Poétique de l'ambivalence : réécriture et vocation prophénique dans l'oeuvre romanesque de Michel Tournier

Cette étude entreprend de lire l'œuvre de Michel Tournier au regard d'une poétique de l'ambivalence. Elle tente de dégager le discours moral du roman qui s'élabore autour de la problématique de la rédemption. Afin de rendre compte de cette dimension salvatrice, c'est l'omniprésence de la Bible, de ses récits, de ces personnages, de ses registres et de ses tonalités dans les textes qu'il convient d'analyser. Une telle démarche permet de saisir la nature des rapports établis avec le texte religieux et de dévoiler le traitement que l'auteur lui fait subir dans la fiction. Se manifeste ainsi le désir du roman qui, en subvertissant et en pervertissant, pose les linéaments d'une nouvelle morale qui se fraie une voie dans l'ambiguïté. La première partie se consacre à l'intertexte biblique et cherche à souligner les effets de sens que la convocation de certains récits et fragments bibliques produit dans la fiction. Elle se divise en deux chapitres. Le premier porte d'abord sur la réécriture des récits de l'origine qui permettent à Tournier de construire ses personnages en fonction d'un questionnement sur l'origine, la sexualité, la violence, l'essence et le destin de l'humanité. Il s'agit ensuite de dégager, dans tous les romans, une structure exodique composée des trois étapes essentielles de l'exil, de la marche au désert et de la rencontre au Sinaï afin de rendre compte d'un désir eschatologique de rédemption qui ne cesse de faire retour, comme sous forme d'une nécessité morale à la fois méandreuse et enjouée. Le deuxième chapitre porte l'attention sur l'opération de calque dans Gaspard, Melchior & Balthazar et Éléazar ou la source et le buisson, ainsi que sur l'appropriation de trois légendes. Il tâche surtout d'analyser la stratégie de détournement proprement tournierienne, de comparer les structures narratives des récits, afin de reconstituer, à travers les divergences et les convergences, le discours moral ambivalent du roman. La deuxième partie tente d'éclairer la vocation prophétique de l'œuvre à travers l'étude des registres prophétiques dominants et de leurs mécanismes dans l'énonciation tournierienne. Le premier chapitre propose de se pencher sur l'acte d'énonciation de l'affect et de témoigner, à travers les registres et les tonalités prophétiques, du chancèlement moral des personnages qui apparaît dans l'enchevêtrement des expressions de la souffrance et de la joie. Le deuxième chapitre voit à mettre en correspondance l'apocalypse et le messianisme et tente d'une façon plus particulière d'analyser leurs registres se situant à la base du discours moral rédempteur de l'œuvre. L'important dans cette partie est de montrer comment Tournier intègre ces trois registres et les traite pour servir la fiction et notamment pour accentuer un enjeu moral cultivé par l'ambivalence dans le discours du roman.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Michel Tournier, Intertexte biblique, Prophétisme, Énonciation, Morale, Ambivalence

Self supporting Nanodiamond gels: Elucidating colloidal interactions through rheology

While ND represents a promising class of nanofiller due to its high surface area, superior mechanical strength, optical transparency, tailorable surface functionality and biocompatibility, much remains unknown about the behavior of ND dispersions and their responses to various processing conditions. We hypothesize that controlling interactions in ND dispersions will lead to highly functional systems with tunable modulus and shear response. Steady and dynamic rheology techniques are thus employed to systematically investigate nanodiamonds dispersed in model polar and non-polar media and examine the microstructure and concomitant rheological behavior. We find that low concentrations of ND form gels almost instantaneously in a non-polar media, the strength of which follow a power-law behavior. In contrast, ND’s in polar media show a time-dependent behavior with the modulus increasing with time. We attribute the difference in behavior to variations in inter-particle interactions as well as the interaction of the ND with the media. Large steady and oscillatory strains are applied to ND colloidal gels to investigate the role of shear in gel microstructure breakdown and recovery. For colloidal gels in non-polar medium, the incomplete recovery of elastic modulus at high strain amplitudes indicates dominance of particle-particle interactions; however, in polar media the complete recovery of elastic modulus even at high strain amplitudes indicates dominance of particle-solvent interactions. These results taken together provide a platform to develop self-supporting gels with tunable properties in terms of ND concentration, and solvent ty

