Signs and symptoms.

Abscesses may occur in any kind of tissue but most frequently within the skin surface (where they may be superficial pustules known as boils or deep skin abscesses), in the lungs, brain, teeth, kidneys, and tonsils. Major complications may include spreading of the abscess material to adjacent or remote tissues, and extensive regional tissue death (gangrene).  The main symptoms and signs of a skin abscess are redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function. There may also be high temperature (fever) and chills. If superficial, abscesses may be fluctuant when palpated; this wave-like motion is caused by movement of the pus inside the abscess.  An internal abscess is more difficult to identify, but signs include pain in the affected area, a high temperature, and generally feeling unwell. Internal abscesses rarely heal themselves, so prompt medical attention is indicated if such an abscess is suspected. An abscess can potentially be fatal depending on where it is located.

Causes.

Risk factors for abscess formation include intravenous drug use. Another possible risk factor is a prior history of disc herniation or other spinal abnormality, though this has not been proven.  Abscesses are caused by bacterial infection, parasites, or foreign substances. Bacterial infection is the most common cause. Often many different types of bacteria are involved in a single infection. In the United States and many other areas of the world the most common bacteria present is "methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Among spinal subdural abscesses, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus is the most common organism involved.  Rarely parasites can cause abscesses and this is more common in the developing world. Specific parasites known to do this include dracunculiasis and myiasis.

Perianal abscess.

Surgery of the anal fistula to drain an abscess treats the fistula and reduces likelihood of its recurrence and the need for repeated surgery. There is no evidence that fecal incontinence is a consequence of this surgery for abscess drainage.  Perianal abscesses can be seen in patients with, for example, inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease) or diabetes. Often the abscess will start as an internal wound caused by ulceration, hard stool, or penetrative objects with insufficient lubrication. This wound typically becomes infected as a result of the normal presence of feces in the rectal area, and then develops into an abscess. This often presents itself as a lump of tissue near the anus which grows larger and more painful with time. Like other abscesses, perianal abscesses may require prompt medical treatment, such as an incision and debridement or lancing.

Incisional abscess.

An "incisional abscess" is one that develops as a complication secondary to a surgical incision. It presents as redness and warmth at the margins of the incision with purulent drainage from it. If the diagnosis is uncertain, the wound should be aspirated with a needle, with aspiration of pus confirming the diagnosis and availing for Gram stain and bacterial culture.

Pathophysiology.

An abscess is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body.  The organisms or foreign materials kill the local cells, resulting in the release of cytokines. The cytokines trigger an inflammatory response, which draws large numbers of white blood cells to the area and increases the regional blood flow.  The final structure of the abscess is an abscess wall, or capsule, that is formed by the adjacent healthy cells in an attempt to keep the pus from infecting neighboring structures. However, such encapsulation tends to prevent immune cells from attacking bacteria in the pus, or from reaching the causative organism or foreign object.

Diagnosis.

An abscess is a localized collection of pus (purulent inflammatory tissue) caused by suppuration buried in a tissue, an organ, or a confined space, lined by the pyogenic membrane. Ultrasound imaging in the emergency department can help in a diagnosis.

Classification.

Abscesses may be classified as either "skin abscesses" or "internal abscesses". Skin abscesses are common; internal abscesses tend to be harder to diagnose, and more serious. Skin abscesses are also called cutaneous or subcutaneous abscesses.

IV drug use.

For those with a history of intravenous drug use, an X-ray is recommended before treatment to verify that no needle fragments are present. In this population if there is also a fever present, infectious endocarditis should be considered.

Differential.

Abscesses should be differentiated from empyemas, which are accumulations of pus in a preexisting, rather than a newly formed, anatomical cavity.  Other conditions that can cause similar symptoms include: cellulitis, a sebaceous cyst, and necrotising fasciitis. Cellulitis typically also has an erythematous reaction, but does not confer any purulent drainage.

Treatment.

The standard treatment for an uncomplicated skin or soft tissue abscess is the act of opening and draining. There does not appear to be any benefit from also using antibiotics in most cases. A small amount of evidence did not find a benefit from packing the abscess with gauze.

Incision and drainage.

The abscess should be inspected to identify if foreign objects are a cause, which may require their removal. If foreign objects are not the cause, incising and draining the abscess is standard treatment.  In critical areas where surgery presents a high risk, it may be delayed or used as a last resort. The drainage of a lung abscess may be performed by positioning the patient in a way that enables the contents to be discharged via the respiratory tract. Warm compresses and elevation of the limb may be beneficial for a skin abscess.

Antibiotics.

Most people who have an uncomplicated skin abscess should not use antibiotics. Antibiotics in addition to standard incision and drainage is recommended in persons with severe abscesses, many sites of infection, rapid disease progression, the presence of cellulitis, symptoms indicating bacterial illness throughout the body, or a health condition causing immunosuppression. People who are very young or very old may also need antibiotics. If the abscess does not heal only with incision and drainage, or if the abscess is in a place that is difficult to drain such as the face, hands, or genitals, then antibiotics may be indicated.  In those cases of abscess which do require antibiotic treatment, "Staphylococcus aureus" bacteria is a common cause and an anti-staphylococcus antibiotic such as flucloxacillin or dicloxacillin is used. The Infectious Diseases Society of America advises that the draining of an abscess is not enough to address community-acquired methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA), and in those cases, traditional antibiotics may be ineffective. Alternative antibiotics effective against community-acquired MRSA often include clindamycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The American College of Emergency Physicians advises that typical cases of abscess from MRSA get no benefit from having antibiotic treatment in addition to the standard treatment. If the condition is thought to be cellulitis rather than an abscess, consideration should be given to the possibility of the strep species as a cause, that are still sensitive to traditional anti-staphylococcus agents such as dicloxacillin or cephalexin. This would be in the case of patients that are able to tolerate penicillin. Antibiotic therapy alone without surgical drainage of the abscess is seldom effective due to antibiotics often being unable to get into the abscess and their ineffectiveness at low pH levels.  Culturing the wound is not needed if standard follow-up care can be provided after the incision and drainage. Performing a wound culture is unnecessary because it rarely gives information which can be used to guide treatment.

Packing.

In North America, after drainage, an abscess cavity is often packed, perhaps with cloth, in an attempt to protect the healing wound. However, evidence from emergency medicine literature reports that packing wounds after draining causes pain to the person and does not decrease the rate of recurrence, nor bring faster healing or fewer physician visits.

Loop drainage.

More recently, several North American hospitals have opted for less-invasive loop drainage over standard drainage and wound packing. In one study of 143 pediatric outcomes, a failure rate of 1.4% was reported in the loop group versus 10.5% in the packing group (P<.030), while a separate study reported a 5.5% failure rate among loop patients.

Primary closure.

Closing an abscess immediately after draining it appears to speed healing without increasing the risk of recurrence. This may not apply to anorectal abscesses. While they heal faster, there may be a higher rate of recurrence than those left open.

Prognosis.

Even without treatment, skin abscesses rarely result in death, as they will naturally break through the skin. Other types of abscess are more dangerous. Brain abscesses are fatal if untreated. When treated, the mortality rate reduces to 5-10%, but is higher if the abscess ruptures.

Epidemiology.

Skin abscesses are common and have become more common in recent years. Risk factors include intravenous drug use, with rates reported as high as 65% among users. In 2005 in the United States 3.2 million people went to the emergency department for an abscess. In Australia around 13,000 people were hospitalized in 2008 for the disease.

Society and culture.

The Latin medical aphorism ""ubi pus, ibi evacua"" expresses "where there is pus, there evacuate it" and is classical advice in the culture of Western medicine.  Needle exchange programmes often administer or provide referrals for abscess treatment to injection drug users as part of a harm reduction public health strategy.

Etymology.

An abscess is so called because there is an "abscessus" (a going away or departure) of portions of the animal tissue from each other to make room for the suppurated matter lodged between them.  The word carbuncle is believed to have originated from the Latin: "carbunculus", originally a small coal; diminutive of "carbon-", "carbo": charcoal or ember, but also a carbuncle stone, "precious stones of a red or fiery colour", usually garnets.

Other types.

