Pseudohypoaldosteronisms, report on a 10-patient series

Background. Type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA1) is a salt-wasting syndrome caused by mineralocorticoid resistance. Autosomal recessive and dominant hereditary forms are caused by Epithelial Na Channel and Mineralocorticoid Receptor mutation respectively, while secondary PHA1 is usually associated with urological problems. Methods. Ten patients were studied in four French pediatric units in order to characterize PHA1 spectrum in infants. Patients were selected by chart review. Genetic, clinical and biochemistry data were collected and analyzed. Results. Autosomal recessive PHA1 (n = 3) was diagnosed at 6 and 7 days of life in three patients presenting with severe hyperkalaemia and weight loss. After 8 months, 3 and 5 years on follow-up, neurological development and longitudinal growth was normal with high sodium supplementation. Autosomal dominant PHA1 (n = 4) was revealed at 15, 19, 22 and 30 days of life because of failure to thrive. At 8 months, 3 and 21 years of age, longitudinal growth was normal in three patients who were given salt supplementation; no significant catch-up growth was obtained in the last patient at 20 months of age. Secondary PHA1 (n = 3) was diagnosed at 11, 26 days and 5 months of life concomitantly with acute pyelonephritis in three children with either renal hypoplasia, urinary duplication or bilateral megaureter. The outcome was favourable and salt supplementation was discontinued after 3, 11 and 13 months. Conclusions. PHA1 should be suspected in case of severe hyperkalemia and weight loss in infants and need careful management. Pathogenesis of secondary PHA1 is still challenging and further studies are mandatory to highlight the link between infection, developing urinary tract and pseudohypoaldosteronis

Ievads eksperimentālās medicīnas studijās

No franču valodas tulkojis E. Dārziņ

Les lames à coche du second Mésolithique : des outils dédiés au travail des plantes ?

During the VIIth millennium BC, important changes occur in Western Europe. The lithic production focuses on regular bladelets, produced by pressure or indirect percussion. These bladelets are often retouched with one or several notches, sometimes giving them a serrated appearance. Together with trapezoidal geometrics, these laterally notched blades are considered as emblematic tools for the late Mesolithic in Western Europe. Different hypothesis were proposed to explain the origin of these laterally notched blades. J.-G. Rozoy (1978b) thought that there was no definite intentional shaping and suggested that the retouch was a use retouch created during a wood peeling process. During this process, the tools change in shape from blank blades, to laterally irregular retouched blades, and finally notched blades. We tried to give new answers in this old debate through a technological and functional analysis : are notched blades retouched tools or use scars ? What are the specific functions of theses notches ? This preliminary study presents our first results, some functional hypotheses and a discussion about the place of the notched blades in the lithic toolkit. We have studied a sample of notched blades coming from different Mesolithic sites from the VIIth and VIth millennium BC : Beg-an-Dorchenn, L’Essart, La Grange (Western France), Noyen-sur-Seine, Choisy-au-Bac (Paris Basin), Verrebroek Aven Ackers and Oudenaarde (Belgium), Mourre de Sève (Provence), La Grande Rivoire (Alps), Dammartin-Marpain (Jura). The wear analysis of these tools shows that the notches are the result of a voluntary retouch and are used as scraping tools. In our corpus, all notches are made by direct removals. Most of these removals result from bending fractures. The edge angle, on the very edge, is consequently a rather high angle, up to 90°. The active part of the tool is always the inner concave part of the notches, never the spur between two notches. Edge damage is very limited or absent. Use polishes observed in the notches present different patterns on both faces : on the retouched dorsal face, there is a tiny polish, sometimes more developed with a snow-melting appearance, and on the blank ventral face, there is a marginal polish creating a domed bevel. It is sometimes more invasive and more or less striated. This dissymmetric pattern is the result of a scraping motion with a negative rake angle, the retouched dorsal face being always the rake face, and the ventral face the flank face. Under these conditions, the direct removal cannot result from the use process itself. The limited extension of the polish on the ventral face indicates that the clearance angle, formed by the end flank of the tool and the workpiece surface, is maintained higher than a few degrees, in order to limit the friction with the material. The polish on the dorsal face results from the friction developed as the chips cut by the tool flow over the rake surface of the cutting edge. The variability of the observed wear traces suggests that different materials have been scraped : soft plant with high silica content, soft plants with an abrasive component, wood, and maybe bone or antler. The worked material remains indeterminate on some tools. We can conclude that the notched blades that we studied were involved in different working processes, with different functions, but with a same way of using the tools. The tasks could probably be related to arrows shaping, basketry, strings and thread making. More experimentation is needed to better understand these tools. The comparison with other Mesolithic sites suggests that these activities are important in the technology of Mesolithic societies. Thus, these emblematic tools of the second Mesolithic result from a voluntary technical process and correspond to specific functional purposes. Our first results brought to light a particular aspect of the renewal of the techniques which characterizes the transformations of Mesolithic societies in the VIIth millennium BC.Durant le VIIe millénaire avant J.-C., des changements importants sont constatés dans les industries lithiques d’Europe occidentale. La production lithique est centrée sur des lamelles régulières, débitées par pression ou percussion indirecte. Ces lamelles sont souvent retouchées pour former une ou plusieurs coches, façonnant parfois des bords denticulés. Nous avons étudié un échantillon de lames à coches provenant de différents sites mésolithiques du VIIe et du VIe millénaire av. J.-C. : Beg-an-Dorchenn, L’Essart, La Grange (Ouest de la France), Noyen-sur-Seine, Choisy-au-Bac (Bassin parisien), Verrebroek Aven Ackers et Oudenaarde (Belgique), Mourre de Sève (Provence), La Grande Rivoire (Alpes), Dammartin-Marpain (Jura). Cette étude préliminaire présente nos premiers résultats, quelques hypothèses fonctionnelles et une discussion sur la place des lames à coches dans les assemblages lithiques. Dans le corpus étudié, les coches sont systématiquement directes et le plus souvent obtenues par flexion. L’analyse fonctionnelle montre que les coches sont utilisées comme outils de raclage. La dissymétrie des polis observés sur la face inférieure et sur la face supérieure (face retouchée) indique que la face supérieure est systématiquement en position de face d’attaque, avec un angle d’attaque voisin de 90° : il s’agit d’un raclage en coupe négative. Cette position d’utilisation est incompatible avec un détachement d’enlèvements d’utilisation en face supérieure. Nous concluons donc que les coches résultent d’une retouche volontaire et non d’un processus d’écaillage en cours d’utilisation. Il apparaît clairement que chaque coche est une zone d’utilisation autonome, utilisée par une faible longueur de tranchant. La variabilité des traces d’usure observées suggère que différents matériaux ont été travaillés, parmi lesquels différents végétaux (bois, plantes souples siliceuses de différentes natures), et, probablement, des matières osseuses. Ainsi, ces outils emblématiques du second Mésolithique résultent d’un processus technique volontaire et correspondent à des finalités fonctionnelles spécifiques. C’est un aspect particulier du renouvellement des techniques qui marque les mutations des sociétés mésolithiques au VIIe millénaire que nos premiers résultats ont ainsi mis au jour.Gassin Bernard, Marchand Grégor, Claud Émilie, Guéret Colas, Philibert Sylvie. Les lames à coche du second Mésolithique : des outils dédiés au travail des plantes ? . In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 110, n°1, 2013. pp. 25-46