Detecting the subtle shape differences in hemodynamic responses at the group level

The nature of the hemodynamic response (HDR) is still not fully understood due to the multifaceted processes involved. Aside from the overall amplitude, the response may vary across cognitive states, tasks, brain regions, and subjects with respect to characteristics such as rise and fall speed, peak duration, undershoot shape, and overall duration. Here we demonstrate that the fixed-shape or adjusted-shape methods may fail to detect some shape subtleties. In contrast, the estimated-shape method (ESM) through multiple basis functions can provide the opportunity to identify some subtle shape differences and achieve higher statistical power at both individual and group levels. Previously, some dimension reduction approaches focused on the peak magnitude, or made inferences based on the area under the curve or interaction, which can lead to potential misidentifications. By adopting a generic framework of multivariate modeling (MVM), we showcase a hybrid approach that is validated by simulations and real data. Unlike the few analyses that were limited to main effect, two- or three-way interactions, we extend the approach to an inclusive platform that is more adaptable than the conventional GLM, achieving a practical equipoise among representation, false positive control, statistical power, and modeling flexibility

Patient and Provider Perspectives on How Trust Influences Maternal Vaccine Acceptance Among Pregnant Women in Kenya

Background Pregnant women and newborns are at high risk for infectious diseases. Altered immunity status during pregnancy and challenges fully vaccinating newborns contribute to this medical reality. Maternal immunization is a strategy to protect pregnant women and their newborns. This study aimed to find out how patient-provider relationships affect maternal vaccine uptake, particularly in the context of a lower middle- income country where limited research in this area exists. Methods We conducted semi-structured, in-depth narrative interviews of both providers and pregnant women from four sites in Kenya: Siaya, Nairobi, Mombasa, and Marsabit. Interviews were conducted in either English or one of the local regional languages. Results We found that patient trust in health care providers (HCPs) is integral to vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in Kenya. The HCP-patient relationship is a fiduciary one, whereby the patients’ trusts is primarily rooted in the provider’s social position as a person who is highly educated in matters of health. Furthermore, patient health education and provider attitudes are crucial for reinstating and fostering that trust, especially in cases where trust was impeded by rumors, community myths and misperceptions, and religious and cultural factors. Conclusion Patient trust in providers is a strong facilitator contributing to vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in Kenya. To maintain and increase immunization trust, providers have a critical role in cultivating a positive environment that allows for favorable interactions and patient health education. This includes educating providers on maternal immunizations and enhancing knowledge of effective risk communication tactics in clinical encounters

The eNAMPT/TLR4 inflammatory cascade drives the severity of intra-amniotic inflammation in pregnancy and predicts infant outcomes

Introduction: Intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI) or chorioamnionitis is a common complication of pregnancy producing significant maternal morbidity/mortality, premature birth and neonatal risk of chronic lung diseases such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We examined eNAMPT (extracellular nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase), a critical inflammatory DAMP and TLR4 ligand, as a potential therapeutic target to reduce IAI severity and improve adverse fetal/neonatal outcomes.Methods: Blood/tissue samples were examined in: 1) women with histologically-proven chorioamnionitis, 2) very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates, and 3) a preclinical murine pregnancy model of IAI. Groups of pregnant IAI-exposed mice and pups were treated with an eNAMPT-neutralizing mAb.Results: Human placentas from women with histologically-proven chorioamnionitis exhibited dramatic NAMPT expression compared to placentas without chorioamnionitis. Increased NAMPT expression in whole blood from VLBW neonates (day 5) significantly predicted BPD development. Compared to untreated LPS-challenged murine dams (gestational day 15), pups born to eNAMPT mAb-treated dams (gestational days 15/16) exhibited a > 3-fold improved survival, reduced neonate lung eNAMPT/cytokine levels, and reduced development and severity of BPD and pulmonary hypertension (PH) following postnatal exposure to 100% hyperoxia days 1–14. Genome-wide gene expression studies of maternal uterine and neonatal cardiac tissues corroborated eNAMPT mAb-induced reductions in inflammatory pathway genes.Discussion: The eNAMPT/TLR4 inflammatory pathway is a highly druggable contributor to IAI pathobiology during pregnancy with the eNAMPT-neutralizing mAb a novel therapeutic strategy to decrease premature delivery and improve short- and long-term neonatal outcomes. eNAMPT blood expression is a potential biomarker for early prediction of chronic lung disease among premature neonates

