L'ordinaire en partage : le courrier des lecteurs à Georges Simenon

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude du courrier que l'écrivain Georges Simenon (1903-1989) recevait de la part de ses lecteurs et de ses admirateurs inconnus. Ils sont près de 6000 à s'être adressés, par courrier postal, à l'auteur célèbre des Maigret, entre 1945 et jusqu'à sa mort. Ces lettres, auxquelles l'écrivain répondait quasi systématiquement sont archivées au Fonds Simenon de l'Université de Liège mais n'ont jusqu'alors pas fait l'objet d'étude, contrairement à la correspondance que l'auteur a échangée avec des auteurs comme André Gide ou Henry Miller. La thèse s'arrête sur une portion de cet échange inédit, soit un peu plus de 2000 missives reçues entre 1946 et 1973. Ce courrier est le point de départ d'une démarche inspirée par le cas singulier que Simenon représente dans l'histoire des lettres, de par son succès, sa large audience et son double positionnement en tant qu'auteur grand public et écrivain aux ambitions littéraires. Cette étude empirique du lectorat d'un auteur de bestsellers va au-delà de l'approche sociologique courante concernant Simenon, qui s'intéresse en priorité à la position et à la posture du créateur face à ses pairs, aux médias et aux institutions (Bourdieu) mais ignore, tout comme une bonne partie des études littéraires et par effet d'un ethnocentrisme lettré, le lecteur « ordinaire ». Une sociologie pragmatique plus compréhensive du vécu de l'ensemble des acteurs - lecteurs compris - (Boltanski, Heinich) a dès lors été privilégiée. Ce sont plus particulièrement les valeurs engagées dans le rapport à l'écrivain et les fonctions que les correspondants réservent à ce « grand singulier » qui sont examinées. Les lettres attribuent en effet à l'écrivain divers rôles (aide, confident ou consolateur). On apprend ainsi dans quelles proportions la lecture « ordinaire » mais aussi nos rapports les plus courants aux objets culturels, sont constitués d'une attention oscillant de l'oeuvre à la personne du créateur. Ces témoignages s'inscrivent en toile de fond d'un enjeu plus large qui concerne l'évolution de l'image et du rôle de l'écrivain dans notre société : en particulier dans le contexte culturel médiatique de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, où cette image entre plus que jamais en concurrence avec les arts visuels et de divertissement dits de « masse », conduisant les valeurs littéraires à s'affronter aux valeurs de la visibilité et de la célébrité ainsi qu'aux valeurs commerciales.

A Lead-In with Silibinin Prior to Triple-Therapy Translates into Favorable Treatment Outcomes in Difficult-To-Treat HIV/Hepatitis C Coinfected Patients.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of first-generation protease inhibitor based triple-therapy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is limited in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with advanced liver fibrosis and non-response to previous peginterferon-ribavirin. These patients have a low chance of achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) using first generation triple-therapy, with a success rate of only 20%. We investigated the efficacy and safety of lead-in therapy with intravenous silibinin followed by triple-therapy in this difficult-to-treat patient group. METHODOLOGY: Inclusion criteria were HIV/HCV coinfection with advanced liver fibrosis and documented previous treatment failure on peginterferon-ribavirin. The intervention was a lead-in therapy with intravenous silibinin 20 mg/kg/day for 14 days, followed by triple-therapy (peginterferon-ribavirin and telaprevir) for 12 weeks, and peginterferon-ribavirin alone for 36 weeks. Outcome measurements were HCV-RNA after silibinin lead-in and during triple-therapy, SVR data at week 12, and safety and tolerability of silibinin. RESULTS: We examined sixteen HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with previous peginterferon-ribavirin failure, of whom 14 had a fibrosis grade METAVIR ≥F3. All were on successful antiretroviral therapy. Median (IQR) HCV-RNA decline after silibinin therapy was 2.65 (2.1-2.8) log10 copies/mL. Fifteen of sixteen patients (94%) had undetectable HCV RNA at weeks 4 and 12, eleven patients (69%) showed end-of-treatment response (i.e., undetectable HCV-RNA at week 48), and ten patients (63%) reached SVR at week 12 (SVR 12). Six of the sixteen patients (37%) did not reach SVR 12: One patient had rapid virologic response (RVR) (i.e., undetectable HCV-RNA at week 4) but stopped treatment at week 8 due to major depression. Five patients had RVR, but experienced viral breakthroughs at week 21, 22, 25, or 32, or a relapse at week 52. The HIV RNA remained below the limit of detection in all patients during the complete treatment period. No serious adverse events and no significant drug-drug interactions were associated with silibinin. CONCLUSION: A lead-in with silibinin before triple-therapy was safe and highly effective in difficult-to-treat HIV/HCV coinfected patients, with a pronounced HCV-RNA decline during the lead-in phase, which translates into 63% SVR. An add-on of intravenous silibinin to standard of care HCV treatment is worth further exploration in selected difficult-to-treat patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01816490.

