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The inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie was portrayed as the most wide-ranging inquiry into failure to protect a child. It was instrumental in the development of the new safeguarding agenda and joined-up children's services in the Children Act 2004. Both its process and outcome appear to fit with New Labour's agenda for joined-up government. A social constructionist analysis reveals it as a narrower project which ignored key issues and failed to make links between government policy, the law, and local authority action. Three issues -i) parental responsibility, ii) treating intra-family child abuse as a crime, and Hi) local authorities' responsibilities for family support -exemplify the inquiry's restrictive approach and the impossibility of joined-up services if central government seeks to retain authority without taking responsibility. Despite its success in changing policy, the Climbie Report shows again the inadequacy of such inquiries as a basis for reform. Language: en

To shed some light on the medicalization movement that has pervaded psychiatry for more than a decade, the authors focus on the origin of our discipline in France from a historical point of view. They compare the work of Philippe Pinel, founder of French psychiatry and the work of the brothers of Saint John of God in the 18th century. These brothers began admitting the mentally ill in five of their French hospitals (Cadillac, Charenton, Château-Thierry, Pontorson and Senlis). They provided sympathetic and compassionate care derived from their Christian humanism and inspired by their founder saint John of God (1495–1550). They materialized the charitable intuition that he had had towards the insane. They gave primacy to compassion in their approach to caring. During the French revolution, as the order of Saint John of God was dissolved and dispersed Philippe Pinel was appointed “Doctor in charge of the infirmaries” at the Bicetre hospital in Paris in 1793. Pinel, who had studied theology, subscribed to the charitable instinct but he transformed it by introducing scientific and empirical philosophic dimensions. He suggested a medical approach based on observation and analysis of large numbers of the mentally ill. As an example of this medicalization process, the authors propose a comment on one of Pinel's articles entitled “Medical Thoughts on the Monastic Life”. This view of the history of psychiatry allows a renewed understanding of our scientific and medical approach in psychiatry. On the other hand, it seems to raise some questions about the place given to subjectivist dimensions, such as empathy, in our daily caring practice.

Although the oleander plant is practically ubiquitous throughout the Mediterranean area, very few publications refer to its cutaneous toxicity.Herein, we report two cases of irritant contact dermatitis caused by oleander. The patients in question were twins who had oleander leaves applied directly to their face for 20minutes. The initial lesions consisted of periorbital erythema, followed by the emergence of papules and macules. Vesicles and crusts appeared over the ensuing 24hours. Treatment included withdrawal of the toxic agent, prescription of oral antihistamines, and the topical application of dermocorticoids to the lesions for two weeks. The outcome on the 9th day was slightly hypochromic and atrophic. Complete restitutio ad integrum of the skin was observed after 30 days.In our patients, a joint effect of ultraviolet radiation (phytophotodermatitis) and chlorine from the swimming pool cannot be ruled out. Although the substances present in oleanders (irritant saponins and glycosides) can cause chemical irritant dermatitis, immunological reactions cannot be excluded. The lack of signs of systemic toxicity observed is the result of the factors governing transdermal diffusion of the toxic glycosides found in oleander.These two cases provide a timely reminder, both for the general public and for healthcare professionals, of the potential biohazards of oleander, not only because of its systemic toxicity but also because of the risks associated with cutaneous exposure.

Resume Le duodenum est la premiere partie de l'intestin grele. Il commence au pylore et se termine a l'angle duodenojejunal de Treitz. Il se divise en quatre parties : le premier duodenum, le deuxieme duodenum, le troisieme duodenum et enfin le quatrieme duodenum. L'endoscopie est la premiere methode d'evaluation des lesions duodenales. Le transit baryte en double contraste est une technique egalement efficace pour etudier les lesions muqueuses et parietales. L'echographie et la tomodensitometrie detectent parfois en premiere intention des lesions duodenales cliniquement meconnues. L'imagerie par resonance magnetique peut egalement analyser le duodenum. Comme le duodenum est moule sur la tete pancreatique, l'imagerie en coupes permet une etude simultanee de ces deux structures.

The quantification of radionuclides by direct gamma-X spectrometry with energy below 100 keV requires knowledge the elementary composition of the sample or the development of a device for determining the mass attenuation coefficients. This is especially true for 129 I which is characterised by a 29.8 keV X-ray and 39.6 keV gamma ray. Experimental equipment has been developed in order to obtain this mass attenuation coefficient as a function of energy. 129 I concentrations were measured in samples of seaweed (Fucus serratus and Laminaria digitata) collected monthly over a period of one year nearby La Hague reprocessing plant in France. This paper describes the measurement methodology used to determine 129 I concentrations and variations in the two seaweeds over a one-year period. Mean mass attenuation coefficients for 129 I energies were established in order to determine the self-attenuation corrective factor for both seaweed species, regardless of the sampling date. Iodine-129 is a beta emitter (T1/2 = 1.57 × 10 7 years) with both natural and artificially produced radionuclides existing in the environment. This radionuclide will decay to emit photons of energies below 40 keV at high intensity. Direct gamma-X spectrometry is therefore well suited to quantifying this radionuclide, provided that self-attenuation corrections are applied. These corrections must not only take into account the density but also the elementary composition of the matrix seeing that the photoelectrical process becomes the dominating interaction phenomenon under 100 keV. We recently developed a corrective method based on transmission measurements (1-2) to determine these self-attenuation correction factors in relation to standard calibration sources. Temporal variations in the self-attenuation coefficient are related to variations in the elementary composition of the matrix, including variations in iodine in the case of seaweed. Our study focused on brown seaweed, more specifically Fucus serratus and Laminaria digitata, which are used as bio-indicators in environmental studies to monitor various pollutants (3-9). The specificity of such seaweed resides in their sedentary nature on the one hand and the fact that they concentrate elements that are only soluble in their surrounding environment on the other hand.

