Donna A. Buchanan, Performing Democracy : Bulgarian Music and Musicians in Transition

L’ouvrage de Donna A. Buchanan est un parcours politique et historique qui, à travers les pratiques musicales « néotraditionnelles », trace un axe de lecture privilégié des processus de construction identitaire et de réinvention de la tradition engagés par les bouleversements qu’a connus la Bulgarie dans les dernières décennies du xxe siècle. L’ensemble du livre rend compte d’une longue enquête ethnographique menée entre 1986 et 1996, et dessine l’analyse sociopolitique de cette période clé q..

Des luths romains aux luths romans. Une enquête archéomusicale sur l’histoire des luths occidentaux avant le XIIIe siècle

Partant d’une étude iconographique comparée allant jusqu’à l’expérimentation musicale, cet article se propose de caractériser d’un point de vue organologique les instruments de type “luth” que l’iconographie musicale ouest-européenne du Moyen Âge donne à voir avant l’introduction du luth de tradition arabo-andalouse en Europe au XIIIe siècle. La recherche de traits communs avec les luths représentés dans l’iconographie grecque et romaine permet de dégager une filiation organologique entre les luths antiques et les luths figurés à l’époque romane. Plus avant, l’observation de la répartition géographique des représentations des luths du Haut Moyen Âge permet donne à  réfléchir aux relations culturelles entre l’Empire carolingien et l’Empire Byzantin en tant qu’elles ont pu favoriser la diffusion de ces instruments méconnus. Ces instruments informent également sur les relations qu’ils ont pu entretenir avec les vièles lors de l’introduction de l’archet ainsi que sur la route parcourue par celui-ci.On the basis of iconographical studies and musical experiments, this paper aims to give an organological description of the necked plucked musical instruments that can be observed in Western medieval sources before the diffusion of the arabo-andalousian lute in 13th-century Europe. Underlining common traits with lutes represented in greek and roman iconography allows to draw an organological filiation between ancient and romanic lutes. Furthermore, the observation of the geographic distribution of the representations of lutes in the Early Middle Ages gives reason to reflect on the cultural relationships between the Carolingian and Byzantine empires in so far as they both could have encourage the diffusion of these not well-known instruments. Theses lutes also give information about their ties with the fiddles during the introduction of the bow and about its route to Europe.Partant d’une étude iconographique comparée allant jusqu’à l’expérimentation musicale, cet article se propose de caractériser d’un point de vue organologique les instruments de type “luth” que l’iconographie musicale ouest-européenne du Moyen Âge donne à voir avant l’introduction du luth de tradition arabo-andalouse en Europe au XIIIe siècle. La recherche de traits communs avec les luths représentés dans l’iconographie grecque et romaine permet de dégager une filiation organologique entre les luths antiques et les luths figurés à l’époque romane. Plus avant, l’observation de la répartition géographique des représentations des luths du Haut Moyen Âge permet donne à  réfléchir aux relations culturelles entre l’Empire carolingien et l’Empire Byzantin en tant qu’elles ont pu favoriser la diffusion de ces instruments méconnus. Ces instruments informent également sur les relations qu’ils ont pu entretenir avec les vièles lors de l’introduction de l’archet ainsi que sur la route parcourue par celui-ci.Partant d’une étude iconographique comparée allant jusqu’à l’expérimentation musicale, cet article se propose de caractériser d’un point de vue organologique les instruments de type “luth” que l’iconographie musicale ouest-européenne du Moyen Âge donne à voir avant l’introduction du luth de tradition arabo-andalouse en Europe au XIIIe siècle. La recherche de traits communs avec les luths représentés dans l’iconographie grecque et romaine permet de dégager une filiation organologique entre les luths antiques et les luths figurés à l’époque romane. Plus avant, l’observation de la répartition géographique des représentations des luths du Haut Moyen Âge permet donne à  réfléchir aux relations culturelles entre l’Empire carolingien et l’Empire Byzantin en tant qu’elles ont pu favoriser la diffusion de ces instruments méconnus. Ces instruments informent également sur les relations qu’ils ont pu entretenir avec les vièles lors de l’introduction de l’archet ainsi que sur la route parcourue par celui-ci

Identification of Spectral Modifications Occurring during Reprogramming of Somatic Cells

Recent technological advances in cell reprogramming by generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) offer major perspectives in disease modelling and future hopes for providing novel stem cells sources in regenerative medicine. However, research on iPSC still requires refining the criteria of the pluripotency stage of these cells and exploration of their equivalent functionality to human embryonic stem cells (ESC). We report here on the use of infrared microspectroscopy to follow the spectral modification of somatic cells during the reprogramming process. We show that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) adopt a chemical composition leading to a spectral signature indistinguishable from that of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and entirely different from that of the original somatic cells. Similarly, this technique allows a distinction to be made between partially and fully reprogrammed cells. We conclude that infrared microspectroscopy signature is a novel methodology to evaluate induced pluripotency and can be added to the tests currently used for this purpose

The HOXB4 Homeoprotein Promotes the Ex Vivo Enrichment of Functional Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived NK Cells

