News on mycoplasma and bovine mycoplasmosis

The Mycoplasmas, bacteria belonging to the class of Mollicutes, are known as the smallest and simplest self-replicating organisms. Since their discovery, considerable progress has been achieved in the understanding of their metabolic, antigenic, and genetic characteristics. The medical and economical impact of mycoplasmosis in animal production, especially in cattle and small ruminants, has been growing steadily over the past twenty years. The necessity to monitor Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), as well as other mycoplasmoses, in France has lead to the creation of the epidemiological surveillance network VIGIMYC.Les mycoplasmes, terme générique désignant les bactéries de la classe des Mollicutes, représentent les plus petits organismes vivants capables de se multiplier de façon autonome. Depuis leur découverte, la connaissance de leurs particularités métaboliques, antigéniques et génétiques a considérablement progressé. L'importance médicale et économique des mycoplasmoses en production animale, notamment dans la filière des bovins et des petits ruminants, n'a cessé de croître au cours de ces 20 dernières années. La nécessité de maintenir sur l'ensemble du territoire français une veille épidémiologique de la Péripneumonie Contagieuse Bovine (PPCB), mais également des autres mycoplasmoses, a donné naissance au réseau d'épidémio-surveillance VIGIMYC

Cerebral small vessel disease genomics and its implications across the lifespan

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are the most common brain-imaging feature of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), hypertension being the main known risk factor. Here, we identify 27 genome-wide loci for WMH-volume in a cohort of 50,970 older individuals, accounting for modification/confounding by hypertension. Aggregated WMH risk variants were associated with altered white matter integrity (p = 2.5×10-7) in brain images from 1,738 young healthy adults, providing insight into the lifetime impact of SVD genetic risk. Mendelian randomization suggested causal association of increasing WMH-volume with stroke, Alzheimer-type dementia, and of increasing blood pressure (BP) with larger WMH-volume, notably also in persons without clinical hypertension. Transcriptome-wide colocalization analyses showed association of WMH-volume with expression of 39 genes, of which four encode known drug targets. Finally, we provide insight into BP-independent biological pathways underlying SVD and suggest potential for genetic stratification of high-risk individuals and for genetically-informed prioritization of drug targets for prevention trials.Peer reviewe

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

Too Risk Averse to Purchase Insurance? A Theoretical Glance at the Annuity Puzzle

This paper suggests a new explanation for the low level of annuitization, which is valid even if one assumes perfect markets. We show that, as soon there exists a positive bequest motive, sufficiently risk averse individuals should not purchase annuities. A model calibration accounting for lifetime risk aversion generates a willingness-to-pay for annuities, which is significantly smaller than the one generated by a standard Yaari (1965) model. Moreover,the calibration predicts that riskless savings finances one third of consumption, in line with empirical findings

Mission d'etude de la desserte aeroportuaire du grand Bassin paris en : rapport au ministre de l'equipement, du logement, des transports t du tourisme et au secretaire d'Etat aux transports

SIGLEAvailable at La Documentation francaise (FR) Number :96-4-0044 to 6-4-0045 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Caractéristiques socio-économiques de la pêche professionnelle française - Synthèse des enquêtes réalisées auprès des pêcheurs professionnels en 2011 dans le cadre du Système d'Informations Halieutiques (SIH) de l'Ifremer - Façade Méditerranée

Ce document est une synthèse des enquêtes réalisées auprès des pêcheurs professionnels de la façade méditerranéenne en 2011 (sur les données 2010) dans le cadre du Système d'Informations Halieutiques (SIH) de l'Ifremer. Il vient en complément des synthèses annuelles sur les flottilles de pêches et présente des données agrégées sur les navires enquêtés, leurs stratégies, les équipages et la population des patrons pêcheurs qui ont accepté de répondre au questionnaire économique du SIH en 2011