Hugues Dufourt, La musique spectrale. Une révolution épistémologique.

International audienceSpectral music is now more than forty years old. In his preface, French composer and philosopher Hugues Dufourt defines it thus: Spectral music basically represents a change in our ways of thinking music. It is no longer a music based on traditional and well separated categories, such as melody, counterpoint, harmony or timbre. Spectral music, on the contrary, is the music of middle categories and hybrid objects. Its objects stand at the frontier of two or more dimensions, timbre and harmony, harmonicity and inharmonicity, pitch and noise, rhythm and grain. Spectral music is the exploration of continuous transitions between traditionally heterogeneous domains; it creates mixtures and works to breach the thresholds of perception. The music of the end of the last century has irresistibly uncovered colour, as both a predominant and autonomous dimension of its language. We can define it as the art of colour modulation. (15-16) After reading this introductory passage, coming as it does from the person who coined the term " Musique spectrale " (in 1979, Dufourt wrote the famous manifesto " Musique spectrale "), 1 the reader might expect a book that takes stock of the state of this compositional technique / movement, and explores its historical development and main protagonists – a sort of ultimate book on spectral music. In fact, this volume (published in 2014 and running to 485 pages) reunites a series of essays composed by Dufourt over the course of twenty years and should be read in the light of this consideration. As a collection of old and recent articles dealing with spectral questions, it has another goal: neither musicological, nor merely historical, analytical, phenomenological or autobiographical. Placing himself in the dual role of editor and contributor, Dufourt introduces in the preface the underlying themes and motivations: This book […] deals with the structural mutations of 'serious' music from the 1970s. It also traces the portraits of illustrious predecessors who initiated music to the irreversible path of modernity and enabled a moulding of the new matrix of the world. The purpose of this book is to outline the history of categories of musical thought in 1 Written for the Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion, Radio France/Société internationale de musique contemporaine, SIMC, 1979, 30-32

Obesity-Induced Mast Cell Infiltration and Activation in Normal Mammary Tissue and Claudin-Low Breast Tumors

Obesity is among the most prevalent conditions worldwide: in the United States alone, more than 60% of the population is either overweight or obese. The condition remains a well-known modifiable risk factor for multiple diseases, including cancer. Obesity is characterized by a low-grade smoldering inflammatory state, which both induces and is sustained by many polarized, pro-inflammatory immune cells. Recent studies have also highlighted the role of the immune system in the genesis and progression of cancer, with many immune cell lineages working to promote angiogenesis, tumor growth and metastasis. One of these immune cells lineages are mast cells (MCs), a type of long-lived myeloid stem cell-derived granulocyte that are traditionally known for their role in the allergic response known as anaphylaxis, but also mediate wound healing and vessel formation. MCs play a crucial role in the tumor microenvironment, by secreting proteases, cytokines and other factors that promote angiogenesis, extracellular matrix degradation and metastasis. Previous studies have reported increased mast cell presence in visceral adipose tissue in obesity. Thus, this study investigated whether obesity promotes mast cell infiltration into and activation within normal mammary tissue and claudin-low breast tumors, an aggressive triple negative subtype of breast cancer. To test our hypotheses, we utilized C57BL/6J and FVB/NJ mouse strains. Female C57BL/6J mice were weaned onto either low fat (LFD, 10% kcal from fat) or high fat (HFD, 60% kcal from fat) diet at 3 weeks of age. At 13 weeks of age, C57BL/6J mice underwent syngeneic orthotopic transplant of M-Wnt claudin-low breast cancer cells into their mammary fat pad. In addition, female FVB/NJ mice were randomized to either LFD or HFD at 8 weeks of age; at 13 weeks of age, mice in a Diet Switch (DS) group were also transitioned from HFD to LFD to induce weight loss prior to tumor injection. FVB/NJ mice underwent syngeneic orthotopic transplant of C3-Tag-luc claudin-low breast cancer cells into their mammary fat pad at 18 weeks of age. We sought to measure mast cell infiltration and activation through histological quantification of mast cell density (cells/mm2), and through quantification of Tryptase β-2 mRNA expression levels, respectively. Relative to tumors, higher mast cell density, as well as higher Tryptase β-2 mRNA expression, was observed in normal mammary of C57BL/6J mice. Importantly, in C57BL/6J mice, higher mRNA expression was also observed across tissues in HFD-fed as compared to LFD-fed mice by two-way ANOVA. In FVB/NJ mice, higher MC density was observed in tumors as compared to normal mammary. Furthermore, higher Tryptase expression was observed in normal mammary tissue upon conditions of obesity, and was significantly reversed with weight loss before tumor development. In summary, these results indicate that low and high fat diets have differential effects on murine models, including body weight and body composition, and that high fat diet may influence mast cell activation in normal mammary tissue, independently of mast cell density. This pilot study offers insights into a potential role of obesity in modulating activation of mast cells, emphasizing the need for future investigation into mast cells as mediators of the relationship between obesity and breast cancer risk or progression.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt

Computer Music Analysis via a Multidisciplinary Approach

(Abstract to follow

Critical Path Method applicato allo sviluppo di un nuovo prodotto per l'edilizia: NAUTILUS

open98

Dermoscopic changes in melanocytic naevi in children during digital follow-up.

