Perspectives de recherche et d’action pour la valorisation scientifique : sur quelques expériences hypermédias en archéologie

La communication des savoirs scientifiques est un élément essentiel de la science, participant de son ampleur et de ses justifications politiques et sociales. Centrée sur le champ de l’archéologie, la réflexion se focalise ici sur la valorisation hypermedia entendue comme processus de mise en valeur par les techniques digitales des savoirs scientifiques à destination de publics nonspécialistes. Quatre expériences de conception et réalisation d’hypermédias de valorisation du patrimoine archéologique servent de socles pour explorer différentes perspectives : complexité endogène des hypermedias, professionnalisation du médiateur hypermedia, transversalité des dispositifs, complexité exogène. Nous proposons que cette conjonction de perspectives aide à mieux comprendre comment sont définies de nouvelles conditions de recherche et d’action pour la valorisation scientifique. Nous voulons aussi montrer concrètement comment les techniques digitales participent à l’avancée de la science et à la démocratisation des connaissances par le biais d’outils de médiation.The communication of scientific knowledge is an essential and integral element of science, taking part in its political and social justifications. Centered on the field of archaeology, the reflexion is focused here on hypermedia valorisation perceived like a process of transmission, by the digital technologies, of the scientific knowledge aimed at a non-specialized public. Four experiments of design and realization of archaeological hypermedias are used to explore various prospects: endogenous complexity of hypermedias, professionalization of hypermedia mediation, transversality of digital devices, exogenic complexity. We propose that this conjunction of prospects helps better understand of how are defined new conditions of research and action for scientific valorisation. We also want to show concretely how the digital technics take part in the progression of science and in the democratization of knowledge by using digitals tools for mediation

Human African Trypanosomiasis: Real Obstacles to Elimination

Abstract presented at: 5ème Congrès International de Pathologie Infectieuse et Parasitaire - en présence du Ministre de la Santé, Kinshasa, DRC, November 2009Significant progress has been made in controlling human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) caused by T.b. gambiense as evidenced by the clear decline in the number of reported cases in recent years. Now the prevailing discourse is about the possible elimination of HAT and the need to integrate treatment for it into existing health structures. However, “Hot spots” still exist and one of which is the northeastern region of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In this region there is neither a monitoring system nor working health centres capable of diagnosing and treating patients.\ud An assessment carried out by the DRC’s national program to fight HAT and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2004 discovered an alarming prevalence (2.1%) in the region. Between June 2007 and March 2009 MSF launched a HAT monitoring program in the Doruma, Ango, and Bili health zones. The overall prevalence was found to be 3.4%. Of the 46,601 people tested (18,559 through passive screening and 28,042 through active screening), 1,570 people were infected with T.b. gambiense. Of that group, 947 (60%) were in the first phase of HAT, indicating intense transmission of the disease. \ud Due to the acute insecurity in this region of the DRC, MSF had to suspend its projects in March 2009, even though the limits of the disease foci had not yet been reached. Moreover, the disease could spread further by the displacement of entire populations who are fleeing the insecurity and heading for areas that had been previously “cleaned” of HAT.\ud The intervention, which took place during a crisis situation, leads us to question the feasibility of eliminating HAT and integrating treatment in crisis areas where health services are at a minimum

The Cables and the Power

L’ambition de cette thèse est d’explorer la dimension spatiale des mobilisations dans les camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Beyrouth. Situés aux marges (géographiques et sociales) des grandes villes libanaises depuis leur constitution à la fin des années 1940, les camps de réfugiés ont fait l’objet de très nombreuses études, particulièrement depuis les années 1970. Dans la période de l’après-guerre civile libanaise, les camps et leurs habitant.e.s sont l’objet d’un phénomène de relégation soc..

Are Rapid Population Estimates Accurate? A Field Trial of Two Different Assessment Methods.

Emergencies resulting in large-scale displacement often lead to populations resettling in areas where basic health services and sanitation are unavailable. To plan relief-related activities quickly, rapid population size estimates are needed. The currently recommended Quadrat method estimates total population by extrapolating the average population size living in square blocks of known area to the total site surface. An alternative approach, the T-Square, provides a population estimate based on analysis of the spatial distribution of housing units taken throughout a site. We field tested both methods and validated the results against a census in Esturro Bairro, Beira, Mozambique. Compared to the census (population: 9,479), the T-Square yielded a better population estimate (9,523) than the Quadrat method (7,681; 95% confidence interval: 6,160-9,201), but was more difficult for field survey teams to implement. Although applicable only to similar sites, several general conclusions can be drawn for emergency planning

