Les balises juridiques de l’emploi des langues en Belgique. Enjeux et perspectives

Cette contribution entend mettre en évidence les enjeux linguistiques au fil de l’histoire de la Belgique et en circonscrire certaines perspectives. Elle démontre que l’usage des langues conçue au service du citoyen lors de l’indépendance du pays, est devenu, à l’aube des 200 ans de l’existence de la Belgique (2031), un instrument de conflit davantage qu’instrument de régulation sociale

Report of the Eighth Interlaboratory Comparison organised by the Community Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food - Total Cd, Pb, As, Hg and Sn and extractable Cd and Pb in Feed of Plant Origin

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM)of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate General of the European Commission, operates the Community Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food (CRL-HM). One of its core tasks is to organise interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) among appointed National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). This report presents the results of the eighth ILC of the CRL-HM which focused on the determination of total Cd, Pb, As, Hg and Sn and extractable amounts of Cd and Pb in feed of plant origin following Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed. The test material used in this exercise was a candidate reference material, the matrix being rye grass. The material was relabelled and dispatched to the participants on the second half of October 2009. Each participant received approximately 10 g of test material. Thirty participants from 25 member states registered to the exercise of which 27 reported results for total Cd, Pb and Hg, 23 for extractable Pb, 22 for extractable Cd and for total As and 16 for total Sn. One laboratory did not report results due to a breakdown of the instrumentation, and one laboratory reported results only for Hg for the same reason. The assigned values (Xref) for total Cd, Pb, As, Hg and Sn were the candidate certified values as obtained during the certification. The assigned values for extractable Cd and Pb were provided by IRMM using isotope dilution-inductively coupled plass-mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). Participants were invited to report the uncertainty of their measurements, which was provided by the majority of them. The laboratory performance was evaluated using z- end zeta-scores in accordance with ISO 13528. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment (also called target standard deviation), was fixed to 15% of the assigned values for all measurands on the basis of the outcome of previous ILCs organis.JRC.DDG.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-31: Total Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Lead and Mercury, as well as Extractable Cadmium and Lead in Mineral Feed - Interlaboratory Comparison Report

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the International Measurement Evaluation Programme® IMEP. It organises interlaboratory comparisons (ILC's) in support to EU policies. This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of total As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Hg, as well as extractable Cd and Pb in mineral feed according to Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed. The test material used in this exercise was the Certified Reference Material (CRM) BCR-032 (Moroccan phosphate rock) from the IRMM. The material was relabelled and each participant received one bottle containing approximately 100 g of test material. Fifty-six laboratories from 26 countries registered to the exercise and 51 of them reported results. Total As, Cd, Cu and Hg were certified in BCR-032 in 1979. The material was re-analysed by two expert laboratories and As an Cd values could be confirmed. Copper could not be analysed in time by an expert laboratory, and thus it was decided to use the indicative value from the certificate as assigned value. The assigned values for total Hg and total Pb were determined at IRMM by a primary method. The same method was used to determine extractable Cd and Pb, whose mass fractions appeared to be identical to the respective total mass fractions and thus the same assigned values were used. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment was set at 11 % for total As, 10 % for total and extractable Cd, 9 % for total Cu, and at 15 % for total Hg based on the modified Horwitz equation and/or the outcome of previous ILCs organised by IMEP. For total and extractable Pb, was set at 25 %. The majority of the laboratories reported uncertainties with their results and were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. Performances appear to be good for total & extractable Cd and total & extractable Pb, the percentage of satisfying z-scores ranging between 85 % and 89 %. Share of satisfactory z-scores are significantly lower for total As (61 %), Cu (67 %) and in particular for Hg (47 %). No distinct reason could be given, but it seems altogether that the analytical methods were not always adjusted to the inorganic test material, reflected by some influence of applied technique and inappropriate choice of reference material.JRC.DG.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-111: Total Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic, Mercury and Copper and Extractable Cadmium and Lead in Mineral Feed - Report of the Eleventh Interlaboratory Comparison Organised by the European Union Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the European Union Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food (EU-RL-HM). One of its core tasks is to organize interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) among appointed National Reference Laboratories. This report presents the results of the eleventh proficiency test (PT) of the EU-RL-HM which focused on the determination of total Cd, Pb, As, Hg and Cu and extractable Cd and Pb in mineral feed according to Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed. The test material used in this exercise was the Certified Reference Material (CRM) BCR-032, Moroccan phosphate rock. The material was relabelled to prevent identification by the participants and was dispatched the second half of October 2010. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 100 g of test material. Thirty-one laboratories from 26 countries registered to the exercise of which 28 reported results for total Cd and total Pb, 25 for total Hg and total Cu, 23 for total As and for extractable Cd and extractable Pb. The assigned values (Xref) for total Cd, As and Cu are the indicative values taken from the BCR-032 certificate. The assigned values (Xref) for total Pb, total Hg and for extractable Cd and Pb were provided by IRMM using isotope dilution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). For total Cd, As, Hg and Cu and for extractable Cd, the uncertainty of the assigned values (uref) was calculated by combining the uncertainty of the characterization (uchar) and a contribution for between-bottle homogeneity (ubb) (which was calculated from the certification report). For total and extractable Pb the number of replicates performed to establish the assigned value was higher (11 replicates) than for the other measurands (6 replicates). Since the aliquots were taken from different bottles, it was assumed that uchar included a contribution for the homogeneity. For total Cd, As and Cu, uchar were taken from the CRM certificate as indicated by the producer. For extractable Cd the same uchar as for total Cd was used. For total Pb and Hg and for extractable Pb, uchar was calculated according to the ISO Guide for the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). Participants were invited to report the uncertainties of their measurements. This was done by the majority of the laboratories taking part in this exercise.JRC.DG.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