La sécheresse observée depuis plus d'une vingtaine d'années dans les pays sahéliens se fait également ressentir plus au sud dans des régions d'Afrique aux climats plus humides. Cette baisse de la pluviométrie et la diminution des apports en eau de surface qu'elle entraîne y sont de nature à pénaliser les différents projets de développements liés à l'eau. Le programme ICCARE mené par l'ORSTOM a pour objet l'identification et les conséquences de cette variabilité climatique dans l'ensemble de la zone non sahélienne d'Afrique de l'Ouest et Centrale, en s'appuyant sur les données de deux cents postes pluviométriques et sur un ensemble de méthodes alliant représentations cartographiques et procédures statistiques de détection de ruptures dans les séries chronologiques, univariées et multivariées. La simple étude des séries chronologiques de hauteurs précipitées annuelles fait apparaître une nette et brutale fluctuation du régime pluviométrique dans toute la région considérée, à la fin des années 1960 et au début des années 1970. D'une manière générale, il apparaît que ce sont les zones à régime pluviométrique extrême qui ont subi les modifications les plus importantes : les plus arrosées (de la Guinée à la Côte d'Ivoire) et les plus arides (la bordure sahélienne au nord de la zone étudiée). Entre les deux, le phénomène est d'intensité plus nuancée. Les différentes procédures statistiques appliquées aux séries de hauteurs annuelles précipitées soulignent l'existence d'une rupture survenue à la fin des années 1960 ou au début des années 1970, et donc en phase avec ce qui a été observé et étudié au Sahel. D'autres variables permettant une caractérisation plus "qualitative" du phénomène ont également été étudiées. Elles apportent un complément d'information quant aux manifestations de cette variabilité pluviométrique et montrent que la variabilité climatique se traduit à différents niveaux (durée des saisons des pluies, quantités précipitées hors saisons des pluies, etc.). L'examen des séries chronologiques depuis l'origine des stations a permis de resituer l'événement observé dans une perspective historique faite d'alternances de périodes sèches et de périodes humides. Le phénomène observé à la fin des années 1960 et au début des années 1970 apparaît, cependant comme le plus significatif du point de vue statistique. Si les causes premières d'apparition du phénomène sont, à l'heure actuelle, encore insuffisamment expliquées, et ce même si certaines activités humaines y ont, sans aucun doute, contribué, cette baisse de la pluviométrie a, bien entendu, des conséquences importantes sur la disponibilité des ressources en eau dans ces régions. Si la carence pure et simple n'est pas à craindre dans ces régions où les quantités précipitées restent importantes dans l'absolu, les effets de cette variabilité climatique peuvent, malgré tout, se révéler désastreux, en ce sens qu'ils modifient les données d'un équilibre déjà souvent mis à mal par ailleurs (pression anthropique et déforestation par exemple)., The drought observed for more than twenty years in the sahelian countries has also affected those located more to the South with more humid climates (SUTCLIFFE and KNOTT, 1987; NICHOLSON et al, 1988; MAHE and OLIVRY, 1991; OLIVRY et al, 1993 PATUREL et al, 1995). The decrease in rainfall and consequently that in runoff might penalise development projects linked with water supply. The ICCARE programme led by ORSTOM aimed at identifying and measuring the consequences of this climatic variability in the non-sahelian parts of the West and Central African region as a whole. The study was based on rainfall data from more than two hundred stations, break detection methods in the time series as well as cartographic tools were used. This study allowed to highlight the manifestations of the climatic variability observed for nearly 25 years in West and Central Africa. Whereas it had been thought for a long time that the rainfall deficit was restricted to the sahelian region, this study showed that the forest covered regions were also affected and generally speaking the so-called 'humid Africa'. The decrease in rainfall entails that in runoff and thus a change in water resources availability which is the cornerstone of a fairly great number of development projects. Hydrological regimes variability and possible modifications of rainfall-runoff relationship are to be the next stages of the ICCARE programme, partial results were already published (SERVAT et al, 1997). A simple study of the time series showed straightforward fluctuations of the rainfall patterns (figures 2 and 3), which happened during the late sixties or the early seventies over the whole region. The mapping of the time series analysis depicts a clear general trend towards a shift of the isohyets to the south-south-west from the 1950's to the 1980's. This shift reflects a sharp drop in the annual rainfall over the whole of the non-sahelian west and central Africa. Generally speaking it appears that the zones with extreme rainfall patterns underwent the most important modifications, namely : the wettest ones from Guinea to Ivory Coast and the driest ones, bordering the sahelian region to the North of the studied area. Elsewhere changes are less drastic (SERVAT et al, 1996). The different statistical procedures applied to the series of annual rainfall showed breaks taking place during the late 1960's or the early 1970's (figure 4), which was in keeping with what had been observed in the sahelian region. Rainfall deficits were in the order of 20% and they could reach values higher than 25% (table 1), in particular along the Atlantic Coast or in the North, which upholds the fact that 'humid Africa' was also severely affected by the rainfall variability. Other variables which allow a more qualitative characterisation of the phenomenon were also studied (table 2) (figures 5 and 6) ( PATUREL et al, 1997, SERVAT et al, 1997). They brought complementary information about the ways the rainfall variability expresses itself. The pattern of the rainy season was slightly different from what it had been before the 1970's, its length was generally shorter either because it started later than before or because it ended earlier. Likewise, the rainfall distribution was modified, which resulted in a more 'homogeneous' pattern for the zone with only one rainy season and in a sensible change in the ratio of the rainfall heights of the two rainy seasons. Some of the regions of the so-called 'wooded' savannah saw a modification of their climate with a shift from a 'guinean' climate toward a 'sudanese' one. In west Africa some regions saw also a decrease of the amount of precipitation occurring outside the rainy season, which led to a strengthening of the dry season and contributed, if need be, to the perception of the phenomenon by local populations. The decrease in the number of rainy days, where it was possible to study it, was in line with the rainfall deficit. A complementary statistical approach was carried out, it consists of a spatio-temporal study using a multidimensional exploratory analysis (KHODJA et al, 1998). This led to using a multivariate test for detecting a shift in the mean value. This approach confirmed the results obtained with univariate analyses whether it is for the time location of the break (late 1960's, early 1970's) or whether for the heterogeneous character of the phenomenon both from a spatial or temporal point of view. A major characteristic of this persisting rainfall deficit seems to be the existence of two axes of heterogeneity along the north-south and east-west directions (table 3) (figure 7). The survey of the rainfall time series from the origin allowed to place the drought in a historical perspective. So, it appears that, since the beginning of the century, the region underwent a succession of dry and wet periods, although it is difficult to speak of cycles. The phenomenon observed during the late 60's and the early 70's appears, however, as the most significant from a statistical point of view. Besides, the still lasting period of deficit has displayed a length and an intensity quite remarkable, in particular in the north and west sectors of the studied zone where the phenomenon presents an even more exceptional character (figures 8,9,10 and 11). Even though what brought about this diminution in rainfall remains, until now, unexplained, certain human activities undoubtedly contributed to the aggravation of the phenomenon. Although deforestation cannot be held entirely responsible for the drought, the fact remains that overlogging helped to increase the rainfall deficit in numerous regions along the Atlantic coast and the Guinean gulf. Of course, this rainfall deficit has important consequences on the availability of water resources in those regions. Agriculture, the filling of dams and therefore the hydroelectric production, to mention only a few domains, are strongly penalised by this decrease in resources. If a real shortage is not to be feared in those regions where the quantities of precipitation remain high in absolute terms, the effects of that variability can still prove to be disastrous, as they modify the elements of a balance that is already threatened by other factors (anthropic pressure and deforestation, for example). The ICCARE programme, which goes on with the study of the modifications of the river hydrological regimes, will give answers as to the effect of the rainfall deficit upon water resources availability.

