Discours amoureux et dispositif allégorique

L’un des thèmes privilégiés de la tragi-comédie ou de la tragédie galante de la première moitié du XVIIe siècle est l’amour. La fable théâtrale décrit les aventures d’un couple qui lutte pour établir ou préserver sa relation amoureuse, selon un schéma de dramaturgie type : mariage entravé des jeunes amants par des obstacles extérieurs (rivalités, enlèvements subis) ou internes lorsqu’il s’agit d’inconstances amoureuses. Dans le frontispice qui i..

L’architecte de théâtre

En relation avec son travail de scénographe, Allio a été amené à s’intéresser à l’architecture théâtrale, à la possibilité de moduler l’espace scénique en l’adaptant aux différentes dramaturgies – ce qu’il énonce dans plusieurs articles de la revue Théâtre populaire ; enfin il a conçu un lieu théâtral comme un espace polyvalent avec l’idée forte que le théâtre doit s’entourer d’activités culturelles multiples. Cherchant à donner un sens social à..

L’acteur-imitateur des passions de l’âme au XVIIe siècle

Les artistes et les théoriciens du XVIIe siècle scrutent les passions avec attention : elles leur apparaissent comme le révélateur de la nature humaine, l’âme (le caractère et les humeurs) transparaissant dans les manifestations corporelles. La définition et la physiologie de chaque passion de l’âme relèvent conjointement de la religion, de la philosophie, de la médecine, de la pratique artistique et de l’art rhétorique. En même temps qu’elles ..

Universal electric-field-driven resistive transition in narrow-gap Mott insulators

One of today's most exciting research frontier and challenge in condensed matter physics is known as Mottronics, whose goal is to incorporate strong correlation effects into the realm of electronics. In fact, taming the Mott insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), which is driven by strong electronic correlation effects, holds the promise of a commutation speed set by a quantum transition, and with negligible power dissipation. In this context, one possible route to control the Mott transition is to electrostatically dope the systems using strong dielectrics, in FET-like devices. Another possibility is through resistive switching, that is, to induce the insulator-to-metal transition by strong electric pulsing. This action brings the correlated system far from equilibrium, rendering the exact treatment of the problem a difficult challenge. Here, we show that existing theoretical predictions of the off-equilibrium manybody problem err by orders of magnitudes, when compared to experiments that we performed on three prototypical narrow gap Mott systems V2-xCrxO3, NiS2-xSex and GaTa4Se8, and which also demonstrate a striking universality of this Mott resistive transition (MRT). We then introduce and numerically study a model based on key theoretically known physical features of the Mott phenomenon in the Hubbard model. We find that our model predictions are in very good agreement with the observed universal MRT and with a non-trivial timedelay electric pulsing experiment, which we also report. Our study demonstrates that the MRT can be associated to a dynamically directed avalanche

Photoluminescence properties of GaN grown on compliant silicon-on-insulator substrates

A compliant substrate approach has been employed to release lattice-mismatch caused strain in GaN epilayers through stress absorption in the substrate. GaN layers have been grown on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Photoluminescence measurements at 4 K show the spectrum of grown GaN being dominated by UV emission around 3.47 eV related to neutral-donor bound excitons. The much weaker yellow luminescence shows a broad spectrum around 2.16 eV. Peak position of the UV emission changes both with measurement temperature and strain. At room temperature, the UV peak is red shifted by 64 meV corresponding well to the band-gap temperature dependence. Strain-induced blue shift of the peak, compared to unstrained GaN, is much less than for growth on sapphire, indicating strain relief in the GaN by growth on SOI. Further reduction of the blue shift is consistent with increased electron mobility. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70808/2/APPLAB-71-26-3880-1.pd

Optical properties of cubic AlGaN

In this work we report optical characterization on several cubic c-AlGaN layers grown by MBE on SiC on Si pseudo-substrates, with different aluminum concentrations ranging from 0 to 70 %. Excitation power evolution of AlGaN photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as reflectivity spectra allow to attribute PL peak to band gap recombination. PL energy dependence versus aluminum concentration is given. Reflectivity investigations are performed in the energy range between 1.5 eV and 4 eV on the samples. Theoretical calculations of multilayered structure reflectivity are fitted to experimental results, allowing an accurate determination of refractive index evolution versus Al concentration. From this analysis, qualitative information about interface roughness at AlGaN/SiC is also be derived.SFERERegion Rhône-AlpesConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

The SEISICAT study: a pilot study assessing 1 efficacy and safety of spironolactone in cats with congestive heart failure secondary to cardiomyopathy

