Troubles de la personnalité et jeu pathologique : comorbidité et prédicteurs d'abandon du traitement

Une comorbidité élevée existe entre les troubles de la personnalité (TPs) et les troubles liés à une substance. Certains chercheurs croient que les TPs pourraient survenir aussi de façon concomitante chez les joueurs pathologiques. Les études rapportent un taux élevé de comorbidité entre ces problématiques. Toutefois, une seule a évalué ces troubles en se basant sur les critères diagnostiques du DSM -IV et ces chercheurs n 'ont évalué que des joueurs pathologiques masculins jouant aux machines à sous et n 'ayant aucun autre diagnostic à l'axe I, ce qui limite la généralisation des résultats. Bien que les traitements psychologiques actuels pour le jeu pathologique soient efficaces, environ une personne sur deux n' arrive pas à les compléter. Certains chercheurs croient que la présence d'un TP comorbide pourrait expliquer en partie ces abandons, puisque les TPs comorbides s'avèrent prédicteurs de l'abandon du traitement chez les patients souffrant de divers troubles mentaux. Aucune étude n'a encore évalué cette question chez les joueurs pathologiques. La présente étude vise à identifier la présence et le type de TPs chez les joueurs pathologiques qui amorcent un traitement psychologique en clinique externe d'après les critères du DSM-IV. Elle vise aussi à déterminer si la présence d'un TP comorbide s'avère une variable prédictive de l'abandon du traitement chez cette clientèle. Cent (N= 100) joueurs ont été recrutés dans les différents milieux cliniques au Québec. Ils ont été évalués à l'aide de l'Entrevue diagnostique sur le jeu pathologique-révisée (EDJP-R), l'Entrevue diagnostique du jeu pathologique du DSM-IV, de l'Entrevue diagnostique et clinique semistructurée pour les Troubles de l'axe II (SCID-II) et d'un questionnaire sociodémographique avant le début du traitement. Les intervenants ont rempli le Questionnaire d'arrêt de la démarche thérapeutique (QADT), afin de classifier les participants comme ayant abandonné le traitement ou ayant complété ce dernier. Les données recueillies indiquent que 64% des joueurs présentent un TP comorbide à leur entrée en traitement. Les TPs les plus fréquents seraient ceux provenant du groupe B selon le DSM-IV. La présence d'au moins un TP comorbide du groupe B serait un prédicteur statistiquement significatif de l'abandon du traitement chez cette clientèle

La structure psychologique du libre arbitre chez saint Thomas d'Aquin

Le sujet de cette étude est la structure psychologique du libre arbitre chez Thomas d'Aquin. L'étude aura pour but de définir le concept de libre arbitre chez Thomas d'Aquin, en présentant les notions psychologiques nécessaires à l'établissement de cette définition. Pour saint Thomas, la liberté d'arbitre revient à l'acte du choix, qui est lui-même l'acte d'une puissance d'opération vitale de l'âme humaine, la volonté. Le premier chapitre du présent mémoire a pour fonction de définir ce qu'est l'âme humaine et comment elle accomplit ses opérations vitales. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré à la volonté et le troisième au libre arbitre. Nous défendrons l'idée que Thomas d'Aquin propose une conception forte et sans équivoque du libre arbitre, qui repose en dernière instance sur la nature préférentielle du choix

Scanning from heating: 3D shape estimation of transparent objects from local surface heating

Today, with quality becoming increasingly important, each product requires three-dimensional in-line quality control. On the other hand, the 3D reconstruction of transparent objects is a very difficult problem in computer vision due to transparency and specularity of the surface. This paper proposes a new method, called Scanning From Heating (SFH), to determine the surface shape of transparent objects using laser surface heating and thermal imaging. Furthermore, the application to transparent glass is discussed and results on different surface shapes are presented

Holistic engineering of Cal-A lipase chain-length selectivity identifies triglyceride binding hot-spot

Through the application of a region-focused saturation mutagenesis and randomization approach, protein engineering of the Cal-A enzyme was undertaken with the goal of conferring new triglyceride selectivity. Little is known about the mode of triglyceride binding to Cal-A. Engineering Cal-A thus requires a systemic approach. Targeted and randomized Cal-A libraries were created, recombined using the Golden Gate approach and screened to detect variants able to discriminate between long-chain (olive oil) and short-chain (tributyrin) triglyceride substrates using a high-throughput in vivo method to visualize hydrolytic activity. Discriminative variants were analyzed using an in-house script to identify predominant substitutions. This approach allowed identification of variants that exhibit strong discrimination for the hydrolysis of short-chain triglycerides and others that discriminate towards hydrolysis of long-chain triglycerides. A clear pattern emerged from the discriminative variants, identifying the 217–245 helix-loop-helix motif as being a hot-spot for triglyceride recognition. This was the consequence of introducing the entire mutational load in selected regions, without putting a strain on distal parts of the protein. Our results improve our understanding of the Cal-A lipase mode of action and selectivity. This holistic perspective to protein engineering, where parts of the gene are individually mutated and the impact evaluated in the context of the whole protein, can be applied to any protein scaffold

Présentation

peer reviewe

Endocrine status of a migratory bird potentially exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: A case study of northern gannets breeding on Bonaventure Island, Eastern Canada

