Perceptions et représentations de l’environnement dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal. Regards croisés littéraires et géographiques

La vallée du fleuve Sénégal a fait l’objet de nombreuses études de scientifiques, géographes, anthropologues ou sociologues, pointant des transformations profondes des paysages, des milieux et ressources et des pratiques depuis le milieu du XIXe siècle. Ces processus peuvent être éclairés de manière féconde par la littérature circulant oralement dans cette région et que l’on peut considérer comme un discours autochtone sur l’environnement. En partant de l’hypothèse que cette littérature orale véhicule l’affirmation de valeurs écologiques, et en relativisant certains discours d’experts alarmistes, ces regards croisés peuvent participer à faire émerger de nouvelles pistes d’aménagement de ce territoire et de gestion réellement participative des milieux et des ressources, dans un contexte de désappropriation des populations locales depuis la période coloniale

"Du proche au lointain : essais de restitution de l'espace vécu à Paris à la fin du Moyen Âge"

Cet article est la synthèse d'une journée d'études organisée dans le cadre du séminaire sur l'histoire de Paris. Elle visait à tenter de cerner la perception de l'espace au Moyen Âge à travers différentes sources. Il se dégage de la confrontation des dossiers l'impression qu'il y a des usages sociaux très sélectifs de l'espace urbain, même si il faut compter aussi avec un effet de source, puisque chacune met en avant une dimension de la vie et que l'existence en comporte plusieurs. Les parcours individuels découpent des zones plus ou moins linéaires qui dessinent un espace en étoile coïncidant mal avec le périmètre urbain défini par les remparts ou les cartes des historiens. Les pérégrinations des demandeurs de lettres de rémission sont à ce titre éclairantes. Il est probablement exagéré d'évoquer un usage exclusivement nodal, en archipel, de l'espace urbain comme dans la ville contemporaine, mais la notion rassurante de quartier entendu comme village urbain qui serait caractéristique de l'Ancien Régime mériterait d'être questionnée. Des quartiers existent certainement, mais forment-ils la trame de tout l'espace urbain ? Rien n'est moins sûr : il faudrait s'assurer d'abord que toutes les zones ont une identité, et ensuite que leurs habitants n'ont pas d'intérêts significatifs en dehors. Sous cet angle, le Paris de la fin du Moyen Âge pourrait peut-être se rapprocher d'une ville contemporaine. Les réseaux s'inscrivent-ils dans un espace dominé par des contraintes physiques ou par l'horizon interpersonnel de chacun, c'est-à-dire la géographie humaine de la ville ? Il y a une dialectique temporelle complexe entre ces deux données, puisque la répartition des artisans est fonction des ressources naturelles et humaines dont ils ont besoin, mais des circonstances exceptionnelles montrent qu'ils peuvent surmonter l'éloignement physique avec leurs collaborateurs ou leurs ressources. Pour eux, la Seine est un obstacle surmontable ; tandis que pour tous ceux qui en vivent, marchands, propriétaires de vignes rurales ou bateliers, elle est un axe de circulation et une mère nourricière. D'une manière générale, il est fort probable que la Seine a le même statut ambigu à l'époque médiévale qu'à l'époque moderne, où elle est tout à la fois une frontière et un pôle d'attraction dont l'influence se fait sentir loin dans l'espace parisien . L'espace vécu est donc très fragmentaire, mais l'espace imaginaire semble être plus vaste et plus cohérent : les éloges de Paris ou les farces le dessinent à l'échelle de la rive, voire même de la ville entière. L'étude des itinéraires des processions pourrait aller dans ce sens, car il semble qu'un certain nombre d'entre elles traversent le fleuve et sortent même des murs, contribuant ainsi à ressouder les morceaux de la ville . La circulation officielle du roi, qui entre dans Paris par la porte Saint-Denis mais en sort par la porte Saint-Antoine , participe du même phénomène. Tout se passe comme si les rituels politiques et religieux ou les cérémonies ludiques qui unifient l'espace parisien étaient les contrepoints nécessaires à l'éclatement de l'espace vécu réel

Our easy-read summary of a review on inclusive research

An accessible guide to a literature review conducted by Olivia Hewitt et al. The review explores what has been written about the experiences of teams conducting health and social care research when some team members have a learning disability. Our easy read guide supports people with a learning disability to read and understand the review findings

Trouble with Bleeding: Risk Factors for Acute Hepatitis C among HIV-Positive Gay Men from Germany—A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVES: To identify risk factors for hepatitis C among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), focusing on potential sexual, nosocomial, and other non-sexual determinants. BACKGROUND: Outbreaks of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among HIV-positive MSM have been reported by clinicians in post-industrialized countries since 2000. The sexual acquisition of HCV by gay men who are HIV positive is not, however, fully understood. METHODS: Between 2006 and 2008, a case-control study was embedded into a behavioural survey of MSM in Germany. Cases were HIV-positive and acutely HCV-co-infected, with no history of injection drug use. HIV-positive MSM without known HCV infection, matched for age group, served as controls. The HCV-serostatus of controls was assessed by serological testing of dried blood specimens. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were used to identify factors independently associated with HCV-co-infection. RESULTS: 34 cases and 67 controls were included. Sex-associated rectal bleeding, receptive fisting and snorting cocaine/amphetamines, combined with group sex, were independently associated with case status. Among cases, surgical interventions overlapped with sex-associated rectal bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual practices leading to rectal bleeding, and snorting drugs in settings of increased HCV-prevalence are risk factors for acute hepatitis C. We suggest that sharing snorting equipment as well as sharing sexual partners might be modes of sexual transmission. Condoms and gloves may not provide adequate protection if they are contaminated with blood. Public health interventions for HIV-positive gay men should address the role of blood in sexual risk behaviour. Further research is needed into the interplay of proctosurgery and sex-associated rectal bleeding

