The largest prehistoric mound in Europe is the Bronze-Age Hill of Udine (Italy) and legend linked its origin to Attila the Hun

Prehistoric monuments often constitute evident landmarks and sometimes, after falling into disuse, fascinated local people enough to stimulate speculations about their origin over time. According to legend, the Hill of Udine (NE Italy) was built by Attila the Hun's soldiers, but its origin (natural or anthropogenic) has been debated until now. Our research analyzed five new 40-m long stratigraphic cores, investigating for the first time the total thickness of the hill and compared the data with the available archaeological information. Moreover, we considered other hills and mounds in northern Italy and other European regions where folklore traditions relate their origin to Attila. The geoarchaeological and ethnographic data prove that the Hill of Udine is a Bronze Age anthropogenic mound erected between 1400 and 1150 BCE and that, later, folklore has transformed the ancestral memory of its origin into legend. By measuring 30 m in height and over 400,000 m³ in volume, the flat-topped hill is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. This discovery reveals unprecedented skills in earth construction and confirms significant anthropogenic modifications of the environment during Bronze Age.

Règle pédiatrique RC (Radiologique Chimique) : un outil pour optimiser la prise en charge préhospitalière de victimes pédiatriques d’un évènement chimique ou radiologique

En cas d’évènement impliquant des agents chimique ou radiologique, la prise en charge de nombreuses victimes pédiatriques incomberait principalement à des primo-intervenants non spécialisés en pédiatrie ou à des pédiatres peu au fait des modalités de prise en charge en milieu de type NRBC. Pour tenter de pallier cette problématique, nous avons développé un outil s’inspirant de la règle de Broselow pour déterminer le poids des enfants pris en charge et les posologies des thérapeutiques à utiliser en cas d’intoxication par des agents neurotoxiques organophosphorés ou par des agents cyanés. Les modalités de préparation (reconstitution, dilution) des différentes thérapeutiques sont mentionnées sur l’outil pour faciliter l’action des primointervenants. L’outil incorpore également une aide diagnostique s’appuyant sur les différents toxidromes des intoxications chimiques pour orienter les primo-intervenants ainsi que le rappel de quelques actes réflexes (décontamination d’urgence, déshabillage des victimes) à avoir dans un tel contexte qu’il soit radiologique ou chimique. La pertinence de l’outil proposé doit être évaluée lors d’exercices simulant la prise en charge de victimes pédiatriques d’un événement chimique ou radiologique afin de valider son intérêt et d’identifier les modifications ou évolutions nécessaires.

Heterogeneous lyophobic systems based on pure silica ITH-type zeolites: high pressure intrusion of water and electrolyte solutions

During high pressure intrusion of LiCl solutions in ITH-type zeosils a change in system behavior with salt concentration was observed.

Influence of LiCl aqueous solution concentration on the energetic performances of pure silica chabazite

Stored energy is increased by a factor of 5.5 for the “Si-CHA–20 M aqueous LiCl” system compared to the “Si-CHA–water” system.

[Technique, indications, and immediate complications of percutaneously implanted catheters]

Implantation of a device for long-term venous access is a simple procedure that can often be done under local anesthesia, with potentiation if needed. The implantation technique involves puncture of a large venous trunk and creation of a subcutaneous space in which the device can be lodged. Although complications are rare, patients should receive strict surveillance both during the immediate postoperative period and throughout use of the device.

Femoral nerve blockade in children using bupivacaine

The authors evaluated the efficacy and incidence of side effects from blockade of the femoral nerve with 0.5% bupivacaine in 14 children with fracture of the middle third of the femoral shaft. In nine of these children, a pharmacokinetic analysis was also performed. The onset of analgesia occurred in 8.0 +/- 3.5 minutes after blockade of the femoral nerve. One block failed, resulting in iv narcotics being administered to alleviate the pain. In the remaining 13 children, pain decreased to nonexistent in 11 of the children and only mild pain with movement in the remaining two children. The level of analgesia did not change when the children underwent radiographic examination (60 +/- 18 min after the femoral nerve block) and application of traction (124 +/- 19 min after femoral nerve block). The maximum bupivacaine plasma concentration was 0.89 +/- 0.37 microgram/ml, obtained 24.4 +/- 12.6 min after the end of the injection. The femoral nerve blockade with bupivacaine provides prompt, effective, and prolonged analgesia in children suffering from fractures of the femoral shaft, allowing transport, radiographic examination, and application of traction in optimal conditions. Although the sample size was small, the side effects appeared to be rare.

[Spontaneous rupture of the spleen during the development of chronic pancreatitis. One case]

Spontaneous rupture of the spleen is a relatively rare occurrence during the course of chronic pancreatitis. The physiopathology remains imprecise and mechanical factors are associated with pancreatic enzyme diffusion and vascular changes in explaining its aetiology. The diagnosis is difficult since it often mimics an acute exacerbation of pancreatitis or even actual acute pancreatitis when the existence of the pancreatic condition is not previously known. Abdominal echotomography or peritoneal puncture-lavage and, now, CAT scanning are the key factors in reaching the diagnosis.

Degrees of freedom for spherical scatterers

The number of degrees of freedom of the field scattered by a spherical object is evaluated, in the Born approximation, by means of the eigenfunction technique.

Free-space propagation of an aberrating Gaussian beam

Approximate solutions of the wave equation are investigated, which can be considered as Gaussian beams affected by third-order spherical aberration. In practical cases, such beams are good approximations to the beams emerging from media whose square refractive index is described by a fourth-degree polynomial of the transverse coordinate. The measure of their spherical aberration could be a means for the determination of the coefficient of the fourth-order term in the expression of the square refractive index of the gradedindex medium.

Detector nonlinearity effects on the statistics of a fluctuating signal

The effect of the detector nonlinearity on the statistics of a fluctuating signal is evaluated. The input signal is assumed to be log-normally distributed, which is of interest in the study of the laser propagation through the turbulent atmosphere. Both detector threshold and saturation effects are taken into account.

Current views and some suggestions about mutual influences of eye dipoles as revealed by EOG

Electro-oculographic response is recorded from a number of normal subjects: one eye becomes adapted to light, while the contralateral one persists in its dark-adapted state. The viewing eye shows the expected light-induced amplification effect. The contralateral eye shows the expected "paradoxical' curve in 12 cases; in addition, a flat curve is found in 4 cases, and a curve running parallel to that recorded from the light-exposed eye is found in 8 cases. In agreement with a previous report, found in the literature, cortical bio-electrical activity (on-going EEG) also shows a light-induced amplification after the onset of an adapting field. This latter finding is once more confirmed by us. This fact, in conjunction with some recent psychophysical findings (Lansford and Baker effect) leads to infer that interocular EOG influences are mediated by other mechanisms, in addition to spread across facial tissues.

Some questions concerning electroretinographic response and its variability

Changes in retinal potential take place when the eye is adequately stimulated. This evoked response, the electroretinogram (ERG) is recorded in vivo by placing an electrode on the cornea, while the reference electrode is grounded elsewhere. In spite of a great deal of work in this field, the very meaning of ERG, in the frame of visual process, is not yet wholly understood. The present paper produces some data which show that the plot of visual performance vs. time, during the course of the day, runs parallel to that of the size of ERG. The meaning of this finding is discussed, by making reference to the electrical analog of the recording circuit, in terms of lumping approximation.

Open beam waveguides: theory

The propagation of an electromagnetic wave through an open beam waveguide is theoretically investigated in the case where the guiding elements are not inserted in an absorbing screen. Numerical results are derived for the dielectric-frame beam waveguide. The low loss per cell of such a waveguide and the existence of a quasi-repetitive field configuration are explained by the presence of an internal caustic surface, supported by the frames, bounding the axial portion of the beam. The finiteness of the transverse width of the frames and the absence of any outer screen suggest the formation of an external caustic surface, which is closer to the internal one the narrower the frames are. Knowledge of the features of the caustic due to each single frame is of help in the design of the low-loss beam waveguides with prescribed characteristics.

Self-guiding flashlamp-pumped dye lasers

A simple analysis of light amplification in media with inhomogeneous profile of the complex refractive index is carried out. The results are used to account for the waveguide effects observed in superradiant dye lasers with flashlamp excitation and to discuss the basic operations of some new dye laser configurations recently developed.