Report of the fifth Interlaboratory Comparison organised by the Community Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food Total Cd, Pb and As as extractable Cd and Pb in Mineral Feed

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the Community Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food (CRL-HM). One of its core tasks is to organise interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) among appointed National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). This report presents the results of the fifth ILC of the CRL-HM which focused on the determination of total Cd, Pb and As and extractable Cd and Pb in mineral feed according to Directive 2002/32/EC1 of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed. The test material used in this exercise was a commercial mineral feed for piglets provided by AGES, Zentrum Analytik und Mikrobiologie, in Austria. The material, naturally contaminated, was processed, bottled, labelled and dispatched by the Reference Materials Unit of the IRMM. The samples were dispatched on the second half of October 2008. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 30 g of test material. Thirty-one participants from 25 countries registered to the exercise of which 29 submitted results for total Cd and for total Pb, 22 submitted results for total As and 27 submitted results for extractable Cd and for extractable Pb. Two laboratories did not submit results due to a break down in the instruments that were to be used for the analyses. The assigned values (Xref) for total and extractable Cd and Pb were provided by IRMM using isotope dilution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). The analytical uncertainty of Xref, uchar, was calculated according to the ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM)2. The assigned value for total arsenic was provided by the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK-CEN) using neutron activation analysis. The analytical uncertainty of Xref, uchar, for total arsenic was calculated according to GUM3,4. Homogeneity and stability studies were subcontracted to Bayer Antwerpen. The uncertainties of the respective assigned values, uref, were calculated combining the analytical uncertainty, uchar, with a contribution for the between-bottle homogeneity, ubb, and for the short term stability of the test material, usts. Participants were invited to report the uncertainty of their measurements. This was done by 25 laboratories for total Cd, 24 laboratories for total Pb, 18 laboratories for total As, 22 laboratories for extractable Cd and 21 laboratories for extractable Pb. The laboratory performance was evaluated using z and zeta scores in accordance with ISO 135285. The standard deviations for proficiency assessment (also called target standard deviation) were calculated using the modified Horwitz equation6 and were between 15 and 16 % for all the measurands .JRC.D.4-Isotope measurement

IMEP-113: determination of total cadmium and lead in baby food - Interlaboratory Comparison Report - December 2011

This report presents the results of the thirteen proficiency test (PT) which focussed on the determination of total Cd and Pb in baby food according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The test material used in this exercise was baby food formula purchased in a local pharmacy and prepared by the Reference Material Unit of the IRMM for this exercise. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 15 g of test material. Thirty five laboratories from 26 countries registered to the exercise and all of them reported results. Participants were asked to analyse the measurands in the powder and in the reconstituted form (powder diluted with water, 1:8 fold, to mimic the product as consumed). The assigned value for total Cd was determined by LGC Ltd (UK) and IRMM using direct isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The assigned value for total Pb was determined at IRMM using the same technique as for Cd. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment was set at 22 % of the assigned value based on the modified Horwitz equation. Laboratories were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. The outcome of this exercise is clearly influenced by the very low level of Cd and Pb content in the test material which triggered: - a high number of "less than" values; - overestimated values especially for lead very likely due to contamination. Reported results were satisfactory for total cadmium in both forms, (powder and in the reconstituted formula).JRC.D.5-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-33: Total Cadmium and Lead in Baby Food - Interlaboratory Comparison Report, December 2011

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the International Measurement Evaluation Programme® (IMEP). It organises interlaboratory comparisons (ILC's) in support to EU policies. This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of total Cd and Pb in baby food in support of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The test material used in this exercise was baby food formula purchased in a local pharmacy and prepared by the Reference Material Unit of the IRMM for this exercise. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 15 g of test material. Sixty-six laboratories from 23 countries registered to the exercise and 61 of them reported results. Participants were asked to analyse the measurands in the powder and in the reconstituted form. The assigned value for total Cd was determined by LGC Ltd (UK) and IRMM using direct isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The assigned value for total Pb was determined at IRMM using the same technique as for Cd. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment ˆ was set at 22 % of the assigned value based on the modified Horwitz equation. Laboratories were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. Most of the participants reported uncertainties with their results. The outcome of this exercise is clearly characterised by the very low level of Cd and Pb content in the test material which triggered a high number of "less than" values, overestimation especially for lead very likely due to contamination, and a visible method influence in the case of lead. The results were also evaluated with regard to the reported limit of detection and some incoherencies were observed here as well.JRC.D.5-Food Safety and Qualit

The location of the axon initial segment affects the bandwidth of spike initiation dynamics

The dynamics and the sharp onset of action potential (AP) generation have recently been the subject of intense experimental and theoretical investigations. According to the resistive coupling theory, an electrotonic interplay between the site of AP initiation in the axon and the somato-dendritic load determines the AP waveform. This phenomenon not only alters the shape of AP recorded at the soma, but also determines the dynamics of excitability across a variety of time scales. Supporting this statement, here we generalize a previous numerical study and extend it to the quantification of the input-output gain of the neuronal dynamical response. We consider three classes of multicompartmental mathematical models, ranging from ball-and-stick simplified descriptions of neuronal excitability to 3D-reconstructed biophysical models of excitatory neurons of rodent and human cortical tissue. For each model, we demonstrate that increasing the distance between the axonal site of AP initiation and the soma markedly increases the bandwidth of neuronal response properties. We finally consider the Liquid State Machine paradigm, exploring the impact of altering the site of AP initiation at the level of a neuronal population, and demonstrate that an optimal distance exists to boost the computational performance of the network in a simple classification task. Copyright

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)