Puissance et valeurs au 21e siècle : Les termes du débat euro-américain

Dans l’ordre européen de l’après-guerre, la puissance est faiblement instrumentalisée et peu légitime. L’évolution du débat européen montre le rejet croissant de toute forme de leadership. Si la politique extérieure de l’Union européenne repose sur une vision normative des relations internationales, l’Amérique, pour sa part, y voit une faiblesse. Les États-Unis, aujourd’hui véritable superpuissance, entretiennent un rapport sans complexe avec la puissance, n’hésitant pas à l’employer de manière unilatérale. Si l’Amérique et l’Europe partagent toujours des valeurs communes, les cultures stratégiques divergent et induisent un positionnement différencié sur la scène internationale. Il reste que, face aux défis du début du 21e siècle, les deux rives de l’Atlantique partagent les mêmes intérêts.Since the postwar European settlement, sheer power politics have not been the rule, nor the source of legitimacy. The evolution of European debates led to a rejection of any notion of a European leadership. The external policy of the European Union is based on a normative approach of external relations, which is construed by the US as evidence of weakness. Today, the US, acting as a real superpower, has no qualms about using its power, even unilaterally. America and Europe still share common values, but their strategic cultures differ, and lead to separate positions on the international scene. However, faced with the challenges of the 21st century, both sides of the Atlantic share common interests

La politique à l’Est de l’Allemagne unifiée

L’unification de 1990 marque le retour de l’Allemagne dans une position géopolitique centrale en Europe. Pour les responsables politiques allemands la préoccupation permanente est d’exporter la stabilité de l’Union européenne (UE) pour ne pas un jour importer de l’instabilité de l’Est. Suite à l’élargissement de l’UE par les pays d’Europe centrale et orientale (PECO), entre 2004 et 2013, Berlin prône une Ostpolitik commune en se projetant au-delà des frontières orientales de l’UE pour éviter l’apparition d’une Europe intermédiaire instable sous influence russe. La crise ukrainienne de 2014 a cependant montré les limites de la nouvelle Ostpolitik européenne et le rôle que Moscou entend jouer dans l’espace eurasiatique. Si l’Allemagne, à elle seule, n’a pas les moyens politiques et financiers pour mener des actions en direction de l’Est européen et encore moins de l’Asie centrale, elle reste une force motrice de la politique européenne à l’Est et l’interlocuteur privilégié, en Europe, de la Russie.Die Wiedervereinigung von 1990 markiert die Rückkehr Deutschlands in eine geopolitische Zentrallage in Europa. Für deutsche Politiker ist es seine ständige Sorge, die Stabilität der Europäischen Union (EU) zu exportieren, um nicht eines Tages die Instabilität des Ostens zu importieren. Infolge der EU-Erweiterung durch die mittel- und osteuropäischen Länder (MOEL), zwischen 2004 und 2013, befürwortet Berlin eine gemeinsame Ostpolitik, die vorsieht, jenseits der Ostgrenzen der erweiterten EU, das Auftreten eines unstabilen Zwischeneuropas unter russischem Einfluss, zu verhindern. Die ukrainische Krise von 2014 hat jedoch die Grenzen der neuen europäischen Ostpolitik und die Rolle, die Moskau im eurasiatischen Raum spielen will, gezeigt. Wenn Deutschland allein nicht die politischen und finanziellen Mittel hat, um aktive Handlungen in Richtung Osteuropa, und noch weniger Zentralasien, zu führen, bleibt es eine bewegende Kraft für die europäische Politik im Osten und privilegierter Gesprächspartner für Russland in Europa

Simulation of haemodynamic flow in head and neck cancer chemotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years, intra arterial chemotherapy has become an important component in head and neck cancer treatment. However, therapy success can vary significantly and consistent treatment guidelines are missing. The purpose of this study was to create a computer simulation of the chemical agent injection in the head and neck arteries to investigate the distribution and concentration of the chemical.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Realistic three dimensional patient specific geometry was created from image scan data. Pulsatile blood flow, turbulence, the chemical agent injection via a catheter, and the mixture between blood and the chemical were then simulated through the arterial network by computational fluid dynamics software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results show a consistent chemical distribution throughout all the arteries and this is ineffective. In addition, due to high wall shear stress and turbulence at the inner bifurcation wall, serious complications during the treatment could occur, for instance haemolysis or thrombosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The modelled catheter position is insufficient to provide a high chemical agent concentration in the desired tumour feeding artery, which is vital for therapy success.</p

