Recent information on epidemiology and management of herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a painful complication of HZ, is scarce. The objective of this study was to document the burden of HZ and PHN in the United Kingdom. This retrospective analysis of the UK General Practice Research Database aimed to estimate HZ incidence and proportion of HZ patients developing PHN and to assess management costs in immunocompetent individuals aged ⩾50 years. A cohort of 27 225 HZ patients was selected, corresponding to an incidence of 5·23/1000 person-years. Respectively 19·5% and 13·7% of patients developed PHN at least 1 and 3 months after HZ diagnosis. Mean direct cost was £103 per HZ patient and £341 and £397 per PHN episode (1- and 3-month definition respectively). Both HZ and PHN costs increased markedly with pain severity. This study confirms that HZ and PHN are frequent and costly diseases in the United Kingdom.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) constitute the single largest determinant of livelihoods for scores of forest fringe communities and poor people in the tropics. In India over 50 million people are believed to be directly dependent upon NTFPs for their subsistence. However, such human dependence on NTFPs for livelihood gains (win) has most frequently been at a certain ecological cost (lose). If livelihoods are to be maintained, the existing ‘win-lose’ settings have to be steered to a ‘win-win’ mode, otherwise, there could be severe erosion of the biological resources and loss of livelihoods (‘lose-lose’). Examining the dependence of forest fringe communities on NTFPs at three sites in south India with contrasting human and ecological settings, three key factors (extent of dependence on NTFPs, indigenous ecological knowledge and market organization) are likely to constrain reaching the win-win situation. How these factors shape the ecological cost of harvesting NTFPs at the three sites is examined. Within the parameter space of these factors, it is possible to predict outcomes and associations that will conform to win-win or win-lose situations. Empirical data derived from the three study sites demonstrate the causality of the observed associations. The key for long-term livelihood gains lies in reducing the ecological cost. Certain interventions and recommendations that could optimize the balance between livelihood gains and ecological cost are proposed.

Les matériaux composites à base polymère montrent, dans certains cas, des comportements mécaniques spécifiques lorsque la taille des renforts particulaires rigides devient nanométrique. Il semble que cette particularité provienne du fait que les distances inter-particulaires moyennes sont alors comparables aux dimensions caractéristiques des chaînes polymères. On observe parfois des effets de renfort beaucoup plus importants que pour des composites classiques qui peuvent être attribués à l'existence de réseaux particule/macromolécule/particule ou encore de réseaux rigides de particules. Dans cette courte revue, l'effet du facteur de forme, de la fraction volumique et du procédé de mise en oeuvre sont discutés, ainsi que l'état de l'art en ce qui concerne la modélisation dans les domaines linéaire et non linéaire.