Engineering report - OGO-F-22 search coil magnetometer

Development of OGO-F-22 triaxial search coil magnetometer for measuring geomagnetic and interplanetary field intensitie

Efficacité d'une intervention tutorale sur la progression en anglais des étudiants en première année de sciences humaines et sociales

De nature exploratoire, la présente étude tente de mesurer et de comprendre la nature de l'impact du tutorat d'anglais, en présentiel, de groupe et d'approche proactive, sur la progression en anglais des étudiants de L1 en sciences sociales qui le fréquentent. Dix séances de tutorat étaient proposées entre un pré-test et un post-test portant sur un des textes d’un corpus étudié en cours magistraux. Malgré la prudence à tenir quant à l'interprétation des résultats, l’étude montre que les étudiants qui fréquentent le tutorat ont de meilleurs résultats à l'examen et une meilleure progression entre pré-test et post-test au cours du semestre que ceux qui ne le fréquentent pas, d’autant plus si cette assiduité s’associe à l’assiduité aux cours, et ce, que les étudiants soient volontaires ou non à la participation tutorale. L'analyse qualitative du discours des étudiants montre combien ils ont été sensibles tout autant aux marques amicales et bienveillantes du tuteur envers eux (congruence sociale) qu'envers la confrontation socio-cognitive, l'adaptation du tuteur à leur connaissance du moment, ou encore la vulgarisation des concepts (congruence cognitive).This exploratory study aims to measure and understand the nature of the impact of proactive in-class tutoring group sessions on the development of first-year Social Sciences students' English skills. Ten tutorials based on a corpus of texts studied in lectures were offered to them between a pretest and a posttest. Even though the results should be interpreted with great care, this paper shows that the students who attended these tutoring sessions obtain better grades and progress significantly over the course of the term in comparison to those who did not participate in the mentorship program. These findings are even more preeminent if attendance to this program is associated with lecture attendance, be the students volunteers or required to attend these tutoring sessions. Qualitative analysis of students' responses showed that they were as sensitive to their tutor's friendliness and benevolence (social congruence) as to his ability to respond to their social cognitive needs and his capacity to adapt and bring specific knowledge into general use (cognitive congruence)

Dealing with European foreign fighters in Syria: Goverance challenges and legal implications

The number of European foreign fighters with a jihadist political agenda participating in the Syrian civil war has increased exponentially over the past months and has become an ever-growing concern for European policymakers. It is particularly the possibility that returned foreign fighters have radicalised that makes them a potential threat – if only to themselves and their direct surroundings. In this ICCT Research Paper, Edwin Bakker, Christophe Paulussen and Eva Entenmann examine some of the challenges, as well as possible strategies and legal mechanisms available for European policymakers to address the foreign fighters phenomenon. It first assesses the complex threat (potentially) posed by returning mujahidin to Europe’s security. The Paper then outlines some of the risk assessment and governance challenges that European policymakers, governments and legal practitioners face in relation to (potential) foreign jihadi fighters and returnees. Prosecution via international crimes will be analysed before turning to specific national practices. Here, the Paper focuses on a few European states that have a considerable number of departing foreign fighters as estimated by their own intelligence services: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. The Paper concludes with a series of recommendations.Security and Global Affair

Vedolizumab use after failure of TNF- antagonists in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND: Vedolizumab is safe and effective in adult patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC); however, data in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are scarce. Therefore, we evaluated vedolizumab use in a cohort of Austrian paediatric patients with IBD. METHODS: Twelve patients (7 female; 7 CD; 5 UC), aged 8-17 years (median, 15 years), with severe IBD who received vedolizumab after tumour necrosis factor antagonist treatment were retrospectively analysed. Clinical activity scores, relevant laboratory parameters, and auxological measures were obtained at infusion visits. RESULTS: In the CD group, 1/7 patient discontinued therapy due to a severe systemic allergic reaction; 1/7 and 2/7 patients achieved complete and partial response, respectively, at week 14; and 3/7 patients discontinued therapy due to a primary non-response or loss of response. In the UC group, complete clinical remission was achieved at weeks 2, 6, and 14 in 2/5, 1/5 and 1/5 patients respectively; partial response was observed in one patient at week 2. CD activity scores did not significantly change from baseline to week 38 (median 47.5 vs. 40 points, p=1,0), while median UC activity scores changed from 70 to 5 points (p<0,001). Substantial weight gain and increased albumin and haemoglobin levels were observed in both groups. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that vedolizumab can be an effective treatment for individual paediatric patients with IBD who are unresponsive, intolerant, or experience a loss of efficacy in other therapies. However, vedolizumab appears to be more effective in paediatric UC than in paediatric CD.(VLID)286504

Intraocular pressure and ocular pulse amplitude using dynamic contour tonometry and contact lens tonometry

BACKGROUND: The new Ocular Dynamic Contour Tonometer (DCT), investigational device supplied by SMT (Swiss Microtechnology AG, Switzerland) allows simultaneous recording of intraocular pressure (IOP) and ocular pulse amplitude (OPA). It was the aim of this study to compare the IOP results of this new device with Goldmann tonometry. Furthermore, IOP and OPA measured with the new slitlamp-mounted DCT were compared to the IOP and OPA measured with the hand-held SmartLens(®), a gonioscopic contact lens tonometer (ODC Ophthalmic Development Company AG, Switzerland). METHODS: Nineteen healthy subjects were included in this study. IOP was determined by three consecutive measurements with each of the DCT, SmartLens(®), and Goldmann tonometer. Furthermore, OPA was measured three times consecutively by DCT and SmartLens(®). RESULTS: No difference (P = 0.09) was found between the IOP values by means of DCT (mean: 16.6 mm Hg, median: 15.33 mm Hg, SD: +/- 4.04 mm Hg) and Goldmann tonometry (mean: 16.17 mm Hg, median: 15.33 mm Hg, SD: +/- 4.03 mm Hg). The IOP values of SmartLens(® )(mean: 20.25 mm Hg, median: 19.00 mm Hg, SD: +/- 4.96 mm Hg) were significantly higher (P = 0.0008) both from Goldmann tonometry and DCT. The OPA values of the DCT (mean: 3.08 mm Hg, SD: +/- 0.92 mm Hg) were significantly lower (P = 0.0003) than those obtained by SmartLens(® )(mean: 3.92 mm Hg, SD: +/- 0.83 mm Hg). CONCLUSIONS: DCT was equivalent to Goldmann applanation tonometry in measurement of IOP in a small group of normal subjects. In contrast, SmartLens(® )(contact lens tonometry) gave IOP readings that were significantly higher compared with Goldmann applanation tonometer readings. Both devices, DCT and SmartLens(® )provide the measurement of OPA which could be helpful e.g. for the management of glaucoma

Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation

von Lersner U, Wiens U, Elbert T, Neuner F. Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation. BMC International Health and Human Rights. 2008;8(1): 8