Glass Transition Phenomena Semiannual Status Report

Multiple glass transitions, heat capacities, and equation of state properties of polymer system

Modelling climate and societal resilience in the Eastern Mediterranean in the last Millennium

This article analyses high-quality hydroclimate proxy records and spatial reconstructions from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean and compares them with two Earth System Model simulations (CCSM4, MPI-ESM-P) for the Crusader period in the Levant (1095–1290 CE), the Mamluk regime in Transjordan (1260–1516 CE) and the Ottoman crisis and Celâlî Rebellion(1580–1610 CE). During the three time intervals, environmental and climatic stress tested the resilience of complex societies.We find that the multidecadal precipitation and drought variations in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean cannot be explained by external forcings (solar variations, tropical volcanism); rather they were driven by internal climate dynamics. Our research emphasises the challenges, opportunities and limitations of linking proxy records, palaeoreconstructions and model simulations to better understand how climate can affect human history

L’émergence d’une histoire environnementale interdisciplinaire. Une approche conjointe de l’Holocène tardif

L’histoire, en tant que discipline, traverse une phase de transition. D’une part, de nouveaux types d’indices (palynologiques, dendrologiques, glaciologiques, ostéo- logiques, archéogénétiques, etc.) sont disponibles, mais beaucoup d’historiens demeurent réticents à les utiliser, faute d’avoir été formés pour le faire. D’autre part, la situation mondiale actuelle, particulièrement critique, marquée par des changements climatiques et des perturbations écosystémiques sans précédent ainsi que par l’émergence (non sans lien avec ces dérèglements) de maladies hautement transmissibles, incite à se tourner vers le passé, à la recherche de parallèles signi- fiants et de boussoles susceptibles de nous guider. Des professionnels d’autres disciplines – notamment de la médecine, des sciences de l’environnement et de l’économie – se sont attelés à cette tâche en proposant au grand public des « leçons historiques ». Les historiens, quant à eux, participent encore trop peu souvent aux débats sur les défis du présent et le futur de la planète qui en découle, alors même que ceux-ci captivent l’opinion et contribuent effectivement à tracer les contours de notre avenir

The first Team Haemophilia Education meeting, 2015, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Haemophilia remains a complex disorder to diagnose and manage, requiring close cooperation between multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. There are still many unmet challenges in haemophilia care. The first Team Haemophilia Education (THE) meeting, held on 7-8 May 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, aimed to promote the optimal care of haemophilia patients through education of the multidisciplinary treatment team. This was achieved by reviewing the latest developments in haemophilia management, considering how these can be implemented in the clinic to improve patient care and providing a platform for networking and debate for all haemophilia treatment team members. Haemophilia treatment centres from several countries were asked to complete a premeeting online questionnaire to establish the biggest challenges that they face when managing patients. The concerns expressed were used to develop the agenda, which comprised a combination of formal presentations, case studies and informal workshops covering such topics as pharmacokinetics, laboratory assays and tailoring of treatment to individual patients. This report is a summary of the key developments in haemophilia care presented by various investigators and healthcare professionals at THE meeting 2015

Differences between familial and sporadic dilated cardiomyopathy: ESC EORP Cardiomyopathy & Myocarditis registry

Aims: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a complex disease where genetics interplay with extrinsic factors. This study aims to compare the phenotype, management, and outcome of familial DCM (FDCM) and non-familial (sporadic) DCM (SDCM) across Europe. Methods and results: Patients with DCM that were enrolled in the prospective ESC EORP Cardiomyopathy & Myocarditis Registry were included. Baseline characteristics, genetic testing, genetic yield, and outcome were analysed comparing FDCM and SDCM; 1260 adult patients were studied (238 FDCM, 707 SDCM, and 315 not disclosed). Patients with FDCM were younger (P\ua0<\ua00.01), had less severe disease phenotype at presentation (P\ua0<\ua00.02), more favourable baseline cardiovascular risk profiles (P\ua0 64\ua00.007), and less medication use (P\ua0 64\ua00.042). Outcome at 1\ua0year was similar and predicted by NYHA class (HR 0.45; 95% CI [0.25\u20130.81]) and LVEF per % decrease (HR 1.05; 95% CI [1.02\u20131.08]. Throughout Europe, patients with FDCM received more genetic testing (47% vs. 8%, P\ua0<\ua00.01) and had higher genetic yield (55% vs. 22%, P\ua0<\ua00.01). Conclusions: We observed that FDCM and SDCM have significant differences at baseline but similar short-term prognosis. Whether modification of associated cardiovascular risk factors provide opportunities for treatment remains to be investigated. Our results also show a prevalent role of genetics in FDCM and a non-marginal yield in SDCM although genetic testing is largely neglected in SDCM. Limited genetic testing and heterogeneity in panels provides a scaffold for improvement of guideline adherence