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Abstract Background Previous data in humans suggest that extreme physical inactivity (EPI) affects iron metabolism differently between sexes. Our objective was to deepen the underlying mechanisms by studying rats of both sexes exposed to hindlimb unloading (HU), the reference experimental model mimicking EPI. Methods Eight‐week‐old male and female Wistar rats were assigned to control (CTL) or hindlimb unloading (HU) conditions (n = 12/group). After 7 days of HU, serum, liver, spleen, and soleus muscle were removed. Iron parameters were measured in serum samples, and ICP‐MS was used to quantify iron in tissues. Iron metabolism genes and proteins were analysed by RT‐qPCR and Western blot. Results Compared with control males, control females exhibited higher iron concentrations in serum (+43.3%, p

Acute exercise induces transient modifications in the tumor microenvironment and has been linked to reduced tumor growth along with increased infiltration of immune cells within the tumor in mouse models. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of acute exercise before treatment administration on tumor growth in a mice model of MC38 colorectal cancer receiving an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and chemotherapy. Six-week-old mice injected with colorectal cancer cells (MC38) were randomized in 4 groups: control (CTRL), immuno-chemotherapy (TRT), exercise (EXE) and combined intervention (TRT/EXE). Both TRT and TRT-EXE received ICI: anti-PD1-1 (1 injection/week) and capecitabine + oxaliplatin (5 times a week) for 1 week (experimentation 1), 3 weeks (experimentation 2). TRT-EXE and EXE groups were submitted to 50 minutes of treadmill exercise before each treatment administration. Over the protocol duration, tumor size has been monitored daily. Tumor growth and microenvironment parameters were measured after the intervention on Day 7 (D7) and Day 16 (D16). From day 4 to day 7, tumor volumes decreased in the EXE/TRT group while remaining stable in the TRT group (p=0.0213). From day 7 until day 16 tumor volume decreased with no significant difference between TRT and TRT/EXE. At D7 the TRT/EXE group exhibited a higher total infiltrate T cell (p=0.0118) and CD8+ cytotoxic T cell (p=0.0031). At D16, tumor marker of apoptosis, vascular integrity and inflammation were not significantly different between TRT and TRT/EXE. Our main result was that acute exercise before immuno-chemotherapy administration significantly decreased early-phase tumor growth (D0 to D4). Additionally, exercise led to immune cell infiltration changes during the first week after exercise, while no significant molecular alterations in the tumor were observed 3 weeks after exercise.

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is promising for solving control problems in fluid mechanics, but it is a new field with many open questions. Possibilities are numerous and guidelines are rare concerning the choice of algorithms or best formulations for a given problem. Besides, DRL algorithms learn a control policy by collecting samples from an environment, which may be very costly when used with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers. Algorithms must therefore minimize the number of samples required for learning (sample efficiency) and generate a usable policy from each training (reliability). This paper aims to (a) evaluate three existing algorithms (DDPG, TD3, and SAC) on a fluid mechanics problem with respect to reliability and sample efficiency across a range of training configurations, (b) establish a fluid mechanics benchmark of increasing data collection cost, and (c) provide practical guidelines and insights for the fluid dynamics practitioner. The benchmark consists in controlling an airfoil to reach a target. The problem is solved with either a low-cost low-order model or with a high-fidelity CFD approach. The study found that DDPG and TD3 have learning stability issues highly dependent on DRL hyperparameters and reward formulation, requiring therefore significant tuning. In contrast, SAC is shown to be both reliable and sample efficient across a wide range of parameter setups, making it well suited to solve fluid mechanics problems and set up new cases without tremendous effort. In particular, SAC is resistant to small replay buffers, which could be critical if full-flow fields were to be stored.

Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) in pediatric brain tumors (PBTs) is a poorly understood and categorized phenomenon. LMD incidence rates, as well as diagnosis, treatment, and screening practices, vary greatly depending on the primary tumor pathology. While LMD is encountered most frequently in medulloblastoma, reports of LMD have been described across a wide variety of PBT pathologies. LMD may be diagnosed simultaneously with the primary tumor, at time of recurrence, or as primary LMD without a primary intraparenchymal lesion. Dissemination and seeding of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) involves a modified invasion-metastasis cascade and is often the result of direct deposition of tumor cells into the CSF. Cells develop select environmental advantages to survive the harsh, nutrient poor and turbulent environment of the CSF and leptomeninges. Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie LMD, along with improved diagnostic and treatment approaches, will help the prognosis of children affected by primary brain tumors.

