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Accessing higher education without having to overcome bureaucratic hurdles is a serious concern for refugees. Although empirical studies on the integration and success of refugees in higher education are scarce, the challenges related to this issue are becoming apparent. The Success and Opportunities for Refugees in Higher Education (SUCCESS) research project has been launched to investigate the effectiveness of new online study programs offered on the Kiron Open Higher Education (Kiron) platform that provides refugees with access to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). SUCCESS measures the prior knowledge and skills of refugee students and investigates to what extent their study opportunities, learning processes, and chances of academic success can be improved effectively through different forms of support provided in Kiron. In this paper, we present the assessment framework and study design of the SUCCESS project as well as data on 1,376 students entering the study program in Kiron in summer 2017. As students' language skills, intellectual abilities, and prior study-related knowledge play a significant role in their performance in higher education degree programs, we focus on the crucial introductory study phase and valid diagnostics of students' study preconditions. We analyze refugee students' sociobiographical and educational data such as gender, country of origin, highest level of education achieved etc. and examine their English language skills, intellectual abilities, and previous study domain related knowledge. We find extreme differences in levels of education and preconditions on starting to study in Kiron. Based on these results, we discuss implications for the effective and successful integration of refugee students in higher education.

In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example, in the USA and in the UK, it appears that computer science education (CSE) in primary or secondary schools (K-12) has reached a significant turning point, shifting its focus from ICT-oriented to rigorous computer science concepts. The goal of this special issue is to offer a publication platform for soundly based in-depth experiences that have been made around the world with concepts, approaches, or initiatives that aim at supporting this shift. For this purpose, the article format was kept as large as possible, enabling the authors to explain many facets of their concepts and experiences in detail. Regarding the structure of the articles, we had encouraged the authors to lean on the Darmstadt Model, a category system that was developed to support the development, improvement, and investigation of K-12 CSE across regional or national boundaries. This model could serve as a unifying framework that might provide a proper structure for a well-founded critical discussion about the future of K-12 CSE. Curriculum designers or policy stakeholders, who have to decide, which approach an upcoming national initiative should follow, could benefit from this discussion as well as researchers who are investigating K12 CSE in any regard. With this goal in mind, we have selected six extensive and two short case studies from the UK, New Zealand, USA/Israel, France, Sweden, Georgia (USA), Russia, and Italy that provide an in-depth analysis of K-12 CSE in their respective country or state.

We provide an assessment of the French ZEP (Zones d'Education Prioritaire), a program started in 1982 that channels additional resources to schools in disadvantaged areas and encourages the development of new teaching projects. Focusing on middle-schools, we first evaluate the impact of the ZEP status on resources, their utilization (teacher bonuses versus teaching hours) and key establishments characteristics such as class sizes, school enrolments, teachers' qualifications and experience, and student composition and mobility. We then estimate the impact of the ZEP program on four measures of individual student achievement: obtaining at least one diploma by the end of schooling, reaching 8th grade, reaching 10th grade and success at the Baccalaureat (the national examination at the end of high school). We take into account the endogeneity of the ZEP status by using both difference in differences and instrumental variables based on political variables. The results are the same in all cases: there is no impact on student success of the ZEP program. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

Introduces this special issue of the journal. Articles cover the geographical length of of the Romance-Germanic border, from French Flanders in the northwest to South Tyrol in the Southeast. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes previous interpretations concerning the French Revolution. Discusses several weaknesses of the Marxist views in light of recent philosophical and sociological thinking about social change. (RKM)

The traditional autonomy of administrative work is disappearing as new information technologies bring about new concepts, such as "information systems," whose implementation through computerized systems introduce more efficient, more systematic and reliable working methods along with a new approach to management problems. (Author/MLW)

Reexamines the role of ideas as a factor in the French Revolution. Discusses recent research concerning the influence of philosophy upon this Revolution. Looks at research dealing with the Enlightenment thinkers and the "Cercle Social" Girondists among other philosophies. Views the French Revolution as a means of understanding the modern age. (KO)

