Bernard Hours, La vertu et le secret. Le dauphin, fils de Louis XV

Après son étude sur Louis XV et sa cour (PUF, 2002), Bernard Hours nous offre, non pas une biographie, mais davantage un essai sur le dauphin, le fils de Louis XV. Cette recherche présente dès le départ un double intérêt. D’une part, les travaux sur ce personnage sont rares, la destruction de ses papiers avant de mourir prive l’historien d’une source essentielle. D’autre part, un peu plus de 10 ans après la mort du dauphin, des ouvrages sont publiés sur le fils de Louis XV par deux ecclésiast..

Les Huguenots éducateurs dans l’espace européen à l’époque moderne

Ce recueil de seize contributions aborde, hormis le premier article, la question des éducateurs huguenots dans le Refuge européen et tout particulièrement en Irlande, en Angleterre et en Allemagne. Si des réfugiés huguenots deviennent éducateurs, c’est principalement en raison de deux éléments : la nécessité de gagner de l’argent et l’importance de la langue française en Europe, même si le tableau est fortement nuancé par les différentes analyses. Ainsi, ces éducateurs sont originaires d’un l..

Les protestants de la province synodale d’Anjou-Touraine-Maine et le Refuge au XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle

Au XVIIe siècle, les communautés protestantes d’Anjou-Touraine-Maine se caractérisent par leur grande dispersion, leur faiblesse numérique et elles sont composées principalement de notables et d’artisans. Après la Révocation de l’édit de Nantes, en raison des conversions et surtout des départs vers les pays du Refuge, le nombre de protestants diminue rapidement. L’émigration est forte tout particulièrement à Tours et elle touche l’ensemble des milieux sociaux, entraînant un éclatement des familles à travers la France et l’Europe protestante.In the 17th Century, protestant communities in Anjou-Touraine-Maine are distinguished by their great scattering, their very small numerical importance and their socio-professional composition with many notables and craftsmen. The shock of the Revocation do caused massive conversions, departures towards protestant countries and a decrease of the calvinist population. The emigration is strong above all in the city of Tours and concerns all socio-professional groups

Introduction

Les actes que nous publions sont ceux d’un colloque qui s’est déroulé à l’université d’Angers les 29 et 30 septembre 2016 autour de la question de la Tolérance et [l’]intolérance des religions à l’époque moderne. L’ouverture de cette manifestation tombait le jour de la Saint-Michel ; alors, comment ne pas évoquer, sur une telle thématique, les événements qui se sont déroulés à Nîmes le 29 septembre 1567 : la Michelade. Ce massacre perpétré par les protestants, situé entre celui de Wassy et la..

Lower risk of peripheral venous catheter-related bloodstream infection by hand insertion

INTRODUCTION Little is known about the bloodstream infection (BSI) risk associated with short-term peripheral venous catheters (PVCs) and no large study investigated the insertion site-related risk for PVC-BSI. METHODS We performed a cohort study at the University of Geneva Hospitals using the prospective hospital-wide BSI surveillance database. We analyzed the association between insertion site and risk of PVC-BSI on the upper extremity using univariable and multivariable marginal Cox models. RESULTS Between 2016 and 2020, utilization of 403'206 peripheral venous catheters were prospectively recorded in a 2000-bed hospital consortium with ten sites. Twenty-seven percent of PVC (n = 109'686) were inserted in the hand. After adjustment for confounding factors, hand insertion was associated with a decreased PVC-BSI risk (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.42, 95% CI 0.18-0.98, p = 0.046) compared to more proximal insertion sites. In a sensitivity analysis for PVCs with ≥ 3 days of dwell time, we confirmed a decreased PVC-BSI risk after hand insertion (HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15-0.93, p = 0.035). CONCLUSION Hand insertion should be considered for reducing PVC infections, especially for catheters with an expected dwell time of more than 2 days

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a dextran-graft-polybutylmethacrylate copolymer coated on CoCr metallic stent

International audienceIntroduction: The major complications of stent implantation are restenosis and late stent thrombosis. PBMA polymers are used for stent coating because of their mechanical properties. We previously synthesized and characterized Dextrangraft-polybutylmethacrylate copolymer (Dex-PBMA) as a potential stent coating. In this study, we evaluated the haemocompatibility and biocompatibility properties of Dex-PBMA in vitro and in vivo.Methods: Here, we investigated: (1) the effectiveness of polymer coating under physiological conditions and its ability to release Tacrolimus®, (2) the capacity of Dex-PBMA to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus adhesion, (3) the thrombin generation and the human platelet adhesion in static and dynamic conditions, (4) thebiocompatibility properties in vitro on human endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC) and on mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and in vivo in rat models, and (5) we implanted Dex-PBMA and Dex-PBMA TAC coated stents in neointimal hyperplasia restenosis rabbit model. Results: Dex-PBMA coating efficiently prevented bacterial adhesion and release Tacrolimus®. Dex-PBMA exhibit haemocompatibility properties under flow and ECFC and MSC compatibility. In vivo, no pathological foreign body reaction was observed neither after intramuscular nor intravascular aortic implantation. After Dex-PBMA and Dex-PBMATAC coated stents 30 days implantation in a restenosis rabbit model, an endothelial cell coverage was observed and the lumenpatency was preserved.Conclusion: Based on our findings, Dex-PBMA exhibited vascular compatibility and can potentially be used as a coating for metallic coronary stents

