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Harold Cazneaux was the greatest Australian photographer of the early 20th century. In 1933, he took this image entitled ‘The Anaesthetist’. It is an important documentation of a clinical anaesthetist of the era and was exhibited internationally. Such photographs of specific medical scenarios are rare and valuable. The anaesthetist is Dr Frederick J. Bridges who worked at Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore Hospitals in Sydney. He is using a Clements ether vaporizer which was Australian made. The patient is Cazneaux's daughter. Cazneaux has captured perfectly the care and concern of the anaesthetist for his patient.

Le jeu de bridge est un jeu extrêmement complexe et ce aussi bien pour les humains que pour les programmes de bridge. Contrairement au jeu de Go où l’IA AlphaGo a récemment atteint le niveau de grand maître, les IA de bridge sont encore loin des meilleurs joueurs humains. La différence essentielle entre les deux jeux porte sur l’aspect information incomplète omniprésent dans le bridge. Un programme expert de ce jeu pourrait donc réaliser des tâches différentes et complémentaires de celles traitées par AlphaGo. La première partie de cet article est consacrée à la présentation des différents aspects du bridge et de quelques pistes de réflexion sur les différents challenges qui lui sont inhérents ainsi que des résultats obtenus par la communauté bridge informatisé. Dans la seconde partie, nous présentons nos travaux concernant l’adaptation au bridge d’une méthode récente permettant d’optimiser des IA de jeux en recherchant une graine aléatoire meilleure que les autres sur le jeu concerné. L’IA Wbridge5 développée par Yves Costel a été boostée avec la meilleure graine trouvée a l’issue de ces expériences et a remporté les championnats du monde de robots de bridge en septembre 2016. The game of bridge is very complex both for humans and for computer bridge programs. While the AI Go AlphaGo recently reached the level of grandmaster go, it is not the case for bridge where robots are still far from the best human players. The main difference between the two games is that bridge is a partially observable game. An expert program on bridge could therefore perform tasks that are different from and complementary to those handled by AlphaGo. The first part of this article is devoted to the presentation of various aspects of the bridge and some thoughts on the numerous challenges inherent to them together with a state of art of the computer bridge community. In the second part, we present our work related to the adaptation to bridge of a recent method using for boosting game AIs by seeking a random seed better than the others on a particular game. The AI bridge Wbridge5 developed by Yves Costel has been boosted with the best seed found on the outcome of these experiments and won the world championship bridge robots in September 2016.

