Les Cahiers des Amériques latines dans un paysage éditorial changeant

International audiencePrésentation de l'activité éditoriale de la revue Cahiers des Amériques latines sur la période 2010-2015 et défis pour l'aveni

A potential role for Dkk-1 in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma predicts novel diagnostic and treatment strategies.

Canonical Wnt signaling is an osteo-inductive signal that promotes bone repair through acceleration of osteogenic differentiation by progenitors. Dkk-1 is a secreted inhibitor of canonical Wnt signaling and thus inhibits osteogenesis. To examine a potential osteo-inhibitory role of Dkk-1 in osteosarcoma (OS), we measured serum Dkk-1 in pediatric patients with OS (median age, 13.4 years) and found it to be significantly elevated. We also found that Dkk-1 was maximally expressed by the OS cells at the tumor periphery and _in vitro_ Dkk-1 and RANKL are co-expressed by rapidly proliferating OS cells. Both Dkk-1 and conditioned media from OS cells reduces osteogenesis by human mesenchymal cells and by immuno-depletion of Dkk-1, or by adding a GSK3[beta] inhibitor, the effects of Dkk-1 were attenuated. In mice, we found that the expression of Dkk-1 from implanted tumors was similar to the human tumor biopsies in that human Dkk-1 was present in the serum of recipient animals. These data demonstrate that systemic levels of Dkk-1 are elevated in osteosarcoma. Furthermore, the expression of Dkk-1 by the OS cells at the periphery of the tumor probably contributes to its expansion by inhibiting repair of the surrounding bone. These data demonstrate that Dkk-1 may serve as a prognostic or diagnostic marker for evaluation of OS and furthermore, immuno-depletion of Dkk-1 or administration of GSK3[beta] inhibitors could represent an adjunct therapy for this disease

La construction des discours sur les techniques de management. Etude exploratoire à partir d’une photographie des discours des consultants sur la méthode 5 steps.

La présente recherche est une contribution à l’analyse des processus de construction des discours des consultants sur les méthodes de gestion qu’ils inscrivent dans leur portefeuille de prestations. Il s’agit d’une étude exploratoire, à partir de la façon dont les consultants d’un cabinet expliquent la méthode 5 steps – méthode co-conçue par le directeur du cabinet et la Direction des Systèmes d’Information d’un grand groupe industriel – à trois interlocuteurs idéaux-types : la grand-mère, l’ami qui s’y connaît, le prospect. Ce recueil des discours est réalisé à un moment particulier du développement de la méthode : elle a été conçue et mise en œuvre avec et au sein d’une grande entreprise, mais elle n’est pas encore très connue ni diffusée à d’autres clients : les discours sur la méthode sont encore en formation. L’analyse montre que les discours tenus permettent d'esquisser une description minimale du contenu de la méthode et ses principales caractéristiques qui sont présentées comme des avantages. Les énoncés sont globalement expositifs. Le protocole nous permet également de mettre en évidence les spécificités des discours en fonction des figures d’interlocuteurs. Le discours à la figure de la grand-mère est général et descriptif ; sur un ton pédagogique. Le discours à la figure de l’ami devient plus précis avec un vocabulaire spécialisé sur les fondamentaux du management mais surtout sur les éléments techniques propres à la méthode. Le discours à la figure du prospect intègre une dimension dialogique. Il prend un ton pédagogique et promissif faisant référence davantage aux fondamentaux du management qu’au vocabulaire technique de la méthode. L'observation révèle une simplification du discours au prospect par rapport à l’ami, alors que l’on pouvait s’attendre à trouver un vocabulaire plus spécialisé face au prospect. L’ami pourrait ainsi apparaît comme l’interlocuteur implicite central dans la phase de développement d’une méthode.outils de gestion; conseil en management; discours;

Status of Coral Reef Communities on Two Carbonate Platforms (Tun Sakaran Marine Park, East Sabah, Malaysia)

International audienceThis study concerns three sites, located on carbonate platforms, east Sabah: Gaya West, Gaya East, and Mantabuan. At each site, the dominant coral shapes and their health were recorded (lagoons and outer slopes). Densities of echinoderms, Tridacna, and nudibranchs were recorded while fish density was estimated. Generally, the coral vitality is low (≤50% living corals). Massive corals dominate all sites, except the Gaya West-outer slope where coral coverage and diversity are the highest. On the Mantabuan-mesh reef, a diverse Acropora assemblage dominates the landscape. On the reef flat of Gaya East, monospecific circa 10 meter coral patches occur. Primary producers are scarce on all sites. Sea urchins, dominated by Diadema, are abundant on the Gaya East-reef flat and the Gaya West-mesh reef. Sea stars and holothurids are the most prevalent in Gaya West-outer slope, although they remain scarce. Crinoids are only abundant in Mantabuan. Stegastes damselfish highly characterizes the sites of Gaya East (reef flat and inner slope) and the Mantabuan-mesh reef. On the Mantabuan-outer slope, parrotfish and other fishes are plentiful. No sign of eutrophication has been detected and natural hypersedimentation and/or eventual ancient bleaching events appear to be the direct principal causes of coral death or coral degradation

The effect of health care expenditures on survival in locally advanced and metastatic Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

Context: The significant survival benefit of chemotherapy over best supportive care for locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC has been amply demonstrated in the literature. However, there is no clear evidence of the impact of the type of chemotherapy or of a superiority of combination chemotherapy over single-agent chemotherapy.Objective: The present study empirically examines, in real-life practise and using multiple proxies, the impact of health care expenditures on overall survival in locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC in order to guide medical decision-making.Methods: Disease characteristics, the resources used, the costs of treatment and survival data were retrospectively collected from the records of 175 patients treated between 2000 and 2004 at Léon Bérard Regional Cancer Center (Lyon, France). Survival data were modelled using multivariate Cox models and controlled for endogeneity with the instrumental variable method.Results: The median survival for the whole cohort was 289 days. The average total cost of treatment reached €35,160. Survival was significantly shorter for patients with stage IV disease, poor performance status, and past or concomitant cardiovascular disease and/or diabetes, for current smokers, and for patients with adenocarcinoma compared to large cell carcinoma. Survival duration was not significantly associated with the total cost of treatment per day of hospitalisation, the number of chemotherapy drugs administered, nor inpatient length of stay.Conclusion: Higher care expenditures do not appear to improve survival for patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. Hence, maintaining patient quality of life and tailoring therapy to stage, histology and comorbidities appears to be the less bad choice.Cost; NSCLC; Oncology; Survival

Restriction by APOBEC3 proteins of endogenous retroviruses with an extracellular life cycle: ex vivo effects and in vivo "traces" on the murine IAPE and human HERV-K elements

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>APOBEC3 cytosine deaminases have been demonstrated to restrict infectivity of a series of retroviruses, with different efficiencies depending on the retrovirus. In addition, APOBEC3 proteins can severely restrict the intracellular transposition of a series of retroelements with a strictly intracellular life cycle, including the murine IAP and MusD LTR-retrotransposons.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we show that the IAPE element, which is the infectious progenitor of the strictly intracellular IAP elements, and the infectious human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K are restricted by both murine and human APOBEC3 proteins in an <it>ex vivo </it>assay for infectivity, with evidence in most cases of strand-specific G-to-A editing of the proviruses, with the expected signatures. <it>In silico </it>analysis of the naturally occurring genomic copies of the corresponding endogenous elements performed on the mouse and human genomes discloses "traces" of APOBEC3-editing, with the specific signature of the murine APOBEC3 and human APOBEC3G enzymes, respectively, and to a variable extent depending on the family member.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that the IAPE and HERV-K elements, which can only replicate via an extracellular infection cycle, have been restricted at the time of their entry, amplification and integration into their target host genomes by definite APOBEC3 proteins, most probably acting in evolution to limit the mutagenic effect of these endogenized extracellular parasites.</p

Neutropenia as an adverse event following vaccination : results from randomized clinical trials in healthy adults and systematic review

Background : In the context of early vaccine trials aimed at evaluating the safety profile of novel vaccines, abnormal haematological values, such as neutropenia, are often reported. It is therefore important to evaluate how these trials should be planned not to miss potentially important safety signals, but also to understand the implications and the clinical relevance. Methodology : We report and discuss the results from five clinical trials (two with a new Shigella vaccine in the early stage of clinical development and three with licensed vaccines) where the absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) were evaluated before and after vaccination. Additionally, we have performed a systematic review of the literature on cases of neutropenia reported during vaccine trials to discuss our results in a more general context. Principal Findings : Both in our clinical trials and in the literature review, several cases of neutropenia have been reported, in the first two weeks after vaccination. However, neutropenia was generally transient and had a benign clinical outcome, after vaccination with either multiple novel candidates or well-known licensed vaccines. Additionally, the vaccine recipients with neutropenia frequently had lower baseline ANC than non-neutropenic vaccinees. In many instances neutropenia occurred in subjects of African descent, known to have lower ANC compared to western populations. Conclusions : It is important to include ANC and other haematological tests in early vaccine trials to identify potential safety signals. Post-vaccination neutropenia is not uncommon, generally transient and clinically benign, but many vaccine trials do not have a sampling schedule that allows its detection. Given ethnic variability in the level of circulating neutrophils, normal ranges taking into account ethnicity should be used for determination of trial inclusion/exclusion criteria and classification of neutropenia related adverse events

Modélisation de l'utilisateur, Systèmes d'Informations Stratégiques et Intelligence Economique

Article dans une revue de vulgarisation.Cet article présente le résultat des recherches menées par l'équipe SITE (Modélisation et Développement de Systèmes d'InTelligence Economique) du LORIA (Laboratoire Lorrain de Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications) dont l'objectif est d'étudier la modélisation et le développement de systèmes d'informations stratégiques dans le cadre de l'Intelligence Économique (IE). Dans notre article, nous explicitons successivement la spécificité des SIS par rapport aux SI classiques, quels sont les différents acteurs d'un SIS et comment prendre en compte l'acteur utilisateur du SIS par analogie à ce que l'on a déjà mis en oeuvre dans un système de recherche d'informations (SRI). Nous développerons en particulier comment mettre en place des bases métiers «intelligents» et comment méta-modéliser un tel système d'information

An enhanced automatic speech recognition system for Arabic

International audienceAutomatic speech recognition for Arabic is a very challenging task. Despite all the classical techniques for Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), which can be efficiently applied to Arabic speech recognition , it is essential to take into consideration the language specificities to improve the system performance. In this article, we focus on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) speech recognition. We introduce the challenges related to Arabic language, namely the complex morphology nature of the language and the absence of the short vowels in written text, which leads to several potential vowelization for each graphemes, which is often conflicting. We develop an ASR system for MSA by using Kaldi toolkit. Several acoustic and language models are trained. We obtain a Word Error Rate (WER) of 14.42 for the baseline system and 12.2 relative improvement by rescoring the lattice and by rewriting the output with the right hamoza above or below Alif