Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : We present a regional surface waveform tomography of the Pacific upper mantle, obtained using an automated multimode surface waveform inversion technique on fundamental and higher mode Rayleigh waves, to constrain the VSV structure down to ∼400 km depth. We have improved on previous implementations of this technique by robustly accounting for the effects of uncertainties in earthquake source parameters in the tomographic inversion. We have furthermore improved path coverage in the South Pacific region by including Rayleigh wave observations from the French Polynesian Pacific Lithosphere and Upper Mantle Experiment deployment. This improvement has led to imaging of vertical low-velocity structures associated with hotspots within the South Pacific Super-Swell region. We have produced an age-dependent averagecross-sectionforthePacificOceanlithosphereandfoundthattheincreaseinVSV with age is broadly compatible with a half-space cooling model of oceanic lithosphere formation. We cannot confirm evidence for a Pacific-wide reheating event. Our synthetic tests show that detailed interpretation of average VSV trends across the Pacific Ocean may be misleading unless lateral resolution and amplitude recovery are uniform across the region, a condition that is difficult to achieve in such a large oceanic basin with current seismic stations.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00105949
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00105949
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00105949/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00105949/file/Maggi_Pacif_tomo_GJI2006.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03037.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Despite improvements in air quality in developed countries, air pollution remains a major public health issue. To fully assess the health impact, we must consider that air pollution exposure has both physical and psychological effects; this latter dimension, less documented, is more difficult to measure and subjective indicators constitute an appropriate alternative. In this context, this work presents the methodological development of a new scale to measure the perception of air quality, useful as an exposure or risk appraisal metric in public health contexts. On the basis of the responses from 2,522 subjects in eight French cities, psychometric methods are used to construct the scale from 22 items that assess risk perception (anxiety about health and quality of life) and the extent to which air pollution is a nuisance (sensorial perception and symptoms). The scale is robust, reproducible, and discriminates between subpopulations more susceptible to poor air pollution perception. The individual risk factors of poor air pollution perception are coherent with those findings in the risk perception literature. Perception of air pollution by the general public is a key issue in the development of comprehensive risk assessment studies as well as in air pollution risk management and policy. This study offers a useful new tool to measure such efforts and to help set priorities for air quality improvements in combination with air quality measurements.
ISSN: 0272-4332

hal-00876409
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00876409
DOI : 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01862.x
PUBMED : 22852801

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-VCH Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys will soon provide us with a well-defined view of the current chemo-kinematical structure of the Milky Way, but will only enable a blurred view on the temporal sequence that led to the present-day Galaxy. As demonstrated by the (ongoing) exploitation of data from the pioneering photometric missions CoRoT, Kepler, and K2, asteroseismology provides the way forward: solar-like oscillating giants are excellent evolutionary clocks thanks to the availability of seismic constraints on their mass and to the tight age-initial-mass relation they adhere to. In this paper we identify five key outstanding questions relating to the formation and evolution of the Milky Way that will need precise and accurate ages for large samples of stars to be addressed, and we identify the requirements in terms of number of targets and the precision on the stellar properties that are needed to tackle such questions. By quantifying the asteroseismic yields expected from PLATO for red-giant stars, we demonstrate that these requirements are within the capabilities of the current instrument design, provided that observations are sufficiently long to identify the evolutionary state and allow robust and precise determination of acoustic-mode frequencies. This will allow us to harvest data of sufficient quality to reach a 10% precision in age. This is a fundamental pre-requisite to then reach the more ambitious goal of a similar level of accuracy, which will only be possible if we have to hand a careful appraisal of systematic uncertainties on age deriving from our limited understanding of stellar physics, a goal which conveniently falls within the main aims of PLATO's core science.
ISSN: 0004-6337

hal-01541393
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01541393
ARXIV : 1706.3778
BIBCODE : 2017AN....338..644M
DOI : 10.1002/asna.201713385

