Why Self-Induced Pain Feels Less Painful than Externally Generated Pain: Distinct Brain Activation Patterns in Self- and Externally Generated Pain

Voluntary movement generally inhibits sensory systems. However, it is not clear how such movement influences pain. In the present study, subjects actively or passively experienced mechanical pain or pressure during functional MRI scanning. Pain and pressure were induced using two modified grip strengthener rings, each twined with four crystal bead strings, with polyhedral beads to induce pain, or spherical beads to induce pressure. Subjects held one ring in the left hand and were either asked to squeeze their left hand with their right hand (i.e., active pain or pressure), or to have their left hand squeezed by the experimenter (i.e., passive pain or pressure). Subjects rated the intensity and unpleasantness of the pain sensation lower in the active procedure than in the passive one. Correspondingly, pain-related brain areas were inhibited in the case of self-generated pain, including the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the thalamus. These results suggest that active movement behaviorally inhibits concomitant mechanical pain, accompanied by an inhibition of pain response in pain-related brain areas such as the SI cortex. This might be part of the mechanisms underlying the kinesitherapy for pain treatment

Le Balanites ægyptiaca. Ses multiples applications au Tchad.

Creac'h P. Le Balanites ægyptiaca. Ses multiples applications au Tchad.. In: Revue de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture coloniale, 20ᵉ année, bulletin n°228-229, Août-septembre 1940. pp. 578-593

IIWU : If I Were You - A Simple Gameplay Unmanageable by Game Engines

The originality of the game that we present comes from its many technical constraints usually distributed on various types of games. It integrates well known specificities of several kinds without really being in any of these categories. Game engines are influenced by the types of games since they propose many technical optimizations to accelerate their operations. In return, only well categorized games can be developed using game engines. Our game does not claim many resources but it requires original operations that can’t be achieved by game engines. We show that the design of an original creative game difficult when the needs are vast and the means offered are reduced. The problem posed by IIWU is a beginning of answer to the question “why is there only very few original games ?”. The answer that we try to outline is that this problem will remain a technical problem as long as there is no software for designing and generating games detached from those we see usually. We illustrate this fact with a graphical implementation problem: the mixing of multiple spotlights

Registre observationnel de l efficacité et de la tolérance de la capsaïcine 8% (Qutenza®) dans les douleurs neuropathiques périphériques localisées

Contexte. Les douleurs neuropathiques périphériques peuvent être traitées par un nouveau médicament à base de capsaïcine, qui détruit transitoirement les fibres nerveuses en se fixant sur les récepteurs TRPV1. Objectif. Evaluer l efficacité d une première application de capsaïcine 8% (Qutenza®) à 2 mois, ainsi que la tolérance, l identification de facteurs prédictifs et l effet de la répétition des applications. Méthodes. Tous les patients ayant eu un patch de Qutenza® ont été évalués par le pourcentage de soulagement, le NPSI, le QCD, les signes d irritation cutanée, à J1, J8 et J60. Les applications suivantes ont été réalisées à au moins 3 mois d intervalle. Résultats. Un total de 61 patients : 33 femmes (54.1%) et 28 hommes (45.9%) ont été analysés, l âge moyen était de 54+-17 ans. L étiologie principale était les neuropathies post-chirurgicales (39.3%), suivie des neuropathies post-traumatiques (34.4%), post-zostériennes (14.8%), post-chimiothérapie (4.9%). 47.1% des patients étaient soulagés à au moins 30%. Cinquante patients (82%) ont présenté des effets indésirables de type irritation cutanée : érythème, brûlure, prurit qui ont duré maximum 5 jours. Conclusion. Le Qutenza® a sa place parmi les traitements des douleurs neuropathiques périphériques et est bien toléré.ST ETIENNE-BU Médecine (422182102) / SudocSudocFranceF

Approche anthropologique de l'usure dentaire sur un échantillon de la population de Saint-Martin-de-Castries (Hérault, VIIIe-XVIIIe siècle)

TOULOUSE3-BU Santé-Centrale (315552105) / SudocSudocFranceF

La peinture de Poussin en partage (Claude Simon, René Char, André du Bouchet, Yves Bonnefoy et Philippe Jaccottet)