Ces 10 dernières années, certains épisodes pluvieux marquants ont entraîné une prise de conscience du risque encouru par les agglomérations modernes face à des phénomènes hydrologiques particuliers. La gestion du risque pluvial passe par une amélioration de la connaissance de l'aléa pluvieux. Dans cet article, on développe une approche stochastique exploitant le potentiel d'informations contenu dans un échantillon d'épisodes pluvieux extrêmes ayant ou ayant pu engendrer des crues dévastatrices. Une approche spatiale est utilisée pour caractériser l'aléa pluvieux. A partir d'un jeu d'épisodes extrêmes sélectionnés sur une région méditerranéenne entre 1958 et 1993, on estime l'aire des surfaces où les précipitations dépassent un seuil de pluviométrie fixé. L'estimation des aires des surfaces pluvieuses nécessite le recours à un modèle d'interpolation spatiale des hauteurs de pluie. La justification du krigeage climatologique est présentée ainsi que l'estimation des paramètres du modèle retenu. Les distributions des aires des isohyètes, à différents seuils de pluviométrie, sont ensuite analysées. Il apparaît que quelle que soit l'isohyète considérée, une loi gamma peut être ajustée sur l'échantillon de surface. Une relation entre les paramètres des lois permet une généralisation du modèle probabiliste à n'importe quel seuil de pluie compris entre 50 et 300 mm., In the last 10 years many cities in southern Europe have been affected by heavy rainfall events leading to severe runoffs. The assessment of rainfall risk requires a better knowledge of the climate hazards and particularly rainfall hazards. The most usual rainfall risk assessment is based on a stochastic approach and point rainfall frequency analysis remains the most-used method. However, in the Mediterranean region great variations of rainfall depth frequencies can be observed according to the point considered, and according to the period of observation. Moreover the recent hydrological catastrophes which have affected the south of France have been studied on an individual basis and studies based on a global approach, using the whole information contained in a sample of several observations, remain unusual.A rainfall risk assessment has been proposed in the Languedoc-Roussillon, a 28,000 km2 region along the Mediterranean sea. This study has been based on a sample of 93 daily extreme rainfall events, which have occurred in the region. They have been extracted from the Météo-France database for the 1958-1993 period of observation, if a rainfall depth greater or equal to 190 mm in 24 hours or 48 hours (because of the sampling constraints) has been observed at one rain gauge in the region at least. The spatial extension of the rainy surfaces defined at different rainfall thresholds, varying from 50 to 250 mm/24 hours and 50 to 300 mm/48 hours, have been investigated. For a given threshold, the area of the rainy surface corresponding to a given frequency has been estimated.The estimation of the rainy surfaces area has required the choice of a spatial interpolation method: the climatological kriging method has been used. This method is based on the assumption that all the rainfall events came from the same meteorological situation, but some studies have shown that there may be different meteorological situations (TOURASSE, 1981; RIVERAIN, 1997). Thus the sensitivity of the interpolation model according to this assumption has been tested. A different interpolation model has been estimated for each season because the information about the meteorological situations which have generated the selected events is not available. Only the variogram over June to August differs significantly from the "annual" variogram. The differences between the rainy surfaces area estimated with the "seasonal" variogram and the "annual" one did not exceed 10% in proportion of the areas estimated with the "annual" variogram. The rainy surface areas are less sensitive to the climatological assumption. For each time step and each rainfall threshold considered, it has been observed that the two parameter Gamma law could best fit the frequencies of the rainy surface areas. The relation between each of the Gamma law parameters and the rain threshold has been estimated (relations R1 and R2). The quantiles of the rainy surface areas have been estimated with two methods :- directly from the fitting of a Gamma function to the sample of rainy surface areas; - using the previous relation to estimate the Gamma function parameters. It has been observed that the quantiles estimated with the second method were close to those estimated with the first method, even if the fitting errors of the R1 and R2 relations were considered. Such a result allows one to estimate the regional frequency of a rainy surface areas defined at each threshold between 50 and 300 mm/48 hours or 50 and 250 mm/24 hours. However extrapolations beyond the studied threshold intervals should not be done because the R1 and R2 relations are empirical.The isohyets area quantiles have been defined: they represent the isohyet area corresponding to a given rainfall threshold and a given return period. The isohyet area quantiles may be very large; for example at the 200 mm / 48 hours threshold the isohyets area represents 15% of the region (4500 km2). This can be explained by the time step dt. The isohyets area represents the dynamics of the convective cells integrated over dt, which remains unknown but is greater than 48 hours. Moreover for a given rainfall threshold and a given event, several separate isohyets could be observed. However in this study only the all areas corresponding to the different isohyets have been estimated. Thus it could give a very large area when the event affects the all region.The ratio between the isohyet area quantiles at the 48-hour and 24-hour time steps evolved from 1.3 to 20: it increased with the rainfall threshold for a given return period. This can be explained by the strong dynamics of the convective cells which generate the highest rainfall depths, compared to the rain cells at a larger spatial scale, which generate lower rainfall depths. Thus the isohyet areas defined at a high rainfall threshold are sensitive to the time steps than isohyet areas defined at a smaller rainfall threshold.The frequencies estimated in this study have been regional frequencies, but it appears that the isohyet areas are not independent of the event's location. However, at this stage the sample is too small to allow a study of conditional frequencies. In order to perform this study the sample has already been enlarged by considering all the French Mediterranean region which have been affected by heavy rainfall depths. It has been based on all the information included in the Météo-France data base over this region (since 1870). The rainfall threshold used to select the rainfall events has been diminished to 90 mm/ 24 hours to include the high intensity events over short time steps which could generated severe floods, especially over small catchments.Combined with the information about the meteorological situations, the development of this work should allow improved studies of the relations between the rainy surfaces and the meteorological situations at the origin of the rainfall events.

