Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from Eretria, Greece: 8th Cent. BC Graffiti from the Sanctuary of Apollo Daphnephoros

La transmission de l'alphabet aux Grecs est un sujet encore très débattu. Les plus anciennes inscriptions alphabétiques grecques datent du VIIIe s. av. J.-C. et une majorité d'entre elles a été trouvée dans des sites eubéens. Une trentaine a été mise au jour à Erétrie, dont 26 proviennent du sanctuaire d'Apollon Daphnéphoros. Ces inscriptions, pour la plupart inscrites sur des coupes à boire, contribuaient à personnaliser des offrandes ou à leur donner de la valeur. Le sanctuaire et les pratiques rituelles qui s'y déroulaient offraient un cadre propice à l'usage précoce de l'écriture, au moment où la polis grecque se constituait.

Dépendances [Addiction]

The 2009 news in medicine regarding dependence confirm the bio-psycho-social field of addiction medicine and psychiatry. First a statement is made about the risk of cardiac arythmy in opioid substitution treatments. Then a review of the treatment of C hepatitis shows its importance in an addicted population. In the field of cognitive neuroscience, progress has been made in the knowledge of "craving" and of its endophenotypical components. Electronic medias related disorders are on the border of addiction: a case study is exploring this new domain. At last, recent datas are presented on the relationship between cannabis and psychosis. Les nouveautés en médecine 2009 concernant les dépendances confirment l'étendue du champ bio-psychosocial de la médecine et de la psychiatrie de l'addiction. Tout d'abord un point de situation est fait sur le risque d'arythmie cardiaque dans les traitements de substitution opiacée. Puis une revue de l'actualité du traitement de l'hépatite C dans la toxicodépendance en montre la pertinence. Sur le plan de la recherche plus fondamentale, les neurosciences cognitives progressent dans l'approche de la nature du craving et de ses composantes endophénotypiques. Les troubles liés aux médias électroniques illustrent les frontières de l'addiction : une étude de cas vient en explorer le contenu. Enfin, des données récentes sur les rapports entre cannabis et psychoses sont présentées.

New insights into the long-term evolutionary history of the avian MHC

SummaryGene duplication and neofunctidnalization are important processes in the evolution of phenotypic complexity. They account for important evolutionary novelties that confer ecological adaptation, such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a multigene family with a central role in vertebrates' adaptive immune system. Multigene families, which evolved in large part through duplication, represent promising systems to study the still strongly depbated relative roles of neutral and adaptive processes in the evolution of phenotypic complexity. Detailed knowledge on ecological function and a well-characterized evolutionary history place the mammals' MHC amongst ideal study systems. However mammalian MHCs usually encompass several million base pairs and hold a large number of functional and non-functional duplicate genes, which makes their study complex. Avian MHCs on the other hand are usually way more compact, but the reconstruction of. their evolutionary history has proven notoriously difficult. However, no focused attempt has been undertaken so far to study the avian MHC evolutionary history in a broad phylogenetic context and using adequate gene regions.In the present PhD, we were able to make important contributions to the understanding of the long-term evolution of the avian MHC class II Β (MHCI1B). First, we isolated and characterized MHCIIB genes in barn owl (Tyto alba?, Strigiformes, Tytonidae), a species from an avian lineage in which MHC has not been studied so far. Our results revealed that with only two functional MHCIIB genes the MHC organization of barn owl may be similar to the 'minimal essential' MHC of chicken (Gallus gallus), indicating that simple MHC organization may be ancestral to birds. Taking advantage of the sequence information from barn owl, we studied the evolution of MHCIIB genes in 13 additional species of 'typical' owls (Strigiformes, Strigidae). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that according to their function, in owls the peptide-binding region (PBR) encoding exon 2 and the non-PBR encoding exon 3 evolve by different patterns. Exon 2 exhibited an evolutionary history of positive selection and recombination, while exon 3 traced duplication history and revealed two paralogs evolving divergently from each other in owls, and in a shorebird, the great snipe {Gallinago media). The results from exon 3 were the first ever from birds to demonstrate gene orthology in species that diverged tens of millions of years ago, and strongly questioned whether the taxa studied before provided an adequate picture of avian MHC evolution. In a follow-up study, we aimed at explaining a striking pattern revealed by phylogenetic trees analyzing the owl sequences along with MHCIIB sequences from other birds: One owl paralog (termed DAB1) grouped with sequences of passerines and falcons, while the other (DAB2) grouped with wildfowl, penguins and birds of prey. This could be explained by either a duplication event preceding the evolution of these bird orders, or by convergent evolution of similar sequences in a number of orders. With extensive phylogenetic analyses we were able to show, that indeed a duplication event preceeded the major avian radiation -100 my ago, and that following this duplication, the paralogs evolved under positive selection. Furthermore, we showed that the divergently evolving amino acid residues in the MHCIIB-encoded β-chain potentially interact with the MHCI I α-chain, and that molecular coevolution of the interacting residues may have been involved in the divergent evolution of the MHCIIB paralogs.The findings of this PhD are of particular interest to the understanding of the evolutionary history of the avian MHC and, by providing essential information on long-term gene history in the avian MHC, open promising perspectives for advances in the understanding of the evolution of multigene families in general, and for avian MHC organization in particular. Amongst others I discuss the importance of including protein structure in the phylogenetic study of multigene families, and the roles of ecological versus molecular selection pressures. I conclude by providing a population genomic perspective on avian MHC, which may serve as a basis for future research to investigate the relative roles of neutral processes involving effective population size effects and of adaptation in the evolution of avian MHC diversity and organization.RésuméLa duplication de gènes et leur néo-fonctionnalisation sont des processus importants dans l'évolution de la complexité phénotypique. Ils sont impliqués dans l'apparition d'importantes nouveautés évolutives favorisant l'adaptation écologique, comme c'est le cas pour le complexe majeur d'histocompatibilité

