The new veterinary curriculum

The new veterinary curriculum includes two years of preparatory studies which give access to both French veterinary schools and French agronomics schools. The subjects covered and the exams are the same for both types of students, only their respective importance varies according to the chosen career. These changes brought to the preparatory studies require changes to the veterinary curriculum itself. A national committee has been set up to design the future veterinary curriculum and to make proposals to bring the latter into line with European recommendations on higher education.La réforme du cursus vétérinaire se traduit par la fusion de la classe préparatoire spécifique « véto » avec la classe préparatoire BCPST permettant l'entrée dans les écoles d'ingénieurs ENSA et ENITA. Ainsi les futurs vétérinaires suivront une classe préparatoire en 2 ans et pourront se présenter à la fois aux concours d'entrée dans les écoles vétérinaires et dans les ENSA et les ENITA car les épreuves seront identiques, seuls les coefficients sont modifiés en fonction des types de concours. De ce fait le cursus au sein des ENV doit être rénové, un comité de pilotage a été mis en place pour élaborer un référentiel de formation et faire des propositions d'organisation du cursus selon les recommandations liées à l'espace européen de l'enseignement supérieur

Biologie du développement et écologie comportementale de deux parasitoïdes de mouches des fruits à la Réunion.

La mouche du melon, #Bactrocera cucurbitae# (Coquillett) et la mouche méditerranéenne des fruits, #Ceratitis capitata# (Wiedemann) (#Diptera# : #Tephritidae#) sont d'importants ravageurs des cultures à l'île de la Réunion. La première espèce s'attaque aux #Cucurbitaceae# et la deuxième à des fruits de nombreuses familles. Un programme de lutte biologique contre ces mouches des fruits est initié en 1995 au CIRAD REUNION avec l'importation depuis Hawaii de deux espèces de parasitoïdes, #Psyttalia fletcheri# (Silvestri) et #Diachasmimorpha tryoni# (Cameron) (#Braconidae# : #Opiinae#). Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse ont pour objectifs de déterminer les différentes caractéristiques du cycle de développement et de mettre en évidence les stratégies de sélection de l'hôte chez ces deux espèces. Après une description de la morphologie générale, les différents stades de développement et leur durée respective sont précisés. L'influence de la température sur le développement préimaginal est également caractérisée. L'équipement sensoriel des antennes et de l'ovipositeur des parasitoïdes est ensuite décrit. La biologie de la reproduction est étudiée au travers de différents paramètres: la longévité, la fécondité potentielle et réalisée, ainsi que le rythme nycthéméral de ponte. L'étude des relations tritrophiques est menée dans le contexte d'une sélection optimale de l'hôte. L'attraction de #P. fletcheri# pour des fruits de #Cucurbitaceae# (plantes hôtes de #B. cucurbitae#) se révèle significative. En outre, l'infestation de ces fruits par des larves hôtes provoque les meilleurs taux de découverte, quelle que.soit l'espèce de fruit testée. Pour exemple, un taux de 91% d'atterrissage est observé sur la source "citrouille infestée". Les femelles de #P.fletcheri# utiliseraient une combinaison de différents stimuli olfactifs pour localiser son hôte: à longue distance, des signaux émis par des fruits sains (synomones) guideraient l'insecte vers une parcelle, puis interviendraient des signaux plus directement. liés à la présence de larves hôtes dans les fruits (synomones induites par l'herbivore, kairomones). Des analyses chimiques montrent que des composés volatils à 9 carbones et responsables des odeurs caractéristiques des #Cucurbitaceae# (nonénol, nonénal, nonadiénal) sont présents dans tous les fruits sains analysés, tandis que des composés particuliers (notamment acide acétique, éthanol, hexanol, hexénol et limonène) apparaissent ou augmentent en abondance lorsque ces fruits sont infestés. L'attraction des femelles de #P. fletcheri# pour ces composés doit être testée afin d'identifier avec précision les composés responsables de la sélection de l'hôte par ce parasitoïde. Les réponses des femelles de #D. tryoni# à des fruits de bibace et d'élengi (plantes-hôtes de #C. capitata#) semblent indiquer que les signaux émis par un fruit sain n'interviendraient pas dans le processus de localisation de l'hôte par les femelles de ce parasitoïde, mais que des composés issus de la dégradation du fruit en présence ou non de larves hôtes pourraient intervenir. Les perspectives d'utilisation de ces auxiliaires pour le contrôle biologique des mouches des fruits sont discutées. (Résumé d'auteur

