Character Networks and Centrality

A character network represents relations between characters from a text; the relations are based on text proximity, shared scenes/events, quoted speech, etc. Our project sketches a theoretical framework for character network analysis, bringing together narratology, both close and distant reading approaches, and social network analysis. It is in line with recent attempts to automatise the extraction of literary social networks (Elson, 2012; Sack, 2013) and other studies stressing the importance of character- systems (Woloch, 2003; Moretti, 2011). The method we use to build the network is direct and simple. First, we extract co-occurrences from a book index, without the need for text analysis. We then describe the narrative roles of the characters, which we deduce from their respective positions in the network, i.e. the discourse. As a case study, we use the autobiographical novel Les Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We start by identifying co-occurrences of characters in the book index of our edition (Slatkine, 2012). Subsequently, we compute four types of centrality: degree, closeness, betweenness, eigenvector. We then use these measures to propose a typology of narrative roles for the characters. We show that the two parts of Les Confessions, written years apart, are structured around mirroring central figures that bear similar centrality scores. The first part revolves around the mentor of Rousseau; a figure of openness. The second part centres on a group of schemers, depicting a period of deep paranoia. We also highlight characters with intermediary roles: they provide narrative links between the societies in the life of the author. The method we detail in this complete case study of character network analysis can be applied to any work documented by an index. Un réseau de personnages modélise les relations entre les personnages d'un récit : les relations sont basées sur une forme de proximité dans le texte, l'apparition commune dans des événements, des citations dans des dialogues, etc. Notre travail propose un cadre théorique pour l'analyse des réseaux de personnages, rassemblant narratologie, close et distant reading, et analyse des réseaux sociaux. Ce travail prolonge les tentatives récentes d'automatisation de l'extraction de réseaux sociaux tirés de la littérature (Elson, 2012; Sack, 2013), ainsi que les études portant sur l'importance des systèmes de personnages (Woloch, 2003; Moretti, 2011). La méthode que nous utilisons pour construire le réseau est directe et simple. Nous extrayons les co-occurrences d'un index sans avoir recours à l'analyse textuelle. Nous décrivons les rôles narratifs des personnages en les déduisant de leurs positions relatives dans le réseau, donc du discours. Comme étude de cas, nous avons choisi le roman autobiographique Les Confessions, de Jean- Jacques Rousseau. Nous déduisons les co-occurrences entre personnages de l'index présent dans l'édition Slatkine (Rousseau et al., 2012). Sur le réseau obtenu, nous calculons quatre types de centralité : le degré, la proximité, l'intermédiarité et la centralité par vecteur propre. Nous utilisons ces mesures pour proposer une typologie des rôles narratifs des personnages. Nous montrons que les deux parties des Confessions, écrites à deux époques différentes, sont structurées autour de deux figures centrales, qui obtiennent des mesures de centralité similaires. La première partie est construite autour du mentor de Rousseau, qui a symbolisé une grande ouverture. La seconde partie se focalise sur un groupe de comploteurs, et retrace une période marquée par la paranoïa chez l'auteur. Nous mettons également en évidence des personnages jouant des rôles intermédiaires, et de fait procurant un lien narratif entre les différentes sociétés couvrant la vie de l'auteur. La méthode d'analyse des réseaux de personnages que nous décrivons peut être appliquée à tout texte de fiction comportant un index.

The impact of pre- and post-natal contexts on immunity, glucocorticoids and oxidative stress resistance in wild and domesticated grey partridges

