Secondary Damage after Traumatic Brain Injury: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology and Therapy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a microscopic or macroscopic injury to the brain caused by external physical forces. Road traffic accidents, falls, sports injuries (i.e. boxing), recreational accidents (i.e. parachute jumping), the use of firearms, assault, child abuse, and several rare causes e.g. the use of nail guns or lawn mowers have all been described as causes of TBI. The pathology of TBI can be classified by mechanism (closed versus penetrating); clinical severity (Glasgow Coma Scale) and structural damage (imaging e.g. CT-examination). In most cases TBI is graded according to injury severity assessing the level of consciousness of the patient by, most frequently, the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The GCS scores patients based on their ability to open their eyes, perform limb movements and respond adequately to simple questions (Teasdale and Jennett 1974) (see table 1). Mild TBI, e.g. a light concussion, is defined as a patient with a GCS of 13-15 possibly suffering from short-term memory and concentration deficits (Rimel et al., 1981; Mosenthal et al., 2004). Moderate TBI is scored by a GCS of 9-12, e.g. a lethargic and stuporous patient. A comatose patient, unable to open eyes or follow commands has been severely injured and has a GCS of 3-8

Christiane Pooley, Paintings, 2018-2018

Cette monographie généreuse présente les peintures que Christiane Pooley a réalisées entre 2008 et 2018. Laura Morrison, artiste et auteure, ainsi que Marie Maertens, journaliste, critique d’art et commissaire d’exposition entrent dans le travail de cette artiste née en 1983 au Chili. Les deux auteurs proposent une approche à la fois descriptive et théorique d’un travail pictural singulier reconnu sur la scène internationale. Laura Morrisson fait une lecture esthétique des œuvres en s’attacha..

Souvenirs de voyage : collection Antoine de Galbert

A l’image de toutes les collections privées, celle d’Antoine de Galbert est un monde en soi, éclectique, inclassable, celle d’un homme qui ne fait pas de liens mais « lance des ponts », défiant ainsi les usages propres aux historiens de l’art, en quête perpétuelle de sens. C’est ainsi que Didier Semin situe la démarche de cet « amateur collectionneur » qui, dans « un mode de vie, hors du réel » a glané des œuvres durant près de 40 ans. Au moment où La Maison rouge ferme à Paris, le musée des ..

Rosa Barba : de la source au poème

De la source au poème est un film 35 mm de 12 minutes réalisé par Rosa Barba au Centre national de conservation audiovisuelle de la bibliothèque du congrès à Culperer en Virginie (qui recense plus de 6 millions de documents) et dans une centrale solaire du désert des Mojaves en Californie. Il donne son nom à l’exposition présentée au CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux en 2017 dans laquelle l’artiste présentait également une pièce intitulée Hear, There, Where The Echoes Are dans la mouv..

The Murals of Belfast: Politics and Conservation

Through the extent of this study, I aimed to understand and evaluate the complexities of commemoration in urban environments either in a transitional phase or an ongoing identity crisis. With a heavy focus on Belfast, Northern Ireland, my curiosity was first peaked by the political murals and I asked what role they played in the ongoing process of healing and reunification after 30 years of civil war. Starting with academic articles, journals and books, I gained a strong knowledge of The Republic of Ireland’s and Northern Ireland’s political history, as well as a second-hand view of the situation as it sits now. I followed this with interviews with Professor Bill Rolston, who has written extensively on the murals and the politics of Belfast; Amberlea Neely, who works for PLACE Architecture and thus provided me with a working planners insight and opinions on the practicalities of reunification in the city; former Belfast police officer James Crawford, who explained the gradual emotional, family and religious divisions that played into the start of the Troubles and ongoing distrust felt between various groups in Belfast; and Robin Wade, who designed the permanent Derry Museum exhibition dedicated to the Troubles with delicacy and honesty while under heavy criticism from all angles. This paper is structured in a similar fashion, giving the reader an overview of the political history and situations leading up to the events of the Troubles that permanently changed the built environment of Belfast. I then outline the changes that were made and the difficulties architects and planners now face in their efforts to reverse some of these divisive changes. A large section of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the murals, giving the history, development and current situation of both the loyalist and nationalist murals. This section closes with a short description of the more recent collaborations by muralists of these traditionally opposing sects. Continuing on with the theme of regeneration and collaboration, I looked into other recent efforts for renewal and reunification, highlighting both their successes and failures, and why each effort met these outcomes. Using São Paulo as a comparative study, I looked into the ways that the built environment of a city can fuel sociological divisions, which I then compared to the structural changes made in Belfast leading up to, during, and after the Troubles. Reunification is not only a matter of structural reorganization, but is also a matter of the mind, whereby I analysed the ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality I found embedded in many of the people I spoke with. I focused much attention on the Re-imaging Communities project, which aimed to replace the threatening imagery from the murals with new murals designed by the relevant communities. The final section of the paper is devoted to the politics of remembrance and commemoration, using Hiroshima and the Berlin Wall as main case studies. Here, I look into who decides what to commemorate, how to commemorate it, and what affect this has on the local community

Ron Amir, quelque part dans le désert

En 2018, le musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris expose une série de photographies de l’artiste israélien Ron Amir prises dans le camp de réfugiés de Holot dans le désert de Néguev. Celles-ci avaient déjà été exposées au musée d’Israël à Jérusalem en 2016-2017. Quatre textes complémentaires permettent d’appréhender les enjeux du travail de cet artiste, de saisir ce qui est absent des images, de les lire au plus juste à la lumière de leur contexte de crise migratoire. En effet, ces photogr..

