Henri Blanc-Fontaine (1819-1897) : une carrière de peintre en province au XIXe siècle

Henri Blanc-Fontaine (1819-1895) is an artist who applies to all painting genres. He receives a first eclectic training in Grenoble in his cousin’s paint shop. Then he pursues his studies in the famous Léon Cogniet paint shop in Paris. He goes in Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Paris and perfects his training. He comes back in his hometown in 1848 and starts his career. Throughout his life, he participates in a series of exhibitions in the Dauphiné and in France. He receives commands from Grenoble city which giving an official nature of his career. He finds his place in the local artists group with which he maintains a friendship. Lovers of his region, keen on travels and readings, those inspirations are found in his painting production and give it all its value. Painter of the Dauphiné, Henri Blanc-Fontaine is inspired by contemporary artists and by the painters of the past that gives an original way of his art. This essay aims for reveal the career of this local artist forgotten by our contemporary and gives him his place within the pictorial French production of the nineteenth century.Henri Blanc-Fontaine (1819-1897) est un artiste qui s’applique à l’ensemble des genres de la peinture. Il reçoit une première formation éclectique à Grenoble au sein de l’atelier de son cousin Horace Mollard. Il poursuit ensuite son apprentissage dans l’un des grands ateliers parisiens du XIXe siècle, chez Léon Cogniet. Il entre à l’École des Beaux-Arts de Paris où il parfait sa formation. De retour dans sa ville natale en 1848, il commence sa carrière. Tout au long de sa vie, il participe à une série d’expositions en Dauphiné et à travers la France. Il reçoit des commandes de la part de la ville de Grenoble, donnant à sa carrière son caractère officiel. Il trouve également sa place au sein des artistes locaux avec lesquels il entretien de grandes amitiés. Amoureux de sa région, avide de voyages et de lectures dès son plus jeune âge, ces inspirations se retrouvent au sein de sa production ; cela donnant toute la valeur de ses œuvres. Peintre dauphinois, il s’inspire de ses contemporains et des maîtres passés afin de réaliser des toiles originales et minutieuses. Ce mémoire vise à remettre au jour la carrière de cet artiste local, oublié de nos contemporains, tout en lui donnant sa place au sein de la production picturale du XIXe siècle

Mises en scènes des villes : métropolisation et construction de l'image de la ville. Analyse des théâtralités de l'espace public élargi de Toulouse

As a consequence of métropolisation and development of communication's technologies, the image of the city structures itself around new stakes. The public space extension combined with the emergence of new modes of mediation turnes to a spectacular process and gives the opportunity to metropolians to organize themselves theatrally. Learning on an interdisciplinary corpus, we can draw up the reflective basisses of a town staging. This analyze of the representation of city is also a way to assess its modes of production of sense. The metropolis of Toulouse is a field for this new urban theatricality. The survey reveals the interactivities between the different public spots taking part in the building of the city image's. Semio-esthetic organization of the official image directs the production of Toulouse's representations. This thesis gives a key to understand the theatral terms of construction and analyze of the representations of the city.Sous les effets de la métropolisation et du développement des technologies de la communication, l'image de la ville s'est structurée autour de nouveaux enjeux. L'élargissement de l'espace public de la ville et l'apparition de modes de médiations tournés vers le spectaculaire ont permis aux métropoles de s'organiser théâtralement. En s'appuyant sur un corpus interdisciplinaire, on établit les bases réflexives de la mise en scène de la ville comme méthode d'analyse de l'image de la ville et comme moyen d'évaluation des modes de production. La métropole toulousaine sert de terrain d'observations aux nouvelles théâtralités urbaines. Les situations étudiées révèlent les interactions entre les différentes scènes publiques qui participent à la construction de l'image de la ville. L'organisation sémio-esthétique de l'image officielle oriente la production des représentations de Toulouse. Cette thèse permet de comprendre les modalités théâtrales de construction et d'analyse de l'image des villes

Persistent paléosurfaces in the basement of French Massif Central: geodynamic implications.

