Faire connaître la poésie suisse romande outre-Atlantique: Lausanne - New York aller-retour. Récit d'une verticalité entre identité et altérité

Cet article présente la synthèse du travail de traduction à quatre mains par My. Moraz et Tim Keane un collègue new-yorkais des poètes romands Pierre-Alain Tâche et Pierre Chappuis. Nous avons essayé de revenir sur notre manière de travailler et de mettre en relief les choix opérés dans le passage du français à l'anglais dans ce que ces deux langues ont de spécifique.

The Lausanne cohort Lc65+: a population-based prospective study of the manifestations, determinants and outcomes of frailty

BACKGROUND: Frailty is a relatively new geriatric concept referring to an increased vulnerability to stressors. Various definitions have been proposed, as well as a range of multidimensional instruments for its measurement. More recently, a frailty phenotype that predicts a range of adverse outcomes has been described. Understanding frailty is a particular challenge both from a clinical and a public health perspective because it may be a reversible precursor of functional dependence. The Lausanne cohort Lc65+ is a longitudinal study specifically designed to investigate the manifestations of frailty from its first signs in the youngest old, identify medical and psychosocial determinants, and describe its evolution and related outcomes. METHODS/DESIGN: The Lc65+ cohort was launched in 2004 with the random selection of 3054 eligible individuals aged 65 to 70 (birth year 1934-1938) in the non-institutionalized population of Lausanne (Switzerland). The baseline data collection was completed among 1422 participants in 2004-2005 through questionnaires, examination and performance tests. It comprised a wide range of medical and psychosocial dimensions, including a life course history of adverse events. Outcomes measures comprise subjective health, limitations in activities of daily living, mobility impairments, development of medical conditions or chronic health problems, falls, institutionalization, health services utilization, and death. Two additional random samples of 65-70 years old subjects will be surveyed in 2009 (birth year 1939-1943) and in 2014 (birth year 1944-1948). DISCUSSION: The Lc65+ study focuses on the sequence "Determinants --> Components --> Consequences" of frailty. It currently provides information on health in the youngest old and will allow comparisons to be made between the profiles of aging individuals born before, during and at the end of the Second World War.

A short motif in Drosophila SECIS Binding Protein 2 provides differential binding affinity to SECIS RNA hairpins

Selenoproteins contain the amino acid selenocysteine which is encoded by a UGA Sec codon. Recoding UGA Sec requires a complex mechanism, comprising the cis-acting SECIS RNA hairpin in the 3′UTR of selenoprotein mRNAs, and trans-acting factors. Among these, the SECIS Binding Protein 2 (SBP2) is central to the mechanism. SBP2 has been so far functionally characterized only in rats and humans. In this work, we report the characterization of the Drosophila melanogaster SBP2 (dSBP2). Despite its shorter length, it retained the same selenoprotein synthesis-promoting capabilities as the mammalian counterpart. However, a major difference resides in the SECIS recognition pattern: while human SBP2 (hSBP2) binds the distinct form 1 and 2 SECIS RNAs with similar affinities, dSBP2 exhibits high affinity toward form 2 only. In addition, we report the identification of a K (lysine)-rich domain in all SBP2s, essential for SECIS and 60S ribosomal subunit binding, differing from the well-characterized L7Ae RNA-binding domain. Swapping only five amino acids between dSBP2 and hSBP2 in the K-rich domain conferred reversed SECIS-binding properties to the proteins, thus unveiling an important sequence for form 1 binding.

Prevalence of normal weight obesity in Switzerland: effects of various definitions

Background: normal weight obesity (NWO) is defined as an excessive body fat associated with a normal body mass index (BMI<25 kg/m2), but its prevalence in the general population is unknown. Objective: to assess the prevalence of NWO in Switzerland according to different cut points used to define excess body fat. Design: cross-sectional study including 3,213 women and 2,912 men aged 35-75 years. Body fat was assessed by bioimpedance and prevalence of NWO was assessed using four previously published definitions for excess body fat. Results: % body fat increased with age: in men, the values (mean SD) were 20.2 5.4, 23.0 5.4, 26.3 5.2 and 28.2 4.6 for age groups [35 - 44], [45 - 54], [55 - 64] and [65 - 75] years, respectively; the corresponding values for women were 29.9 7.8, 33.1 7.4, 36.7 7.5 and 39.6 6.9. In men, prevalence of NWO was <1% irrespective of the definition used. Conversely, in women, a one to twenty fold difference (from 1.4% to 27.8%) in NWO prevalence was found. The prevalence of NWO increased with age when age-independent cut points were used in women, but not in men. Conclusions: prevalence of NWO is low in the general population and higher in women than in men. The prevalence is highly dependent on the criteria used to define excess body fat, namely in women. The use of gender- and age-specific cut points to define excess body fat is better than fixed or gender-specific only cut points.