Abstract Background Iron excess has been proposed as an essential factor in skeletal muscle wasting. Studies have reported correlations between muscle iron accumulation and atrophy, either through ageing or by using experimental models of secondary iron overload. However, iron treatments performed in most of these studies induced an extra‐pathophysiological iron overload, more representative of intoxication or poisoning. The main objective of this study was to determine the impact of iron excess closer to pathophysiological conditions on structural and metabolic adaptations (i) in differentiated myotubes and (ii) in skeletal muscle exhibiting oxidative (i.e. the soleus) or glycolytic (i.e. the gastrocnemius) metabolic phenotypes. Methods The impact of iron excess was assessed in both in vitro and in vivo models. Murine differentiated myotubes were exposed to ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) (i.e. 10 and 50 μM) for the in vitro component. The in vivo model was achieved by a single iron dextran subcutaneous injection (1 g/kg) in mice. Four months after the injection, soleus and gastrocnemius muscles were harvested for analysis. Results In vitro, iron exposure caused dose‐dependent increases of iron storage protein ferritin (P

The Trinational Metropolitan Region Upper Rhine (TMO33 Official German abbreviation of the region, referring to Trinationale Metropolregion Oberrhein.) is a polycentric and highly urbanized region in Central Europe. The impacts of climate change onto the regional enterprises are complex and differ sectorwise and according to geographical factors. In this paper, we take a differentiated look at climate change impacts and adaptation efforts in nine of the region’s most affected sectors: agriculture, forestry & wood processing, food & beverage industries, water supply, logistics, winter tourism, manufacturing industries and the building sector. Framed by risk concepts we evaluate 157 interviews with company representatives and an additional online survey (n = 100) among small and medium-sized enterprises. The interviews and the online survey were carried out within the Interreg projects Clim’Ability and Clim’Ability Design during the years 2016–2021. We present an overview of sector-specific patterns of climate change impacts and adaptation efforts. Furthermore, we investigate the affected business units and fields of action for adaptation measures in a cross-sector perspective. Our results show that heat is the most relevant climatic stressor for a majority of the regional enterprises, followed by general warming and droughts. Extreme weather events like heavy rain, floods, thunderstorms or hail also play a considerable role, but adaptation to those phenomena appears to be less developed. This is an important starting point for future adaptation strategies and sector-specific recommendations for policy makers and local stakeholders.

The geography of risk has rarely documented the processes of territorialization of nuclear risk outside of post-accident contexts. Following the injunction of nuclear studies to break with nuclear exceptionalism, we propose to apprehend the mundane spatialities of this industry by studying the conditions of production of emergency planning zones around power plants before any incident. Through a critical approach to the tools of planning and governance of nuclear risk, this article aims at understanding the modalities of its territorialization. To do so, we mobilize the geo-legal methodology. The United Kingdom presents a relevant case study, as the entry into force of a new regulation on radiation protection in 2019 has led to a revision of the emergency planning zones surrounding the country's power plants. Using the case of the Heysham nuclear site, we implemented both a hermeneutic of the normative texts and a field investigation. This allowed us to observe the way in which the establishment of emergency planning zones is embedded in mundane normative and administrative processes. These are framed by law, while being influenced by a series of variables such as the temporalities of the process, the interpretation of normative texts, the interpretation of landscapes, or the anticipation of spatial practices. In sum, spatial nuclearity is also constructed outside of accidental or conflictual situations.

In the field of natural hazards, there is a strong consensus on the interest of using centennial chronologies of past events. In order to grasp the evolution of natural hazards and of the processes at their origin, it is necessary to contextualize the chronologies resulting from historical sources by taking into account all potential explanatory factors and their interactions. On the basis of a geohistorical and systemic approach, this article provides a lecture grid that operationalizes the contextualization workflow, so as to optimize the chronologies of past events. The spatial and temporal matching between the events and the different components of the territorial system studied leads to a comprehension of all factors at play, and thus, of the hazard and risk evolution. This approach is illustrated with the analysis of a spatial and temporal chronology of avalanche risk in the Vosges Mountains (northeast of France) since the end of the 18th century. Four prisms – avalanche hazard, risk, event and "sources effect" – combine and their respective weights vary in time and space. Climate and land use changes explain the "disappearance" of avalanche triggers at low elevations and of those flowing down from the summits to the valley bottoms. The combined evolutions of stakes, climate and land use contribute to explain the risk evolution. Finally, the "sources effect" preponderantly influences the evolution of the amount of events. Various results regarding the local evolution of the risk and the comprehension of environment-society interactions which have generated the chronology suggest that this approach could be valuable for many applications in geohistory of risks.

