Chronique d'une controverse annoncée. Le récit d'urbanisme à l'heure du développement urbain durable

Ce rapport interroge l'émergence de l'agriculture comme nouvelle figure de ce que B. Secchi a appelé le « récit d'urbanisme ». Après avoir rappelé les rapports toujours-déjà controversés de l'urbain au rural, les auteurs s'intéressent à la manière dont différents acteurs mobilisent la nature et l'agriculture pour mettre en récit l'espace urbain, raconter la ville à venir - celle qui devrait voir le jour pour satisfaire à la doxa du développement urbain durable - et produire du consensus dans la production du territoire. L'analyse d'une controverse d'aménagement, celle relative au déclassement d'une parcelle de 58 hectares de zone agricole dans le canton de Genève (Suisse) pour construire 3000 logements ainsi que divers équipements collectifs, permet d'accomplir une généalogie de ce nouveau discours urbanistique. Pour ce faire, quatre types de sources sont mobilisés : des entretiens semi-directifs ; des documents d'urbanisme ; le matériau récolté lors d'une observation participante non déclarée ; la documentation produite à l'occasion de la campagne référendaire liée au déclassement de la parcelle en question ainsi que les commentaires produits sur les différents forums électroniques ouverts à cette occasion. L'analyse permet de dégager trois temps, qui sont trois figures du récit d'urbanisme : la genèse du plan directeur comme épopée d'un territoire (histoire des plans directeurs genevois); le plan de quartier comme roman (observation d'un collectif au travail pour produire un plan d'aménagement approprié à un site et à un programme); les contre-récits d'une controverse (le développement d'une campagne référendaire). La prosopopée du développement urbain durable apparaît ainsi comme une production éminemment intertextuelle et rhizomique - au sens de G. Deleuze et F. Guattari -, inscrite dans un mode de citation des différents produits de cette machine à produire des connaissances qu'est la pratique urbanistique. Au final, l'analyse au long cours proposée ici permet de réfléchir à la nature de cette activité supposément technique et politique qu'est l'urbanisme. Il se pourrait en effet que faire la ville consiste tout naturellement à faire des histoires...

Evaluation des campagnes de prévention contre le SIDA en Suisse : Analyse der Medienreporte : November 1987

Die Analyse der Medienreporte untersucht vor allem Prozesse wie die Verbreitung der Botschaft der Kampagne STOP AIDS durch die Medien, die Verbreitung von informellen und institutionellen Aktionen (zum Beispiel die Aktivitäten zur Aufklärung in den Schulen), die Rolle der Multiplikatoren (Aids-Hilfe, Informanten an öffentlichen Veranstaltungen), den Meinungsbildungsprozess zur Aidsproblematik im allgemeinen und zur Präventionsstrategie im besonderen, soweit dieser in den Medien abgebildet, beziehungsweise von den Medien getragen wird. Im weiteren beachtet die Analyse Rückmeldungen über die Effekte (Resultate) der Kampagne (Beurteilung der Wirkung der Kampagne, zum Beispiel auf das Verhalten von Jugendlichen, Fixern). Die Analyse erfolgt mit Hilfe eines Kategorienschemas. [Autor, p. 2]

Discovery and fine mapping of serum protein loci through transethnic meta-analysis.

Many disorders are associated with altered serum protein concentrations, including malnutrition, cancer, and cardiovascular, kidney, and inflammatory diseases. Although these protein concentrations are highly heritable, relatively little is known about their underlying genetic determinants. Through transethnic meta-analysis of European-ancestry and Japanese genome-wide association studies, we identified six loci at genome-wide significance (p < 5 × 10(-8)) for serum albumin (HPN-SCN1B, GCKR-FNDC4, SERPINF2-WDR81, TNFRSF11A-ZCCHC2, FRMD5-WDR76, and RPS11-FCGRT, in up to 53,190 European-ancestry and 9,380 Japanese individuals) and three loci for total protein (TNFRS13B, 6q21.3, and ELL2, in up to 25,539 European-ancestry and 10,168 Japanese individuals). We observed little evidence of heterogeneity in allelic effects at these loci between groups of European and Japanese ancestry but obtained substantial improvements in the resolution of fine mapping of potential causal variants by leveraging transethnic differences in the distribution of linkage disequilibrium. We demonstrated a functional role for the most strongly associated serum albumin locus, HPN, for which Hpn knockout mice manifest low plasma albumin concentrations. Other loci associated with serum albumin harbor genes related to ribosome function, protein translation, and proteasomal degradation, whereas those associated with serum total protein include genes related to immune function. Our results highlight the advantages of transethnic meta-analysis for the discovery and fine mapping of complex trait loci and have provided initial insights into the underlying genetic architecture of serum protein concentrations and their association with human disease.

Blood pressure loci identified with a gene-centric array.

Raised blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have identified 47 distinct genetic variants robustly associated with BP, but collectively these explain only a few percent of the heritability for BP phenotypes. To find additional BP loci, we used a bespoke gene-centric array to genotype an independent discovery sample of 25,118 individuals that combined hypertensive case-control and general population samples. We followed up four SNPs associated with BP at our p < 8.56 × 10(-7) study-specific significance threshold and six suggestively associated SNPs in a further 59,349 individuals. We identified and replicated a SNP at LSP1/TNNT3, a SNP at MTHFR-NPPB independent (r(2) = 0.33) of previous reports, and replicated SNPs at AGT and ATP2B1 reported previously. An analysis of combined discovery and follow-up data identified SNPs significantly associated with BP at p < 8.56 × 10(-7) at four further loci (NPR3, HFE, NOS3, and SOX6). The high number of discoveries made with modest genotyping effort can be attributed to using a large-scale yet targeted genotyping array and to the development of a weighting scheme that maximized power when meta-analyzing results from samples ascertained with extreme phenotypes, in combination with results from nonascertained or population samples. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and transcript expression data highlight potential gene regulatory mechanisms at the MTHFR and NOS3 loci. These results provide candidates for further study to help dissect mechanisms affecting BP and highlight the utility of studying SNPs and samples that are independent of those studied previously even when the sample size is smaller than that in previous studies.

Intrauterine devices and endometrial cancer risk : a pooled analysis of the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium

Intrauterine devices (IUDs), long-acting and reversible contraceptives, induce a number of immunological and biochemical changes in the uterine environment that could affect endometrial cancer (EC) risk. We addressed this relationship through a pooled analysis of data collected in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium. We combined individual-level data from 4 cohort and 14 case-control studies, in total 8,801 EC cases and 15,357 controls. Using multivariable logistic regression, we estimated pooled odds ratios (pooled-ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for EC risk associated with ever use, type of device, ages at first and last use, duration of use and time since last use, stratified by study and adjusted for confounders. Ever use of IUDs was inversely related to EC risk (pooled-OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74-0.90). Compared with never use, reduced risk of EC was observed for inert IUDs (pooled-OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.58-0.82), older age at first use (≥35 years pooled-OR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.43-0.67), older age at last use (≥45 years pooled-OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.50-0.72), longer duration of use (≥10 years pooled-OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.52-0.71) and recent use (within 1 year of study entry pooled-OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.30-0.49). Future studies are needed to assess the respective roles of detection biases and biologic effects related to foreign body responses in the endometrium, heavier bleeding (and increased clearance of carcinogenic cells) and localized hormonal changes.

Kartagener syndrome: an uncommon cause of neonatal respiratory distress?

We report a newborn with respiratory distress and situs inversus totalis. The diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia was confirmed by both ultrastructural and functional investigations. The immotile cilia syndrome was suspected because of respiratory distress, situs inversus, abnormal nasal discharge and hyperinflated chest X-ray. We suggest that ultrastructural and functional investigations of the respiratory mucosa should be done in any newborn with respiratory distress without explanation for the respiratory problems. Establishment of the correct diagnosis at an early stage may allow to improve the prognosis provided prophylactic physiotherapy, vaccinations, and aggressive antibiotic treatment of intercurrent respiratory infections are instituted. CONCLUSION Despite its rarity, primary ciliary dyskinesia should be considered in unexplained cases of neonatal distress.

Modification du style de vie : une alternative au traitement pharmacologique lors d'hypertension modérée

[But de l'étude] Il s'agit d'effectuer un projet pilote afin de développer la méthodologie pour une large étude et d'en examiner les possibilités de réalisation. Cette large étude devrait permettre de tester l'hypothèse qu'une thérapeutique non médicamenteuse de l'hypertension artérielle modérée est une alternative valable au traitement chimiothérapeutique en termes de résultats cliniques et de rapport coût/efficacité. [Auteurs, p. 4]

CUBN is a gene locus for albuminuria.

Identification of genetic risk factors for albuminuria may alter strategies for early prevention of CKD progression, particularly among patients with diabetes. Little is known about the influence of common genetic variants on albuminuria in both general and diabetic populations. We performed a meta-analysis of data from 63,153 individuals of European ancestry with genotype information from genome-wide association studies (CKDGen Consortium) and from a large candidate gene study (CARe Consortium) to identify susceptibility loci for the quantitative trait urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and the clinical diagnosis microalbuminuria. We identified an association between a missense variant (I2984V) in the CUBN gene, which encodes cubilin, and both UACR (P = 1.1 × 10(-11)) and microalbuminuria (P = 0.001). We observed similar associations among 6981 African Americans in the CARe Consortium. The associations between this variant and both UACR and microalbuminuria were significant in individuals of European ancestry regardless of diabetes status. Finally, this variant associated with a 41% increased risk for the development of persistent microalbuminuria during 20 years of follow-up among 1304 participants with type 1 diabetes in the prospective DCCT/EDIC Study. In summary, we identified a missense CUBN variant that associates with levels of albuminuria in both the general population and in individuals with diabetes.