, 23.5% of Northern gannets breeding on Bonaventure Island overwintered in the Gulf of Mexico. • Breeding colony on Bonaventure has decreased substantially during the last few years. • Exposure to petroleum could not be confirmed based on PAH analyses in blood cells of gannets. • Corticosterone status and prolactin status were not different between birds returning from the two overwintering sites. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o The Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused the death of a large number of seabirds in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. However, the long term consequences of oil exposure on migratory birds overwintering in this area have received limited attention. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of oil contamination (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) on the circulating status of prolactin and corticosterone, two hormones that influence reproductive success in birds, in Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) breeding on Bonaventure Island, Eastern Canada. Using light-based geolocators, it was found that 23.5% of Northern gannets from Bonaventure Island overwintered in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010-2011; the remainder of this population overwintered along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. PAH concentrations (eight compounds) in gannet blood cells were all found to be under the method limits of quantification, which could be the result of the ability of seabirds to metabolize these compounds and the time elapsed between oil exposure and blood sampling. Corticosterone and prolactin levels as well as body mass did not differ between the two major birds' wintering sites. Moreover, levels of both these hormones did not vary from early to late incubation period. Present results suggest that if Bonaventure Island-breeding Northern gannets had been exposed to oil in the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of this historical spill, this exposure could not be associated with changes in hormonal status and body mass in breeding individuals

Exploring use of unsupervised clustering to associate signaling profiles of GPCR ligands to clinical response.

Signaling diversity of G protein-coupled (GPCR) ligands provides novel opportunities to develop more effective, better-tolerated therapeutics. Taking advantage of these opportunities requires identifying which effectors should be specifically activated or avoided so as to promote desired clinical responses and avoid side effects. However, identifying signaling profiles that support desired clinical outcomes remains challenging. This study describes signaling diversity of mu opioid receptor (MOR) ligands in terms of logistic and operational parameters for ten different in vitro readouts. It then uses unsupervised clustering of curve parameters to: classify MOR ligands according to similarities in type and magnitude of response, associate resulting ligand categories with frequency of undesired events reported to the pharmacovigilance program of the Food and Drug Administration and associate signals to side effects. The ability of the classification method to associate specific in vitro signaling profiles to clinically relevant responses was corroborated using β2-adrenergic receptor ligands.This research was supported by a research contract from Pfizer Inc. and grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Grant 311997 to G.P.) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research MOP 324876 (to G.P.), MOP 102630 (to M.B. and O.L.) and Foundation grant (FDN-148431) to MB. MB holds a Canada Research Chair in Signal Transduction and Molecular Pharmacology. Dr Lichtarge’s research was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH 2R01 GM066099; NIH 5R01 GM079656). B.B. was supported by a studentship from Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec. P.D. was supported by a MITACS fellowship

Indigo Formation and Rapid NADPH Consumption Provide Robust Prediction of Raspberry Ketone Synthesis by Engineered Cytochrome P450 BM3

Natural raspberry ketone has a high value in the flavor, fragrance and pharmaceutical industries. Its extraction is costly, justifying the search for biosynthetic routes. We hypothesized that cytochrome P450 BM3 (P450 BM3) could be engineered to catalyze the hydroxylation of 4‐phenyl‐2‐butanone, a naturally sourceable precursor, to raspberry ketone. The synthesis of indigo by variants of P450 BM3 has previously served as a predictor of promiscuous oxidation reactions. To this end, we screened 53 active‐site variants of P450 BM3 using orthogonal high‐throughput workflows to identify the most streamlined route to all indigo‐forming variants. Among the three known and 13 new indigo‐forming variants, eight hydroxylated 4‐phenyl‐2‐butanone to raspberry ketone. Previously unreported variant A82Q displayed the highest initial rates and coupling efficiencies in synthesis of indigo and of raspberry ketone. It produced the highest total concentration of raspberry ketone despite producing less total indigo than previously reported variants. Its productivity, although modest, clearly demonstrates the potential for development of a biocatalytic route to raspberry ketone. In addition to validating indigo as a robust predictor of this promiscuous activity, we demonstrate that monitoring rapid NADPH consumption serves as an alternative predictor of a promiscuous reactivity in P450 BM3

Performance Scores in General Practice: A Comparison between the Clinical versus Medication-Based Approach to Identify Target Populations

CONTEXT: From one country to another, the pay-for-performance mechanisms differ on one significant point: the identification of target populations, that is, populations which serve as a basis for calculating the indicators. The aim of this study was to compare clinical versus medication-based identification of populations of patients with diabetes and hypertension over the age of 50 (for men) or 60 (for women), and any consequences this may have on the calculation of P4P indicators. METHODS: A comparative, retrospective, observational study was carried out with clinical and prescription data from a panel of general practitioners (GPs), the Observatory of General Medicine (OMG) for the year 2007. Two indicators regarding the prescription for statins and aspirin in these populations were calculated. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 21.690 patients collected by 61 GPs via electronic medical files. Following the clinical-based approach, 2.278 patients were diabetic, 8,271 had hypertension and 1.539 had both against respectively 1.730, 8.511 and 1.304 following the medication-based approach (% agreement = 96%, kappa = 0.69). The main reasons for these differences were: forgetting to code the morbidities in the clinical approach, not taking into account the population of patients who were given life style and diet rules only or taking into account patients for whom morbidities other than hypertension could justify the use of antihypertensive drugs in the medication-based approach. The mean (confidence interval) per doctor was 33.7% (31.5-35.9) for statin indicator and 38.4% (35.4-41.4) for aspirin indicator when the target populations were identified on the basis of clinical criteria whereas they were 37.9% (36.3-39.4) and 43.8% (41.4-46.3) on the basis of treatment criteria. CONCLUSION: The two approaches yield very "similar" scores but these scores cover different realities and offer food for thought on the possible usage of these indicators in the framework of P4P programmes