Depuis quelques années, un modèle stochastique de génération de hyétogrammes horaires est développé au groupement d'Aix-en-Provence du Cemagref, pour être couplé à une modélisation de la pluie en débit, fournissant ainsi une multitude de scénarios de crues analysés statistiquement et utilisés en prédétermination des débits de crues. L'extension de la zone d'application du modèle de pluies horaires au-delà de sa zone de conception, a fait apparaître une hétérogénéité dans les résultats. Ce constat a entraîné certaines modifications du modèle comme : la recherche d'une loi de probabilité théorique peu sensible aux problèmes d'échantillonnage pour une variable du modèle (intensité d'une averse), la prise en compte originale de la dépendance observée entre deux variables du modèle (durée et intensité d'une averse), et la modélisation de la persistance des averses au sein d'une même période pluvieuse. Ces différentes modifications apportées au modèle initial ont entraîné une très nette amélioration de ses performances sur la cinquantaine de postes pluviographiques du pourtour méditerranéen français. On obtient ainsi un outil beaucoup plus robuste et validé sur une zone étendue, capable de fournir de multiples formes de hyétogrammes, couvrant toute la gamme des fréquences, permettant ainsi de s'affranchir des pluies de projet uniques. On aborde aussi une nouvelle approche du comportement à l'infini des distributions de fréquences des pluies qui semble parfois supérieur à une tendance strictement exponentielle. De plus, l'étude de plusieurs événements par an dont chacun présente plusieurs réalisations des différentes variables du modèle augmente la taille des échantillons analysés, semblant rendre la méthode plus rapidement fiable qu'une approche statistique classique basée par exemple sur l'ajustement de valeurs maximales annuelles., A stochastic model for generating hourly hyetographs has been recently developed, in the Cemagref of Aix-en-Provence, to be coupled with a rainfall runoff conversion modelling. Thus, by simulation of very long periods (1000 years for example), we obtain a large number of hourly hyetographs and flood scenarios that are statistically studied and used in flood predetermination problems. The rainfall model studied is based on the theory that rainfall can be linked to a random and intermittent process whose evolution is described by stochastic laws. It is also based on the hypothesis of independence between variables describing hyetographs and on the hypothesis of the stationary nature of the phenomenon studied. Generating a rainfall time series involves two steps : descriptive study of the phenomenon (nine independent variables are chosen to describe the phenomenon and these variables are defined by a theoretical law of probability fitted to the observations) and creation of a rainfall time series using descriptive variables generated randomly from their law of probability. Initially developed on the Réal Collobrier watershed data, the model has been applied to fifty raingauges located on the Mediterranean French seaboard. The extension of the model applying area has shown heterogeneousness in the results. Therefore, modifications have been made to the model to improve its performances. Among these modifications, three of them have presented notable improvements. A study of the sensitivity of the parameters has been made. Parameters of shape variables and of some other variables had only a slight influence on depth of generated rainfalls. But, the law of mean rainfall intensities clearly differentiates the stations. Then, a theoretical probability distribution for the storm intensity variable, less sensitive to the sampling problems, has been searched. An exponential distribution is fitted to the value smaller than four times the mean of the variable. A slope breakage was then introduced to generate all the values beyond this limit. The breakage at the value four times the mean of the variable and modelling this breakage were based on a study of so-called "regional" distributions of the storm intensity variable. These distributions were designed by clustering the variable's homogenized values for all 50 studied stations. A second modification has been made to develop new model for the observed dependence between two variables (duration and intensity of the storm). The study of this dependence has been considered directly based on the cumulative frequency of the two variables. Then, an additional parameter was defined to model the dependence between the probabilities of the two variables. This parameter characterises the cumulative frequency curve of the sum of the probabilities of the two variables. This point, neglected during a long time, has been very important in the improvement of the model. Finally, the modelling of storm persistence in a same rainfall episode has been studied to generate some high 24 hours maximum rainfalls. Persistence modelling is entirely justified by the fact that "ordinary storms" cluster together around the "main storm" (the "main storm" is the greatest storm of an episode and the "ordinary storms" are the other storms of the episode). When the study of this phenomenon is extended, it can be observed that there is a certain positive dependency between occurrence probability of the "main storm" and occurrence probability of storms which come before or after it. Two combined effects occur : within one rainy episode, the strongest "ordinary storms" are preferentially clustered together around the "main storm", and considering the number of "ordinary storms" throughout all the episodes, the strongest storms close to the "main storm" are preferentially associated with the strongest "main storms" and vice versa. This modification improves the performances of the altitude raingauges, which are characterised by high daily rainfall accumulations. The different modifications added to the initial model, give very important improvements on the calibration of the fifty raingauges studied on the French Mediterranean seaboard. Its aptitude to generate rains observed in Mediterranean climate, strongly variables, consolidates us in the idea of its application on a zone much larger. The generation of hyetographs makes it possible to use the maximum the temporal information of the rain. Thus, we obtain a reliable tool, validated on a large area, for simulating hyetographs and hourly flood scenarios at all frequencies, and used instead of a unique design storm and design flood. The approach allows a new cumulative probability curve extrapolation, which seems sometimes greater than an exponential behaviour. Moreover, the study of many events per year, with many occurrences of the different variables of the model, increase the analysed sample size and seems to make the method more reliable than a statistical approach simply based, for example, on the fitting of annual maximum values.

