"Acheiro-poïétique" du cinéma: le Christ révélé par l'écran

Selon la tradition orientale, les représentations de Jésus trouveraient toutes leur origine dans les images acheiropoïètes, c'est-à-dire dans des figurations de la "Sainte Face" du Christ non faites de main d'homme, mais survenues par apparition divine -sur le voile de Véronique, le Saint Suaire, le mandylion d'Edesse, etc. Ces images qui, pour des théologiens de l'icône tels que Léonide Ouspensky, ne sont rien moins que "la manifestation du miracle fondamental : la venue du Créateur dans sa création" (in L'Image du Christ non faite de main d'homme, 1989), ont toujours été le ferment d'expérimentations multiples chez les peintres et les sculpteurs.Mais la réflexion artistique s'est cristallisée au moment où ces images sont devenues l'apanage de médiums issus de "l'ère de la reproductibilité technique" chère à Benjamin. En effet, les images "théographes" auraient pour spécificité d'être engendrées et de se multiplier par empreinte immédiate: une toile quelconque n'aurait qu'à être touchée par le visage du Christ pour devenir instantanément le support du divin portrait, et acquérir dès lors le "pouvoir reconnu aux acheiropoïètes de créer des doubles de même valeur, par simple contact" (François Boespflug, Dieu et ses images. Une histoire de l'Eternel dans l'art, 2008). Comment mieux faire écho aux principes mêmes de l'image (ciné)photographique, générée par indicialité et reproductibilité? André Bazin a eu l'intuition de cette parenté dans le cadre de sa théorisation sur le pouvoir "révélateur" de l'image (ciné)photographique qui selon lui procéderait "par sa genèse" de "l'ontologie du modèle" et "serait" le modèle; il a évoqué le Saint Suaire de Turin comme rejouant, voire emblématisant cette même "ontologie de l'image photographique" (dans l'article homonyme de 1945). Si Bazin ne développe pas plus avant ses considérations, la corrélation des dispositifs (ciné)photographique et acheiropoïète a connu un questionnement « en actes », au sein des films cherchant à représenter Jésus.Valentine Robert s'intéresse à ces expérimentations, à commencer par un projet de film d'Abel Gance de 1947, resté inachevé, où le suaire de Turin devait se transformer en écran de cinéma. Plusieurs autres productions seront abordées, telles que Civilization ou The Robe, qui explorent les effets visuels permis par la pellicule pour montrer le Christ en surimpression, dans une sorte d'"apparition technologique", ou telles que The Jesus Film ou The Passion of the Christ, dont la projection a été reçue par certains publics comme une apparition sacrée réactualisant l'Incarnation. Les modalités de la représentation des images acheiropoïètes et plus généralement de l'apparition de Jésus à l'écran seront enfin évoquées - de la tradition hollywoodiennes qui consistait à refuser l'accès de la "Sainte Face" à la pellicule et de la rejeter hors-champ jusqu'aux séquences d'Ecce Homo de Scorsese et Zeffirelli, en passant par la révélation visuelle inaugurant The King of Kings, qui pousse à son paroxysme la collusion entre apparition divine et apparition cinématographique.

Electrocardiographic findings in a middle-aged African population in the Seychelles islands.

This study describes major electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements and diagnoses in a population of African individuals; most reference data have been collected in Caucasian populations and evidence exists for interethnic differences in ECG findings. This study was conducted in the Seychelles islands (Indian Ocean) and included 709 black individuals (343 men and 366 women) aged 25 to 64 years randomly selected from the general population. Resting ECG were recorded by using a validated ECG unit equipped with a measurement and interpretation software (Cardiovit AT-6, Schiller, Switzerland). The epidemiology of 14 basic ECG measurements, 6 composite criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy and 19 specific ECG diagnoses including abnormal rhythms, conduction abnormalities, repolarization abnormalities, and myocardial infarction were examined. Substantial gender and age differences were found for several ECG parameters. Moreover, tracings recorded in African individuals of the Seychelles differed from those collected similarly in Caucasian populations in many respects. For instance, heart rate was approximately 5 beats per minute lower in the African individuals than in selected Caucasian populations, prevalence of first degree atrio-ventricular block was especially high (4.8%), and the average Sokolow-Lyon voltage was markedly higher in African individuals of the Seychelles compared with black and white Americans. The integrated interpretation software detected "old myocardial infarction" in 3.8% of men and 0% of women and "old myocardial infarction possible" in 6.1% and 3%, respectively. Cardiac infarction injury scores are also provided. In conclusion, the study provides reference values for ECG findings in a specific population of people of African descent and stresses the need to systematically consider gender, age, and ethnicity when interpreting ECG tracings in individuals.

