Wave overtopping and overflow hazards: application on the Camargue sea-dike

Hydrodynamic

Potential seasonal calibration for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction using skeletal microstructures and strontium measurements from the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa

Lophelia pertusa is a colonial cold-water coral species with a wide spatial distribution in recent marine waters. Analysing the chemistry of its skeleton allows reconstruction of environmental parameter variations. While numerous studies have attempted to interpret such analyses, little information is available on the microstructures of Lophelia pertusa and their temporal constraints. This study introduces newly recognized microstructures in the coral wall following growth along the radial axis. The thicknesses of these ‘micro-layers’ are correlated with strontium concentrations and can be used to estimate seasonal growth rates of single polyps from the colony. We propose that each of these micro-layers represents a period of 1 month of mineralization and can locate two decreasing periods in growth rate during a year: one caused by limited food availability during winter months and one in autumn linked to gametogenesis. High-frequency study of strontium concentrations using this interpretation shows a lunar cycle. We demonstrate that while the micro-layers are present in all L. pertusa specimens from four locations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, growth patterns reveal a complex organization that limits their visibility. Strontium fluctuations, however, appear to be a promising mechanism by which to establish a temporal calibration.Postprint3,199

Professional Exposure to Goats Increases the Risk of Pneumonic-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma: Results of the IFCT-0504-Epidemio Study

Pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC) represents a distinct subset of lung cancer with specific clinical, radiological, and pathological features. Given the weak association with tobacco-smoking and the striking similarities with jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV)-induced ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, it has been suggested that a zoonotic viral agent infecting pulmonary cells may predispose to P-ADC in humans. Our objective was to explore whether exposure to domestic small ruminants may represent a risk factor for P-ADC. We performed a multicenter case-control study recruiting patients with P-ADC as cases and patients with non-P-ADC non-small cell lung cancer as controls. A dedicated 356-item questionnaire was built to evaluate exposure to livestock. A total of 44 cases and 132 controls were included. At multivariate analysis, P-ADC was significantly more associated with female gender (Odds-ratio (OR) = 3.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.32–7.87, p = 0.010), never- smoker status (OR = 3.57, 95% CI: 1.27–10.00, p = 0.015), personal history of extra-thoracic cancer before P-ADC diagnosis (OR = 3.43, 95% CI: 1.10–10.72, p = 0.034), and professional exposure to goats (OR = 5.09, 95% CI: 1.05–24.69, p = 0.043), as compared to other subtypes of lung cancer. This case-control suggests a link between professional exposure to goats and P-ADC, and prompts for further epidemiological evaluation of potential environmental risk factors for P-ADC

South Atlantic intermediate water advances into the North-east Atlantic with reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last glacial period

The Nd isotopic composition (epsilon Nd) of seawater and cold-water coral (CWC) samples from the Gulf of Cadiz and the Alboran Sea, at a depth of 280-827 m were investigated in order to constrain middepth water mass dynamics within the Gulf of Cadiz over the past 40 ka. epsilon Nd of glacial and Holocene CWC from the Alboran Sea and the northern Gulf of Cadiz reveals relatively constant values (-8.6 to -9.0 and -9.5 to -10.4, respectively). Such values are similar to those of the surrounding present-day middepth waters from the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW; epsilon Nd approximate to -9.4) and Mediterranean Sea Water (MSW; epsilon Nd approximate to -9.9). In contrast, glacial epsilon Nd values for CWC collected at thermocline depth (550-827 m) in the southern Gulf of Cadiz display a higher average value (-8.90.4) compared to the present-day value (-11.70.3). This implies a higher relative contribution of water masses of Mediterranean (MSW) or South Atlantic origin (East Antarctic Intermediate Water, EAAIW). Our study has produced the first evidence of significant radiogenic epsilon Nd values (approximate to -8) at 19, 23-24, and 27 ka, which are coeval with increasing iceberg discharges and a weakening of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Since MOW epsilon Nd values remained stable during the last glacial period, it is suggested that these radiogenic epsilon Nd values most likely reflect an enhanced northward propagation of glacial EAAIW into the eastern Atlantic Basin

