La représentation de l'enfance en danger dans la littérature contemporaine pour la jeunesse

International audienceEn psychologie, l'enfance en danger reste un thème prédominant et préoccupant compte tenu de l'ampleur de cette réalité. L'Office National de l'Enfance en Danger (ONED) mentionne que " le nombre de mineurs bénéficiant d'au moins une mesure de prise en charge [en protection de l'enfance] est estimé à 271 500, soit 18,9 ‰ des moins de 18 ans ". Depuis une trentaine d'années, la littérature pour la jeunesse s'est emparée de ce sujet, tout comme elle l'a progressivement fait par rapport à d'autres thèmes difficiles tels que la mort, le handicap, le racisme, la séparation des parents, la guerre ou les génocides, par exemple. Or, comme l'écrit Laurence Joselin (2008), " la littérature jeunesse représente un outil de transmission de la culture des adultes aux jeunes générations, culture littéraire, mais également culture sociale ". Notre étude, inscrite dans le cadre d'une thèse en psychologie, vise à explorer les représentations de l'enfance en danger dans la littérature de jeunesse en examinant en particulier les spécificités liées aux grandes catégories reconnues de la maltraitance (violences sexuelles et/ou cruauté psychologique et/ou violences physiques et/ou négligences graves). Notre corpus est constitué d'ouvrages destinés à des lecteurs de 5 à 16 ans trouvés grâce aux synopsis présents dans les périodiques spécialisés (" Lecture Jeune " par exemple), par mots-clés sur les sites de certaines maisons d'éditions, ou sur les sites spécialisés (Ricochet...). Nous présenterons les caractéristiques essentielles de notre corpus, de la grille d'analyse progressivement élaborée pour rendre compte de ces représentations, et nous illustrerons notre démarche à partir de l'approche de quelques ouvrages portant sur une thématique spécifique

The detectability of extrasolar planet surroundings - I. Reflected-light photometry of unresolved rings

It is expected that the next generation of high-contrast imaging instruments will deliver the first unresolved image of an extrasolar planet. The emitted thermal infrared light from the planet should show no phase effect assuming the planet is in thermal equilibrium. But the reflected visible light will vary versus the phase angle. Here, we study the photometric variation of the reflected light versus the orbital phase of a ringed extrasolar planet. We show that a ring around an extrasolar planet, both obviously unresolved, can be detected by its specific photometric signature. A simple quantitative model is discussed, taking into account the basic optical and geometrical properties of the ringed planet.Comment: Keywords: Stars: planetary systems -- Planets: rings -- Extrasolar planet characterization. 10 pages, 16 figures. Published version is A&A 420, 1153-1162 (2004), available online at http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/aa/abs/2004/24/aa0720/aa0720.htm

The Earth as an extrasolar planet: The vegetation spectral signature today and during the last Quaternary climatic extrema

The so-called Vegetation Red-Edge (VRE), a sharp increase in the reflectance around $700 nm$, is a characteristic of vegetation spectra, and can therefore be used as a biomarker if it can be detected in an unresolved extrasolar Earth-like planet integrated reflectance spectrum. Here we investigate the potential for detection of vegetation spectra during the last Quaternary climatic extrema, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Holocene optimum, for which past climatic simulations have been made. By testing the VRE detectability during these extrema when Earth's climate and biomes maps were different from today, we are able to test the vegetation detectability on a terrestrial planet different from our modern Earth. Data from the Biome3.5 model have been associated to visible GOME spectra for each biome and cloud cover to derive Earth's integrated spectra for given Earth phases and observer positions. The VRE is then measured. Results show that the vegetation remains detectable during the last climatic extrema. Compared to current Earth, the Holocene optimum with a greener Sahara slightly increases the mean VRE on one hand, while on the other hand, the large ice cap over the northern Hemisphere during the LGM decreases vegetation detectability. We finally discuss the detectability of the VRE in the context of recently proposed space missions.Comment: 31-page manuscript, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Int. J. of Astrobiolog