Roman : panorama dix-neuf (Jean de Loisy, Yannick Haenel)

En résidence durant un an au Fresnoy, l’écrivain Yannick Haenel a vu les œuvres de 52 artistes « se lever puis tenir debout ». Il était en bonne place pour narrer leur travail dans le catalogue de l’exposition Panorama dix-neuf qui marque les 20 ans de l’institution. Il est peu courant de s’engager dans un catalogue d’exposition comme dans un roman, avec la soif et l’espoir d’être transporté loin. Panorama dix-neuf peut se lire de bout en bout comme une fiction qui s’ancre dans les œuvres. Il..

De-repression of myelin-regulating gene expression after status epilepticus in mice lacking the C/EBP homologous protein CHOP.

The C/EBP homologous protein CHOP is normally present at low levels in cells but increases rapidly after insults such as DNA damage or endoplasmatic reticulum stress where it contributes to cellular homeostasis and apoptosis. By forming heterodimers with other transcription factors, CHOP can either act as a dominant-negative regulator of gene expression or to induce the expression of target genes. Recent work demonstrated that seizure-induced hippocampal damage is significantly worse in mice lacking CHOP and these animals go on to develop an aggravated epileptic phenotype. To identify novel CHOP-controlled target genes which potentially influence the epileptic phenotype, we performed a bioinformatics analysis of tissue microarrays from chop-deficient mice after prolonged seizures. GO analysis revealed genes associated with biological membranes were prominent among those in the chop-deficient array dataset and we identified myelin-associated genes to be particularly de-repressed. These data suggest CHOP might act as an inhibitor of myelin-associated processes in the brain and could be targeted to influence axonal regeneration or reorganisation

Viewpoints. 75 Sides to Freie Universität Berlin

Das Buch mit 75 Illustrationen und Kurztexten ist eine Reise durch die Geschichte und Welt der Freien Universität Berlin und entstand im April 2023 anlässlich ihres 75-jährigen Gründungsjubiläums. Die Bilder zeigen, ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit, mit Augenzwinkern, eine vernetzte und internationale Universität, die sich seit ihren Anfängen und fortwährend ihren Leitwerten Freiheit, Gerechtigkeit und Wahrheit verpflichtet fühlt und zu einem bedeutenden Teil der Stadt und des Wissenschaftsraums Berlin geworden ist. Aspekte ihrer Geschichte und Gegenwart wurden künstlerisch interpretiert von Yves Haltner, einem Schweizer Illustrator und Grafiker, der in Berlin lebt und arbeitet.The book containing 75 illustrations and short texts is a journey through the history and world of Freie Universität Berlin. It was created in April 2023 to mark the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the university’s founding. With a hint of irony and pointed fragmentary playfulness, the images depict a connected, international university deeply committed to its core values: freedom, justice, truth. The university has become an important part of Berlin as a city and research hub. Various aspects of the past and present of the university were artistically interpreted by Yves Haltner, a Swiss illustrator and graphic designer who lives and works in Berlin

Will an unsupervised self-testing strategy for HIV work in health care workers of South Africa? A cross sectional pilot feasibility study

BACKGROUND: In South Africa, stigma, discrimination, social visibility and fear of loss of confidentiality impede health facility-based HIV testing. With 50% of adults having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime, private, alternative testing options are urgently needed. Non-invasive, oral self-tests offer a potential for a confidential, unsupervised HIV self-testing option, but global data are limited. METHODS: A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2012 in health care workers based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. An innovative, unsupervised, self-testing strategy was evaluated for feasibility; defined as completion of self-testing process (i.e., self test conduct, interpretation and linkage). An oral point-of-care HIV test, an Internet and paper-based self-test HIV applications, and mobile phones were synergized to create an unsupervised strategy. Self-tests were additionally confirmed with rapid tests on site and laboratory tests. Of 270 health care workers (18 years and above, of unknown HIV status approached), 251 consented for participation. FINDINGS: Overall, about 91% participants rated a positive experience with the strategy. Of 251 participants, 126 evaluated the Internet and 125 the paper-based application successfully; completion rate of 99.2%. All sero-positives were linked to treatment (completion rate:100% (95% CI, 66.0-100). About half of sero-negatives were offered counselling on mobile phones; completion rate: 44.6% (95% CI, 38.0-51.0). A majority of participants (78.1%) were females, aged 18-24 years (61.4%). Nine participants were found sero-positive after confirmatory tests (prevalence 3.6% 95% CI, 1.8-6.9). Six of nine positive self-tests were accurately interpreted; sensitivity: 66.7% (95% CI, 30.9-91.0); specificity:100% (95% CI, 98.1-100). Interpretation Our unsupervised self-testing strategy was feasible to operationalize in health care workers in South Africa. Linkages were successfully operationalized with mobile phones in all sero-positives and about half of the sero-negatives sought post-test counselling. Controlled trials and implementation research studies are needed before a scale-up is considered