The following types of abscess are listed in the medical dictionary:

An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends beyond the swelling. Carbuncles and boils are types of abscess that often involve hair follicles, with carbuncles being larger. They are usually caused by a bacterial infection. Often many different types of bacteria are involved in a single infection. In the United States and many other areas of the world the most common bacteria present is "methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Rarely, parasites can cause abscesses; this is more common in the developing world. Diagnosis of a skin abscess is usually made based on what it looks like and is confirmed by cutting it open. Ultrasound imaging may be useful in cases in which the diagnosis is not clear. In abscesses around the anus, computer tomography (CT) may be important to look for deeper infection. Standard treatment for most skin or soft tissue abscesses is cutting it open and drainage. There appears to be some benefit from also using antibiotics. A small amount of evidence supports not packing the cavity that remains with gauze after drainage. Closing this cavity right after draining it rather than leaving it open may speed healing without increasing the risk of the abscess returning. Sucking out the pus with a needle is often not sufficient. Skin abscesses are common and have become more common in recent years. Risk factors include intravenous drug use, with rates reported as high as 65% among users. In 2005 in the United States, 3.2 million people went to the emergency department for an abscess. In Australia, around 13,000 people were hospitalized in 2008 with the condition.

Un abcès est une accumulation locale de pus après nécrose dans une cavité néoformée. Un abcès superficiel peut présenter des symptômes comme rougeurs, douleurs et chaleurs (composantes de l'inflammation), c'est alors un abcès chaud. Plus rarement, il se forme lentement sans réaction inflammatoire, c'est alors un abcès froid (tuberculose, mycose...).


History.

Around 1100, Abbot Pierre wrote two books on the founding and construction of the Abbey of Maillezais. The Abbot Pierre's account tells that during a hunting expedition in 976, Countess Emma, the wife of William IV, Duke of Aquitaine, discovered the ruins of a chapel dedicated to Saint Hilaire and decided to found an abbey at the site. The couple contributed to the structure's rebuilding and it became an important monastery in the Pays de la Loire. The new church was consecrated in 989 by Gombald, Archbishop of Bordeaux.  Father Gausbert, cousin of Countess Emma, brought thirteen monks from Église Saint-Julien de Tours to create a Benedictine abbey, first settling in Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Vendée, about north of the current ruins. The abbey's jurisdiction later passed from Église Saint-Julien de Tours to Église Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers. In 1010, the Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux abbey moved to Maillezais, with groundbreaking for a new Maillezais chapel, still dedicated to Saint Pierre (St. Peter), soon after. William V, Duke of Aquitaine was buried at the abbey's cloister in 1030. His sons Guillaume and Eudes, chose to be buried in Maillezais as well. In May 1197, by the bull "Officii nostri", Pope Clement III took the monastery of Maillezais under papal protection, listing all of its dependencies and properties.  In 1225, Geoffroy d'Estissac, who was envious of Maillezais, attacked and looted the abbey. Excommunicated from the church, he went to Rome and apologized to the Pope in the presence of the abbot of Maillezais for his wrongful deeds. After he was pardoned, he restructured it with additional bays extending the nave. Under Abbot Geoffroy II Povereau in the early 14th century, it was a large property consisting of churches, priories, and large fertile land.  The Abbey of Maillezais was located on an island in the waterlogged Marais Poitevin. The area was extensively developed in the early part of the 13th century, when the abbeys of Maillezais, Nieul-sur-l'Autise, Saint-Michel-en-Herm, and the Absie St. Maixent joined together for the project. The monks dug canals to manage the water and create more arable land.  In 1317, after the final suppression of the Albigensians in France, Pope John XXII restructured the allocation of French bishoprics, creating two new episcopal sees, each with a cathedral, out of the diocese of Poitiers. Pope John XXI raised the status of Maillezais to that of diocese, with Saint-Pierre Cathedral (formerly the abbey church) becoming the seat of the new Bishop of Maillezais. The abbot of Maillezais, Geoffroy Povereau, was appointed the first bishop. The cathedral became a center of intellectual pursuits, in the early 16th century François Rabelais taught at the abbey for five years.  The refurbishing of the cathedral was continued, and in the middle of the 14th century a Gothic transept was added and a bell was also provided. There were many improvements to the cathedral's interiors such as better furnishings, conversion of the abbot's residence into an episcopal palace, building of monastery's dormitory near the second cloister. However what remains among the ruins of the cathedral are its eastern and southern wings.  Among other bishops of the cathedral were Guillaume de Lucé (1421–38) and Thibaud de Lucé (1438–55), who were political counselors to Charles VII. Further improvements took place when Geoffrey d'Estissac of Périgord became the bishop in 1518. It was the last refurbishing done and the additions made were the choir of the cathedral and also the castle of Coulonges on l'Autise. During the period after 1528, after Rabelais who in charge of the monastic order from 1524–28, there was internecine war between the Catholics and the Protestants. The cathedral was destroyed in 1562 in the course of the Reformation and subsequent Wars of Religion. In 1589, Agrippa d'Aubigné, a Protestant, a scholar and a poet, became the bishop and fortified the cathedral with a watch tower. The fort became a stronghold of the Protestants for the next thirty years till the Duke of Rohan succeeded him.  When during the late 16th and early 17th century the Protestants of the Huguenots had converted it into a fort-like structure, the Catholics had to even baptize their children outside the city limits. It remained under the control of the Protestants till 1618. But by 1619 the cathedral was back under the control of the Catholics and Henri de Sourdis became the Bishop. In 1629, the Bishopric of Maillezais was one of the richest in France with a lease value of 35,000 livres. It remained the seat of the Bishopric of Maillezais until 1648, when Pope Innocent X transferred the bishopric to the St. Louis Cathedral of La Rochelle, in the Diocese of La Rochelle. The monastic community continued at the Maillezais site until 1666, when the entire site was abandoned.  The cathedral site remained dormant till after the French Revolution when it was sold as national property to serve as a stone quarry. In 1840, it was returned to the people who decided to maintain the cathedral as a heritage monument. It was designated a historical monument on 30 January 1924. It was only after 1996 that the General Council of the Vendée took interest in its restoration.

Architectural and archaeological remains.

The façade on the west gable of the church built in 1025, which consisted of two bays of naves flanked by two towers, is now fully open. The staircase to access the first floor, which existed originally, is also missing. The fortifications in the form of battlements built in the 15th century by Agrippa are still seen. Of the seven bays added with partial columns with capitals are camouflaged by the fortifications, only the top four Romanesque bays are visible. A realignment is seen in this on account of the second floor raised in later years. Three large Gothic windows topped with dissimilar arcades provide light to the naves.  Out of the high transepts, built in first half of the fourteenth century, only the north transept part is visible now. At the lower part of the walls of the transept decorated arches are seen and in some part it has a door which provides views of the warheads. A decorated arched cornice is seen at the second level and it has two large openings in the Gothic style.  The bell tower has fully survived and from the top of the tower vistas of the marsh that surrounds the cathedral could be seen. Entrance to the tower is through a door decorated with carvings. The view from the tower also covers the northwest wall of the ruins. The façade on the northern side wall has five protective boxes, which were erected in the twelfth century.  Archaeological excavations done at the cloister and near the refectory have revealed foundations of buildings—a kitchen, refectory, dormitory, and a chapter house, all built around a central garden. The kitchen had an octagonal layout. Tombs, pots, urns, remnants of columns, two capitals, butt of abbot copper enamels (dated to late thirteenth century), silos, washbasins, cellar (of 12th century) were also found. The fourteenth-century buildings such as the inn do not exist now.  Excavation done in the south wing has revealed a salt cellar at the entrance which is a large vaulted room in the basement which was used by monks for making salt. At the ground floor level there are two rooms used for dining, with the kitchen located in the basement which had a central fireplace. On the upper floor there was a second dining room as part of the dormitory with wooden fittings and a fireplace at the centre. A pier provided the approach to the moors which could be used for plying boats through its winding channels from where one can get views of the "imposing ruins of the abbey silhouetted in the sky".

Maillezais Cathedral (, or "St. Peter Maillezais") is a ruined Roman Catholic church in the commune of Maillezais in the Vendée, France. Formerly the site of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, the site grew from the 10th century abbey to the cathedral completed in the 15th century, with the many structures at the site abandoned by the end of the 17th century. Today's ruins consist of a cathedral, refectory, dormitory, kitchen, cellars, turrets and ramparts. The cathedral has been declared a heritage monument in reflection of its Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architectural form. It was designated a "monument historique" on 30 January 1924. The cathedral belonged to the Diocese of Luçon, with Roman Rites, and with St. Peter as the patron saint.

La cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Maillezais est une ancienne église abbatiale, convertie en 1317 en cathédrale, située à Maillezais, dans le département de la Vendée. Elle demeure le siège de l'évêché de Maillezais jusqu'en 1648, date à laquelle le siège épiscopal est transféré dans la cathédrale Saint-Barthélémy-du-Grand-Temple, à La Rochelle.


Third-person view.

In video games, "third-person" refers to a graphical perspective rendered from a fixed distance behind and slightly above the player character. This viewpoint allows players to see a more strongly characterized avatar, and is most common in action games and action adventure games. Games with this perspective often make use of positional audio, where the volume of ambient sounds varies depending on the position of the avatar.  There are primarily three types of third-person camera systems: the "fixed camera systems" in which the camera positions are set during the game creation; the "tracking camera systems" in which the camera simply follows the player's character; and the "interactive camera systems" that are under the player's control.

Fixed.

In this kind of system, the developers set the properties of the camera, such as its position, orientation or field of view, during the game creation. The camera views will not change dynamically, so the same place will always be shown under the same set of views. An early example of this kind of camera system can be seen in "Alone in the Dark". While the characters are in 3D, the background on which they evolve has been pre-rendered. The early "Resident Evil" games are notable examples of games that use fixed cameras. The God of War series of video games is also known for this technique. One advantage of this camera system is that it allows the game designers to use the language of film. Indeed, like filmmakers, they have the possibility to create a mood through camerawork and careful selection of shots. Games that use this kind of technique are often praised for their cinematic qualities.

Tracking.

As the name says, a tracking camera follows the characters from behind. The player does not control the camera in any way - he/she cannot for example rotate it or move it to a different position. This type of camera system was very common in early 3D games such as "Crash Bandicoot" or "Tomb Raider" since it is very simple to implement. However, there are a number of issues with it. In particular, if the current view is not suitable (either because it is occluded by an object, or because it is not showing what the player is interested in), it cannot be changed since the player does not control the camera. Sometimes this viewpoint causes difficulty when a character turns or stands face out against a wall. The camera may jerk or end up in awkward positions.

Interactive.

This type of camera system is an improvement over the tracking camera system. While the camera is still tracking the character, some of its parameters, such as its orientation or distance to the character, can be changed. On video game consoles, the camera is often controlled by an analog stick to provide a good accuracy, whereas on PC games it is usually controlled by the mouse. This is the case in games such as "Super Mario Sunshine" or "". Fully interactive camera systems are often difficult to implement in the right way. Thus GameSpot argues that much of the "Super Mario Sunshine"' difficulty comes from having to control the camera. "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" was more successful at it - IGN called the camera system "so smart that it rarely needs manual correction".  One of the first games to offer an interactive camera system was "Super Mario 64". The game had two types of camera systems between which the player could switch at any time. The first one was a standard tracking camera system except that it was partly driven by artificial intelligence. Indeed, the system was "aware" of the structure of the level and therefore could anticipate certain shots. For example, in the first level, when the path to the hill is about to turn left, the camera automatically starts looking towards the left too, thus anticipating the player's movements. The second type allows the player to control the camera relatively to Mario's position. By pressing on the left or right buttons, the camera rotates around Mario, while pressing up or down moves the camera closer or away from Mario.

Implementation.

There is a large body of research on how to implement a camera system. The role of a constraint solver software is to generate the best possible shot given a set of visual constraints. In other words, the constraint solver is given a requested shot composition such as "show this character and ensure that he covers at least 30 percent of the screen space". The solver will then use various methods to try creating a shot that would satisfy this request. Once a suitable shot is found, the solver outputs the coordinates and rotation of the camera, which can then be used by the graphic engine renderer to display the view.  In some camera systems, if no solution can be found, constraints are relaxed. For example, if the solver cannot generate a shot where the character occupies 30 percent of the screen space, it might ignore the screen space constraint and simply ensure that the character is visible at all. Such methods include zooming out.  Some camera systems use predefined scripts to decide how to select the current shot for commonly seen shot scenarios called film idioms. Typically, the script is going to be triggered as a result of an action. For instance, when the player's character initiates a conversation with another character, the "conversation" script is going to be triggered. This script will contain instructions on how to "shoot" a two-character conversation. Thus the shots will be a combination of, for instance, over the shoulder shots and close-up shots. Such script-based approaches may switch the camera between a set of predefined cameras or rely on a constraint solver to generate the camera coordinates to account for variability in scene layout. This scripted approach and the use of a constraint solver to compute virtual cameras was first proposed by Drucker. Subsequent research demonstrated how a script-based system could automatically switch cameras to view conversations between avatars in a realtime chat application.  Bill Tomlinson used a more original approach to the problem. He devised a system in which the camera is an autonomous agent with its own personality. The style of the shots and their rhythm will be affected by its mood. Thus a happy camera will "cut more frequently, spend more time in close-up shots, move with a bouncy, swooping motion, and brightly illuminate the scene".  While much of the prior work in automated virtual camera control systems has been directed towards reducing the need for a human to manually control the camera, the Director's Lens solution computes and proposes a palette of suggested virtual camera shots leaving the human operator to make the creative shot selection. In computing subsequent suggested virtual camera shots, the system analyzes the visual compositions and editing patterns of prior recorded shots to compute suggested camera shots that conform to continuity conventions such as not crossing the line of action, match placement of virtual characters so they appear to look at one another across cuts, and favors those shots which the human operator had previously used in sequence.

In mixed-reality applications.

In 2010, the Kinect was released by Microsoft as a 3D scanner/webcam hybrid peripheral device which provides full-body detection of Xbox 360 players and hands-free control of the user interfaces of video games and other software on the console. This was later modified by Oliver Kreylos of University of California, Davis in a series of YouTube videos which showed him combining the Kinect with a PC-based virtual camera. Because the Kinect is capable of detecting a full range of depth (through computer stereo vision and Structured light) within a captured scene, Kreylos demonstrated the capacity of the Kinect and the virtual camera to allow free-viewpoint navigation of the range of depth, although the camera could only allow a video capture of the scene as shown to the front of the Kinect, resulting in fields of black, empty space where the camera was unable to capture video within the field of depth. Later, Kreylos demonstrated a further elaboration on the modification by combining the video streams of two Kinects in order to further enhance the video capture within the view of the virtual camera. Kreylos' developments using the Kinect were covered among the works of others in the Kinect hacking and homebrew community in a New York Times article.

Real-time recording and motion tracking.

Virtual cameras have been developed which allow a director to film motion capture and view the digital characters movements in real time in a pre-constructed digital environment, such as a house or spaceship. "Resident Evil 5" was the first video game to use the technology, which was developed for the 2009 film "Avatar. The use of motion capture to control the position and orientation of a virtual camera enables the operator to intuitively move and aim the virtual camera by simply walking about and turning the virtual camera rig. A virtual camera rig consists of a portable monitor or tablet device, motion sensors, optional support framework, and optional joystick or button controls that are commonly used to start or stop recording and adjust lens properties. In 1992, Michael McKenna of MIT's Media Lab demonstrated the earliest documented virtual camera rig when he fixed a Polhemus magnetic motion sensor and a 3.2 inch portable LCD TV to a wooden ruler. The Walkthrough Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill produced a number of physical input devices for virtual camera view control including dual three-axis joysticks and a billiard-ball shaped prop known as the UNC Eyeball that featured an embedded six-degree of freedom motion tracker and a digital button.

In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; more generally, they are used in 3D virtual worlds when a third person view is required.

La vue à la troisième personne et souvent appelé vue objective (ou « vision objective »), est utilisée dans les jeux vidéo : la caméra est placée derrière ou à côté du personnage dirigé par le joueur. La notion de vue à la troisième personne (vue objective) s'oppose à celle de vue à la première personne (ou vue subjective).


Geography.

Hydrography.

The Lauhirasse, a tributary of the Bidouze, and the Baniou, a tributary of the Gave de Pau cross this commune.

Toponymy.

The Gascon name for "Arancou" is "Arancon"; the Basque name is "Erango".  The name "Arancou" appears in the forms "Arranque" (1119–1136), "Arancoen" (13th century), "Arancoey", "Arancoenh" (around 1360), "Arrancoeynh", "Arancoinh" (1372), "Aranquoen" (1403, titles of Came), and "Aranco" (1584, alienation of the Diocese of Dax).  The name of Arancou comes from the Basque "arangoien", for "higher valley".