Les lames à coches du second Mésolithique : des outils dédiés au travail des plantes ?

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Late Mesolithic notched blades: tools for plant working ?

International audienceDuring the 7 th millennium BC, important changes occur in Western Europe. The lithic production focuses on regular blades, knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. These blades are often retouched with one or several notches, sometimes giving them a serrated appearance. We have studied a sample of notched blades coming from different late Mesolithic sites (7 th and 6 th millennium BC) in France and Belgium. The wear analysis of these tools shows that the notches are the result of a voluntary retouch and are used as scraping tools. The variability of the observed wear traces suggests that different materials have been scraped, among them different vegetal materials. This preliminary study presents our first results, some functional hypotheses and a discussion about the place of the notched blades in the lithic toolkit

Late Mesolithic notched blades: tools for plant working ?

International audienceDuring the 7 th millennium BC, important changes occur in Western Europe. The lithic production focuses on regular blades, knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. These blades are often retouched with one or several notches, sometimes giving them a serrated appearance. We have studied a sample of notched blades coming from different late Mesolithic sites (7 th and 6 th millennium BC) in France and Belgium. The wear analysis of these tools shows that the notches are the result of a voluntary retouch and are used as scraping tools. The variability of the observed wear traces suggests that different materials have been scraped, among them different vegetal materials. This preliminary study presents our first results, some functional hypotheses and a discussion about the place of the notched blades in the lithic toolkit

The function and role of bifaces in the Late Middle Paleolithic of southwestern France: Examples from the Charente and Dordogne to the Basque Country

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Late Mesolithic notched blades from Western Europe and North Africa: technological and functional variability

International audienceDuring the 7th and 6th millenniums BC, major changes occurred over a widespread area in the lithic industries of the late Mesolithic. We focused our research on notched blades and bladelets knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. We managed to define this technical process by showing that these notches result from voluntary retouch, with variability in retouch modes and in uses (different operating processes and worked materials). It is a simple technical concept, connected to the recurring mode of operation, but with varied functional purposes that comes out as a result of this survey carried out in France, Belgium, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia