Wüstennavigatoren en miniature

Desert navigators en miniature Cataglyphis, a strictly diurnal, heat‐tolerant, high‐speed desert ant, employs a path integrator as its main navigational means. By continually measuring directions steered and distances covered the path integrator computes a navigation vector, which can lead the ant directly back to its central place, the nest, and to any point which it has visited before. The path integration vector receives compass information from the pattern of polarized light in the sky (via a set of specialized photoreceptors at the dorsal rim of the eye), and derives information about travel distance from a stride integrator (pedometer) and an optic‐flow meter exploiting self‐induced image motion across the ventral retina. The path integrator is fully functional already at the beginning of the ant's foraging life. Later it keeps running whenever the ant is on a foraging excursion irrespective of whether other navigational tools are at work as well. Finally it provides a scaffold for landmark learning. View‐based landmark information is acquired by taking panoramic “snapshots” at certain places and routes. By comparing this memorized visual information with the actual one received during later journeys the ants are able to return to familiar places and to follow familiar routes even without the aid of the path integrator. The ant's navigational performances known to date can be simulated by designing a decentralized network, in which the individual tools are interconnected in flexible and context dependent ways.     

Le Moustérien en Croatie

This paper summarises results of the research on Middle Paleolithic of Croatia with a focus on Mousterian industry. The Hrvatsko zagorje (northwestern, continental part of Croatia) and Adriatic coast with its hinterland are physically divided by the Dinarid mountains, and present two different landscapes for the adaptation of Mousterian people. The sites in northwestern Croatia are represented by cave sites, while in Dalmatia, where the climate is milder, open-air sites are more frequent than the caves. During the early Mousterian of northwestern Croatia, Levallois method at Krapina and Vindija sites and cobble wedge method at Krapina [Journal of human evolution 32 (1997) 561-75] were used. Levallois debitage was also present in the late Mousterian assemblages from eastern Adriatic sites, but is absent in the late Mousterian of Hrvatsko zagorje. Sites on the eastern Adriatic coast are often characterized by tools of small size (like the ones of the so-called Micromousterian) and significant presence of denticulates and notched pieces. In both northwestern Croatia and Dalmatia Mousterian people effectively exploited local raw material sources and successfully adapted to different environmental conditions of these regions.     

Hommes et environnements au Paléolithique supérieur en Ukraine continentale et en Crimée : introduction

Research, conducted under the ANR project “Mammouths”, on “the end of the mammoth steppe: Man/Environment relationship during late Pleniglacial in Eastern Europe”, is the subject of several contributions, a part of them is published in this volume, under the heading “Humans and environments during Upper Paleolithic in mainland Ukraine and Crimea”, in the French journal L’anthropologie.     

Prevención cuaternaria en ancianos

Quaternary prevention is a group of measures taken to prevent, decrease and/or alleviate the harm caused by health activities.     

Epidemiología infecciosa en centros gerontológicos

Introduction

Infection processes in gerontology centres (GC) are one of the main causes of mortality and aggravation of concomitant chronic diseases. An epidemiological surveillance system was set up to find out their magnitude and distribution.

Material and methods

A prevalence study was conducted during the years 2006-2009 in 4 GCs of the Matia Foundation. Prevalence was measured by making an annual cut-off, recording: infection type, demographic data, risk factors and antibiotic use. The incidence was measured for two years in one GC as a pilot centre, recording: infection type and antibiotic use.

Results

The prevalence in the GCs varied between 4.8% and 6.44%. The infection incidence density in the pilot study was between 3.45-5.77 infections per 1,000 resident days. The most common infection location and in this order were, respiratory, urinary and cutaneous. The incidence of respiratory infection is more statistically significant in the presence of dysphagia, malnutrition and COPD. However, no significant relationship was seen in the incidence of urinary infection with the different risk factors analysed.

Conclusions

The frequency and repercussions of nosocomial infections in GCs demonstrate the need for intervention plans and the development of adequate prevention measures.     

Mise en place d’une équipe d’experts en physique médicale au Luxembourg : organisation, résultats qualité et radioprotection en médecine nucléaire (2002–2011)

Implementations of the statutory UE requirements concerning ionizing radiation in the medical domain (96/29/Euratom, 13th May 1996; 97/43/Euratom, 30th June 1997) have changed quality control in medical imaging departments. In Luxembourg, the Ministry of Health and the “Union of Luxembourg Hospitals” have thus created a “Medical Physics Cell” (five Medical Physics experts). It is in charge of implementing a standardized program of Quality Assurance (QA) and radiation protection relative to patients as well as staffs, on a coordinated national basis, in all five in-hospital nuclear medicine departments of the country. The program distributes QA controls between three levels, various periodicities and degrees of expertise. It sensitizes staff and medical doctors by trainings and facilitates ISO accreditation. From 2002 to 2011, in all five in-hospital departments of nuclear medicine of a small country, image quality, radiation protection and reference values of each medical equipment were defined and implemented in a standard way. In 2011, the medical physics cell, the driving force leading to the institutionalization of the discipline within the nuclear medicine departments, is considered as a partner rather than as a control body by the teams in charge of the nuclear medicine departments.     

Réflexions sur l’Acheuléen d’Anatolie

The Anatolia occupies one of the main routes for the dispersal of Homo erectus into the Eurasia. The Acheulean bifaces found on each region of Anatolia are the most important evidences of this situation. This vast distribution of the Acheulean bifaces in Anatolia indicates that all of the Anatolia should stay in the Movius Line. This means that the Movius Line should be reexaminate. Recently, the fossil remains of Homo erectus found in Dmanisi (Georgia) and their very old dates around 1.8 million years put forward the importance of Anatolia one more time. Homo erectus who came in Anatolia by following the Levant Corridor might used the Anatolian bridge for passing to the Transcaucasia. If the well-preserved cave site on the line that expands from Hatay to Kars in Anatolia founds and excavates, it will prove additional information some problems about the Homo erectus movements and distribution of Acheulean Industrial Tradition in West Asia. This paper reviews the evidence for the Acheulean in Anatolia and discusses the distribution of Acheulean bifaces in Anatolia, generally found in open air site.