History.

Prehistory.

Tools from the Magdalenian era, one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic era of Western Europe, were found in the Bourrouillan cave in the territory of Arancou. Several thousand bones from hunted animals were found in the cave, as well as thousands of flint and bone tools.

Modern history.

On January 1, 1973, the communes of Arancou, Bergouey, and Viellenave-sur-Bidouze were joined together. On 15 November 1977, Arancou regained its independent status, while Bergouey and Viellenave-sur-Bidouze remained together.

Arancou and Basque country.

Jean-Baptiste Orpustan mentions Arancou in 1309 in a list of parishes paying dues to the royal power in Navarrenx. Arancou was also mentioned by Eugène Goyheneche towards the end of the Middle Ages. He wrote that "because of the Gramont's power, [the situation of the neighboring parishes, including Arancou] is ambiguous."  However, starting with the modern age, no evidence of Arancou's allegiance to the Kingdom of Navarre can be found. Nor is there evidence of any links to the dukedom of Gramont or of the sovereign principality of Bidache. The chapter of the collegiate Saint-Jacques de Bidache was the lord of the lands; the parish was situated in France in the administrative district of Lannes, where it came under the control of the administrative region of Hastingues.  Although Arancou falls without a doubt within modern districting, it is nonetheless included in a list of the communes of Basse-Navarre. While presenting the town in 2009 on his website, the mayor, Alexandre Bordes, did not take sides. Rather, he emphasized the "mix of deep-rooted cultures" and the "location of the town at the borders of Gascogne, Béarn, Basque Country, and the Navarre." His website describes the town as "basquo-béarnais."

Administration.

List of Mayors

Intercommunality.

Arancou belongs to four different intercommunal territories:

Economy.

Arancou's economy is primarily agricultural. Arancou is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (a French regional certification) of the cheese, Ossau-Iraty.  There is a limestone quarry in Arancou. Until 1993, it provided the stone for the cemetery, Ciments de l'Adour, in Boucau. The stone was carried in barges down the Bidouze and Adour rivers.

Sights.

Religious Heritage.

The church of l'Assomption-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie from the 8th century is listed as an historical monument. The Gothic cathedral is located on the road, Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle (Via Turonensis). A wellspring runs underneath the church, feeding a washing-place in the basement. A Madonna called Notre-Dam-d'Arancou can be found in the church, as well as an hilarri (a disk-shaped funeral stele) from Labets-Biscay, and different furnishings registered in the inventory of the Minister of Culture (a tabernacle, font, and cross.) The church also has a registered stained glass window.

Arancou () is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre.

Arancou est une commune française, située dans le département des Pyrénées-Atlantiques en région Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Le gentilé est "Arancoï" ou "Arancoye" (ou "Erangoar" en basque).


History.

The party was founded on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party by Michel Aflaq (an Antiochian Christian), Salah al-Din al-Bitar (a Sunni Muslim), and the followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi (an atheist) in Damascus, Syria, leading to the establishment of the Syrian Regional Branch. Other regional branches were established throughout the Arab world in the later 1940s and early 1950s, in, among others, Iraq, Yemen and Jordan. Throughout its existence, the National Command (the body responsible for all-Arab affairs), gave most attention to Syrian affairs. The 2nd National Congress was convened in June 1954, and elected a seven-man National Command; Aflaq, Bitar, and Akram al-Hawrani were elected and represented the Syrian Regional Branch, while Abdullah Rimawi and Abdallah Na'was were elected to represent the Jordanian Branch. The congress is notable for sanctioning the merger of the Arab Socialist Movement and the Ba'ath Party, which took place in 1952.  The Syrian Regional Branch rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s; in the 1954 parliamentary elections the Syrian Regional Branch won 22 seats in parliament, becoming the second largest party in the country. 90 percent of Ba'ath Party members who stood for elections were elected to parliament. The failure of the traditional parties represented by the People's Party and the National Party, strengthened the Ba'ath Party's public credibility. Through this position, the party was able to get two of its members into the cabinet; Bitar was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Khalil Kallas became Minister of Economics. Its new, strengthened position, was used successfully to garner support for Syria's merger with Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt, which led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958.  On 24 June 1959, Fuad al-Rikabi, the Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Branch, accused the National Command of betraying Arab nationalist principles by conspiring against the UAR. In light of these criticisms, the Ba'ath convened the 3rd National Congress (held 27 August – 1 September 1959), which was attended by delegates from "Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, South Arabia, the Gulf, Arab South, Arab Maghreb, Palestine and Party student organisations in Arab and other universities outside the [Arab] homeland". The congress is notable for endorsing the dissolution of the Syrian Regional Branch, which had been decided by Aflaq and Bitar without inner-party consultation in 1958, and for expelling Rimawi, the Regional Secretary of the Jordanian Regional Branch. Rimawi reacted to his expulsion by forming his own party, the Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which established a rival National Command to compete with the original. The National Command responded to the problems in Iraq by appointing a Temporary Regional Command on 2 February 1960, which appointed Talib El-Shibib as Regional Secretary, and on 15 June 1961 the National Command expelled Rikabi from the party.  In Iraq, the Iraqi Regional Branch had supported Abd al-Karim Qasim's seizure of power and its ensuing abolishment of the Iraqi Monarchy. The Iraqi Ba'athists supported Qasim on the ground that they believed he would enter Iraq into the UAR, enlarging the Arab nationalist republic. However, this was proven to be a ruse, and after taking power Qasim launched an Iraq first policy. In retaliation, the Ba'ath Party tried to assassinate Qasim in February 1959, but the operation (which was led by a young Saddam Hussein) failed. Qasim was overthrown in the Ramadan Revolution led by young Ba'athist officer Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and rumoured to be supported by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA had been previously notified of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot in July 1962 by a high-ranking informant within the Party. The CIA official working with Archie Roosevelt, Jr. on a separate plan to instigate a military coup against Qasim, and who later became the head of the CIA's operations in Iraq and Syria "from late 1968 to June 1970," has "denied any involvement in the Ba'ath Party's actions." The Iraqi Regional Branch, when it took power, was so riven by factionalism that its purported allies launched a counter-coup forcing them out of power in November 1963.  The 4th National Congress, held in August 1960, criticized the leadership of Aflaq and Bitar, called for the reestablishment of the Syrian Regional Branch and deemphasized the party's commitment to Arab nationalism while emphasizing more the socialist character of the party. A year after, at the UAR's nadir in Syria, the Syrian General Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi launched a coup on 28 September 1961, which led to the reestablishment of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Organization.

The organizational structure of the Ba'ath Party was created at the 2nd National Congress by amending the party's Internal Regulations (), which was approved at the party's 1st National Congress in 1947. The organizational structure ran from top to bottom, and members were forbidden to initiate contacts between groups on the same level of the organisation—all contacts had to pass through a higher command level.

National organization.

The National Command was the ruling organ of the party between sessions of the National Congress, and was headed by a Secretary-General. Between National Congresses, the National Command was held accountable by the National Consultative Council (Arabic: "al-majlis al-istishari al-quami"). The National Consultative Council was a forum made up of representatives from the party's regional branches. However, the number of National Consultative Council members were decided by the size of the regional branch. The National Congress

Regional organization.

The term "region" reflected the Party's refusal to acknowledge them as separate nation-states. A "Region" ("quṭr"), in Ba'athist parlance, is an Arab state such as Syria, Iraq, or Lebanon. The Regional Congress, which combined all the provincial branches, was the region's highest authority and elected a Regional Command, the party leadership in a specific region, the Regional Tribunal, the body responsible for discipline inspection, and a Regional Secretary, the regional party leader. The Regional Congress is made of delegates from the provincial branches; other members attended, but as observers. The Regional Congress was responsible for evaluating the party's performance since the last Regional Congress, while at the same time formulating new policies for the next period, which lasts until the next Regional Congress is held. How long this period lasts is decided by the Regional Command. The Regional Command, similar to the Branch Command, operated through bureaus and met for weekly-sessions.  Below the Regional Commands there existed branches. The Branch came above the Subbranch; it comprised at least two to

Membership.

There existed three types of membership categories in the Ba'ath Party; Active member (Arabic: udw ämil), Apprentice Member (Arabic: udw mutadarrib) and Supporter (Arabic: firqa). An Active member had to attend all formal meetings of

Ideology and policy.

Classical Ba'ath: 1947–1960.

