The Microbial Ecology of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Fine Scale Resolution Metagenomic Analysis

The vaginal microbiota play an important protective role in maintaining the health of women. Disruption of the mutualistic relationship that exists between bacterial communities in the vagina and their hosts can lead to bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition in which lactic acid producing bacteria are supplanted by a diverse array of strictly anaerobic bacteria. BV has been shown to be an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes including preterm delivery and low infant birth weight, acquisition of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and development of pelvic inflammatory disease. National surveys indicate the prevalence of BV among U.S. women is 29.2%, and yet, despite considerable effort, the etiology of BV remains unknown. Moreover, there are no broadly effective therapies for the treatment of BV, and reoccurrence is common. In the proposed research we will test the overarching hypothesis that vaginal microbial community dynamics and activities are indicators of risk to BV. To do this, we propose to conduct a high resolution prospective study in which samples collected daily from 200 reproductive-age women over two menstrual cycles are used to capture molecular events that take place before, during, and after the spontaneous remission of BV episodes. We will use modern genomic technologies to obtain the data needed to correlate shifts in vaginal microbial community composition and function, metabolomes, and epidemiological and behavioral metadata with the occurrence of BV to better define the syndrome itself and identify patterns that are predictive of BV. The three specific aims of the research are: (1) Evaluate the association between the dynamics of vaginal microbial communities and risk to BV by characterizing the community composition of vaginal specimens archived from a vaginal douching cessation study in which 33 women self-collected vaginal swabs twice-weekly for 16 weeks; (2) Enroll 135 women in a prospective study in which self-collected vaginal swab samples and secretions are collected daily along with data on the occurrence of BV, vaginal pH, and information on time varying habits and practices; (3) Apply model-based statistical clustering and classification approaches to associate the microbial community composition and function, with metadata and clinical diagnoses of BV. The large body of information generated will facilitate understanding vaginal microbial community dynamics, the etiology of BV, and drive the development of better diagnostic tools for BV. Furthermore, the information will enable a more personalized and effective treatment of BV and ultimately help prevent adverse sequelae associated with this highly prevalent disruption of the vaginal microbiome

Kasimir Malevitch, Maurice Blanchot. Le silence de l’oeuvre

C'est sans doute le terme de « suprématiste » qui conviendrait le mieux pour décrire le travail de Maurice Blanchot à cause de ce qui se donne comme un thème récurrent dans toutes ses publications : le défi qu'il s'est lancé de considérer comme absolues les limites de la représentation. Dans l'un ou l'autre de ses ouvrages, l'abstraction du langage devient paradoxalement le genre suprême de la qualité concrète, en peinture aussi bien qu'en littérature, de sa praxis. À ce stade, les enjeux naissent de la crise qui affecte une avant-garde qui ne parvient plus à soutenir les signes de renouvellement perpétuel de la forme de sa création. Entre les années 1910 et 1913, l'aporie de la modernité conduit rapidement à la formulation de l'idée de la mort de l'art et, après la deuxième guerre mondiale, avec l'apparition de L'Espace littéraire de Blanchot, cette même aporie amène à engager la littérature dans l'expérience des limites. Cet article se propose donc d'évaluer, par le biais de la présence du silence dans l'oeuvre, le degré d'aridité qui affecte la représentation, de celle des sens en particulier, et les limites que peuvent atteindre de telles aventures.Maurice Blanchot’s work can be best described as suprematist with the recurring theme amongst all his publications of imposing the following common challenge : to render absolute the limits of representation. In any of his works, the abstraction of language paradoxically becomes the supreme genre of its concrete quality, in painting as well as literature, of its praxis. At this point, the issues arise from the crisis that affects the Avant-garde, which can no longer uphold its signs of continuous renewal from the form of its creation. Between the years of 1910 and 1913, the apory of modernity drives rapidly towards the idea of considering the introduction of the death of art, and after World War II, with the introduction of Blanchot’s Espace littéraire, to engage literature in the experience of limits. Hence, this article proposes to evaluate, by the bias of the presence of silence, the degree of aridity that affects representation, that of the senses in particular, and the limits of such adventures

Le sport comme espace favorable à l’expression de sexualités non traditionnelles : le cas de différents sports d’équipe féminins au Québec