La caractérisation précise de l'aléa climatique nécessite l'exploitation de mesures reposant sur la période d'observation la plus longue possible. Souvent cette information est constituée de mesures au sol à partir de postes pluviométriques. L'évolution dans l'espace et dans le temps des réseaux de pluviomètres introduit un biais dans toute étude stochastique spatiale ou ponctuelle reposant sur des séries de valeurs échantillonnées à partir d'un tel réseau. On se propose dans cet article de quantifier la potentialité d'un réseau de pluviomètres à intercepter des surfaces de pluie, en fonction de leur aire et des caractéristiques de ce réseau à une date donnée. On procède par simulation à partir du réseau de pluviomètres géré par Météo-France sur la région Languedoc-Roussillon, étudié sur une période de 123 ans. On définit la notion de pourcentage d'observation, qui représente la proportion de surface pluvieuse affectant la région et qui ont été interceptées par le réseau de mesure. Toutes études statistique reposant sur des séries de mesure échantillonnées à partir du réseau seront biaisées, étant donné qu'entre 1958 et 1993, on observe qu'une proportion des surfaces pluvieuses de moins de 2000 km2 qui ont touché la région étudiée. Ce pourcentage d'observation est ensuite utilisé pour débiaiser les estimations de l'aléa pluvieux régional reposant sur le réseau de pluviomètres., The most usual rainfall risk assessment, based on a stochastic approach, or an accurate quantiles estimation, requires long series of observations. Most of the time when long periods of observation are considered, the available information consists of data from daily rain gauge networks which are evolving in space and time during these periods. As the rainy surfaces which generate the highest intensities are localised in space, the intergauge distances may be too large to "observe" all the rainfall events occurring over a given network. Thus it could bias the stochastic results based on values sampled from such a network, especially when extreme rainfall events are considered. The aim of this paper is to estimate the capacity of a daily rain gauge network to intercept rainy surfaces according to their area and the network density. The results have been used to estimate the bias introduced in rainfall risk assessment using the regional frequencies of isohyets areas observed in the studied region.The network studied is the Languedoc-Roussillon daily rain gauge network, in a French region along the Mediterranean sea. The network has been developed by Météo-France since 1870. The number of gauges put into service has varied during the 1870-1993 period of observation: from 3 gauges in 1870, the maximum reached was 353 gauges in 1969 and 1972, which represented a spatial mean density of 12.6 gauges/ 1000 km2. Since 1972 the number of gauges has decreased; in 1993 the gauge density was the same as in 1963, with 10.6 gauges/ 1000 km2. Nevertheless the clustered gauges have been reduced, as have the maximum intergauge distances, and the network has become more homogeneous over the region.Using simulation, the percentage of rainy surfaces which have affected the region, and which have been observed by the rain gauge network, has been estimated, as a function of the rainy surfaces area and the rain gauge density. It could be interpreted as the empirical expression of the probability to observe a given rainy surface with a given network configuration. Two periods have been considered, 1870-1957 and 1958-1993. Two simulation methods have been used: in the first the rainy surfaces have been considered to be static and in the second their motion has been taken into account. It has appeared that considering the motion of rainy surfaces yields the same results as the static method but with a different rainy surface geometry. The small differences between the percentage of rainy surfaces observed by the network in both cases can be explained by the simulation methods. It has been shown that the average probability over the period from 1870 to 1957 of observing a given rainy surface is 2 to 4 times less than the average probability over the 1958-1993 observation period, during which the gauge density has increased and the network has become more homogeneous over the region: over the 1870-1957 period the rain gauge network intercepted 50% at least of the rainy surfaces equal to or larger than 700 km2 but in the 1958-1993 period 50% at least of the rainy surfaces were observed if their area exceeded 80 km2. If the rainfall event which affected the N"mes hydrological system on 2-3 October 1988 is considered, these results have shown that the average probability over the 1870-1957 observation period to observe such an event is 2 times less than over the 1958-1993 observation period.In a recent study, a rainfall risk assessment has been made over the Languedoc-Roussillon region, using the frequencies of the isohyets areas defined for different rain thresholds, for 24-hour and 48-hour durations. These isohyets areas have been estimated on the basis of a sample of 93 rainfall events selected over the Languedoc-Roussillon region from 1958 to 1993 (Neppel et al., 1998). A method to estimate the bias introduced by the network in the estimation of the isohyets area return periods has been carried out, using this empirical probability estimated with the static simulation method. It has been shown that the bias only affects the more frequent isohyets area quantiles, corresponding to return period of 1 year for 48-hour duration and 1 to 3 years for 24-hour duration. Moreover, for this sample and this network, it has been shown that the bias would be negligible compared to the quantiles 5% confidence limits, whatever the return period and the time step. It must be noted that with this sample the 5% confidence limits of the quantiles sometimes reach 100% of the quantiles. The results are related to the sample and the network configuration, and they should not be extended to other areas or other samples: a larger sample over the same region could lead to narrower confidence limits, in which case the bias might no longer be negligible. In particular, the use of historical data needs to consider the longest observation period. Usually the rain gauge density decreases over such observation periods, which leads to a lower empirical probability of observing rainy surfaces according to their area. Thus the bias influence may increase, especially compared with the quantiles 5% confidence limits which are reduced when the sample is enlarged. Nevertheless the method described here is general and may be transposed to other geographical zones, provided that the isohyets area frequencies and the empirical probability of observing a rainy surface according to its area, corresponding to the network under consideration, are known.The current tendency in France is to reduce the number of daily rain gauges, managed by volunteers, and to replace them by automatic rain gauges. However in such a case the density would decrease and reach that observed in 1900. When rainfall risk assessment is considered, this study has shown the drawbacks of such a policy.