National audienceThe siderolithic paleoweathering surfaces of the French Central Massif have been dated to the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous, contrasting with previously accepted Tertiary age and implying that the Massif has never hosted a thick sedimentary cover. This contradicts with former thermochronological results. Herein, we expose the arguments for and against the proposed geodynamic evolution of the French Massif Central constrained by paleomagnetic age determinations

Challenges in treating physician burnout: The psychologist's perspective

peer reviewedObjective Burnout is a multidimensional stress syndrome that is particularly prevalent in physician populations. While the literature expands on preventive and curative interventions, relatively little is known about factors that may hamper their success. The aim of this study was (1) to identify the specific challenges to treat physician burnout and (2) to explore the origins of these challenges. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve psychologists who had treated physicians with burnout and performed thematic analysis of data. Results Psychologists identified two specific challenges in treating physician burnout. First, physicians were reluctant to seek help from health professionals and tended to so at more severe stages of exhaustion. Second, physicians were feeling uncomfortable in the role of patient, and many of them had difficulties to accept treatment. Psychologists suggested the following causes of these challenges: (1) most physicians did not have a general practitioner, (2) they felt guilty about reducing their workload, and (3) tended to confuse professional and personal engagement. According to participants, medical education, the professional culture and the image of the profession in the wider community were likely factors contributing to physicians’ reluctance to seek and accept care. Discussion This research showed that the specific challenges to treat physician burnout are mostly related to their reluctance to ask for help and to put their trust in other caregivers. Among the reasons for this behavior, most are linked with physician's representation of professional identity as enduring and selfless. Conclusion Further studies are needed to explore how medical education and professional culture can be changed to reduce the risk of physician burnout and facilitate care when it nonetheless arises

Inactive matriptase-2 mutants found in IRIDA patients still repress hepcidin in a transfection assay despite having lost their serine protease activity.

L'article final de l'éditeur contient 9 pages. Le manuscrit accepté contient 32 pages.International audienceMutations of the TMPRSS6 gene, which encodes Matriptase-2, are responsible for iron-refractory iron-deficiency anemia. Matriptase-2 is a transmembrane protease that downregulates hepcidin expression. We report one frameshift (p.Ala605ProfsX8) and four novel missense mutations (p.Glu114Lys, p.Leu235Pro, p.Tyr418Cys, p.Pro765Ala) found in IRIDA patients. These mutations lead to changes in both the catalytic and noncatalytic domains of Matriptase-2. Analyses of the mutant proteins revealed a reduction of autoactivating cleavage and the loss of N-Boc-Gln-Ala-Arg-p-nitroanilide hydrolysis. This resulted either from a direct modification of the active site or from the lack of the autocatalytic cleavage that transforms the zymogen into an active protease. In a previously described transfection assay measuring the ability of Matriptase-2 to repress the hepcidin gene (HAMP) promoter, all mutants retained some, if not all, of their transcriptional repression activity. This suggests that caution is called for in interpreting the repression assay in assessing the functional relevance of Matriptase-2 substitutions. We propose that Matriptase-2 activity should be measured directly in the cell medium of transfected cells using the chromogenic substrate. This simple test can be used to determine whether a sequence variation leading to an amino acid substitution is functionally relevant or not

Forest microclimates and climate change: importance, drivers and future research agenda

