<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

Regio- and Stereo-Specific Chemical Depolymerization of High Molecular Weight Polybutadiene and Polyisoprene for Their Analysis by High Resolution FTICR Mass Spectrometry. Comparison with Py-GCxGC-MS, ASAP&DIP-APCI MS and IMS-MS

Polybutadiene (PB) and Polyisoprene (PI) the two most common polydienes (PD), are involved in a large number of materials and used in a wide variety of applications. The characterization of these polymers by mass spectrometry (MS) continues to be very challenging due to their high insolubility and the difficulty to ionize them. In this work, cross-metathesis reaction was used to generate end-functionalized acetoxy ionizable oligomers for the structural deciphering of different commercial PB and PI samples. A cross-metathesis reaction was carried out between polymers and the Z-1,4-diacetoxy-2-butene as chain transfer agent in dichloromethane using Hoveyda-Grubbs second-generation catalyst. Well-defined acetoxy telechelic structures were obtained and analysed by Fourier-Transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) high resolution MS. However, after depolymerization, low molar mass polyolefins contained some units with different configurations, suggesting an olefin isomerization reaction due to the decomposition of the catalyst. The addition of an electron-deficient reagent such as 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone suppressed this isomerization in the case of both Z- and E- PB and PI. Ion-mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) and energy resolved tandem mass spectrometry (ERMS) analyses confirmed a successful isomerization suppression. For comparing the results obtained by depolymerisation with classical methods for polymer analysis, pyrolysis-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC×GC-MS), atmospheric solid analysis probe (ASAP) and DIP-APCI analyses were performed on the same polymers. This strategy can be applied on a variety of synthetic and natural not yet characterized polymers

Impact of smoking on femorotibial and hip osteoarthritis progression: 3-year follow-up data from the KHOALA cohort

International audienc

Impact of a clinical pharmacist in a multidisciplinary consultation on the switch to a biosimilar for inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Despite several studies proving the efficacy and safety of biosimilars compared with original drugs, switching to a biosimilar remains challenging when the decision is at the discretion of physicians with mandatory consent from patients. Educating patients about biosimilars seems important to increase the prescription rate of biosimilars. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a clinical pharmacist consultation on the switch to and retention rate of a biosimilar for patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. This retrospective study compared 2 groups of adult patients receiving (intervention) or not (control) a consultation with a pharmacist right before the rheumatologist consultation. The primary outcome was the frequency of patients who switched to a biosimilar at the end of the rheumatologist visit. We analysed 141 patients (50% women, 50±15years old, on original adalimumab (62%) or etanercept (38%)) who had never used biosimilars: 85 in the intervention group and 56 in the control group. The switch rate to a biosimilar significantly differed between the groups: 69.4% versus 41.1% in the intervention group versus the control group respectively (P This study highlights the positive impact of a pharmacist consultation before the physician's one on switching to a biosimilar, but more studies are needed to assess the impact of this pharmacist consultation on preventing the nocebo effect and therefore on improving the retention rate of biosimilars

Synthesis and physicochemical properties of new fatty (co)polyamides as potential UV powder coating

International audiencePartially or fully biosourced (co)polyamides have been prepared from commercial (11-aminoundecanoic acid, octadec-9-en-1,18-dioic acid, dodecan-1,12-diamine) and/or an original branched and unsaturated ((9Z)-octadecene-1,12-diamine) monomer. Undec-11-enoic acid was used as chain limiter in order to obtain controlled average number molecular weights around 7000 g mol−1. By varying the relative composition of monomers and/or the amount of side chains and/or the amount of unsaturated repeating units, copolyamides exhibiting low glass transition temperatures ranging from −31 to 3 °C and low melting temperatures ranging from 60 to 143 °C have been obtained. The branched monomer was found to act as internal plasticizer. Coatings have been prepared from these polymer materials at their melting temperatures. The presence of carbon–carbon double bonds on the polymer backbone allowed their photocrosslinking in the presence of benzophenone. This UV curing enhanced the hardness of the obtained coatings. These polymers are therefore expected to be used as bio-based UV powder coatings for heat sensitive substrates

