Deontology and the scientific publication process

After laying down a few markers aimed at distinguishing between what comes under research ethics (which concerns the participant in the research and even society) and what comes under scientific integrity (i.e. the researcher's deontology), an argument is developed concerning the implosion of the peer review process, The argument is made about the implosion of the peer review process, which is a pillar of the functioning of science, as well as about the minor deviations of authors in plagiarism and self-plagiarism, which are indeed a problem of scientific integrity, albeit of moderate importance, but of great significance. An analysis is made of the structural reasons for these various problems; solutions are proposed around the idea of a radical rebalancing in the evaluation of researchers between their scientific production activities and their activities in evaluating the articles and research projects of their peers

Sites archéologiques miniers de Haute-Saône et du nord du Doubs

L’effort porte sur la topographie et l’étude approfondie des complexes miniers souterrains les plus caractéristiques du secteur considéré. Mines de fer Haute-Saône Fleurey-lès-Favernay : l’étude de cette mine de fer oolithique a été engagée suite à des effondrements des galeries d’accès. Montcey : avec la topographie de la grotte-mine des Équevillons, dont l’étude se poursuit, on dispose désormais de documents précis, directement interprétables et comparables entre les deux systèmes d’extract..

Exploitation of beehive products, plant exudates and tars in Corsica during the early Iron Age

International audienceIn the northwestern Mediterranean area, the first Iron Age is characterized by intense contacts and cultural interactions between populations. Archaeological remains such as ceramic vessels or metal and glass objects are usually good indicators of the nature and the intensity of these exchanges, but can also be used to determine the way in which these populations were living at their time. In contrast, organic substances, despite their importance in a wide variety of activities, are rarely investigated due to their low degree of preservation. The recent discovery of a series of amorphous organic residues with adhesive properties at the site of Cuciurpula provided a unique opportunity to address questions related to the types of natural substances exploited, their provenance, their uses and their informational input to intercultural relationships. Our results, based on GC and GC–MS analysis of organic residues preserved at the site of Cuciurpula, provide strong evidence for the most southern use of birch bark tar in Western Europe, and also for the simultaneous use of this substance with pine resin. Beeswax was also identified in some samples. The combined study of residue composition, aspect and location on ceramic sherds reveals a variety of uses, highlighting a complex technical system

Interdisciplinary characterisation and environmental imprints of mining and forestry in the upper Durance valley (France) during the Holocene

International audienceThe upper Durance valley contains the largest silverelead mines of the French Southern Alps. We investigated the characterisation and impact of these mining activities and associated forestry in the Argentière (L'Argentière-La Bessée) and Faravel (Freissinières) districts using a multidisciplinary approach that includes archaeological, palynological, geochemical, anthracological and dendrochrono-logical studies applied to mining remnants and a peat bog (Fangeas, in the Faravel district). More specifically , we studied the occurrence of lead contamination episodes, the chronology of mining activities and their link to the evolution in woodland cover. Our chronology is based on mining archaeology, radiocarbon dating of about thirty charcoal samples and the dendrochronological analysis of more than 170 specimens of exhumed waterlogged wood. The anthracological analysis was established with more than 10,000 charcoals from firesetting. The main geochemical approach was based on the analysis of lead and its stable isotopes in sediment fractions from a peat core. The combination of palynological records and lead isotope imprints were used to characterise (i) a Roman contamination episode unknown to archaeology, (ii) the development of medieval mining activities and (iii) the reactivation of mining during the Modern period and the Industrial Revolution. Medieval mining coincides with an extension of the high mountain agropastoral areas. The in situ continuous human activities in the same industrial territory led to rational communal management of subalpine forests, but also to their parcelling that reached its peak in the High Middle Ages. Mining during the Modern period coincides with significant stress on woodland areas that also appears to be related to lumber and fuel timber production for shipyards (French Royal Navy) as well as the functioning of several military fortresses. The mining reactivation during the 19th c. matched public measures of forest protection that took shape in the afforestation programme of the uplands

Epidemiological evidence of higher susceptibility to vCJD in the young

BACKGROUND: The strikingly young age of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) cases remains unexplained. Age dependent susceptibility to infection has been put forward, but differential dietary exposure to contaminated food products in the UK population according to age and sex during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic may provide a simpler explanation. METHODS: Using recently published estimates of dietary exposure in mathematical models of the epidemiology of the new variant Creutzfeldt Jacob disease (vCJD), we examine whether the age characteristics of vCJD cases may be reproduced. RESULTS: The susceptibility/exposure risk function has likely peaked in adolescents and was followed by a sharp decrease with age, evocative of the profile of exposure to bovine material consumption according to age. However, assuming that the risk of contamination was proportional to exposure, with no age dependent susceptibility, the model failed to reproduce the observed age characteristics of the vCJD cases: The predicted cumulated proportion of cases over 40 years was 48%, in strong disagreement with the observed 10%. Incorporating age dependent susceptibility led to a cumulated proportion of cases over 40 years old of 12%. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis provides evidence that differential dietary exposure alone fails to explain the pattern of age in vCJD cases. Decreasing age related susceptibility is required to reproduce the characteristics of the age distribution of vCJD cases

Response of bone turnover markers to raloxifene treatment in postmenopausal women with osteopenia.

Introduction: The change in bone turnover markers (BTM) in response to osteoporosis therapy can be assessed by a decrease beyond the least significant change (LSC) or below the mean of the reference interval (RI). We compared the performance of these two approaches in women treated with raloxifene. Methods: Fifty postmenopausal osteopenic women, (age 51-72y) were randomised to raloxifene or no treatment for 2 years. Blood samples were collected for the measurement of BTM. The LSC for each marker was calculated from the untreated women and the RI obtained from healthy premenopausal women (age 35-40y). Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at the spine and hip. Results: There was a decrease in BTM in response to raloxifene treatment; percentage change at 12 weeks, CTX -39% (95% CI -48 to -28) and PINP -32% (95% CI -40 to -23) P<0.001. The proportion of women classified as responding to treatment using LSC at 12 weeks was: CTX 38%, PINP 52%, at 48 weeks CTX 60%, PINP 65%. For the RI approach; at 12 weeks CTX and PINP 38%, at 48 weeks CTX 40%, PINP 45%. There was a significant difference in the change in spine BMD in the raloxifene treated group compared to the no-treatment group at week 48; difference 0.031 g/cm2, (95% CI 0.016 to 0.046, P<0.001). Conclusions: The two approaches identified women that reached the target for treatment using BTM. Both LSC and RI criteria appear useful in identifying treatment response but the two approaches do not fully overlap and may be complementary