Présentation de l'Université Numérique nationale Ingénierie et Technologie (UNIT)

Présentation détaillée de l’Université Numérique Ingénierie et Technologie - UNIT -, de son historique, de ses objectifs, modes de fonctionnement et partenaires, ainsi que de ses 1300 ressources pédagogiques numériques libres d’accès. Exemples significatifs de cours numériques. Mécanisme de partenariat.Présentation du projet d’Espace Numériques Ouvert pour la Méditerranée et de ses objectifs ; résultats de sa conférence inaugurale d’Agadir des 26-28 Mars 2009

UNIT et les TICE, pour l'enseignement de la mécanique

UNIT souhaite proposer une conférence sur l'utilisation des TICE dans l'enseignement des écoles d'ingénieur et notamment en mécanique. Cette conférence s'appuiera sur l'expérience acquise par UNIT dans l'animation des communautés thématiques et la diffusion d'un large ensemble de contenus pédagogiques. Cette conférence sera proposée par Gilbert Touzot, Président de la Fondation UNIT et Alain Kavenoky, Directeur Scientifique de la Fondation. La présentation orale sera donnée par l'un ou l'autre des auteurs, selon leur disponibilité

Interactions cytokiniques dans le microenvironnement inflammatoire (Analyse à large échelle de la réponse aux Interférons de Type I lors la de polarisation des Lymphocytes T auxiliaires)

Les interférons de Type I (IFN) sont des cytokines produites par les cellules en réponse à une infection virale. Les IFNs ont des effets pleïotropiques et parfois paradoxaux, protecteur ou néfaste pour l immunité Innée ou adaptative. Certains facteurs intrinsèques (type cellulaire) peuvent expliquer une partie ces discordances. Mon travail de thèse s est intéressé à l effet du microenvironnement cytokinique sur la réponse IFN. En utilisant des analyses à large échelle, nous avons étudié la réponse IFN dans 4 contextes de polarisation des lymphocytes T auxiliaires (Th). Nous avons identifié 1/ un programme de transcription conservé et 2/ une réponse IFN flexible, modulant spécifiquement les principales fonctions des Th (cytokines, chemokines) en fonction du contexte polarisant. La réponse antivirale apparait aussi flexible avec une moins bonne protection des Th2 et Th17 contre l infection par HIV-1et HIV-2. Nos résultats suggèrent que l environnement cytokinique contrôle en partie la réponse IFN et peut ainsi moduler cette dernière dans différents contextes physiopathologiques.Type I IFN (IFN) are innate cytokines produced by host cells during viral infection. Ithas pleiotropic and sometimes opposing, protective or detrimental effects, on both innateand adaptive immunity that remain poorly understood. Parts of IFN response may be explain by intrinsic effect (cell- specificity). My thesis was focused on the effect of the microenvironment, as present during T Helper cell differentiation, on IFN response. Using a systems level approach, we studied IFN responses during Four Human T Helper cell differentiation. We identified 1/ a conserved IFN- induced transcriptional program comprising mostly antiviral genes 2/ a flexible IFN response, leading to a different pattern of chemokine and cytokine induction by IFN in distinct Th environments. Antiviral response was also flexible with a lesser protection to HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in Th2 and Th17 contexts. Our in vitro results suggested that environmental control might shape the effects of IFN in different physiopathological contexts.PARIS11-SCD-Bib. électronique (914719901) / SudocSudocFranceF

La Diffusion des Technologies Numériques dans la Formation Initiale et Continue : UNIT et uTOP

L’introduction des technologies numériques transforme la pédagogie à tous les niveaux de l’enseignement. Elles font apparaître des formes d’enseignement nouvelles. Il suffit de citer l’émergence récente des MOOC (Massively Open Online courses), lancés dans plusieurs universités américaines de renom. L’un de ces cours, diffusé par Stanford a dépassé cent mille étudiants inscrits, en ligne. Ces nouvelles pédagogies mettent en œuvre des outils basés sur des médias numériques faisant intervenir le réel et le virtuel et elles s’appuient sur des techniques que la recherche en informatique continue à enrichir : réseaux sociaux, jeux sérieux. La Fondation UNIT a été créée pour élaborer et diffuser des cours médiatisés librement accessibles sur Internet. Elle réunit environ 60 écoles d’ingénieurs et universités et dispose de plus de 3000 contenus pédagogiques librement accessibles. Depuis un an, une Communauté des Mécaniciens d’UNIT a été mise en place, elle est animée par Laurent Champaney, elle a étudié l’adéquation de la bibliothèque d’UNIT à ses besoins. uTOP est un projet pluripartenaire qui fédère autour de la Fondation UNIT des acteurs de la formation continue et à distance (CNAM, IUT en Ligne), des Universités et Écoles d'ingénieurs (Institut Télécom, Télécom Lille, Ecoles des Mines, ENPC, ENTE, ENSG, Universités de Valenciennes, de Lorraine…), des acteurs de la recherche (INRIA, GDR Robotique), des entreprises (Orange, Aldebaran, Géoconcept, …). L’objecif d’uTOP est de tester un modèle d’université ouverte, en réseau dans un esprit proche l’Open Université anglaise ou de NETTUNO en Italie, mais en se basant sur la mutualisation autour d’établissements existants uTOP proposera des formations à distance qualifiantes, diplômantes ou non, en formation initiale et continue, modulaires et personnalisables, orientées métiers, en complément de l'offre de formation existante dans les établissements partenaires, et répondant de manière coopérative aux sollicitations des entreprises et à l'évolution du marché de l'emploi

