Louis Hennepin on the Native Americans

When the Europeans set out to travel to America, the mysterious new continent discovered by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, their reasons for doing so differed greatly. Whereas some went for the sheer aim to explore, others tried to set up trade relations, while again others tried to spread their beliefs to the unknown people they wished to encounter. One of the individuals who tried to spread believes was the Missionary Father Louis Hennepin, who was sent on a mission in 1675 by the French King Louis XIV. His goal was not only to explore new land, but also to convert the so-called “savages” to the one true faith, which according to him was Christendom. During his travels that he conducted with Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, he did not only happen to become the first eye witness to write about the Niagara Falls, but also the first European to explore the St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi river. The contact to the Native Americans he needed in order to achieve his mission was not difficult to acquire. He was even captured and taken hostage by the Sioux at one point during his journey. However, he soon realized that the conversion itself was a much more difficult task. Due to his frequent contact with the natives, they are very present in his writings. In most of his elaborations he writes in a neutral way, but he also describes the American tribes being “The Other,” which shows his negative sentiments about them. Therefore, this paper is analyzing Hennepin’s writings about the Native Americans, and explores the different factors that influenced his writings. In order to explain these factors, this paper uses references of literature on different possible influences, such as literature on the code of conduct in Europe during the 17th century, secondary literature on Missionary and travel writings in the 17th century, as well as Norbert Elias book The Civilizing Process

Les fonctions de vote : un survol de la littérature

The aim of this article is to present vote functions and voter behavior. Using vote functions, one can explain and forecast the outcomes of elections. In the United States, the outcomes for the past presidential elections are usually well explained and the forecasts are quite satisfactory. In France, the very small number of presidential elections makes the specification of vote functions more difficult, and the forecasts are more dubious. L’objet de cet article est de présenter les fonctions de vote et le comportement des électeurs. Les fonctions de vote visent à la fois à expliquer les résultats des élections et à les prévoir. Aux États-Unis, les fonctions de vote pour les élections présidentielles permettent généralement de bien expliquer les résultats des élections passées et les prévisions des résultats des élections sont assez satisfaisantes. En France, le très faible nombre d’élections présidentielles rend plus délicate la construction de fonctions de vote et les prévisions sont plus incertaines.

Integration of Tactical Aspects into Strategic Production Network Planning

Nowadays, production companies are facing an increasingly volatile environment. Due to increasing globalization, but also de-globalization, taking into consideration an internal production network is becoming more and more important for companies, all in order to be able to counteract in an agile way the uncertainties such as swings in the demand. Current production network planning procedures focus on (re-)locating decisions without delving into what happens inside the plants, neglecting the dynamics of production networks, following a rigid top-down approach during the configuration phase, and they do not integrate the effects of planning tasks at the factory level (tactical and operational planning). In order to be able to make strategic decisions with a well-founded database regarding the production network, the effects on the tactical and operational level must be considered in an iterative way during the strategic decision-making process. The aim of this research is to define the requirements for an approach to strategic production network planning, which considers the effects at the tactical and operational level in an iterative way, and to develop a process model, derived from the requirements, that in its five phases considers the deficiencies of the existing approaches

The Influence of Local and National Economic Conditions on French Legislative Elections

International audienceThis article's aim consists in building and estimating a model which explains and forecasts the outcomes of the French legislative elections by department. This model, which constitutes the first attempt for such a geographical level, emphasises the role of the economic and political factors in the explanation of the legislative vote. The model seems to be very accurate in forecasting the elections of the past at the local and national level. Furthermore, its behaviour for the 2002 election was very satisfactory. This model is therefore a reliable alternative to the vote intention polls as an electoral forecasting instrument

Économie, politique et résultats des élections présidentielles françaises

Cet article a pour objet la construction et l’estimation d’un modèle permettant d’expliquer et de prévoir le résultat du second tour des élections présidentielles françaises par département et au niveau national (1988-1995 et 1988-2007 ; les élections de 2002 sont laissées de côté car elles ne rentrent pas dans le cadre de notre article). Ce modèle met en évidence le rôle des facteurs politiques et économiques dans l’explication du vote pour la gauche au second tour des élections présidentielles françaises (en cas de duel gauche/droite). Les prévisions pour l’élection présidentielle de 2007 sont satisfaisantes.This article’s aim consists in building and estimating a model which explains and forecasts the outcome of the second round of the french presidential elections by department and at the national level (1988-1995 and 1988-2007 without 2002).This model emphasises the role of the political and economic factors in the explanation of the presidential vote received by the Left at the second round with a duel Left/Right). Its forecasts for the 2007 French presidential election are satisfactory

