La clarté rédactionnelle en droit et ses multiples horizons [Clear legal writing: A pluridisciplinary approach]

The present contribution aims at highlighting the role of clear legal writing in the framework of national and international institutional contexts. Clear legal writing will be analysed with respect to three different areas of study: juridical linguistics, translation studies and international cooperation. Juridical linguistics is currently exploring the multiple specific needs and challenges of clear legal writing in the different branches of law on national as well as international level. Translation Studies highlight the specificity of legal translation by defining this practice as a particular case of specialized translation which varies according to its operational context. Multilingualism actually implies a new definition of translation as multilingual co-writing. International cooperation studies how clear legal writing can be ensured with respect to the normative and standard-settings activity and the associated diplomatic and political issues belonging to international organisations. The interest of such a multi-disciplinary approach is the possibility of correlating those complementary perspectives of analysis in order to better understand the notion of clear writing as well as its importance in the field of law-making

Biogeochemical cycling of dissolved zinc along the GEOTRACES South Atlantic transect GA10 at 40°S

The biogeochemical cycle of zinc (Zn) in the South Atlantic, at 40°S, was investigated as part of the UK GEOTRACES program. To date there is little understanding of the supply of Zn, an essential requirement for phytoplankton growth, to this highly productive region. Vertical Zn profiles displayed nutrient-like distributions with distinct gradients associated with the watermasses present. Surface Zn concentrations are among the lowest reported for theworld’s oceans (<50 pM). A strong Zn-Si linear relationshipwas observed (Zn (nM)= 0.065 Si (μM), r2=0.97, n = 460). Our results suggest that the use of a global Zn-Si relationship would lead to an underestimation of dissolved Zn in deeper waters of the South Atlantic. By utilizing Si* and a new tracer Zn* our data indicate that the preferential removal of Zn in the Southern Ocean prevented a direct return path for dissolved Zn to the surface waters of the South Atlantic at 40°S and potentially the thermocline waters of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre. The importance of Zn for phytoplankton growth was evaluated using the Zn-soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) relationship. We hypothesize that the low Zn concentrations in the South Atlantic may select for phytoplankton cells with a lower Zn requirement. In addition, a much deeper kink at ~ 500m in the Zn:SRP ratio was observed compared to other oceanic regions

Uniform Atmospheric Retrieval Analysis of Ultracool Dwarfs I : Characterizing Benchmarks, Gl570D and HD3651B

Michael Line, et al, 'UNIFORM ATMOSPHERIC RETRIEVAL ANALYSIS OF ULTRACOOL DWARFS. I. CHARACTERIZING BENCHMARKS, Gl 570D AND HD 3651B', The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 802 (2), July 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/807/2/183, published by IOP.Interpreting the spectra of brown dwarfs is key to determining the fundamental physical and chemical processes occurring in their atmospheres. Powerful Bayesian atmospheric retrieval tools have recently been applied to both exoplanet and brown dwarf spectra to tease out the thermal structures and molecular abundances to understand those processes. In this manuscript we develop a significantly upgraded retrieval method and apply it to the SpeX spectral library data of two benchmark late T-dwarfs, Gl570D and HD3651B, to establish the validity of our upgraded forward model parameterization and Bayesian estimator. Our retrieved metallicities, gravities, and effective temperature are consistent with the metallicity and presumed ages of the systems. We add the carbon-to-oxygen ratio as a new dimension to benchmark systems and find good agreement between carbon-to-oxygens ratio derived in the brown dwarfs and the host stars. Furthermore, we have for the first time unambiguously determined the presence of ammonia in the low-resolution spectra of these two late T-dwarfs. We also show that the retrieved results are not significantly impacted by the possible presence of clouds, though some quantities are significantly impacted by uncertainties in photometry. This investigation represents a watershed study in establishing the utility of atmospheric retrieval approaches on brown dwarf spectra.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Basic science232. Certolizumab pegol prevents pro-inflammatory alterations in endothelial cell function

