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Cet article dresse un bilan de l’action du president de la Republique quatre ans apres son election en 2017. Les initiatives prises par Emmanuel Macron sont caracterisees par certaines ambiguites strategiques resultant d’un double programme d’action publique militaire. En heritier de la Ve Republique, le chef de l’Etat defend une « certaine idee » de la France, en soutenant un programme « souverainiste ». En entrepreneur de l’Europe, il investit une strategie d’alliances intergouvernementale « et en meme temps » supranationale par un programme « liberal », revelant son « idee incertaine » de l’Europe.

The main question surrounding the re-election of Macron is the uncertain balance of France’s flexilateral policy vis-à-vis the EU in a post-Brexit and COVID-19 context: Strengthening European integration by changing France’s practice towards the EU or taking an inter-governmentalist turn by using – in a very classical way – Europe as an “Archimedes’ lever” to defend national interests.

The aim of this article is to articulate conceptually the varieties of international co-operation in which states take part. In theories of international relations, international co-operation is generally analysed either through instances of multilateral collaboration (EU, UN, NATO), through bilateral alliances (Franco-German relationship), or through “minilateral” clubs (G7). Yet the literature does not offer a concept for linking these three models of international co-operation. Nevertheless, in practice, states simultaneously use varieties of international co-operation to address global public problems such as climate change, migration crises, and the fight against terrorism. To address this shortcoming, it is necessary to shift the focus from each type of international co-operation to their “interstices”, in order to identify the relations between the types of international co-operation and their reciprocal effects on decisions taken by the state. It is to do this that the concept of “flexilateralism” has been developed. This neologism describes the policy through which a state simultaneously implements varieties of international co-operation to address a public problem. A state’s “flexilateral” policy, or flexilateralism, is operationalised by revealing four varieties of international co-operation: bilateralism (co-operation between two states), minilateralism (co-operation within an exclusive group of states), multilateralism (co-operation within an inclusive group of states), and unilateralism (no co-operation). The concept of flexilateralism is applied through the case of France’s defence procurement policy in the context of the Brexit negotiations. By taking seriously varieties of international co-operation, the concept of flexilateralism goes a step further to explain the policy-making and implementation of state’s foreign policy.

Extract ----- Bibliography: Faure, Samuel B. H.: FIFTY SOCIOLOGICAL SHADES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY. The case of EU Peacekeeping Policy, ERIS – European Review of International Studies, 2-2018, pp. 41-55. https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v5i2.03

SIRIUS (Spectroscopy & Identification of Rare Isotopes Using S3) is a detection system designed for the focal plane of S3 (the Super Separator Spectrometer), which is part of the SPIRAL2 (Systeme de Production d’Ions RAdioactifs en Ligne de 2e generation) facility at GANIL (France). This study presents the characterization of the Side silicon detector of SIRIUS. This new “Strippy-pad” detector design benefits from an ultra-high resistivity and the windowless technique from Micron Semiconductor Ltd. These detectors were tested at the IPHC Strasbourg on a dedicated test bench with custom fast preamplifiers coupled to digital electronics cards. Combining all these elements, we obtained resolutions as good as 13.6 keV for certain pixels of this detector for 8.8 MeV alpha particles , with an average resolution measured at 14.7 keV over the whole detector.

How can the regulations of the single market have entered into the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) of the European Union (EU) when they were originally intended to have been excluded from it? In order to understand this transfer to the CSDP of regulations originating with the single market in the “field of Eurocracy”, this chapter uses the concept of “communities of practice”. It applies this concept to the case of the “defense package”, which corresponds to the first two directives that govern arms policy within the EU. The adoption of the “defense package” by the Council and Parliament in 2009 can be explained by the rivalry between communities of “supranational” practice and of “intergovernmental” practice. The national and European actors who make up the community of supranational practice were in favor of the “defense package” because they wished to expand the CSDP’s legitimate institutional perimeter. On the other hand, the community of intergovernmental practice consisted of actors who opposed the “defense package” in order to reproduce the CSDP’s existing institutional boundaries. This analysis of the adoption of the “defense package” summarizes the structuring of the field of Eurocracy. The operationalization of this endogenous argument has required the production of primary data from a field survey (28 semi-structured interviews). This chapter draws upon a sociological approach to contribute to the literature on the circulation of regulations at the international level. Taking as its starting point the transfer of single market regulations to the CSDP, it also sheds light on the work devoted to the circulation of EU regulations to member states in the areas of defense and foreign policy as well as the circulation of regulations outside the EU.

