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Abstract Context Clinical data on transgender children and adolescents are scarce, and sample sizes often do not allow for comparisons according to sex assigned at birth. Besides, most gender identity clinics have pointed to a recent switch in favor of an increase in the number of adolescents assigned females at birth (AFAB) over assigned males at birth (AMAB). Method We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, and psychiatric and social vulnerabilities according to sex assigned at birth for all youths who were treated at the French largest gender identity clinic. In addition, management modalities for gender transition were discussed in multidisciplinary concertation meetings. Results We collected data from 239 youths [162(68%) AFAB, 74(32%) AMAB, and 3(1%) intersex; mean age = 14.5(± 3.16) years]. The distribution of age at referral was better explained by two clusters (C1: N = 61, mean age = 11.3 years, with more AMAB; C2: N = 175, mean age = 15.9 years with more AFAB). 215(91%) youths had gender incongruence, with 32% reporting it before puberty. School drop-out, suicidality, depression, and anxiety were common and occurred significantly more often in the AFAB group. 178(74%) youths experienced social transition within the family, and 144(61%) at school [mean age = 15.13(± 2.06) years]. The social transition was more frequent in the AFAB group. Twenty-six (11%) youths received puberty blockers [mean age = 13.87(± 2.31) years], and 105(44%) received gender-affirming hormones [mean age = 16.87(± 1.4) years]. AMABs were more likely to take puberty blockers, and there was no difference in the proportion of AMAB and AFAB taking gender-affirming hormones. Surgical requests (mainly torsoplasty) were very rare. Conclusion Age at referral should be considered when exploring gender incongruence. During adolescence, we found that gender incongruence has substantial social and psychological effects, particularly on AFAB youths, possibly explaining their higher referral rates to specialized centers, as in other specialized clinics around the world.

We investigate the lock-in zone (LIZ) of the East Greenland Ice Core Project (EastGRIP) region, northeastern Greenland, in detail. We present results from the firn air-pumping campaign of the S6 borehole, forward modeling, and a novel technique for finding the lock-in depth (LID, the top of the LIZ) based on the visual stratigraphy of the EastGRIP ice core. The findings in this work help to deepen our knowledge of how atmospheric gases are trapped in ice cores. CO2, δ15N, and CH4 data suggest that the LID lies around 58 to 61 m depth. With the pixel value intensity and bright-spot analysis based on visual stratigraphy, we can pinpoint a change in ice properties to exactly 58.3 m depth, which we define as the optical lock-in depth (OLID). This visual change in ice properties is caused by the formation of rounded and enclosed air bubbles that alter the measured refraction of the light pathways. The results for the LID and OLID agree accurately on the depth. We furthermore use the visual stratigraphy images to obtain information on the sharpness of the open- to closed-porosity transition. Combining traditional methods with the independent optical method presented here, we can now better constrain the bubble closure processes in polar firn.

While the processes controlling pore closure are broadly understood, the physical mechanisms driving the associated elemental fractionation remains ambiguous. Previous studies have shown that the pore closure process leads to a depletion in small-sized molecules (e.g. H2, O2, Ar, Ne, He) in ice core bubbles relative to larger-sized molecules like N2. This size-dependent fractionation, identified using ice core δ(O2/N2) records, exhibits a clear anti-correlation with local summer solstice insolation, making δ(O2/N2) a valuable ice core dating tool. Mechanisms controlling this relationship are attributed to the physical properties of deep firn. In this study, we compile δ(O2/N2) records from 15 polar ice cores and show a new additional link between δ(O2/N2) and local surface temperature and/or accumulation rate. Using the Crocus snowpack model, we perform sensitivity tests to identify the response of near-surface snow properties to changes in insolation intensity, accumulation rate, and air temperature. These tests support a mechanism linked to firn grain size, such that the larger the grain size for a given density, the stronger the pore closure fractionation and, hence, the lower the δ(O2/N2) values archived in the ice. Based on both snowpack model outputs and data compilation, our findings suggest that local accumulation rate and temperature should be considered when interpreting δ(O2/N2) as a local insolation proxy.

Tout comme les études aréales (area studies), les études anglophones, incluant la civilisation comme un de leur domaines de spécialité, entretiennent des rapports privilégiés avec les grands courants intellectuels transnationaux comme les postcolonial studies qui s’institutionalisent dans les universités du monde anglophone à partir des années 1980. En France, les postcolonial studies suscitèrent une levée de boucliers remarquée dans le milieu universitaire au début des années 2000 témoignant d’une hostilité, étrangement semblable aux virulentes polémiques autour des études décoloniales qui égrènent les discours médiatique, politique et académique depuis la fin des années 2010. Deux questions président ici à ma réflexion : d’une part, en quoi les critiques du postcolonialisme en France – passées et présentes – permettent-elles de penser la place de l’université française dans la division internationale du travail intellectuel ? D’autre part, quel rôle les études civilisationnelles anglophones endossent-elles dans la reproduction d’un impérialisme académique envers les pays dits du Commonwealth ? L’objectif est double : (1) contribuer au projet actuel d’historicisation du positionnement épistémologique des études anglophones en étudiant leurs rapports au postcolonialisme en contexte français et (2) évaluer l’apport de la critique décoloniale aux études civilisationnelles du Commonwealth (plus particulièrement celles qui concernent le continent africain).