What is it about? The Covid-19 outbreak that we are currently experiencing is not the first one to appear in the world, far from it! We are going to take a look at the epidemic and pandemics that have occurred in the past and classify them according to their severity. Definitions What is an epidemic?…
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After a hard year, still ” coronaviritised “, everybody is longing for some rest. So, leaving aside for a moment the serious subjects, let’s take an interest in a new pathology “the Nobel disease” or nobelitis. What is it about? The Nobel Prize is not awarded to just anyone! Recipients of the most prestigious scientific…
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What is it about? An interesting article by Dai Xuezhi and Xu Jingkai shows us a prospective analysis of protective textiles against chemical hazards just published in E3S Web of Conferences 267, 02072 (2021) ICESCE 2021 (1) 1°) The actual protective clothing As regards protective clothing, he reminds us that the outer layer is…
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My right foot is jealous of my left foot. When one advances, the other wants to pass it. And I, like a fool, walk! Raymond Devos What is it about? When we get up in the morning, we put on our slippers and leave them a little later to put on shoes before going to…
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What is it about? When we talk about a nuclear power plant, we immediately think of ionizing radiation emitted by radioactive products. The radioactive source is external to the body and the exposure is said to be “external”: this phenomenon is called irradiation. But radioelements in the form of particles can enter the body and…
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Reminder: Immediate or emergency decontamination is the process that consists in eliminating as quickly as possible the chemical, biological or radiological agents that have contaminated a person, in order to avoid the propagation of pathogenic effects, in particular on the skin, and the transfer of contamination. This is not the first time that we have…
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What is it all about? The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) (US Department of homeland security) documents more than 200,000 international and domestic terrorist attacks that took place around the world from 1970 to 2019. By providing details on different aspects of each attack, the GTD database informs analysts, policy makers, academics and journalists about patterns…
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What is it about? The underground world is a very special world: it can be populated by specialized workers such as those who dig tunnels (like the one in the Greater Paris Express underpass for example) or sewage workers (we will not talk about miners since there are no more of them in France). These…
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A civil lawsuit was held on January 21, 2021 in the court of Evry against the chemical companies that produced Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War. This news went almost unnoticed, with the coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 monopolizing all the news, yet it reminds us of the darkest moments of the Vietnam War and the use…
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What is it about? Stijn Kuipers of King’s College London has published in 2019 an interesting study on the contribution of synthetic biology in the evolution of biological weapons. This is an opportunity for us to redefine what synthetic biology is and to examine in detail what it could contribute to the improvement of biological…
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By François NR Renaud, Scientific Advisor Vaccine has never been in the news so much It must be admitted that if the scientists had wanted to sabotage their research work they would not have done it otherwise. Well helped moreover by poor communication on the part of politicians and by the continuous news channels always…
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By François NR Renaud, scientific adviser Gloves, whose origin goes back to antiquity, are elements of hand protection; handling (against abrasion), protection against heat or cold (firefighters, metallurgists, welders), protection against chemical or biological products (chemical industry, laboratories), against CBRN threats, against cuts (butchers). They are therefore personal protective equipment (PPE). As far as…
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By François NR Renaud, Scientific Advisor At a time when containment is being debated, I would like to talk to you about Adrien Proust? The story goes that Adrien Proust is certainly less well known than his son Marcel (“in search of lost time”), or even his wife Jeanne Proust, a loving mother who played…
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A short history In Philadelphia, during the 58th American Legion Convention, scheduled for July 21-24, 1976, the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel welcomed the 182 participants. The hotel is a bit “old-fashioned” and the air-conditioning system needs to be repaired. A young 26 year old employee is in charge of controlling it but he falls ill (headaches, aches…
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By François NR RENAUD, honorary professor The explosion in the port of Beirut, on August 4, 2020, of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which destroyed a large part of the Lebanese capital, invites us to remember the usefulness of this product but also its drawbacks and in particular its explosive aspect. History The spectre of…
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Prof. François NR Renaud, Scientific Advisor The Covid-19 outbreak brings us into the mysterious world of vaccines. It has to be said that an effective vaccine against the Sars-Cov-2 virus would be of great use in the fight against the new coronavirus. By the way: What is a vaccine? An “antigen” or, better yet, an…
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What’s this about? We have talked several times about the effectiveness of masks in protecting against Covid-19. These include type 1 or 2 surgical masks, FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3, FMP1, FMP2 and FMP3 and alternative category 1 or 2 masks! All the more so since these masks meet different standards whose criteria do not always…
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In this blog, we followed the Covid-19 outbreak by analyzing its beginning and its evolution from China, then the means of protection such as masks (history of masks, masks for medical use, other masks such as OCOV and measurements of its capacities), the means of disinfection of the coronavirus, treatments (by approaching the modes of…
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What can be observed The number of deaths due to the disease and counted on a daily basis is decreasing; The general excess mortality has reversed; The R0 (number of people infected by a sick person) is almost everywhere less than 1 (1 sick person infects less than 1 person) so the outbreak is regressing…
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What’s this all about? The pandemic at Covid-19 seems to be going away. For us scientists, it has revealed a very large number of lessons: how to deal with such an emerging virus? what pathogenicity? (small gripette or very serious disease?) ; what treatment (hydroxychloroquine, paparacetamol, remdesivir?); reliability of the viral diagnostic test (30% false…
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What’s this all about? We have already talked in this blog about the different masks filtering aerosols. In this period of so-called “deconfinement”, masks are more and more in demand. It is now well understood that the wearing of masks by caregivers, professionals in contact with the public or people moving around in the street…
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