Background Acute community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a widespread infection worldwide, causing many hospitalisations and deaths. The repeated and inappropriate use of antibiotics is the main cause of the emergence of bacterial resistance that can lead to therapeutic dead ends. Purpose This study assessed the pharmacological management of CAP in community and hospital settings, according to the applicable national standards (NS). Material and methods This was a retrospective and observational study, performed over 1 year in 13 short-stay wards in a 2,000-bed health facility. The patients included had a CAP previously treated in the community, knowing that each patient could be treated with one or more antibiotic strategies. Two infectious physicians and a senior clinical pharmacist analysed the compliance of antibiotic orders to NS for the medication choice (M), the medication dosage (P) and the treatment duration (D). Results A total of 204 patients were included. The rates of patients with at least one non-compliance were 67.9% and 45.9% respectively in the community (n=187 patients) and hospital (n=181). The antibiotic therapies were non-compliant to NS for 44.5% on M (n=238 antibiotic therapies), versus 33.2% (n=226) respectively in the community and hospital, 20.6% on P (n=218) versus 4.9% (n=226) and 30.6% on D (n=206) versus 19.0% (n=216). In the emergency department (n=47), 23.8% and 6.1% of antibiotic orders were non-compliant for M and P, respectively. Other works published in the literature on the rate of intra-hospital nonconformities present results similar to ours. This innovative study (hitherto never performed in the outpatient sector in France) reminds us of the importance of respecting the recommendations for optimal recovery of patients with CAP, avoiding multiple re-hospitalisations and preserving the efficacy of the existing antibiotic arsenal. Conclusion Non-compliance to NS for antibiotic therapies can be explained by the multiplicity of prescribers, a lack of communication, a difficult access to clinico-therapeutic recommendations, microbiological information and medical imagery tests. There is an urgent need to strengthen continuous training and to set up better coordination of care between community and hospital health professionals. References and/or acknowledgements http://ansm.sante.fr/var/ansm_site/storage/original/application/b33b6936699f3fefdd075316c40a0734.pdf No conflict of interest.

International audience; This article seeks to make a sociological contribution to the study of capitalism in France and Britain. In view of this, we analyze major defense industry company managers’ relationships to the State, and the internationalization and financialization of their careers (Safran, Thales, BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce). We go beyond the dispute between the convergence and divergence of national defense capitalisms, by unveiling a counter-intuitive and unexpected reality, namely their simultaneity. Specifically, on both sides of the English Channel, the practices of these large company directors have become more structured than hitherto by the internationalization of their training and their knowledge of finance, while at the same time, their relationship to the state has changed profoundly.; Cet article apporte une contribution sociologique à la comparaison des capitalismes en France et au Royaume-Uni. Pour ce faire, le rapport à l’État, l’internationalisation et la financiarisation des trajectoires professionnelles des dirigeants de grandes entreprises de l’industrie de la défense (Safran, Thales, BAe Systems et Rolls-Royce) sont interrogés. La controverse entre convergence et divergence des capitalismes nationaux de la défense est dépassée par le dévoilement d’une réalité contre-intuitive et inattendue, à savoir leur simultanéité. En même temps que les pratiques des dirigeants des grandes entreprises des deux côtés de la Manche sont plus structurées que jadis par l’internationalisation de leur formation et leur familiarité avec le monde financier, leur rapport à l’État demeure nettement différent.

The politics of France’s defence co-operation, involving various allies within different politico-institutional frameworks at different scales of international public action (bilateral, minilateral, multilateral), is called ‘flexilateralism’. The ‘flexilateral’ politics of France in Europe questions the future of the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom (UK) in the context of the Brexit negotiations. This chapter demonstrates that Brexit could generate a two-fold effect on Franco-British defence cooperation based on an approach derived from the ‘practice turn’ in international relations theory. On the one hand, it is likely that Brexit would have only a limited effect on military policy because the Franco-British bilateral ‘practice’ is not in competition with other types of European co-operation. On the other hand, Brexit’s effect on industrial policy would be more marked from 2020 onwards in the event of a “hard Brexit”. The Franco-British partnership would be sidelined in favour of co-operation with Germany and associations with variable combinations of partners within the EU, which would necessarily become the determinant vehicles for formulating France’s flexilateral politics in Europe. As a result, the UK would retain a ‘leading role’ in military policy and would be simultaneously confined to a ‘supporting role’ in industrial policy. This variation can be explained by the structure of interdependence relations linking defence actors in Europe: a ‘closed configuration’ in military policy, an ‘open configuration’ in industrial policy.