The happy wanderer: exploring the relationship between thoughts and well-being

The relationship between what we think about and how we feel is central to the human experience. To understand this relationship is essential to the creation of impactful well-being enhancing interventions. In this thesis, we explore the relationship between thoughts and well-being, and we assess the impact of a simple well-being enhancing intervention. In chapter 1, we discuss how thoughts ought to be incorporated into models that outline the main determinants of well-being. We present a model that argues that thoughts are direct predictors of well-being, and that this relationship is moderated by individual-specific characteristics and contextual factors. In chapter 2, we present the experience sampling dataset that we use to explore this model in ecologically valid, day-to-day settings. In chapter 3, we explore the direct relationship between thoughts and well-being, showing not only that thoughts predict, but also that they can be said to cause changes in experiential measures of happiness and worthwhileness. In chapter 4, we explore how the direct relationship between thoughts and well-being is moderated by individual-specific characteristics. We show that the relationship between thoughts and our experiential measures of well-being is better captured when accounting for unobserved individual-specific factors, and that Big 5 personality traits can explain some of this individual-specific variation in the relationship between thoughts and experienced worthwhileness. In chapter 5, we explore how the relationship between thoughts and well-being differs depending on what activity people are engaged in and depending on who they are with. We show that context matters in terms of how people experience their thoughts. What people do and who they are with affect what kind of thoughts they report, as well as how these thoughts are associated with their well-being. Finally, in chapter 6, we assess the effectiveness of our experience sampling data collection tool as a well-being enhancing intervention in and of itself. We show that asking people to repeatedly report their thoughts, well-being and associated context reduces their anxiety across three different Randomised Controlled Trials. We discuss practical implications of this and of our exploration of thoughts and well-being for intervention designers, as well as implications for the broader well-being and thoughts literature

G-CSF protects motoneurons against axotomy-induced apoptotic death in neonatal mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a growth factor essential for generation of neutrophilic granulocytes. Apart from this hematopoietic function, we have recently uncovered potent neuroprotective and regenerative properties of G-CSF in the central nervous system (CNS). The G-CSF receptor and G-CSF itself are expressed in α motoneurons, G-CSF protects motoneurons, and improves outcome in the SOD1(G93A) transgenic mouse model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In vitro, G-CSF acts anti-apoptotically on motoneuronal cells. Due to the pleiotrophic effects of G-CSF and the complexity of the SOD1 transgenic ALS models it was however not possible to clearly distinguish between directly mediated anti-apoptotic and indirectly protective effects on motoneurons. Here we studied whether G-CSF is able to protect motoneurons from purely apoptotic cell death induced by a monocausal paradigm, neonatal sciatic nerve axotomy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We performed sciatic nerve axotomy in neonatal mice overexpressing G-CSF in the CNS and found that G-CSF transgenic mice displayed significantly higher numbers of surviving lumbar motoneurons 4 days following axotomy than their littermate controls. Also, surviving motoneurons in G-CSF overexpressing animals were larger, suggesting additional trophic effects of this growth factor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this model of pure apoptotic cell death the protective effects of G-CSF indicate direct actions of G-CSF on motoneurons in vivo. This shows that G-CSF exerts potent anti-apoptotic activities towards motoneurons in vivo and suggests that the protection offered by G-CSF in ALS mouse models is due to its direct neuroprotective activity.</p

Parasitoses digestives chez le jeune enfant en milieu extra-hospitalier tropical

Une étude copro-parasitologique est effectuée, dans un village du Sud-Togo, chez des enfants de 6 mois à 3 ans faisant l'objet d'un suivi nutritionnel. Ce travail montre que 42,5 % des enfants sont porteurs de parasites et 12,1 % polyparasités. Les parasites les plus fréquents sont : Giardia (21 %), Ankylostome (13 %) et Ascaris (12,5 %). Le parasitisme et le polyparasitisme s'observent respectivement à partir de 9 mois et 18 mois et leurs fréquences augmentent avec l'âge. En revanche, la fréquence des selles diarrhéiques décroît avec l'âge et aucun parasite ne semble directement et exclusivement à l'origine de ces diarrhées. La répartition des parasites et des selles diarrhéiques est indépendante du sexe. Aucune relation n'a été mise en évidence entre l'état nutritionnel et la fréquence des parasites et des selles diarrhéiques. Après traitement, les taux de réinfestation sont élevés pour Ankylostome (65 %), Tricocéphale (50 %) et Giardia (34,2 %). (Résumé d'auteur

Me, my thoughts and I – personality as a moderator of the effect of thoughts on subjective well-being

We study how personality impacts people's experiences of their thoughts in terms of experienced happiness and worthwhileness. Over two weeks, 483 participants completed over 20,000 experience sampling questionnaires including reports of hedonic and eudemonic well-being, and type and content of thoughts. Using multi-level modelling we show that personality traits recorded prior to the start of the study for all participants interact with thought variables to significantly predict experiences of worthwhileness. Openness was the personality trait with the greatest impact on how content and type of thoughts affected worthwhileness. Predictions of happiness were not significantly improved by the addition of interactions between personality and thoughts. Implications for the broader literature on the relationship between personality and well-being are discussed

Christophe Couderc et Hélène Tropé (éds), «La tragédie espagnole et son contexte européen, XVIe et XVIIe siècles», Paris, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2013, 269 pp. ISBN: 978-2-87854-611-8

Book's reviewReseña de Christophe Couderc et Hélène Tropé (éds), «La tragédie espagnole et son contexte européen, XVIe et XVIIe siècles», Paris, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2013, 269 pp. ISBN: 978-2-87854-611-