Rapid cortical oscillations and early motor activity in premature human neonate.

International audienceDelta-brush is the dominant pattern of rapid oscillatory activity (8-25 Hz) in the human cortex during the third trimester of gestation. Here, we studied the relationship between delta-brushes in the somatosensory cortex and spontaneous movements of premature human neonates of 29-31 weeks postconceptional age using a combination of scalp electroencephalography and monitoring of motor activity. We found that sporadic hand and foot movements heralded the appearance of delta-brushes in the corresponding areas of the cortex (lateral and medial regions of the contralateral central cortex, respectively). Direct hand and foot stimulation also reliably evoked delta-brushes in the same areas. These results suggest that sensory feedback from spontaneous fetal movements triggers delta-brush oscillations in the central cortex in a somatotopic manner. We propose that in the human fetus in utero, before the brain starts to receive elaborated sensory input from the external world, spontaneous fetal movements provide sensory stimulation and drive delta-brush oscillations in the developing somatosensory cortex contributing to the formation of cortical body maps

Swimming into the current: the movement of human society though history

This roundtable is inspired on three counts by Keith Hart's ideas of understanding world society and history through people and restoring humanity and human social relations to the study of economy. The first is that we must learn to think of world society and people not as different ends of a scale - big and small - but as co-constitutive. A human life can be the ground from where we launch our investigations into the world. The individual life encompasses worlds and we can read worlds through individual lives. Understanding world history and society through life histories, journeys and migrations uncovers new connections and relations. The second, is to understand how people are connected. Money, currency, is one such critical window onto the dialectical movement between local and global, personal and impersonal with far greater social remit in Hart's approach than that posited by classical economics or, indeed, mainstream anthropology. If we are to study world society and history, imagining new possibilities that do not intensify global inequalities, we must recognise the multiple currents and currencies of people's lives holding worlds together. The third intervention brings these questions into dialogue with Hart's openness to different ways of writing: how should we best cross intellectual boundaries to write the world, unifying perspectives from life, art and science? We will consider how other approaches and disciplines have tackled these issues as method and writing strategy - and how ethnographic writing can learn from, for example, history, literary studies, (auto)biography and fiction

Swimming into the current: the movement of human society though history

This roundtable is inspired on three counts by Keith Hart's ideas of understanding world society and history through people and restoring humanity and human social relations to the study of economy. The first is that we must learn to think of world society and people not as different ends of a scale - big and small - but as co-constitutive. A human life can be the ground from where we launch our investigations into the world. The individual life encompasses worlds and we can read worlds through individual lives. Understanding world history and society through life histories, journeys and migrations uncovers new connections and relations. The second, is to understand how people are connected. Money, currency, is one such critical window onto the dialectical movement between local and global, personal and impersonal with far greater social remit in Hart's approach than that posited by classical economics or, indeed, mainstream anthropology. If we are to study world society and history, imagining new possibilities that do not intensify global inequalities, we must recognise the multiple currents and currencies of people's lives holding worlds together. The third intervention brings these questions into dialogue with Hart's openness to different ways of writing: how should we best cross intellectual boundaries to write the world, unifying perspectives from life, art and science? We will consider how other approaches and disciplines have tackled these issues as method and writing strategy - and how ethnographic writing can learn from, for example, history, literary studies, (auto)biography and fiction

Swimming into the current: the movement of human society though history

This roundtable is inspired on three counts by Keith Hart's ideas of understanding world society and history through people and restoring humanity and human social relations to the study of economy. The first is that we must learn to think of world society and people not as different ends of a scale - big and small - but as co-constitutive. A human life can be the ground from where we launch our investigations into the world. The individual life encompasses worlds and we can read worlds through individual lives. Understanding world history and society through life histories, journeys and migrations uncovers new connections and relations. The second, is to understand how people are connected. Money, currency, is one such critical window onto the dialectical movement between local and global, personal and impersonal with far greater social remit in Hart's approach than that posited by classical economics or, indeed, mainstream anthropology. If we are to study world society and history, imagining new possibilities that do not intensify global inequalities, we must recognise the multiple currents and currencies of people's lives holding worlds together. The third intervention brings these questions into dialogue with Hart's openness to different ways of writing: how should we best cross intellectual boundaries to write the world, unifying perspectives from life, art and science? We will consider how other approaches and disciplines have tackled these issues as method and writing strategy - and how ethnographic writing can learn from, for example, history, literary studies, (auto)biography and fiction

Soil aggregate stability in Mediterranean and tropical agro-ecosystems: Effect of plant roots and soil characteristics

