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International audience; Adaptation to climate change is a critical issue in coastal areas, at risk from sea-level rise, erosion, and sea flooding. In territories strongly urbanized and long oriented toward tourism and a residential economy, a change in coastal management and territorial development is hard to initiate. In Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France), a leading tourism region, this article explores how local authorities perceive climate change and talk about adaptation strategies. Interviews with municipal-level authorities, both elected officials and technical agents, reveal the influence of territorial inertia, with persistent statements promoting the beach- and residential-oriented economy and a wait-and-see attitude regarding climate change. Beach erosion is the only coastal risk interviewees really recognize, while sea-level rise and sea flooding are barely perceived. Yet evidence supporting the possibility of a future change in position is provided by the younger generation of interviewees, who are more aware of environmental challenges. Providing original data for a coastal region often considered as a model of development throughout the world, this article also proposes an original and transferable method combining geographical sampling of municipalities, text statistics and qualitative analysis of interviews, to apprehend the social representations of the coast, of climate change and coastal risks. Such a methodology is recommended prior to any quantitative assessment of climate action at local scale.

Mycotoxins are metabolites secreted by certain types of moulds, and some of them can be harmful to health. The objective of this study was to estimate the level of exposure to airborne aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, gliotoxin and sterigmatocystin in waste recycling and recovery facilities. An additional goal was to assess the related health risks for workers. Targeted mycotoxins were analysed quantitatively in 94 air samples collected in five sites using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry. The level of exposure to mycotoxin during working day scenarios was compared to benchmark values, either health-based guidelines when available or the concentration of no toxicological concern (CoNTC) when not. Eleven per cent of samples showed quantifiable measurement results. Aflatoxin B1 and sterigmatocystin were quantified at the mechanical separation area in mechanical–biological treatment (MBT) facilities and in the materials recovery facility (MRF), but not in composting plants and composting units in MBT facilities. The levels of exposure were all below 1 ng m−3. This is the first time exposure to sterigmatocystin in waste management facilities is reported and quantified. Ochratoxin A and gliotoxin were not quantified in any of the air samples. Health risk assessment approaches did not suggest a significant threat to workers’ health. These data do not suggest the need for specific prevention measures in addition to those against other airborne biological agents.

PURPOSE: Some patients with breast cancer treated by surgery and radiation therapy experience clinically significant toxicity, which may adversely affect cosmesis and quality of life. There is a paucity of validated clinical prediction models for radiation toxicity. We used machine learning (ML) algorithms to develop and optimise a clinical prediction model for acute breast desquamation after whole breast external beam radiation therapy in the prospective multicenter REQUITE cohort study. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Using demographic and treatment-related features (m = 122) from patients (n = 2058) at 26 centers, we trained 8 ML algorithms with 10-fold cross-validation in a 50:50 random-split data set with class stratification to predict acute breast desquamation. Based on performance in the validation data set, the logistic model tree, random forest, and naïve Bayes models were taken forward to cost-sensitive learning optimisation. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-two patients experienced acute desquamation. Resampling and cost-sensitive learning optimisation facilitated an improvement in classification performance. Based on maximising sensitivity (true positives), the "hero" model was the cost-sensitive random forest algorithm with a false-negative: false-positive misclassification penalty of 90:1 containing m = 114 predictive features. Model sensitivity and specificity were 0.77 and 0.66, respectively, with an area under the curve of 0.77 in the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: ML algorithms with resampling and cost-sensitive learning generated clinically valid prediction models for acute desquamation using patient demographic and treatment features. Further external validation and inclusion of genomic markers in ML prediction models are worthwhile, to identify patients at increased risk of toxicity who may benefit from supportive intervention or even a change in treatment plan.

International audience; Adaptation to climate change and related coastal risks are key issues for communities living close to the Mediterranean Sea. The study explores how inhabitants of Marseilles and Nice, two major cities on the French Mediterranean coast, perceive recent climate change and how competent they find themselves in coping with changing climate and coastal risks. It also analyses the influence of socio-demographic and psycho-social variables on their perceived level of coping. The tool used is the French translated and adapted version of the Climate Change Perception Inventory (CCPI) by Rishi and Mudaliar (2014), filled in by a total of 475 participants in the study. Results show that in both cities, respondents are aware of climate change, but are not really worried about it. Marseilles and Nice differ in the role played by Coastal Subjective Well-Being. In both samples, the most important predictor of Coping and Adaptation is Climate related Stress and Emotional Concern. Finally, the study highlights the importance of considering psycho-social variables in the management of Climate Change Adaptation.