A l'origine de cette recherche, il y eut l'étonnement de découvrir chez plusieurs écrivains contemporains, quatre poètes et un romancier, une référence insistante à un peintre que la tradition présente comme un modèle classique. D'un côté, un art érigé en norme, de l'autre, des formes inventives, celle du "nouveau roman", celles de la prose poétique, du vers libre ou de la note. Sur quel terrain commun pouvait s'installer cet étrange et rare "voisinage" ? L'étude découvre une réception nouvelle de la peinture de Poussin dans la littérature d'après 1945. Elle s'écarte à la fois de la tradition classique et de celle du début du siècle qui donnait ce peintre de la ligne en modèle d'un nécessaire "retour à l'ordre". Dans le miroir de la peinture de Poussin, d'une biographie légendaire, ce travail repère quelques traits caractéristiques de cette génération littéraire qui se démarque de l'héritage surréaliste. Parce que la question de l'écriture était centrale, il fallait étudier successivement l'approche de chaque auteur et rendre sensible ainsi le jeu, chaque fois singulier, entre peinture et écriture...ST DENIS-BU PARIS8 (930662101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Robot-guided neuronavigated repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in central neuropathic pain. An update of long-term follow-up

To confirm and extend previous results involving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) aimed at alleviating refractory central neuropathic pain (CNP). To evaluate pain relief in detail and to assess ongoing benefits after one year of treatment.Prospective observational study.University hospital. Outpatient settings.Patients (N=80) with chronic central pain after brain or spinal cord injuries.High-frequency (20Hz) neuronavigated-rTMS sessions were applied on the primary motor cortex using a figure-of-eight coil positioned by a robotized arm. Patients received a minimum of 4 consecutive sessions, each separated by 3-4 weeks.Percentage of pain relief (%R), duration of pain relief (DPR), numeric rating scale (NRS), neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI), and pain relief score (PRS).Seventy-one patients completed the study. On average, after the first 4 sessions, %R was 28% and DPR was 11 days. Fifty-four patients (76%) were responders with a permissive threshold of ≥10%R and 61% (43 patients) with a stringent threshold ≥30%R. After 12 months of treatment (15 sessions) we observed a cumulative effect on %R (48%), DPR (20d), and on the prevailing NPSI sub-score (-28%). This effect reached significance after 4 sessions and was further maintained over 12 months. Across participants, more than 1000 rTMS sessions were delivered over 6 years without any adverse effect.These results confirm that multiple rTMS sessions are both safe and have potential as a treatment for CNP. An ongoing randomized controlled trial will allow teasing out of this effect from placebo analgesia

Unradiogenic reactive phase controls the εNd of authigenic phosphates in East Antarctic margin sediment

Determining past changes in ocean circulation on the Antarctic margin is important for understanding the interactions between climate, circulation, and ice sheet retreat. However, the application of neodymium isotopes (εNd), a well-known proxy of ocean circulation, is limited on the Antarctic margin, due to the lack of carbonate preservation and inconsistency in authigenic εNd leached from bulk sediment. Here we assess the use of the εNd proxy along the continental rise of Wilkes Land, by combining analyses of seawater with phases extracted using a 10-second reductive leach in co-located surface sediments. Dissolved seawater εNd values displayed the following water mass signatures; εNd = −8.8 ± 0.2 (n = 1) for Antarctic Surface Water; εNd = −9.7 ± 0.2 (n = 2) for Winter Water; and εNd = −8.7 ± 0.3 (n = 6) for modified Circumpolar Deep Water. The sediment leachate did not reproduce a bottom water Nd signature and yielded a very variable εNd, ranging from −10.4 to −14.4. In contrast, the bulk detrital sediment εNd fell within a narrow range of −13.1 ± 0.5 (n = 29). Examination of elemental ratios and rare earth element (REE) anomalies indicates that the leaching procedure extracts exclusively authigenic phases. The strong relationship found between phosphorus (P) and REE suggests that a P-associated phase is the main REE host-phase leached, as opposed to ferromanganese oxyhydroxides. The leached europium anomalies and εNd indicate that the extracted Nd signature is influenced by two end members, one with a seawater-like εNd (∼-8) and one more negative than the bulk detritus (εNd ∼−14). Finally, the decoupling between [Nd] and εNd, as well the distinct middle-REE enrichments measured in the leach implies the authigenic εNd is controlled by diagenesis. We thus infer that the Nd signature of the leached phosphates is derived from porewater and influenced by the presence of a reactive detrital component in the sediment. Unradiogenic reactive sedimentary phases which easily dissolve into porewaters are likely sourced from the subglacial erosion of ancient metasediments and crustal remnants on the Wilkes Land coast. These new εNd data contribute to the evaluation of the εNd proxy at complex, dynamic and under-studied interfaces such as the East Antarctic margin. However, further work is still needed to develop reliable proxies of past Antarctic water masses.ISSN:0016-7037ISSN:1872-953