Cell therapies for tendons: old cell choice for modern innovation.

Although tissue engineering and cell therapies are becoming realistic approaches for medical therapeutics, it is likely that musculoskeletal applications will be among the first to benefit on a large scale. Cell sources for tissue engineering and cell therapies for tendon pathologies are reviewed with an emphasis on small defect tendon injuries as seen in the hand which could adapt well to injectable cell administration. Specifically, cell sources including tenocytes, tendon sheath fibroblasts, bone marrow or adipose-derived stem cells, amniotic cells, placenta cells and platelet-derivatives have been proposed to enhance tendon regeneration. The associated advantages and disadvantages for these different strategies will be discussed and evolving regulatory requirements for cellular therapies will also be addressed. Human progenitor tenocytes, along with their clinical cell banking potential, will be presented as an alternative cell source solution. Similar cell banking techniques have already been described with other progenitor cell types in the 1950's for vaccine production, and these "old" cell types incite potentially interesting therapeutic options that could be improved with modern innovation for tendon regeneration and repair.

La construction des identités politiques des reines séleucides

Apamè, Stratonice et Laodice(s) sont les différents protagonistes de cette thèse qui s'attache à saisir comment les souveraines séleucides participent au pouvoir. Principalement centré sur les identités politiques des reines que l'épigraphie grecque et akkadienne nous permet de re-construire, ce travail se développe chronologiquement. Il débute en 324, lors des noces Suse - qui virent Séleucos épouser la bactrienne Apamè, pour se terminer en 177 par la mention de la reine Laodice, la mère du roi Séleucos IV. Nous avons, par ce travail, démontré que les reines séleucides participent pleinement au pouvoir et ce dès le début de la constitution du royaume. Les souveraines mobilisent l'administration, écrivent aux cités, possèdent une autonomie financière grâce aux domaines qu'elles détiennent et disposent de réseaux d'influence personnels. Les identités qu'elles se construisent les lient notamment à la fécondité et leur permettent d'avoir un domaine d'action politique particulier inaccessible au roi. Elles sont en ce sens des partenaires politiques indispensables qui soutiennent à la fois la perpétuation du pouvoir royal et le maintien du territoire séleucide. Si par ce travail nous avons focalisé notre attention sur les basilissai, le cas de la première épouse d'Antiochos II nous a permis de mettre en évidence la polygamie des souverains, l'organisation « hiérarchique » des différentes épouses du roi ainsi que les stratégies développées par le pouvoir séleucide pour désigner celle dont sera issus le successeur. Enfin, le pouvoir séleucide, tel que nous l'avons décrit, ne permet plus de défendre les hypothèses de répudiation ou de régence des souveraines séleucides avancées pour les cas des épouses d'Antiochos II et d'Antiochos III.

Interpretation of primary care physicians' attitude regarding rotavirus immunisation using diffusion of innovation theories.

To evaluate primary care physicians' attitude towards implementation of rotavirus (RV) immunisation into the Swiss immunisation schedule, an eight-question internet-based questionnaire was sent to the 3799 subscribers of InfoVac, a nationwide web-based expert network on immunisation issues, which reaches >95% of paediatricians and smaller proportions of other primary care physicians. Five demographic variables were also inquired. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses for the main outcome "acceptance of routine RV immunisation" and other variables were performed. Diffusion of innovation theory was used for data assessment. Nine-hundred seventy-seven questionnaires were returned (26%). Fifty percent of participants were paediatricians. Routine RV immunisation was supported by 146 participants (15%; so called early adopters), dismissed by 620 (64%), leaving 211 (21%) undecided. However, when asked whether they would recommend RV vaccination to parents if it were officially recommended by the federal authorities and reimbursed, 467 (48.5%; so called early majority) agreed to recommend RV immunisation. Multivariate analysis revealed that physicians who would immunise their own child (OR: 5.1; 95% CI: 4.1-6.3), hospital-based physicians (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.3) and physicians from the French (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3) and Italian speaking areas of Switzerland (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1-5.8) were more likely to support RV immunisation. Diffusion of innovation theory predicts a >80% implementation if approximately 50% of a given population support an innovation. Introduction of RV immunisation in Switzerland is likely to be successful, if (i) the federal authorities issue an official recommendation and (ii) costs are covered by basic health care insurance.