Copyright of Néphrologie & Thérapeutique is the property of John Libbey Eurotext Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Characterizing the flammability of litter fuels is of major importance for assessing wildland fire ignition hazard. Here we compared the flammability of litter within a mosaic of Quercus suber (cork oak) woodlands and shrublands in a Mediterranean fire-prone area (Maures massif, southeastern France) to test whether the characteristics and the flammability of litter vary with the vegetation types. We tested experimentally the ignitability, the sustainability, the combustibility and the consumability of undisturbed (=non-reconstructed) litter samples with a point-source mode of ignition. Although the frequency of ignition was similar between all the vegetation types, we distinguished four groups having litter of specific composition and flammability: low and sparse shrublands dominated by Cistus species, medium shrublands with cork oak, high Erica shrublands with sparse cork oak woodlands, and mixed mature oak woodlands with Q. suber, Q. ilex and Q. pubescens. As these vegetation types corresponded to a specific range of past fire recurrence, we also tested the effect of the number of fires and the time since the last fire on litter flammability. Litters of plots recurrently burned had low ability to propagate flames and low flame sustainability. We discuss how the recent fire history can modify vegetation and litter flammability, and thus the fire ignition hazard. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Revue des Sciences Sociales is the property of Universite des Sciences Humaines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revue Francophone des Laboratoires is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article explores the foreign policy of France towards Africa under President Jacques Chirac. Some important patterns of French policy entails the attitude of Chirac towards the region, discrepancy between French economic interests and co-operation aid, and reformation of the institutions to implement African policy. The French policy towards the Africa does not derive from mainstream political debate. Chirac appoints Jacques Foccart as his personal representative to African heads of state.

Copyright of Studies in Conservation is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Concern is growing in France about climate change and the related issue of accelerated sea-level rise (ASLR). Although a national vulnerability assessment has not been produced, available information is sufficient to clearly identify the coastal zones which are at risk. On the Mediterranean coast, the most vulnerable area corresponds to the deltaic plain of the Rhône River, chiefly because of human actions (e.g., shortage of sediment supply as a result of dam construction; river embankments). Coastal erosion, lowland flooding, and ground water salinisation are the main impacts expected from ASLR. The Languedoc coastal barriers will move landward faster than at present, thus jeopardising dense tourist facilities. On the Atlantic coast, enhanced erosion of the Aquitaine sandy beaches is expected. Existing salt marshes do not appear threatened because mud sedimentation from soil erosion is active, but reclaimed areas will be at risk of flooding. Moderate salt intrusion is expected into the Loire estuary. The Normandy chalk cliffs may not recede faster than at present. Existing laws and regulations dealing with coastal management are sufficient to address the potential impacts which may affect populations and economic activities in the forthcoming decades as sea level rises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on religious education in France. Exemptions of religious teaching provided by the Roman Catholic Church; Plans for the regionalization of the local educational status in order to escape the eventual pressure of the common French Law; Suggestion that the courses on religious teaching should be removed with all the signs showing the belonging to a concerned religion; Need for the separation of the church and the state.

Addresses the issue of inequality between men and women in France. Sex discrimination in employment; Historical account of social conditions of women in the country; Laws and regulations in the country regarding the salary of the women; Persistence of the unequal division of the domestic work between men and women; Need for an abolition of the masculine domination in various social spheres.