The structure of low-lying excited states in $^{251}\mathrm{Fm}$, populated by the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ decay of $^{255}\mathrm{No}$, has been investigated by means of combined $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and internal conversion electron spectroscopy. The values for the internal conversion coefficients for the $1/{2}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5/{2}^{+}$ and $5/{2}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}9/{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ transitions have been measured. The determined $M2/E3$ mixing ratio and lifetime for the $5/{2}^{+}$ decay to the ground state allowed to determine the corresponding reduced transitions strengths of $B(E3)=18(6)$ W.u. and $B(M2)=3.0(6)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ W.u. These results, as well as the results of previous studies in $N=151$ isotopes, are compared to theoretical calculations beyond the mean-field approach, including the first QRPA calculations using the Gogny D1M parametrization for such heavy odd-$N$ nuclei. The comparison points to the importance of accounting for the octupole vibrations for a proper understanding of the low-lying nuclear structure of some of the heaviest elements.

En cherchant à expliquer pourquoi les exportations d’armement sont fortement régulées par certains États européens et plus faiblement par d’autres, cet article défend l’idée d’une absence d’européanisation du contrôle des exportations d’armement, et que ni la relation État-industrie ni l’implication des acteurs exécutifs n’expliquent ces variations. Deux hypothèses alternatives sont proposées : la position du Parlement dans le processus de décision du contrôle des ventes d’armes et la saillance de l’enjeu des ventes d’armes auprès de l’opinion publique. Regulating the arms trade by the Parliament and public opinion. A comparison of arms export controls in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden.In seeking to explain why some European states strongly regulate arms exports but others weakly, this article argues that there is no Europeanization of arms export controls, and that neither the state-industry relationship nor the involvement of executive actors explain these variations. Two alternative hypotheses matter: the position of Parliament in the arms export control decision-making process, and the salience of the arms sales issue in the view of public opinion. Européanisation, économie politique et acteurs gouvernementaux : réfutation des variables dominantes - L’Union européenne sans l’européanisation - L’insuffisante explication de l’école de la variété des capitalismes - Les décideurs gouvernementaux, une constante Le Parlement et l’opinion publique : des acteurs sous-estimés ? La position décisionnelle de l’institution parlementaire - L’Assemblée nationale et le Sénat - La Chambre des Communes et la Chambre des Lords - Le Bundestag - Le Riksdag La saillance de l’enjeu des ventes d’armes dans l’opinion publique - France - Royaume-Uni - Allemagne - Suède Conclusion

Cet article est une réflexion critique sur la« logique du praticable » de Vincent Pouliot quia contribué depuis dix ans à faire progresser lathéorie des Relations internationales. À partir de leurspropres travaux, les auteurs formulent trois questionnements relatifsà la « logique du praticable ».D’abord, ils s’interrogent sur l’enchâssementde la « logique du praticable » avec les logiquesréflexives dans la construction théorique de VincentPouliot. Ensuite, ils réfléchissent à sonopérationnalisation méthodologique. Enfin, ils examinentle statut des données empiriques et de leurs usages. Afind’assumer la rupture prônée par Vincent Pouliot, lesauteurs invitent à considérer plusieurs« logiques du praticable » et à se tournerdavantage encore vers la recherche ethnographique de terrain pourrenouveler la théorie des Relations internationales., This article is a critical reflection on the “logic ofpracticality” developed by Vincent Pouliot, who has contributedto the advance of international relations theory over the past tenyears. Drawing on their own work, the authors formulate three questionsrespecting the logic of practicality. First, they question theentrenchment of the logic of practicality with reflexive logic inPouliot’s theoretical construction. Second, they consider itsmethodological operationalization. And finally, they examine the statusof empirical data and its use. In acknowledging the break advocated byPouliot, the authors urge readers to contemplate other “logics ofpracticality” and draw even more extensively on ethnographicfield research to renew international relations theory., Este artículo es una reflexión crítica sobre la“lógica de lo practicable” de Vincent Pouliot que hacontribuido desde hace diez años a que avance la teoríade las relaciones internacionales. A partir de sus propios trabajos,los autores formulan tres interrogantes relativos a la“lógica de lo practicable”. Primeramente, secuestionan acerca de la articulación de la “lógicade la practicidad” con las lógicas reflexivas en laconstrucción teórica de Vincent Pouliot. Luego,reflexionan acerca de su operacionalización metodológica.Finalmente, examinan la condición de los datos empíricosy sus usos. Con el propósito de asumir la ruptura propiciada porVincent Pouliot, los autores invitan a considerar varias lógicasde la practicidad y a orientarse más hacia lainvestigación etnográfica de campo para renovar lateoría de las relaciones internacionales.