Identifying sources of anthropogenic pollution, and assessing the fate and residence time of pollutants in aquifers is important for the management of groundwater resources, and the ecological health of groundwater dependent ecosystems. This study investigates anthropogenic contamination in the shallow alluvial aquifer of the Marana-Casinca, hydraulically connected to the Biguglia lagoon (Corsica, France). A multi-tracer approach, combining geochemical and environmental isotopic data (δ18O-H2O, δ2H-H2O, 3H, δ15N-NO3−, δ18O-NO3−, δ11B), and groundwater residence-time tracers (3H and CFCs) was carried out in 2016, and integrated with a study of land use evolution in the catchment during the last century. Groundwater NO3− concentrations, ranged between 2 mg/L and up to 30 mg/L, displaying the degradation of groundwater quality induced by anthropogenic activities (agricultural activities). Comparatively high δ15N-NO3− values (up to 19.7‰) in combination with δ11B values that were significantly lower (between 23‰ and 26‰) than the seawater background are indicative of sewage contamination. The ongoing deterioration of groundwater quality can be attributed to the uncontrolled urbanization development all over the alluvial plain, with numerous sewage leakages from the sanitation network and private sewage systems. Integration of contaminant and water-residence time data revealed a progressive accumulation of pollutants with time in the groundwater, particularly in areas with major anthropogenic pressure and slow dynamic groundwater flow. Our approach provides time-dependent insight into nitrogen pollution in the studied aquifer over the past decades, revealing a systematic change in the dominant NO3− source, from agricultural to sewage contamination. Yet, today's low groundwater quality is to large parts due to legacy pollution from land-use practices several decades ago, underlining the poor self-remediating capacity of this hydrosystem. Our results can be taken as warning that groundwater pollution that happened in the recent past, or today, may have dire impacts on the quality of groundwater-dependent ecosystems in the future.

International audience; Limiting land consumption is an undisputed priority today. In France, numerous laws, regulations and space protection measures (under the town planning and environment codes) govern territorial development to protect land resources and the environment. Yet urbanization at the expense of natural and agricultural areas remains critical, particularly in coastal areas. This article proposes an analysis of spatial planning practices at local level in the French Mediterranean, considering the implementation of spatial planning over time as a marker of the will to manage urban development. After examining features specific to coastal planning legislation and regulations in France, it identifies past and present trajectories of urban planning practices and the development of environmental protection. Four French Mediterranean areas are assessed: the Marseille coast, the Gulf of Aigues-Mortes and the Corsican sites of Balagne and Biguglia.

International audience; In urban areas, episodes of extreme precipitation may generate run-off floods, but urban soils are seldom considered in spatial planning documents. Our aim was to assess the infiltration of vegetated urban soils and to identify the soil parameters affecting infiltration in order to explore the potential of these soils for run-off mitigation under a Mediterranean climate with extreme precipitation episodes. We compared vegetated soils in the “urban” zone of the Marseilles’ 16th district (France) either lying on former clay quarries or tile factories (T) or not (NT) and with different land-uses. We used a simplified method to measure field saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs), measured penetration resistance in the first 0.15 m (Qd) and analysed physico-chemical properties in the first horizon. Levels of run-off production were estimated according to Kfs and an adaptation of USDA Hydrologic Soil Groups. All soils were Technosols or Anthrosols regardless of their prior history. We found that land-use history influenced Kfs, with T soils and soils with current vegetated land-use younger than 13 years having lower Kfs than NT soils and soils with land-use older than 13 years. Soil organic matter content influenced Kfs positively when soils were young, while vegetation cover and penetration resistance (most of the soils had Qd > 2 MPa) had not a clear effect on Kfs. Overall, combining Kfs and soil depth, 14.3% of the T soils and 84.6% of the NT soils had low levels of run-off production. It is therefore recommended that 1) Technosols or Anthrosols should be characterised for their unique physico-chemical and physical properties but also for their land-use history, and 2) the infiltration of these soils should be considered in spatial planning documents.

The production of biodiesel and bioethanol fuels is often accompanied by the co-production of lignocellulosic “waste” byproducts. For example, the oil from sunflower seeds (that can be used to manufacture biodiesel fuel) has as “waste” co-products the sunflower shell and its stem. In this paper we examine the production of biocarbon (charcoal) from sunflower shells produced in Hungary. The conversion of these shells to biocarbon via the University of Hawaii's Flash CarbonizationTM process is efficient and very quick. An increase in reaction pressure from 1.27 to 2.17 MPa causes a reduction in reaction time that results in a significant increase in charcoal production and profitability. These findings justify further study of the benefits of charcoal production at pressures above 2 MPa.

The unprecedented increase in the availability of information, due to the success of the World Wide Web, has generated an urgent need for new and robust methods that simplify the querying and integration of data. In this research, we investigate a practical framework for data access to heterogeneous data sources. The framework utilizes the extensible markup language (XML) Schema as the canonical data model for the querying and integration of data from heterogeneous data sources. We present algorithms for mapping relational and network schemas into XML schemas using the relational mapping algorithm. We also present library system of databases ( libSyD ), a prototype of a system for heterogeneous database access.

A model of localized corrosion is developed, in which the effective local properties of the electrolyte are adjusted based on a continuously variable porosity parameter that permits penetration of the electrolyte into the corroding medium in an average sense. The model is applied to corrosion of multilayer aluminum alloy electrodeposits in salt water, and compared to experimental results on several different coatings. The model can accurately reproduce a number of phenomena specific to localized corrosion, including the effects of vari ations in film thickness, dissolution through a barrier, and relative lifetimes of different coatings in immersion conditions., BP-MIT Materials and Corrosion Center