Epaissir les textes...: un chemin vers l'écriture pour des élèves en difficultés scolaires

L’écriture n’est pas seulement un moyen de communication, de mémorisation, mais elle est un outil psychique qui permet un travail intellectuel. Cette pratique se montre déjà difficile et complexe pour l’élève en général, mais elle devient une tâche insurmontable, parfois, pour l’enfant en difficultés. Ce mémoire traite du chemin vers l’écrit d’élèves d’une classe de soutien dans la pratique de l’épaississement de texte, suggérée par Bucheton. Il montre le rôle essentiel de l’enseignant qui guide, aide, propose, enseigne tout en encourageant l’élève dans l’écriture. Le recours à diverses ressources comme le mur de mots, les échanges entre pairs, le cahier de narration aident l’élève à ne pas se sentir seul et démuni face à la « page blanche ». Un thème accrocheur, des apports réguliers, pertinents et réfléchis amènent l’élève vers l’écrit et peut-être que cette rencontre avec l’écriture éveillera le « sujet écrivant » qui sommeille encore chez certains enfants

Description des interventions visant une perte de poids chez les femmes traitées pour un cancer du sein à l'aide de la Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1): travail de Bachelor

Introduction : La qualité des descriptions des études d’intervention visant un changement de comportement est très variable. Par conséquent, ces interventions sont difficilement implantables dans la pratique professionnelle. Dans le cadre du cancer du sein, les femmes ont une tendance à prendre du poids suite aux traitements. Il n’y pas de recommandation pour la prise en charge du poids de ces patientes. Cela est principalement dû à un manque de preuves solides, malgré qu’une perte de poids soit réalisable. Les composantes efficaces des interventions réalisées ne sont pas connues. Le but de ce travail est d’identifier les ingrédients actifs des interventions visant une perte de poids chez les femmes traitées pour un cancer du sein à l’aide de la taxonomie Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1). Méthodes : 24 études d’intervention visant une perte de poids chez les femmes traitées pour un cancer du sein ont été analysées. Une analyse descriptive des interventions menées a été effectuée sur la base du fondement de l’intervention, du type d’intervention auto-déclaré par les auteurs, de la description de l’intervention, du public cible de l’intervention, des modalités d’intervention et des ressources matérielles et humaines. Les 24 interventions ont également été codées à l’aide de la taxonomie BCTTv1 afin d’en dégager les ingrédients actifs. Résultats : Dix-huit études sur vingt-quatre ont une composante alimentaire ainsi qu’une composante d’activité physique. Six études ont également une composante de soutien social. Les descriptions des études inclues sont très variables dans la précision et dans le vocabulaire utilisé pour les qualifier, malgré que les interventions soient très similaires. Les modalités d’interventions ainsi que les ressources matérielles et humaines ne sont pas toujours explicitées de manière claire. Nous avons pu identifier 25% des labels BCT possibles. Les labels les plus fréquents sont Goal setting (behavior) (1.1), Social support (unspecified) (3.1), Instruction on how to perform the behavior (4.1) et Goal setting (outcome) (1.3) par ordre décroissant. Conclusion : Nos résultats ont montré la variabilité des descriptions pour des interventions qui sont finalement semblables. Le faible nombre de labels BCT trouvé montre le manque de précision dans les descriptions pour que l’ingrédient actif soit clairement identifié. Nos résultats montrent l’importance de l’utilisation d’un langage commun afin que ces interventions puissent être comparées beaucoup plus facilement et de ce fait, apporter encore plus de poids aux résultats de toutes les études portant sur le sujet des femmes atteintes d’un cancer du sein. Ce travail est une première étape vers la compréhension des mécanismes de perte de poids dans le cadre du cancer du sein. Il est important, dans les futures études, que les interventions soient décrites de manière structurée et avec un langage commun. Ceci dans le but de les rendre plus systématiques et d’augmenter les preuves quant au bénéfice d’une prise en charge du surpoids et de l’obésité chez les femmes traitées pour un cancer du sein, avec un objectif de changement de comportement à long terme

Morfologia do crânio de golfinhos (CETARTIODACTYLA: DELPINIDAE) : uma abordagem funcional