Copyright of Revue Française de Sociologie is the property of Presses de Sciences Po and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In thirteenth-century France, tympanums were the focus of interest in great portals. With their horizontal registers of reliefs and statues, they displayed major iconographic themes, while jambs and archivolts appeared to be a complementary frame. On the other hand, the multiplication of archivols created deep recesses at the bottom of which tympanums could seem submissive to their environment. In the fifteenth century, the flamboyant style stressed both the independence of elements and their intimate interrelations. Prominent elements were mouldings of jambs, arches, and gables of doors, niches, statues, and canopies anywhere. All of them overlapped with tympanums in an intense search for liaisons. Nevertheless, surfaces of tympanums could be defended as independent elements, as they could be of any shape or proportion without regard to the forms of adjacent framing arches. Quite often, on the other hand, tympanums were rather understressed. They were just treated as true or false windows with open or blind tracery. As such, their submissive placement behind prominent jambs and buttresses must have appeared inferior. They were progressively eliminated as in some cases the tympanum was just either an ambiguous and small part of wall between two superimposed arches, or a taller window or retable above a rather independent doorway. This paved the way for the Renaissance. It marked the end of the medieval tympanum, and the end of the medieval mind as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French Ministry for the Environment, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Sea (MEEDDM) officially published a new decree concerning photovoltaic electricity generation and feed-in tariffs (FiT) on January 12th 2010. This was followed by a second decree, published on March 16th 2010, which contained some additional information and revisions to the first. This paper outlines the effects the revisions will have on France's solar industry and provides guidelines for future developments in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L’objectif principal de l’étude PARTAGE est d’évaluer chez des personnes de plus 80 ans vivant en EHPAD (Etablissements d’hébergement des personnes âgées et dépendantes), la valeur prédictive de la pression artérielle (PA) et de la rigidité artérielle mesurée par la vélocité de l’onde du pouls (VOP) sur la mortalité globale ainsi que sur les événements cardiovasculaires majeurs et le déclin cognitif. Un suivi de 2 ans avec enregistrement des décès et des évènements cardio-vasculaires est ainsi prévu pour 1130 sujets (âge moyen 87.7±4.8ans) de plus de 80 ans qui ont été inclus par quatre centres hospitalo-universitaires français (Nancy, Dijon, Paris, Toulouse) et deux centres italiens (Cesena, Vérone). Les résultats ci-dessous portent sur les données de PA et de la VOP de la première visite. La PA a été mesurée : a- de façon standard avec un appareil automatique en position assis (PA standard) et debout (PA ortho) et b- par automesure (PA Auto) : trois mesures matin et soir pendant trois jours consécutifs. La VOP a été mesurée par l’appareil Pulsepen(®). Parmi les personnes déclarées hypertendues dans le dossier médical et ayant un traitement anti-hypertenseur (n=773, 68 %), 72 % d’entre elles avaient une PAS casuelle < 150mmHg et 66 % une PAS auto < 145mmHg. Une forte corrélation de la PA a été retrouvée entre les valeurs de l’automesure et celles de la mesure standard (R2 =0.46). Par rapport à la PAS de l’automesure, la PAS standard était plus élevée (>10mmHg) chez 214 (19 %) personnes, plus basse (< 10mmHg) chez 249 (22 %) et pas différente (entre -10 et 10mmHg) chez les 654 (58 %) autres. Une forte corrélation a été observée entre la VOP et la PA (R2 =0.29). Il s’agit de la première étude qui évalue les relations entre mesure standard et ambulatoire de la PA et de la rigidité artérielle chez des sujets de plus de 80 ans institutionnalisés et fragiles. Display Omitted [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Accreditation of an in vitro diagnostic assay according to the NF/EN/ISO 15189 standard requires to analyze its technical performance before implementation for routine use, and annually when reviewing effectiveness of quality controls. Performance is evaluated through repeatability, intermediate fidelity, accuracy and uncertainty of measurement. The coefficients of variation (CV) of the intra-assay and inter-assay precision tests must be compared with those of "peers" (results from laboratories employing the same method) and also with those obtained with "all methods", i.e., results from all laboratories performing the same assay, irrespective of the method. To our best knowledge, there is currently no French or international recommendation on what the acceptable limits of performance for specific IgE and tryptase assays should be. Therefore, the AllergoBioNet network of hospital allergy laboratories set out to characterize the performance of their current methods as a basis for the development of recommendations. The results provided by 24 centers were analyzed and led to consensus recommendations for specific IgE, total IgE and tryptase assays.