Il était une foi. Once upon a timeThere was a faith

De la coopération entre établissements français aux échanges internationaux entre bibliothèques religieuses du monde une même logique d\u27échanges et de mutualisation a débouché en 2012 sur la constitution d\u27un groupe d\u27intérêt au sein de l\u27Ifla : Relindial (dialogue entre les religions pour un meilleur dialogue interculturel). From french institutions cooperation to international exchange between some of the world\u27s religious libraries, a common drive for improved exchange and harmonisation resulted in the formation in 2012 of a special interest group within IFLA : Relindial (the religious libraries in dialogue special interest group)

Limited Viral Spread and Rapid Immune Response in Lymph Nodes of Macaques Inoculated with Attenuated Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

AbstractA comparative study was undertaken to characterize the very early events that distinguish attenuated and pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections. Three rhesus macaques were inoculated with the attenuated SIVmac 251 Δnef virus, and three others with a virus of intermediate phenotype, SIVmac 239 nef stop. They were compared to four macaques inoculated with the pathogenic SIVmac 251 isolate. Lymph nodes (LN) taken between 7 days and 2 months postinoculation were analyzed for SIV expression byin situhybridization. During acute infection, SIV 251 Δnef infected 1 to 1.5 log10fewer cells in LN tissue than the pathogenic SIV 251 isolate. The reduction was more marked in the blood, as SIV 251 Δnef infected 2 to 3 log10fewer PBMC than the isolate and did not yield detectable antigenemia. Morphometric measurements showed that the development of germinal centers (GC) was more rapid in the Δnef infection, which led to a more efficient trapping of viral particles, and could account for antigenemia clearance. The SIV 239 nef stop clone reverted to a nef+genotype at Week 2, but induced a lower viral burden than a directly pathogenic virus. The kinetics of GC development was rapid, indicating that SIV 239 nef stop induced an immune response similar to that seen in attenuated infection. This study provides evidence that attenuated SIV elicits a more rapid immune response than pathogenic SIV and suggests that an early immunosuppressive episode may facilitate the dissemination of pathogenic SIV

Bone Marrow Colony-Formation In Vitro After Infection of Genetically Defined Inbred Mice with Candida Albicans

The effect of C. albicans infection on the production of haematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow of CBA/CaH and BALB/c mice was evaluated by assay of colony formation in vitro. In immunocompetent mice, neither systemic nor oral infection induced significant alterations in colony formation by bone marrow from the two mouse strains, and Candida infection did not alter the proportion of morphological cell types in the colonies. However, the number of neutrophil-like was relatively greater in colonies derived from acutely infected CBA/CaH nude mice than in those from BALB/c nude mice, whereas small mononuclear cells were present in higher proportions in the latter strain. In both strains of nude mice, there was an increase in colony formation at 6 days after oral infection, but at 8 weeks, when the infection had become chronic, the production of bone marrow cells by CBA/CaH nude mice was significantly less than that by BALB/c nude mice. Reconstitution of nude mice with syngeneic lymphocytes enhanced the production of bone marrow precursor cells by BALB/c, but not by CBA/CaH mice, suggesting that T cells can enhance host resistance by promoting the colony-forming response of the bone marrow in BALB/c mice that are genetically resistant to tissue damage, but not in CBA/CaH that are prone to severe lesions. Finally, culture with Candida antigen in vitro decreased the number of colony-forming cells in cultures from CBA/CaH, but not from BALB/c mice

The anti-caspase inhibitor Q-VD-OPH prevents AIDS disease progression in SIV-infected rhesus macaques

