Deuils au pluriel : Sur deux textes d’Abla Farhoud

Les auteures de cet article traitent de l’exil qui entraîne un deuil des origines dans deux textes migrants d’Abla Farhoud, soit Jeux de patience (1997), pièce dramatique, et Le bonheur a la queue glissante (1998), oeuvre romanesque. Dans ces oeuvres, où il y a une juxtaposition de deuils, entre en jeu une déchirure antérieure, ce qui amène à conjuguer le deuil au pluriel. Dans la pièce et le roman, il existe une tension entre mémoire et refoulement, entre deuil et mélancolie, qui habite les personnages féminins. Les auteures cherchent également à souligner l’importance de la prise de parole qui motive le deuil, un travail toujours inachevé, intrinsèquement lié à la perte, une composante incontournable de toute subjectivité et de toute écriture.The authors of this article deal with exile and the process of mourning the loss of origins in two migrant texts by Abla Farhoud: a dramatic work, Jeux de patience, and a novel, Le bonheur a la queue glissante. In these narratives, involving a juxtaposition of bereavements, a previous break becomes part of the story, and bereavement is constructed in the plural. While these bereavements are represented in different ways in the play and the novel, the female characters are inhabited by tensions between memory and repression, mourning and melancholy. The authors also emphasize the importance of finding a voice to motivate mourning — an always unfinished task, inherently related to loss as an inescapable element of all subjectivity and all writing

Endothelial Plasmalemma Vesicle-Associated Protein Regulates the Homeostasis of Splenic Immature B Cells and B-1 B Cells.

Plasmalemma vesicle associated protein (Plvap) is an endothelial protein with roles in endothelial diaphragm formation and maintenance of basal vascular permeability. At the same time Plvap has roles in immunity by facilitating leukocyte diapedesis at inflammatory sites and controlling peripheral lymph node morphogenesis and the entry of soluble antigens into lymph node conduits. Based on its postulated role in diapedesis, we have investigated the role of Plvap in hematopoiesis and show that deletion of Plvap results in a dramatic decrease of IgM(+)IgD(lo) B cells in both the spleen and peritoneal cavity. Tissue specific deletion of Plvap demonstrates that the defect is B cell extrinsic, as B cell and pan hematopoietic Plvap deletion has no effect on IgM(+)IgD(lo) B cell numbers. Endothelial specific deletion of Plvap in the embryo or at adult stage recapitulates the full Plvap knockout phenotype whereas endothelial specific reconstitution of Plvap under the Chd5 promoter rescues the IgM(+)IgD(lo) B cell phenotype. Taken together, these results show that Plvap expression in endothelial cells is important in the maintenance of IgM(+) B cells in the spleen and peritoneal cavity

Analysis of cellular responses of macrophages to zinc ions and zinc oxide nanoparticles: a combined targeted and proteomic approach

Two different zinc oxide nanoparticles, as well as zinc ions, are used to study the cellular responses of the RAW 264 macrophage cell line. A proteomic screen is used to provide a wide view of the molecular effects of zinc, and the most prominent results are cross-validated by targeted studies. Furthermore, the alteration of important macrophage functions (e.g. phagocytosis) by zinc is also investigated. The intracellular dissolution/uptake of zinc is also studied to further characterize zinc toxicity. Zinc oxide nanoparticles dissolve readily in the cells, leading to high intracellular zinc concentrations, mostly as protein-bound zinc. The proteomic screen reveals a rather weak response in the oxidative stress response pathway, but a strong response both in the central metabolism and in the proteasomal protein degradation pathway. Targeted experiments confirm that carbohydrate catabolism and proteasome are critical determinants of sensitivity to zinc, which also induces DNA damage. Conversely, glutathione levels and phagocytosis appear unaffected at moderately toxic zinc concentrations

Deletion of Rb Accelerates Pancreatic Carcinogenesis by Oncogenic Kras and Impairs Senescence in Pre-Malignant Lesions

Rb1 encodes a cell-cycle regulator that is functionally disrupted in most human cancers. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) have a high frequency of mutations in KRAS and INK4A/CDKN2A that might allow cells to bypass the regulatory actions of retinoblastoma (RB). To determine the role of loss of RB function in PDAC progression, we investigated the effects of Rb disruption during pancreatic malignant transformation initiated by oncogenic Kras.We generated mice with pancreas-specific disruption of Rb, in the absence or presence of oncogenic Kras, to examine the role of RB in pancreatic carcinogenesis

Molecular responses of mouse macrophages to copper and copper oxide nanoparticles inferred from proteomic analyses

The molecular responses of macrophages to copper-based nanoparticles have been investigated via a combination of proteomic and biochemical approaches, using the RAW264.7 cell line as a model. Both metallic copper and copper oxide nanoparticles have been tested, with copper ion and zirconium oxide nanoparticles used as controls. Proteomic analysis highlighted changes in proteins implicated in oxidative stress responses (superoxide dismutases and peroxiredoxins), glutathione biosynthesis, the actomyosin cytoskeleton, and mitochondrial proteins (especially oxidative phosphorylation complex subunits). Validation studies employing functional analyses showed that the increases in glutathione biosynthesis and in mitochondrial complexes observed in the proteomic screen were critical to cell survival upon stress with copper-based nanoparticles; pharmacological inhibition of these two pathways enhanced cell vulnerability to copper-based nanoparticles, but not to copper ions. Furthermore, functional analyses using primary macrophages derived from bone marrow showed a decrease in reduced glutathione levels, a decrease in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and inhibition of phagocytosis and of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production. However, only a fraction of these effects could be obtained with copper ions. In conclusion, this study showed that macrophage functions are significantly altered by copper-based nanoparticles. Also highlighted are the cellular pathways modulated by cells for survival and the exemplified cross-toxicities that can occur between copper-based nanoparticles and pharmacological agents

