663 research outputs found
Vaccines and bioterrorism: smallpox vaccines
Long considered as a theoretical menace, or even a simple myth, bioterrorism has now become a
reality in the aftermath of the events which occurred in the USA in autumn 2001. To deal with such
a risk, therapeutic and prophylactic resources against the main potential agents must be available.
In France today, the vaccine protection against bioterrorism agents is limited to smallpox, the only
disease for which there is a vaccine. The current situation and perspectives of this smallpox vaccine
are described.Longtemps considéré comme une
menace théorique, voire un simple mythe, le bioterrorisme est devenu une réalité à la suite
des Ă©vĂ©nements de l'automne 2001, aux Ătats-Unis. La prise en compte de ce risque nĂ©cessite
de disposer de moyens thérapeutiques et prophylactiques vis-à -vis des principaux agents
potentiellement utilisables. Actuellement, la protection vaccinale contre les agents du
bioterrorisme ne concerne, en France, que la variole, seule maladie contre laquelle nous
disposons d'un vaccin. Nous envisageons l'Ă©tat actuel et les perspectives de ce vaccin
antivariolique
Groupoids and an index theorem for conical pseudo-manifolds
We define an analytical index map and a topological index map for conical
pseudomanifolds. These constructions generalize the analogous constructions
used by Atiyah and Singer in the proof of their topological index theorem for a
smooth, compact manifold . A main ingredient is a non-commutative algebra
that plays in our setting the role of . We prove a Thom isomorphism
between non-commutative algebras which gives a new example of wrong way
functoriality in -theory. We then give a new proof of the Atiyah-Singer
index theorem using deformation groupoids and show how it generalizes to
conical pseudomanifolds. We thus prove a topological index theorem for conical
pseudomanifolds
Hypocycloid-shaped hollow-core photonic crystal fiber Part II: Cladding effect on confinement and bend loss
We report on numerical and experimental studies on the influence of cladding ring-number on the confinement and bend loss in hypocycloid-shaped Kagome hollow core photonic crystal fiber. The results show that beyond the second ring, the ring number has a minor effect on confinement loss whereas the bend loss is strongly reduced with the ringnumber increase. Finally, the results show that the increase in the cladding ring-number improves the modal content of the fiber
'Mine's a Pint of Bitter': Performativity, gender, class and representations of authenticity in real-ale tourism
Leisure choices are expressive of individual agency around the maintenance of taste, boundaries, identity and community. This research paper is part of a wider project designed to assess the social and cultural value of real ale to tourism in the north of England. This paper explores the performativity of real-ale tourism and debates about belonging in northern English real-ale communities. The research combines an ethnographic case study of a real-ale festival with semi-structured interviews with organisers and volunteers, northern English real-ale brewers and real-ale tourists visiting the festival. It is argued that real-ale tourism, despite its origins in the logic of capitalism, becomes a space where people can perform Habermasian, communicative leisure, and despite the contradictions of preferring some capitalist industries over others on the basis of their perceived smaller size and older age, real-ale fans demonstrate agency in their performativity
Hypocycloid-shaped hollow-core photonic crystal fiber Part I: Arc curvature effect on confinement loss
We report on numerical and experimental studies showing the influence of arc curvature on the confinement loss in hypocycloid-core Kagome hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. The results prove that with such a design the optical performances are strongly driven by the contour negative curvature of the core-cladding interface. They show that the increase in arc curvature results in a strong decrease in both the confinement loss and the optical power overlap between the core mode and the silica core-surround, including a modal content approaching true single-mode guidance. Fibers with enhanced negative curvature were then fabricated with a record loss-level of 17 dB/km at 1064 nm
The eventization of leisure and the strange death of alternative Leeds
The communicative potential of city spaces as leisure spaces is a central assumption of political activism and the creation of alternative, counter-cultural and subcultural scenes. However, such potential for city spaces is limited by the gentrification, privatization and eventization of city centres in the wake of wider societal and cultural struggles over leisure, work and identity formation. In this paper, we present research on alternative scenes in the city of Leeds to argue that the eventization of the city centre has led to a marginalization and of alternative scenes on the fringes of the city. Such marginalization has not caused the death of alternative Leeds or political activism associated with those scenesâbut it has changed the leisure spaces (physical, political and social) in which alternative scenes contest the mainstream
