L'influence sociale du marketing. Quelle liberté pour le consommateur ?

Consumption is a highly social act, because it enables to be distinguished, to communicate and to share. Even if individual or cultural factors may explain some of consumer's customs, these provide more than a computable benefit since they involve desire's ambiguity regarding the value of objects. From a psychoanalytic and sociological point of view, desire pre-exists to the object toward it is projected, which emboldens designation of marketing practices consequences in themselves, relatively to the thematic of desire alienation. Paradoxically consumer society is charged with multiplying and emptying these desires meanwhile. The main lever of marketing is to maintain and catalyse fetishist mechanisms that delude consumers, especially by tackling their affects. Alienation is due to the fact that the individual whose self-construction is bound to his consumption cannot differentiate anymore between having and being, so that he is both guided in his consumption and existential choices. Positive liberty undergoes hardships, as it requires an enlightened use of reason while the individual is blinded in a fake reality. Moreover political liberty is also evolving since communities are more unstable and permeable, in compliance with a significant change in social link. This change is inherently related to capitalism dynamics whose marketing is a spearhead. The use of the word "influence" doesn't allow reductionisms. Anthropological and socio-political evolutions that seem to be owing to marketing practices don't enable to set up a direct causality between these two phenomena, so that complexity of interactions that lead to these changes has to be taken into account.La consommation est un acte éminemment social, au sens où elle permet de se positionner, de communiquer et de partager. Si des facteurs individuels et culturels peuvent expliquer certaines pratiques consommatoires, celles-ci ne sont pas réductibles à une fonction d'utilité puisque elles font jouer l'ambiguïté du désir dans son rapport à la valeur des objets. D'un point de vue psychanalytique et sociologique, le désir préexiste à l'objet sur lequel il se projette, ce qui rend complexe l'identification des conséquences des pratiques marketing en elles-mêmes, relativement à la thématique de l'aliénation des désirs, qui sont simultanément accusés d'être démultipliés et vidés de sens pas la société de consommation. Le principal levier du marketing est d'entretenir et de catalyser la logique fétichiste qui illusionne les individus consommateurs en jouant notamment sur les affects. L'aliénation réside dans le fait que l'individu dont la construction identitaire passe par la consommation ne perçoit plus la frontière entre être et avoir ; s'il est orienté dans ses choix de consommation il l'est aussi dans son existence propre. L'exercice de la liberté positive en est rendu plus délicat puisque celle-ci suppose un usage éclairé de la raison quand l'individu consommateur est plongé dans l'hyperréel. En outre, l'exercice de la liberté politique change également de forme en même temps que les communautés, plus mouvantes et perméables, conformément à une reconfiguration du lien social inhérente à la dynamique du capitalisme dont le marketing est un fer de lance. L'emploi du mot influence ne justifie pas certains réductionnismes, les évolutions anthropologiques et socio-politiques qui semblent liées aux pratiques du marketing ne permettent pas toujours d'établir une causalité directe entre les deux phénomènes, il faut prendre en compte la complexité des interactions qui conduisent à ces évolutions

Les frontières de la responsabilité économique à l’égard des modes de vie

La responsabilité est un concept qui traditionnellement s’applique à l’individu en tant que cause identifiable d’un résultat produit volontairement. Elle concerne donc les individus dont la forme d’agentivité permet l’action volontaire, ce qui rend problématique la question de la responsabilité collective - la forme d’agentivité des acteurs collectifs n’étant que métaphoriquement similaire à celle des individus. Bien qu’ontologiquement distincte, elle laisse néanmoins une place à la responsabilité dans les cas où des procédures de délibération et de décision acceptées par l’ensemble du groupe font naître une opinion commune ; ce qui rend potentiellement pertinente l’existence de concepts tels que la RSE. Il faut néanmoins prendre garde à ne pas voir les entreprises comme des entités indépendantes opposables à la société, l’État, ou les individus. Pour penser leur responsabilité correctement, il importe de les voir comme des nœuds dans un réseau de relations qui comprend des acteurs de natures différentes. La manière dont le social est aujourd’hui organisé tend à accroitre leur importance et donc leur responsabilité dans le réseau. Dans le cas où un résultat est le produit involontaire d’une action collective non coordonnée, le seul moyen de penser la responsabilité est d’opérer un changement sémantique dans sa définition, remplaçant sa dimension rétrospective par une dimension prospective. Il ne s’agit plus de remonter la chaîne de cause pour identifier un coupable mais d’attribuer à chacun une responsabilité dont on ne se décharge qu’à travers l’action collective, et qui diffère selon son positionnement dans la structure. La responsabilité prospective (et collective de manière générale) n’a de substance qu’à condition d’abandonner l’individualisme métaphysique, elle n’a sinon qu’une valeur instrumentale, aidant à repenser la confrontation à l’injustice structurelle dont les responsables ne sont plus à chercher dans les limites des États, mais bien en oubliant les frontières traditionnelles de la responsabilité et en regardant au-delà des simples interactions institutionnelles