Impact of the Use of a Teaching Toolbox in an Awareness Campaign on Children's Representations of Coral Reefs

Environmental education for children is one of the fundamental tools required to reverse the degradation of our environment and the biodiversity erosion. Currently coral reefs are part of the vulnerable ecosystems which are most threatened by human activities and climate change. Responding to these pressures demands decisions at multiple scales, based on solid knowledge of coral reefs but also on strengthened awareness to build adaptive management solutions. Here we evaluate the impact of an environmental awareness campaign for children using a teaching toolbox developed by scientists (MARECO “The Coral Reef In Our Hands”). To assess this impact before and after using the toolbox, we analyzed the evolution of children's representations of coral reefs through drawings. This study was carried out in New Caledonia, focusing on five elementary schools in different social and cultural contexts (urban, rural and coastal). Two hundred and forty-eight drawings were made by children. The drawings were analyzed quantitatively using multivariate statistical analyses which reveals a diversity of representations in children with diverse sociocultural profiles, but also between schools, emphasizing that relationships with nature and marine environment vary according to direct and indirect experiences related to reefs. Furthermore, our results pointed out relevant differences in coral reef representations before and after the use of MARECO, particularly regarding their knowledge of reef biodiversity associated with multicolored organisms and the connection of coral reef with environment, the number of colors being used as a proxy of this holistic vision developed by children. These results point out the performance of MARECO as a playful tool to transfer scientific knowledge to children. Coral reef conservation is intimately linked to an awareness in young generations of the environmental challenges of tomorrow. To be agents of change in a sustainable world, children must be engaged in a fun, rigorous, action-oriented and socially responsible learning process such as the ones developed in participatory approaches

Comparing the resident populations of private and public long-term care facilities over a fifteen-year period: a study from Quebec, Canada

In the province of Quebec, Canada, long-term residential care is provided by two types of facilities: privately-owned facilities in which care is privately financed and delivered, and publicly-subsidised accredited facilities. There are few comparative data on the residents served by the private and public sectors, and none on whether their respective population has changed over time. Such knowledge would help plan services for older adults who can no longer live at home due to increased disabilities. This study compared 1) the resident populations currently served by private and public facilities and 2) how they have evolved over time. The data come from two cross-sectional studies conducted in 1995-2000 and 2010-2012. In both studies, we randomly selected care settings in which we randomly selected older residents. In total, 451 residents from 145 settings assessed in 1995-2000 were compared to 329 residents from 102 settings assessed in 2010-2012. In both study periods, older adults housed in the private sector had fewer cognitive and functional disabilities than those in public facilities. Between the two study periods, the proportion of residents with severe disabilities decreased in private facilities while it remained over 80% in their public counterparts. Findings indicate that private facilities care today for less-disabled older adults, leaving to public facilities the heavy responsibility of caring for those with more demanding needs. These trends may impact both sectors’ ability to deliver proper residential care

“Draw the sea…”: Children’s representations of ocean connectivity in Fiji and New Caledonia

In the South Pacific region, marine territories and resources play a crucial role for local communities. Children engage with these territories and resources from an early age onwards. As the next ocean stewards, they are a stakeholder group whose understandings of ocean connectivity and fisheries should be given serious consideration in decision-making processes towards the sustainable use and management of coastal seas. This paper analyses 290 children’s drawings from Fiji and New Caledonia, created in 2019 in spontaneous response to the instruction: “Draw the sea and what you and others do in the sea”. Exploring the webs of connections with and within the sea revealed by these children’s drawings and their own interpretations leads us to discuss children’s representations of the sea: (1) beyond a land-sea compartmentation, (2) as a locus of both exploitation and conservation of marine life, and (3) as a ‘place-full’ space connecting human and more-than-human realms

L’épave de Port Berteau II (Charente-Maritime)

Découverte en 1973 dans la Charente, en aval de Saintes et par 7 m de fond, l’épave de Port Berteau II a été fouillée de 1992 à 1997 avec une double problématique reposant sur la mise en relation des vestiges de la coque avec son environnement.Conduite selon les techniques classiques de l’archéologie subaquatique, l’étude de l’épave, de l’étrave à l’étambot, a permis de dresser le -portrait architectural » d’un caboteur du début du Vile s. Long de 1430 m et bâti à franc-bord embrure première », ce bateau a été construit pour la navigation fluvio-maritime et pouvait transporter une cargaison d’une dizaine de tonnes. L’analyse du milieu fluvial, relevant de ce que l’on pourrait qualifier d’archéologie nautique, a abouti quant à elle à une restitution du paysage naturel contemporain de l’épave. Le caboteur de Port Berteau II est désormais une référence pour l’histoire de la construction à carvel dans le Ponant uniquement attestée jusqu’alors par des textes du XVe s.Discovered in 1973, the Port Berteau wreck lies at a depth of 7 metres in the Charente river below Samtes. Excavations (1992-1997) were carried out with the dual objective of studying both the hull’s remains and its natural environment.Using the traditional techniques of ship archaeology to examine the wreck from the stem to the stern-post has enabled archaeologists to draw an ‘architectural portrait" of an early 7th century coaster. The 14.30 metre carvel built "frame-first" boat was intended for river navigation and built to carry a cargo of up to ten tonnes. Using what could be called a naval archaeology approach, researchers have analysed the nver environment to reconstruct the natural landscape of the period. The Port Berteau II coaster thus provides a reference for carvel construction history in the Ponant, reviously attested only in 15th century texts