Abstract Nanoparticle technology in cancer chemotherapy is a promising approach to enhance active ingredient pharmacology and pharmacodynamics. Indeed, drug nanoparticles display various assets such as extended blood lifespan, high drug loading and reduced cytotoxicity leading to better drug compliance. In this context, organic nanocrystal suspensions for pharmaceutical use have been developed in the past ten years. Nanocrystals offer new possibilities by combining the nanoformulation features with the properties of solid dispersed therapeutic ingredients including (i) high loading of the active ingredient, (ii) its bioavailability improvement, and (iii) reduced drug systemic cytotoxicity. However, surprisingly, no antitumoral drug has been marketed as a nanocrystal suspension until now. Etoposide, which is largely used as an anti-cancerous agent against testicular, ovarian, small cell lung, colon and breast cancer in its liquid dosage form, has been selected to develop injectable nanocrystal suspensions designed to be transferred to the clinic. The aim of the present work is to provide optimized formulations for nanostructured etoposide solutions and validate by means of in vitro and in vivo evaluations the efficiency of this multiphase system. Indeed, the etoposide formulated as a nanosuspension by a bottom-up approach showed higher blood life span, reduced tumor growth and higher tolerance in a murine carcinoma cancer model. The results obtained are promising for future clinical evaluation of these etoposide nanosuspensions.

Purpose: Energy expenditure is a key parameter in quantifying physical activity. Traditional methods are limited because they are expensive and cumbersome. Additional portable and cheaper devices are developed to estimate energy expenditure to overcome this problem. It is essential to verify the accuracy of these devices. This study aims to validate the accuracy of energy expenditure estimation by a respiratory magnetometer plethysmography system in children, adolescents and adults using a deep learning model. Methods: Twenty-three healthy subjects in three groups (nine adults (A), eight post-pubertal (PP) males and six pubertal (P) females) first sat or stood for six minutes and then performed a maximal graded test on a bicycle ergometer until exhaustion. We measured energy expenditure, oxygen uptake, ventilatory thresholds 1 and 2 and maximal oxygen uptake. The respiratory magnetometer plethysmography system measured four chest and abdomen distances using magnetometers sensors. We trained the models to predict energy expenditure based on the temporal convolutional networks model. Results: The respiratory magnetometer plethysmography system provided accurate energy expenditure estimation in groups A (R2 = 0.98), PP (R2 = 0.98) and P (R2 = 0.97). The temporal convolutional networks model efficiently estimates energy expenditure under sitting, standing and high levels of exercise intensities. Conclusion: Our results proved the respiratory magnetometer plethysmography system’s effectiveness in estimating energy expenditure for different age populations across various intensities of physical activity.

The medium-high mountain ranges of Western Europe are undergoing rapid socio-environmental changes. The aim of this study is to show that their landscape can be strongly shaped by the actions of avalanche activity, humans and climate. The study area is the Rothenbachkopf-Rainkopf complex, a site representative of avalanche-prone areas of the Vosges Mountains (France). A geo-historical approach documents regular avalanche activity over more than 200 years on 13 paths. A diachronic analysis of historical maps and photographs demonstrates substantial afforestation (from 60 to 80% of the total surface since 1832). LIDAR data and field surveys highlight the existence of a longitudinal and transversal structure of trees. Hence, the avalanche, human and climate activity footprints are retained by the landscape, which rapidly adapts to these changing drivers. Specifically, the pattern of tree species and heights results from a near equilibrium with regular avalanche activity sometimes disturbed by major avalanches that induce quasi-cyclic changes in the landscape mosaic. The afforestation trend is attributable to profound changes in silvo-pastoral practices, supplemented by the impact of climate change. The wider relevance of the results in relation to the local context is discussed, as well as outlooks that can refine our understanding of this complex system.

Abstract Patients with schizophrenia have difficulty in making sensory predictions, in the time domain, which have been proposed to be related to self-disorders. However experimental evidence is lacking. We examined both voluntary and automatic forms of temporal prediction in 28 patients and 24 matched controls. A visual cue predicted (temporal cue) or not (neutral cue) the time (400 ms/1000 ms) at which a subsequent target was presented. In both patients and controls, RTs were faster for targets presented after long versus short intervals due to the temporal predictability inherent in the elapse of time (“hazard function”). This RT benefit was correlated with scores on the EASE scale, which measures disorders of the self: patients with a high ‘self-awareness and presence’ score did not show any significant benefit of the hazard function, whereas this ability was preserved in patients with a low score. Moreover, all patients were abnormally sensitive to the presence of “catch” trials (unexpected absence of a target) within a testing block, with RTs actually becoming slower at long versus short intervals. These results indicate fragility in patients’ ability to continuously extract temporally predictive information from the elapsing interval. This deficit might contribute to perturbations of the minimal self in patients.

