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Abstract The making of images has played an important role in the functioning of prehistoric societies because it is a tool of communication that contributes to the stability of social groups. First and foremost, the image can serve as a form of visual support for the collective myths that form the basis of culture, but all forms of imagery, figurative and non-figurative, can serve as significant markers within a society. Members of traditional societies can be defined by their membership in a group (clan, lineage, social status, etc.), which can be made visible through graphic signs that are made according to more or less strict rules known by all members of the larger society. Such distinctive marks can be applied directly to the body of each individual (through body painting, tattooing, scarification), but they can also be reproduced on external surfaces (such as cave or rock walls), and thus acquire the status of a representative in absentia. It has been proposed at various times that these graphic expressions, generally called "signs," constitute veritable "identity markers" that can be perceived at multiple levels. Within a group, they serve to signal the membership of each individual to a social status or category. In intergroup relationships, they can have a more general role as markers of territory or ethnicity (Leroi-Gourhan, 1981). Certain signs lend themselves particularly well to the social-markers hypothesis because they possess all of the characteristics required for this function. Such is the case of the quadrilateral signs from Upper Paleolithic contexts in the Cantabrian region, Spain. In the caves of El Castillo, La Pasiega, Altamira, and Las Chimeneas, relatively close together, we find groupings of signs that share a common quadrilateral structure but vary in terms of the arrangement of internal details. A formal analysis based on the method of correspondence analysis and other statistical tests reveals two primary groups based on these independent formal characteristics. This schema appears to the be product of a codified system that allows for a large number of variants with a high potential for distinction based on the flexible combination of a relatively small number of elements. These examples constitute a form of differential marking, of which numerous examples are known over time and across cultures, from the first modern humans to contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the excitement of the widely publicized new finds of Aurignacian art from Chauvet, from the Swabian Jura and from as far afield as Pestera Coliboaia in Romania, it has almost been forgotten that a rich corpus of Aurignacian wall painting, engraving and bas-relief sculpture had been recognized and studied before World War I in the Vézère Valley of SW France. Scientific knowledge of the chronological and cultural context of that early-discovered graphic record has been limited by the crude archaeological methods of that pioneering era, and the loss and dispersal of many of the works discovered. In 2011, we launched new excavations and a re-analysis of one of the key sites for such early discoveries, the collapsed rock shelter of Abri Blanchard. In 2012, we discovered in situ a limestone slab engraved with a complex composition combining an aurochs and dozens of aligned punctuations. This new find, recovered by modern methods and dated by molecular filtration and Hydroxyproline 14C, provides new information on the context and dating of Aurignacian graphic imagery in SW France and its relationship to that of other regions. The support is not a fragment of collapsed shelter ceiling and is situated in the midst of quotidian occupational debris. The image shows significant technical and thematic similarities to Chauvet that are reinforced by our reanalysis of engraved slabs from the older excavations at Blanchard. The aligned punctuations find their counterparts at Chauvet, in the south German sites and on several other objects from Blanchard and surrounding Aurignacian sites. In sum, we argue that dispersing Aurignacian groups show a broad commonality in graphic expression against which a certain number of more regionalized characteristics stand out, a pattern that fits well with social geography models that focus on the material construction of identity at regional, group and individual levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dramatic progress was seen in 14 C-dating with the introduction of accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) which made possible the direct dating of prehistoric artworks painted or drawn with charcoal. However, in the case of engravings and red paintings, only indirect methods can be used that allow us to date deposits that have covered the works over time (TL, U/Th, oxalates, etc.). The uranium/thorium dating method gives reliable and relatively precise results in the case of massive speleothems, because the sampling is carried out at the heart of the material where the hypothesis of a closed system (that is, no exchange with the outside environment) is justified in most cases. Unfortunately, the situation is quite different in the case of thin layers of calcite that overlie Palaeolithic cave drawings. The conditions under which calcite forms depend largely on the hydrologic activity, which has greatly varied over the course of the Upper Palaeolithic and Holocene. In many cases, we can see that the growth of speleothems stopped during much of the Upper Palaeolithic. Consequently the ages obtained are minimum ages (terminus ante quem) which are frequently much younger than the real ages of the underlying artworks. Moreover, a much more serious but rarely considered source of error contradicts the assumption of a closed system. In thin layers of carbonate deposits and in damp media, the uranium incorporated into the calcite during its crystallization may be partially eliminated because of its solubility in water. Uranium leaching causes an artificial increase of the age that may reach considerable proportions (e.g. a negative hand in a cave in Borneo was dated to 27,000 years by U/Th whereas its 14 C age was only 8–10,000 cal BP; Plagnes et al., 2003). Due to these two contradictory sources of error, the dates given by the U/Th method may prove to be younger or older, with deviations that are much larger than the standard deviations given by laboratories. As a result it is nearly impossible and very dangerous to base archaeological reasoning on U/Th ages of Palaeolithic artworks, so long as the dates are not confirmed by an independent method, dating the carbonates in the same samples by 14 C being the best means of detecting anomalies. The application of the U/Th method for the dating of prehistoric rock art is still experimental. Technical improvements (for less damageable sampling) and fundamental research on the causes of errors are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Antimicrobial chemotherapy prescription should take into account the following items: 1) accurate diagnosis (most often clinical) and definition criteria of infectious diseases; 2) treatment justification; 3) confirmation of a bacterial etiology (now facilitated in some clinical situations by broadly available easy-to-use rapid diagnosis tests); 4 evidence-based antimicrobial choices; 5) modalities of prescriptions guided by official authorities (guidelines from French agency of medicinal products). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this study, based on a literature review, is to present the current guidelines for the management of nasopharyngitis in France, to describe the way antibiotics are used in this disease, to assess the gap between this use and guidelines, and to find explanations. The gap between the actual use and guidelines is important and reveals an overprescription of antibiotics. This can be explained, on one hand, by the nature of guidelines (not adapted to daily practice), and on the other hand, by non-medical factors (parental pressure, mode of child keeping). These elements have led us to suggest solutions to reduce the overprescription of antibiotics. The sensitisation and responsibility of all people concerned should lead to a better use of antibiotics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Morbidity and mortality in meningitis remains high in paediatric patients. Streptococcus pneumoniae is actually the first most likely organism to cause meningitis in children 2 months to 2 years old. Data from 1997 show that the rate of penicillin resistance was 53 % in paediatric patients. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae warrants the combination of cefotaxime or ceftriaxone (third generation cephalosporin) plus vancomycin as first-line therapy of presumed pneumococcal meningitis. This regimen should be continued, if the third generation MIC is ≥ 0.5 mg/L. If MIC of cefotaxime or ceftriaxone is < 0.5 mg/L, the third generation can be used alone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]