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press
Résumé : Identify specific aspects of mixed farming systems. At the same time, certain practices seem to transcend the whole territory and relate little to the activities that dominate a zone. To be able to organize a follow-up of these promising complex systems at farmer and experimental level situation a first evolutionary assessment grid was sketched to enable the selection of the situations. This should allow a more detailed study of the functionality of farms where estimates can be made on the the performances and robustness of systems in terms ofsustainable development.
ISSN: 2040-4700

hal-01601271
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01601271
DOI : 10.1017/S2040470010001305
PRODINRA : 383226

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A data stream is a potentially uninterrupted flow of data. Mining this flow makes it necessary to cope with uncertainty, as only a part of the stream can be stored. In this paper, we evaluate a statistical technique which biases the estimation of the support of patterns, so as to maximize either the precision or the recall, as chosen by the user, and limit the degradation of the other criterion. Theoretical results show that the technique is not far from the optimum, from the statistical standpoint. Experiments performed tend to demonstrate its potential, as it remains robust even under significant distribution drifts.
ISSN: 0031-3203

lirmm-00365474
https://hal-lirmm.ccsd.cnrs.fr/lirmm-00365474

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Characterizing the hydraulic properties of heterogeneous and complex aquifers often requires field scale investigations at multiple space and time scales to better constrain hydraulic property estimates. Here, we present and discuss results from the site of Ploemeur (Brittany, France) where complementary hydrological and geophysical approaches have been combined to characterize the hydrogeological functioning of this highly fractured crystalline rock aquifer. In particular, we show how cross-borehole flowmeter tests, pumping tests and frequency domain analysis of groundwater levels allow quantifying the hydraulic properties of the aquifer at different scales. In complement, we used groundwater temperature as an excellent tracer for characterizing groundwater flow. At the site scale, measurements of ground surface deformation through long-base tiltmeters provide robust estimates of aquifer storage and allow identifying the active structures where groundwater pressure changes occur, including those acting during recharge process. Finally, a numerical model of the site that combines hydraulic data and groundwater ages confirms the geometry of this complex aquifer and the consistency of the different datasets. The Ploemeur site, which has been used for water supply at a rate of about 106 m3 per year since 1991, belongs to the French network of hydrogeological sites H+ and is currently used for monitoring groundwater changes and testing innovative field methods.
AGU Fall Meeting 2014
San Francisco, United States

insu-01088596
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01088596

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Fire-history reconstructions inferred from sedimentary charcoal records are based on measuring sieved charcoal fragment area, estimating fragment volume, or counting fragments. Similar fire histories are reconstructed from these three approaches for boreal lake sediment cores, using locally defined thresholds. Here, we test the same approach for a montane Mediterranean lake in which taphonomical processes might differ from boreal lakes through fragmentation of charcoal particles. The Mediterranean charcoal series are characterized by highly variable charcoal accumulation rates. Results there indicate that the three proxies do not provide comparable fire histories. The differences are attributable to charcoal fragmentation. This could be linked to fire type (crown or surface fires) or taphonomical processes, including charcoal transportation in the catchment area or in the sediment. The lack of correlation between the concentration of charcoal and of mineral matter suggests that fragmentation is not linked to erosion. Reconstructions based on charcoal area are more robust and stable than those based on fragment counts. Area-based reconstructions should therefore be used instead of the particle-counting method when fragmentation may influence the fragment abundance.
ISSN: 0033-5894

hal-00903607
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903607
DOI : 10.1016/j.yqres.2013.01.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis
Résumé : International audience
INTRODUCTION: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor historically known for regulating expression of several important drug-detoxifying proteins. Besides drug metabolism pathways, cytokines have been recently recognized as targeted by the AhR signaling cascade, which may contribute to toxicity and changes in xenobiotic detoxification caused by AhR agonists. AREAS COVERED: This article summarizes the nature of the main cytokines regulated by AhR ligands and reviews their involvement in toxic effects of AhR ligands, especially in relation with inflammation. The article also discusses the potential implications for drug detoxification pathways. EXPERT OPINION: Even if various cytokines, including inflammatory ones, have already been demonstrated to constitute robust targets for AhR, the exact role played by AhR with respect to inflammation remains to be determined. Further studies are also required to better characterize the molecular mechanisms implicated in regulation of cytokines by AhR ligands and to determine the role that may play AhR-targeted cytokines in alteration of xenobiotic detoxification. Finally, changes in cytokine receptor expression triggered by AhR ligands have additionally to be taken into account to better and more extensively comprehend the role played by AhR in the cytokine/inflammation area.
ISSN: 1742-5255