A historical review of the concepts of self-consciousness is presented, highlighting the important role of the body (particularly, body perception but also body action), and the social other in the construction of self-consciousness. More precisely, body perception, especially intermodal sensory perception including kinesthetic perception, is involved in the construction of a sense of self allowing self-other differentiation. Furthermore, the social other, through very early social and emotional interactions, provides meaning to the infant’s perception and contributes to the development of his/her symbolization capacities. This is a necessary condition for body image representation and awareness of a permanent self in a time-space continuum (invariant over time and space). Self-image recognition impairments in the mirror are also discussed regarding a comprehensive developmental theory of self-consciousness. Then, a neuropsychological and neurophysiological approach to self-consciousness reviews the role of complex brain activation/integration pathways and the mirror neuron system in self-consciousness. Finally, this article offers new perspectives on self-consciousness evaluation using a double mirror paradigm to study self- and other- image and body recognition.

For years, phenomenological psychiatry has proposed that distortions of the temporal structure of consciousness contribute to the abnormal experiences described before schizophrenia emerges, and may relate to basic disturbances in consciousness of the self. However, considering that temporality refers mainly to an implicit aspect of our relationship with the world, disturbances in the temporal structure of consciousness remain difficult to access. Nonetheless, previous studies have shown a correlation between self disorders and the automatic ability to expect an event in time, suggesting timing is a key issue for the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Timing disorders may represent a target for cognitive remediation, but this requires that disorders can be demonstrated at an individual level. Since cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia are discrete, and there is no standardized timing exploration, we focused on timing impairments suggested to be related to self disorders. We present the case report of AF, a 22 year old man suffering from schizophrenia, with no antipsychotic intake. Although AF shows few positive and negative symptoms and has a normal neurocognitive assessment, he shows a high level of disturbance of Minimal Self Disorders (SDs) (assessed with the EASE scale). Moreover, AF has a rare ability to describe his self and time difficulties. An objective assessment of timing ability (variable foreperiod task) confirmed that AF had temporal impairments similar to those previously described in patients, i.e., a preserved ability to distinguish time intervals, but a difficulty to benefit from the passage of time to expect a visual stimulus. He presents additional difficulties in benefitting from temporal cues and adapting to changes in time delays. The impairments were ample enough to yield significant effects with analyses at the individual level. Although causal relationships between subjective and objective impairments cannot be established, the results show that exploring timing deficits at the individual level is possible in patients with schizophrenia. Besides, the results are consistent with hypotheses relating minimal self disorders (SDs) to timing difficulties. They suggest that both subjective and objective timing investigations should be developed further so that their use at an individual level can be generalized in clinical practice.

We review studies suggesting time disorders on both automatic and subjective levels in patients with schizophrenia. Patients have difficulty explicitly discriminating between simultaneous and asynchronous events, and ordering events in time. We discuss the relationship between these difficulties and impairments on a more elementary level. We showed that for undetectable stimulus onset asynchronies below 20 ms, neither patients nor controls merge events in time, as previously believed. On the contrary, subjects implicitly distinguish between events even when evaluating them to be simultaneous. Furthermore, controls privilege the last stimulus, whereas patients seem to stay stuck on the first stimulus when asynchronies are sub-threshold. Combining previous results shows this to be true for patients even for asynchronies as short as 8 ms. Moreover, this peculiarity predicts difficulties with detecting asynchronies longer than 50 ms, suggesting an impact on the conscious ability to time events. Difficulties on the subjective level are also correlated with clinical disorganization. The results are interpreted within the framework of predictive coding which can account for an implicit ability to update events. These results complement a range of other results, by suggesting a difficulty with binding information in time as well as space, and by showing that information processing lacks continuity and stability in patients. The time perspective may help bridge the gap between cognitive impairments and clinical symptoms, by showing how the innermost structure of thought and experience is disrupted.