Our aim was to determine the effect of soil characteristics and root traits on soil aggregate stability at an inter- and intra-site scale in a range of agro-ecosystems. We also evaluated the effect of soil depth and the type of land use on aggregate stability. Soil aggregate stability, soil physicochemical properties and fine root traits were measured along land use gradients (from monocultures to agroforestry systems and forests), at two soil depths at four sites (Mediterranean and tropical climates) with contrasting soils (Andosol, Ferralsol, Leptosol and Fluvisol). Aggregate stability was much lower in deep than in surface soil layers, likely linked to lower soil organic carbon (SOC) and lower root mass density (RMD). Locally, and consistently in all sites, land use intensification degrades soil aggregate stability, mainly in surface soil layers. Soil organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and root traits: water-soluble compounds, lignin and medium root length proportion were the most important drivers of aggregate stability at the inter-site level, whereas SOC, root mass and root length densities (RMD, RLD) were the main drivers at the intra-site level. Overall, the data suggest different controls on soil aggregate stability globally (soil) and locally (roots). Conversion from forests to agricultural land will likely lead to greater C losses through a loss of aggregate stability and increased soil erosion

Development of new biocompatible 3D printed graphene oxide-based scaffolds

International audienc

Évaluation des représentations relatives aux médicaments chez les patients atteints de myélome multiple

Le myélome multiple est un cancer qui s'apparente aujourd'hui à une maladie chronique du fait des nouvelles thérapies allongeant la survie. Il se dégage donc un besoin de définir formellement le contenu des programmes d'éducation thérapeutique. L'Association française des malades du myélome multiple a réalisé un référentiel de compétences du malade du myélome multiple et a créé des outils permettant de réaliser un diagnostic éducatif sur l'état des connaissances du patient sur ses traitements, ainsi que les croyances associées. Ce support a permis de mener une enquête prospective observationnelle sur cinq mois dans deux centres hospitaliers, par l'intermédiaire d'entretiens semi-directifs visant à évaluer les connaissances du patient sur son traitement, ainsi que l'importance accordée à chaque médicament à l'aide d'un score. Vingt-six entretiens ont été menés. Les patients ne pouvaient en général pas citer l'intégralité de leurs traitements et avaient recours à l'automédication. De fortes représentations ont été notées, avec une importance moindre donnée aux médicaments anti-thrombotiques et aux anti-infectieux alors que les risques contre lesquels ils luttent sont vitaux. Les notes les plus élevées étaient données aux anticancéreux et aux traitements symptomatiques comme les antalgiques. D'autres outils ont été construits pour répondre aux besoins de formation des patients

What do adult outpatients included in clinical trials know about the investigational drugs being assessed: A cross-sectional study in France.

This study aimed to assess patient investigational medication knowledge and to identify factors associated with medication understanding by adult outpatients included in clinical trials. A cross-sectional prospectively designed survey was conducted on consecutive volunteers at 21 university teaching hospitals (in France) from February to December 2014. Investigational medication understanding was assessed at the time of the first dispensing using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire based on information obtained from the literature that provided an 8-point score. Demographic and other baseline data were collected using structured interviews. Of the 236 participants, 139 (58.9%) of the respondents were male, and the median age was 54.9 years (range: 18-83 years). The mean understanding score was 6.24 and 72.5% of the patients had a score of 6 or higher. In univariate analysis, the medication understanding score was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.15, p = 0.0247) and positively correlated with the level of education (r = 0.25, p = 0.0002). In multivariate analysis, prognostic factors of a higher medication understanding score were: graduation from high school or a higher level of education; HIV infection; phase II/III/IV studies; mention of the drug on the prescription form, and the dispensing of a single investigational medication. Only a quarter of the adult outpatients included in clinical trials had a maximum possible investigational medication understanding score. Being old and having a low level of education were found to be important risk factors for inadequate medication understanding. This and other data suggest that sponsors should encourage initiatives aimed at improving investigational medication understanding in adults enrolled in clinical trials

Fabrication of Radio-Opaque and Macroporous Injectable Calcium Phosphate Cement

International audienceThe aim of this work was the development of injectable radio-opaque and macroporous calcium phosphate cement (CPC) to be used as a bone substitute for the treatment of pathologic vertebral fractures. A CPC was first rendered radio-opaque by the incorporation of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). In order to create macroporosity, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microspheres around 100 μm were homogeneously incorporated into the CPC as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Physicochemical analyses by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the brushite phase of the cement. The mechanical properties of the CPC/PLGA cement containing 30% PLGA (wt/wt) were characterized by a compressive strength of 2 MPa and a Young’s modulus of 1 GPa. The CPC/PLGA exhibited initial and final setting times of 7 and 12 min, respectively. Although the incorporation of PLGA microspheres increased the force necessary to inject the cement and decreased the percentage of injected mass as a function of time, the CPC/PLGA appeared fully injectable at 4 min. Moreover, in comparison with CPC, CPC/PLGA showed a full degradation in 6 weeks (with 100% mass loss), and this was associated with an acidification of the medium containing the CPC/PLGA sample (pH of 3.5 after 6 weeks). A cell viability test validated CPC/PLGA biocompatibility, and in vivo analyses using a bone defect assay in the caudal vertebrae of Wistar rats showed the good opacity of the CPC through the tail and a significant increased degradation of the CPC/PLGA cement a month after implantation. In conclusion, this injectable CPC scaffold appears to be an interesting material for bone substitution