Global Surveillance of Emerging Influenza Virus Genotypes by Mass Spectrometry

Effective influenza surveillance requires new methods capable of rapid and inexpensive genomic analysis of evolving viral species for pandemic preparedness, to understand the evolution of circulating viral species, and for vaccine strain selection. We have developed one such approach based on previously described broad-range reverse transcription PCR/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RT-PCR/ESI-MS) technology.Analysis of base compositions of RT-PCR amplicons from influenza core gene segments (PB1, PB2, PA, M, NS, NP) are used to provide sub-species identification and infer influenza virus H and N subtypes. Using this approach, we detected and correctly identified 92 mammalian and avian influenza isolates, representing 30 different H and N types, including 29 avian H5N1 isolates. Further, direct analysis of 656 human clinical respiratory specimens collected over a seven-year period (1999-2006) showed correct identification of the viral species and subtypes with >97% sensitivity and specificity. Base composition derived clusters inferred from this analysis showed 100% concordance to previously established clades. Ongoing surveillance of samples from the recent influenza virus seasons (2005-2006) showed evidence for emergence and establishment of new genotypes of circulating H3N2 strains worldwide. Mixed viral quasispecies were found in approximately 1% of these recent samples providing a view into viral evolution.Thus, rapid RT-PCR/ESI-MS analysis can be used to simultaneously identify all species of influenza viruses with clade-level resolution, identify mixed viral populations and monitor global spread and emergence of novel viral genotypes. This high-throughput method promises to become an integral component of influenza surveillance

Increased Innate Lymphoid Cells in Periodontal Tissue of the Murine Model of Periodontitis: The Role of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase and Relevance for the Human Condition

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are master regulators of immune and inflammatory responses, but their own regulatory mechanisms and functional roles of their subtypes (i.e., ILC1s–ILC3s) remain largely unresolved. Interestingly, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), influences inflammatory responses, but its role in modulation of ILCs is not known. Periodontitis is a prevalent disorder with impairment of immune and inflammatory responses contributing importantly to its pathogenesis; however, neither the role of ILCs nor AMPK has been explored in this condition. We tested the hypotheses that (a) periodontitis increases ILCs and expression of relevant cytokines thereby contributing to inflammation and (b) knockdown of AMPK worsens indices of periodontitis in association with further increases in subtypes of ILCs and cytokine expression. The studies utilized wild-type (WT) and AMPK knockout (KO) mice, subjected to ligature-induced periodontitis or sham operation, in association with the use of micro-CT for assessment of bone loss, immunogold electron microscopy to show presence of ILCs in periodontal tissues, flow cytometry for quantitative assessment of subtypes of ILCs and RT-polymerase chain reaction analyses to measure mRNA expression of several relevant cytokines. The results for the first time show (a) presence of each subtype of ILCs in periodontal tissues of sham control and periodontitis animals, (b) that periodontitis is associated with increased frequencies of ILC1s–ILC3s with the effect more marked for ILC2s and differential phenotypic marker expression for ILC3s, (c) that AMPK KO mice display exacerbation of indices of periodontitis in association with further increases in the frequency of subtypes of ILCs with persistence of ILC2s effect, and (d) that periodontitis increased mRNA for interleukin (IL)-33, but not IL-5 or IL-13, in WT mice but expression of these cytokines was markedly increased in AMPK KO mice with periodontitis. Subsequently, we showed that human periodontitis is associated with increases in each ILCs subtype with the effect more marked for ILC2s and that mRNA expressions for IL-33 and IL-5 are markedly greater for sites affected by periodontitis than healthy sites. Collectively, these novel observations indicate a pivotal role for ILCs in pathogenesis of periodontitis and that AMPK is a regulator of their phenotype expression in this condition