Infection of Semen-Producing Organs by SIV during the Acute and Chronic Stages of the Disease

International audienceBACKGROUND: Although indirect evidence suggests the male genital tract as a possible source of persistent HIV shedding in semen during antiretroviral therapy, this phenomenon is poorly understood due to the difficulty of sampling semen-producing organs in HIV+ asymptomatic individuals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a range of molecular and cell biological techniques, this study investigates SIV infection within reproductive organs of macaques during the acute and chronic stages of the disease. We demonstrate for the first time the presence of SIV in the testes, epididymides, prostate and seminal vesicles as early as 14 days post-inoculation. This infection persists throughout the chronic stage and positively correlates with blood viremia. The prostate and seminal vesicles appear to be the most efficiently infected reproductive organs, followed by the epididymides and testes. Within the male genital tract, mostly T lymphocytes and a small number of germ cells harbour SIV antigens and RNA. In contrast to the other organs studied, the testis does not display an immune response to the infection. Testosteronemia is transiently increased during the early phase of the infection but spermatogenesis remains unaffected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The present study reveals that SIV infection of the macaque male genital tract is an early event and that semen-producing organs display differential infection levels and immune responses. These results help elucidate the origin of HIV in semen and constitute an essential base to improving the design of antiretroviral therapies to eradicate virus from semen

Antiretroviral-naive and -treated HIV-1 patients can harbour more resistant viruses in CSF than in plasma

Objectives The neurological disorders in HIV-1-infected patients remain prevalent. The HIV-1 resistance in plasma and CSF was compared in patients with neurological disorders in a multicentre study. Methods Blood and CSF samples were collected at time of neurological disorders for 244 patients. The viral loads were >50 copies/mL in both compartments and bulk genotypic tests were realized. Results On 244 patients, 89 and 155 were antiretroviral (ARV) naive and ARV treated, respectively. In ARV-naive patients, detection of mutations in CSF and not in plasma were reported for the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene in 2/89 patients (2.2%) and for the protease gene in 1/89 patients (1.1%). In ARV-treated patients, 19/152 (12.5%) patients had HIV-1 mutations only in the CSF for the RT gene and 30/151 (19.8%) for the protease gene. Two mutations appeared statistically more prevalent in the CSF than in plasma: M41L (P = 0.0455) and T215Y (P = 0.0455). Conclusions In most cases, resistance mutations were present and similar in both studied compartments. However, in 3.4% of ARV-naive and 8.8% of ARV-treated patients, the virus was more resistant in CSF than in plasma. These results support the need for genotypic resistance testing when lumbar puncture is performe

Validation and utilization of an internally controlled multiplex Real-time RT-PCR assay for simultaneous detection of enteroviruses and enterovirus A71 associated with hand foot and mouth disease

BACKGROUND: Hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a disease of public health importance across the Asia-Pacific region. The disease is caused by enteroviruses (EVs), in particular enterovirus A71 (EV-A71). In EV-A71-associated HFMD, the infection is sometimes associated with severe manifestations including neurological involvement and fatal outcome. The availability of a robust diagnostic assay to distinguish EV-A71 from other EVs is important for patient management and outbreak response. METHODS: We developed and validated an internally controlled one-step single-tube real-time RT-PCR in terms of sensitivity, linearity, precision, and specificity for simultaneous detection of EVs and EV-A71. Subsequently, the assay was then applied on throat and rectal swabs sampled from 434 HFMD patients. RESULTS: The assay was evaluated using both plasmid DNA and viral RNA and has shown to be reproducible with a maximum assay variation of 4.41 % and sensitive with a limit of detection less than 10 copies of target template per reaction, while cross-reactivity with other EV serotypes was not observed. When compared against a published VP1 nested RT-PCR using 112 diagnostic throat and rectal swabs from 112 children with a clinical diagnosis of HFMD during 2014, the multiplex assay had a higher sensitivity and 100 % concordance with sequencing results which showed EVs in 77/112 (68.8 %) and EV-A71 in 7/112 (6.3 %). When applied to clinical diagnostics for 322 children, the assay detected EVs in throat swabs of 257/322 (79.8 %) of which EV-A71 was detected in 36/322 (11.2 %) children. The detection rate increased to 93.5 % (301/322) and 13.4 % (43/322) for EVs and EV-A71, respectively, when rectal swabs from 65 throat-negative children were further analyzed. CONCLUSION: We have successfully developed and validated a sensitive internally controlled multiplex assay for rapid detection of EVs and EV-A71, which is useful for clinical management and outbreak control of HFMD. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-015-0316-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Etude complémentaire des sols du Mas de Carrière, Marsillargues

* INRA, URD, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon cedex 9 Diffusion du document : INRA, URD, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon cedex 9National audienc

Etude préliminaire à l'implantation d'un verger au mas de Carrière, commune de Marsillargues (Hérault)

* INRA, URD, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon cedex 9 Diffusion du document : INRA, URD, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon cedex 9National audienc