The adoption of open access scholarly communication in Tanzanian public universities: some Influencing factors

Open access is a means for free availability of scholarly content via the internet. It is an emerging opportunity for wider and unlimited access to scholarly literature. Scholarly communication, through open access journals and self-arching, are the two main approaches of open access publishing. However, this mode of scholarly communication is not widely utilised in developing countries such as Tanzania. This article discusses the factors that influence the adoption of open access for scholarly communication in Tanzanian public universities, based on a study conducted in 2008 using a survey questionnaire. A sample of 544 researchers, selected through stratified random sampling from a population of 1 088 researchers and 69 policymakers at six public universities in Tanzania, provided their views. It was evident from the findings that researchers’ internet usage skills and self-efficacy, social influence, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and the respondents’ general perceptions about open access were the positive factors likely to facilitate open access adoption. The current poor research conditions and researchers’ low internet self-efficacy (such as inadequate information search skills) were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access outlets to access scholarly content. It is therefore recommended that university policies on scholarly communication should be revised to incorporate the use of open access publishing. Furthermore, universities should accelerate the establishment of institutional repositories, advocacy campaigns and training directed at researchers, policymakers, readers and information managers of scholarly content, and the improvement of internet speed through subscription to more bandwidth, so as to meet the demand from the scholarly communit

Gas transfer through clay barriers

Gas transport through clay-rocks can occur by different processes that can be basically subdivided into pressure-driven flow of a bulk gas phase and transport of dissolved gas either by molecular diffusion or advective water flow (Figure 1, Marschall et al., 2005). The relative importance of these transport mechanisms depends on the boundary conditions and the scale of the system. Pressure-driven volume flow (“Darcy flow”) of gas is the most efficient transport mechanism. It requires, however, pressure gradients that are sufficiently large to overcome capillary forces in the typically water-saturated rocks (purely gas-saturated argillaceous rocks are not considered in the present context). These pressure gradients may form as a consequence of the gravity field (buoyancy, compaction) or by gas generation processes (thermogenic, microbial, radiolytic). Dissolved gas may be transported by water flow along a hydraulic gradient. This process is not affected by capillary forces but constrained by the solubility of the gas. It has much lower transport efficiency than bulk gas phase flow. Molecular diffusion of dissolved gas, finally, is occurring essentially without constraints, ubiquitously and perpetually. Effective diffusion distances are, however, proportional to the square root of time, which limits the relevance of this transport process to the range of tens to hundreds of metres on a geological time scale (millions of years). 2 Process understanding and the quantification of the controlling parameters, like diffusion coefficients, capillary gas breakthrough pressures and effective gas permeability coefficients, is of great importance for up-scaling purposes in different research disciplines and applications. During the past decades, gas migration through fully water-saturated geological clay-rich barriers has been investigated extensively (Thomas et al., 1968, Pusch and Forsberg, 1983; Horseman et al., 1999; Galle, 2000; Hildenbrand et al., 2002; Marschall et al., 2005; Davy et al., 2009; Harrington et al., 2009, 2012a, 2014). All of these studies aimed at the analysis of experimental data determined for different materials (rocks of different lithotype, composition, compaction state) and pressure/temperature conditions. The clay-rocks investigated in these studies, ranged from unconsolidated to indurated clays and shales, all characterised by small pores (2-100 nm) and very low hydraulic conductivity (K < 10-12 m·s-1) or permeability coefficients (k < 10-19 m²). Studies concerning radioactive waste disposal include investigations of both the natural host rock formation and synthetic/engineered backfill material at a depth of a few hundred meters (IAEA, 2003, 2009). Within a geological disposal facility, hydrogen is generated by anaerobic corrosion of metals and through radiolysis of water (Rodwell et al., 1999; Yu and Weetjens, 2009). Additionally, methane and carbon dioxide are generated by microbial degradation of organic wastes (Rodwell et al., 1999; Ortiz et al., 2002; Johnson, 2006; Yu and Weetjens, 2009). The focus of carbon capture and storage (CCS) studies is on the analysis of the long-term sealing efficiency of lithologies above depleted reservoirs or saline aquifers, typically at larger depths (hundreds to thousands of meters). During the last decade, several studies were published on the sealing integrity of clay-rocks to carbon dioxide (Hildenbrand et al., 2004; Li et al., 2005; Hangx et al., 2009; Harrington et al., 2009; Skurtveit et al., 2012; Amann-Hildenbrand et al., 2013). In the context of petroleum system analysis, a significant volume of research has been undertaken regarding gas/oil expulsion mechanisms from sources rocks during burial history (Tissot & Pellet, 1971; Appold & Nunn, 2002), secondary migration (Luo et al., 2008) and the capillary sealing capacity of caprocks overlying natural gas accumulations (Berg, 1975; Schowalter, 1979; Krooss, 1992; Schlömer and Kross, 2004; Li et al., 2005; Berne et al., 2010). Recently, more attention has been paid to investigations of the transport efficiency of shales in the context of oil/gas shale production (Bustin et al., 2008; Eseme et al., 2012; Amann-Hildenbrand et al., 2012; Ghanizadeh et al., 2013, 2014). Analysis of the migration mechanisms within partly unlithified strata becomes important when explaining the 3 origin of overpressure zones, sub-seafloor gas domes and gas seepages (Hovland & Judd, 1988; Boudreau, 2012). The conduction of experiments and data evaluation/interpretation requires a profound process understanding and a high level of experience. The acquisition and preparation of adequate samples for laboratory experiments usually constitutes a major challenge and may have serious impact on the representativeness of the experimental results. Information on the success/failure rate of the sample preparation procedure should therefore be provided. Sample specimens “surviving” this procedure are subjected to various experimental protocols to derive information on their gas transport properties. The present overview first presents the theoretical background of gas diffusion and advective flow, each followed by a literature review (sections 2 and 3). Different experimental methods are described in sections 4.1 and 4.2. Details are provided on selected experiments performed at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN, Belgium), Ecole Centrale de Lille (France), British Geological Survey (UK), and at RWTH-Aachen University (Germany) (section 4.3). Experimental data are discussed with respect to different petrophysical parameters outlined above: i) gas diffusion, ii) evolution of gas breakthrough, iii) dilation-controlled flow, and iv) effective gas permeability after breakthrough. These experiments were conducted under different pressure and temperature conditions, depending on sample type, burial depth and research focus (e.g. radioactive waste disposal, natural gas exploration, or carbon dioxide storage). The interpretation of the experimental results can be difficult and sometimes a clear discrimination between different mechanisms (and the controlling parameters) is not possible. This holds, for instance, for gas breakthrough experiments where the observed transport can be interpreted as intermittent, continuous, capillary- or dilation-controlled flow. Also, low gas flow rates through samples on the length-scale of centimetres can be equally explained by effective two-phase flow or diffusion of dissolved gas

