Cartographie des mesures de soutien à la santé mentale des étudiant.es et des employé.es de l’UQAC

Cartographie des mesures de soutien à la santé mentale des étudiant.es et des employé.es de l’UQA

Field Effectiveness of Pandemic and 2009-2010 Seasonal Vaccines against 2009-2010 A(H1N1) Influenza: Estimations from Surveillance Data in France

BACKGROUND: In this study, we assess how effective pandemic and trivalent 2009-2010 seasonal vaccines were in preventing influenza-like illness (ILI) during the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic in France. We also compare vaccine effectiveness against ILI versus laboratory-confirmed pandemic A(H1N1) influenza, and assess the possible bias caused by using non-specific endpoints and observational data. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We estimated vaccine effectiveness by using the following formula: VE  =  (PPV-PCV)/(PPV(1-PCV)) × 100%, where PPV is the proportion vaccinated in the population and PCV the proportion of vaccinated influenza cases. People were considered vaccinated three weeks after receiving a dose of vaccine. ILI and pandemic A(H1N1) laboratory-confirmed cases were obtained from two surveillance networks of general practitioners. During the epidemic, 99.7% of influenza isolates were pandemic A(H1N1). Pandemic and seasonal vaccine uptakes in the population were obtained from the National Health Insurance database and by telephonic surveys, respectively. Effectiveness estimates were adjusted by age and week. The presence of residual biases was explored by calculating vaccine effectiveness after the influenza period. The effectiveness of pandemic vaccines in preventing ILI was 52% (95% confidence interval: 30-69) during the pandemic and 33% (4-55) after. It was 86% (56-98) against confirmed influenza. The effectiveness of seasonal vaccines against ILI was 61% (56-66) during the pandemic and 19% (-10-41) after. It was 60% (41-74) against confirmed influenza. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of pandemic vaccines in preventing confirmed pandemic A(H1N1) influenza on the field was high, consistently with published findings. It was significantly lower against ILI. This is unsurprising since not all ILI cases are caused by influenza. Trivalent 2009-2010 seasonal vaccines had a statistically significant effectiveness in preventing ILI and confirmed pandemic influenza, but were not better in preventing confirmed pandemic influenza than in preventing ILI. This lack of difference might be indicative of selection bias

Le Sélecteur Back-End : Du développement du matériau vers les performances du dispositif

Ce travail de thèse trouve ses origines dans le développement d’un nouveau concept de mémoire dans l’architecture des calculateurs dont l’objectif était de combler le fossé de taille et de temps d’accès entre la DRAM, rapide et endurante et la Flash non volatile et dense. Avec les Storage Class Memory, on réunit ces performances. Grâce à la stratégie d’architecture Crossbar, qui est simple, empilable en 3D dans le back-end et facile à mettre à l’échelle, on accède ainsi à une nouvelle technologie de mémoire portable. La révolution de la mémoire Crossbar d’Intel ouvre la porte de l’intégration 3D de la mémoire sur le calcul. Cette architecture est intéressante entre autres pour sa faible empreinte de 4F² par bit par couche, ce qui permet d’atteindre de grandes densités. De plus, elle est basée de mémoire à changement de phase qui est non volatile. Elle nécessite cependant un sélecteur intégré en back-end. Le Sélecteur back-end devient alors un élément clé avec la fiabilité comme problématique principale. Notamment pour ouvrir la technologie Crossbar vers de nouvelles applications, comme le calcul neuromorphique ou, dans le futur, les circuits embarqués. Par fiabilité, par-là est entendu une stabilité en température compatible avec un BEOL de l’intégration ; une variabilité de la tension de seuil quasi nulle pour garantir une fenêtre de lecture large ; un courant de fuite ultra faible pour des tailles de matrices plus grandes ; ainsi qu’une endurance importante pour obtenir un nombre de lectures compatible avec l’application envisagée. Le travail de thèse porte sur les sélecteurs back-end à base d’OTS, de l’anglais Ovonic Threshold Switching. Il s’agit de verres de chalcogénures. Ses caractéristiques électriques sont les suivantes : un faible courant de fuite en OFF, une haute conductivité en ON pour permettre la programmation de la mémoire et une volatilité du switch. Une large gamme de matériaux basés sur les alliages SbSe et AsSe a été étudiée. L’influence des éléments additionnels tels que le germanium, le silicium et l’azote est explorée. La structure du matériau peut être modifiée en déposant des alliages binaires en alternance pour créer un matériau multicouche dont les performances électriques et thermiques vont au-delà des alliages OTS dit bulk. Une réflexion est finalement proposée et argumentée pour augmenter les performances des futurs matériaux OTS.This thesis work has its roots in the development of a new memory concept in computer architecture that has the goal to fill the gap between the fast and enduring DRAM and the non volatile and dense Flash. With Storage Class Memories, we gather these performances. Thanks to the Crossbar architecture, which is simple, 3D stackable in the back-end and easy to scale down, we access a new range of portable memories. The memory revolution led by Intel open the door to 3D integration of the memory on the logic. This architecture is interesting for its low footprint of 4F² per bit and per deck, which enable high density. Nevertheless, it requires a selector integrated in the back-end. The back-end selector thus becomes a key device with reliability as main challenge. In particular, to open Crossbar technology to new applications such as neuromorphic computing or, in the future, embedded circuits. Reliability of devices means that they should report a thermal stability compatible with the integration BEOL, an almost zero threshold voltage variability to guarantee a large reading window, an ultra-low leakage current to reach higher matrix sizes and finally an important endurance to reach the considered application compatible number of cycles. The thesis work is on the OTS selectors, from Ovonic Threshold Switching. They are based on chalcogenide glasses that present the following electrical characteristics: A low leakage current in the OFF state, a high conductivity while in the ON state and a volatile commutation between these two states. A large range of materials based on SbSe and AsSe have been studied. The influence of additional elements such as germanium, silicon or nitrogen have been investigated. The material structure could be modified by alternatively depositing binary alloys creating multilayer materials. Their electrical and thermal performances are going beyond the ones of so-called bulk OTS alloys. A discussion is finally proposed and supported to increase the performances of future OTS materials