Events in the affective city: Affect, attention and alignment in two ordinary urban events
In a representational regime, planned urban events are used by urban planners to render urban projects visible and acceptable. As a corollary of the focus of urban studies on their representational dimension and in spite of a burgeoning literature on the notion of affective urbanism, the experiential character of events remains surprisingly unexplored. This paper argues that an ordinary regime of events is mobilised by city-makers to act on the embodied, affective experience of the city and on the ways urban dwellers know and act upon the city. By analysing planned urban events in their embodied, experiential dimension, we focus on the ways in which, through the design of ephemeral material dispositives, urbanists attempt to encourage citizens to incorporate ways of knowing and acting on space and on the modalities of knowing and acting that are at play. We stage an encounter between critical event studies and Ingoldian approaches to affect and attention, examining two urban events in a Swiss canton. We show how intense encounters with urban matter are staged in an attempt to modulate affects, guide attention, and produce alignment with a specific political project, asking urban dwellers either to embody a project still in the making or to cultivate expectations regarding an already-written future
Large emergency-response exercises: qualitative characteristics - a survey
Exercises, drills, or simulations are widely used, by governments, agencies and commercial organizations, to simulate serious incidents and train staff how to respond to them. International cooperation has led to increasingly large-scale exercises, often involving hundreds or even thousands of participants in many locations. The difference between âlargeâ and âsmallâ exercises is more than one of size: (a) Large exercises are more âexperientialâ and more likely to undermine any model of reality that single organizations may create; (b) they create a âplay spaceâ in which organizations and individuals act out their own needs and identifications, and a ritual with strong social implications; (c) group-analytic psychotherapy suggests that the emotions aroused in a large group may be stronger and more difficult to control. Feelings are an unacknowledged major factor in the success or failure of exercises; (d) successful large exercises help improve the nature of trust between individuals and the organizations they represent, changing it from a situational trust to a personal trust; (e) it is more difficult to learn from large exercises or to apply the lessons identified; (f) however, large exercises can help develop organizations and individuals. Exercises (and simulation in general) need to be approached from a broader multidisciplinary direction if their full potential is to be realized
Anti-Nirvana: crime, culture and instrumentalism in the age of insecurity
âAnti-Nirvanaâ explores the relationship between consumer culture, media and criminal motivations. It has appeared consistently on the list of the top-ten most-read articles in this award-winning international journal, and it mounts a serious neo-Freudian challenge to the predominant naturalistic notion of âresistanceâ at the heart of liberal criminology and media studies. It is also cited in the Oxford Handbook of Criminology and other criminology texts as a persuasive argument in support of the theory that criminality amongst young people is strongly linked to the acquisitive values of consumerism and the images of possessive individualism that dominate mass media
âChristians, out here?â Encountering Street-Pastors in the post-secular spaces of the UKâs night-time economy
This paper explores the concept of the post-secular city by examining the growing presence of Street-Pastors in the night-time economy of British cities. Street-Pastors are Christian volunteers who work to ensure the safety of people on a ânight outâ. We contribute to work that has called for greater attention to be placed on the ways in which religious faith and ethics are performed to create liminal spaces of understanding in urban areas. Drawing upon in-depth ethnographic research conducted in a range of UK towns and cities, we consider this distinct form of faith-based patrolling in relation to the spatial processes and practices of urban-nightscapes. By exploring the geographies of Street-Pastors, we not only contribute to more nuanced accounts of âdrinking spacesâ but provide an empirical engagement with the growing body of work on urban rhythms and encounters
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