Le guerrier sculpté en France de 1871 à 1914 ou le triomphe de l’héroïsme anonyme

La défaite de Sedan a eu de profondes conséquences sur l’image du guerrier dans la sculpture française entre 1871 et 1914. D’un côté, on voit se multiplier les effigies de guerriers anciens, recrutés dans les époques les plus glorieuses de l’histoire nationale, qu’ils soient célèbres comme Vercingétorix et Jeanne d’Arc, ou oubliés comme le Grand Ferré et le Tambour d’Arcole. De l’autre, on observe, au sein des œuvres commémorant plus directement la Guerre de 1870, une nette prédilection pour la figure du soldat anonyme, qu’il soit nu ou vêtu, et pour les groupes de mobiles représentés au combat afin de glorifier cet « Achille collectif qu’on appelle un régiment » (Théophile Gautier). L’ensemble de ce corpus traduit une profonde mutation de la notion d’héroïsme, qui conduit moins à « l’abolition du Culte des Héros » plutôt qu’à l’émergence de « tout un Monde de Héros », pour reprendre la prédiction formulée en 1840 par Thomas Carlyle.The defeat of Sedan had great consequences on the image of warriors in French sculpture between 1871 and 1914. Firstly, there was a considerable increase of images of warriors from the past, drawn from the most glorious times of national history, both well-known figures such as Vercingetorix or Joan of Arc, or unknown ones as “Grand Ferré” or the “Tambour d’Arcole”. Secondly, in public monuments commemorating more directly the War of 1870, one notices a predilection for the anonymous soldier. They could be represented either in group or alone, and glorified “this collective Achilles which is called a regiment” (Théophile Gautier). These two phenomena reflected a significant evolution of the notion of heroism: it was not the end of the cult of heroes as such, but the development of a “World of Heroes” as predicted by Thomas Carlyle in 1840

Hoverspill: a new amphibious vehicle for responding in difficult-to-access sites

Oil spill experience often shows that response activities are hampered due to the absence of operative autonomous support capable of reaching particular sites or operate in safe and efficient conditions in areas such as saltmarshes, mudflats, river banks, cliff bottoms… This is the purpose of the so-called FP7 Hoverspill project (www.hoverspill.eu), a 3-year European project that recently reached completion: to design and build a small-size amphibious vehicle designed to ensure rapid oil spill response. The result is an air-cushion vehicle (ACV), known as Hoverspill, based on the innovative MACP (Multipurpose Air Cushion Platform) developed by Hovertech and SOA. It is a completely amphibious vehicle capable of working on land and on water, usable as a pontoon in floating conditions. Its compactness makes it easy to transport by road. The project also included the design and building of a highly effective integrated O/W Turbylec separator developed by YLEC. Spill response equipment will be loaded on-board based on a modular concept enabling the vehicle to carry out specific tasks with just the required equipmen

De l’échanson au rapt : la représentation de Ganymède dans la sculpture du xixe siècle

Le personnage de Ganymède fut davantage prisé par les sculpteurs français du xviiie siècle que par ceux du xixe. Ces derniers préférèrent notamment jeter leur dévolu sur un autre éphèbe de la mythologie grecque, Narcisse, qui fut deux fois plus représenté au Salon de Paris entre 1801 et 1900, tandis que l’autre échanson de l’Olympe, Hébé, y apparaît presque trois fois plus souvent que son parèdre masculin. Les quatorze Ganymède sculptés que nous avons répertoriés permettent cependant de dégag..

Key implication of CD277/butyrophilin-3 (BTN3A) in cellular stress sensing by a major human γδ T-cell subset

International audienceAbstract Human peripheral Vγ9Vδ2 T cells are activated by phosphorylated metabolites (phosphoagonists [PAg]) of the mammalian mevalonate or the microbial desoxyxylulose-phosphate pathways accumulated by infected or metabolically distressed cells. The underlying mechanisms are unknown. We show that treatment of nonsusceptible target cells with antibody 20.1 against CD277, a member of the extended B7 superfamily related to butyrophilin, mimics PAg-induced Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell activation and that the Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell receptor is implicated in this effect. Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell activation can be abrogated by exposing susceptible cells (tumor and mycobacteria-infected cells, or aminobisphosphonate-treated cells with up-regulated PAg levels) to antibody 103.2 against CD277. CD277 knockdown and domain-shuffling approaches confirm the key implication of the CD277 isoform BTN3A1 in PAg sensing by Vγ9Vδ2 T cells. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments support a causal link between intracellular PAg accumulation, decreased BTN3A1 membrane mobility, and ensuing Vγ9Vδ2 T-cell activation. This study demonstrates a novel role played by B7-like molecules in human γδ T-cell antigenic activation and paves the way for new strategies to improve the efficiency of immunotherapies using Vγ9Vδ2 T cells