Qui a defendu la constitution d’un marche interieur de la defense au sein du champ de l’Eurocratie a la suite de l’adoption en 2009 du « paquet defense » ? Cette analyse met en lumiere les acteurs de l’armement qui ont travaille a ce changement d’action publique et ceux qui s’y sont opposes. M’appuyant sur une enquete de terrain, j’etablis que cette rivalite au sommet de l’Union europeenne ne se reduit ni aux interets nationaux qui opposent entre eux les Etats membres ni au clivage institutionnel attendu entre la Commission europeenne et les Etats de l’UE. Les acteurs de l’armement defendant l’adoption du paquet defense sont des Etats membres et des institutions de l’UE, des acteurs publics et des acteurs industriels prives. A partir d’une approche « programmatique » se situant a la croisee de la sociologie de l’action publique europeenne et de la sociologie des elites, je mets en lumiere deux « associations » d’acteurs en lutte, les « souverainistes » et les « liberaux », qui se positionnent respectivement en adversaires et en partisans de l’adoption du paquet defense. Cette approche contribue a l’etude de la structuration du champ de l’Eurocratie au xxie siecle.

Objective The lack of patient adherence to medical treatment has become a major concern for healthcare professionals. The World Health Organization estimated patient adherence to treatment at 50% only. The inadequate use of antibiotics can cause bacterial resistance the progression of which reduces therapeutic alternatives. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the patient's adherence to anti-infective agents prescribed for acute infection, after returning home. Method Thirty-seven patients hospitalized in the Infectious and Tropical Diseases unit were included. Their adherence to anti-infective drugs was assessed indirectly through data collected by calling the pharmacy and the patient in the week following discontinuation of anti-infective treatment. Results Sixteen patients were identified as non-adherent (43.2%). A single patient could have several behaviors: extension of treatment (50%), dose modification (6.3%), voluntary omission (12.5%), and involuntary (6.3%). One patient (6.3%) did not take his anti-infective treatment. There was no major cause of non-adherence; every patient had his own reasons. The comparison of several criteria between adherent and non-adherent patients did not reveal any predictive risk factors. Conclusion Our study results revealed for the first time that 50% of patients were adherent to anti-infective agents, after returning home. They confirm the need to implement preventive actions such as a discharge pharmaceutical consultation.

Bei der Darmkrebsfruherkennung haben immunologische Stuhltests eine deutlich hohere Sensitivitat zur Detektion von fortgeschrittenen Neoplasien und kolorektalen Karzinomen. Auf Basis der nationalen und internationalen Studienlage wird deshalb auch in Deutschland gefordert, sie zum Bestandteil des Krebsfruherkennungsprogramms fur die Darmkrebspravention zu machen. Von Herstellerseite ist die Empfindlichkeit (Detektionslimit) einstellbar, um ein optimales und ausbalanciertes Ergebnis zwischen Sensitivitat und Spezifitat zu erreichen. Die vorliegende Studie wurde mit 639 Patienten durchgefuhrt, die sowohl die Screeningkoloskopie als auch den immunologischen Stuhltest gemacht haben. Der eingesetzte Stuhltest immoCARE-C von CARE diagnostica Laborreagenzien GmbH zeigt bei der Auswertung von 7 Empfindlichkeitsstufen mit Detektionslimits zwischen 500 ng/ml und 25 ng/ml, die beste Sensitivitat zur Detektion von fortgeschrittenen Lasionen bei einem Cut-off von 50 bzw. 25 ng/ml, wobei eine Spezifitat von 90 % nicht unterschritten wird. Diese positiven Ergebnisse gehen in Uberlegungen ein, den primaren Zugang zur Darmkrebspravention quasi als Filterfunktion fur die Screeningkoloskopie zu prufen.

The present paper deals with the charophytes collected by H. Faure and P. M. Vincent from outcrops of lacustrine deposits inside the caldera “Trou au Natron” at an altitude of 1875 m above sea level. Characeae represent up to 93% of these carbonates and characterise a new type of sediment, defined as “Characeite”. The remains consist in vegetative (thallus) fragments and in gyrogonites (the calcified fructifications of the Characeae). The presence of both these types of materials and their high frequency indicate in situ fossilisation of the former fresh water vegetation, termed a “charophyte meadow”. The topographical position of the deposits corresponds to a rocky plateau or bench on the slopes of the caldera, located c. 300 m above the present-day floor of the caldera. The development and preservation of the charophytes lead to conclude that the lake was at least 300 m deep at the time when the plants grew. Radiocarbon dating of the thallus fragments provided an age of 14,260 ± 300 yr B.P. This age is consistent with analyses obtained previously on gastropod shells from Trou au Natron and indicates high lake level in the Tibesti Mountains during the Late Pleistocene.