Genetic background, prenatal and post-natal early-life conditions influence the development of interconnected physiological systems and thereby shape the phenotype. Certain combinations of genotypes and pre- and post-natal conditions may provide higher fitness in a specific environmental context. Here, we investigated how grey partridges Perdix perdix of two strains (wild and domesticated) cope physiologically with pre- and post-natal predictable vs. unpredictable food supply. Food unpredictability occurs frequently in wild environments and requires physiological and behavioural adjustments. Well-orchestrated and efficient physiological systems are presumably more vital in a wild environment as compared to captivity. We thus predicted that wild-strain grey partridges have a stronger immunity, glucocorticoid (GC) stress response and oxidative stress resistance (OSR) than domesticated birds, which have undergone adaptations to captivity. We also predicted that wild-strain birds react more strongly to environmental stimuli and, when faced with harsh prenatal conditions, are better able to prepare their offspring for similarly poor post-natal conditions than birds of domesticated origin. We found that wild-strain offspring were physiologically better prepared for stressful situations as compared to the domesticated strain. They had a high GC stress response and a high OSR when kept under predictable food supply. Wild-strain parents reacted to prenatal unpredictable food supply by lowering their offspring's GC stress response, which potentially lowered GC-induced oxidative pressure. No such pattern was evident in the domesticated birds. Irrespective of strain and prenatal feeding scheme, post-natal unpredictable food supply boosted immune indices, and GC stress response was negatively related to antibody response in females and to mitochondrial superoxide production. Wild-strain grey partridge showed fitness-relevant physiological advantages and appeared to prepare their offspring for the prospective environment. Negative relationships between GC stress response, immunity and oxidative indices imply a pivotal role of an organism's oxidative balance and support the importance of considering multiple physiological systems simultaneously.

Establishment of a reliable laser-Induced Choroidal Neovascularization Animal Model

Purpose: Pathologic choroidal neovascularizations (CNV) are implicated in the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Abnormal vessel growth is also observed in disease when hypoxia and/or inflammation occur. Our goal is to establish a standard protocol of laser-induced CNV in mice that have different levels of pigmentation to identify the most reliable animal model.Methods: CNV was induced by 4 burns around the optic disk, using a green argon laser (100μm diameter spot size; 0,05 sec. duration) in C57/Bl6, DBA/1 and Balb/c to ascertain the efficacy of the method in function of retina pigmentation. Five different intensities were tested and Bruch's membrane disruption was identified by the appearance of a bubble at the site of photocoagulation. Fluorescein angiographies (FA) were undertaken 14 days post lesion and CNV area was quantified by immunohistochemistry on cryosections.Results: CNV retina area was related to spot intensity after laser injury. While 180mW and 200mW do not induce reliable CNV (respectively 27.85±0.35% and 29±1.67% of the retina surface), 260mW is required to induce 51,07±8.52% of CNV in C57/Bl6 mice. For the DBA/1 strain, less pigmented, 200mW was sufficient to induce 49.35±3.9% of CNV, indicating that lower intensity are required to induce CNV. Furthermore, an intensity of 180mW induced greater CNV (35.55±6.01%) than in C57/Bl6 mice. Nevertheless, laser did not induce reproducible 50% CNV in Balb/c albino mice for all intensities tested. Isolectin-B4 and GFAP stainings revealed neovessel formation and photoreceptor (PR) degeneration at the impact site. The presence of glia was observed throughout all the retinal layers and angiograms showed fluorescein leakage in pigmented mice.Conclusions: The establishment of a standard protocol to induce CNV and subsequent PR degeneration is of prime importance for the use of the laser-induced CNV model and will allow to evaluate the therapeutic potency of agents to prevent CNV and retinal degeneration.

A developmental in vivo 1H NMR study in mice with genetic redox dysregulation: an animal model with relevance to schizophrenia

Glutathione (GSH), a major redox regulator and anti-oxidant, is decreased in cerebrospinal fluid and prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. The gene of the key GSH-synthesizing enzyme, glutamate-cysteine ligase, modifier (GCLM) subunit, is associated with schizophrenia, suggesting that the deficit in the GSH system is of genetic origin. Using the GCLM knock-out (KO) mouse model with 60% decreased brain GSH levels, we have shown that redox dysregulation results in abnormal brain morphology and function. Current theory holds that schizophrenia is a developmental disease involving progressive anatomical and functional brain pathology. Here, we used GCLM KO mice to investigate the impact of a genetically dysregulated redox system on the neurochemical profile of the developing brain. The anterior and posterior cortical neurochemical profile of male and female GCLM KO, heterozygous and wildtype mice was determined by localised in vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy at 14.1 T (Varian/Magnex spectrometer) on post-natal days 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90. We show, for the first time, (1) that high quality 1H NMR spectra can be acquired from early developing mouse brains and (2) that recurrent anaesthesia by itself when administered at the same developmental days has no adverse effects on brain metabolites nor on adult behaviour. (3) Most importantly, our results reveal genotype and age specific changes for a number of metabolites revealing insight into normal brain development and about the impact of genetic GSH dysregulation.

