Analyse et propositions d’amélioration de l’attrait touristique des musées archéologiques de Suisse romande

La Suisse, pays petit par la taille mais riche par sa culture, dispose depuis de nombreuses années d’une offre muséale abondante et variée. Parmi cette dernière, les musées d’archéologie tentent tant bien que mal de défendre leur place et de se faire davantage connaître des touristes. À ce stade, l’archéologie suisse peine encore à se démarquer dans l’image touristique du pays, s’intégrer dans le secteur du tourisme et développer sa notoriété. L’objectif de ce travail est, dans un premier temps, d’analyser la situation actuelle des musées archéologiques en Suisse romande, comprendre les attentes des visiteurs et la relation avec le tourisme. Cette analyse permet d’amener, dans un deuxième temps, des propositions d’amélioration visant à optimiser l’attrait touristique de ces musées

Social and Psychological Factors Associated with Health Care Transition for Young Adults Living with Sickle Cell Disease

Introduction: Due to advances in disease management, mortality rates in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have decreased. However, mortality rates for young adults (YA) increased, and understanding of social and psychological factors is critical. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with health care transition experiences for YA with SCD. Method: This was a qualitative descriptive study. A 45-minute semistructured interview was conducted with 13 YA (M = 21.5 years, SD = 1.73). Results: Results suggest that social and psychological factors and self-management experiences influence health care transition. Eight themes emerged: “need for accessible support”; “early assistance with goal setting”; “incongruence among expectations, experiences, and preparation”; “spiritual distress”; “stigma”; “need for collaboration”; “appreciation for caring providers”; and “feeling isolated.” Discussion: Consideration of cultural contexts will guide nurses in supporting health care transition. Designing culturally relevant interventions that address unique needs for YA living with SCD is warranted

Estimation et reconstruction des signaux courts multicomposantes modulées non-linéairement à la fois en amplitude et en fréquence

- Dans ce papier, nous considérons des signaux, courts, non-stationnaires, modulés non linéairement en amplitude et en fréquence. Nous étendons une approche locale, développée dans le cadre des signaux monocomposante et dont l'efficacité et la robustesse ont été prouvées [3, 4]. Nous utilisons un modèle polynomial pour la fréquence et l'amplitude instantanées (FI / AI). Les paramètres du modèle sont ensuite estimés en maximisant la Vraisemblance par une technique d'optimisation stochastique : le Recuit Simulé. Basés sur la même démarche et dans le contexte des signaux multicomposantes, nous comparons deux approches différentes. Une première approche, optimale, et qui s'avère coûteuse en temps de calcul, consiste à estimer tous les paramètres du modèle à la fois. La deuxième approche, sous-optimale, reconstruit itérativement le signal composante par composante. Des simulations de Monte Carlo et une comparaison avec les Bornes de Cramer Rao illustrant les bonnes performances seront présentées. Nous obtenons une bonne estimation dans le cas où les fréquences instantanées se croisent, ce qui constitue une bonne performance compte tenu du faible nombre d'échantillons. Les deux approches sont testées ensuite sur des données réelles

Income inequality, gene expression, and brain maturation during adolescence

Income inequality is associated with poor health and social outcomes. Negative social comparisons and competition may involve the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes in underlying some of these complex inter-relationships. Here we investigate brain maturation, indexed by age-related decreases in cortical thickness, in adolescents living in neighborhoods with differing levels of income inequality and household income. We examine whether inter-regional variations relate to those in glucocorticoid receptor (HPA) and androgen receptor (HPG) gene expression. For each sex, we used a median split of income inequality and household income (income-to-needs ratio) to create four subgroups. In female adolescents, the high-inequality low-income group displayed the greatest age-related decreases in cortical thickness. In this group, expression of glucocorticoid and androgen receptor genes explained the most variance in these age-related decreases in thickness across the cortex. We speculate that female adolescents living in high-inequality neighborhoods and low-income households may experience greater HPA and HPG activity, leading to steeper decreases in cortical thickness with age

