Un Atlas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et de ses communes à l’heure du numérique

Le volume Nouvelle-Calédonie de la Collection Atlas DVD de l’IRD édité en partenariat avec le Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie propose, en deux DVD interactifs, une formule originale et très complète de valorisation des travaux entrepris autour de la réalisation l’Atlas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie paru en 2012. « L’Atlas numérique » constitue le premier DVD et permet d’accéder à une version pdf de ce remarquable Atlas qui a mobilisé plus de 70 auteurs autour d’un vaste projet d’actualisation des..

Fractalkine Expression Induces Endothelial Progenitor Cell Lysis by Natural Killer Cells

BACKGROUND: Circulating CD34(+) cells, a population that includes endothelial progenitors, participate in the maintenance of endothelial integrity. Better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate their survival is crucial to improve their regenerative activity in cardiovascular and renal diseases. Chemokine-receptor cross talk is critical in regulating cell homeostasis. We hypothesized that cell surface expression of the chemokine fractalkine (FKN) could target progenitor cell injury by Natural Killer (NK) cells, thereby limiting their availability for vascular repair. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We show that CD34(+)-derived Endothelial Colony Forming Cells (ECFC) can express FKN in response to TNF-α and IFN-γ inflammatory cytokines and that FKN expression by ECFC stimulates NK cell adhesion, NK cell-mediated ECFC lysis and microparticles release in vitro. The specific involvement of membrane FKN in these processes was demonstrated using FKN-transfected ECFC and anti-FKN blocking antibody. FKN expression was also evidenced on circulating CD34(+) progenitor cells and was detected at higher frequency in kidney transplant recipients, when compared to healthy controls. The proportion of CD34(+) cells expressing FKN was identified as an independent variable inversely correlated to CD34(+) progenitor cell count. We further showed that treatment of CD34(+) circulating cells isolated from adult blood donors with transplant serum or TNF-α/IFN-γ can induce FKN expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our data highlights a novel mechanism by which FKN expression on CD34(+) progenitor cells may target their NK cell mediated killing and participate to their immune depletion in transplant recipients. Considering the numerous diseased contexts shown to promote FKN expression, our data identify FKN as a hallmark of altered progenitor cell homeostasis with potential implications in better evaluation of vascular repair in patients

Gross tumour volume delineation in anal cancer on T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI - Reproducibility between radiologists and radiation oncologists and impact of reader experience level and DWI image quality

Abstract Purpose To assess how gross tumour volume (GTV) delineation in anal cancer is affected by interobserver variations between radiologists and radiation oncologists, expertise level, and use of T2-weighted MRI (T2W-MRI) vs. diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and to explore effects of DWI quality. Methods and materials We retrospectively analyzed the MRIs (T2W-MRI and b800-DWI) of 25 anal cancer patients. Four readers (Senior and Junior Radiologist; Senior and Junior Radiation Oncologist) independently delineated GTVs, first on T2W-MRI only and then on DWI (with reference to T2W-MRI). Maximum Tumour Diameter (MTD) was calculated from each GTV. Mean GTVs/MTDs were compared between readers and between T2W-MRI vs. DWI. Interobserver agreement was calculated as Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff Distance (HD). DWI image quality was assessed using a 5-point artefact scale. Results Interobserver agreement between radiologists vs. radiation oncologists and between junior vs. senior readers was good–excellent, with similar agreement for T2W-MRI and DWI (e.g. ICCs 0.72–0.94 for T2W-MRI and 0.68–0.89 for DWI). There was a trend towards smaller GTVs on DWI, but only for the radiologists (P = 0.03–0.07). Moderate-severe DWI-artefacts were observed in 11/25 (44%) cases. Agreement tended to be lower in these cases. Conclusion Overall interobserver agreement for anal cancer GTV delineation on MRI is good for both radiologists and radiation oncologists, regardless of experience level. Use of DWI did not improve agreement. DWI artefacts affecting GTV delineation occurred in almost half of the patients, which may severely limit the use of DWI for radiotherapy planning if no steps are undertaken to avoid them

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

L’Australie

Vacher Luc. L’Australie. In: Mappemonde 67, 2002/3. pp. 44-45

Espaces fantasmés et lieux pratiqués du tourisme en Australie

International audienc

Et l'on inventa l'eau chaude et le " blue lagoon " (ou) La découverte récréative des eaux tropicales.

Dans le domaine du tourisme, les eaux tropicales sont associées, aujourd'hui, à une chaleur délicieuse, des couleurs enchanteresses et des lagons aux poissons multicolores. L'analyse de quelques brochures touristiques confirme que, systématiquement présentées d'une merveilleuse couleur turquoise, elles participent à la définition d'une nature tropicale indissociable des vacances de rêve. Pourtant les eaux des tropiques n'ont pas toujours été valorisées. Au XIXe siècle, elles sont le plus souvent absentes des descriptions des voyageurs et des organismes de promotion touristique et elles ne sont pas concernées par les pratiques de loisirs. Comment les eaux tropicales sont-elles devenues attrayantes ? Cette communication propose de distinguer les trois étapes de cette invention qui implique une évolution du regard des occidentaux (qui mettent en tourisme le monde) et le développement de nouvelles pratiques récréatives

La construction de l’espace touristique de la Grande Barrière de Corail : entre protection de l’environnement et modifications de l’accessibilité au récif

La Grande Barrière de Corail s’étend sur 2000 kilomètres le long de la côte orientale de l’État du Queensland en Australie. Chaque année, le “ Great Barrier Reef Marine Park ”, le plus grand parc marin du monde établi en 1975, compte plus de 1,8 millions d’entrées. Depuis 1981, cet ensemble d’îles et de récifs est aussi inscrit sur la Liste du Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. La mise en tourisme de la région, qui s’est faite progressivement autour de l’exploitation de cette attraction, n’a pas été uniforme.  Ce texte a pour objectif d’aider à comprendre la différentiation spatiale du développement touristique dans la région. Une analyse des changements dans la perception du récif montre que l’importance de la préoccupation environnementale est ancienne dans la gestion de cet ensemble, mais qu’elle a évolué. L’augmentation de la fréquentation de la Grande Barrière par les touristes est ensuite replacée dans le contexte de la croissance du tourisme australien. Enfin l’importance des conditions techniques et du cadre légal de l’accès aux récifs sont envisagés pour expliquer la polarisation actuelle du développement autour des zones de Cairns/Port Douglas et des îles Whitsunday.<br>The Great Barrier Reef extends over 2000 kilometres along the eastern coast of Queensland in Australia. Every year, the &#34;Great Barrier Reef Marine Park&#34;, the biggest marine park in the world established in 1975, counts more than 1.8 million entries. Since 1981, this group of islands and reefs is also registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The touristification of the region, which was gradually achieved around the operation of this attraction, was not uniform. This text has for objective to help to understand the spatial differentiation of the tourist development in the area. An analysis of the changes in the perception of the reef show that the importance of the environmental concern  is well established in the management of this region, but that it has evolved. The increase of the frequentation of the Great Barrier Reef by tourists is replaced in the context of Australian tourism growth. Finally, the importance of the technical conditions and the legal context of access to the reef is envisaged to explain the current polarization of the development around the Cairns / Port Douglas area and Whitsunday Islands area