Apoptosis has been proposed as a key mechanism responsible for CD4+ T cell depletion and immune dysfunction during HIV infection. We demonstrated that Q-VD-OPH, a caspase inhibitor, inhibits spontaneous and activation-induced death of T cells from SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs). When administered during the acute phase of infection, Q-VD-OPH was associated with (a) reduced levels of T cell death, (b) preservation of CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio in lymphoid organs and in the gut, (c) maintenance of memory CD4+ T cells, and (d) increased specific CD4+ T cell response associated with the expression of cytotoxic molecules. Although therapy was limited to the acute phase of infection, Q-VD-OPH-treated RMs showed lower levels of both viral load and cell-associated SIV DNA as compared with control SIV-infected RMs throughout the chronic phase of infection, and prevented the development of AIDS. Overall, our data demonstrate that Q-VD-OPH injection in SIV-infected RMs may represent an adjunctive therapeutic agent to control HIV infection and delaying disease progression to AIDS.This article is dedicated to the memory of Bruno Hurtrel. We also thank Jean-Claude Ameisen for his initial support. We acknowledge Celine Gommet (Institut Pasteur) for her expertise in the follow-up of our primate cohort. We also acknowledge Francois Villinger, who performed TRIM5a polymorphism. ML and JG were supported by fellowships from ANRS. RS thanks Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) for Investigator FCT Grant IF/00021/2014. This study was supported by research funding from ANRS and CIHR (MOP-133476) to JE. VR is supported by a fellowship from FCT (code SFRH/BD/64064/2009). JE thanks the Canada Research Chair program for financial assistance

HIV/SIV Infection Primes Monocytes and Dendritic Cells for Apoptosis

Subversion or exacerbation of antigen-presenting cells (APC) death modulates host/pathogen equilibrium. We demonstrated during in vitro differentiation of monocyte-derived macrophages and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) that HIV sensitizes the cells to undergo apoptosis in response to TRAIL and FasL, respectively. In addition, we found that HIV-1 increased the levels of pro-apoptotic Bax and Bak molecules and decreased the levels of anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 and FLIP proteins. To assess the relevance of these observations in the context of an experimental model of HIV infection, we investigated the death of APC during pathogenic SIV-infection in rhesus macaques (RMs). We demonstrated increased apoptosis, during the acute phase, of both peripheral blood DCs and monocytes (CD14+) from SIV+RMs, associated with a dysregulation in the balance of pro- and anti-apoptotic molecules. Caspase-inhibitor and death receptors antagonists prevented apoptosis of APCs from SIV+RMs. Furthermore, increased levels of FasL in the sera of pathogenic SIV+RMs were detected, compared to non-pathogenic SIV infection of African green monkey. We suggest that inappropriate apoptosis of antigen-presenting cells may contribute to dysregulation of cellular immunity early in the process of HIV/SIV infection

Inefficient Nef-Mediated Downmodulation of CD3 and MHC-I Correlates with Loss of CD4+ T Cells in Natural SIV Infection

Recent data suggest that Nef-mediated downmodulation of TCR-CD3 may protect SIVsmm-infected sooty mangabeys (SMs) against the loss of CD4+ T cells. However, the mechanisms underlying this protective effect remain unclear. To further assess the role of Nef in nonpathogenic SIV infection, we cloned nef alleles from 11 SIVsmm-infected SMs with high (>500) and 15 animals with low (<500) CD4+ T-cells/µl in bulk into proviral HIV-1 IRES/eGFP constructs and analyzed their effects on the phenotype, activation, and apoptosis of primary T cells. We found that not only efficient Nef-mediated downmodulation of TCR-CD3 but also of MHC-I correlated with preserved CD4+ T cell counts, as well as with high numbers of Ki67+CD4+ and CD8+CD28+ T cells and reduced CD95 expression by CD4+ T cells. Moreover, effective MHC-I downregulation correlated with low proportions of effector and high percentages of naïve and memory CD8+ T cells. We found that T cells infected with viruses expressing Nef alleles from the CD4low SM group expressed significantly higher levels of the CD69, interleukin (IL)-2 and programmed death (PD)-1 receptors than those expressing Nefs from the CD4high group. SIVsmm Nef alleles that were less active in downmodulating TCR-CD3 were also less potent in suppressing the activation of virally infected T cells and subsequent cell death. However, only nef alleles from a single animal with very low CD4+ T cell counts rendered T cells hyper-responsive to activation, similar to those of HIV-1. Our data suggest that Nef may protect the natural hosts of SIV against the loss of CD4+ T cells by at least two mechanisms: (i) downmodulation of TCR-CD3 to prevent activation-induced cell death and to suppress the induction of PD-1 that may impair T cell function and survival, and (ii) downmodulation of MHC-I to reduce CTL lysis of virally infected CD4+ T cells and/or bystander CD8+ T cell activation