Femoro-tibial knee osteoarthritis: One or two X-rays? Results from a population-based study

International audienceOBJECTIVE:Our objective was to compare the use of both anteroposterior (AP) extended-knee X-ray and semi-flexed X-ray (current gold standard) versus the use of semi-flexed X-ray alone to detect femoro-tibial osteoarthritis (OA).METHODS:Individuals 40 to 75 years of age with symptomatic hip and/or knee OA (Kellgren/Lawrence [KL] score≥2) were recruited using a multiregional prevalence survey in France. Both AP and schuss X-rays were performed and read; two years later, the same examiner, blinded to the results of the first reading, performed a second reading of the schuss X-ray. We compared the KL stages of each knee and analyzed osteophyte detection and localization, joint space narrowing (JSN), and the relationship to obesity.RESULTS:The analysis included 350 participants with OA of various stages. Comparing the two readings showed that a higher proportion of patients had KL≥2 when the two X-ray views were combined (right knee: P<0.0001; left knee: P<0.001). There were no differences when using the schuss X-ray alone versus in combination with an AP X-ray in terms of detecting JSN, osteophytes. A comparison of schuss X-ray alone versus AP X-ray alone demonstrated the superiority of the schuss view for evaluating JSN (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001) and no difference in osteophyte detection.CONCLUSION:Our study shows that the schuss view alone was sufficient for detecting knee osteophytes and JSN. Using one X-ray rather than two will reduce medical costs and irradiation burden. Using two views seems preferable for epidemiological studies

Qualité et consommateurs

Dossier L'analyse du consommateur et, plus largement, de la demande ont donné lieu, depuis les années 2000 à de nouvelles recherches dans l'économie de la qualité. L'originalité des articles publiés dans ce dossier est de présenter des méthodologies et des problématiques nouvelles permettant de mieux appréhender la segmentation des marchés. Déterminants d'achat des marques de distributeurs par les ménages à partir d'une analyse économétrique. La méthode est appliquée pour deux types de produits alimentaires (pâtes et yaourts). Segmentation des marchés du vin, segmentation aristocratique. Cette segmentation ne repose pas uniquement sur des variables de prix et de revenus mais aussi sur des goûts et des préférences. Ce principe est analysé au moyen d'un modèle de jeux évolutionnaire. L'incertitude des consommateurs face à la crédibilité des signaux de qualité des produits. Comment la référence à un territoire joue-t-elle comme signal de qualité ? Des éléments de réponse sont données grâce à la méthode des réseaux de neuronnes. La consommation éthique est une nouvelle segmentation encore mal implantée dans le marché. Une réflexion approfondie permet de différencier cette consommation de la consommation classique

2018 Update of French Recommendations on the Management of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

International audienceObjectives - To update the 2012 recommendations on pharmacotherapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis, under the aegis of the Bone Task Force of the French Society for Rheumatology (SFR) and of the Osteoporosis Research and Information Group (GRIO), in collaboration with scientific societies (Collège national des généralistes enseignants, Collège national des gynécologues et obstétriciens français, Fédération nationale des collèges de gynécologie médicale, Groupe d'étude de la ménopause et du vieillissement hormonal, Société française de chirurgie orthopédique, Société française d'endocrinologie, and Société française de gériatrie et de gérontologie). Methods - Updated recommendations were developed by a task force whose members represented the medical specialties involved in the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The update was based on a literature review and developed using the method advocated by the French National Authority for Health (HAS). Discussion and conclusion - The updated recommendations place strong emphasis on the treatment of women with severe fractures, in whom the use of osteoporosis medications is recommended. All the available osteoporosis medications are suitable in patients with severe fractures; zoledronic acid deserves preference as the fist-line drug after a hip fracture. In patients with or without non-severe fractures, the decision to use osteoporosis medications is based on bone mineral density values and in challenging cases, on probabilities supplied by prediction tools such as FRAX. All osteoporosis medications are suitable; raloxifene should be reserved for patients at low risk for peripheral fractures. The fracture risk should be reevaluated every 2 to 3 years to decide on the best follow-up treatment. These updated recommendations discuss the selection of first-line osteoporosis medications and treatment sequences