The Big Push : l’armée britannique sur la Somme

Au printemps 1916, l’armée britannique est renforcée par de nouveaux bataillons de volontaires type « Lord Kitchener ». Le 1er juillet 1916, ces derniers sont, pour la première fois, engagés en masse dans la bataille de la Somme. Ils sont cependant peu formés à l’usage de l’armement et peu rodés aux techniques de combat des tranchées. Les résultats de l’offensive sont décevants malgré les 19 800 Tommies morts lors de la première journée de combat. Le peuple britannique est profondément affecté. C’est pour cette raison que la bataille de la Somme reste incomprise de l’opinion et sa signification stratégique ignorée. Fondamentale pour l’aguerrissement des unités de soldats-citoyens britanniques, la bataille de la Somme a contribué à l’affaiblissement de l’armée allemande et, par là même, à la victoire alliée de 1918. Elle a en outre démontré la supériorité industrielle de l’Empire britannique.The Big Push: the British Army on the Somme, 1916. On the Somme in 1916 the British army fought its first mass battle, with new weapons and unfamiliar techniques. That it performed poorly at a tactical level is well known. The scars which this left on the nation’s psyche are indelible, and have ensured that the battle is misunderstood, and that its strategic importance remains unappreciated. The real significance of the Somme, beyond its importance as a training ground for Britain’s citizen army, is that it ground down the German army by a process of sustained attrition. In the material intensive industrial warfare that characterised the western front, British arms, backed by British industry, holds the advantage. Without such a ‘wearing-out fight’ the allied victories that followed would not have been possible

Plus qu’un « simple soldat » : la France et la perspective d’un soutien militaire britannique avant 1914

Les études sur les relations militaires franco-britanniques avant 1914 portent le plus souvent sur la diplomatie et les rapports entre haut commandements. Cet article explore une nouvelle dimension. En effet, comment l’armée française a-t-elle évalué la capacité et le potentiel militaires des combattants venus d’outre-manche ? Après différentes recherches, il est possible d’avancer que les Français ont considéré l’armée professionnelle britannique comme une réelle force combattante, certes restreinte, mais capable de renforcer les troupes françaises dans la guerre contre l’Allemagne.Studies of the pre-1914 Anglo-French military relationship customarily focus on diplomacy and joint staff planning. This article explores a new dimension, the French army’s assessment of the military capability of their potential comrades in arms across the Channel. It suggests that through careful study and with appropriate nurturing the French came to appreciate the professional British army as a small but effective fighting force that would prove a valuable addition to France’s fighting strength in the event of war with Germany

The Big Push : l’armée britannique sur la Somme

Au printemps 1916, l’armée britannique est renforcée par de nouveaux bataillons de volontaires type « Lord Kitchener ». Le 1er juillet 1916, ces derniers sont, pour la première fois, engagés en masse dans la bataille de la Somme. Ils sont cependant peu formés à l’usage de l’armement et peu rodés aux techniques de combat des tranchées. Les résultats de l’offensive sont décevants malgré les 19 800 Tommies morts lors de la première journée de combat. Le peuple britannique est profondément affecté. C’est pour cette raison que la bataille de la Somme reste incomprise de l’opinion et sa signification stratégique ignorée. Fondamentale pour l’aguerrissement des unités de soldats-citoyens britanniques, la bataille de la Somme a contribué à l’affaiblissement de l’armée allemande et, par là même, à la victoire alliée de 1918. Elle a en outre démontré la supériorité industrielle de l’Empire britannique.The Big Push: the British Army on the Somme, 1916. On the Somme in 1916 the British army fought its first mass battle, with new weapons and unfamiliar techniques. That it performed poorly at a tactical level is well known. The scars which this left on the nation’s psyche are indelible, and have ensured that the battle is misunderstood, and that its strategic importance remains unappreciated. The real significance of the Somme, beyond its importance as a training ground for Britain’s citizen army, is that it ground down the German army by a process of sustained attrition. In the material intensive industrial warfare that characterised the western front, British arms, backed by British industry, holds the advantage. Without such a ‘wearing-out fight’ the allied victories that followed would not have been possible

Le Department of War Studies du King’s College de Londres

Le Department of War Studies du King’s College de Londres est unique et mondialement connu pour l’étude de la guerre et des conflits contemporains. Depuis 50 ans, ses spécialistes et ses étudiants se penchent sur leurs causes, la façon de les mener et leurs conséquences, comme par exemple les changements géopolitiques entraînés par la guerre froide et la confrontation nucléaire dans le cadre de la « guerre contre la terreur », ou encore par la contre-insurrection et la « consolidation de la p..