Networks of Coordination : Swiss Business Associations as an Intermediary between Business, Politics and Administration during the 20th Century

Until the 1990's, Switzerland could be classified as either a corporatist, cooperative or coordinated market economy where non-market mechanisms of coordination among economic and political actors were very important. In this respect, Business Interest Associations (BIAs) played a key role. The aim of this paper is to look at the historical evolution of the five main peak Swiss BIAs through network analysis for five assorted dates during the 20th century (1910, 1937, 1957, 1980 and 2000) while relying on a database that includes more than 12,000 people. First, we examine the logic of membership in these associations, which allows us to analyze their position and function within the network of the Swiss economic elite. Until the 1980's, BIAs took part in the emergence and consolidation of a closely meshed national network, which declined during the two last decades of the 20th century. Second, we investigate the logic of influence of these associations by looking at the links they maintained with the political and administrative worlds through their links to the political parties and Parliament, and to the administration via the extra-parliamentary commissions (corporatist bodies). In both cases, the recent dynamic of globalization called into question the traditional role of BIAs.

Error and attack tolerance of layered complex networks.

Many complex systems may be described by not one but a number of complex networks mapped on each other in a multi-layer structure. Because of the interactions and dependencies between these layers, the state of a single layer does not necessarily reflect well the state of the entire system. In this paper we study the robustness of five examples of two-layer complex systems: three real-life data sets in the fields of communication (the Internet), transportation (the European railway system), and biology (the human brain), and two models based on random graphs. In order to cover the whole range of features specific to these systems, we focus on two extreme policies of system's response to failures, no rerouting and full rerouting. Our main finding is that multi-layer systems are much more vulnerable to errors and intentional attacks than they appear from a single layer perspective.

The GraftConnector experience. Long-term patency and histological work up in an animal model.

BACKGROUND: A device to perform sutureless end-to-side coronary artery anastomosis has been developed by means of stent technology (GraftConnector). The present study assesses the long-term quality of the GraftConnector anastomosis in a sheep model. METHODS: In 8 adult sheep, 40-55 kg in weight, through left anterior thoracotomy, the right internal mammary artery (RIMA) was prepared and connected to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) by means of GraftConnector, on beating heart, without using any stabilizer. Ticlopidine 250 mg/day for anticoagulation for 4 weeks and Aspirin 100 mg/day for 6 months were given. The animals were sacrificed after 6 months and histological examination of anastomoses was carried out after slicing with the connector in situ for morphological analysis. RESULTS: All animals survived at 6 months. All anastomoses were patent and mean luminal width at histology was 1.8 +/- 0.2 mm; mean myotomia hyperplasia thickness was 0.21 +/- 0.1 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term results demonstrate that OPCABGs performed with GraftConnector had 100% patency rate. The mean anastomotic luminal width corresponds to mean LAD's adult sheep diameter. We may speculate that myotomia hyperplasia occurred as a result of local device oversizing.

Instrumental and ethical aspects of experimental research with animal models

Experimental animal models offer possibilities of physiology knowledge, pathogenesis of disease and action of drugs that are directly related to quality nursing care. This integrative review describes the current state of the instrumental and ethical aspects of experimental research with animal models, including the main recommendations of ethics committees that focus on animal welfare and raises questions about the impact of their findings in nursing care. Data show that, in Brazil, the progress in ethics for the use of animals for scientific purposes was consolidated with Law No. 11.794/2008 establishing ethical procedures, attending health, genetic and experimental parameters. The application of ethics in handling of animals for scientific and educational purposes and obtaining consistent and quality data brings unquestionable contributions to the nurse, as they offer subsidies to relate pathophysiological mechanisms and the clinical aspect on the patient.

Adolescent support networks in a health care context: the interface between health, family and education

AbstractOBJECTIVEAnalyze adolescents' perceptions about support networks and their health needs.METHODAnalytical and interpretive study using focus groups conducted in municipal state schools in Fortaleza, in the State of Ceará during the first semester of 2012. The sample comprised 36 male and female adolescents aged between 13 and 16 years attending the ninth grade of the second phase of elementary school.RESULTSThematic analysis revealed that the health care support network and interaction between health professionals, education professionals and family members was insufficient, constituting a lack of an integrated network to enable and provide support for health promotion.CONCLUSIONCoordination between education, health and family services has the potential to act as a support network to help meet adolescents' healthcare needs and demands.

Reconciliation of metabolites and biochemical reactions for metabolic networks.

Genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions are now routinely used in the study of metabolic pathways, their evolution and design. The development of such reconstructions involves the integration of information on reactions and metabolites from the scientific literature as well as public databases and existing genome-scale metabolic models. The reconciliation of discrepancies between data from these sources generally requires significant manual curation, which constitutes a major obstacle in efforts to develop and apply genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions. In this work, we discuss some of the major difficulties encountered in the mapping and reconciliation of metabolic resources and review three recent initiatives that aim to accelerate this process, namely BKM-react, MetRxn and MNXref (presented in this article). Each of these resources provides a pre-compiled reconciliation of many of the most commonly used metabolic resources. By reducing the time required for manual curation of metabolite and reaction discrepancies, these resources aim to accelerate the development and application of high-quality genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions and models.

Biana: a software framework for compiling biological interactions and analyzing networks

Background: The analysis and usage of biological data is hindered by the spread of information across multiple repositories and the difficulties posed by different nomenclature systems and storage formats. In particular, there is an important need for data unification in the study and use of protein-protein interactions. Without good integration strategies, it is difficult to analyze the whole set of available data and its properties.Results: We introduce BIANA (Biologic Interactions and Network Analysis), a tool for biological information integration and network management. BIANA is a Python framework designed to achieve two major goals: i) the integration of multiple sources of biological information, including biological entities and their relationships, and ii) the management of biological information as a network where entities are nodes and relationships are edges. Moreover, BIANA uses properties of proteins and genes to infer latent biomolecular relationships by transferring edges to entities sharing similar properties. BIANA is also provided as a plugin for Cytoscape, which allows users to visualize and interactively manage the data. A web interface to BIANA providing basic functionalities is also available. The software can be downloaded under GNU GPL license from http://sbi.imim.es/web/BIANA.php.Conclusions: BIANA's approach to data unification solves many of the nomenclature issues common to systems dealing with biological data. BIANA can easily be extended to handle new specific data repositories and new specific data types. The unification protocol allows BIANA to be a flexible tool suitable for different user requirements: non-expert users can use a suggested unification protocol while expert users can define their own specific unification rules.

A la recherche de symptômes de désorientation dépendant d'un déficit d'intégration multisensorielle chez l'animal : un éclairage sur les mécanismes fondamentaux de la schizophrénie