Neprilysin, a Novel Target for Ultraviolet B Regulation of Melanogenesis Via Melanocortins

SummaryCompelling evidence suggest a role for melanocortins in the regulation of melanogenesis by ultraviolet radiation. Within the epidermis, melanocytes and keratinocytes produce α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone. The persistence and the strength of the biologic signal delivered by these peptides depend on their local concentration, which is controlled by the rate of peptide production and by the rate of its degradation. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of melanocortin degradation by melanocytes and the effect of ultraviolet on this process. We have focused our attention on a neutral endopeptidase, neprilysin, which has been implicated in the ending of numerous peptidergic signals. We have shown that this enzyme is expressed at the surface of human melanocytes. Interestingly, its activity and its expression are dramatically downregulated by ultraviolet B treatment. Moreover, in the presence of phosphoramidon, a stable inhibitor of neprilysin, we observed an increased efficiency of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone to stimulate both tyrosinase activity and microphthalmia expression. Taken together, these data indicate that neprilysin expressed by melanocytes has a physiologic role in the regulation of melanogenesis by proopiomelanocortin peptide. Further, its downregulation by ultraviolet B irradiation shed light on a new and appealing mechanism of ultraviolet B induced melanogenesis via the control of melanocortins degradation

Gitelman syndrome and glomerular proteinuria: a link between loss of sodium-chloride cotransporter and podocyte dysfunction?

We report on a 27-year-old patient presenting with chronic hypokalaemia, inappropriate kaliuresis, hypomagnesaemia and alkalosis, associated with moderate proteinuria. Genetic analysis evidenced a homozygous mutation (p.Arg399Cys) in the SLC12A3 gene coding for the sodium-chloride cotransporter (NCC), confirming the diagnosis of Gitelman syndrome. Further genetic testing did not show any mutation in NPHS2. A renal biopsy was performed in view of the unusual association with proteinuria. Light microscopy showed hypertrophy of the juxtaglomerular apparatus and discrete mesangial thickening. In addition to possible focal segmental glomerular sclerosis lesions, electron microscopy showed extensive segments of variably thickened glomerular basement membrane (GBM), contrasting with segments of regular GBM of low range thickness, and effacement of podocyte foot processes. Of interest, alterations of the GBM were also observed in a Slc12a3 knock-out mouse model for Gitelman syndrome. These data suggest that the association between Gitelman syndrome and secondary changes of the GBM is probably not coincidental. Possible mechanisms include angiotensin II- or renin-induced podocyte lesions, as well as chronic hypokalaemi

The small heat shock protein B8 (HSPB8) confers resistance to bortezomib by promoting autophagic removal of misfolded proteins in multiple myeloma cells

Velcade is one of the inescapable drug to treat patient suffering from multiple myeloma (MM) and resistance to this drug represents a major drawback for patients. However, the mechanisms underlying velcade resistance remain incompletely understood. We derived several U266 MM cell clones that resist to velcade. U266-resistant cells were resistant to velcade-induced cell death but exhibited a similar sensitivity to various proapoptotic stimuli. Careful analysis of proteosomal subunits and proteasome enzymatic activities showed that neither the composition nor the activity of the proteasome was affected in velcade-resistant cells. Elimination of velcade-induced poly-ubiquitinated proteins and protein aggregates was drastically stimulated in the resistant cells and correlated with increased cell survival. Inhibition of the lysosomal activity in velcade-resistant cells resulted in an increase of cell aggregates and decrease survival, indicating that aggregates are eliminated through lysosomal degradation. In addition, pangenomic profiling of velcade-sensitive and resistant cells showed that the small heat shock protein HSPB8 was overexpressed in resistant cells. Finally, gain and loss of function experiment demonstrated that HSPB8 is a key factor for velcade resistance. In conclusion, HSPB8 plays an important role for the elimination of aggregates in velcade-resistant cells that contributes to their enhanced survival