Le plan chablis : un outil de planification d'urgence et de gestion de crise pour la forêt wallonne.

La DGARNE, souhaitant anticiper une éventuelle tempête de grande ampleur en forêt wallonne, a mis au point un plan de gestion des crises chablis en vue de pouvoir intervenir de manière coordonnée et réduire les impacts négatifs pour la filière bois. Cet article fait suite à des formations sur la phase d'inventaire rapide du plan chablis données dans tous les cantonnements du DNF

Description of a new procedure to estimate the carbon stocks of all forest pools and impact assessment of methodological choices on the estimates

Forest ecosystems play a major role in atmospheric carbon sequestration and emission. Comparable organic carbon stock estimates at temporal and spatial scales for all forest pools are needed for scientific investigations and political purposes. Therefore, we developed a new carbon stock (CS) estimation procedure that combines forest inventory and soil and litter geodatabases at a regional scale (southern Belgium). This procedure can be implemented in other regions and countries on condition that available external carbon soil and litter data can be linked to forest inventory plots. The presented procedure includes a specific CS estimation method for each of the following forest pools and subpools (in brackets): living biomass (aboveground and belowground), deadwood (dead trees and snags, coarse woody debris and stumps), litter, and soil. The total CS of the forest was estimated at 86 Tg (185 Mg ha-1). Soil up to 0.2 m depth, living biomass, litter, and deadwood CSs account, respectively, for 48, 47, 4, and 1 % of the total CS. The analysis of the CS variation within the pools across ecoregions and forest types revealed in particular that: (1) the living biomass CS of broadleaved forests exceeds that of coniferous forests, (2) the soil and litter CSs of coniferous forest exceed those of broadleaved forests, and (3) beech stands come at the top in carbon stocking capacity. Because our estimates differ sometimes significantly from the previous studies, we compared different methods and their impacts on the estimates. We demonstrated that estimates may vary highly, from -16 to ?12 %, depending on the selected methods. Methodological choices are thus essential especially for estimating CO2 fluxes by the stock change approach. The sources of error and the accuracy of the estimates were discussed extensively

Detection and Quantification of Microparticles from Different Cellular Lineages Using Flow Cytometry. Evaluation of the Impact of Secreted Phospholipase A2 on Microparticle Assessment

Microparticles, also called microvesicles, are submicron extracellular vesicles produced by plasma membrane budding and shedding recognized as key actors in numerous physio(patho)logical processes. Since they can be released by virtually any cell lineages and are retrieved in biological fluids, microparticles appear as potent biomarkers. However, the small dimensions of microparticles and soluble factors present in body fluids can considerably impede their quantification. Here, flow cytometry with improved methodology for microparticle resolution was used to detect microparticles of human and mouse species generated from platelets, red blood cells, endothelial cells, apoptotic thymocytes and cells from the male reproductive tract. A family of soluble proteins, the secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2), comprises enzymes concomitantly expressed with microparticles in biological fluids and that catalyze the hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids. As sPLA2 can hydrolyze phosphatidylserine, a phospholipid frequently used to assess microparticles, and might even clear microparticles, we further considered the impact of relevant sPLA2 enzymes, sPLA2 group IIA, V and X, on microparticle quantification. We observed that if enriched in fluids, certain sPLA2 enzymes impair the quantification of microparticles depending on the species studied, the source of microparticles and the means of detection employed (surface phosphatidylserine or protein antigen detection). This study provides analytical considerations for appropriate interpretation of microparticle cytofluorometric measurements in biological samples containing sPLA2 enzymes

Do Telecommunications and Air/Sea Transport Problems Limit Madagascar's Exports?

This study had its origins in the notion that Madagascar's ability to expand and diversity its exports was significantly hampered by three conditions: *high sea freight rates as a result of oligopolistic practices by a shipping conference; *Air Madagascar's monopoly on air traffic rights; and *an obsolete and often non-functional national telecommunications system. To what extent is the perception correct? For two weeks we asked this question in interviews of manufacturers, shipping agents, airline executives, ship operators, port authorities and government officials. Two weeks are clearly insufficient for a detailed study of both the transportation sector and the telecommunications system. The period may be adequate, however, for the purpose of determining the basic validity of the perceptions which prompted this study. The following, somewhat general statements reflect our conclusions. The rest of the report provides supporting detail.Center for Research on Economic Development, University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100993/1/ECON434.pd

Management of hereditary angioedema: 2010 Canadian approach

C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency is a rare blood disorder resulting in angioedema attacks that are debilitating and may be life-threatening. Prophylaxis and therapy of events has changed since our first Canadian Consensus Conference on the diagnosis, therapy and management of HAE. We have formed the Canadian Hereditary Angioedema Network (CHAEN)/Réseau Canadien d'Angioédème Héréditaire (RCAH) - http://www.haecanada.com to advance care of patients with this disorder in Canada. We here present a review of management of HAE in Canada

A method for rapid volume estimation by girth classes in Norway spruce (Picea abies) stands.

peer reviewedCette étude propose une méthode d’estimation rapide du volume à l’hectare total ou ventilé par catégories de grosseur commerciales pour des peuplements d’épicéa (Picea abies KARST) situés dans la partie sud de la Belgique. L’analyse d’environ 1 800 unités d’échantillonnage a permis d’établir des relations satisfaisantes entre les proportions de volume bois fort tige correspondant à diverses catégories de grosseur et la circonférence de l’arbrc de surface terrière moyenne

Spinal degeneration is associated with lumbar multifidus morphology in secondary care patients with low back or leg pain

Associations between multifidus muscle morphology and degenerative pathologies have been implied in patients with non-specific low back pain, but it is unknown how these are influenced by pathology severity, number, or distribution. MRI measures of pure multifidus muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) were acquired from 522 patients presenting with low back and/or leg symptoms in an outpatient clinic. We explored cross-sectional associations between the presence, distribution, and/or severity of lumbar degenerative pathologies (individually and in aggregate) and muscle outcomes in multivariable analyses (beta coefficients [95% CI]). We identified associations between lower pure multifidus muscle CSA and disc degeneration (at two or more levels): − 4.51 [− 6.72; − 2.3], Modic 2 changes: − 4.06 [− 6.09; − 2.04], endplate defects: − 2.74 [− 4.58; − 0.91], facet arthrosis: − 4.02 [− 6.26; − 1.78], disc herniations: − 3.66 [− 5.8; − 1.52], and when > 5 pathologies were present: − 6.77 [− 9.76; − 3.77], with the last supporting a potential dose–response relationship between number of spinal pathologies and multifidus morphology. Our findings could hypothetically indicate that these spinal and muscle findings: (1) are part of the same degenerative process, (2) result from prior injury or other common antecedent events, or (3) have a directional relationship. Future longitudinal studies are needed to further examine the complex nature of these relationships