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major comorbidity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a leading cause of death. Chronic systemic inflammation involving tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) could contribute to endothelial activation and atherogenesis. A number of anti-TNF therapies are in current use for the treatment of RA, including certolizumab pegol (CZP), (Cimzia ®; UCB, Belgium). Anti-TNF therapy has been associated with reduced clinical cardiovascular disease risk and ameliorated vascular function in RA patients. However, the specific effects of TNF inhibitors on endothelial cell function are largely unknown. Our aim was to investigate the mechanisms underpinning CZP effects on TNF-activated human endothelial cells. Methods: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAoECs) were cultured in vitro and exposed to a) TNF alone, b) TNF plus CZP, or c) neither agent. Microarray analysis was used to examine the transcriptional profile of cells treated for 6 hrs and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysed gene expression at 1, 3, 6 and 24 hrs. NF-κB localization and IκB degradation were investigated using immunocytochemistry, high content analysis and western blotting. Flow cytometry was conducted to detect microparticle release from HAoECs. Results: Transcriptional profiling revealed that while TNF alone had strong effects on endothelial gene expression, TNF and CZP in combination produced a global gene expression pattern similar to untreated control. The two most highly up-regulated genes in response to TNF treatment were adhesion molecules E-selectin and VCAM-1 (q 0.2 compared to control; p > 0.05 compared to TNF alone). The NF-κB pathway was confirmed as a downstream target of TNF-induced HAoEC activation, via nuclear translocation of NF-κB and degradation of IκB, effects which were abolished by treatment with CZP. In addition, flow cytometry detected an increased production of endothelial microparticles in TNF-activated HAoECs, which was prevented by treatment with CZP. Conclusions: We have found at a cellular level that a clinically available TNF inhibitor, CZP reduces the expression of adhesion molecule expression, and prevents TNF-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, CZP prevents the production of microparticles by activated endothelial cells. This could be central to the prevention of inflammatory environments underlying these conditions and measurement of microparticles has potential as a novel prognostic marker for future cardiovascular events in this patient group. Disclosure statement: Y.A. received a research grant from UCB. I.B. received a research grant from UCB. S.H. received a research grant from UCB. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Synchronous intensification and warming of Antarctic Bottom Water outflow from the Weddell Gyre

Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), the densest water in the global overturning circulation, has warmed in recent decades, most notably in the Atlantic. Time series recorded within the boundary currents immediately upstream and downstream of the most significant outflow of AABW from the Weddell Sea indicate that raised outflow temperatures are synchronous with stronger boundary current flows. These changes occur rapidly in response to changes in wind forcing, suggesting that barotropic dynamics and the response of the bottom Ekman layer are significant. The observed synchronicity indicates that the previously-detected weakening of the export of the colder forms of AABW from the Weddell Sea need not be associated with a reduction in the total flux of AABW exported via this route. These points need careful consideration when attributing the observed AABW warming in the Atlantic, and when determining its contribution to global heat budgets and sea level rise

Variability of Antarctic Bottom Water at 24.5°N in the Atlantic

A recent hydrographic section at 24.5°N in the Atlantic and 6 months of observations from a moored array show that Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), the densest and deepest water mass in the world oceans, has been warming. While Johnson et al. (2008) showed that northward AABW transport at 24.5°N has been declining from 1981 to 2004, suggesting that the lower cell of the overturning circulation could halt in the near future, estimates from the latest hydrographic section in 2010 indicate a partial recovery of northward AABW transport. From 6 months of temperature and salinity observations at a deep moored array at 24–26°N, we find that short-term variability between April and November 2009 is of the same magnitude as the changes observed from hydrographic sections between 1981 and 2004. These observations highlight the possibility that transport changes estimated from hydrographic sections may be aliased by short-term variability. The observed AABW transport variability affects present estimates of the upper meridional overturning circulation by ±0.4 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s?1)

Mediterranean water-mass variability in T-S coordinates

International audienceThe Mediterranean Sea is in many ways a miniature ocean, hosting an intense (relative to its spatial dimension) overturning circulation during which surface water entering the basin via the Gibraltar Strait is transformed in intermediate and deep waters. Over the last 50 years, long-term warming and salinification trends have been observed as well as transient events such as the Eastern Mediterranean Transient in the early 1990. Such events combined with the small dimension of the basin have led to drastic changes in the thermohaline structure of the basin in a decade providing a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of water mass anomalies on the basin-scale overturning circulation.In this study, we use a high-resolution (1/12th) numerical simulation of the 1980-2012 period in order to investigate the impact of such transient events on the Mediterranean Overturning circulation. The model's outputs are mapped in Θ-S coordinates in order to compute the mean thermohaline streamfunction for different time periods separated by major water mass modification events. The main changes in the circulation will be presented