In january 1910, a major flood occurred involving all the rivers of the Rhine Graben (France, Germany, Switzerland), but with huge differencies in the spatial results : damages were much more higher on the left side of the Rhine (Alsace), because of the delay in rivers corrections, generating different vulnerabilities. This example shows the necessity of the contextualization of historic floods in time and space. Because the informations concerning floods are linked with sources and the sources are linked with damages. Flood chronology appears much more as a chronology of the vulnerability to flood and of the landuse changes. This paper based on a flood chronology from 1800 to 2015 extracted from the TRANSRISK database (1480-2015), propose to analyse temporal and spatial variations of flood intensity, in relation with landuse changes and vulnerability evolution, using a geohistorical, transnational and comparing approach. At the end, we will also study the consequences of flood evolution on risk culture, and how to rebuild and share it.

Thann, between the Vosges Mountains and the Alsace plain, is one of the first cities of Haut-Rhin to have been concerned by a Flood Risks Prevention Plan (PPRI). The town is indeed crossed by the Thur river, characterized by violent floods. However, the zoning of the PPRI mentions only a relatively small risk area. But the city has suffered in the past from destructive floods, as it is revealed by the TRANSRISK database. Among these events, the flood of December 1947, very well documented, allows, through a geo-historical approach (contextualization, transposition), the spatial confrontation of areas flooded in 1947 and flood areas designated by the PPRI. The results raise many questions about the quality of PPRI zoning that appears to present errors and omissions. And in the case of a 100-year flood, the damage would be catastrophic. If the re-enactment of the 1947 flood features a worst case scenario, this can also be the basis for a preparation for crisis management.

Although avalanche risk is the deadliest natural risk in Alsace, winter of 1999-2000 suddenly brought up this underestimated, forgotten, or even denied danger. This interdisciplinary research emphasized more than 250 avalanche events, from the end of the 18th century until today. We reset these events into the context of climatic variation and evolution of land occupation. We also considered a typology and a scale for avalanche intensity, specifically regarding medium-high mountains. Eventually we will discuss the current state of avalanche risk.

Within the frame of the spatio-temporal analysis of natural hazards, geohistory is a meaningful approach to obtain and exploit (geo)chronologies. This article formalizes a scientific approach aiming at capturing the risk system in its entirety (factors, processes, and dynamics at play). It is based on systemic analysis, already promoted by geographers, but currently little used in geohistory, and it involves four successive steps: construction of a database of events, documentation of their socio-historical and bio-physical contexts, mapping between the events and their drivers, and finally determination of a qualitative model of how the system works. These steps are discussed and illustrated using examples from the literature. The review shows that numerous chronologies have already been proposed for natural hazards, but these cannot be directly interpreted in terms of the evolution of phenomena or risks. To apprehend these, it is necessary to replace documented events in their social and bio-physical context, that is to say, to analyze the main factors that can explain the evolution of their spatial and temporal distributions. The article proposes an operational checklist for this contextualization step. Once this is done, it is possible to consider the risk system in its entirety, each of its subsystems (the natural subsystem and/or the societal subsystem), and to confront the spatial and temporal distributions of events with the evolution of potentially explanatory factors. Spatial and temporal mapping allows concomitances or offsets to be highlighted and, as a result, provides explanations for the evolutions observed. A final step that identifies the main effects at play leads to a qualitative modeling of the risk system provided through a simplified graphical representation. The latter, even if it remains for now little used in practice and may be difficult to obtain, is a reflection and communication tool that is both efficient and elegant.

Since the end of the World War 2, the municipality of Lièpvre (Alsace, France – located along the Lièpvrette river) knew an intense urbanization of its flooded areas. The risk of floods (and the vulnerability of the municipality) increased until that time, mainly because of a lack of protection. To quantify this vulnerability we develop an innovative method based on geohistory (to collect data on past events) and modelling of past hydraulic conditions. This study allows us to quantify the risk in an economic way to order the factors at risk. The results allow us to analyze the risk evolution in time and space. This study was done within the ANR-DFG-TRANSRISKS 2 project.

Across the world, 165 reactors have been permanently shut down and more than one hundred are expected to be decommissioned in the near futur. Many regions will therefore be faced with the issue of land redevelopment. Many papers addressing the socio-economic impact of closing nuclear sites have underlined the opposition triggered by the disappearance of nuclear activities. However, few studies have focused on the redevelopment of the land this entails. This article addresses the effects of redeveloping the land through the reconversion process of two nuclear power plants: Brunsbüttel in Germany and Barsebäck in Sweden. The closure and reconversion of the German plant seems to have stirred little debates on the local level concerning social and land redevelopment issues. To the contrary, the Swedish plant led to much socio-political polemic and controversies regarding its reconversion. A comparison of the territorial outcome of these two fundamentally different nuclear power plants contributes to enrich the discussion on the factors that impact the post-nuclear outcome of land redevelopment.

While the consequences of climate change are becoming more and more visible and it is not possible anymore to avoid them, pesticides use in agriculture is subject to a profound call into question due to environmental, economic and sanitary reasons. Agriculture is thus confronted with a double challenge: adapting to climate change and evolving towards less dependence on pesticides. These stakes are particularly significant in the Rhine Valley. Indeed, in this space where the consequences of climate change could be intense, traditional models with high pesticide use (intensive crop cultivation and reputed wine growing) cohabit with organic and biodynamic farming productions, mostly in wine growing. The local context could thus form an injunction to ecologically improve agricultural practices. Yet, decreasing pesticides use and adapting to climate change are sometimes contradictory objectives, even if many strategies allow reconciling both. To enlighten this paradox and understand the role of multiple borders in this cross-border space, we based on the comparison between sectors (crop cultivation and wine-growing) on the one side, and between countries (France and Germany) on the other side, to bring out the technical, regulatory, even cultural accelerators and obstacles to the implementation of these win-win strategies of a heterogeneous and rather complex agricultural transition: farmers indeed seek to reconcile different objectives, adaptation to climate change and/or its mitigation, decrease in pesticides use and preservation of biodiversity. Certainly, this is sometimes used as a commercial argument. Still, it also has to do with a real personal conviction for which social interactions play an important role: information spread by the agricultural organizations, exchanges between farmers, personal reflections and trials, and experiences abroad. The cross-border context of the Rhine Valley takes all its importance and, in spite of multiple borders, favours decision-taking facing environmental stakes.

Despite significant proof to the contrary, scientific and institutional agents present the Vosges Mountains, a medium-high mountain range located in north-eastern France, as a territory that poses almost no risk of avalanches. A comprehensive review of the daily press, as well as national and regional television news, shows that media discourses do not counter this point of view strongly. Indeed, unlike the Alpine environment, whose risk the media presents in a concrete and sometimes pedagogical way, the Vosges Mountains receive very little coverage with respect to risk. More generally, the argumentative strategies that the media use are ambiguous and on the edge between warning about and underestimating the risk. Therefore, the image that is conveyed is one of a territory where the risk is limited to a few locations and/or to particular circumstances. Consequently, avalanches continue to be viewed as a distinctive attribute of a specific space – namely, high mountains – while the question of the danger posed by the Vosges Mountains is left open. This observation should be complemented by a study of the origin of such editorial choices, as well as their impact on the risk representations among different target audiences.

Despite significant proof to the contrary, scientific and institutional agents present the Vosges Mountains, a medium-high mountain range located in north-eastern France, as a territory that poses almost no risk of avalanches. A comprehensive review of the daily press, as well as national and regional television news, shows that media discourses do not counter this point of view strongly. Indeed, unlike the Alpine environment, whose risk the media presents in a concrete and sometimes pedagogical way, the Vosges Mountains receive very little coverage with respect to risk. More generally, the argumentative strategies that the media use are ambiguous and on the edge between warning about and underestimating the risk. Therefore, the image that is conveyed is one of a territory where the risk is limited to a few locations and/or to particular circumstances. Consequently, avalanches continue to be viewed as a distinctive attribute of a specific space – namely, high mountains – while the question of the danger posed by the Vosges Mountains is left open. This observation should be complemented by a study of the origin of such editorial choices, as well as their impact on the risk representations among different target audiences.

Taking note of the height of floods has always been an important social activity. Often, the event is marked only in the memory or consciousness of people, as in the famous Zouave on the Pont de l’Alma in Paris. However, the measured recording of flood height has long been a historical phenomenon. Without a doubt, the cultural significance of these marks depends on local historical, hydrological and cultural circumstances. In this article, we are particularly interested in flood markers in France in the modern period (since the nineteenth century). These have generally been intended to serve as a way of reminding people of the possibility of flooding, in order to make them aware of the risk. In France, municipalities have been under a legal obligation since 2003 to inventory and maintain old flood markers and to requisition new ones. This article proposes both a critical typology of these markers, old and new, and a critical discussion of their usefulness to raise awareness of flood risk. Is the flood marker a «miracle cure» in flood risk information? The article is based on examples drawn mainly from metropolitan France, and offers suggestions for improving flood-risk information.