Electroactive poly(vinylidene fluoride) based materials: recent progress, challenges and opportunities

A poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers are polymers that, in specific crystalline phases, show high dielectric and piezoelectric values, excellent mechanical behavior and good thermal and chemical stability, suitable for many applications from the biomedical area to energy devices. This chapter introduces the main properties, processability and polymorphism of PVDF. Further, the recent advances in the applications based on those materials are presented and discussed. Thus, it shown the key role of PVDF and its copolymers as smart and multifunctional material, expanding the limits of polymer-based technologies.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of Strategic Funding grants UID/FIS/04650/2019, and UID/QUI/0686/2019 and project PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017, PTDC/BTMMAT/28237/2017, PTDC/EMD-EMD/28159/2017. The author also thanks the FCT for financial support under grant SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.), SFRH/BPD/98109/2013 (V.F.C.), SFRH/BD/140698/2018 (R.B.P.), SFRH/BPD/96227/2013 (P.M.), SFRH/BPD/121526/2016 (D.M.C.), SFRH/BPD/97739/2013 (V. C.), SFRH/BPD/90870/2012 (C.R.). Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through project MAT2016-76039-C4-3-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) (including FEDER financial support) and from the Basque Government Industry and Education Departments under the ELKARTEK, HAZITEK and PIBA (PIBA-2018-06)

"A Movement of Subsidized Capitalists ? The Multi-level Influence of the Bharatiya Kisan Union in India"

This paper investigates the relationship between the state and India's rural informal sector by focusing on the collective mobilizations of middle-sized agricultural producers in Western Uttar Pradesh. These cultivators are involved in an economic sector which is at the same time capitalist, largely informal but also, to some extent, state-regulated. Through their mobilizations organized by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), they have attempted to influence state regulation of agricultural markets, obtaining increased input subsidies and better procurement prices for their produce, and thus an increase in the rates of return and profitability of their farming activity. The paper conceptualizes the modality of production of these farmers as ‘subsidized capitalism’, alluding to the self-employed and self-funded producers with holdings large enough to support a pair of bullocks defined as ‘bullock capitalists’ by Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph (1987), while denoting the crucial role of public subsidies in preserving this faction of informal agrarian capitalism. The paper also points to the ambivalent relationship between the ‘subsidized capitalists’ of Western Uttar Pradesh and the state: although they seek protection from the central government in the context of globalization, they confront and contest local state institutions by deploying collective strategies to distort local regulations of agricultural markets

Environmental and Social Justice in Solid Waste Management

Christine Lutringer’s interview with Leo Saldanha and Bhargavi Rao reflects the pivotal role of their NGO, the Environment Support Group (ESG), in bringing about changes in practices and policies of solid waste management in Bangalore. The campaign for a new solid waste management policy, which was co-organised by ESG, underscores the significance of the legal activism initiated by civil society groups. The public interest litigation (PIL) that united the various affected parties was key to transforming the solid waste management policy of the municipality. Saldanha and Rao discuss the strategy of their NGO while showing how a progressive ruling by a court led to the decentralisation of solid waste management. They also point to the challenges of implementing the judgment and to the fact that processes of waste collection and disposal are not merely technical, administrative matters but are eminently social and cultural issues. ESG’s advocacy activities have, therefore, aimed to secure fair and respectable treatment for solid waste workers, an aspect that has otherwise been eclipsed in the public debate on waste. The interview concludes with reflections on ESG’s endeavours over the last twenty years to promote environmental and social justice in Bangalore

Caracterisation moleculaire et etude par resonance magnetique nucleaire de la microstructure de polymeres et de copolymeres fluores

SIGLEAvailable from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : T 83800 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc