A new Last Interglacial temperature data synthesis as an improved benchmark for climate modeling.

We compiled ice and marine records of high-latitude temperature changes and placed them on a common timescale. We also produced climatic time slices for 115, 120, 125, and 130 ka. They represent improved benchmarks to perform Last Interglacial model-data comparisons

Timing and mechanism of the rise of the Shillong Plateau in the Himalayan foreland

The Shillong Plateau (northeastern India) constitutes the only significant topography in the Himalayan foreland. Knowledge of its surface uplift history is key to understanding topographic development and unraveling tectonic–climate–topographic coupling in the eastern Himalaya. We use the sedimentary record of the Himalayan foreland basin north of the Shillong Plateau to show that the paleo-Brahmaputra river was redirected north and west by the rising plateau at 5.2–4.9 Ma. We suggest that onset of plateau uplift is a result of increased fault-slip rates in response to stresses caused by the Indian lithosphere bending beneath the Himalaya

Critical evaluation of climate syntheses to benchmark CMIP6/PMIP4 127 ka Last Interglacial simulations in the high-latitude regions

The Last Interglacial (LIG, ∼129-116 thousand years ago, ka) represents an excellent case study to investigate the response of sensitive components of the Earth System and mechanisms of high-lati tude amplification to a climate warmer than present-day. The Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (Phase 4, hereafter referred as PMIP4) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (Phase 6, hereafter referred as CMIP6) are coordinating the design of (1) a LIG Tier 1 equilibrium simulation to simulate the climate response at 127 ka, a time interval associated with a strong orbital forcing and greenhouse gas concentrations close to preindustrial levels and (2) associated Tier 2 sensitivity experiments to examine the role of the ocean, vegetation and dust feedbacks in modulating the response to this orbital forcing. Evaluating the capability of the CMIP6/PMIP4 models to reproduce the 127 ka polar and sub-polar climate will require appropriate data-based benchmarks which are currently missing. Based on a recent data synthesis that offers the first spatio-temporal representation of high-latitude (i.e. poleward of 40°N and 40°S) surface temperature evolution during the LIG, we produce a new 126–128 ka time slab, hereafter named 127 ka time slice. This 127 ka time slice represents surface temperature anomalies relative to preindustrial and is associated with quantitative estimates of the uncertainties related to relative dating and surface temperature reconstruction methods. It illustrates warmer-than-preindustrial conditions in the high-latitude regions of both hemispheres. In particular, summer sea surface temperatures (SST) in the North Atlantic region were on average 1.1 °C (with a standard error of the mean of 0.7 °C) warmer relative to preindustrial and 1.8 °C (with a standard error of the mean of 0.8 °C) in the Southern Ocean. In Antarctica, average 127 ka annual surface air temperature was 2.2 °C (with a standard error of the mean of 1.4 °C) warmer compared to preindustrial. We provide a critical evaluation of the latest LIG surface climate compilations that are available for evaluating LIG climate model experiments. We discuss in particular our new 127 ka time-slice in the context of existing LIG surface temperature time-slices. We also compare the 127 ka time slice with the ones published for the 125 and 130 ka time intervals and we discuss the potential and limits of a data-based time slice at 127 ka in the context of the upcoming coordinated modeling exercise. Finally we provide guidance on the use of the available LIG climate compilations for future model-data comparison exercises in the framework of the upcoming CMIP6/PMIP4 127 ka experiments. We do not recommend the use of LIG peak warmth-centered syntheses. Instead we promote the use of the most recent syntheses that are based on coherent chronologies between paleoclimatic records and provide spatio-temporal reconstruction of the LIG climate. In particular, we recommend using our new 127 ka data-based time slice in model-data comparison studies with a focus on the high-latitude climate.E. C. is funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research and innovation under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no 600207. B. L. O-B is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsorship of NCAR. R. F. acknowledges the funding of the NSF Arctic System Science. E.W.W. is supported by the Royal Society. This is LSCE contribution no 6117

Effect of polysaccharides on the hydration of cement suspension

International audienceThis work compares the effects induced by polysaccharides on the hydration of cement. It also brings new insights into the interaction mechanisms between these two components. Several parameters such as structure, concentration, average molecular weight, and the soluble fraction value of the polysaccharides were examined. The hydration of cement was monitored by conductivity measurement, and ionic chromatography. The influence of polysaccharide structure on the kinetics of cement hydration was revealed. The extent of retardation increases when polysaccharide concentration rises. Dextrins with lower average molecular weights compared with starches favor a higher soluble fraction value and further retard hydration. The growth of hydrates seemed to be more affected by the presence of these admixtures than did the dissolution of anhydrous particles or the nucleation of former hydrate

Intervención educativa sobre VIH/SIDA en una escuela de nivel secundario

Introducción: el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida constituye una amenaza para el desarrollo y como tal debe ser visto. Objetivo: modificar el nivel de conocimiento y actuación sobre virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida. Métodos: se realizó un estudio cuasi experimental de tipo de intervención educativa, la muestra estuvo constituida por 74 estudiantes, el instrumento de trabajo se aplicó una encuesta estructurada. Las preguntas midieron: medidas de prevención, factores de riesgo, conducta a seguir y vías de obtención del conocimiento. Para conocer la posible significación estadística con la aplicación de X2. El desarrollo de la investigación se basó en tres etapas: diagnóstico, intervención y evaluación.Resultados: se encontró un predominio del sexo femenino y color de piel blanca, comprobándose que había desconocimiento sobre las vías de transmisión del virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida, como evitarlo y brindar apoyo. Se realizó un programa educativo; durante la intervención se realizó la investigación-acción con la aplicación de palestra, debates, demostraciones, pancartas, observándose incremento en los conocimientos por lo que se consideró de utilidad que se comprobó durante la evaluación Se halló relación favorable estadísticamente significativa entre el antes y después de la intervención. Conclusiones: hubo un predominio del sexo femenino. Conocieron que las relaciones sexuales, el uso de sangre infectada, los tatuajes, compartir jeringuillas y el tránsito de madre a hijo como las formas más frecuentes de transmisión de la enfermedad además que la principal forma de evitarlo es el uso del condón y la actitud que debe tener es de apoyar a las personas con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida

Educational trajectory of managers andspecialists in the conditions of digitalization of the economy

Рассматриваются подходы к обучению руководителей и специалистов в условиях цифровой экономики. Обосновывается предложение о разработке программы «Кадры для цифровой Беларуси». Определяется содержание ряда образовательных программ, ориентированных на решение профессиональных задач в условиях цифровизации. Approaches to training managers and specialists in the digital economy are considered. The proposal on the development of the program «Personnel for digital Belarus»is justified. The content of a number of educational programs focused on solving professional problems in the conditions of digitalization is determined

An approximate renormalization-group transformation for Hamiltonian systems with three degrees of freedom

We construct an approximate renormalization transformation that combines Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM)and renormalization-group techniques, to analyze instabilities in Hamiltonian systems with three degrees of freedom. This scheme is implemented both for isoenergetically nondegenerate and for degenerate Hamiltonians. For the spiral mean frequency vector, we find numerically that the iterations of the transformation on nondegenerate Hamiltonians tend to degenerate ones on the critical surface. As a consequence, isoenergetically degenerate and nondegenerate Hamiltonians belong to the same universality class, and thus the corresponding critical invariant tori have the same type of scaling properties. We numerically investigate the structure of the attracting set on the critical surface and find that it is a strange nonchaotic attractor. We compute exponents that characterize its universality class.Comment: 10 pages typeset using REVTeX, 7 PS figure

Exploring the evidence base for national and regional policy interventions to combat resistance

The effectiveness of existing policies to control antimicrobial resistance is not yet fully understood. A strengthened evidence base is needed to inform effective policy interventions across countries with different income levels and the human health and animal sectors. We examine three policy domains—responsible use, surveillance, and infection prevention and control—and consider which will be the most effective at national and regional levels. Many complexities exist in the implementation of such policies across sectors and in varying political and regulatory environments. Therefore, we make recommendations for policy action, calling for comprehensive policy assessments, using standardised frameworks, of cost-effectiveness and generalisability. Such assessments are especially important in low-income and middle-income countries, and in the animal and environmental sectors. We also advocate a One Health approach that will enable the development of sensitive policies, accommodating the needs of each sector involved, and addressing concerns of specific countries and regions