inserm-00831662
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00831662
DOI : 10.1517/17425255.2013.738194
PUBMED : 23230817

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Three kilns and a collection of baked bricks from Italian archaeological sites have been studied for archaeointensity determination using the Thellier method as modified by Coe. All sites are dated based on archaeological information and their ages range from 500 to 800 AD and 1500 to 1700 AD. Rock magnetic studies identify magnetite, Ti- magnetite and hematite as the main magnetic minerals, and magnetic susceptibility versus temperature shows a good thermal stability of the samples. The intensity results have been corrected for anisotropy of the thermoremanent magnetization and cooling rate effects. The new data together with 136 previously published results are used to estimate the variation of the Earth's magnetic field over the past three millennia. The time distribution of the Italian absolute intensity data is irregular with the majority of determinations concentrated during the last four centuries, while older periods are very poorly covered. Most of the data come from volcanic rocks and show significant discrepancies. All data have been compared with archaeointensity results from Europe and regional and global models predictions. This work indicates the need to obtain more high quality archaeointensity results, in particular for the periods older than 200 BC and between 200 and 1000 AD, in order to determine a robust Italian intensity secular variation curve that, in combination with directional data, could be used for archaeomagnetic dating.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00452451
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00452451
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04455.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Institute for Scientific Computing and Information
Résumé : International audience
The production of oil in soft highly compacted reservoirs produces a significant reduction in the pore space which in turn causes the surface to subside. The authors couple two simulators to model the mechanical deformations in the presence of a Darcy flow, both one- and two-phase. The simulators solve for flow in a porous medium using a finite volume method, and solve for the mechanical deformation of the porous media using a finite element method. The flow equations and the deformation equations are coupled using Biot's law. The authors use two different methods for the coupling: the first uses a staggered algorithm; the second is based on a preconditioned conjugate method. The authors use a multiscale method in both approaches. The authors show that the inf-sup condition is not satisfied, because of the mixed discretization which is done by using two separate simulators. The authors give convergence comparisons for the two methods for several examples. Two of the examples are for the linear problem (one-phase) where they know the exact solution and one is for the nonlinear problem (two-phase). In all cases, the preconditioned conjugate algorithm is faster and more robust, in particular when the inf-sup condition is not satisfied. In the nonlinear problem the authors state that the results agree with physical predictions but do not give actual empirical data. Finally, they show the effects of grid orientation on the nonlinear problem.
ISSN: 1705-5105

hal-00730673
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00730673

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Earthquake, volcanic eruption, cyclone, flood, tsunami, the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable to many natural hazards. Citizen Education to hazard mitigation is much more important in French West Indies than in Paris. With national, curriculum, evaluation and textbooks, how science education in French West Indies manage the challenge to take account this particularity of our territories? Based on this example and others, the aim of this communication is to present a science education theoretical background focus on contexts studies. During science teaching, learning effects due to different context like social, cultural or language could be described as contextual effects. But others micro-didactic effects of contexts could also be identified as linked with specificity of natural environment. These effects manifest a strain between a goal of teaching or learning and its implementation, when this stain is due in the educational process in different contexts involved.To ensure the quality of education, reference and quantify the effects of educational context seems to be necessary. it should be interested in the process leading to the emergence of these contexts. We propose a simplified model of these processes initially described as meetings of mechanisms operating within a network of transposition of designs. Then we question these processes by degree or forms of contextualization (low to high) and crossed these two approaches, giving an initial typology of contextualisation process. It then emerges the idea that these processes are constrained by resistances. We retain the following three: epistemological, social and educational. As these constraints are expressed in different ways according to disciplines, the data suggest the existence of disciplinary contextualization profiles. All these three approaches (network implementation, degree of contextualization, disciplinary profiles) are three tools for analyzing contextual phenomena which remain to test the robustness and operational character for the training analysis context.
Biennial Conference of Caribbean Academy of Sciences
Barbados, Barbados

hal-01539482
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01539482

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Le découpage en Petites Régions Agricoles en Guadeloupe, défini dans les années 1980, sert encore aujourd’hui de référence pour spatialiser et analyser les données du Recensement Général Agricole. Ce zonage, essentiellement basé sur l’occupation du sol ne rend plus compte de la réalité du terrain. Les productions agricoles ayant spatialement évolué, et en particulier depuis 1980, la question de l’opérationnalité de ces découpages se pose donc aujourd’hui. Face à ce constat, il est nécessaire de se baser sur un nouveau zonage défini selon des critères naturels stables : le Zonage AgroEcologique. Ce dernier a été retenu et élaboré sous SIG sur la base de l’analyse des données disponibles et selon une méthodologie commune à ce type de zonage, employant une superposition de couches d’informations géographiques multicritères et multiscalaires. Ce travail d’analyse, de conception et de réalisation technique a abouti à un découpage en 23 zones agroécologiques pour la Guadeloupe, chacune décrite précisément selon les critères constitutifs du zonage. Ce nouveau découpage apporte des plus-values intéressantes comme une robustesse et une durée de validité élevée mais il n’est qu’un préalable et doit être confronté aux données et au terrain pour en certifier la validité. Il permettra, à terme, une meilleure comparabilité des données agricoles dans le temps et l’espace. Il facilitera aussi la conception de projets de développement agricole plus cohérents aux regards des potentialités agroécologiques des territoires.
2. Colloque international des utilisateurs du SIG
Meknès, Morocco

hal-01601460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01601460
PRODINRA : 383269

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Analyses of tree diversity and community composition in tropical rain forests are usually based either on general herbarium data or on a restricted number of botanical plots. Despite their high taxonomic accuracy, both types of data are difficult to extrapolate to landscape scales. Meanwhile, forestry surveys provide quantitative occurrence data on large areas, and are thus increasingly used for landscape-scale analyses of tree diversity. However, the reliability of these approaches has been challenged because of the ambiguity of the common (vernacular) names used by foresters and the complexity of tree taxonomy in those hyper-diverse communities.We developed and tested a novel approach to evaluate taxonomic reliability of forestry surveys and to propagate the resulting uncertainty in the estimates of several diversity indicators (alpha and beta entropy, Fisher-alpha and Sørensen similarity). Our approach is based on Monte-Carlo processes that simulate communities by taking into account the expected accuracy and reliability of common names. We tested this method in French Guiana, on 9 one-hectare plots (4279 trees – DBH ⩾ 10 cm) for which both common names and standardized taxonomic determinations were available. We then applied our method of community simulation on large forestry inventories (560 ha) at the landscape scale and compared the diversity indices obtained for 10 sites with those computed from precise botanical determination situated at the same localities.We found that taxonomic reliability of forestry inventories varied from 22% (species level) to 83% (family level) in this Amazonian region. Indices computed directly with raw forestry data resulted in incorrect values, except for Gini–Simpson beta-diversity. On the contrary, our correction method provides more accurate diversity estimates, highly correlated with botanical measurements, for almost all diversity indices at both regional and local scales. We obtained a robust ranking of sites consistent with those shown by botanical inventories.These results show that (i) forestry inventories represent a significant part of taxonomic information, (ii) the relative diversity of regional sites can be successfully ranked using forestry inventory data using our method and (iii) forestry inventories can valuably contribute to the detection of large-scale diversity patterns when biases are well-controlled and corrected.The tools we developed as R-functions are available in supplementary material and can be adapted with local parameters to be used for forest management and conservation issues in other regional contexts
ISSN: 0378-1127

hal-01204219
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204219
DOI : 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.05.045
PRODINRA : 286554

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The spectrin-based skeleton is an essential scaffold underlying different lipid bilayers in all animal cells. Spectrins (Sp), as giant extended flexible heterotetramers (αβ)2, constitute the filaments of this network, the nodes of which are cross-linked by actin filaments. The functions of the Sp-based skeleton, which are well defined in red blood cells (required for shape, resistance to shear stress and deformability) are less well understood in non-erythroid cells.The non-erythroid Sp might participate in the establishment and/or the maintenance of specialized membrane subdomains by accumulating integral membrane proteins (such as ionic channels, ionic pumps, receptors and cell adhesion molecules) as revealed by loss of the main non-erythroid β-Sp. However the effect of non-erythroid α-Sp are less well established. In mammals, α-Sp are encoded by two genes: one for αI-Sp mainly expressed in mature erythrocyte, the second one for αII-Sp which is expressed in all nucleated cells.In the pursuit of αII-Sp functions, we have checked the effect of αII-Sp knock down by siRNA melanoma human cell line. Our data revealed that spectrin depletion is associated with i) an arrest of cell cycle at G1 state ii) a loss of cell adhesion in spite of increase in some integrins iii) some modifications of actin organisation.
Le squelette dépendant de la spectrine, localisé sous la bicouche lipidique, est un échafaudage essentiel de toutes les cellules animales. La Spectrine (Sp), structure géante, robuste mais flexible d'hétéro tétramères (αβ)2, constitue les filaments de ce réseau, dont chaque nœud interagit avec des filaments d'actine. Les fonctions du squelette de Sp, qui sont bien définies dans le globule rouge (rôle dans sa forme, dans sa résistance aux forces de cisaillement et dans sa déformabilité) sont moins bien connues dans les cellules non-érythroïdes. La Sp non-érythroïde pourrait participer à l'établissement et/ou au maintien de sous-domaines membranaires spécialisés dans l'accumulation de protéines de membrane (telles que les canaux ioniques, les pompes ioniques, les récepteurs et les molécules d'adhérence) comme nous le font penser les invalidations de la Sp-β non-érythroïde. Cependant le rôle de la Sp-α non-érythroïde est moins bien établi. Chez les mammifères, la Sp-α est codée par deux gènes: un pour Sp-αI, principalement exprimée dans l'érythrocyte mature, le second pour Sp-αII qui est exprimée dans toutes les cellules nucléées. Pour étudier les fonctions de la Sp-αII, nous avons utilisé une approche de SiRNA sur des cellules de mélanome humain. Nos données montrent que la diminution de Sp-αII est associée à I) un arrêt en G1 du cycle cellulaire II) une perte d'adhérence des cellules malgré l'augmentation de quelques intégrines III) des modifications dans l'organisation du réseau d'actine.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00377569

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
tel-00377569
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00377569
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00377569/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00377569/file/these_210409_entiere.pdf
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00377569/file/II-Spectrin_Is_Critical_for_Cell_Adhesion_and_Cell_Cycle.PDF

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Montpellier : CIRAD
Résumé :  
Cette étude a pour objet l'extraction d'information sur les pistes forestières en milieu tropical par l'utilisation de l'imagerie satellitaire. Un procédé simple a été mis au point afin d'analyser des images entières de façon aisée et rapide. Le résultat, qui se veut robuste, consiste en la réalisation d'un plan vecteur intégrable dans un système d'information géographique. L'actualisation régulière de ce vecteur permet alors de contrôler l'extension du réseau et de l'impact de l'exploitation sur le massif forestier.
ISSN: 0006-579X