Arab Nation.

From its very beginning, the party was a manifestation of Arab nationalist thought, with the party itself referring to itself as "The Party of Arab Unity". The party's ideology also excluded and subjugated regional minorities like the Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians and others. The pan-Arab tendencies of the party's predecessor, the Arab Ba'ath Movement, was strengthened 1945–1947 by recruiting members from the Zaki al-Arsuzi's Arab Ba'ath. The first article of the party's constitution stated "the Arabs form one nation. This nation has the natural right to live in a single state. [As such,] the Arab fatherland constitutes an indivisible political and economic unit. No Arab can live apart from the others."  To express his

Peasant and workers.

The early Ba'ath gave little attention to the problems facing the peasants and workers. As Hanna Batatu notes, "Aflaq was basically urban in outlook. The peasants never constituted an object of his special concern. In his writing there is scarcely an expression of concentrated interest in the country's husbandsmen." While peasants and issues facing them are mentioned in some of Aflaq's work, there was scarcely any depth given to them or the issues facing them. To take an example, in one instance Aflaq states "the [national struggle]... can only be based on the generality of the Arabs and these will not take part in it if they are exploited." Secondly, Aflaq never had any official enmity towards the traditional landlords. Issues such

"Unity, liberty, socialism".

The slogan "Unity, liberty, socialism" is the key tenet in Ba'athist thought. Unity stood for the creation of an independent, strong Arab Nation. Liberty did not mean liberal democracy, but rather freedom from colonial oppression and freedom of speech and thought. Aflaq believed that the Ba'ath Party, at least in theory, would rule, and guide the people, in a transitional period of time without consulting the people, however he did support intra-party democracy. The last tenet,'socialism', did not mean socialism as it is defined in the West, but rather a unique form of Arab socialism. According to Ba'athist thought, socialism had originated under the rule of Muhammad. The original interpretation of Arab socialism did not answer questions such as: how much state control was necessary, or economic equality; but instead focused on freeing the Arab Nation and its people from colonization and oppression in general.

Transitional Ba'ath: 1960–1964.

Regionalists versus nationalists.

After the failure of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria, the Ba'ath Party was divided into two main factions, the Regionalists () and the Nationalists (pan-Arab) (). When the union with Egypt collapsed, the Ba'ath Party was put in a difficult position, the party still sought Arab unity, but did not oppose the UAR's dissolution and did not want to seek another union with Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule. However, being the unionist party that it was, the party's leaders could not state their position on this issue. The end result was that the pro-Arab nationalists within the Ba'ath Party became committed Nasserists, while the more moderate Arab nationalists founded the pro-Nasserite Socialist Unionists party. The third

The "Arab road to socialism".

The disillusionment felt among party members on the pan-Arab project, led to the radicalization of the party's interpretation of socialism. Yasin al-Hafiz, a former member of the Syrian Communist Party, was an early frontrunner for the party's radicalization. While he didn't oppose the pan-Arab project, he wanted to turn the concept of Arab socialism into a scientific and revolutionary socialist ideology which adapted Marxism to local conditions. Jamal al-Atassi, who had been a moderate socialist for most of his life, called for the renunciation of Arab socialism in 1963 and the adoption of a "virtually Marxist concept of socialism" by claiming that class struggle was the moving force in society.  Hammud al-Shufi became the leader of the party's Marxist faction during his short stint as Syrian Regional Secretary, literally the head of the Syrian Regional Organization. Shufi was able, due to his position as head of the Organization Bureau of the Regional Command, to recruit several Marxist or Marxist-leaning members to the top of the Syrian Regional party hierarchy. Radical socialists led by Ali Salih al-Sadi took control of the Iraqi Regional Branch in 1963, which led to the official radicalization of the party's ideology.  The delegates at the 6th

Neo-Ba'ath: 1964–1966.

Neo-Ba'athism is the dramatic changes that manifested in Ba'athist ideology from 1960 to 1964, and the Military Committee's takeover of the Syrian Regional Branch and the National Command in the period 1964 to 1966. The 6th National Congress signified the takeover of the party by an anti-militarist left, which opposed both the traditional leaders in the National Command and the pragmatists in the Military Committee. When the anti-military left called for popular democracy, no involvement of the military in national politics and popular struggle, the Military Committee became concerned. By

Regional branches.

Iraq.

Fuad al-Rikabi founded the Iraqi Regional Branch in 1951 or 1952. There are those who trace the branch's founding to Abd ar Rahman ad Damin and Abd al Khaliq al Khudayri in 1947, after their return from the 1st National Congress, which was held in Syria. Another version is that the branch was established in 1948 by Rikabi and Sa'dun Hamadi, a Shia Muslim. However, Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi contend that the Regional Branch was established in the 1940s, but that it received official recognition as a Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party in 1952 by the National Command. What is certain is that Rikabi was elected the Regional Branch's first Regional Secretary in 1952.  The party initially consisted of a majority of Shia Muslims, as Rikabi recruited supporters mainly from his friends and family, but slowly became Sunni dominated. The Regional Branch, and other parties of pan-Arab inclination, had difficulties in recruiting Shia members. Most Shi'ites considered pan-Arab ideology as a Sunni project, since the majority of Arabs are Sunnis.  At the time of 14

Jordan.

Following the party's establishment in Syria, Ba'athist ideas spread throughout the Arab world. In Jordan Ba'athist thought first spread to the East Bank in the late-1940s, most notably at universities. While the Regional Branch was not formed until 1951, several meetings took place at the universities where students and professors alike would discuss the Ba'athist thought. Despite the ideology being very popular, it took time before the actual Regional Branch was established. A group of teachers established the Regional Branch in the city by Al-Karak. At the very beginning, the clinic owned by Abd al-Rahman Shuqyar was used as the branch's meeting place. Bahjat Abu Gharbiyah became the Regional Branch's first member in the West Bank, and was thus resigned the responsibility of building the party's organization in the area the branch secretary in the West Bank, and was thus responsible in that area. In the West Bank, the branch was most active in the cities of Jerusalem and Ramallah.  The 1st Regional Congress was held in 1951 in the home of Abdullah Rimawi. The congress mapped out the "future course of the party". The next year, the 2nd Regional Congress was held, this time in Abdallah Na'was' home. It elected a Regional Command and appointed Rimawi

Lebanon.

The Lebanese Regional Branch was formed in 1949–1950. During the existence of the UAR, the Regional Branch was split into two factions, those supporting Nasser and those opposing him. However, in April 1960, the UAR denied the Regional Branch organ "As Sahafäh" access into the UAR-ruled Syria.  The Regional Branch was strongest in the city of Tripoli. In the 1960 elections, Abd al-Majid al-Rafei was just a few votes short of being elected to parliament. However, a persistent problem for him during his election campaign was the vocal criticism of him and the Regional Branch by the Lebanese Communist Party. In Tripoli the Communists supported the candidacy of Rashid Karami, to ensure themselves of a Regional Branch victory. On 17 July 1961 a group of rival Ba'athists led by Rimawi opened fire on several of the Regional Branch's members.  During the UAR years, the same factional lines that developed in the Syrian Regional Branch came to the Lebanese Regional Branch.

Libya.

The Regional Branch was founded in the 1950s by Amr Taher Deghayes. Ba'athism was a major political force in Libya following the establishment of the United Arab Republic. Many intellectuals were attracted to Ba'athist ideology during the later years of the Kingdom of Libya. However, with help from Nasserist propaganda, several Ba'athists changed affiliation and became Nasserists instead. The

Syria.

Syrian politics took a dramatic turn in 1954 when the military government of Adib Shishakli was overthrown and the democratic system restored. The Ba'ath, now a large and popular organisation, won 15 out of 142 parliamentary seats in the Syrian election that year, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Aside from the Syrian Communist Party (SCP), the Ba'ath Party was the only party able to organise mass protests among workers. The party was supported by the intelligentsia due to their pro-Egyptian and anti-imperialist stance along with their advocation of social reform.  The Ba'ath faced considerable competition from ideological competitors, notably the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), which supported the establishment of a Greater Syria. The Ba'ath Party's main adversary was the SCP, whose support for class struggle and internationalism was anathema to the Ba'ath. In addition to parliamentary-level competition, all these parties (as well as Islamists) competed in street-level activity and sought to recruit support among the military.  By the end of 1957, the SCP was able to weaken the Ba'ath Party to such an extent that the Ba'ath Party drafted a bill in December that called for a union with Egypt, a move that proved to be very popular. The Ba'ath leadership dissolved the party in

Others.

