L'usage des pratiques bilingues dans la communauté cadienne

Notre objectif dans cet article est de découvrir les pratiques bilingues qui caractérisent les échanges naturels en français cadien (FC) et en anglais cadien (AC) et de déterminer leur rôle sociolinguistique dans cette communauté. Les données pour cette étude proviennent du corpus de français/anglais cadien représentant 131 locuteurs. L'échantillon utilisé pour notre étude est composé de 30 entrevues de la paroisse d'Avoyelles, d'une durée d'environ 90 minutes pour le FC et de 45 minutes pour l'AC. En nous inspirant de la méthodologie de Poplack (1993), nous distinguons trois types de mélange de langues : l'emprunt d'unités lexicales, l'alternance de code et ce que nous avons appelé l'« alternance de discours », c'est-à-dire la combinaison de plusieurs phrases créant un long monologue discursif. Nous montrerons qu'il existe une divergence frappante dans l'usage des pratiques bilingues entre le FC et l'AC et que le facteur sexe influence fortement leur production en FC.The goal of this article is to uncover the regular patterns of language mixing that characterize natural exchanges in Cajun French (CF) and Cajun English (CE) and to determine their sociolinguistic role in this community. The data for this study are taken from the Cajun French/Cajun English corpus representing 131 Cajun French speakers. The subsample used for our study is made up of 30 interviews from Avoyelles parish that last approximately 90 minutes in CF and 45 minutes in CE. Adapting Poplack's (1993) methodology, we distinguish three patterns of language mixture: borrowing of lexical utterances, code-switching and what we have called "discourse-switching", that is the combination of several sentences creating a long monolingual stretch of discourse. We will show that there exists a strikingly divergent rate of language mixing between CF and CE and that gender strongly influences the production of bilingual practices in CF

Franc̦ais acadien, franc̦ais cadien: variation stylistique et maintenance de formes phonetiques dans le parler de quatre generations de femmes cadiennes

This dissertation is a sociolinguistic study examining the phonetic variation in the speech of four generations of Cajun French women, living in four Louisiana parishes: Avoyelles, Lafourche, St Landry and Vermillon. Based on the Gold 1975 corpus and the Dubois 1997 Cajun French corpus available at LSU, a sample of 29 speakers was chosen for the analysis of five traditional phonetic variables: O in front of nasals MM/NN and liquids R and L, Œ in front of R, E in front of R and at the third person ending of the imparfait, J in lexical words, personal pronoun JE, and Z in liaison structures like “nous-autres”. Following the quantitative methodology, a total of over 20 000 tokens were codified and analyzed with analytical softwares such as Statview 4.5 and Goldvarb to determine the direction of the variation observed. After the first frequency analysis, we found an apparent rise in the use of the dialectal features in the younger generations. Because Cajun French is a minority language in an endangered situation due to a lack of constitutional support and a dramatic decreasing number of speakers, it appeared rather impossible that the tendency observed could be a true language change. We decided to further our analysis by comparing the two interviews in French available in the Dubois 1997 corpus for each speaker. One interview was lead by a native Cajun French speaker and the other one by a student speaking academic French. This comparison aims to measure the degree of adaptation to a specific linguistic situation by Cajun French speakers. The results of the comparative study shows that the rate of dialectal features used by each speaker significantly drops when they speak to the outsider interviewer. This proves that what we observe is not a language change but rather the fact that Cajun women in our sample have maintained their ability to adapt stylistically to the variety of French being spoken to them. This goes against the theory of linguistic shrinkage, stating that when a language is dying, the speakers lose their ability to detect and adjust to different ranges of styles

The European Prevalence of Resistance Associated Substitutions among Direct Acting Antiviral Failures

Background: Approximately 71 million people are still in need of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). To achieve the World Health Organization Hepatitis C elimination goals, insight into the prevalence and influence of resistance associated substitutions (RAS) is of importance. Collaboration is key since DAA failure is rare and real-life data are scattered. We have established a European collaboration, HepCare, to perform in-depth analysis regarding RAS prevalence, patterns, and multiclass occurrence. Methods: Data were extracted from the HepCare cohort of patients who previously failed DAA therapy. Geno-and subtypes were provided by submitters and mostly based on in-house assays. They were reassessed using the Comet HCV subtyping tool. We considered RAS to be relevant if they were associated with DAA failure in vivo previously reported in literature. Results: We analyzed 938 patients who failed DAA therapy from ten different European countries. There were 239 genotypes (GT) 1a, 380 GT1b, 19 GT2c, 205 GT3a, 14 GT4a, and 68 GT4d infections. Several unusual subtypes (n = 15) (GT1b/g/l, GT3b, GT4k/n/r/t) were present. RAS appeared in over 80% of failures and over a quarter had three or more RAS. Multiclass RAS varied over target region and genotype between 0-48%. RAS patterns such as the Q30R + L31M and Q30R + Y93H in GT1a, the L31V + Y93H and L31V + Y93H for GT1b, and A30K + L31M and A30K/V + Y93H for GT3a all occurred with a prevalence below 5%. Conclusion: RAS occur frequently after DAA failures and follow a specific genotype and drug related pattern. Interpretation of the influence of RAS on retreatment is challenging due to various patterns, patients' characteristics, and previous treatment history. Moving towards HCV elimination, an ongoing resistance surveillance is essential to track the presence of RAS, RAS patterns and gather data for a re-treatment algorithm

Associations among hypertension, dementia biomarkers, and cognition: The MEMENTO cohort

Introduction Approximately 40% of dementia cases could be delayed or prevented acting on modifiable risk factors including hypertension. However, the mechanisms underlying the hypertension–dementia association are still poorly understood. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis in 2048 patients from the MEMENTO cohort, a French multicenter clinic-based study of outpatients with either isolated cognitive complaints or mild cognitive impairment. Exposure to hypertension was defined as a combination of high blood pressure (BP) status and antihypertensive treatment intake. Pathway associations were examined through structural equation modeling integrating extensive collection of neuroimaging biomarkers and clinical data. Results Participants treated with high BP had significantly lower cognition compared to the others. This association was mediated by higher neurodegeneration and higher white matter hyperintensities load but not by Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. Discussion These results highlight the importance of controlling hypertension for prevention of cognitive decline and offer new insights on mechanisms underlying the hypertension–dementia association. Highlights Paths of hypertension–cognition association were assessed by structural equation models. The hypertension–cognition association is not mediated by Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. The hypertension–cognition association is mediated by neurodegeneration and leukoaraiosis. Lower cognition was limited to participants treated with uncontrolled blood pressure. Blood pressure control could contribute to promote healthier brain aging.Stopping cognitive decline and dementia by fighting covert cerebral small vessel diseas

Mémento 2 : Résidences 1999-2000

This richly illustrated catalogue documents the work of 35 artists who took part in six residencies (including two events - La Cueillette and La Ruche) that took place in 1999 and 2000 at Centre Est-Nord-Est. The centre’s director, F. Michel, describes the nature and purpose of the residencies as well as that of the catalogue : to reflect each participant’s experience. Includes brief comments by the artist on their work and on their stay. Text in French and English. Biographical notes

Phenotypic Landscape of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during Wine Fermentation: Evidence for Origin-Dependent Metabolic Traits

The species Saccharomyces cerevisiae includes natural strains, clinical isolates, and a large number of strains used in human activities. The aim of this work was to investigate how the adaptation to a broad range of ecological niches may have selectively shaped the yeast metabolic network to generate specific phenotypes. Using 72 S. cerevisiae strains collected from various sources, we provide, for the first time, a population-scale picture of the fermentative metabolic traits found in the S. cerevisiae species under wine making conditions. Considerable phenotypic variation was found suggesting that this yeast employs diverse metabolic strategies to face environmental constraints. Several groups of strains can be distinguished from the entire population on the basis of specific traits. Strains accustomed to growing in the presence of high sugar concentrations, such as wine yeasts and strains obtained from fruits, were able to achieve fermentation, whereas natural yeasts isolated from “poor-sugar” environments, such as oak trees or plants, were not. Commercial wine yeasts clearly appeared as a subset of vineyard isolates, and were mainly differentiated by their fermentative performances as well as their low acetate production. Overall, the emergence of the origin-dependent properties of the strains provides evidence for a phenotypic evolution driven by environmental constraints and/or human selection within S. cerevisiae

Alzheimers Dement

Introduction: The free and cued selective reminding test is used to identify memory deficits in mild cognitive impairment and demented patients. It allows assessing three processes: encoding, storage, and recollection of verbal episodic memory. Methods: We investigated the neural correlates of these three memory processes in a large cohort study. The Memento cohort enrolled 2323 outpatients presenting either with subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment who underwent cognitive, structural MRI and, for a subset, fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography evaluations. Results: Encoding was associated with a network including parietal and temporal cortices; storage was mainly associated with entorhinal and parahippocampal regions, bilaterally; retrieval was associated with a widespread network encompassing frontal regions. Discussion: The neural correlates of episodic memory processes can be assessed in large and standardized cohorts of patients at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Their relation to pathophysiological markers of Alzheimer's disease remains to be studied

Diabetes Mellitus and Cognition: A Pathway Analysis in the MEMENTO Cohort

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neurodegeneration and small vessel disease (SVD) as mediators in the association between diabetes mellitus and cognition. METHODS: The study sample was derived from MEMENTO, a cohort of French adults recruited in memory clinics and screened for either isolated subjective cognitive complaints or mild cognitive impairment. Diabetes was defined based on blood glucose assessment, use of antidiabetic agent or self-report. We used structural equation modelling to assess whether latent variables of AD pathology (PET mean amyloid uptake, Aβ(42)/Aβ(40) ratio and CSF phosphorylated tau), SVD (white matter hyperintensities volume and visual grading), and neurodegeneration (mean cortical thickness, brain parenchymal fraction, hippocampal volume, and mean fluorodeoxyglucose uptake) mediate the association between diabetes and a latent variable of cognition (five neuropsychological tests), adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: There were 254 (11.1%) participants with diabetes among 2,288 participants (median age 71.6 years; 61.8% women). The association between diabetes and lower cognition was significantly mediated by higher neurodegeneration (standardized indirect effect: -0.061, 95% confidence interval: -0.089; -0.032), but not mediated by SVD and AD markers. Results were similar when considering latent variables of memory or executive functioning. CONCLUSION: In a large clinical cohort in the elderly, diabetes is associated with lower cognition through neurodegeneration, independently of SVD and AD biomarkers

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707