Single-Unit Responses Selective for Whole Faces in the Human Amygdala

The human amygdala is critical for social cognition from faces, as borne out by impairments in recognizing facial emotion following amygdala lesions and differential activation of the amygdala by faces. Single-unit recordings in the primate amygdala have documented responses selective for faces, their identity, or emotional expression, yet how the amygdala represents face information remains unknown. Does it encode specific features of faces that are particularly critical for recognizing emotions (such as the eyes), or does it encode the whole face, a level of representation that might be the proximal substrate for subsequent social cognition? We investigated this question by recording from over 200 single neurons in the amygdalae of seven neurosurgical patients with implanted depth electrodes. We found that approximately half of all neurons responded to faces or parts of faces. Approximately 20% of all neurons responded selectively only to the whole face. Although responding most to whole faces, these neurons paradoxically responded more when only a small part of the face was shown compared to when almost the entire face was shown. We suggest that the human amygdala plays a predominant role in representing global information about faces, possibly achieved through inhibition between individual facial features

Rereading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: plurality and contestation, not consensus

In this paper I examine the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My analysis counters conventional narratives of consensus and imposition that characterize the development of the UN human rights regime. The central argument is that within the founding text of the contemporary human rights movement there is an ambiguous account of rights, which exceeds easy categorization of international rights as universal moral principles or merely an ideological imposition by liberal powers. Acknowledging this ambiguous history, I argue, opens the way to an understanding of human rights as an ongoing politics, a contestation over the terms of legitimate political authority and the meaning of “humanity” as a political identity

Clarithromycin and endoscopic sinus surgery for adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyps: study protocol for the MACRO randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common source of ill health; 11% of UK adults reported CRS symptoms in a worldwide population study. Guidelines are conflicting regarding whether antibiotics should be included in primary medical management, reflecting the lack of evidence in systematic reviews. Insufficient evidence to inform the role of surgery contributes to a fivefold variation in UK intervention rates. The objective of this trial is to establish the comparative effectiveness of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) or a prolonged course of antibiotics (clarithromycin) in adult patients with CRS in terms of symptomatic improvement and costs to the National Health Service compared with standard medical care (intranasal medication) at 6 months. METHODS/DESIGN: A three-arm parallel-group trial will be conducted with patients who remain symptomatic after receiving appropriate medical therapy (either in primary or secondary care). They will be randomised to receive: (1) intranasal medication plus ESS, (2) intranasal medication plus clarithromycin (250 mg) or (3) intranasal medication plus a placebo. Intranasal medication (current standard medical care) is defined as a spray or drops of intranasal corticosteroids and saline irrigations. The primary outcome measure is the SNOT-22 questionnaire, which assesses disease-specific health-related quality of life. The study sample size is 600. Principal analyses will be according to the randomised groups irrespective of compliance. The trial will be conducted in at least 16 secondary or tertiary care centres with an internal pilot at six sites for 6 months. DISCUSSION: The potential cardiovascular side effects of macrolide antibiotics have been recently highlighted. The effectiveness of antibiotics will be established through this trial, which may help to reduce unnecessary usage and potential morbidity. If ESS is shown to be clinically effective and cost-effective, the trial may encourage earlier intervention. In contrast, if it is shown to be ineffective, then there should be a significant reduction in surgery rates. The trial results will feed into the other components of the MACRO research programme to establish best practice for the management of adults with CRS and design the ideal patient pathway across primary and secondary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN36962030 . Registered on 17 October 2018

Phosphorylated Dihydroceramides from Common Human Bacteria Are Recovered in Human Tissues

Novel phosphorylated dihydroceramide (PDHC) lipids produced by the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis include phosphoethanolamine (PE DHC) and phosphoglycerol dihydroceramides (PG DHC) lipids. These PDHC lipids mediate cellular effects through Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) including promotion of IL-6 secretion from dendritic cells and inhibition of osteoblast differentiation and function in vitro and in vivo. The PE DHC lipids also enhance (TLR2)-dependent murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model for multiple sclerosis. The unique non-mammalian structures of these lipids allows for their specific quantification in bacteria and human tissues using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-mass spectrometry (MS). Synthesis of these lipids by other common human bacteria and the presence of these lipids in human tissues have not yet been determined. We now report that synthesis of these lipids can be attributed to a small number of intestinal and oral organisms within the Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Prevotella, Tannerella and Porphyromonas genera. Additionally, the PDHCs are not only present in gingival tissues, but are also present in human blood, vasculature tissues and brain. Finally, the distribution of these TLR2-activating lipids in human tissues varies with both the tissue site and disease status of the tissue suggesting a role for PDHCs in human disease

Ibrutinib for Relapsed / Refractory CLL: A UK and Ireland Analysis of Outcomes in 315 patients

In 2014, ibrutinib was made available for relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) patients. The UK CLL Forum collected data from UK/Ireland patients with a minimum of 1 year follow-up with pre-planned primary endpoints; the number of patients still on therapy at 1 year (Discontinuation Free Survival; DFS) and 1 year overall survival (OS). With a median 16 months follow-up, data on 315 patients demonstrated 1 year DFS of 73.7% and 1 year OS of 83.8%. Patients with better pre-treatment performance status (PS 0/1 vs 2+) had superior DFS (77.5% vs 61.3%;p14 days and had OS of 89.7%, while 26% of patients had dose reductions and 13% had temporary treatment breaks >14 days. We could not demonstrate a detrimental effect of dose reductions alone (1 year OS: 91.7%), but patients who had first year treatment breaks > 14 days, particularly permanent cessation of ibrutinib had both reduced 1 year OS (68.5%) and also a statistically significant excess mortality rate beyond one year. Although outcomes appear inferior to the RESONATE trial (1 year OS;90%: PFS;84%), this may partly reflect the inclusion of PS 2+ patients and that 17.5% of patients permanently discontinued ibrutinib due to an event other than disease progression