Five-dimensional vector multiplets in arbitrary signature

We start developing a formalism which allows to construct supersymmetric theories systematically across space-time signatures. Our construction uses a complex form of the supersymmetry algebra, which is obtained by doubling the spinor representation. This allows one to partially disentangle the Lorentz and R-symmetry group and generalizes symplectic Majorana spinors. For the case where the spinor representation is complex-irreducible, the R-symmetry only acts on an internal multiplicity space, and we show that the connected groups which occur are SO(2), SO(1,1), SU(2) and SU(1,1). As an application we construct the off-shell supersymmetry transformations and supersymmetric Lagrangians for five-dimensional vector multiplets in arbitrary signature (t,s). In this case the R-symmetry groups are SU(2) or SU(1, 1), depending on whether the spinor representation carries a quaternionic or para-quaternionic structure. In Euclidean signature the scalar and vector kinetic terms differ by a relative sign, which is consistent with previous results in the literature and shows that this sign flip is an inevitable consequence of the Euclidean supersymmetry algebra

Entire large solutions for semilinear elliptic equations

We analyze the semilinear elliptic equation $\Delta u=\rho(x) f(u)$, $u>0$ in ${\mathbf R}^D$ $(D\ge3)$, with a particular emphasis put on the qualitative study of entire large solutions, that is, solutions $u$ such that $\lim_{|x|\rightarrow +\infty}u(x)=+\infty$. Assuming that $f$ satisfies the Keller-Osserman growth assumption and that $\rho$ decays at infinity in a suitable sense, we prove the existence of entire large solutions. We then discuss the more delicate questions of asymptotic behavior at infinity, uniqueness and symmetry of solutions.Comment: Journal of Differential Equations 2012, 28 page

Quantitative systems modeling approaches towards model-informed drug development: Perspective through case studies

Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) modeling has become an increasingly popular approach impacting our understanding of disease mechanisms and helping predict patients’ treatment responses to facilitate study design or development go/no-go decisions. In this paper, we highlight the notable contributions and opportunities that QSP approaches are to offer during the drug development process by sharing three examples that have facilitated internal decisions. The barriers to successful applications and the factors that facilitate the success of the modeling approach is discussed

Impact of age, leukocyte count and day 21-bone marrow response to chemotherapy on the long-term outcome of children with philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the pre-imatinib era: results of the FRALLE 93 study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We explored the heterogeneity of philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph1-ALL) in a study of the effect of early features on prognosis in children. Here we report the long-term results of the FRALLE 93 study conducted in the era before the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1993 and 1999, 36 children with Ph1-ALL were enrolled into the FRALLE 93 protocol. After conventional four-drug induction, children were stratified by availability of an HLA-matched sibling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Complete remission (CR) was observed in 26 children (72%), of which 13 underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Thirty-one children were good responders to prednisone, defined on day 8, and 21 were good responders to chemotherapy, defined by day-21 bone marrow (M1). Overall five-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 42 ± 9.7%. Based on multivariate analysis, two groups showed marked differences in five-year outcome: children with age<10, leukocyte count <100,000/mm³and day-21 M1 marrow had a more favorable prognosis (14 pts: 100% CR, event free survival [EFS]: 57%, overall survival [OS]: 79%), than the high-risk group (22 patients: 55% CR, EFS: 18%, OS: 27%) (p < 0.005). We also observed a non statistically significant difference (p = 0.14) in outcome between these groups for transplanted patients (5-year DFS: 83 ± 14% and 33 ± 15%, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Age, leukocyte count and early response to treatment defined by the D21 bone marrow response provide an accurate model for outcome prediction. The combination of available tools such as minimal residual disease assessment with determination of these simple factors could be useful for refining indications for BMT in the current era of tyrosine-kinase inhibitor-based therapy.</p

Focal non granulomatous orchitis in a patient with Crohn’s disease

Crohn’s disease is a systemic disease and sometimes involves the testicle, usually leading to granulomatous lesions. We report herein a case of focal non-granulomatous orchitis in a 21-year-old patient with active Crohn’s disease treated by an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody. This circumscribed testicular lesion mimicked a tumor, leading to orchiectomy. Pre-operative blood tests (i.e. alpha-fetoprotein, lactate dehydrogenase and human chorionic gonadotrophin) were strictly normal Pathological examination of the testicle revealed a focal inflammatory infiltrate predominantly composed of lymphocytes accompanied by few plasma cells, lacking giant cells or granulomas. Importantly, intratubular germ cell neoplasia, atrophy or lithiasis were not observed. After discussing and excluding other plausible causes (burnt-out /regressed germ cell tumor, infection, vascular or traumatic lesions, iatrogenic effects), we concluded that this particular case of orchitis was most likely an extra-digestive manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease. To our knowledge, this is the first described case of focal non-granulomatous orchitis associated with Crohn’s disease. Virtual Slides: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/211774728416011