Louis-Ferdinand Destouches’ Medical Writing: an Apologia for Industrial and Social Modernization

This article proposes an analysis of the medical writings of Louis-Ferdinand Destouches. These writings reveal a critical reflection, in no way a whitewash, on hygiene and public health problems imposed by the war of 14–18. These medical writings, immediate post-war products, show thinking which is in line with the social and ideological ideas we find in Semmelweis, the first of the texts collected in Celine Book 3 (The Basedowine closes collection). Contemporary with the debates of the 20s, he questioned medical theses dedicated to the glorification of industrial and social modernization. Here is presented and clarified some data on their acceptance by the medical profession, the development of Destouches’ career, and his vision of his profession, concluding that these medical writings can be considered embryonic of the views of the man who would become Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Written, mostly, on behalf of the League of Nations during the period 1924–1932, these medical writings, like his medical history, provide the main leitmotifs that will illustrate the Celinian universe: miserable conditions, poverty, alcoholism and human degradation, all the things that made it difficult to exercise the profession of doctor in the urban-industrial society of the early twentieth century. Medicine was my calling (…) Since I was a child I have dreamed of becoming a doctor, I dreamed of healing people (…) (Céline, 1961, p. 207)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Index Distribution of Gaussian Random Matrices

We compute analytically, for large N, the probability distribution of the number of positive eigenvalues (the index N_{+}) of a random NxN matrix belonging to Gaussian orthogonal (\beta=1), unitary (\beta=2) or symplectic (\beta=4) ensembles. The distribution of the fraction of positive eigenvalues c=N_{+}/N scales, for large N, as Prob(c,N)\simeq\exp[-\beta N^2 \Phi(c)] where the rate function \Phi(c), symmetric around c=1/2 and universal (independent of $\beta$), is calculated exactly. The distribution has non-Gaussian tails, but even near its peak at c=1/2 it is not strictly Gaussian due to an unusual logarithmic singularity in the rate function.Comment: 4 pages Revtex, 4 .eps figures include

Parameterized Complexities of Dominating and Independent Set Reconfiguration

We settle the parameterized complexities of several variants of independent set reconfiguration and dominating set reconfiguration, parameterized by the number of tokens. We show that both problems are XL-complete when there is no limit on the number of moves and XNL-complete when a maximum length $\ell$ for the sequence is given in binary in the input. The problems are known to be XNLP-complete when $\ell$ is given in unary instead, and $W[1]$- and $W[2]$-hard respectively when $\ell$ is also a parameter. We complete the picture by showing membership in those classes. Moreover, we show that for all the variants that we consider, token sliding and token jumping are equivalent under pl-reductions. We introduce partitioned variants of token jumping and token sliding, and give pl-reductions between the four variants that have precise control over the number of tokens and the length of the reconfiguration sequence.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figure

Worldwide spreading of economic crisis

We model the spreading of a crisis by constructing a global economic network and applying the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) epidemic model with a variable probability of infection. The probability of infection depends on the strength of economic relations between the pair of countries, and the strength of the target country. It is expected that a crisis which originates in a large country, such as the USA, has the potential to spread globally, like the recent crisis. Surprisingly we show that also countries with much lower GDP, such as Belgium, are able to initiate a global crisis. Using the {\it k}-shell decomposition method to quantify the spreading power (of a node), we obtain a measure of ``centrality'' as a spreader of each country in the economic network. We thus rank the different countries according to the shell they belong to, and find the 12 most central countries. These countries are the most likely to spread a crisis globally. Of these 12 only six are large economies, while the other six are medium/small ones, a result that could not have been otherwise anticipated. Furthermore, we use our model to predict the crisis spreading potential of countries belonging to different shells according to the crisis magnitude.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures and Supplementary Materia

Sources of dissolved organic carbon in small volcanic mountainous tropical rivers, examples from Guadeloupe (French West Indies)

International audienceIn the tropical zone, small watersheds are affected by intense meteorological events. These events play an important role in the erosion of soils and therefore on the sources of organic carbon in small tropical rivers. We studied the geochemistry of two soils on Basse-Terre Island (French West Indies, FWI): ferralitic soil and Andosol. The two studied soils are very similar in terms of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil solution parameters. The total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents vary between 1.7 and 92 g kg‐1 and between 0.1 and 5.5 g kg‐1, respectively, with the highest concentrations observed in the topsoil. The C/N ratios are relatively constant throughout the soil profiles (ca. 12). The carbon isotopic composition of SOM varies between ‐27.3‰ and ‐22.7‰ and presents an enrichment with increasing depth of soil profiles. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in soil solutions, varying from 3.2 to 91.3 mg L‐1, are similar for the both extraction used in lab (with milliQ water and Ca(NO3)2) but are higher than those measured in soil solutions sampled from lysimeters (0.65–1.46 mg L‐1). The isotopic compositions of DOC obtained by extractions and SOM are comparable, with δ13C values ranging from ‐28.6‰ to ‐25.8‰. The DOC sampled from lysimeters is systematically depleted in 13C compared to DOC obtained by extractions, with δ13C values of ‐33.8‰ to ‐30.6‰. The enrichment of δ13C of SOM through the soil profiles is either consistent with the carbon isotopic fractionation of SOM by decomposing organisms, or the differential mineralization of both labile and stable carbon stocks in soils. DOC concentrations in stream waters vary between 0.46 and 5.75 mg L‐1, and are generally lower during low water level than floods. The isotopic compositions of DOC in the rivers range from ‐38.9‰ to ‐27.2‰, with δ13C values, which are more depleted in 13C during low water level than flood events. The δ13CDOC of water river samples and soil solutions obtained by extraction and collected with lysimeters demonstrates that the DOC in rivers derives essentially from both the lixiviation of the soil surface layers during floods and groundwater flow during low water levels. Lixiviation of soil surface layers can be boosted by significant increases of intensity and duration of meteorological events and can strongly favor the release of surface soil organic matter in rivers and the impoverishment in nutrients of soil surface layers

Multiple plasmon resonances in naturally-occurring multiwall nanotubes: infrared spectra of chrysotile asbestos

Chrysotile asbestos is formed by densely packed bundles of multiwall hollow nanotubes. Each wall in the nanotubes is a cylindrically wrapped layer of $Mg_3 Si_2 O_5 (OH)_4$. We show by experiment and theory that the infrared spectrum of chrysotile presents multiple plasmon resonances in the Si-O stretching bands. These collective charge excitations are universal features of the nanotubes that are obtained by cylindrically wrapping an anisotropic material. The multiple plasmons can be observed if the width of the resonances is sufficiently small as in chrysotile.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Revtex4 compuscript. Misprint in Eq.(6) correcte

Intra-household use and acceptability of Ready-to-Use-Supplementary-Foods distributed in Niger between July and December 2010.

Few studies have looked at consumption of Ready-to-Use-Supplementary-Foods (RUSFs) during a nutritional emergency. Here, we describe the use and acceptability of RUSF within households in four districts of the region of Maradi, Niger during large scale preventive distributions with RUSF in 2010 targeted at children 6-35months of age. Our study comprised both quantitative and qualitative components to collect detailed information and to allow in-depth interviews. We performed a cross-sectional survey in 16 villages between two monthly distributions of RUSF (October-November 2010). All households with at least one child who received RUSF were included and a total of 1842 caregivers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Focus groups and individual interviews of 128 caregivers were conducted in eight of the selected villages. On average, 24.7% of households reported any sharing of RUSF within the household. Sharing practices outside the household remained rare. Most of the sharing reported occurred among children under 5years of age living in the household. On average, 91% of caregivers in all districts rated the child's appreciation of the products as good or very good. Program planning may need to explicitly accounting for the sharing of products among children under 5 within household

SoLid : Search for Oscillations with Lithium-6 Detector at the SCK-CEN BR2 reactor

Sterile neutrinos have been considered as a possible explanation for the recent reactor and Gallium anomalies arising from reanalysis of reactor flux and calibration data of previous neutrino experiments. A way to test this hypothesis is to look for distortions of the anti-neutrino energy caused by oscillation from active to sterile neutrino at close stand-off (similar to 6-8m) of a compact reactor core. Due to the low rate of anti-neutrino interactions the main challenge in such measurement is to control the high level of gamma rays and neutron background. The SoLid experiment is a proposal to search for active-to-sterile anti-neutrino oscillation at very short baseline of the SCK center dot CEN BR2 research reactor. This experiment uses a novel approach to detect anti-neutrino with a highly segmented detector based on Lithium-6. With the combination of high granularity, high neutron-gamma discrimination using 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) and precise localization of the Inverse Beta Decay products, a better experimental sensitivity can be achieved compared to other state-of-the-art technology. This compact system requires minimum passive shielding allowing for very close stand off to the reactor. The experimental set up of the SoLid experiment and the BR2 reactor will be presented. The new principle of neutrino detection and the detector design with expected performance will be described. The expected sensitivity to new oscillations of the SoLid detector as well as the first measurements made with the 8 kg prototype detector deployed at the BR2 reactor in 2013-2014 will be reported

Standard survey methods for estimating colony losses and explanatory risk factors in Apis mellifera

This chapter addresses survey methodology and questionnaire design for the collection of data pertaining to estimation of honey bee colony loss rates and identification of risk factors for colony loss. Sources of error in surveys are described. Advantages and disadvantages of different random and non-random sampling strategies and different modes of data collection are presented to enable the researcher to make an informed choice. We discuss survey and questionnaire methodology in some detail, for the purpose of raising awareness of issues to be considered during the survey design stage in order to minimise error and bias in the results. Aspects of survey design are illustrated using surveys in Scotland. Part of a standardized questionnaire is given as a further example, developed by the COLOSS working group for Monitoring and Diagnosis. Approaches to data analysis are described, focussing on estimation of loss rates. Dutch monitoring data from 2012 were used for an example of a statistical analysis with the public domain R software. We demonstrate the estimation of the overall proportion of losses and corresponding confidence interval using a quasi-binomial model to account for extra-binomial variation. We also illustrate generalized linear model fitting when incorporating a single risk factor, and derivation of relevant confidence intervals

Monocarboxylate transporters 1 and 4 are associated with CD147 in cervical carcinoma

Due to the highly glycolytic metabolism of solid tumours, there is an increased acid production, however, cells are able to maintain physiological pH through plasma membrane efflux of the accumulating protons. Acid efflux through MCTs (monocarboxylate transporters) constitutes one of the most important mechanisms involved in tumour intracellular pH maintenance. Still, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of these proteins are not fully understood. We aimed to evaluate the association between CD147 (MCT1 and MCT4 chaperone) and MCT expression in cervical cancer lesions and the clinico-pathological significance of CD147 expression, alone and in combination with MCTs. The series included 83 biopsy samples of precursor lesions and surgical specimens of 126 invasive carcinomas. Analysis of CD147 expression was performed by immunohistochemistry. CD147 expression was higher in squamous and adenocarcinoma tissues than in the non-neoplastic counterparts and, importantly, both MCT1 and MCT4 were more frequently expressed in CD147 positive cases. Additionally, co-expression of CD147 with MCT1 was associated with lymph-node and/or distant metastases in adenocarcinomas. Our results show a close association between CD147 and MCT1 and MCT4 expressions in human cervical cancer and provided evidence for a prognostic value of CD147 and MCT1 co-expression.CP received a PhD fellowship from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/27465/2006)