The constant increase in population density and thus road traffic, combined with the aging of road infrastructure such as bridges reaching the end of their service life for many, implies rapid and efficient needs for the construction or reconstruction of structures. It is in this context that the concept of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) has emerged. Although this concept has been advocated for several decades, its popularity has grown exponentially in the past twenty years. Along with its popularity, the techniques used to have also evolved, notably through the development of innovative materials such as Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concretes (UHPFRC). UHPFRC, a material with exceptional behaviour and properties for concrete, is not developed to replace ordinary concrete as it is costly. Instead, it should be used in combination with ordinary concrete. In accelerated bridge construction, for example, concrete can be used in the joints of prefabricated elements, which often represent critical areas for structures, particularly in seismic conditions. Additionally, UHPFRC is a remarkable material for rehabilitation. Work carried out at Polytechnique Montréal demonstrated the efficiency of UHPFRC in rehabilitating bridge piers. The rehabilitation involved replacing normal concrete with UHPFRC in the overlapping area of the bar at the base of the pier. These tests showed highly satisfactory results and led to a research program at Polytechnique Montréal aimed at developing bridge piers and abutments entirely designed from prefabricated elements to meet the seismic performance expected by Canadian standards. For bridge piers, the concept relies on a UHPFRC connection between the column and the base, both of which are prefabricated elements.The study presented in this paper is part of this extensive research program, focusing on bridge piers. The work presented here follows the experiments conducted by Philippe Darveau and Gabriel Lewis, both of whom tested prefabricated bridge piers with UHPFRC connections. A new circular column pier, directly following the work of Darveau and Lewis, is tested under cyclic loading. Given the very satisfactory results obtained for circular column piers, a second pier is tested within this paper: a pier designed, like the other piers in this research program, from prefabricated elements, but this time with a rectangular column and of actual dimensions (only the column height is reduced). This rectangular column pier is tested with the aim of reconstructing a bridge by the City of Montreal, representing the practical application of the concept developed during the research program conducted at Polytechnique Montréal. Firstly, the results of Darveau and Lewis are analyzed. Darveau tested two piers: a reference pier cast in place and designed according to CSA S6 requirements, and a first prefabricated pier P1 with a UHPFRC connection between prefabricated elements; Lewis tested three piers (P2, P3, and P4), aiming to improve the concept after the satisfactory results obtained by Darveau. The first prefabricated pier P1 had a joint height of 300 mm, corresponding to a 250 mm overlap with 25M bars. This pier showed less damage compared to the reference pier. To improve the concept, the subsequent piers tested by Lewis had a joint twice as high at 600 mm. The results obtained were more than satisfactory, but a slight misunderstanding of part of the concept left room for improvement. The last circular base column (P5) tested for this paper is designed while making adjustments based on the results obtained by Darveau and Lewis. The rectangular base column is designed while retaining the same concept. The dimensions are based on choices made for the reconstruction of the bridge by the City of Montreal, and the sizing of the joint and reinforcements is adapted from the research work conducted at Polytechnique Montréal.The first experimental part of this paper concerns the circular column pier P5. Prefabricated elements are constructed in the factory, with the same geometry as the piers tested by Darveau and Lewis, including a 4.35 m pier consisting of a 0.7 m base, a 3.05 m column, and a 0.6 m cap, with a column diameter of 600 mm. A UHPFRC joint is created between the bottom of the column containing 16-25M bars and the top of the base containing 12-30M bars. The joint is 600 mm high, similar to that used for Lewis' piers. A 100 mm sheath is added to the reinforcements coming from the base. The pier is then subjected to cyclic unidirectional loading, while maintaining an axial load of 1000 kN throughout the test. As expected, pier P5 proves to have the best performance. A ductility of Δ = 9Δ is achieved when the test is stopped before even breaking a reinforcement, reaching the limits in terms of displacement of the loading system. After Δ = 6Δ , apart from some lifting at the bottom of the column, very little damage is observed. Around Δ = 7Δ , some undesired damage occurs at the top of the joint, but this happens for very large displacements, barely or not reached during the failure of other piers. As with the other tested piers, the penetration of the plastic length into the base is close to the theoretical value of 0.022 fyedb widely present in the literature.The second experimental part concerns the rectangular column pier. Similar to the circular pier, the prefabricated elements are constructed in the factory, and the UHPFRC connection is created at the Polytechnique Montréal structural Laboratory. The overall height of the pier is 4.35 m, with a base of 0.8 m in height and a column of 3.55 m in height for a section of 1.5 m by 0.8 m. The joint is 500 mm high, accommodating 30-30M bars from the column and 20-25M bars from the base. The pier is subjected to bidirectional cyclic loading this time, while applying a constant axial load of 3000 kN, corresponding to the same stress level as for the circular pier. The pile demonstrates very satisfactory results with damage almost entirely localized at the bottom of the joint in the plastic hinge, resulting in significant uplift. The peak resistance occurs between 5 and 6Δy, and the test goes up to 10Δy, but a significant drop in resistance is observed at 9Δy. The penetration length of the plastic hinge is also close to the theoretical value of 0.022 this time too. The laboratory-tested piers are modelled using finite element analysis with Abaqus software, using the EPM3D module developed at Polytechnique Montréal. The performed analyses are nonlinear static pushover analyses. The numerical models accurately reproduce the behaviour of the specimens tested in the laboratory, including the envelope of the hysteretic curve (forcedisplacement or moment-displacement), reinforcement yielding, and concrete damage.In conclusion, this paper highlights the key points of the studied design approach.