Responsiveness to a physiological regimen of GnRH therapy and relation to genotype in women with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

CONTEXT: Isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is caused by defective GnRH secretion or action resulting in absent or incomplete pubertal development and infertility. Most women with IHH ovulate with physiological GnRH replacement, implicating GnRH deficiency as the etiology. However, a subset does not respond normally, suggesting the presence of defects at the pituitary or ovary. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to unmask pituitary or ovarian defects in IHH women using a physiological regimen of GnRH replacement, relating these responses to genes known to cause IHH. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS: This study is a retrospective analysis of 37 IHH women treated with iv pulsatile GnRH (75 ng/kg per bolus). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum gonadotropin and sex steroid levels were measured, and 14 genes implicated in IHH were sequenced. RESULTS: During their first cycle of GnRH replacement, normal cycles were recreated in 60% (22 of 37) of IHH women. Thirty percent of women (12 of 37) demonstrated an attenuated gonadotropin response, indicating pituitary resistance, and 10% (3 of 37) exhibited an exaggerated FSH response, consistent with ovarian resistance. Mutations in CHD7, FGFR1, KAL1, TAC3, and TACR3 were documented in IHH women with normal cycles, whereas mutations were identified in GNRHR, PROKR2, and FGFR1 in those with pituitary resistance. Women with ovarian resistance were mutation negative. CONCLUSIONS: Although physiological replacement with GnRH recreates normal menstrual cycle dynamics in most IHH women, hypogonadotropic responses in the first week of treatment identify a subset of women with pituitary dysfunction, only some of whom have mutations in GNRHR. IHH women with hypergonadotropic responses to GnRH replacement, consistent with an additional ovarian defect, did not have mutations in genes known to cause IHH, similar to our findings in a subset of IHH men with evidence of an additional testicular defect.

Genome-wide association study identifies variants associated with progression of liver fibrosis from HCV infection.

Polymorphisms in IL28B were shown to affect clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in genome-wide association (GWA) studies. Only a fraction of patients with chronic HCV infection develop liver fibrosis, a process that might also be affected by genetic factors. We performed a 2-stage GWA study of liver fibrosis progression related to HCV infection. We studied well-characterized HCV-infected patients of European descent who underwent liver biopsies before treatment. We defined various liver fibrosis phenotypes on the basis of METAVIR scores, with and without taking the duration of HCV infection into account. Our GWA analyses were conducted on a filtered primary cohort of 1161 patients using 780,650 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We genotyped 96 SNPs with P values <5 × 10(-5) from an independent replication cohort of 962 patients. We then assessed the most interesting replicated SNPs using DNA samples collected from 219 patients who participated in separate GWA studies of HCV clearance. In the combined cohort of 2342 HCV-infected patients, the SNPs rs16851720 (in the total sample) and rs4374383 (in patients who received blood transfusions) were associated with fibrosis progression (P(combined) = 8.9 × 10(-9) and 1.1 × 10(-9), respectively). The SNP rs16851720 is located within RNF7, which encodes an antioxidant that protects against apoptosis. The SNP rs4374383, together with another replicated SNP, rs9380516 (P(combined) = 5.4 × 10(-7)), were linked to the functionally related genes MERTK and TULP1, which encode factors involved in phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by macrophages. Our GWA study identified several susceptibility loci for HCV-induced liver fibrosis; these were linked to genes that regulate apoptosis. Apoptotic control might therefore be involved in liver fibrosis.

L'impossible générique de fin : Blaise Cendrars et le cinéma

L'article veut montrer à quel point le cinéma est d'abord une fiction de mots pour Blaise Cendrars, qui fut pourtant assistant d'Abel Gance, figurant, scénariste et même réalisateur. Le cinéma fut une passion, un art nouveau perçu comme LE révélateur de l'âme humaine. Aucun film ne subsiste parmi les archives, alors que les projets rédigés sont nombreux.

IL28B alleles associated with poor hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance protect against inflammation and fibrosis in patients infected with non-1 HCV genotypes.

Genetic polymorphisms near IL28B are associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV), two processes that require the appropriate activation of the host immune responses. Intrahepatic inflammation is believed to mirror such activation, but its relationship with IL28B polymorphisms has yet to be fully appreciated. We analyzed the association of IL28B polymorphisms with histological and follow-up features in 2335 chronically HCV-infected Caucasian patients. Assessable phenotypes before any antiviral treatment included necroinflammatory activity (n = 1,098), fibrosis (n = 1,527), fibrosis progression rate (n = 1,312), and hepatocellular carcinoma development (n = 1,915). Associations of alleles with the phenotypes were evaluated by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression, accounting for all relevant covariates. The rare G allele at IL28B marker rs8099917-previously shown to be at risk of treatment failure-was associated with lower activity (P = 0.04), lower fibrosis (P = 0.02) with a trend toward lower fibrosis progression rate (P = 0.06). When stratified according to HCV genotype, most significant associations were observed in patients infected with non-1 genotypes (P = 0.003 for activity, P = 0.001 for fibrosis, and P = 0.02 for fibrosis progression rate), where the odds ratio of having necroinflammation or rapid fibrosis progression for patients with IL28B genotypes TG or GG versus TT were 0.48 (95% confidence intervals 0.30-0.78) and 0.56 (0.35-0.92), respectively. IL28B polymorphisms were not predictive of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. CONCLUSION: In chronic hepatitis C, IL28B variants associated with poor response to interferon therapy may predict slower fibrosis progression, especially in patients infected with non-1 HCV genotypes.

Oxidative phosphorylation flexibility in the liver of mice resistant to high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis.

OBJECTIVE To identify metabolic pathways that may underlie susceptibility or resistance to high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We performed comparative transcriptomic analysis of the livers of A/J and C57Bl/6 mice, which are, respectively, resistant and susceptible to high-fat diet-induced hepatosteatosis and obesity. Mice from both strains were fed a normal chow or a high-fat diet for 2, 10, and 30 days, and transcriptomic data were analyzed by time-dependent gene set enrichment analysis. Biochemical analysis of mitochondrial respiration was performed to confirm the transcriptomic analysis. RESULTS Time-dependent gene set enrichment analysis revealed a rapid, transient, and coordinate upregulation of 13 oxidative phosphorylation genes after initiation of high-fat diet feeding in the A/J, but not in the C57Bl/6, mouse livers. Biochemical analysis using liver mitochondria from both strains of mice confirmed a rapid increase by high-fat diet feeding of the respiration rate in A/J but not C57Bl/6 mice. Importantly, ATP production was the same in both types of mitochondria, indicating increased uncoupling of the A/J mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS Together with previous data showing increased expression of mitochondrial β-oxidation genes in C57Bl/6 but not A/J mouse livers, our present study suggests that an important aspect of the adaptation of livers to high-fat diet feeding is to increase the activity of the oxidative phosphorylation chain and its uncoupling to dissipate the excess of incoming metabolic energy and to reduce the production of reactive oxygen species. The flexibility in oxidative phosphorylation activity may thus participate in the protection of A/J mouse livers against the initial damages induced by high-fat diet feeding that may lead to hepatosteatosis.