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be induced to differentiate into blood cells using either co-culture with stromal cells or following human embryoid bodies (hEBs) formation. It is now well established that the HOXB4 homeoprotein promotes the expansion of human adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) but also myeloid and lymphoid progenitors. However, the role of HOXB4 in the development of hematopoietic cells from hESCs and particularly in the generation of hESC-derived NK-progenitor cells remains elusive. Based on the ability of HOXB4 to passively enter hematopoietic cells in a system that comprises a co-culture with the MS-5/SP-HOXB4 stromal cells, we provide evidence that HOXB4 delivery promotes the enrichment of hEB-derived precursors that could differentiate into fully mature and functional NK. These hEB-derived NK cells enriched by HOXB4 were characterized according to their CMH class I receptor expression, their cytotoxic arsenal, their expression of IFNγ and CD107a after stimulation and their lytic activity. Furthermore our study provides new insights into the gene expression profile of hEB-derived cells exposed to HOXB4 and shows the emergence of CD34+CD45RA+ precursors from hEBs indicating the lymphoid specification of hESC-derived hematopoietic precursors. Altogether, our results outline the effects of HOXB4 in combination with stromal cells in the development of NK cells from hESCs and suggest the potential use of HOXB4 protein for NK-cell enrichment from pluripotent stem cells

Biotic and environmental dynamics through the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous transition: evidence for protracted faunal and ecological turnover

The Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous interval represents a time of environmental upheaval and cataclysmic events, combined with disruptions to terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Historically, the Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) boundary was classified as one of eight mass extinctions. However, more recent research has largely overturned this view, revealing a much more complex pattern of biotic and abiotic dynamics than has previously been appreciated. Here, we present a synthesis of our current knowledge of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous events, focusing particularly on events closest to the J/K boundary. We find evidence for a combination of short-term catastrophic events, large-scale tectonic processes and environmental perturbations, and major clade interactions that led to a seemingly dramatic faunal and ecological turnover in both the marine and terrestrial realms. This is coupled with a great reduction in global biodiversity which might in part be explained by poor sampling. Very few groups appear to have been entirely resilient to this J/K boundary ‘event’, which hints at a ‘cascade model’ of ecosystem changes driving faunal dynamics. Within terrestrial ecosystems, larger, more-specialised organisms, such as saurischian dinosaurs, appear to have suffered the most. Medium-sized tetanuran theropods declined, and were replaced by larger-bodied groups, and basal eusauropods were replaced by neosauropod faunas. The ascent of paravian theropods is emphasised by escalated competition with contemporary pterosaur groups, culminating in the explosive radiation of birds, although the timing of this is obfuscated by biases in sampling. Smaller, more ecologically diverse terrestrial non-archosaurs, such as lissamphibians and mammaliaforms, were comparatively resilient to extinctions, instead documenting the origination of many extant groups around the J/K boundary. In the marine realm, extinctions were focused on low-latitude, shallow marine shelf-dwelling faunas, corresponding to a significant eustatic sea-level fall in the latest Jurassic. More mobile and ecologically plastic marine groups, such as ichthyosaurs, survived the boundary relatively unscathed. High rates of extinction and turnover in other macropredaceous marine groups, including plesiosaurs, are accompanied by the origin of most major lineages of extant sharks. Groups which occupied both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including crocodylomorphs, document a selective extinction in shallow marine forms, whereas turtles appear to have diversified. These patterns suggest that different extinction selectivity and ecological processes were operating between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, which were ultimately important in determining the fates of many key groups, as well as the origins of many major extant lineages. We identify a series of potential abiotic candidates for driving these patterns, including multiple bolide impacts, several episodes of flood basalt eruptions, dramatic climate change, and major disruptions to oceanic systems. The J/K transition therefore, although not a mass extinction, represents an important transitional period in the co-evolutionary history of life on Earth

VOIX PUBLIQUES. Environnements sonores, représentations et usages d'habitation dans un quartier populaire de Naples.