Neste estudo testamos a variação morfológica do crânio de espécies de golfinhos a fim de avaliar se a variação na forma é menor em espécies congêneres quando comparada a espécies de diferentes gêneros. Para isso, quantificamos a variação da forma de 254 indivíduos osteologicamente maduros de Delphinus delphis, Lagenodelphis hosei, Stenella coeruleoalba, S. frontalis, Sotalia guianensis, S. fluviatilis, Steno bredanensis, Tursiops truncatus e T. gephyreus foram analisados através da morfometria geométrica. A variação de forma interespecífica do crânio foi analisada em três vistas anatômicas: dorsal, ventral e lateral. A variação foi interpretada à luz da morfologia funcional, uma vez que as diferentes espécies de golfinhos estão adapatadas a diferentes habitats. As espécies não apresentaram dimorfismo sexual e a alometria testada indicou uma baixa porcentagem da forma é predita pelo tamanho. As espécies de Sotalia estiveram separadas dos outros táxons, em todas as vistas. Tursiops truncatus e Stenella frontalis apresentaram semelhanças na forma do crânio. As duas espécies de Stenella não formaram um grupo coeso; e, inclusive, S. coeruleoalba apresentou um padrão de forma mais semelhante à Lagenodelphis hosei, do que a S. frontalis. A variação da forma na região ocipital do crânio na vista dorsal e ventral; diferenças na forma do processo pós-orbital e lacrimal; e variação na fossa temporal foram importantes direcionadores para distinguir os grupos no espaço de forma por meio da análise de covariância. Os padrões de forma observados podem ser relacionados à adaptações para ecolocalizar e consumir diferentes recursos alimentares sendo resultado de pressões evolutivas semelhantes, inerentes ao habitat e hábitos alimentares, conferindo uma convergência no padrão de forma.In this study, a landmark-based geometric morphometric analysis was carried out on the neurocranium of 254 specimens of Delphinus delphis, Lagenodelphis hosei, Stenella coeruleoalba, S. frontalis, Sotalia guianensis, S. fluviatilis, Steno bredanensis, Tursiops truncatus and T. gephyreus in order to (1) quantified the interspecific variation of the neurocranium’s shape and (2) analyze that variation in light of the functional morphology, since the different species of dolphins are adapted to different habitats. The specimens did not show sexual dimorphism and the allometry tested indicated that the low percentage of the shape is predicted by size. The species of Sotalia were separated from the other taxa in all views. Tursiops truncatus and Stenella frontalis presented similarities on neurocranium´s shape. The two species of Stenella did not form a cohesive group; and even S. coeruleoalba presented a pattern more similar to Lagenodelphis hosei than S. frontalis. The variation of the shape in the ocipital region of the neurocranium in the dorsal and ventral view; differences in the shape of the post-orbital and lacrimal process; and variation in the temporal fossa were important drivers to distinguish the groups in the form space through the analysis of covariance. The observed pattern patterns may be related to adaptations to echolocate and consume different dietary resources resulting from similar evolutionary pressures, inherent to habitat and eating habits, conferring a convergence on the pattern of shape

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) in bovine trypanotolerance: preliminary results

In Africa, trypanosomosis is a tsetse-transmitted disease which represents the most important constraint to livestock production. Several indigenous West African taurine (Bos taurus) breeds, such as the Longhorn (N'Dama) cattle are well known to control trypanosome infections. This genetic ability named "trypanotolerance" results from various biological mechanisms under multigenic control. The methodologies used so far have not succeeded in identifying the complete pool of genes involved in trypanotolerance. New post genomic biotechnologies such as transcriptome analyses are efficient in characterising the pool of genes involved in the expression of specific biological functions. We used the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) technique to construct, from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of an N'Dama cow, 2 total mRNA transcript libraries, at day 0 of a Trypanosoma congolense experimental infection and at day 10 post-infection, corresponding to the peak of parasitaemia. Bioinformatic comparisons in the bovine genomic databases allowed the identification of 187 up- and down- regulated genes, EST and unknown functional genes. Identification of the genes involved in trypanotolerance will allow to set up specific microarray sets for further metabolic and pharmacological studies and to design field marker-assisted selection by introgression programmes

Mechanisms influencing the sex ratio in cattle.

peer reviewedLe sexe ratio (proportion de veaux mâles nés) peut varier sous l’effet de nombreux facteurs (voir l’article dans un numéro précédent). Les mécanismes d’action biologiques expliquant ces variations sont potentiellement nombreux. Tout d’abord l’origine des ovocytes (le sexe ratio varie entre l’ovaire droit et l’ovaire gauche), alors que l’influence de la corne qui héberge le fœtus ne semble pas avoir d’influence. Les spermatozoïdes porteurs du chromosome Y seraient plus rapides mais moins résistants que les spermatozoïdes porteurs du X, expliquant l’influence du moment de l’insémination par rapport à l’ovulation (influence néanmoins non systématiquement observée). La glycémie de la mère orienterait le sexe ratio par un impact sur la maturation ovocytaire et sur le début du développement embryonnaire, les embryons montrant des différences dans leur métabolisme et dans leur résistance au stress. Néanmoins, ces mécanismes restent hypothétiques et mal élucidés