Persistence and Conspecific Observations Improve Problem-Solving Abilities of Coyotes

Social learning has important ecological and evolutionary consequences but the role of certain factors, such as social rank, neophobia (i.e., avoidance of novel stimuli), persistence, and task-reward association, remain less understood. We examined the role of these factors in social learning by captive coyotes (Canis latrans) via three studies. Study 1 involved individual animals and eliminated object neophobia by familiarizing the subjects to the testing apparatus prior to testing. Studies 2 and 3 used mated pairs to assess social rank, and included object neophobia, but differed in that study 3 decoupled the food reward from the testing apparatus (i.e., altered task-reward association). For all three studies, we compared performance between coyotes that received a demonstration from a conspecific to control animals with no demonstration prior to testing. Coyotes displayed social learning during study 1; coyotes with a demonstrator were faster and more successful at solving the puzzle box but did not necessarily use the same modality as that observed to be successful. In study 2, there was no difference in success between treatment groups but this is likely because only one coyote within each pair was successful so successful coyote results were masked by their unsuccessful mate. In study 3, there was no difference in success between treatment groups; only two coyotes, both dominant, hand-reared males with demonstrators were able to perform the task. However, coyotes with a demonstrator were less neophobic, measured as latency to approach the object, and more persistent, measured as time spent working on the apparatus. Social rank was the best predictor of neophobia and persistence and was also retained in the best model for time to eat inside the apparatus, a post-trial measurement of object neophobia. These results suggest coyotes are capable of social learning for novel tasks but social rank, neophobia, and persistence influence their social-learning capabilities. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms underlying how animals gain information about their environment

Rapamycin as an Adjunctive Therapy for NLRC4 Associated Macrophage Activation Syndrome

Gain of function (GOF) mutations affecting the inflammasome component NLRC4 are known to cause early-onset macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and neonatal enterocolitis. Here we report a patient with a NLRC4 GOF mutation presenting with neonatal MAS efficiently treated with a combination of anakinra and rapamycin. Through in vitro studies, we show that rapamycin reduces both IL-1β and IL-18 secretion by the patient's phagocytic cells. The reduction of cytokine secretion is associated with a reduction of caspase-1 activation regardless of the pathogen- or danger-associated molecular patterns triggering the activation of the inflammasome. This study suggests that patients with inherited auto-inflammatory disorders could benefit from an adjunctive therapy with rapamycin

Can Unconventional Immunomodulatory Agents Help Alleviate COVID-19 Symptoms and Severity?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the respiratory infection known as COVID-19. From an immunopathological standpoint, coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 induce increased levels of a variety of T-helper 1 (Th1) and inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, CCL2 protein, and CXCL10 protein. In the absence of proven antiviral agents or an effective vaccine, substances with immunomodulatory activity may be able to inhibit inflammatory and Th1 cytokines and/or yield an anti-inflammatory and/or Th2 immune response to counteract COVID-19 symptoms and severity. This report briefly describes the following four unconventional but commercially accessible immunomodulatory agents that can be employed in clinical trials to evaluate their effectiveness at alleviating disease symptoms and severity: low-dose oral interferon alpha, microdose DNA, low-dose thimerosal, and phytocannabinoids

Severe hematopoietic stem cell inflammation compromises chronic granulomatous disease gene therapy

X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is associated with defective phagocytosis, life-threatening infections, and inflammatory complications. We performed a clinical trial of lentivirus-based gene therapy in four patients (NCT02757911). Two patients show stable engraftment and clinical benefits, whereas the other two have progressively lost gene-corrected cells. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis reveals a significantly lower frequency of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in CGD patients, especially in the two patients with defective engraftment. These two present a profound change in HSC status, a high interferon score, and elevated myeloid progenitor frequency. We use elastic-net logistic regression to identify a set of 51 interferon genes and transcription factors that predict the failure of HSC engraftment. In one patient, an aberrant HSC state with elevated CEBPβ expression drives HSC exhaustion, as demonstrated by low repopulation in a xenotransplantation model. Targeted treatments to protect HSCs, coupled to targeted gene expression screening, might improve clinical outcomes in CGD

Circulating endothelial cell count: a reliable marker of endothelial damage in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

The physio-pathologic interrelationships between endothelium and GvHD have been better elucidated and have led to definition of the entity 'endothelial GvHD' as an essential early phase prior to the clinical presentation of acute GvHD. Using the CellSearch system, we analyzed circulating endothelial cells (CEC) in 90 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) patients at the following time-points: T1 (pre-conditioning), T2 (pre-transplant), T3 (engraftment), T4 (onset of GvHD) and T5 (1 week after steroid treatment). Although CEC changes in allo-HSCT represent a dynamic phenomenon influenced by many variables (that is, conditioning, immunosuppressive treatments, engraftment syndrome and infections), we showed that CEC peaks were constantly seen at onset of acute GvHD and invariably returned to pre-transplant values after treatment response. Since we showed that CEC changes during allo-HSCT has rapid kinetics that may be easily missed if blood samples are drawn at pre-fixed time-points, we rather suggest an 'on demand' evaluation of CEC counts right at onset of GvHD clinical symptoms to possibly help differentiate GvHD from other non-endothelial complications. We confirm that CEC changes are a suitable biomarker to monitor endothelial damage in patients undergoing allo-transplantation and hold the potential to become a useful tool to support GvHD diagnosis (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02064972).Bone Marrow Transplantation advance online publication, 11 September 2017; doi:10.1038/bmt.2017.194