Abstract Fundamental research in psychiatric neurosciences assumes that psychiatric disorders are associated with neurobiological factors. Identification of these factors would provide therapeutic targets as well as a better understanding of the relationship between- brain and behaviour in pathological processes. We conducted experiments in an animal model of schizophrenia. Several behavioural tasks were used to evaluate spatial and working memory in these animals. The model is based on glutathione deficit during cerebral development. Indeed, a 50% decrease of glutathione has been reported in prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia. Glutathione is a major antioxidant in the brain and its deficit could lead to abnormal brain connectivity. The glutathione deficit was induced in rats by perinatal (PS-P16) subcutaneous injections with Lbuthionine-(S,R)-sullfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis. This treatment leads to a transitory 50% glutathione levels during brain development. In parallel, we conducted behavioural testing in rats with a medial prefrontal cortex lesion. This allowed us to compare early damage induced by BSO treatment with a focal lesion in adults of a brain area known to present anomalies in schizophrenia. Finally, we conducted a series of experiments in senescent rats to evaluate if cognitive deficits could be related to neurobiological changes. Our results show that an early glutathione deficit provokes cognitive deficits in adulthood. These spatial and working memory deficits resemble the cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia. The comparison with prefrontal rats revealed that the early brain glutathione deficit provoked more severe cognitive deficits than the prefrontal lesion in adult rats. Moreover, in both cases, we observed a dissociation in memory deficits depending on the type of locomotion that was used in behavioural experiments. Indeed, BSO treated rats as well as prefrontal rats showed place learning or working memory deficits in tasks conducted on dry surfaces where they had to walk. In contrast, they showed no deficit when the same cognitive functions were tested in the water maze. This dissociation might be sustained by a difference in requirement of sensory integration between walking and swimming tasks. Résumé La recherche fondamentale en neurosciences psychiatriques repose sur le présupposé selon lequel les symptômes manifestés dans les troubles psychiatriques auraient des concomitants neurobiologiques. Ceux-ci, une fois identifiés, offriraient des cibles pour une démarche thérapeutique ainsi que des modèles permettant de mieux comprendre les soubassements biologiques du comportement et des activités mentales. Nos expériences s'articulent autour de la question de la modélisation de la schizophrénie chez l'animal. Nous avons recherché chez ces animaux des troubles cognitifs et sensoriels associés à la schizophrénie. En effet, chez l'homme comme chez l'animal, la mémoire spatiale et la mémoire de travail dépendent fortement de la capacité d'intégration et d'organisation des informations sensorielles. Les premières expériences ont été menées suite à une perturbation périnatale du développement cérébral. Celle-ci visait à reproduire une diminution du taux de glutathion dans le cerveau, des recherches précédentes ayant observé une diminution de 50% du taux de glutathion dans le cortex préfrontal de patients schizophrènes. Le glutathion étant un antioxydant majeur dans le cerveau, son déficit pourrait conduire à des perturbations de la circuiterie cérébrale. Nous avons reproduit ce déficit chez le rat, par injection de Lbuthionine-(S,R)-sullfoximine (BSO), un inhibiteur de la synthèse du glutathion... Ce traitement a été administré pendant la période périnatale (du jour postnatal 5 au jour 16) provoquant une diminution de 50% du taux de glutathion. Nous avons ensuite évalué lës répercussions de cette atteinte précoce sur le comportement des rats à l'âge adulte. Ce modèle s'inscrit donc dans l'hypothèse neurodéveloppementale qui associe la schizophrénie à une atteinte du développement cérébral normal. Nous avons ensuite conduit des expériences similaires chez des rats ayant subi une lésion du cortex préfrontal pour comparer les répercussions du traitement périnatal avec une lésion, à l'âge adulte, d'une aire cérébrale connue pour présenter des anomalies chez les patients. Finalement, nous avons évalué si les processus sensoriels et cognitifs précédemment étudiés pouvaient également être affectés lors du vieillissement normal en recherchant des corrélats biologiques des déficits de mémoire liés à l'âge avancé. Nos résultats montrent que ce déficit précoce en glutathion peut avoir des répercussions surale comportement à l'âge adulte. On a relevé une similarité avec les déficits cognitifs associés.à la schizophrénie, incluant des déficits de mémoire de travail ainsi que des déficits de mémoire spatiale. Ces déficits étaient fortement liés au type de locomotion utilisée et n'ont été observés que dans les tâches où les animaux devaient rejoindre un but en marchant mais pas dans lés tests dans lesquels ils devaient localiser une cible en nageant. Les déficits induits par la lésion préfrontale chez l'adulte étaient beaucoup plus légers que ceux découlant de l'atteinte périnatale mais présentaient une dissociation analogue en fonction du type de locomotion. De plus, des tests similaires menés au cours du vieillissement confirment que la mémoire de travail peut être affectée sélectivement par le vieillissement dans une tâche où les animaux doivent marcher, tout en restant intacte dans le bassin de Morris. Les déficits cognitifs liés au vieillissement étaient significativement corrélés à des différences de niveaux des protéines post-synaptiques PSD95 (postsynaptic density 95). L'ensemble des résultats montre que les tests qui sont fréquemment utilisés pour évaluer la mémoire chez l'animal pourraient faire appel à des processus différents. Cette différence pourrait notamment tenir au niveau d'intégration sensorielle requis pour résoudre la tâche, qui est particulièrement sollicitée au cours d'une locomotion intermittente.