Cet article porte sur l’affirmation de l’identité sexuelle (coming out) dans le monde sportif et, de façon plus générale, sur l’expression de sexualités non traditionnelles dans ce domaine. Il est basé sur une étude réalisée avec des jeunes femmes francophones de Montréal qui définissent leur sexualité comme « gaie », « lesbienne » ou « bisexuelle » ou encore qui refusent toute étiquette à ce sujet. Les constructions discursives de la sexualité et du processus de coming out de ces participantes sont examinées avec une approche inspirée du poststructuralisme féministe. Les résultats de l’analyse rejettent la conception traditionnelle de la sexualité et rejoignent plutôt la théorie fondée sur la diversité sexuelle (queer). En effet, ils remettent en question le modèle binaire hétérosexuel/homosexuel ainsi que la notion de sexualité fixe et stable. Ils montrent également la complexité du processus de coming out qui ne peut pas être compris de façon uniforme et immuable. Enfin, ils suggèrent que le sport peut jouer un rôle dans la façon dont les participantes se constituent en tant que femmes ayant une sexualité non traditionnelle.This paper deals with coming out and the expression of non-conventional sexualities in sport. It is based on a study conducted with 14 Francophone women from Montréal who identify themselves as “gaie”, “lesbian”, “bisexual”, or refuse labels altogether. Their discursive constructions of sexuality and of the coming out process are examined with a feminist poststructuralist perspective. The results tend to challenge traditional assumptions about sexuality (e.g., the heterosexual/ homosexual binary) and to echo queer theory. Moreover, they highlight how complex the coming out process can be and the role that sport can play in the expression of non-conventional sexualities

Radio-detection of UHECR by the CODALEMA experiment

International audienceThe principle of the CODALEMA experiment is based on an original approach of the de-tection of radio transients associated with extensive air showers induced by ultra high-energy cosmic rays. Since September 2006, CODALEMA has been under operation with a new setup at the Nançay Radio Observatory, France. It uses 16 broadband dipole antennas associated with 13 particle detectors generating the trigger and allowing the primary cosmic ray energy estimation. We will present evi-dence for the radio detection of cosmic rays above $10^{17}$ eV, based on an event-by-event analysis and we will discuss the radio characteristics of these showers

Husband-Killer, Christian Heroine, Victim: The Execution of Madame Tiquet, 1699

The case of Angélique-Nicole Carlier Tiquet, convicted of organizing a plot to assassinate her husband in 1699, prompts questions about histories of torture and public execution over the last several centuries. During the two-month trial that followed the assassination attempt against her husband, official inquiry and public opinion coalesced around the idea that Madame Tiquet was guilty. At least some observers came to believe that her crime represented a threat to husbands and paternal authority more generally throughout the kingdom. In the wake of her torture and public execution, which she endured so gracefully that many observers found themselves lamenting her death, male Catholic polemicists argued in print about the meanings of her demise, while one female Protestant writer, Anne Marguerite Petit du Noyer, asserted her innocence. Several years later, in the 1702 edition of his Dictionnaire historique et critique, Pierre Bayle cited the case in the context of a broader secular reflection on marital relations in morally corrupt societies. The affair that prompted these texts is fascinating precisely because it resists insertion into misleading histories of progress and civility, or ever-expanding statist surveillance of citizens

Early cosmic ray research in France

International audienceThe French research on cosmic rays in the first half of the 20th century is summarized. The main experiments are described as the discovery of air cosmic ray showers by Pierre Auger. The results obtained at the French altitude laboratories like the "Pic du Midi de Bigorre" are also briefly presented

The Impact of Capital Requirements on Crises in the U.S. and E.U.

Basel capital requirements have attracted a lot of debate surrounding their adequacy as the Basel I and II regulations were shortly followed by the 1990-1991 and 2007-2009 crises. This creates an appropriate scene for comparative purposes with respect to the impact of these requirements: same country of origin (U.S.) and similar outcome (credit crunches). Hence, after providing a brief overview of these regulations in Chapter 2, the aim of Chapter 3 is to apply the methodology in Berger and Udell (1994) over the subprime crisis and investigate any Basel II related impact. We find inconclusive results with regard to the impact of regulatory capital on the crisis and argue that this could be due to overshadowing by other factors such as leverage and liquidity. Chapter 4 looks at changes in co-movement patterns (correlation) between the leverage and capital ratios across the aforementioned crises. We find that the change in the impact of the latter ratio on subsequent crises lies in the changing dynamics between the two regulatory requirements. Therefore, we argue that changes in risk-weights categories introduced in the Basel framework can reverse the relationship between both ratios. This inherently changes the binding constraints on banks between the two crises. Our reasoning is based on a formula we develop linking the two ratios together which is derived from the sensitivity of the risk-based capital ratio to a change in one of its risk-weights. Finally, in Chapter 5, we shift our attention to European countries in order to explore the factors that jointly determine returns, spillovers and contagion. While our findings point out that EU countries might have the incentive to reduce their capital ratios in order to achieve higher returns, nonetheless having a substantial amount of capital can shield them from the effects of spillovers. Hence, it is important to maintain sensible capital ratios to counterweight the aggravating effects of bilateral linkages such as trade and cross-border finance.Open Acces