Resume En pratique clinique, les techniques disponibles pour etudier morphologiquement l’intestin grele sont variees et multiples : radiologie conventionnelle incluant notamment le transit du grele et l’angiographie, l’echographie, le scanner et l’imagerie par resonance magnetique. Les ameliorations continues de ces methodes rendent possible la detection de petites anomalies de la muqueuse et de la paroi intestinale. Neanmoins, pour des raisons economiques et medicales, les radiologues doivent desormais choisir la methode d’examen la mieux adaptee a la presentation clinique.

The analysis of methane concentration in natural systems, such as soil, water and atmosphere, is becoming an important and delicate task for environmental research. (1)The characterization of the spatial and temporal variability of these emissions is an important and urgent target for greenhouse-gas and global change studies. In this respect a series of technical specifications are demanded by the scientific community, including sensor portability, low detection limit and the need of analyzing small volumes of gas. Solid-state gas sensors are increasingly used for environmental measurements. A metal oxide semiconductor (e.g., SnO2, ZnO2,) is used to fabricate chemical sensors for several gases, in particular methane. The potential of this technique is based on the low conductivity of the material in clean air, which increases with the methane gas concentration in the air. Sensitivity, selectivity, power consumption, long-term stability, and reaction time are all linked together. They all depend on the physico-chemical and geometrical structure of the sensitive layer. This means that improving one parameter has an influence on the others. Therefore, it is necessary to make compromises and select the combination of performances that best meet the application requirements.

A new seafloor lander module, the Gas Monitoring Module (GMM), has been developed for continuous and long-term measurements of methane concentration in seawater at the benthic boundary layer, as a result of marine environmental geology and technology synergy. The module is designed to host a series of sensors controlled and managed by a data acquisition and control system able to perform first-level data quality checks. The prototype includes semiconductor methane sensors, an H2S sensor and a CTD for temperature, salinity, pressure recording, as well as interfaces for additional sensors. The GMM can be linked to submarine cables for real-time data transmission to onshore operators and is suitable for long-term monitoring of natural gas emissions from seafloor or leakages from pipelines and boreholes.

Depuis 1991, l'IRSN realise un suivi radioecologique annuel de l'environnement des installations electronucleaires francaises. Plus de 5 000 echantillons, preleves dans le milieu terrestre et aquatique autour des 20 sites etudies, ont ainsi ete analyses par spectrometrie gamma a bas niveau. Cette synthese permet d'etablir un bilan de 11 ans d'etudes, en presentant les objectifs et methodes mises en œuvre, et en enoncant les principales observations et conclusions qui peuvent ressortir de l'analyse des resultats de mesures obtenus. Il apparait que les rejets atmospheriques chroniques de radionucleides emetteurs gamma effectues par les CNPE ne conduisent le plus souvent pas a des apports decelables dans l'environnement des sites. Ces observations ont conduit l'IRSN a reduire le nombre d'analyses portant sur des echantillons du milieu terrestre a partir de 2000. Les rejets liquides sont, quant a eux, responsables d'un marquage de l'environnement aquatique, mis en evidence par la detection de faibles activites de 60 Co, 58 Co, Ag ou 54 Mn, et des differences significatives des valeurs des rapports d'activites 137 Cs/134 Cs mesures en aval des installations. Les apports de radioactivite gamma artificielle en Manche sont egalement decelables dans les echantillons marins preleves a proximite des CNPE. Toutefois, ce marquage peut etre difficile a mettre en evidence du fait de la presence des radionucleides artificiels rejetes par les installations de COGEMA-La Hague. Au-dela des informations importantes que ces etudes apportent quant au marquage de l'environnement par les rejets des CNPE, les resultats acquis depuis 1991 constituent une source importante de donnees qui nous informent sur le devenir et la repartition des radionucleides dans l'environnement.