Surprisingly Strong K-band Emission Found in Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei

We examine the near-infrared (NIR) emission from low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs). Our galaxy sample includes 15 objects with detected 2-10 keV X-ray emission, dynamical black hole mass estimates from the literature, and available Gemini/NIFS integral field spectroscopy (IFU) data. We find evidence for red continuum components at the center of most galaxies, consistent with the hot dust emission seen in higher luminosity AGN. We decompose the spectral data cubes into a stellar and continuum component, assuming the continuum component comes from thermal emission from hot dust. We detect nuclear thermal emission in 14 out of 15 objects. This emission causes weaker CO absorption lines and redder continuum ($2.05-2.28\:\mu$m) in our $K$-band data, as expected from hot dust around an AGN. The NIR emission is clearly correlated with the 2-10 keV X-ray flux, with a Spearman coefficient of $r_{spearman}=0.69$ suggesting a $>99\%$ significance of correlation, providing further evidence of an AGN origin. Our sample has typical X-ray and NIR fluxes $3-4$ orders of magnitude less luminous than previous work studying the NIR emission from AGN. We find that the ratio of NIR to X-ray emission increases towards lower Eddington ratios. The NIR emission in our sample is often brighter than the X-ray emission, with our $K$-band AGN luminosities comparable to or greater than the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosities in all objects with Eddington ratios below $0.01\%$. The nature of this LLAGN NIR emission remains unclear, with one possibility being an increased contribution from jet emission at these low luminosities. These observations suggest JWST will be a useful tool for detecting the lowest luminosity AGN.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, manuscript after resubmissio

Ongoing mpox outbreak in Kamituga, South Kivu province, associated with monkeypox virus of a novel Clade I sub-lineage, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2024

Since the beginning of 2023, the number of people with suspected monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection have sharply increased in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We report near-to-complete MPXV genome sequences derived from six cases from the South Kivu province. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the MPXV affecting the cases belongs to a novel Clade I sub-lineage. The outbreak strain genome lacks the target sequence of the probe and primers of a commonly used Clade I-specific real-time PCR.</p

Phenotype Presentation and Molecular Diagnostic Yield in Non-5q Spinal Muscular Atrophy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is mainly caused by homozygous SMN1 gene deletions on 5q13. Non-5q SMA patients' series are lacking, and the diagnostic yield of next-generation sequencing (NGS) is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and genetic landscape of non-5q SMA and evaluate the performance of neuropathy gene panels in these disorders. METHODS: Description of patients with non-5q SMA followed in the different neuromuscular reference centers in France as well as in London, United Kingdom. Patients without a genetic diagnosis had undergone at least a neuropathy or large neuromuscular gene panel. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients from 65 different families were included, mostly sporadic cases (60.6%). At presentation, 21 patients (29.6%) showed exclusive proximal weakness (P-SMA), 35 (49.3%) showed associated distal weakness (PD-SMA), and 15 (21.1%) a scapuloperoneal phenotype (SP-SMA). Thirty-two patients (45.1%) had a genetic diagnosis: BICD2 (n = 9), DYNC1H1 (n = 7), TRPV4 (n = 4), VCP, HSBP1, AR (n = 2), VRK1, DNAJB2, MORC2, ASAH1, HEXB, and unexpectedly, COL6A3 (n = 1). The genetic diagnostic yield was lowest in P-SMA (6/21, 28.6%) compared with PD-SMA (16/35, 45.7%) and SP-SMA (10/15, 66.7%). An earlier disease onset and a family history of the disease or consanguinity were independent predictors of a positive genetic diagnosis. Neuropathy gene panels were performed in 59 patients with a 32.2% diagnostic yield (19/59). In 13 additional patients, a genetic diagnosis was achieved through individual gene sequencing or an alternative neuromuscular NGS. DISCUSSION: Non-5q SMA is genetically heterogeneous, and neuropathy gene panels achieve a molecular diagnosis in one-third of the patients. The diagnostic yield can be increased by sequencing of other neuromuscular and neurometabolic genes. Nevertheless, there is an unmet need to cluster these patients to aid in the identification of new genes