hal-01032117
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032117

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Erès
Résumé : International audience
This article tries to show how any action of change in Martinique and Guadelupian enterprises collides in resistances provoked by the racial structures and cleavages profoundly anchored in the culture, inherited from colonialism and slavery. They condition within the enterprise the identities, the hierarchical relationships, the modes of division of labour and individual and collective behaviours. In this difficult situation, the consultant is questioned in his personal and professional identity. To be able to maintain nevertheless the position of third party, he should lean on values and convictions of ethical order, but also on robust theoretical bases (theory of the intervention, analyses of the Martiniquian society and its history).
Cet article cherche à montrer comment toute action de changement dans des entreprises martiniquaises et guadeloupéennes se heurte aux résistances provoquées par les structures et les clivages de nature raciale profondément ancrés dans la culture antillaise, hérités du colonialisme et de l’esclavage, qui conditionnent dans l’entreprise les identités, les rapports hiérarchiques, les modes de division du travail, et les conduites individuelles et collectives. Dans cette situation difficile, le consultant est mis en question dans son identité personnelle et professionnelle. Afin de pouvoir maintenir néanmoins la position de tiers requise par la démarche d’intervention psychosociologique, il doit s’appuyer sur des valeurs et des convictions d’ordre éthique, mais aussi sur de solides bases théoriques (théorie de l’intervention, analyses de la société martiniquaise et de son histoire).
ISSN: 1951-9532

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01664274
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01664274
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01664274/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01664274/file/Nicolas%20Lamic%20Nouvelle%20Revue%20de%20Psychosociologie.pdf
DOI : 10.3917/nrp.003.0181

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD BioMed Central
Résumé : International audience
INTRODUCTION: In order to study social health inequalities, contextual (or ecologic) data may constitute an appropriate alternative to individual socioeconomic characteristics. Indices can be used to summarize the multiple dimensions of the neighborhood socioeconomic status. This work proposes a statistical procedure to create a neighborhood socioeconomic index. METHODS: The study setting is composed of three French urban areas. Socioeconomic data at the census block scale come from the 1999 census. Successive principal components analyses are used to select variables and create the index. Both metropolitan area-specific and global indices are tested and compared. Socioeconomic categories are drawn with hierarchical clustering as a reference to determine "optimal" thresholds able to create categories along a one-dimensional index. RESULTS: Among the twenty variables finally selected in the index, 15 are common to the three metropolitan areas. The index explains at least 57% of the variance of these variables in each metropolitan area, with a contribution of more than 80% of the 15 common variables. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed procedure is statistically justified and robust. It can be applied to multiple geographical areas or socioeconomic variables and provides meaningful information to public health bodies. We highlight the importance of the classification method. We propose an R package in order to use this procedure.
ISSN: 1475-9276

inserm-00809310
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00809310
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00809310/document
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00809310/file/1475-9276-12-21.pdf
DOI : 10.1186/1475-9276-12-21

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD BioMed Central
Résumé : International audience
Introduction In order to study social health inequalities, contextual (or ecologic) data may constitute an appropriate alternative to individual socioeconomic characteristics. Indices can be used to summarize the multiple dimensions of the neighborhood socioeconomic status. This work proposes a statistical procedure to create a neighborhood socioeconomic index. Methods The study setting is composed of three French urban areas. Socioeconomic data at the census block scale come from the 1999 census. Successive principal components analyses are used to select variables and create the index. Both metropolitan area-specific and global indices are tested and compared. Socioeconomic categories are drawn with hierarchical clustering as a reference to determine "optimal" thresholds able to create categories along a one-dimensional index. Results Among the twenty variables finally selected in the index, 15 are common to the three metropolitan areas. The index explains at least 57% of the variance of these variables in each metropolitan area, with a contribution of more than 80% of the 15 common variables. Conclusions The proposed procedure is statistically justified and robust. It can be applied to multiple geographical areas or socioeconomic variables and provides meaningful information to public health bodies. We highlight the importance of the classification method. We propose an R package in order to use this procedure.
International Journal for Equity in Health

hal-00854028
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854028
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854028/document
DOI : 10.1186/1475-9276-12-21