Politiser le quotidien par le translocal

La dimension scalaire des mouvements sociaux constitue l’un des points de rencontre entre science politique et géographie sociale. La première a longtemps considéré la question des échelles comme un impensé, réifiant celles-ci dans une hiérarchie relativement rigide entre « local », « national », et « international ». La seconde a proposé des approches concurrentes, décrivant les échelles comme des relations sociales entre des lieux qui peuvent prendre des formes multiples. En se basant sur l’idée d’une « politique des échelles », cet article s’intéresse à la façon dont les actions d’un groupe d’activistes dans les camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Beyrouth ont conduit à construire et mobiliser un rapport d’échelles particulier et translocal, à travers l’investissement dans la production et la diffusion de problèmes sociaux touchant à la vie quotidienne et matérielle des camps. En investissant cet espace défini comme translocal, ces activistes sont parvenu.e.s à contourner le rejet de la « politique » qui constitue l’un des freins principaux à la dénonciation publique d’acteurs perçus comme dominants aussi bien dans les camps que dans les institutions nationales.The scalar dimension of social movements is one of the meeting points between Political Science and Social Geography. While the first has long considered the question of scale as a given, reifying them as a relatively rigid “hierarchy” between the “local”, “national”, and “international”, the second has proposed alternative frameworks, describing scales as social relations between locales that can take multiple shapes. Relying on the idea of a “politics of scale”, this paper is interested in the ways in which the actions of a group of activists in the Palestinian refugee camps of Beirut have led to the construction and mobilisation of a particular and translocal relation of scale, through investment in the production and diffusion of local problems focused on the everyday and material life of the camps. By investing this space, defined as translocal, these activists managed to overcome the rejection of “politics” which constitutes one of the main impediments to the public denunciation of actors perceived as dominants in the camps as well as in national institutions

The history of written language disorders: reexamining Pitres’ case (1884) of pure agraphia

The first clinical description of pure agraphia was reported by the French neurologist Pitres in 1884. Pitres used the case study evidence to argue for modality-specific memory representations and the localization of writing. This article reviews Pitres’s contribution to the study of acquired writing disorders, the components of writing models and the cerebral localization which subserve writing, in light of the views entertained by his contemporaries and current authors. Although numerous cases have been reported throughout this century, the view that writing can be impaired while other language functions and motor activities remain intact is still challenged

Pharmacological modulation of the ER stress response ameliorates oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy

International audienc

Feasibility of a mass vaccination campaign using a two-dose oral cholera vaccine in an urban cholera-endemic setting in Mozambique.

We conducted a study to assess the feasibility and the potential vaccine coverage of a mass vaccination campaign using a two-dose oral cholera vaccine in an urban endemic neighbourhood of Beira, Mozambique. The campaign was conducted from December 2003 to January 2004. Overall 98,152 doses were administered, and vaccine coverage of the target population was 58.6% and 53.6% for the first and second rounds, respectively. The direct cost of the campaign, which excludes the price of the vaccine, amounted to slightly over 90,000 dollars, resulting in the cost per fully vaccinated person of 2.09 dollars, which is relatively high. However, in endemic settings where outbreaks are likely to occur, integrating cholera vaccination into the routine activities of the public health system could reduce such costs

Challenges of controlling sleeping sickness in areas of violent conflict: experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a fatal neglected tropical disease if left untreated. HAT primarily affects people living in rural sub-Saharan Africa, often in regions afflicted by violent conflict. Screening and treatment of HAT is complex and resource-intensive, and especially difficult in insecure, resource-constrained settings. The country with the highest endemicity of HAT is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has a number of foci of high disease prevalence. We present here the challenges of carrying out HAT control programmes in general and in a conflict-affected region of DRC. We discuss the difficulties of measuring disease burden, medical care complexities, waning international support, and research and development barriers for HAT

Change in Sleep Quality of Residents the Night Before High-Fidelity Simulation: Results From a Prospective 1-Year National Survey.

peer reviewed[en] OBJECTIVE: The stress level of participants in high-fidelity simulation stems from various factors but may result in anticipatory anxiety causing sleep disturbances during the night prior to simulation. The objective of this survey was to determine the change in sleep quality of residents during the night prior to the simulation. METHODS: The survey was proposed for 1 year to all residents at the beginning of the simulation, in 10 simulation centres. The questionnaire combined demographics and the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire using visual analogue scales divided into 4 sleep qualitative domains. The primary outcome was the prevalence of sleep disturbance (>10 mm on 1 domain). Secondary outcomes were the prevalence of severe sleep disturbance (>25 mm), as well as qualitatively and quantitatively reported explanatory sleep parameters. RESULTS: Among respondents, 66% [95% CI: 63 to 69] of residents had more than 10 mm and 27% [95% CI: 24 to 30] had more than 25 mm of sleep disturbance. Residents with a sleep disturbance of more than 10 mm had fewer hours of sleep (6.4 [standard deviation=1.8] vs 7.3 [standard deviation=1.3], difference: -0.9 [95% CI: -1.1 to -0.7]; P < .0001), with a higher number of night-time awakenings (1.3 [standard deviation=1.5] vs 0.7 [standard deviation=0.9], difference: 0.6 [95% CI: 0.4 to 0.8]; P < .0001). CONCLUSION: Among residents participating in the simulation, a high prevalence of change in sleep quality during the night before the simulation was noted. Strategies to help residents achieve better sleep prior to simulation should be explored