This paper analyzes the preferences of European defense actors vis-a-vis the European security and defense policy (ESDP) with a view to identifying the main ideational points of convergence and fault lines that structure this policy domain. In an exploratory analysis that relies on an original data-set compiled from systematic interviews conducted with 73 ESDP actors in France, the UK, Germany, and Brussels, we address two research questions. First, what do ESDP actors think about ESDP? Second, can we classify their preferences according to sociological factors that underpin the ESDP domain? To conceptualize the belief system of ESDP actors, we propose a typology that distinguishes (1) the social context in which ESDP actors are embedded and (2) the specific ESDP aspects about which preferences are shaped. Our results suggest that both national and occupational variables play an important role in explaining the preferences of ESDP actors.

Resume Objectif Identifier les facteurs associes a la prescription ou non d’antibiotiques en medecine generale, dans trois infections courantes : l’angine, la bronchite aigue (BA) et l’exacerbation de bronchite chronique (EBC). Patients et methodes Une etude transversale observationnelle a ete conduite sur 574 sujets vus en consultation par 58 medecins generalistes tires au sort. Les donnees relatives au medecin, au patient (cliniques, sociales, environnementales) et a l’antibiotherapie (type, motivations) ont ete renseignees au cabinet lors de la consultation via un questionnaire standardise. Resultats Les recommandations pour l’angine, la BA et l’EBC etaient connues dans 100, 96 et 91 % des cas, respectivement. Un antibiotique a ete prescrit dans 61 % des cas d’angine, 64 % de BA et 84 % d’EBC. L’adequation entre la prescription ou non d’antibiotiques et les recommandations a ete variable (angine : 81,3 %, exacerbation de BPCO : 89,6 %, bronchite aigue : 36,5 %). Les criteres cliniques ont ete les principaux determinants de la prescription antibiotique. Dans l’angine, un test de diagnostic rapide (TDR) a ete realise dans 65 % des cas (positif dans 55 %), augmentant la conformite avec les recommandations a 93,7 %. Une seconde consultation, une mauvaise tolerance et une demande du patient favorisaient egalement significativement la prescription. Conclusions Les recommandations sont connues mais les definitions semiologiques/limites nosologiques sont variables selon les praticiens. Elles doivent s’appuyer sur des enquetes de pratiques, pour integrer les facteurs juges determinants par les praticiens, y compris pour eventuellement refuter leur interet. Les tests paracliniques aident a la decision therapeutique et a la non prescription mais leur utilisation doit encore etre etendue.

We conducted a cross-sectional study in 118 well-trained athletes to investigate 'high exposure' to sub-deficient antioxidant status, and consequently to oxidative damage, in relation to estimated daily energy expenditure (EE) and dietary antioxidant intake. Subjects completed 7 d food and activity records. Blood samples were obtained on day 8. Of the athletes 81, 60 and 43 % had intakes of vitamins E, C and β-carotene below two-thirds of the French RDA respectively, which is adjusted for EE (FRDAa). The deficit in vitamin E intake was positively correlated with EE (r0·51,P>0·0001). All the athletes had normal plasma vitamins E and C and 14 % had marginal plasma β-carotene. Plasma thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) did not increase with increased EE. As evidenced by ANOVA, EE-induced vitamin C intakes increased and consequently led to increased plasma ascorbic acid concentrations. In male athletes, plasma total carotenoids were negatively correlated with plasma TBARS concentrations (r–0·31,P>0·006). The relationship between vitamin C intakes and plasma concentrations was logarithmic (r0·59,P> 0·0001). To summarize, it is not clear whether vitamin E requirements are overestimated with reference to EE in the FRDAa. Daily requirements for vitamin C do not exceed 200 mg. Our present results could be interpreted as meaning that carotenoids play a protective role as exogenous antioxidants. Carotenoid intakes in athletes must be considered carefully.

Objective: To investigate the possible beneficial effects of a micronutrient supplementation to apparently healthy pregnant women on maternal biological status and new born anthropometric characteristics. Setting: Departments of Obstetric of the University Hospital of Grenoble (France) and Lyon (France), Laboratoire of Biology of Oxidative Stress, UFR de Pharmacie. Grenoble (France). Study design: Double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled intervention trial. Subjects: A total of 100 apparently healthy pregnant women were recruited at 14±2 weeks of gestation to delivery. At the end, they were 65 women to follow out the study. Interventions: Daily consumption over gestation of a miconutrients supplement or placebo. Main outcome measures: Plasma micronutrient levels and oxidative stress parameters were measured in mothers at 14 and 38 weeks of gestation. New born's anthropometric characteristics were measured at delivery. Results: In the supplemented group, folic acid, vitamin C, E, B2, B6 and β-carotene levels were higher than in the placebo group. Oxidative stress parameters were not different between the groups. Birth weights were increased by 10% and the number of low newborn weights (

Resume Quels sont les types de cooperation internationale utilises par l'Etat pour acquerir des armements et comment les articuler conceptuellement ? Cet article developpe le concept du « flexilateralisme ». Ce neologisme definit la politique par laquelle un Etat mobilise simultanement differents types de cooperation internationale pour repondre a un probleme public comme l'acquisition d'armements. La politique du flexilateralisme ou « flexilaterale » d'un Etat est operationnalisee en revelant les differents types de cooperation internationale qui le constituent et qui sont qualifies des « varietes de l'internationalisme ». Les varietes de l'internationalisme se situent a deux echelles, europeenne et transatlantique, et prennent quatre formes : l'unilateralisme (pas de cooperation), le bilateralisme (cooperation entre deux Etats), le minilateralisme (cooperation entre un groupe d'Etats exclusif) et le multilateralisme (cooperation entre un groupe d'Etats inclusif). Au-dela de la litterature ayant trait a la politique d'armement en Europe, le concept du flexilateralisme contribue, sous l'angle des relations internationales, a celles portant sur l'integration differenciee et la desintegration de l'UE d'une part, et a celles ayant trait aux varietes du militarisme liberal et du capitalisme industriel de la defense d'autre part. Le concept du flexilateralisme est illustre par l'elaboration de la politique d'armement de la France, dans le contexte des negociations sur le Brexit.

As ice caps expanded during each of the last five glaciations, sea level fell at least 120 m below current levels, exposing continental shelves worldwide to create vast areas of new land. As a result of this exposure, the ecology, climate, pedology, and geology of global shorelines were dramatically transformed, which in turn altered the carbon cycle and biodynamics of this new landmass. In this paper, we focus on a little-known hydrogeological phenomenon that may have had profound influences on biodiversity, human evolution, and carbon storage during periods of severe climatic stress of the Pleistocene Ice Ages. We propose that freshwater springs appeared on emerged continental shelves because falling sea level not only drew down and steepened the coastal water table gradient, thus increasing the hydrostatic head on inland groundwater aquifers, but also removed up to 120 m of hydrostatic pressure on the shelf, further enhancing groundwater flow. We call this phenomenon the “coastal oasis”, a model based on three well-established facts. (1) In all coastal areas of the world, continental aquifers discharge a continuous flow of fresh water to the oceans. (2) Many submarine sedimentary and morphological features, as well as seepages and flow of fresh water, are known on and below the shelves from petroleum explorations, deep-sea drilling programs, and mariners' observations. (3) Hydraulic principles (Darcy's law) predict increased groundwater flow at the coast when sea level drops because the piezometric head increases by the equivalent depth of sea-level lowering. Sea level is presently in a relatively high interglacial position. Direct observation and verification of our model is difficult and must rely on explorations of terrain that are now deeply submerged on continental shelves. For this reason, we draw parallels between our predicted model and simple, well-exposed terrestrial hydrological systems, such as present-day springs that appear on the exposed shores of lakes whose free-air water levels fell during periods of aridity. Such modern examples are seen in the Caspian Sea and Dead Sea, the Afar Depression, and the Sahara Desert. These modern analogues demonstrate the likelihood that underground water will be more abundant on emerged shelves during sea-level fall, causing springs, oases, and wetlands to appear. Our model creates an apparent paradox: in tropical and subtropical arid lands, such as most of Africa, sea-level fall during hyperarid glacial phases would produce abundant fresh water flow onto emerged continental shelves as the continental interior desiccated. Thus, emergent shoreline springs provided new habitats for terrestrial vegetation and animals displaced from the interior by increasingly arid conditions, shrinking ecosystems, and dwindling water supplies. Such a scenario would have had a profound influence on the vegetation that spreads naturally to colonize the emerged shelves during glacio-eustatic sea-level lowstands, as well as creating new habitats for terrestrial mammals, including early humans.

A review of global land vegetation 18,000, 8000, and 5000 14 C years B.P. allowed map reconstructions of past ecosystem distribution. By collecting soil and vegetation carbon storage data from the ecological literature, the map reconstructions were then used to estimate the total organic carbon storage on land at each of these time slices. Our best estimate suggests that there was an extremely large increase in land organic carbon storage, of around 1500 Gt (with extreme outer error limits for the increase placed at around 900 and 1900 Gt, respectively) between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early-to-mid Holocene. It seems that the world's terrestrial carbon reservoirs more than doubled in size between full-glacial and full-interglacial conditions, due to a great increase in the areas of forest and other carbon-rich ecosystems. Although there are many uncertainties in such calculations, comparing them to methods used in other published estimates, we suggest that the present estimate may represent an overall improvement in accuracy. Apparent problems in previous studies include the use of relatively few data points and a limited range of types of palaeoenvironmental evidence, the unselective use of carbon storage data from anthropogenically modified ecosystems, and the assignment of an anomalously high carbon storage to the LGM `steppe–tundra' ecosystem.