Au sein d'un CHRS a Marseille, nous avons suivi en consultation de prevention et d'acces aux soins de sante mentale, 28 patients de sexe masculin, pendant 16 mois. Comme diagnostic psychiatrique principal sur l'axe I du DSM-IV : sept patients souffraient de schizophrenie, huit de troubles de l'humeur, onze d'une dependance alcoolique et deux de troubles anxieux. Huit presentaient une comorbidite psychiatrique et treize une comorbidite somatique. Les caracteristiques cliniques suivantes ont ete mises en evidence : la severite des symptomes, la frequence de la comorbidite et la pejoration du pronostic. Enfin, la difficulte de prise en charge therapeutique nous a semble liee a la repetition des ruptures de lien dont souffre ce type de patient. Une identification precoce des dysfonctionnements des relations intra-familiales generant une rupture que l'on pourrait qualifier de fondatrice et une prise en charge precoce des troubles de l'attachement apparaissent comme une voie possible de prevention et de recherche en ce qui concerne l'association des troubles mentaux et de la precarite.

Two pockmark fields, located along the coastal zone of the Patras and Corinth gulfs, Greece were surveyed in detail. The pockmark fields, which are 30 km apart, are formed in shallow waters at depths of 20–40 m and are about 0.5–1 km from the shoreline. The oceanographic data suggest that two different mechanisms were responsible for their formation. The pockmark field in the Patras Gulf appears to have been formed as a result of methane seepage from the seabed, whereas the field in the Corinth Gulf appears to have resulted from groundwater seepage.

The kinetics of pure Mo, Re and Ru metals, as well as their alloys 52.5at. Mo – 47.5at. Re and 90at. Mo – 10at. Ru electrochemical dissolution during potential controlled electrolysis at a temperature T=25 °C in 0.5–6.0M HNO3 solutions were studied. The dissolution kinetics for all metal and alloy electrodes under study were found to be of zero order vs. metal concentration in the electrolyte. Rate constants for Mo electrochemical dissolution increased from 1.68×10-3 to 5.99×10-3mol cm-2h-1 with the growth of HNO3 concentration in the electrolyte from 0.5 to 4.0M. Further increase of the acid concentration in the solution to 6.0M did not result in the acceleration of Mo electrochemical dissolution. Rate constants of Re and Ru metals electrochemical dissolution increased monotonously from 4.27×10-4 to 1.7×10-3mol cm-2 h-1 for Re and from 1.28×10-4 to 1.61×10-3mol cm-2 h-1 for Ru with the rise of HNO3 concentration from 0.5 to 6.0M. Dissolution of Mo-Re and Mo-Ru alloys was congruent. With the increase of HNO3 concentration in the electrolyte from 0.5 to 6.0M, the dissolution rate constant of Mo-Re alloy was increasing from 1.33 to 7.60×10-3mol(Mo+Re)cm-2h-1. Maximum rates of Mo-Ru alloy electrochemical dissolution from 2.21×10-3 to 3.28×10-3mol(Mo+Ru)cm-2 h-1 were observed in 2.0–4.0M HNO3 at the electrolysis potential E=1.6V/SCE. The main electrochemical and chemical processes occurring at the metal and alloy electrodes and resulting in the metals dissolution are pointed out.

SummaryA method for simultaneous quantitative determination of Mo(VI), Re(VII), Ru(III) and NO3-ions in aqueous solutions, using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) technique with direct UV detection, was developed. Electrophoretic mobility of Ru(III) ions in 0.1M NaHCO3solution was determined as 6.0×10-8m2V-1s-1at 25 °C. The best analytical characteristics of the developed method were achieved with a 100mM carbonate buffer solution containing 0.3mM TTAB, at a pH value of 9.8 and at an applied voltage of 10kV. Under these conditions, a linear relationship between the measured absorbance (λ=230nm) and the concentration of the species under study were observed in the range 5×10-6–10-3M for Mo(VI), 7×10-6–10-3M for Re(VII) and 10-5–-4M for Ru(III). The minimum detectable concentrations were determined as 4.1×10-6M for NO3-, 5.2×10-6M for Mo(VI), 7.4×10-6M for Re(VII) and 1.0×10-5M for Ru(III). The accuracy of quantitative determination was estimated as 3%–5% for NO3-and 5%–6% for Mo(VI), Re(VII) and Ru(III) ions. The presence of 0.06M NaNO3(HNO3) and of 10-3M U(VI) in the sample affected neither the detection limits of the species under study nor the selectivity of the method.

Despite some progress, the issue of equality at work remains more of an aspiration than achievement for organizations in developed economies across the world. In the UK, the debate on equality at work has been rekindled with a Labour government taking office, in 1997, with a commitment to equality generally and for women specifically. Fuelling the debate is the notion of managing diversity, which has emanated from the USA in recent years. This article seeks to explore the current nature of equality at work in the UK and gauge if managing diversity is in any way manifest in current organizational approaches to equality management. The exploration is rooted in four case-study organizations and is conducted through the lens of key organizational stakeholders. Beyond exposing the contemporary nature of equality at work in the case-study organizations, the empirical work allows the issues involved in the implementation of managing diversity in the UK context to be signalled.

