Saisir la position sémio-spatiale d’un élément géographique dans les cartes cognitives

L’article propose d’analyser la position sémio-spatiale d’un élément géographique, en l’occurrence une frontière d’État, dans les cartes cognitives d’une ville frontalière. Sur le plan théorique, le recours au concept sémiologique de topos et la notion de position permettent de saisir les significations d’un élément géographique en fonction des positions sociales, afin de cerner leur contribution au positionnement de l’élément dans la carte cognitive. Méthodologiquement, cette analyse requiert une étroite intégration d’une tache discursive aux méthodes plus classiques de la cartographie cognitive.This paper proposes an analysis of the semio-spatial position of a geographical element, in this case, a state border, in the cognitive maps of a border town. On the theoretical level, the use of the semiological concept of topos and the notion of position allow us to grasp the meaning of a geographical element with regard to social positions, in order to identify their contribution to the positioning of the element in the cognitive map. Methodologically, this analysis calls for the thight integration of a discursive task within the more classical methods of cognitive mapping.El articulo analiza la ubicación semiótico-espacial de la variable geográfica frontera estatal en los mapas cognitivos de una ciudad fronteriza. En el marco teórico el uso del concepto semiológico de topos y de la noción de posición permiten comprender el significado y las posiciones sociales de una variable geográfica. Ayudan a identificar y comprender el posicionamiento del elemento en el mapa cognitivo. Metodológicamente, este análisis supone integrar el trabajo discursivo en el método clásico de la cartografía cognitiva

La comparaison comme méthode et objet : L’apport d’un parcours transdisciplinaire pour réfléchir au franco-allemand

peer reviewedDoctorant.e.s en SHS, travaillant sur des questions franco-allemandes, nous proposons ici une approche réflexive et critique de la comparaison, appuyée sur la transdisciplinarité. En partant d’exemples tirés de nos travaux respectifs, cet article fait état de nos réflexions collectives sur l’utilisation de l’approche comparative dans nos recherches doctorales en montrant les atouts du partage de savoirs et d’instruments méthodologiques entre nos disciplines : la sociologie, l’histoire, la science politique et la psychologie. Nous retenons deux dimensions centrales que nous proposons de développer ici. En considérant la comparaison comme une méthode, nous nous questionnons d’abord sur la place de la variable nationale dans la construction d’une recherche comparative franco-allemande. Ensuite, en considérant cette fois la comparaison comme un objet d'étude en elle-même, nous montrons l’importance de la contextualisation des points de vue de celui/celle qui compare, qu’il/elle soit chercheur.e ou profane

Rapid assessment of T-cell receptor specificity of the immune repertoire

Accurate assessment of T-cell-receptor (TCR)–antigen specificity across the whole immune repertoire lies at the heart of improved cancer immunotherapy, but predictive models capable of high-throughput assessment of TCR–peptide pairs are lacking. Recent advances in deep sequencing and crystallography have enriched the data available for studying TCR–peptide systems. Here, we introduce RACER, a pairwise energy model capable of rapid assessment of TCR–peptide affinity for entire immune repertoires. RACER applies supervised machine learning to efficiently and accurately resolve strong TCR–peptide binding pairs from weak ones. The trained parameters further enable a physical interpretation of interacting patterns encoded in each TCR–peptide system. When applied to simulate thymic selection of a major-histocompatibility-complex (MHC)-restricted T-cell repertoire, RACER accurately estimates recognition rates for tumor-associated neoantigens and foreign peptides, thus demonstrating its utility in helping address the computational challenge of reliably identifying properties of tumor antigen-specific T-cells at the level of an individual patient’s immune repertoire

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Parution : 100 Key Concepts in Environmental Psychology, Marchand D., Pol E. & Weiss K. (dirs.)

La version anglaise de l'ouvrage "Psychologie environnementale, 100 notions clés" vient de paraître chez Routledge. Plus d'informations à ce lien

Dossier thématique dans Mappemonde - Actes des journées Cartotête 2019

L'intégralité des articles qui constituent les actes des journées Cartotête de 2019 vient de paraitre dans les numéros 134 et 135 de la revue Mappemonde. Les articles composent le dossier thématique “L’espace et ses représentations socio-cognitives“, coordonné par Anne Griffond-Boitier, Sophie Mariani-Rousset et Thierry Ramadier. Anne Griffond-Boitier, Sophie Mariani-Rousset et Thierry Ramadier, « Quand la recherche saisit les représentations socio-cognitives de l’espace géograp..