(Homo)glutathione Deficiency Impairs Root-knot Nematode Development in Medicago truncatula

Root-knot nematodes (RKN) are obligatory plant parasitic worms that establish and maintain an intimate relationship with their host plants. During a compatible interaction, RKN induce the redifferentiation of root cells into multinucleate and hypertrophied giant cells essential for nematode growth and reproduction. These metabolically active feeding cells constitute the exclusive source of nutrients for the nematode. Detailed analysis of glutathione (GSH) and homoglutathione (hGSH) metabolism demonstrated the importance of these compounds for the success of nematode infection in Medicago truncatula. We reported quantification of GSH and hGSH and gene expression analysis showing that (h)GSH metabolism in neoformed gall organs differs from that in uninfected roots. Depletion of (h)GSH content impaired nematode egg mass formation and modified the sex ratio. In addition, gene expression and metabolomic analyses showed a substantial modification of starch and γ-aminobutyrate metabolism and of malate and glucose content in (h)GSH-depleted galls. Interestingly, these modifications did not occur in (h)GSH-depleted roots. These various results suggest that (h)GSH have a key role in the regulation of giant cell metabolism. The discovery of these specific plant regulatory elements could lead to the development of new pest management strategies against nematodes

Characterization of greater middle eastern genetic variation for enhanced disease gene discovery

The Greater Middle East (GME) has been a central hub of human migration and population admixture. The tradition of consanguinity, variably practiced in the Persian Gulf region, North Africa, and Central Asia1-3, has resulted in an elevated burden of recessive disease4. Here we generated a whole-exome GME variome from 1,111 unrelated subjects. We detected substantial diversity and admixture in continental and subregional populations, corresponding to several ancient founder populations with little evidence of bottlenecks. Measured consanguinity rates were an order of magnitude above those in other sampled populations, and the GME population exhibited an increased burden of runs of homozygosity (ROHs) but showed no evidence for reduced burden of deleterious variation due to classically theorized ‘genetic purging’. Applying this database to unsolved recessive conditions in the GME population reduced the number of potential disease-causing variants by four- to sevenfold. These results show variegated genetic architecture in GME populations and support future human genetic discoveries in Mendelian and population genetics