Resume Pour mieux comprendre les mecanismes de la prise de conscience dont les consequences sont multiples en psychopathologie, nous nous sommes interesses a la question de l’examen de conscience. Dans sa version philosophique, il remonte a l’Antiquite grecque et connait des prolongements jusqu’a Montaigne et Kierkegaard. Ce moyen de connaissance de soi ne s’eloigne jamais totalement d’une pratique spirituelle. L’examen de conscience est en effet present dans les grandes traditions religieuses. L’exemple de saint Augustin qui developpe, dans Les Confessions, les transformations et les changements induits dans sa vie par une prise de conscience fondatrice, celle d’etre fait pour Dieu, constitue sans doute le paradigme de l’examen de conscience chretien. Par ailleurs les auteurs spirituels soulignent souvent les risques d’un examen centre sur soi et non ouvert a l’alterite. Il ne semble pas qu’il puisse y avoir prise de conscience sans decentrement. C’est ce que suggere Jaspers qui la definit comme un acheminement vers une revelation.

Police protection (Children Act 1989, s.46) is a long-established police power allowing the removal or detention of children suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This article outlines the findings of research into its use and discusses how it is viewed by the police and social workers. It explores how the use of the power affects relationships between parents and children, between families and social services, and between social services and the police. Rather than merely being about protecting children, the power operates to protect the police, social services and families; both police officers and social workers acknowledge this. It also re-balances relationships between parents and children, and between families and social services. This changing balance is not only in the way that might be expected (removing power from children and families and giving it to the state); alliance with the police can assist children and parents to make demands on social services.

As part of the work of the Groupe Radioecologie Nord Cotentin (the Nord Cotentin Radioecology Group or GRNC), a study has been carried out of potential routes of exposure associated with the industrial extraction of gelling agent from seaweed harvested on the coastline of the English Channel. The main question was whether the seaweed transformation operations tend to eliminate or concentrate the radioactivity in the consumed products. Work carried out in 1989 showed that the extraction of gelling agents from seaweed results in a significant reduction in the artificial radioactivity present in the raw product for radionuclides such as 137 Cs, 125 Sb, 106 Ru-Rh, 60 Co, 99 Tc, 110m Ag, but with the exception of 90 Sr. However, it seemed important to complete this work by studying transfers of 129 I, plutonium isotopes ( 238, 239, 240 Pu), 241 Am and 244 Cm. The seaweed species studied (Laminaria digitata and Chondrus crispus) were collected during February 1999 in the port of Goury, 5 km from the outlet pipe of the La Hague COGEMA nuclear reprocessing plant. This new study confirms that a significant proportion of the artificial radioactivity present in the initial product is eliminated in the end products, including Iodine, Plutonium, Americium and Curium.

In certain areas of the French Atlantic coast, algae of marine origin are used as organic fenilizer, particularly for vegetables cultivation. An experiment was carried out to estimate the transfers of radioactivity towards agricultural productions, which could result from this practice in the case where algae were contaminated Algae (fucus vesiculosus) were cultivated in aquarium with seawater containing a mixture of radionuclides: "Na, *°Co, w Sr, "TC, l06 Ru, l2i Sb, IM ' ll7 Cs, 238 - I№,2w Pu i 1,1 Am, 2**Cm. These algae were mixed, in a lysimeter, with a silty- sandy soil. Some vegetables, potatoes, lettuces, radishes, beans, tomatoes were cultivated on this manured soil. The soil to plant concentration ratios are given for the edible organs of the plants grown the year following the addition of algae in the soil and for cultures made several years later. On the other hand chemical extractions were performed to evaluate the bioavailable fraction of radionuclides in the soil.

Resume Nous rapportons le cas d’une patiente de 58 ans qui presente une symptomatologie anxieuse paroxystique et recurrente initialement prise pour des attaques de panique. L’analyse semiologique et la realisation d’un EEG ont permis de rectifier le diagnostic au profit d’une epilepsie partielle temporale. Nous presentons les signes cliniques permettant d’orienter le clinicien vers l’un ou l’autre trouble, ainsi que la place centrale de l’EEG et de l’IRM. Enfin, nous discutons le role de l’amygdale dans la genese de la peur, qu’elle soit d’origine epileptique ou panique.

Resume Deja soulevee par les alienistes, la question de la conscience de la maladie a, de nouveau, retenu l’attention des psychiatres en raison de ses implications diagnostiques et therapeutiques. Disposant actuellement d’outils psychometriques fiables, nous avons evalue a l’aide de l’echelle d’Amador (SUMD) une cohorte de 90 patients presentant les diagnostics DSM-IV suivants : 37 souffraient de schizophrenie avec symptomes psychotiques (SP), 14 d’un trouble schizo-affectif avec SP, 18 d’un trouble bipolaire avec SP, sept d’un trouble unipolaire avec SP et 14 d’un trouble unipolaire sans SP. L’analyse statistique des resultats a permis de confirmer que la conscience de la maladie etait significativement plus faible chez les patients souffrant de schizophrenie. Par ailleurs, les attributions causales des symptomes et des consequences sociales du trouble sont significativement moins correctes chez ces patients. Enfin, ces resultats font echo aux recents travaux de Bebbington et White sur le contexte social de l’insight. La pauvrete de l’insight dans certains troubles mentaux est-elle une dimension symptomatique ou est-elle liee aux differences socioculturelles entre le patient et son therapeute ?