Le réseau routier québécois est bien développé, mais plusieurs des structures de ponts le composant sont vieillissantes et nécessitent maintenant des réparations ou un remplacement. Par contre, les particularités propres au Québec, telles que l'hiver, l'achalandage des routes et le risque sismique, rendent la conception et les travaux de construction ou de réfection plus complexes. La construction accélérée des ponts (CAP) se présente alors comme une option prometteuse pour résoudre certaines des problématiques de la construction de ponts au Québec. Il s'agit d'une technique de construction employant des éléments préfabriqués en usine, qui sont ensuite assemblés en chantier. La CAP est utilisée depuis plusieurs décennies pour certains projets d'envergure, mais l'est encore très peu pour les ponts courants. Lorsqu'elle est bien réalisée, elle permet une meilleure qualité, performance et durabilité des éléments structuraux, ainsi que des économies de temps et d'argent. Des études réalisées au cours des vingt dernières années à Polytechnique Montréal ont permis de montrer le potentiel des bétons fibrés à ultra hautes performances (BFUP) dans la réhabilitation sismique de piles de ponts et la construction de piles préfabriquées. Le BFUP est un matériau présentant des performances exceptionnelles, notamment en traction, par l'ajout de fibres métalliques à la matrice du béton. Le projet vise donc le développement de culées préfabriquées avec un joint en BFUP à la connexion entre le mur de front et la semelle, pouvant être utilisées dans le cadre de la CAP. Deux concepts de mur de front préfabriqué ont été proposés suite aux phases précédentes du projet : une option avec parois de 140 mm, rempli de béton en chantier, et une option avec parois de 225 mm, rempli d'un matériau non participatif. Les objectifs du présent projet sont l'étude numérique du comportement de la culée pour les concepts proposés, et l'étude expérimentale du joint de chevauchement à la connexion entre le mur de front et la semelle.

Bowling: N Death 15-5-37-2, A Nadesan 9-1-40-0, [E Clugston] 11-1-61-1, C Sayers 11-0-44-0, H Sykes 10-1-34-1, S Eaton 7-1-24-3, M Bryant 1-0-9-0. Overs: 64. Mosman 2nd Innings N DEATH st Collison b Sowter44 [Bowling]: C Collymore 9-2-21-2, [D SINGH] 6-0-35-0, [M FOSTER] 4-0-36-0, [J BRIDGES] 2-0-17-0, [N SOWTER] 4-0-25-1, T Clark 4-0-16-0.

La diffusion intercontinentale du virus de l’influenza aviaire (VIA) hautement pathogène H5N1 en 2005–2006 a déclenché un effort de recherche important sur l’épidémiologie des VIA chez les oiseaux sauvages et à l’interface entre oiseaux sauvages et domestiques. En effet, les oiseaux sauvages hébergent les souches de VIA faiblement pathogènes qui une fois transmises à la volaille peuvent évoluer vers des souches de plus forte pathogénicité qui constituent un risque économique et de santé publique. Les travaux réalisés au cours des dix dernières années en Afrique ont permis d’étudier les VIA dans des contextes écologiques et épidémiologiques peu explorés. Les résultats indiquent que les VIA persistent dans les écosystèmes afro-tropicaux tout au long de l’année et sont probablement maintenus dans les communautés d’oiseaux sauvages. L’écologie de la transmission de ces VIA dans les régions afro-tropicales présente cependant des particularités. Ainsi, le rôle des limicoles ne semble pas aussi crucial dans la maintenance des VIA que dans les écosystèmes nord-américains. La maintenance des VIA n’est peut-être pas uniquement dépendante des canards sauvages et une grande diversité d’espèces de la communauté d’oiseaux sauvages semble participer à la circulation de ces virus. Finalement, certaines espèces peuvent jouer le rôle de relais, créant le lien épidémiologique entre canards sauvages (l’hôte de maintenance) et les populations de volaille domestique (l’hôte cible). Ces travaux ont donc permis de produire les premières esquisses des modes de circulation et de persistance des VIA dans les communautés d’oiseaux sauvages et domestiques en Afrique, mais ont aussi contribué à stimuler la recherche globale sur les VIA en proposant des hypothèses originales et des méthodes pour les tester.