294 Implementation time of a lipid lowering therapy in patients with dyslipidemia: results of Prysme study

Despite the availability of specific guidelines, the management of dyslipidemia in practice is not optimal.Objective and methodologyPRYSME, a non-interventional multicentre study carried out with 1226 general practitioners, aimed to describe the implementation time of a lipid lowering treatment according to cardiovascular risk level (primary objective) and to identify its determinants. Were eligible patients treated for a dyslipidemia diagnosed less than 2 years ago. Demographic and clinical characteristics and circumstances of diagnosis and treatment initiation were collected.Results3268 patients were included (mean age: 57 years old, males: 64%). 26% were obese and 45% overweight. Only 12% had no cardiovascular risk factors (CRF) at the time of dyslipidemia diagnosis. The most frequent CRF were arterial hypertension (50%), smoking (43%), family history of premature coronary heart disease (28%), HDL-c <0.4g/l (20%) whereas 15% of the patients had a personal history of cardiovascular disease. Dietary programs were initially implemented for 98% of the patients. More than 90% were treated with a statin. The implementation time of the treatment (evaluated according to the biological confirmation of dyslipidemia), according to the initial number of CRF, was as following:0 CRF1 CRF2 CRF≥ 3 CRFSecondary preventionTotal[-3;0] months34.3%28.6%27.1%29.3%49.1%33.1%]0;3] months23.1%26.2%26.4%24.0%21.9%23.9%> 3 months42.6%45.3%46.5%46.8%29.0%43.0%Chi-2 test : P<0.001The main determinant of an early implementation of a lipid lowering therapy (≤ 3 months) was secondary prevention (OR=1.8). The number of CRF had no significant impact.ConclusionThis study underlines the lack of awareness towards cardiovascular risk factors in the management of dyslipidemia, particularly while considering the implementation time of a lipid lowering therapy

f(R) theories

Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations, and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom

TWEAK Appears as a Modulator of Endometrial IL-18 Related Cytotoxic Activity of Uterine Natural Killers

BACKGROUND: TWEAK (Tumor necrosis factor like WEAK inducer of apoptosis) is highly expressed by different immune cells and triggers multiple cellular responses, including control of angiogenesis. Our objective was to investigate its role in the human endometrium during the implantation window, using an ex-vivo endometrial microhistoculture model. Indeed, previous results suggested that basic TWEAK expression influences the IL-18 related uNK recruitment and local cytotoxicity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Endometrial biopsies were performed 7 to 9 days after the ovulation surge of women in monitored natural cycles. Biopsies were cut in micro-pieces and cultured on collagen sponge with appropriate medium. Morphology, functionality and cell death were analysed at different time of the culture. We used this ex vivo model to study mRNA expressions of NKp46 (a uNK cytotoxic receptor) and TGF-beta1 (protein which regulates uNK cytokine production) after adjunction of excess of recombinant IL-18 and either recombinant TWEAK or its antibody. NKp46 protein expression was also detailed by immunohistochemistry in selected patients with high basic mRNA level of IL-18 and either low or high mRNA level of TWEAK. The NKp46 immunostaining was stronger in patients with an IL-18 over-expression and a low TWEAK expression, when compared with patients with both IL-18 and TWEAK high expressions. We did not observe any difference for TWEAK expression when recombinant protein IL-18 or its antibody was added, or conversely, for IL-18 expression when TWEAK or its antibody was added in the culture medium. In a pro-inflammatory environment (obtained by an excess of IL-18), inhibition of TWEAK was able to increase significantly NKp46 and TGF-beta1 mRNA expressions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: TWEAK doesn't act on IL-18 expression but seems to control IL-18 related cytotoxicity on uNK cells when IL-18 is over-expressed. Thus, TWEAK appears as a crucial physiological modulator to prevent endometrial uNK cytotoxicity in human

The gut microbiota and cardiovascular health benefits: a focus on wholegrain oats

Existing scientific data suggest that a high intake of wholegrain foods contributes to improved gut health and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Wholegrain oats are rich in dietary fibre and an important source of many bioactive components, including minerals, vitamins and phenolic compounds. The oat β‐glucans have been reported to lower low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol through their ability to increase the viscosity of intestinal chime, change the gut microbiota composition and increase the production of short‐chain fatty acids, which may contribute to the inhibition of hepatic cholesterol synthesis. Oats are also a rich source of phenolic acids, which are predominantly bound to cell wall polysaccharides through ester bonds. This bound state within oats means that phenolic acid bioavailability will largely be determined by interactions with the colonic microbiota in the large intestine. However, results from in vitro, animal and human studies have been inconsistent in relation to the impact of oats on the gut microbiota, possibly due to differences in experimental techniques and because compounds in oats, other than β‐glucans, have not been considered. This review focuses on the interaction of oat β‐glucans and phenolic acids with gut microbiota, and the subsequent link to cardiovascular health

Réflexions sur les causes de la guerre au Liban

Khoury Gérard D. Réflexions sur les causes de la guerre au Liban. In: Les Cahiers du GRIF, n°43-44, 1990. Liban. pp. 37-59

Maxime Rodinson et la constitution du Grapp (Groupe de recherche et d’action pour la Palestine)

International audienceMaxime Rodinson was part of a small nucleus of Parisian intellectuals aware of what was at stake after the June 1967 war and of it’s consequences for the future of the Near East. With a few men of goodwill, he established the “Groupe de recherche et d’action pour le règlement du problème palestinien-Grapp” (Research and Action Group for the Settlement of the Palestinian Problem) and was among the first to defend the two-state solution that, at the time, seemed to him the only possible alternative.Maxime Rodinson fit partie d’un petit noyau d’intellectuels parisiens conscients des enjeux de la guerre de juin 1967 et de ses conséquences pour l’avenir du Proche-Orient. Avec quelques hommes de bonne volonté, il créa le Groupe de recherche et d’action pour le règlement du problème palestinien (Grapp) et défendit, parmi les premiers, ce qui lui apparut alors comme la seule solution possible, celle de deux États séparés

Regard sur les rapports de missions politiques de Louis Massignon 1908-1955

Une source, en grande partie inédite, est constituée par les rapports de mission politiques et culturels de Louis Massignon depuis 1908 jusqu’en 1955. Cette période est au centre des travaux de Nadine Picaudou, aussi bien pour La décennie qui ébranla le Moyen-Orient que pour La déchirure libanaise. Les prises de position de Louis Massignon à l’égard de la cause palestinienne précédent celles de Nadine Picaudou, qui a consacré plusieurs ouvrages aux Palestiniens et à leur combat, qu’elle a vig..

Mohasseb Saliba Sabine, Les monastères maronites doubles du Liban, Entre Rome et l’Empire ottoman (xviie– xixe siècles), préface d’Henry Laurens, Paris, Geuthner et Kaslik, Presses de l’université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (PUSEK) 2008, 556 p.

Ce livre reprend l’essentiel d’une thèse que Sabine Mohasseb Saliba a soutenue sous la direction de Randi Deguilhem à Aix-en-Provence, intitulée « Monastères doubles, familles, propriétés et pouvoirs au Mont Liban : l’itinéraire du couvent maronite de Mar Challita Mouqbès (xviie- xixe siècles). Transformer un travail de thèse en un ouvrage offert à un public plus vaste que celui des chercheurs est une entreprise risquée. Sabine Mohasseb Saliba a réussi, grâce à un style clair et précis, à so..