobbyists and, in broader terms, of all parties involved in the European Governance. The dynamics currently at work testify to growing receptiveness of EU officials to the claims of the Alter-EU movement; to the power struggles between representation models; and to the existence of more or less open, virtuous and/or citizen-controlled conceptions of public action that reflect differentiated national traditions and practices (...).

The philosopher Gerald A. Cohen died on the 5th of August 2009. His contributions were at rst based on Marx's thought. He really appeared on the intellectual stage in 1978 with his Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Later on, he gradually departed from Marx's theory. He discussed the libertarian concept of self-ownership and the possibility of associating it with a Marxist approach, before entering into the normative debate around Rawls's Theory of Justice, while his Marxism was withering away. Based on Kantian philosophy, his critique of Rawls was that he allowed too little autonomy to individual choices. This paper discusses the consistency of Jerry Cohen's intellectual journey with regards to his relation with Marx's work.

Analyse du roman de Ralph Ellison: structure; thèmes; images; symboles; langue et style

24x36 mm, gélatine plan-film

Background and Aims: Menopause induces symptoms such as hot flashes, depression, and anxiety, which impair quality‐of‐life. Regular physical activity (PA) seems to be a favorable non‐pharmacological approach to mitigate consequences of menopause. However, studies showed that middle‐aged women reduce PA participation, possibly due to menopausal stage transition or symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the association of menopausal stage and symptoms severity with PA and sedentary time in women. Methods: An online study was conducted among pre‐, peri‐, and postmenopausal women. Menopausal symptoms were evaluated using Menopausal Rating Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire, Insomnia Severity Index, Hot Flash‐Related Daily Interference Scale, and newly developed Anxiety and Depressive Interference Scales. Moderate‐to‐vigorous PA (MVPA) time (during work, transport, and leisure‐time) and sedentary time were assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Clusters were created using scores from all questionnaires assessing symptoms. Nonparametric MANCOVA, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Dunn post hoc were used to compare MVPA and sedentary time between groups. Results: A total of 462 women completed the questionnaire, and three clusters representing low, moderate, and severe symptoms were identified. No significant differences between menopausal stages for MVPA and sedentary time were found. However, a significant effect (p = 0.018) was found across clusters. Regarding PA domain only, leisure‐time MVPA differed among clusters (p = 0.02). Women experiencing moderate‐to‐severe symptoms had lower levels of leisure‐time MVPA compared to women with mild symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings indicate that women experiencing moderate‐to‐severe symptoms are also likely to have lower levels of PA during leisure‐time independent of their menopause stages.

Background: Equity seems inherent to the pursuance of universal health coverage (UHC), but it is not a natural consequence of it. We explore how the multidimensional concept of equity has been approached in key global UHC policy documents, as well as in country-level UHC policies. Methods: We analysed a purposeful sample of UHC reports and policy documents both at global level and in two Western African countries (Benin and Senegal). We manually searched each document for its use and discussion of equity and related terms. The content was summarised and thematically analysed, in order to comprehend how these concepts were understood in the documents. We distinguished between the level at which inequity takes place and the origin or types of inequities. Results: Most of the documents analysed do not define equity in the first place, and speak about "health inequities" in the broad sense, without mentioning the dimension or type of inequity considered. Some dimensions of equity are ambiguous - especially coverage and financing. Many documents assimilate equity to an overall objective or guiding principle closely associated to UHC. The concept of equity is also often linked to other concepts and values (social justice, inclusion, solidarity, human rights - but also to efficiency and sustainability). Regarding the levels of equity most often considered, access (availability, coverage, provision) is the most often quoted dimension, followed by financial protection. Regarding the types of equity considered, those most referred to are socio-economic, geographic, and gender-based disparities. In Benin and Senegal, geographic inequities are mostly pinpointed by UHC policy documents, but concrete interventions mostly target the poor. Overall, the UHC policy of both countries are quite similar in terms of their approach to equity. Conclusions: While equity is widely referred to in global and country-specific UHC policy documents, its multiple dimensions results in a rather rhetorical utilisation of the concept. Whereas equity covers various levels and types, many global UHC documents fail to define it properly and to comprehend the breadth of the concept. Consequently, perhaps, country-specific policy documents also use equity as a rhetoric principle, without sufficient consideration for concrete ways for implementation.

Using the Aevol digital genetics platform we designed an in silico experiment to study the relationship between molecular complexity and phenotypic complexity: We evolved populations of digital organisms in an environment designed to enable survival of the simplest possible organism: one which genome encodes a single gene. By repeatedly evolving populations in this experimental design, we observed that ~1/3 of the lineages quickly found this simple genotype and were then stable for the rest of the experiment. But most lineages were not able to find this simple solution and showed slow gene acquisition along the 100,000 generations of the experiment. Importantly, simple organisms ended up with a very high fitness while complex genotypes ended up with a ~10x lower fitness. This shows that, even in a simple environment, evolution leads to a “complexity ratchet”: each gene acquisition creates the potential for the acquisition of further genes, ultimately pushing evolution towards complex solutions even in a simple environment. Moreover organisms engaged in this process were never able to outcompete the simple ones, showing that selection is not able to invert the complexity ratchet.