Following the Ba'ath Party's founding, regional branches were established in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Not long after it established branches in North Yemen and South Yemen. In Tunisia, a Regional Branch was established in the 1950s, but was forced underground for much of its existence. The Saudi Regional Branches elected Ali

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( "" ) was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism (from "Al-Ba'ath" or "Ba'ath" meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"), which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arabism, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism", refers to Arab unity, and freedom from non-Arab control and interference.

Le Parti Baas, Parti Baath ou Parti socialiste de la résurrection arabe (en arabe, "Hizb al-Ba'ath al-Arabi al-Ishtiraki" ; parfois orthographié Baas, Baath, Ba'ath ou Ba'as), de l'arabe (« la Résurrection »), est créé en 1944 en Syrie avec comme but l'unification des différents États arabes en une seule et grande nation.


Geography.

The commune of Le Pecq is located in a loop of the Seine river, west of Paris, at the foot of the chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.  Le Pecq's territory is astride the two banks of the Seine and includes a small island, Corbière. It is highly urbanized except for Corbière island, which is partially protected as a nesting zone for migratory birds. Until after the Second World War, there were swimming baths on the island. Le Pecq was famous for two other establishments related to water: a spa exploiting springs on St-Germain hill and a natural water swimming pool which was 100 metres long with sand beaches.  It borders the communes of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Mareil-Marly in the west, Montesson and Le Mesnil-le-Roi (Carrières-sous-Bois district) to the north, Croissy-sur-Seine and Le Vésinet in the east and Marly-le-Roi and Le Port-Marly to the south.

History.

The first mention of Le Pecq came in 704. In that year, the Merovingian king Childebert III granted a charter to Fontenelle Abbey which included territory in Aupec - the modern Le Pecq.  On 31 May 1875, a part of Le Pecq was detached and merged with parts of Chatou and Croissy-sur-Seine to create the commune of Le Vésinet.

Politics.

The town in Le Pecq is notable for being the town of residence of Alain Gournac: Senator of the Yvelines for the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) since 1995. A. Gournac also occupied the function of Mayor of the town between 1991 and 2013, year in which, following legislature forbidding Senators from also holding the title of Mayor, he was made to resign, leaving his seat to Laurence Bernard, also a member of the UMP.

Transport.

The main transportation links in Le Pecq are the N13 which runs on the left bank of the Seine and secondary road D 186 connecting Saint-Germain-en-Laye with Paris which crosses the Seine at the Le Pecq bridge. This bridge was built in 1963. It has of flattened steel arches resting on two central concrete piers.  Le Pecq is not served by the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Le Pecq is Le Vésinet – Le Pecq station on Paris RER line A. This station is located in the neighboring commune of Le Vésinet, from the town center of Le Pecq.

Le Pecq is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris.

Le Pecq est une commune française située dans le département des Yvelines en région Île-de-France. Ses habitants sont appelés les "Alpicois".


Plot.

Amélie, a young Belgian woman (Sylvie Testud), having spent her childhood in Japan, decides to return to live there and try to integrate into Japanese society. She is determined to be a "real Japanese" before her one year contract runs out, though it is precisely this determination that is incompatible with Japanese humility. Though she is hired for a choice position as a translator at an import/export firm, her inability to understand Japanese cultural and business norms and allocation to work for which she is not suited result in increasingly humiliating demotions.  Though Amelie secretly adores her immediate supervisor, Ms Mori (Kaori Tsuji), the latter takes sadistic pleasure in belittling Amelie. Mori finally manages to break Amelie's will by making her the bathroom attendant, and is delighted when Amelie tells her that she will not renew her contract. Amelie realizes that she is finally a real Japanese when she enters the company president's office "with fear and trembling," which was possible only because her determination had been broken by Mori's systematic humiliation.  The title, "Fear and Trembling", is said in the film to be the way Japanese must behave when addressing the Emperor. For Westerners, it calls to mind a line from Philippians 2:12, "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling", which could also describe Amélie's attitude during her year at Yumimoto.

Critical response.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91%, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This tale of culture clash is by turns downbeat and hilarious." On Metacritic the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".  A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" wrote that though there are moments in the film which seem well observed, there are also times when the film slips toward stereotyping.

Fear and Trembling (original title: Stupeur et Tremblements) is a 2003 French film based on the novel of the same name by Amélie Nothomb. The film was written and directed by Alain Corneau and stars Sylvie Testud.

Stupeur et Tremblements est un film français d’Alain Corneau sorti en 2003, adapté du roman du même nom d’Amélie Nothomb.


Taxonomy.

The rails are a bird family comprising nearly 150 species. Although the origins of the group are lost in antiquity, the largest number of species and least specialised forms are found in the Old World, suggesting this family originated there. The taxonomy of the small crakes is complicated, but the closest relative of the corn crake is the African crake, "C. egregia", which has sometimes been given its own genus, "Crecopsis", but is now more usually placed in "Crex". Both species are short-billed brown birds with a preference for grassland rather than wetland habitats typical of rails. "Porzana" crakes, particularly the ash-throated crake ("Porzana albicollis") are near relatives of the genus "Crex".  Corn crakes were first described by Linnaeus in his "Systema Naturae" in 1758 as "Rallus crex", but was subsequently moved to the genus "Crex", created by German naturalist and ornithologist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803, and named "Crex pratensis". The earlier use of "crex" gives it priority over Bechstein's specific name "pratensis", and leads to the current name of "Crex crex". The binomial name, "Crex crex", from the Ancient Greek "κρεξ", is onomatopoeic, referring to the crake's repetitive grating call. The common name was formerly spelt as a single word, "corncrake", but the official version is now "corn crake". The English names refer to the species habit of nesting in dry hay or cereal fields, rather than marshes used by most members of this family.

Description.

The corn crake is a medium-sized rail, long with a wingspan of. Males weigh on average and females. The adult male has the crown of its head and all of its upperparts brown-black in colour, streaked with buff or grey. The wing coverts are a distinctive chestnut colour with some white bars. The face, neck and breast are blue-grey, apart from a pale brown streak from the base of the bill to behind the eye, the belly is white, and the flanks, and undertail are barred with chestnut and white. The strong bill is flesh-coloured, the iris is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Compared to the male, the female has warmer-toned upperparts and a narrower duller eye streak. Outside the breeding season, the upperparts of both sexes become darker and the underparts less grey. The juvenile is like the adult in appearance, but has a yellow tone to its upperparts, and the grey of the underparts is replaced with buff-brown. The chicks have black down, as with all rails. While there are no subspecies, all populations show great individual variation in colouring, and the birds gradually become paler and greyer towards the east of the range. Adults undergo a complete moult after breeding, which is normally finished by late August or early September, before migration to south eastern Africa. There is a pre-breeding partial moult prior to the return from Africa, mainly involving the plumage of the head, body and tail. Young birds have a head and body moult about five weeks after hatching.  The corn crake is sympatric with the African crake on the wintering grounds, but can be distinguished by its larger size, paler upperparts, tawny upperwing and different underparts pattern. In flight, it has longer, less rounded wings, and shallower wingbeats than its African relative, and shows a white leading edge to the inner wing. In both the breeding and wintering ranges it is unlikely to be confused with any other rails, since sympatric species are smaller, with white markings on the upperparts, different underparts patterns and shorter bills. A flying corn crake can resemble a gamebird, but its chestnut wing pattern and dangling legs are diagnostic.

Voice.

On the breeding grounds, the male corn crake's advertising call is a loud, repetitive, grating "" normally delivered from a low perch with the bird's head and neck almost vertical and its bill wide open. The call can be heard from away, and serves to establish the breeding territory, attract females, and challenge intruding males. Slight differences in vocalisations mean that individual males can be distinguished by their calls. Early in the season, the call is given almost continuously at night, and often during the day, too. It may be repeated more than 20,000 times a night, with a peak between midnight and 3 am. The call has evolved to make a singing male's location clear, as this species hides in vegetation. The frequency of calling reduces after a few weeks but may intensify again near the end of the laying period before falling away towards the end of the breeding season. To attract males, mechanical imitations of their call can be produced by rubbing two pieces of wood or ribs, one of them with notches, or by flicking a credit card against a comb or zip-fastener. The male also has a growling call, given with the bill shut and used during aggressive interactions.  The female corn crake may give a call that is similar to that of the male; it also has a distinctive barking sound, similar in rhythm to the main call but without the grating quality. The female also has a high-pitched cheep call, and a'sound to call the chick. The chicks make a quiet'contact call, and a chirp used to beg for food. Because of the difficulty in seeing this species, it is usually censused by counting males calling between 11 pm and 3 am; the birds do not move much at night, whereas they may wander up to during the day, which could lead to double-counting if monitored then. Identifying individual males suggests that just counting calling birds underestimates the true count by nearly 30%, and the discrepancy is likely to be greater, since only 80% of males may call at all on a given night. The corn crake is silent in Africa.