Identification of the bacteria and their metabolic activities associated with the microbial spoilage of custard cream desserts

The famous French dessert “ile flottante” consists of a sweet egg white foam floating on a vanilla custard cream,which contains highly nutritive raw materials, including milk, sugar and egg. Spoilage issues are therefore a keyconcern for the manufacturers. This study explored the bacterial diversity of 64 spoiled custard cream dessertsmanufactured by 2 French companies. B. cereus group bacteria, coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Enterococcus and Leuconostoc spp. were isolated from spoiled products. Thirty-one bacterial isolates representative of the main spoilage species were tested for their spoilage abilities. Significant growth and pH decrease were observed regardless of species. While off-odours were detected with B. cereus group and staphylococci, yoghurt odours were detected with Enterococcus spp. and Leuconostoc spp. B. cereus group bacteria produced various esters and several compounds derived from amino acid and sugar metabolism. Most Staphylococci produced phenolic compounds. Enterococcus spp. and Leuconostoc spp. isolates produced high levels of compounds derived from sugar metabolism. Each type of spoilage bacteria was associated with a specific volatile profile and lactic acid was identified as a potential marker of spoilage of custard cream-based desserts. These findings provide valuable information for manufacturers to improve food spoilage detection and prevention of chilled desserts made with milk and egg

Selection assisted by a BoLA-DR/DQ haplotype against susceptibility to bovine dermatophilosis

Bovine dermatophilosis is a severe skin infection of tropical ruminants inducing a severe loss in productivity and a 15% mortality rate. This disease is caused by the actinomycete bacterium Dermatophilus congolensis associated with the tick Amblyomma variegatum. Currently there are no prospects for a vaccine, and acaricide or antibiotic control is hampered by the development of chemoresistance. Animal breeders have observed that dermatophilosis susceptibility seems to be determined genetically, and we previously identified a BoLA-DRB3-DQB class II haplotype marker for high (R2 = 0.96) susceptibility to the disease. With this marker, we developed a successful eugenic selection procedure for zebu Brahman cattle in Martinique (FWI). Over a period of five years, a marked reduction in disease prevalence, from 0.76 to 0.02 was achieved, and this low level has been maintained over the last two years. The selection procedure, based on a genetic marker system targeting the highly polymorphic BoLA locus, eliminates only those individuals which are at the highest risk of contracting the disease. In the present work, we discuss the properties of this system, including the "heterozygote advantage" and the "frequency dependence" theories, and examine their involvement in the biological mechanisms at the host/pathogen interface. We speculate on the exact role of the MHC molecules in the control of the disease, how the natural selection pressure imposed by the pathogens selectively maintains MHC diversity, and how our results can be practically applied for integrated control of dermatophilosis in developing countries

Intracerebral electrical stimulation of the left word-selective temporal cortex induces pure alexia

peer reviewedThe ability to read relies on the rapid mapping of perceived visual letters and their combinations (i.e., visual word forms) to phonology and meaning. The central role of the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) in processing letter strings, initially suggested by pure alexia in lesion studies, is now widely accepted. While this region has been intensely studied with functional MRI, direct electrical stimulation (DES) has rarely been used, although it allows a more direct assessment of causality between region(s) and function(s). Moreover, the few DES case studies reported did not provide stringent evaluation of the stimulation effect on reading performance. Here we report a comprehensive case of pure alexia during DES of the left VOTC (subject LV, female, 38 y.o, implanted with SEEG electrodes for refractory epilepsy). During DES of the left posterior occipito-temporal sulcus, but not of other sites, LV was transiently impaired at reading single words (performance on paper without time constraint: 99% correct before and after stimulation vs. 71% during stimulation) but was still able to slowly read letter-by-letter. LV was also impaired at making lexical decision on written words/pseudo-words (performance on paper: 100% vs. 75%; on computer screen: 92% vs. 72%), showing that she had impaired access to the lexico-semantic representation of the words. By contrast, performance was intact during stimulation for oral naming, auditory naming, reading numbers, writing, auditory lexical decision or semantic matching of pictures. Independent functional mapping using a frequency-tagging approach in SEEG showed that the stimulated site was located in a highly word-selective region. Altogether, our results show that DES of the word-selective left VOTC induced pure alexia remarkably selective to words readin