Portrait de la santé mentale des communautés universitaires.

Ces douze infographies ont été élaborées dans le cadre d’un projet ayant pour titre « Santé mentale et accessibilité en milieu universitaire : la diversité constitue-t-elle une barrière ? ». Jumelant synthèse des écrits et données de recherche, elles visent à effectuer le portrait de la santé mentale des étudiant.es et des employé.es qui s’identifient à l’un ou plusieurs des six groupes désignés suivants : Femmes, minorités visibles, personnes en situation de handicap, personnes autochtones, personnes de la diversité sexuelle et de genre, et personnes de l’international

In vivo reduction of age-dependent neuromelanin accumulation mitigates features of Parkinson's disease

Humans accumulate with age the dark-brown pigment neuromelanin inside specific neuronal groups. Neurons with the highest neuromelanin levels are particularly susceptible to degeneration in Parkinson's disease, especially dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, the loss of which leads to characteristic motor Parkinson's disease symptoms. In contrast to humans, neuromelanin does not appear spontaneously in most animals, including rodents, and Parkinson's disease is an exclusively human condition. Using humanized neuromelanin-producing rodents, we recently found that neuromelanin can trigger Parkinson's disease pathology when accumulated above a specific pathogenic threshold. Here, by taking advantage of this newly developed animal model, we assessed whether the intracellular build-up of neuromelanin that occurs with age can be slowed down in vivo to prevent or attenuate Parkinson's disease. Because neuromelanin derives from the oxidation of free cytosolic dopamine, we enhanced dopamine vesicular encapsulation in the substantia nigra of neuromelanin-producing rats by viral vector-mediated overexpression of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2). This strategy reduced the formation of potentially toxic oxidized dopamine species that can convert into neuromelanin and maintained intracellular neuromelanin levels below their pathogenic threshold. Decreased neuromelanin production was associated with an attenuation of Lewy body-like inclusion formation and a long-term preservation of dopamine homeostasis, nigrostriatal neuronal integrity and motor function in these animals. Our results demonstrate the feasibility and therapeutic potential of modulating age-dependent intracellular neuromelanin production in vivo, thereby opening an unexplored path for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and, in a broader sense, brain ageing. Neurons that accumulate the highest levels of neuromelanin with age are also the most susceptible to degeneration in Parkinson's disease. Using a neuromelanin-producing rat model, Gonzalez-Sepulveda, Compte et al. show that slowing down age-dependent neuromelanin production can help prevent Parkinson's disease-like features

Ge content optimization in Ge(SbSe)1−x_{1-x}N OTS materials for selector applications

International audienceIn this paper, we investigate the influence of germanium content in GeSbSeN based Ovonic Threshold Selector (OTS) devices. We performed physico-chemical analyses on five different Ge x (SbSe) 1-x N alloys in order to understand how the germanium content influences the material structure and its integrity once submitted to temperatures up to 400° C. Thanks to electrical characterization of Ge x (SbSe)$_{1-x}$N OTS devices, we analyze the evolution of the electrical parameters along cycling up to 10$^8$ cycles and before and after annealing at 400° C. Cycle-to-cycle variability and drift phenomenon are also investigated. Finally, we demonstrate how Ge content should be properly tuned in order to improve the thermal stability of the alloy without affecting the leakage current and the electrical parameters variability

Modelling human brain-wide pigmentation in rodents recapitulates age-related multisystem neurodegenerative deficits

One key limitation in developing effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases is the lack of models that accurately mimic the complex physiopathology of the human disease. Humans accumulate with age the pigment neuromelanin inside catecholaminergic neurons. Neurons reaching the highest neuromelanin levels preferentially degenerate in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and apparently healthy aging individuals. However, this brain pigment is not taken into consideration in current animal models because, in contrast to humans, common laboratory species such as rodents do not produce neuromelanin. Here we generated a tissue-specific transgenic mouse that mimics the human age-dependent brain-wide distribution of neuromelanin within catecholaminergic regions, based on the constitutive catecholamine-specific expression of human melanin-producing enzyme tyrosinase. In parallel to progressive human-like neuromelanin pigmentation, these animals display age-related neuronal dysfunction and degeneration affecting numerous brain circuits and body tissues, linked to motor and non-motor deficits, reminiscent of early neurodegenerative stages. This model may open new research avenues in the field of brain aging and neurodegeneration