Recommendations for the application and follow-up of quality controls in medical laboratories

This is a translation of the paper “Recommendations for the application and follow-up of quality controls in medical biology laboratories” published in French in the journal Annales de Biologie Clinique (Recommandations pour la mise en place et le suivi des contrôles de qualité dans les laboratoires de biologie médicale. Ann Biol Clin (Paris). 2019;77:577-97.). The recommendations proposed in this document are the result of work conducted jointly by the Network of Accredited Medical Laboratories (LABAC), the French Society of Medical Biology (SFBC) and the Federation of Associations for External Quality Assessment (FAEEQ). The different steps of the implementation of quality controls, based on a risk analysis, are described. The changes of reagent or internal quality control (IQC) materials batches, the action to be taken in case of non-conform IQC results, the choice of external quality assessment (EQA) scheme and interpretation of their results as well as the new issue of analyses performed on several automatic systems available in the same laboratory are discussed. Finally, the concept of measurement uncertainty, the robustness of the methods as well as the specificities of near-patient testing and rapid tests are described. These recommendations cannot apply for all cases we can find in medical laboratories. The implementation of an objective alternative strategy, supported with documented evidence, might be equally considered

Mapping overland flow hazard in order to enhance citizens’ awareness of head catchment hydrology

Between 1998 and 2004, Europe suffered from more than hundred major inundations, responsible for some 700 deaths, for the moving of about half a million of people and the economic losses of at least 25 billions Euros covered by the insurance policies. Within this context, EU launched the 2007/60/CE directive. This directive aims at a better evaluation of the risks and a better coordination of prevention, protection and crisis management. In most countries, inundation maps only include rivers’ overflowing. In Wallonia (southern part of Belgium), it was decided to include overland flows and mudflows in the flood hazard map. Indeed, the cleaning operations for a village after a storm can lead to an estimated cost of 11 000 €. Average construction cost of retention dams to control off-site damage caused by floods and muddy flows was valued at 380 000€, and yearly dredging costs associated with these retention ponds at 15 000€. A specific study in Gembloux (25 000 inhabitants) estimated the mean annual cost for the runoff damages to 20 000€. This cost only consists of the physical damages caused to the settlements and movable properties of the residents as well as the emergency operations of the firemen and the city. On top of damages to public infrastructure (clogging of trenches, silting up of retention ponds) and to private property, runoff and mud flows generate a significant loss of arable land. Yet, the soil is not an unlimited resource. Moreover, sediments’ transfer to watercourses alters their physical and chemical quality. And that is not to mention the increased psychological stress for people. But head catchment hydrology is not well known. Mapping the overland flood and mud flow hazard over a 17000 km² region is a real challenge. This contribution will present the pragmatic methodology used in Wallonia. In accordance with the Directive, different maps are produced (25, 50 and 100 years of return period and an extreme scenario). Local characteristics are taken into account: rainfall statistics, soil data, land use and relief. They are used to assess runoff production and transfer to an outlet identified as the point where runoff enters the permanent river network. Peak discharge values are used as basis for the mapping. The maps locate the water paths using a colour chart based on the peak discharge. Summer 2011 and spring 2012 storm events as well as a survey made at the municipalities’ level allowed us to validate in some ways the maps produced. Whereas this first approach at regional scale includes uncertainties, the aim of these maps is currently to prompt recognition of the runoff inundation hazard. It is of major importance for soil conservation and citizens’ protection. Above all, it should contribute to lower the damages by early prevention during the design of town-planning projects.Gise

Les violences sexuelles dans l’Église catholique, France 1950-2020. Rapport de la Commission indépendante sur les abus sexuels dans l'Église

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Les violences sexuelles dans l’Église catholique, France 1950-2020. Rapport de la Commission indépendante sur les abus sexuels dans l'Église

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church France 1950 – 2020 Final Report French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE)

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church France 1950 – 2020 Final Report French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE)

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church France 1950 – 2020 Final Report French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE)

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church France 1950 – 2020 Final Report French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE)

The Conference of Bishops (CEF) and the Conference of Sisters and Brothers of France (CORREF) decided to create an independent commission to cast light on sexual abuse committed in the Church by members of clergy and religious orders, the Independent Commission on Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE). After two years and a half of work, on October 5th, 2021, the commission, constituted on February 8th, 2019, publicly released its Final Report

Masculin / Féminin dans la poésie et les poétiques du xixe siècle

Au xixe siècle, les poètes s'interrogent avec insistance sur la part féminine nécessaire à la création, dans une période d'intense renouvellement de la poésie, mais aussi de redéfinition de la place des femmes dans la société cl la culture. « Elle était la poésie sans lyre », dit Raphaël chez Lamartine, à propos de la femme aimée. « Sans une espèce d'androgynéité », écrit Baudelaire, « le génie le plus âpre et le plus viril reste, relativement à la perfection dans l'art, un être incomplet ». Pour Rimbaud : « La femme sera poète, elle aussi ! La femme trouvera de l'inconnu ! » Tandis que dans les Cinq grandes odes de Claudel, la Muse rappelle au Poète que « ce n'est pas avec l'encre et la plume que l'on fait une parole vivante ! », et lui demande : « Quel compte donc fais-tu des femmes ? » De Musset à Claudel, c'est en effet dans le dialogue avec une Muse désormais au singulier que le Poète se représente. Pourtant, dans le même moment, les évocations poétiques de figures féminines et de l'amour se font souvent ironiques, violentes, transgressées et dérangeantes. Pourtant, très peu de femmes poètes sont retenues par l'histoire littéraire pour ce même xixe siècle. Les contributions réunies ici s'attachent à relire l'histoire poétique du xixe siècle le du point de vue de la différence des sexes, et envisagent l'ensemble des aspects de la relation masculin/féminin dans ses implications poétiques, culturelles, sociales et idéologiques. On trouvera, après des réflexions générales sur le traitement de la différence des sexes dans la langue, dans la réception critique et dans l'écriture poétique, des études de figures mythiques comme celle de la Muse, ainsi que d'œuvres et de situations singulières d'écrivains hommes et femmes, dans un parcours allant d'un tournant du siècle à l'autre, des poétesses de l'Almanach des Muses à Guillaume Apollinaire