Histoire de la Laponie, : sa description, lʼorigine, les moeurs, la maniere de vivre de ses habitans, leur religion, leur magie, & les choses rares du païs. Avec plusieurs additions [et] augmentations fort curieuses, qui jusques-icy nʼont pas esté imprimées. Traduites du latin de Monsieur Scheffer. Par L[e] P[ère] A[ugustin] L[ubin] geographe ordinaire de Sa Majesté

Added engraved title page: Histoire de la Laponie traduite du latin de Jean Scheffer.

Control of attention by a peripheral visual cue depends on whether the target is difficult to discriminate

The influence of a peripheral cue represented by a gray ring on responsivity to a subsequent target varies. When a vertical line inside a ring was a go target and a white small ring inside a ring was a no-go target, reaction time was shorter at the same location relative to a different location. However, no reaction time difference between the two locations occurred when a white cross inside the ring, instead of the white vertical line inside the ring, was the go target. We investigated whether this last finding was due to a forward masking influence of the cue, a requirement of low attention for the discrimination or a lack of attention mobilization by the cue. In Experiment 1, the intensity of the cue was reduced in an attempt to reduce forward masking. In Experiment 2, the vertical line and the cross were presented in the same block of trials so as to be dealt with a common attentional strategy. In Experiments 3 and 4, the no-go target was a 45º rotated cross inside a ring to increase the difficulty of the discrimination. No evidence was obtained that the cross was forward masked by the cue nor that it demanded less attention to be discriminated from the small ring. There was a facilitation of responsivity by the cue when the small ring was replaced by the rotated cross. The results suggest that when the discrimination to be performed is too easy the cue does not mobilize attention.

Savolax et Kexholm, tirées de divers mémoires, par le s.r Sanson geographe ordinaire du roy.

[N. 1:875000].

Celecoxib reduces symptoms in men with difficult chronic pelvic pain syndrome (Category IIIA)

We investigated the effectiveness of celecoxib in reducing symptoms in patients with difficult chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), NIH category IIIA. Sixty-four patients with category IIIA CPPS were randomized into two groups of 32 subjects each. One group was treated with celecoxib (200 mg daily) and the other with placebo. All patients underwent treatment for 6 weeks and were evaluated clinically before (baseline) and after 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of treatment. The evaluation included the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and a subjective global assessment (SGA). Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate treatment and time effects and their interaction. A decrease (means ± SD) in total NIH-CPSI score from 23.91 ± 5.27 to 15.88 ± 2.51 in the celecoxib group and from 24.25 ± 5.09 to 19.50 ± 2.50 in the placebo group was observed during treatment (0 to 6 weeks). A statistically significant decrease was observed in pain subscore (P < 0.006), quality of life subscore (P < 0.032) and total NIH-CPSI score (P < 0.015) after 2, 4 and 6 weeks, but not in urinary subscore. In addition, 38% of the celecoxib and 13% of the placebo subjects had at least a moderate improvement in SGA. The trend was similar for the NIH-CPSI scores. However, the response to treatment in terms of total NIH-CPSI score or subscore was not significantly different from placebo after interruption of treatment for 2 weeks. Our results show that celecoxib provides significant symptomatic improvement limited to the duration of the therapy in patients with difficult category IIIA CPPS compared to placebo.