Radiation Hardness of a Wide Spectral Range SiPM with Quasi-Spherical Junction

New pixel geometries are on the rise to achieve high sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). We test prototypes of the tip avalanche photo-diodes, which feature a quasi-spherical p-n junction and a high photodetection efficiency over a wide spectral range, and analyze the performance after neutron irradiation. The observed increase in dark count rate is significantly smaller than for a SiPM with a conventional design, indicating a good radiation hardness of the pixel geometry.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to NIM Proceedings. This work was presented at the NDIP20 conferenc

Six-year follow-up of patients with functional bowel disorders, with and without previous psychotherapy

Introduction: Long-term follow-up studies in patients with functional bowel disorders are rare

Toward a successful clinical neuroproteomics : the 11th HUPO Brain Proteome Project Workshop 3 March, 2009, Kolymbari, Greece

The HUPO Brain Proteome Project (HUPO BPP) held its 11th workshop in Kolymbari on March 3, 2009. The principal aim of this project is to obtain a better understanding of neurodiseases and ageing, with the ultimate objective of discovering prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers, in addition to the development of novel diagnostic techniques and new medications. The attendees came together to discuss sub-project progress in the clinical neuroproteomics of human or mouse models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and to define the needs and guidelines required for more advanced proteomics approaches. With the election of new steering committees, the members of the HUPO BPP elaborated an actual plan promoting activities, outcomes, and future directions of the HUPO BPP to acquire new funding and new participants

Temperature gradient-induced magnetization reversal of single ferromagnetic nanowires

In this study, we investigate the temperature- and temperature gradient-dependent magnetization reversal process of individual, single-domain Co39Ni61 and Fe15Ni85 ferromagnetic nanowires via the magneto-optical Kerr effect and magnetoresistance measurements. While the coercive fields (HC) and therefore the magnetic switching fields (HSW) generally decrease under isothermal conditions at elevated base temperatures (Tbase), temperature gradients (ΔT) along the nanowires lead to an increased switching field of up to 15% for ΔT  = 300 K in Co39Ni61 nanowires. This enhancement is attributed to a stress-induced, magneto-elastic anisotropy term due to an applied temperature gradient along the nanowire that counteracts the thermally assisted magnetization reversal process. Our results demonstrate that a careful distinction between locally elevated temperatures and temperature gradients has to be made in future heat-assisted magnetic recording devices

A novel mechanism for target gene-specific SWI/SNF recruitment via the Snf2p N-terminus

Chromatin-remodeling complexes regulate the expression of genes in all eukaryotic genomes. The SWI/SNF complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is recruited to its target promoters via interactions with selected transcription factors. Here, we show that the N-terminus of Snf2p, the chromatin remodeling core unit of the SWI/SNF complex, is essential for the expression of VHT1, the gene of the plasma membrane H+/biotin symporter, and of BIO5, the gene of a 7-keto-8-aminopelargonic acid transporter, biotin biosynthetic precursor. chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analyses demonstrate that Vhr1p, the transcriptional regulator of VHT1 and BIO5 expression, is responsible for the targeting of Snf2p to the VHT1 promoter at low biotin. We identified an Snf2p mutant, Snf2p-R15C, that specifically abolishes the induction of VHT1 and BIO5 but not of other Snf2p-regulated genes, such as GAL1, SUC2 or INO1. We present a novel mechanism of target gene-specific SWI/SNF recruitment via Vhr1p and a conserved N-terminal Snf2p domain

Expanding the Boundary of Water-Tolerant Frustrated Lewis Pair Hydrogenation: Enhanced Back Strain in the Lewis Acid Enables the Reductive Amination of Carbonyls

The development of a boron/nitrogen-centered frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) with remarkably high water tolerance is presented. As systematic steric tuning of the boron-based Lewis acid (LA) component revealed, the enhanced back-strain makes water binding increasingly reversible in the presence of relatively strong base. This advance allows the limits of FLP's hydrogenation to be expanded, as demonstrated by the FLP reductive amination of carbonyls. This metal-free catalytic variant displays a notably broad chemo-selectivity and generality