Distribution and habitat.

The corn crake breeds from Ireland east through Europe to central Siberia. Although it has vanished from much of its historic range, this bird was once found in suitable habitats in Eurasia everywhere between latitudes 41°N and 62°N. There is also a sizable population in western China, but this species nests only rarely in northern Spain and in Turkey. Old claims of breeding in South Africa are incorrect, and result from misidentification of eggs in a museum collection which are actually those of the African rail. The corn crake winters mainly in Africa, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and central Tanzania south to eastern South Africa. North of this area, it is mainly seen on migration, but occasionally winters in North Africa and to the west and north of its core area in southeast Africa. Most of the South African population of about 2,000 birds occurs in KwaZulu-Natal and the former Transvaal Province, and numbers elsewhere in Africa are uncertain. There are several nineteenth-century records, when populations were much higher than now, of birds being seen in western Europe, mainly Britain and Ireland, between December and February.  This crake migrates to Africa along two main routes: a western route through Morocco and Algeria, and a more important flyway through Egypt. On passage, it has been recorded in most countries between its breeding and wintering ranges, including much of West Africa. Birds from Coll following the western route paused in West Africa on their way further south, and again on the return flight, when they also rested in Spain or North Africa. Eastern migrants have been recorded in those parts of southern Asia that lie between the east of the breeding range and Africa. Further afield, the corn crake has been recorded as a vagrant to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Australia, the Seychelles, Bermuda, Canada, the US, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands.  The corn crake is mainly a lowland species, but breeds up to altitude in the Alps, in China and in Russia. When breeding in Eurasia, the corn crake's habitats would originally have included river meadows with tall grass and meadow plants including sedges and irises. It is now mainly found in cool moist grassland used for the production of hay, particularly moist traditional farmland with limited cutting or fertiliser use. It also utilises other treeless grasslands in mountains or taiga, on coasts, or where created by fire. Moister areas like wetland edges may be used, but very wet habitats are avoided, as are open areas and those with vegetation more than tall, or too dense to walk through. The odd bush or hedge may be used as a calling post. Grassland which is not mown or grazed becomes too matted to be suitable for nesting, but locally-grown crops such as cereals, peas, rape, clover or potatoes may be used. After breeding, adults move to taller vegetation such as common reed, iris, or nettles to moult, returning to the hay and silage meadows for the second brood. In China, flax is also used for nest sites. Although males often sing in intensively managed grass or cereal crops, successful breeding is uncommon, and nests in the field margins or nearby fallow ground are more likely to succeed.  When wintering in Africa, the corn crake occupies dry grassland and savanna habitats, occurring in vegetation tall, including seasonally burnt areas and occasionally sedges or reed beds. It is also found on fallow and abandoned fields, uncut grass on airfields, and the edges of crops. It occurs at up to at least altitude in South Africa. Each bird stays within a fairly small area. Although it sometimes occurs with the African crake, that species normally prefers moister and shorter grassland habitats than does the corn crake. On migration, the corn crake may also occur in wheatfields and around golf courses.

Behaviour.

The corn crake is a difficult bird to see in its breeding sites, usually being hidden by vegetation, but will sometimes emerge into the open. Occasionally, individuals may become very trusting; for five consecutive summers, an individual crake on the Scottish island of Tiree entered a kitchen to feed on scraps, and, in 1999, a wintering Barra bird would come for poultry feed once the chickens had finished. In Africa, it is more secretive than the African crake, and, unlike its relative, it is rarely seen in the open, although it occasionally feeds on tracks or road sides. The corn crake is most active early and late in the day, after heavy rain and during light rain. Its typical flight is weak and fluttering, although less so than that of the African crake. For longer flights, such as migration, it has a steadier, stronger action with legs drawn up. It walks with a high-stepping action, and can run swiftly through grass with its body held horizontal and laterally flattened. It will swim if essential. When flushed by a dog, it will fly less than, frequently landing behind a bush or thicket, and then crouch on landing. If disturbed in the open, this crake will often run in a crouch for a short distance, with its neck stretched forward, then stand upright to watch the intruder. When captured it may feign death, recovering at once if it sees a way out.  The corn crake is solitary on the wintering grounds, where each bird occupies at one time, although the total area used may be double that, since an individual may move locally due to flooding, plant growth, or grass cutting. Flocks of up to 40 birds may form on migration, sometimes associating with common quails. Migration takes place at night, and flocks resting during the day may aggregate to hundreds of birds at favoured sites. The ability to migrate is innate, not learned from adults. Chicks raised from birds kept in captivity for ten generations were able to migrate to Africa and return with similar success to wild-bred young.

Breeding.

Until 1995, it was assumed that the corn crake is monogamous, but it transpires that a male may have a shifting home range, and mate with two or more females, moving on when laying is almost complete. The male's territory can vary from, but averages. The female has a much smaller range, averaging only. A male will challenge an intruder by calling with his wings drooped and his head pointing forward. Usually the stranger moves off; if it stays, the two birds square up with heads and necks raised and the wings touching the ground. They then run around giving the growling call and lunging at each other. A real fight may ensue, with the birds leaping at each other and pecking, and sometimes kicking. Females play no part in defending the territory. The female may be offered food by the male during courtship. He has a brief courtship display in which the neck is extended and the head held down, the tail is fanned, and the wings are spread with the tips touching the ground. He will then attempt to approach the female from behind, and then leap on her back to copulate. The nest is typically in grassland, sometimes in safer sites along a hedge, or near an isolated tree or bush, or in overgrown vegetation. Where grass is not tall enough at the start of the season, the first nest may be constructed in herby or marsh vegetation, with the second brood in hay. The second nest may also be at a higher altitude that the first, to take advantage of the later-developing grasses further up a hill. The nest, well hidden in the grass, is built in a scrape or hollow in the ground. It is made of woven coarse dry grass and other plants, and lined with finer grasses. Although nest construction is usually described as undertaken by the female, a recent aviary study found that in the captive population the male always built the nest.  The nest is in diameter and deep. The clutch is 6–14, usually 8–12 eggs; these are oval, slightly glossy, creamy or tinted with green, blue or grey, and blotched red-brown. They average and weigh about, of which 7% is shell. The eggs are laid at daily intervals, but second clutches may sometimes have two eggs added per day. Incubation is by the female only; her tendency to sit tight when disturbed, or wait until the last moment to flee, leads to many deaths during hay-cutting and harvesting. The eggs hatch together after 19–20 days, and the precocial chicks leave the nest within a day or two. They are fed by the female for three or four days, but can find their own food thereafter. The juveniles fledge after 34–38 days. The second brood is started about 42 days after the first, and the incubation period is slightly shorter at 16–18 days. The grown young may stay with the female until departure for Africa.  Nest success in undisturbed sites is high, at 80–90%, but much lower in fertilised meadows and on arable land. The method and timing of mowing is crucial; mechanized mowing can kill 38–95% of chicks in a given site, and losses average 50% of first brood chicks and somewhat less than 40% of second brood chicks. The influence of weather on chick survival is limited; although chick growth is faster in dry or warm weather, the effects are relatively small. Unlike many precocial species, chicks are fed by their mother to a greater or lesser extent until they become independent, and this may cushion them from adverse conditions. The number of live chicks hatched is more important than the weather, with lower survival in large broods. The annual adult survival rate is under 30%, although some individuals may live for 5–7 years.

Feeding.