The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has varied considerably during the last 125,000 years. Boreal wetlands represent one of the main sources of methane emissions into the atmosphere, the rate of which is largely controlled by climate. Changes in climate (mainly in the duration of the frost-free period) and in the extent of wetlands presumably caused variations in the methane production from boreal ecosystems. We chose Northern Eurasia to estimate both climatic changes and the area of methane-producing ecosystems, as it plays a leading role in methane emission. Palaeobotanic and palaeocryological data were used for the reconstruction. The two most recent warm stages: the Holocene Optimum (5500–6000 years BP) and the Last Interglacial Optimum (ca. 125,000 years BP) were studied. During these warm periods, both an area of tundra and the proportion of the wetlands within the boreal forest zone were considerably reduced. On the other hand, a longer frost-free period and higher precipitation would have caused higher methane production. The precipitation rise was apparently in part compensated by an increase in potential evaporation due to higher summer temperatures. Compared to methane emissions of about 9×106 t per year from modern forests of Northern Eurasia, emissions amounted to 86 and 44% of modern values for the region during the Holocene Optimum and Last Interglacial Optimum respectively. Under the greenhouse warming expected early in the 21st century, the climatic conditions may lead to a considerable increase of methane emission.

Reconstructions of palaeolandscapes for intervals with different climatic conditions help define regional trends in palaeobiomass and carbon storage due to global climatic change. The Sahara–Gobi desert belt stretches for about 15,000 km from the Atlantic coast to Northern China. Natural vegetation zones have undergone a number of significant shifts and complex qualitative changes under the contrasting climatic conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO). The results presented here are based on palynological, pedological and sedimentological evidence, which indicate that the amount of carbon stored in vegetation and soils would have been much smaller during the Glacial Maximum than in the interglacial and post glacial times. Comparison of a set of palaeogeographic maps of this region for the chosen time-slices (ca. 20–18 ka, 9–8 ka and the present) allows us to discuss land biomass changes. Dry and cool conditions during the LGM resulted in the spread of arid and semi-arid ecosystems at northern and southern margins of the desert belt. The southern limit of the Sahara migrated southward at least 400 km relative to its present position, and almost 1000 km south compared to the mid-Holocene. The northern margin of the temperate deserts and dry steppes of Central Asia shifted northward for not less than 200–300 km over Kazakhstan, southern Siberia and Mongolia. In this study we have quantified variations of the main ecosystems from the LGM to the HCO in terms of changes in carbon storage. Each vegetation zone has been assigned a carbon density for living and dead (soil) organic matter. During the last world deglaciation, the Sahara–Gobi desert belt was a sink for approximately 200 Gt of atmospheric carbon, but since the mid-Holocene, it has been a source of carbon.

224U nuclei were populated in fusion-evaporation reactions using a 206Pb target and an intense 22Ne beam. Fusion-evaporation residues were separated by the new separator SHELS at the FLNR, Dubna and implanted into a large-area double-sided silicon strip detector. Position- and time-correlated alpha decays were used to identify evaporation residues. A new $ \alpha$ -decay line at 8095(11) keV was observed in this work and assigned as the decay from 224U to the first excited 2+ in the daughter nucleus 220Th. Coincident photons were also observed allowing to unambiguously determine the excitation energy of the first excited 2+ state in 220Th to be 386.5(1) keV and not 373.3(1)keV as previously reported. The half-life of 224U was measured to be 396(17)μs.

A set of preliminary, broad-scale vegetation map reconstructions for use by archaeologists and anthropologists is presented here for the world at the last glacial maximum (18,000 years ago), the early Holocene (8000 years ago), and the mid-Holocene (5000 years ago). For comparison we also give “present–potential” maps which may be regarded as approximating the late Holocene vegetation as it would—or might—be without agricultural modification. The maps were produced through consultation with an extensive network of experts and a range of literature and map sources. Accompanying each regional map is a bibliography detailing the principal literature sources of evidence on Late Quaternary palaeovegetation and climates. The maps presented here are not intended as the “last word” on the distribution of vegetation at each time slice—they are merely a preliminary attempt at appraisal of current knowledge and opinion. Nevertheless, together with the accompanying citation summary they should provide a valuable and readily accessible source of information on current opinion in the Quaternary community. It is also hoped that the maps will themselves act as a catalyst for archaeologists to use their own data to contribute to the broader climatic/palaeovegetational picture.

The SPIRAL2 installation is being built in order to study rare elements through the production of radioactive isotopes. Its injector, a superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC) is designed to provide very high intensity (up to ~ 1014 particles/s) beams of deuterons and stable ions between carbon and uranium. The “Super Separator Spectrometer” (S3) was designed to separate and mass-analyse recoils from the various induced fusion-evaporation reactions in order to enable nuclear structure studies of proton-rich rare isotopes around 100Sn and in the region of the Super Heavy Elements. A new optimized focal plan detection system called SIRIUS for “Spectroscopy and Identification of Rare Isotopes Using S3” is developed to within the SIRIUS collaboration. The new generation windowless large area silicon-box developed in this framework is discussed in this article. We present the simulations done in order to determine the best geometry and layout for this large area silicon detector assembly.

In one dimension, we give an estimate for the lower bound of the volume-discrepancy (see [1]) for any sequence and an estimate for the volume-discrepancy of the Van der Corput sequences in base b >= 2. In two dimensions, we estimate the volume-discrepancy for (0, 2)-sequences in base b >= 2 and give an explicit minimal net.

Carbon dioxide records from polar ice cores and marine ocean sediments indicate that the last glacial maximum (LGM) atmosphere CO2 content was 80–90 ppm lower than the mid-Holocene. This represents a transfer of over 160 GtC into the atmosphere since the LGM. Palaeovegetation studies suggest that up to 1350 GtC was transferred from the oceans to the terrestrial biosphere at the end of the last glacial. Evidence from carbon isotopes in deep sea sediments, however, indicates a smaller shift of between 400 and 700 GtC. To understand the functioning of the carbon cycle this apparent discrepancy needs to be resolved. Thus, older data have been reassessed, new data provided and the potential errors of both methods estimated. New estimates of the expansion of terrestrial biomass between the LGM and mid-Holocene are 700 GtC ± > 300 GtC, using the ocean carbon isotope-based method, compared with of 1100 GtC ± > 500 GtC using the palaeovegetation estimate. If these estimates of the carbon shift to the terrestrial biosphere are equilibrated with the dissolved carbon in the oceans, and the CaCO3 compensation of the ocean is taken into account, then the glacial atmospheric CO2 would have been between 50 (± 30) ppm and 95 (± 50) ppm higher. The glacial atmosphere therefore should have had a CO2 partial pressure of between 330 and 375 μatm. Hence, a rise of between 130 and 175 μatm in atmospheric CO2, rather than 80 μatm, at the end of the last glacial must be accounted for.

Global climate change is the most significant phenomenon that may control the global variations of sea level over the coming thousands of years. During the alternate glacial and interglacial periods, ice-cap melting and ice accumulation in the high latitudes change the ocean water volume, which causes the sea level oscillations. For the longer periods, the change of sea level is due to the change of the basin volume following basin uplift or subsidence and the tectonic opening of the ocean floor due to plate motion. Some maximum glacial periods were marked by the very low sea level, about 125 m below the present sea level during the last glacial maximum, drying up and exposing the continental platform that was quickly covered by humid lowland tropical forest. The following rapid sea level rise due to the melting of the ice cap submerged the continent, transferring most of the carbon to the atmosphere. During the very low sea level, the deep pass Indian-Pacific Ocean Gateways remained open, allowing the global ocean current to go through the corridor between the two exposed platforms, Sunda in the West and Sahul in the East of the Indonesian Archipelago. Data obtained from these platforms will be important in order to understand the global climatic pattern from the Last Glacial Maximum (L.G.M. 18,000 BP) which was followed by a rapid sea level rise.

Immunochemical stool blood tests have a significantly higher sensitivity for the detection of advanced neoplasia and colorectal cancer. Based on national and international studies it has been required to include them into the national cancer screening programme in Germany also. The sensitivity (detection limit) can be set by the manufacturer in order to achieve an optimal and balanced result between sensitivity and specificity. The present study was conducted with 639 patients who have undergone both the screening colonoscopy, as well as the immunochemical stool blood test. The test "immoCARE-C" provided by the company CARE diagnostica Laborreagenzien GmbH was used in the study. The test has been evaluated with seven levels of detection limits between 500 ng/mL and 25 ng/mL. The best sensitivity for detection of advanced lesions was demonstrated by a cut-off of 50 ng/mL and 25 ng/mL. The specificity did not fall below 90 %. These positive results lead to considerations to organise a primary access to such tests in the prevention of colorectal cancer as a kind of filter before offering the screening colonoscopy.