Functional Hemispheric (A)symmetries in the Aged Brain-Relevance for Working Memory

Functional hemispheric asymmetries have been described in different cognitive processes, such as decision-making and motivation. Variations in the pattern of left/right activity have been associated with normal brain functioning, and with neuropsychiatric diseases. Such asymmetries in brain activity evolve throughout life and are thought to decrease with aging, but clear associations with cognitive function have never been established. Herein, we assessed functional laterality during a working memory task (N-Back) in a healthy aging cohort (over 50 years old) and associated these asymmetries with performance in the test. Activity of lobule VI of the cerebellar hemisphere and angular gyrus was found to be lateralized to the right hemisphere, while the precentral gyrus presented left > right activation during this task. Interestingly, 1-Back accuracy was positively correlated with left > right superior parietal lobule activation, which was mostly due to the influence of the left hemisphere. In conclusion, although regions were mostly symmetrically activated during the N-Back task, performance in working memory in aged individuals seems to benefit from lateralized involvement of the superior parietal lobule.NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and was funded by the European Commission (FP7) “SwitchBox—Maintaining health in old age through homeostasis” (Seventh Framework Programme; Contract HEALTH-F2-2010-259772), by FEDER through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE) and by National Funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038, by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal; Contract Grant No: P-139977; project “TEMPO—Better mental health during ageing based on temporal prediction of individual brain ageing trajectories”) and by “PANINI—Physical Activity and Nutrition Influences In Ageing” (European Commission (Horizon 2020), Contract GA 675003); Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (Grant Nos. SFRH/BD/52291/2013 to ME and PD/BD/106050/2015 to CP-N via Inter-University Doctoral Programme in Ageing and Chronic Disease (PhDOC), SFRH/BPD/80118/2011 to HL-A and SFRH/BD/90078/2012 to TCC); and FCT/MEC and ON.2–ONOVONORTE—North Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013, of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007/2013, through FEDER (project FCTANR/NEU-OSD/0258/2012 to RM)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CD133, CD15/SSEA-1, CD34 or side populations do not resume tumor-initiating properties of long-term cultured cancer stem cells from human malignant glio-neuronal tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tumor initiating cells (TICs) provide a new paradigm for developing original therapeutic strategies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We screened for TICs in 47 human adult brain malignant tumors. Cells forming floating spheres in culture, and endowed with all of the features expected from tumor cells with stem-like properties were obtained from glioblastomas, medulloblastoma but not oligodendrogliomas.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A long-term self-renewal capacity was particularly observed for cells of malignant glio-neuronal tumors (MGNTs). Cell sorting, karyotyping and proteomic analysis demonstrated cell stability throughout prolonged passages. Xenografts of fewer than 500 cells in Nude mouse brains induced a progressively growing tumor. CD133, CD15/LeX/Ssea-1, CD34 expressions, or exclusion of Hoechst dye occurred in subsets of cells forming spheres, but was not predictive of their capacity to form secondary spheres or tumors, or to resist high doses of temozolomide.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results further highlight the specificity of a subset of high-grade gliomas, MGNT. TICs derived from these tumors represent a new tool to screen for innovative therapies.</p

Predictive and Prognostic Roles of BRAF Mutation in Stage III Colon Cancer: Results from Intergroup Trial CALGB 89803

Alterations in the RAS-RAF-MAP2K (MEK)-MAPK signaling pathway are major drivers in colon and rectal carcinogenesis. In colorectal cancer, BRAF mutation is associated with microsatellite instability (MSI), and typically predicts inferior prognosis. We examined the effect of BRAF mutation on survival and treatment efficacy in patients with stage III colon cancer