This research concerns the sonic environment in the Quartieri Spagnoli, a popular area of Naples. Participating to an elaboration of a sound anthropology, this work presents an interdisciplinary approach dealing with aspects concerning social anthropology, microsociology, urban anthropology, anthropology of the communication and sociolinguistic, sensorial anthropology and prosody. Observing the every day life and its « way of doing », showing the different modalities of occupying space allows to underline the prevalence of polyvalence of intimate and collective spaces. The street let see its plurality of uses, users, and spatial and temporal organisation. In front of the appropriation strategies, the diversity of urban space and the porosity of habitat that can be observed in social and perceptive levels, the dimension of sound appears central. On the one hand, as a sonic production allowing relation to the others, the vocality has a central place inside the social life of the quarter. Observing acts of loud voice and distant communications allows to reveal the social meaning of these « public voices », by confronting merchants shouts to domestic oral communications. On the other hand, as they impose themselves in the urban environment as a pleasure of noise, the firecrackers and fireworks sonorities reveal an intention of surrounding the sonic environment, through their representation discours,. Through the dialectic surrounding firecrackers and fireworks, emerges divergent relationships to sound environment and public space, expressing social and cultural dynamics that are representative of the Neapolitan context. At least, the analysis reveals that these two types of sonorities (voice and fireworks) can be considered as sonic environments that, even if they divide the Neapolitan population in one way, they gather together the inhabitants that feel themselves integrated in it and gives evidence of the social life of the Quartieri Spagnoli. The example of a popular Neapolitan quarter let us to insist on a central aspect of sonic environment, that represents a potentiality of creating social links. Insisting on anthropological pertinence of observing and using sound as an ethnographic document, this study highlights connexions between ways of « living in », social relationships and sonic environments.Cette recherche est attachée à l'étude des environnements sonores, en prenant l'exemple des Quartiers Espagnols, quartier populaire du centre de Naples. Se voulant une participation à la mise en place d'une anthropologie sonore, elle s'inscrit dans une approche pluridisciplinaire en abordant des aspects relevant de l'anthropologie sociale, la microsociologie, l'anthropologie urbaine, l'anthropologie de la communication, la sociolinguistique, l'anthropologie sensorielle et la prosodie. En observant la vie quotidienne et ses différentes « manières de faire », la mise au jour des pratiques d'habitation à l'œuvre dans la rue révèle une prévalence de la polyvalence des espaces intimes et collectifs. La rue apparaît dans la pluralité de ses usages, des usagers, de son organisation spatiale et temporelle. Devant la diversité des stratégies d'appropriation de l'espace urbain et la porosité dont l'habitat fait preuve sur un plan à la fois social et sensoriel, la dimension sonore se révèle centrale. D'une part, en tant que production sonore mettant en avant la relation à l'autre, la vocalité est au centre de la vie sociale du quartier. En confrontant cris de marchands et communications domestiques à distance, l'observation des actes de voix haute permet de dégager ce que révèlent socialement ces « voix publiques ». D'autre part, en tant qu'elles s'imposent dans l'espace urbain comme un plaisir du bruit, les sonorités des pétards et des feux d'artifice révèlent quant à elles, dans les discours attachés à leurs représentations, une volonté d'investir l'environnement sonore de la ville en même temps qu'elles questionnent des enjeux socioculturels propres à l'espace napolitain. L'analyse révèle enfin que ces deux sonorités peuvent être considérées comme constituant des environnements sonores qui, pour autant qu'ils peuvent diviser à certains égards, rassemblent les habitants qui se sentent en faire partie, et témoignent de la vie sociale qui se joue dans les Quartiers Espagnols. L'exemple d'un quartier populaire napolitain permet d'insister sur un aspect central des environnements sonores, qui est que ces derniers peuvent être vecteurs de lien social. Pointant la pertinence anthropologique de l'observation et la documentation du fait sonore, cette étude met en évidence les corrélations entre les modes d'habitation, les relations sociales et les environnements sonores

ATAD3B is a human embryonic stem cell specific mitochondrial protein, re-expressed in cancer cells, that functions as dominant negative for the ubiquitous ATAD3A

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Long-term development of human iPSC-derived pyramidal neurons quantified after transplantation into the neonatal mouse cortex

International audienceOne of the main obstacles for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying human neurodevelopment in vivo is the scarcity of experimental models. The discovery that neurons can be generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) paves the way for novel approaches that are stem cell-based. Here, we developed a technique to follow the development of transplanted hiPSC-derived neuronal precursors in the cortex of mice over time. Using post-mortem immunohistochemistry we quantified the differentiation and maturation of dendritic patterns of the human neurons over a total of six months. In addition, entirely hiPSC-derived neuronal parenchyma was followed over eight months using two-photon in vivo imaging through a cranial window. We found that transplanted hiPSC-derived neuronal precursors exhibit a "protracted" human developmental programme in different cortical areas. This offers novel possibilities for the sequential in vivo study of human cortical development and its alteration, followed in "real time"

Amniotic Fluid-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Prevent Fibrosis and Preserve Renal Function in a Preclinical Porcine Model of Kidney Transplantation

International audienceIt is well known that ischemia/reperfusion injuries strongly affect the success of human organ transplantation. Development of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy is the main deleterious phenomenon involved. Stem cells are a promising therapeutic tool already validated in various ischemic diseases. Amniotic fluid-derived mesenchymal stem cells (af-MSCs), a subpopulation of multipotent cells identified in amniotic fluid, are known to secrete growth factors and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, these cells are easy to collect, present higher proliferation and self-renewal rates compared with other adult stem cells (ASCs), and are suitable for banking. Consequently, af-MSCs represent a promising source of stem cells for regenerative therapies in humans. To determine the efficiency and the safety of af-MSC infusion in a preclinical porcine model of renal autotransplantation, we injected autologous af-MSCs in the renal artery 6 days after transplantation. The af-MSC injection improved glomerular and tubular functions, leading to full renal function recovery and abrogated fibrosis development at 3 months. The strong proof of concept generated by this translational porcine model is a first step toward evaluation of af-MSC-based therapies in human kidney transplantation