Methodology and indicators of economy-wide material flow accounting : state of the art and reliability across sources

This contribution presents the state of the art of economy-wide material flow accounting. Starting from a brief recollection of the intellectual and policy history of this approach, we outline system definition, key methodological assumptions, and derived indicators. The next section makes an effort to establish data reliability and uncertainty for a number of existing multinational (European and global) material flow accounting (MFA) data compilations and discusses sources of inconsistencies and variations for some indicators and trends. The results show that the methodology has reached a certain maturity: Coefficients of variation between databases lie in the range of 10% to 20%, and correlations between databases across countries amount to an average R2 of 0.95. After discussing some of the research frontiers for further methodological development, we conclude that the material flow accounting framework and the data generated have reached a maturity that warrants material flow indicators to complement traditional economic and demographic information in providing a sound basis for discussing national and international policies for sustainable resource use

Thymic medullar conduits-associated podoplanin promotes natural regulatory T cells

Podoplanin, a mucin-like plasma membrane protein, is expressed by lymphatic endothelial cells and responsible for separation of blood and lymphatic circulation through activation of platelets. Here we show that podoplanin is also expressed by thymic fibroblastic reticular cells (tFRC), a novel thymic medulla stroma cell type associated with thymic conduits, and involved in development of natural regulatory T cells (nTreg). Young mice deficient in podoplanin lack nTreg owing to retardation of CD4+CD25+ thymocytes in the cortex and missing differentiation of Foxp3+ thymocytes in the medulla. This might be due to CCL21 that delocalizes upon deletion of the CCL21-binding podoplanin from medullar tFRC to cortex areas. The animals do not remain devoid of nTreg but generate them delayed within the first month resulting in Th2-biased hypergammaglobulinemia but not in the death-causing autoimmune phenotype of Foxp3-deficient Scurfy mice

Thymic medullar conduits-associated podoplanin promotes natural regulatory T cells

Podoplanin, a mucin-like plasma membrane protein, is expressed by lymphatic endothelial cells and responsible for separation of blood and lymphatic circulation through activation of platelets. Here we show that podoplanin is also expressed by thymic fibroblastic reticular cells (tFRC), a novel thymic medulla stroma cell type associated with thymic conduits, and involved in development of natural regulatory T cells (nTreg). Young mice deficient in podoplanin lack nTreg owing to retardation of CD4+CD25+ thymocytes in the cortex and missing differentiation of Foxp3+ thymocytes in the medulla. This might be due to CCL21 that delocalizes upon deletion of the CCL21-binding podoplanin from medullar tFRC to cortex areas. The animals do not remain devoid of nTreg but generate them delayed within the first month resulting in Th2-biased hypergammaglobulinemia but not in the death-causing autoimmune phenotype of Foxp3-deficient Scurfy mice

The Weight of Nations - Material Outflows from Industrial Economies

This report shows conclusively that the atmosphere is by far the biggest dumping ground for the wastes of industrial economies. Output flows are dominated by the extraction and use of fossil energy resources: when bulky flows like water, soil erosion and earth moving are excluded, carbon dioxide accounts, on average, for 80 percent by weight of material outflows in the five study countries. There are positive trends. Quantities of solid wastes sent to landfills have stabilized or declined, in some cases by 30 percent or more. Reductions have been achieved thanks to increased recycling efforts and greater use of incineration as a disposal option. This latter practice, however, has resulted in waste outputs being diverted from land to air, contributing further to atmospheric pollution. To what extent are industrial economies breaking the link between economic growth and material throughput? The evidence for decoupling is either strong or weak, depending on the measure used. Despite strong economic growth over the period 1975--1996, resource inputs and waste outputs rose relatively little on a per capita basis and fell dramatically when measured against units of economic output. Given declining real prices for most resource commodities, and continued subsidies for resource extraction and use in most OEC countries, the extent of decoupling may be regarded as remarkable and possibly symptomatic of profound underlying structural changes in the nature of industrial economies. WRI: THE WEIGHT OF NATIONS vi

Métamorphoses de la voix en scène

Ce volume rassemble une sélection des communications prononcées dans le cadre du colloque « Métamorphoses de la Voix sur la scène » organisé, en juin 2011, à Paris-Sorbonne par VALE EA 4085, avec la contribution de CECILLE (Lille 3) et de l'EA 3458 (Paris-Ouest-Nanterre-La Défense) et envisage les problématiques liées à l’exercice théâtral dans sa dimension phénoménologique, acoustique, structurelle, voire politique