The corn crake is omnivorous, but mainly feeds on invertebrates, including earthworms, slugs and snails, spiders, beetles, dragonflies, grasshoppers and other insects. In the breeding areas, it is a predator of "Sitona" weevils, which infest legume crops. and in the past consumed large amounts of the former grassland pests, leatherjackets and wireworms. This crake will also eat small frogs and mammals, and plant material including grass seed and cereal grain. Its diet on the wintering grounds is generally similar, but includes locally available items such as termites, cockroaches and dung beetles. Food is taken from the ground, low-growing plants and from inside grass tussocks; the crake may search leaf litter with its bill, and run in pursuit of active prey. Hunting is normally in cover, but, particularly in the wintering areas, it will occasionally feed on grassy tracks or dirt roads. Indigestible material is regurgitated as pellets. Chicks are fed mainly on animal food, and when fully grown they may fly with the parents up to to visit supplementary feeding areas. As with other rails, grit is swallowed to help break up food in the stomach.

Predators and parasites.

Predators on the breeding grounds include feral and domestic cats, introduced American mink, feral ferrets, otters and red foxes, and birds including the common buzzard and hooded crow. In Lithuania, the introduced raccoon dog has also been recorded as taking corn crakes. When chicks are exposed by rapid mowing, they may be taken by large birds including the white stork, harriers and other birds of prey, gulls and corvids. At undisturbed sites nests and broods are rarely attacked, as reflected in a high breeding success. There is a record of a corn crake on migration through Gabon being killed by a black sparrowhawk.  The widespread fluke "Prosthogonimus ovatus", which lives in the oviducts of birds, has been recorded in the corn crake, as have the parasitic worm "Plagiorchis elegans", the larvae of parasitic flies, and hard ticks of the genera "Haemaphysalis" and "Ixodes".  During the reintroduction of corn crakes to England in the 2003 breeding season, enteritis and ill health in pre-release birds was due to bacteria of a pathogenic "Campylobacter" species. Subsequently, microbiology tests were done to detect infected individuals and to find the source of the bacteria in their environment.

Status.

Until 2010, despite a breeding range estimated at, the corn crake was classified as near threatened on the IUCN Red List because of serious declines in Europe, but improved monitoring in Russia indicates that anticipated losses there have not occurred and numbers have remained stable or possibly increased. It is therefore now classed as least concern, since the major populations in Russia and Kazakhstan are not expected to change much in the short term. There are an estimated 1.3–2.0 million breeding pairs in Europe, three-quarters of which are in European Russia, and a further 515,000–1,240,000 pairs in Asiatic Russia; the total Eurasian population has been estimated at between 5.45 and 9.72 million individuals. In much of the western half of its range, there have been long-term declines that are expected to continue, although conservation measures have enabled numbers to grow in several countries, including a five-fold increase in Finland, and a doubling in the UK. In the Netherlands, there were 33 breeding territories in 1996, but this number had increased to at least 500 by 1998.  The breeding corn crake population had begun to decline in the 19th century, but the process gained pace after World War II. The main cause of the steep declines in much of Europe is the loss of nests and chicks from early mowing. Haymaking dates have moved forward in the past century due to faster crop growth, made possible by land drainage and the use of fertilisers, and the move from manual grass-cutting using scythes to mechanical mowers, at first horse-drawn and later pulled by tractors. Mechanisation also means that large areas can be cut quickly, leaving the crake with no alternative sites to raise either a first brood if suitable habitat has gone, or a replacement brood if the first nest is destroyed. The pattern of mowing, typically in a circular pattern from the outside of a field to its centre, gives little chance of escape for the chicks, which are also exposed to potential animal predators. Adults can often escape the mowers, although some incubating females sit tight on the nest, with fatal results.  Loss of habitat is the other major threat to the corn crake. Apart from the reduced suitability of drained and fertilised silage fields compared to traditional hay meadows, in western Europe the conversion of grassland to arable has been aided by subsidies, and further east the collapse of collective farming has led to the abandonment and lack of management of much land in this important breeding area. More localised threats include floods in spring, and disturbance by roads or wind farms. This bird is good eating; when they were common in England, Mrs Beeton recommended roasting four on a skewer. More significant than direct hunting is the loss of many birds, up to 14,000 a year, in Egypt, where migrating birds are captured in nets set for the quail with which they often migrate. Although this may account for 0.5–2.7% of the European population, the losses to this form of hunting are less than when the targeted species were more numerous and predictable.  Most European countries have taken steps to conserve the corn crake and produce national management policies; there is also an overall European action plan. The focus of conservation effort is to monitor populations and ecology and to improve survival, principally through changing the timing and method of hay harvesting. Later cutting gives time for breeding to be completed, and leaving uncut strips at the edges of fields and cutting from the centre outwards reduces the casualties from mowing. Implementing these changes is predicted to stop the population decline if the measures are applied on a sufficiently large scale. Reduction of illegal hunting, and protection in countries where hunting is still allowed, are also conservation aims. Reintroduction of the corn crake is being attempted in England, and breeding sites are scheduled for protection in many other countries. Where breeding sites impinge on urban areas, there are cost implications, estimated in one German study at several million euros per corn crake. The corn crake does not appear to be seriously threatened on its wintering grounds and may benefit from deforestation, which creates more open habitats.

In culture.

Most rails are secretive wetland birds that have made little cultural impression, but as a formerly common farmland bird with a loud nocturnal call that sometimes led to disturbed sleep for rural dwellers, the corn crake has acquired a variety of folk names and some commemoration in literature.

Names.

The favoured name for this species among naturalists has changed over the years, with "landrail" and variants of "corncrake" being preferred at various times. "Crake gallinule" also had a period of popularity between 1768 and 1813. The originally Older Scots "cornecrake" was popularised by Thomas Bewick, who used this term in his 1797 "A History of British Birds". Other Scots names include "corn scrack" and "quailzie"; the latter term, like "king of the quail", "grass quail", the French ""roi de caille"", and the German ""Wachtelkönig"" refer to the association with the small gamebird. Another name, "daker", has been variously interpreted as onomatopoeic, or derived from the Old Norse "ager-hoene", meaning "cock of the field"; variants include "drake", "drake Hen" and "gorse drake".

In literature.

Corn crakes are the subject of three stanzas of the seventeenth century poet Andrew Marvell's "Upon Appleton House", written in 1651 about the North Yorkshire country estate of Thomas Fairfax. The narrator depicts the scene of a mower cutting the grass, before his "whistling Sithe" unknowingly "carves the Rail". The farmhand draws out the scythe "all bloody from its breast" and "does the stroke detest". It continues with a stanza that demonstrates the problematic nature of the corn crake's nesting habits: <poem> Unhappy Birds! What does it boot To build below the Grass' Root; When Lowness is unsafe as Hight, And Chance o'ertakes, what scapeth spight? </poem>  John Clare, the nineteenth-century English poet based in Northamptonshire, wrote "The Landrail", a semi-comic piece which is primarily about the difficulty of seeing corn crakes – as opposed to hearing them. In the fourth verse he exclaims: "Tis like a fancy everywhere/A sort of living doubt". Clare wrote about corn crakes in his prose works too, and his writings help to clarify the distribution of this rail when it was far more widespread than now.  The Finnish poet Eino Leino also wrote about the bird in his poem "Nocturne". <poem> The corncrake's song rings in my ears, above the rye a full moon sails </poem>  The proverbial use of the corn crake's call to describe someone with a grating or unmelodious voice is illustrated in the quotation "thanks to a wee woman with a voice like a corncrake who believed she was an apprentice angel". This usage dates from at least the first half of the nineteenth century, and continues through to the present.

In music.

In The Pogues "Lullaby of London" Shane MacGowan uses the corncrake's cry as a motif to illustrate his alienation in the city, he sings: <poem> Though there is no lonesome corncrake's cry Or sorrow and delight You can hear the cars And the shouts from bars And the laughter and the fights </poem>  In The Decemberists "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" Colin Meloy references the corn crake's call, singing: "And we'll lie until the corn crake crows."

The corn crake, corncrake or landrail ("Crex crex") is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the northern hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- or grey-streaked brownish-black upperparts, chestnut markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail. The strong bill is flesh-toned, the iris is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Juveniles are similar in plumage to adults, and downy chicks are black, as with all rails. There are no subspecies, although individuals from the east of the breeding range tend to be slightly paler than their western counterparts. The male's call is a loud "krek krek", from which the scientific name is derived. The corn crake is larger than its closest relative, the African crake, which shares its wintering range; that species is also darker-plumaged, and has a plainer face.

Un spéculum est un outil médical — généralement en métal ou à usage unique en plastique — permettant d'explorer une cavité corporelle par l'écartement des parois.