Entre stéréotypie et singularité : la construction de l''ethos' de Laurent de Premierfait dans ses prologues

L'époque charnière de la fin du xive siècle, début du xve siècle, voit émerger des voix auctoriales de plus en plus engagées, subjectives et conscientes de leur talent. Cet article tend à montrer en quoi la notion d'ethos issue de la linguistique moderne permet de caractériser l'évolution d'une de ces voix médiévales, celle d'un traducteur du xve siècle, Laurent de Premierfait, au regard de la tradition. L'étude des prologues de ses traductions témoigne d'une forte influence de la situation de communication et de la scène d'énonciation, celle du patronage et de la tradition poétique héritée de la traduction du xive siècle, qui oblige le traducteur à négocier sa propre image dans son texte. Ainsi, l'auteure de cet article propose de caractériser à travers différents indices rhétoriques, poétiques, discursifs, voire extra-discursifs, les deux êthê qui émanent de ces prologues : un ethos de moraliste, conforme aux attentes du public et un ethos d'humaniste, révélant un positionnement singulier et individuel du traducteur dans la communauté des écrivains.

The effect of innovation and sex-specific migration on neutral cultural differentiation

Studies of behaviour are increasingly focusing on acquisition of traits through cultural inheritance. Comparison of patterns of spatial population structure (FST) between neutral genetic loci and behavioural or cultural traits can been used to test hypotheses about demography, life history, and the mechanisms of inheritance/transmission of these traits in humans, chimpanzees and other animals. Here, we develop analytical expectations to show how FST in cultural traits can differ strongly from that measured at neutral genetic markers if migration is largely restricted to one sex but social learning is predominantly modelled on the other (e.g. males migrate, females serve as models for cultural traits), if one individual is the learning model for many, or if rates of innovation (individual learning) are high or rates of social learning are low. We discuss how comparisons of FST between genetic loci and behavioural traits can be applied to evaluate the importance of innovation in shaping patterns of cultural differentiation, as even low rates of innovation can considerably reduce FST, relative to observed structure at neutral genetic loci. Our results also suggest that differentiation in neutral cultural traits should occur over much smaller scales in species with male migration and female enculturation (or the reverse).

Faire croire, faire peur : diabolisation de la sorcellerie et construction de l'altérité à la fin du Moyen Age

L'objectif de ma contribution est de mettre en lumière le processus de construction de la figure du sorcier, qui répond à une double logique d'accumulations et d'exagérations des accusations. Ces dernières renvoient à quatre registres principaux, à commencer par celui de la diabolisation des pratiques de magie et de sorcellerie. Par ailleurs, le sabbat des sorcières est perçu comme une anti-église démoniaque qui réunit une secte éminemment dangereuse d'hérétiques et d'apostats qui ont conclu un pacte avec le diable. Le fantasme du complot ou de la rébellion contribue alors à construire la peur des sectes de sorciers. Enfin, le registre de la contre-nature, tels les crimes immoraux ou tabous associés aux méfaits des sorciers (comportements sexuels déviants, infanticide et cannibalisme d'enfants), favorise quant à lui le dénigrement des individus.

Interactive readings of children's literature in day care: Microgenetic analysis of the semiopictorial construction.

In line with educational issues involved in emergent literacy practices in preschool, in particular those concerning comprehension processes, this paper focuses on picture-based narrative comprehension during an interactive reading session of a wordless picture book, involving a group of children aged three and their teacher. Children are asked to make inferences about the meaning and outcome of the story, a procedure which gradually elicits their responses on how events link together, thus enhancing their capacity to use prior and implicit knowledge to build the story meaning. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of interaction for developing comprehension. Data collected was analysed following didactic microgenesis, an analytical approach showing that knowledge built during interaction depends on the joint construction of a zone of common meaning by which teacher and children try to adjust to each other. In order to help the process of merging different meanings of the story built online, a text written by researchers, following the narrative structure of the story, was read by the teacher after the picture-based reading. This led us to examine through interactional analysis which semiotic cues were used during recall on the following day, as an additional measure of knowledge construction.