(28.4%) after 4 years, in 5 of 37 lesions (13.5%) after 5 years, in 12 of 31 lesions (38.8%) after 6 years, and in 7 of 21 lesions (33.3%) after 7 years. Dermoscopic changes were detected in 25.3% of the lesions in patients aged 3–6 years, in 21% of the lesions in patients aged 7–12 years, and in 15.5% of the lesions in patients over 13 years. Main pattern changes consisted of transition from globular to globular-reticular (35 naevi), from globular to reticular (14 naevi) and from globular-reticular to reticular (24 naevi). These results are consistent with the view that melanocytic naevi generally undergo a characteristic transition from a globular pattern to a reticular pattern. Most of the changes are observed in the 3–6 years age group when hormonal and/or environmental factors are not thought to play a role in pattern alterations. Key words: melanocytic; naevi; dermoscopy; pattern; changes

Surgical outcome and indicators of postoperative worsening in intra-axial thalamic and posterior fossa pediatric tumors: Preliminary results from a single tertiary referral center cohort

Background: Shared indications about the best management of intra-axial thalamic (IAT) and posterior fossa (PF) pediatric tumors are still lacking. The aim of this study was to analyze neurosurgical outcome in these tumors and to investigate factors associated with postoperative worsening. Methods: A retrospective single-center study on IAT and PF pediatric tumor patients treated surgically over a 7-year period was conducted. The Lansky Scale (LS) was used to assess patients' functional status. Surgical complexity was graded with the Milan Complexity Scale (MCS). The following analyses were performed: a longitudinal analysis of the preoperative, discharge, and 3 months' follow-up (FU) LS, a comparison between improved/unchanged and worsened patients, and an analysis of the predictive value of single MCS items. Results: 37 cases were collected: 20 PF and 17 thalamic. Mean MCS score was 6 ± 1.7. Mean preoperative, discharge and FU LS were 80.8, 74.6 and 80.3 respectively. Surgical mortality was 0%.The longitudinal analysis showed a neurological worsening at discharge compared to preoperative status (p = 0.011) and an improvement at FU compared to discharge (p < 0.004), both statistically significant. None of the variables analyzed showed a significant predictive value of early postoperative change; however, higher MCS scores were associated with a greater risk of worsening. Conclusions: The surgical management of IAT and PF pediatric brain tumors remains challenging; early postoperative worsening is possible, but most deficits tend to improve at FU. The MCS seems to be a valuable tool to estimate the risk of early postoperative worsening and to facilitate parents' informed consent

cMET inhibitor crizotinib impairs angiogenesis and reduces tumor burden in the C3(1)-Tag model of basal-like breast cancer

Epidemiologic studies have associated obesity with increased risk of the aggressive basal-like breast cancer (BBC) subtype. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling through its receptor, cMET, is elevated in obesity and is a pro-tumorigenic pathway strongly associated with BBC. We previously reported that high fat diet (HFD) elevated HGF, cMET, and phospho-cMET in normal mammary gland, with accelerated tumor development, compared to low fat diet (LFD)-fed lean controls in a murine model of BBC. We also showed that weight loss resulted in a significant reversal of HFD-induced effects on latency and elevation of HGF/cMET signaling in normal mammary and cMET in normal mammary and tumors. Here, we sought to inhibit BBC tumor progression in LFD- and HFD-fed C3(1)-Tag BBC mice using a small molecule cMET inhibitor, and began crizotinib treatment (50mg/kg body weight by oral gavage) upon identification of the first palpable tumor. We next investigated if administering crizotinib in a window prior to tumor development would inhibit or delay BBC tumorigenesis. Treatment: Crizotinib significantly reduced mean tumor burden by 27.96 and 37.29%, and mean tumor vascularity by 35.04 and 33.52%, in our LFD- and HFD-fed C3(1)-Tag BBC mice, respectively. Prevention: Crizotinib significantly accelerated primary tumor progression in both diet groups but had no effect on total tumor progression or total tumor burden. In sum, cMET inhibition by crizotinib limited tumor development and microvascular density in basal-like tumor-bearing mice but did not appear to be an effective preventive agent for BBC.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-1920-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Role of the EGF +61A>G polymorphism in melanoma pathogenesis: an experience on a large series of Italian cases and controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A single nucleotide polymorphism (61A>G) in the epidermal growth factor (<it>EGF</it>) gene has been implicated in both melanoma pathogenesis and increased melanoma risk. To further evaluate this association, we conducted a case-control study in a clinic-based Italian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Individuals with less than 10 (N = 127) or more than 100 (N = 128) benign nevi, and patients with cutaneous melanoma (N = 418) were investigated for the <it>EGF </it>+61A>G polymorphism, using an automated sequencing approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, no difference in <it>EGF </it>genotype frequencies was observed among subjects with different number of nevi as well as when non-melanoma healthy controls were compared with the melanoma patients. However, a heterogeneous distribution of the frequencies of the G/G genotype was detected among cases and controls originating from North Italy (21.1 and 18.3%, respectively) vs. those from South Italy (12.6 and 17.1%, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings further suggest that <it>EGF </it>+61A>G polymorphism may have a limited impact on predisposition and/or pathogenesis of melanoma and its prevalence may vary in different populations.</p