Prévention primaire et dépistage chez l'adulte: mise a jour 2014 [Primary prevention and screening in adults: update 2014].

Cet article propose une mise à jour des recommandations pour le bilan de santé et la prévention primaire et secondaire de nombreuses maladies cardiovasculaires et oncologiques. Les nouveautés pour le dépistage des cancers concernent essentiellement les cancers colorectal, du poumon et de la prostate. Pour la prévention des maladies cardiovasculaires, le dépistage de la sténose de l'artère carotidienne n'est toujours pas recommandé. Les preuves de la littérature sont insuffisantes pour recommander le dépistage de l'artériopathie coronarienne ou périphérique chez les patients asymptomatiques. Le partage de l'information et de la décision entre le médecin et le patient est à privilégier lorsqu'il existe une incertitude quant à l'efficacité d'une intervention. This article provides an update on the recommendations for the routine check-up and the primary and secondary prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Changes for cancer screening affect mainly colorectal, lung and prostate cancers. In the area of cardiovascular disease prevention, screening for carotid artery stenosis is still not recommended. The current evidence is insufficient to recommend screening for coronary heart disease or peripheral artery disease in asymptomatic patients. Shared information and decision making between physician and patient is recommended when there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of an intervention.

Addictions [Addiction].

Les nouveautés en médecine 2012 pour les dépendances sont présentées sur trois axes d'actualité : tout d'abord dans le champ des neurosciences avec les travaux sur les processus d'extinction de la mémoire addictive. Puis dans le champ clinique avec une réflexion sur le traitement des addictions à l'hôpital psychiatrique. Enfin, dans le domaine de l'enseignement, un développement d'e-learning avec un patient virtuel présente un grand intérêt en psychiatrie de l'addiction. This year, the actuality about addiction is on psychopharmacology, in the controversy about the prescription of baclofene to reduce the craving for alcohol. More results from controlled studies are expected. The development of smartphones to access toe-Health skills is questionable, especially in matterofevaluation of these programs. Despite of encouraging results, open questions are remaining for clinicians, to be compared with clinical practice. Finally, it is necessary to keep in touch with translational neurosciences; in fact, research is showing that populations of addicts present a deficit in matter of empathy. This is the cause of a handicap in the social relationships. At a lower level, a difficulty to take the other's place could be the cause of this deficit at a higher level. Rehabilitation perspectives could come out of this discovery.