Les NTIC et l’afrique : communication et utopie

De nombreuses actions sont développées pour intégrer l’Afrique dans le monde des NTIC, lesquelles constitueraient la panacée à tous ses maux. Dans quelle mesure le discours sur les avantages attendus n’est-il pas un avatar de la vision utopique développée autour de la communication ? La « flambée » constatée des équipements ne se traduit cependant en chiffres absolus que par des changements modestes. Essai de réflexion critique sur l’économique, le politique, le culturel. Pourront-ils réellement bénéficier de l’introduction de ces techniques ?Numerous interventions meant to insert Africa into the global NTIC world tend to present them as a panacea for all its difficulties. This approach is analyzed as a new manifestation of the communication Utopia. The recorded « phenomenal growth » of equipments finally amounts to little absolute quantities. Economy, politics and cultural fields are considered in a critical point of view : will they really benefit from this insertion 

Penser le multimédia

DEGRÉS : Revue de synthèse à orientation sémiologique (Vingt-cinquième – vingt-sixième année. n° 92-93 hiver 1997-printemps 1998 (182 p.) pag. multiple Numéro coordonné par Pascal Lardellier ; contributaires : Michel Melot, Emmaniel Pedler, Bernard Lamizet, Luc Massou, Isabelle Petit, Anne-Marie Christin, Jean Davallon, Pascal Sanson, Emmanuel Ethis, Roxane Bernier, Philippe Mabileau et Catherine Geoffroy, Richard Liogier Dans cette livraison de « Degrés », une douzaine d’auteurs de tous hori..

Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

BackgroundWe previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15-20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in similar to 80% of cases.MethodsWe report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded.ResultsNo gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5-528.7, P=1.1x10(-4)) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR=3.70[95%CI 1.3-8.2], P=2.1x10(-4)). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR=19.65[95%CI 2.1-2635.4], P=3.4x10(-3)), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR=4.40[9%CI 2.3-8.4], P=7.7x10(-8)). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD]=43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P=1.68x10(-5)).ConclusionsRare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old