Forest microclimates contrast strongly with the climate outside forests. To fully understand and better predict how forests' biodiversity and functions relate to climate and climate change, microclimates need to be integrated into ecological research. Despite the potentially broad impact of microclimates on the response of forest ecosystems to global change, our understanding of how microclimates within and below tree canopies modulate biotic responses to global change at the species, community and ecosystem level is still limited. Here, we review how spatial and temporal variation in forest microclimates result from an interplay of forest features, local water balance, topography and landscape composition. We first stress and exemplify the importance of considering forest microclimates to understand variation in biodiversity and ecosystem functions across forest landscapes. Next, we explain how macroclimate warming (of the free atmosphere) can affect microclimates, and vice versa, via interactions with land-use changes across different biomes. Finally, we perform a priority ranking of future research avenues at the interface of microclimate ecology and global change biology, with a specific focus on three key themes: (1) disentangling the abiotic and biotic drivers and feedbacks of forest microclimates; (2) global and regional mapping and predictions of forest microclimates; and (3) the impacts of microclimate on forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the face of climate change. The availability of microclimatic data will significantly increase in the coming decades, characterizing climate variability at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales relevant to biological processes in forests. This will revolutionize our understanding of the dynamics, drivers and implications of forest microclimates on biodiversity and ecological functions, and the impacts of global changes. In order to support the sustainable use of forests and to secure their biodiversity and ecosystem services for future generations, microclimates cannot be ignored.Peer reviewe

The Journey of SCAPs (Stem Cells from Apical Papilla), from Their Native Tissue to Grafting: Impact of Oxygen Concentration

Tissue engineering strategies aim at characterizing and at optimizing the cellular component that is combined with biomaterials, for improved tissue regeneration. Here, we present the immunoMap of apical papilla, the native tissue from which SCAPs are derived. We characterized stem cell niches that correspond to a minority population of cells expressing Mesenchymal stromal/Stem Cell (CD90, CD105, CD146) and stemness (SSEA4 and CD49f) markers as well as endothelial cell markers (VWF, CD31). Based on the colocalization of TKS5 and cortactin markers, we detected migration-associated organelles, podosomes-like structures, in specific regions and, for the first time, in association with stem cell niches in normal tissue. From six healthy teenager volunteers, each with two teeth, we derived twelve cell banks, isolated and amplified under 21 or 3% O2. We confirmed a proliferative advantage of all banks when cultured under 3% versus 21% O2. Interestingly, telomerase activity was similar to that of the highly proliferative hiPSC cell line, but unrelated to O2 concentration. Finally, SCAPs embedded in a thixotropic hydrogel and implanted subcutaneously in immunodeficient mice were protected from cell death with a slightly greater advantage for cells preconditioned at 3% O2

Cocaine Is Low on the Value Ladder of Rats: Possible Evidence for Resilience to Addiction

International audienceBACKGROUND:Assessing the relative value of cocaine and how it changes with chronic drug use represents a long-standing goal in addiction research. Surprisingly, recent experiments in rats--by far the most frequently used animal model in this field--suggest that the value of cocaine is lower than previously thought.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here we report a series of choice experiments that better define the relative position of cocaine on the value ladder of rats (i.e., preference rank-ordering of different rewards). Rats were allowed to choose either taking cocaine or drinking water sweetened with saccharin--a nondrug alternative that is not biologically essential. By systematically varying the cost and concentration of sweet water, we found that cocaine is low on the value ladder of the large majority of rats, near the lowest concentrations of sweet water. In addition, a retrospective analysis of all experiments over the past 5 years revealed that no matter how heavy was past cocaine use most rats readily give up cocaine use in favor of the nondrug alternative. Only a minority, fewer than 15% at the heaviest level of past cocaine use, continued to take cocaine, even when hungry and offered a natural sugar that could relieve their need of calories.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This pattern of results (cocaine abstinence in most rats; cocaine preference in few rats) maps well onto the epidemiology of human cocaine addiction and suggests that only a minority of rats would be vulnerable to cocaine addiction while the large majority would be resilient despite extensive drug use. Resilience to drug addiction has long been suspected in humans but could not be firmly established, mostly because it is difficult to control retrospectively for differences in drug self-exposure and/or availability in human drug users. This conclusion has important implications for preclinical research on the neurobiology of cocaine addiction and for future medication development

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications