La relation intentionnelle dans la tradition aristotélicienne : étude de la réception des textes d'Aristote sur les corrélats psychiques

Ce travail a pour but d'identifier, dans la tradition aristotélicienne, un type particulier de relation entre les activités psychiques et leurs objets, une relation intentionnelle, exprimant la pure visée, et donc irréductible tant à une relation causale qu'à une relation de conformité (ou « aléthique ») des activités psychiques à la réalité. Après une étude des relations psychiques chez Aristote lui-même, le travail se tourne vers la réception de ses textes, plus précisément vers la réception de Catégories VII et, surtout, de Métaphysique Δ, 15. Durant l'Antiquité déjà, certains aristotéliciens - Alexandre d'Aphrodise, les néoplatoniciens - ont admis, sous l'autorité de Métaphysique Δ, 15, un concept de relation intentionnelle dans leur psychologie. Au Moyen-âge, de nombreux auteurs ont procédé de même. Alors que certains philosophes, à commencer par Thomas d'Aquin, ont réduit la dimension relationnelle du psychisme à la causalité exercée par la réalité sur l'activité psychique ou à la conformité de l'activité psychique à la réalité, d'autres, notamment Duns Scot, ont reconnu, sur la base de Métaphysique Δ, 15, un type de relation à l'objet n'exprimant rien d'autre que la pure visée. À la fin du 19e siècle, Brentano lisait Aristote de la même manière: la relation intentionnelle, irréductible à une relation causale ou à une relation de conformité, a ses origines en Métaphysique Δ, 15. En somme, ce travail analyse, d'Aristote à Brentano, les liens entre intentionnalité, causalité et vérité.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) breeding biology in relation to breeding season climate

Winter weather has a strong influence on Barn Owl (Tyto alba) breeding biology. Here, we analyzed the impacts of weather conditions on reproductive performance during the breeding season using data collected over 22 years in a Swiss Barn Owl population. Variations in rain and temperature during the breeding season played an important role in within-year variation in Barn Owl reproduction. An increase in rainfall during the period from 4 to 2 weeks preceding egg laying had a positive effect on clutch size. In contrast, fledgling body mass was negatively influenced by rainfall during the 24 h preceding the measurements. Finally, ambient temperature during the rearing period was positively associated with brood size at fledging. In conclusion, weather conditions during the breeding season place constraints on Barn Owl reproduction.

Variation in the proportion of flower visitors of Arum maculatum along its distributional range in relation with community‐based climatic niche analyses

Here, we investigate the geographical constancy in the specificity level of the specialized lure-and-trap pollination antagonism involving the widespread European Arum maculatum and its associated Psychodid pollinators. Until now, studies concurred in demonstrating that one single insect species, Psychoda phalaenoides, efficiently cross-pollinated plants; researches were, however, performed locally in western Europe. In this study we characterize for the first time the flower visitors' composition at the scale of the distribution range of A. maculatum by intensively collecting plants and insects throughout the European continent. We further correlate local climatic characteristics with the community composition of visiting arthropods.Our results show that flowers are generally visited by P. phalaenoides females, but not over the whole distribution range of the plant. In some regions this fly species is less frequent or even absent and another species, Psycha grisescens, becomes the prevailing visitor. This variability is geographically structured and can be explained by climatic factors: the proportion of P. grisescens increases with higher annual precipitations and lower precipitations in the warmest trimester, two characteristics typical of the Mediterranean zone. Climate thus seems driving the specificity of this interaction, by potentially affecting the phenology of one or both interacting species, or even of volatile and heat production in the plant. This result therefore challenges the specificity of other presumably one-to-one interactions covering wide distribution ranges, and provides an example of the direct effect that the abiotic environment can have on the fate of plant-insect interactions.

Use of a Mendelian randomization approach to assess the causal relation of gamma-Glutamyltransferase with blood pressure and serum insulin levels.

Elevated levels of γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) have been associated with elevated blood pressure (BP) and diabetes. However, the causality of these relations has not been addressed. The authors performed a cross-sectional analysis (2003-2006) among 4,360 participants from the population-based Cohorte Lausannoise (CoLaus) Study (Lausanne, Switzerland). The rs2017869 variant of the γ-glutamyltransferase 1 (GGT1) gene, which explained 1.6% of the variance in GGT levels, was used as an instrument for Mendelian randomization (MR). Sex-specific GGT quartiles were strongly associated with both systolic and diastolic BP (all P's < 0.0001). After multivariable adjustment, these relations were attenuated but remained significant. Using MR, the authors observed no positive association of GGT with BP (systolic: β -5.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): -11.51, 0.16 (P = 0.06); diastolic: β = -2.24, 95% CI: -5.98, 1.49 (P = 0.24)). The association of GGT with insulin was also attenuated after multivariable adjustment but persisted in the fully adjusted model (β = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.09; P < 0.0001). Using MR, the authors also observed a positive association of GGT with insulin (β = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.37; P = 0.04). In conclusion, the authors found evidence for a direct causal relation of GGT with fasting insulin but not with BP.

French summaries of product characteristics: content in relation to therapeutic monitoring of psychotropic drugs.

The prescription information (summary of product characteristics, SPC) is compiled by the pharmaceutical industry as required by the national regulatory authorities. They vary in their content about the properties of drugs and about the usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the blood of patients. Based on a previous study carried out in Germany, the degree of agreement of French SPC for 59 psychotropic drugs with the existing medico-scientific evidence in the area of TDM was examined using a recently developed instrument. A summary score of SPC content (SPCC) related to TDM (SPCC(TDM)) has been calculated and compared with the level of recommendation of TDM of the AGNP-TDM expert group consensus guidelines for TDM in psychiatry [AGNP: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Neuropsychopharmakologie und Pharmakopsychiatrie (Association for neuropsychopharmacology and pharmacopsychiatry)]. Among the antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquillizers/hypnotic agents and mood stabilizers, the highest SPCC(TDM) scores in the French SPC were reached for imipramine (16), haloperidol (6), clonazepam (8) and lithium (23), respectively. Results were similar to those obtained from the analysis of German SPC, and considerable disagreement was found between the information on TDM in SPC and existing medico-scientific evidence, albeit less in the case of mood stabilizers. Taking into account the recommendations of the AGNP-TDM expert group guidelines, there is a deficit in the French SPC concerning TDM-relevant information. An amelioration of this situation could help to improve the clinical practice of TDM of psychotropic drugs, as the SPC is a widely used tool.

Flight energetics in relation to sexual differences in the mating behaviour of a mayfly, Siphlonurus aestivalis

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are known to have short adult life-spans. Adults are unable to feed, and they utilize reserves stored during their aquatic larval stage. Energy reserves (fat, glycogen, and free sugars) of mature larvae, subimagoes and imagoes of both sexes of Siphlonurus aestivalis Eaton were compared. All the stages of both sexes had low glycogen and free sugar contents, and the only significant change occurred during the transformation of the mature larva to subimago when almost all the reserves of free sugars were used up. Glycogen and free sugars may serve as energy sources permitting individuals to swim and fly out of the water during emergence. Fat made up most of the energy reserves of mature larvae and was the main source of energy used during the final development of both sexes. Young adult males had high fat reserves which they used as a source of energy for their swarming flights. In contrast, females did not seem to use a significant amount of fat for flight. This difference is probably related to the different mating strategies of the sexes in this species. Males perform long flights waiting for females, whereas females perform only brief flights to mate and reproduce.

A Candidate HIV/AIDS Vaccine (MVA-B) that Enhances the Magnitude and Polyfunctionality of Memory HIV-1-Specific T-Cell Responses

Background: The poxvirus vector Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) expressing HIV-1 Env, Gag, Pol and Nef antigens from clade B (MVA-B) is currently used as a HIV/AIDS vaccine candidate. A general strategy to try to improve the immunogenicity of poxvirus HIV-1 vaccine candidates is the deletion of known or suggested immunomodulatory vaccinia virus (VACV) genes.Methods: We have generated and characterized the innate immune sensing and the immunogenicity profile of a new HIV-1 vaccine candidate, which contains a deletion in a VACV gene.Results: We show that this VACV protein is expressed early during virus infection and localizes to the cytoplasm of infected cells. Deletion of this VACV gene from the MVA-B had no effect on virus growth kinetics; therefore this VACV protein is not essential for virus replication. The innate immune signals elicited by the MVA-B deletion mutant in human macrophages and monocyte-derived dendritic cells were characterized. In a DNA prime/MVA boost immunization protocol in mice, flow cytometry analysis revealed that the MVA-B deletion mutant enhanced the magnitude and polyfunctionality of the HIV-1-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell memory immune responses, with most of the HIV-1 responses mediated by the CD8 + T-cell compartment with an effector phenotype. Significantly, while MVA-B induced preferentially Env- and Gag-specific CD8 + T-cell responses, the MVA-B deletion mutant induced more GPN-specific CD8 + T-cell responses. Furthermore, the MVA-B deletion mutant enhanced the levels of antibodies against Env in comparison with MVA-B.Conclusion: These findings revealed that this new VACV protein can be considered as an immunomodulator and that deleting this gene in MVA-B confers an immunological benefit by inducing innate immune responses and increasing the magnitude and quality of the T-cell memory immune responses to HIV-1 antigens. Our observations are relevant for the improvement of MVA vectors as HIV-1 vaccines.

The role of cisplatin and NAMI-A plasma-protein interactions in relation to combination therapy

The aim of the study is to evaluate the differences of protein binding of NAMI-A, a new ruthenium drug endowed with selective antimetastatic properties, and of cisplatin and to ascertain the possibility to use two drugs based on heavy metals in combination to treat solid tumour metastases. For this purpose, we have developed a technique that allows the proteins, to which metal drugs bind, to be identified from real protein mixtures. Following incubation with the drugs, the bands containing platinum and/or ruthenium are separated by native PAGE, SDS-PAGE and 2D gel electrophoresis, and identified using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Both drugs interact with essentially the same proteins which, characterised by proteomics, are human serum albumin precursor, macroglobulin alpha 2 and human serotransferrin precursor. The interactions of NAMI-A are largely reversible whereas cisplatin forms stronger interactions that are less reversible. These data correlate well with the MCa mammary carcinoma model on which full doses of NAMI-A combined with cisplatin show additive effects as compared to each treatment taken alone, independently of whether NAMI-A precedes or follows cisplatin. Furthermore, the implication from this study is that the significantly lower toxicity of NAMI-A, compared to cisplatin, could be a consequence of differences in the mode of binding to plasma proteins, involving weaker interactions compared to cisplatin.