Introduction The pathophysiology of heart failure involves activation of several neurohormonal systems including the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. The mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone has been shown to be beneficial in humans and dogs with heart failure. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of spironolactone in cats with heart failure secondary to cardiomyopathy already treated with furosemide and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. Animals Twenty cats with heart failure due to cardiomyopathy. Methods The study was a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, multicentre clinical study assessing the effect of spironolactone on survival and clinical parameters in cats with heart failure due to cardiomyopathy. The primary end point was mortality, defined as death (spontaneous or by euthanasia) due to cardiac causes. Results Twenty cats were enrolled: 9 in the spironolactone group and 11 in the placebo group of which 56% (5/9) and 0% (0/11) completed the 15-month period respectively. At inclusion, differences in systemic blood pressure, body condition score, electrocardiographic abnormalities and LA/Ao ratio suggested that disease may be less severe in the spironolactone group. Twenty-two percent (2/9) of cats in the spironolactone group and 82% (9/11) in the control group reached the primary end point (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.0216). No safety issues were identified in either group. Conclusions This study suggests that spironolactone is well tolerated, and preliminary results support further investigation to evaluate the efficacy of spironolactone in the treatment of cats with cardiac failure due to cardiomyopathy

BioHealthBase: informatics support in the elucidation of influenza virus host–pathogen interactions and virulence

The BioHealthBase Bioinformatics Resource Center (BRC) (http://www.biohealthbase.org) is a public bioinformatics database and analysis resource for the study of specific biodefense and public health pathogens—Influenza virus, Francisella tularensis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microsporidia species and ricin toxin. The BioHealthBase serves as an extensive integrated repository of data imported from public databases, data derived from various computational algorithms and information curated from the scientific literature. The goal of the BioHealthBase is to facilitate the development of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines by integrating all available data in the context of host–pathogen interactions, thus allowing researchers to understand the root causes of virulence and pathogenicity. Genome and protein annotations can be viewed either as formatted text or graphically through a genome browser. 3D visualization capabilities allow researchers to view proteins with key structural and functional features highlighted. Influenza virus host–pathogen interactions at the molecular/cellular and systemic levels are represented. Host immune response to influenza infection is conveyed through the display of experimentally determined antibody and T-cell epitopes curated from the scientific literature or as derived from computational predictions. At the molecular/cellular level, the BioHealthBase BRC has developed biological pathway representations relevant to influenza virus host–pathogen interaction in collaboration with the Reactome database (http://www.reactome.org)

Diet-Related Metabolites Associated with Cognitive Decline Revealed by Untargeted Metabolomics in a Prospective Cohort

Scope: Untargeted metabolomics may reveal preventive targets in cognitive aging, including within the food metabolome. Methods and results: A case-control study nested in the prospective Three-City study includes participants aged &65 years and initially free of dementia. A total of 209 cases of cognitive decline and 209 controls (matched for age, gen- der, education) with slower cognitive decline over up to 12 years are contrasted. Using untargeted metabolomics and bootstrap-enhanced penalized regression, a baseline serum signature of 22 metabolites associated with subsequent cognitive decline is identified. The signature includes three coffee metabolites, a biomarker of citrus intake, a cocoa metabolite, two metabolites putatively derived from fish and wine, three medium-chain acylcarnitines, glycodeoxycholic acid, lysoPC(18:3), trimethyllysine, glucose, cortisol, creatinine, and arginine. Adding the 22 metabolites to a reference predictive model for cognitive decline (conditioned on age, gender, education and including ApoE-ε4, diabetes, BMI, and number of medications) substantially increases the predictive performance: cross-validated Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve = 75% [95% CI 70-80%] compared to 62% [95% CI 56-67%]. Conclusions: The untargeted metabolomics study supports a protective role of specific foods (e.g., coffee, cocoa, fish) and various alterations in the endogenous metabolism responsive to diet in cognitive aging

Hepatitis B virus preS2Δ38-55 variants: A newly identified risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although HBV is a major cause of death in Africa, its genetic variability has been poorly documented. This study aimed to address whether HBV genotype and surface gene variants are associated with HBV-related liver disease in The Gambia. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study nested in the Prevention of Liver Fibrosis and Cancer in Africa programme. Consecutive treatment-naive patients with chronic HBV infection and detectable viral load were recruited: 211 controls with no significant liver disease and 91 cases (56 cirrhosis and 35 HCC cases). HBV genotypes and surface gene variants were determined by Sanger sequencing or next-generation sequencing (NGS) in serum DNA. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-specific codon 249 TP53 mutation was determined by NGS in circulating cell-free plasma DNA. RESULTS: In phylogenetic analysis, 85% of individuals carried HBV genotype E, 14% genotype A, and 1% A/E recombinant viruses. Surface gene variants were more frequently observed in cases (43% and 57% in cirrhosis and HCC cases, respectively) than controls (25%; p 2,000 IU/ml (OR 22.7 [8.0-64.9]), HBsAg levels <10,000 IU/ml (OR 19.0 [5.5-65.3]), and AFB1 exposure (OR 29.3 [3.7-230.4]) on HCC risk. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a hotspot for HBV preS2 deletions as a strong independent factor for HCC in The Gambia, with HBV genotypes and AFB1 exposure contributing to the high liver cancer risk. LAY SUMMARY: Although HBV-related liver disease is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, the associated virological characteristics are poorly studied. Using clinical data from African patients chronically infected with HBV, an assessment of the virological variability (genotypes and mutations) and exposure to AFB1, a toxin often contaminating food, was carried out. Our results show that HBV genotypes, the presence of a highly prevalent mutant form of HBV, and AFB1 exposure contribute to the high liver cancer risk in this population