NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Increased platelet reactivity and platelet–leukocyte aggregation after elective coronary bypass surgery

Inflammatory mechanisms are activated, and thrombotic complications occur during the initial months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Therefore, changes over time of platelet activation and platelet–leukocyte interactions after CABG are of interest. Whole-blood flow cytometry was performed before, and 4–6 days, one month, and three months after elective CABG in 54 men with stable coronary artery disease treated with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). Single platelets and platelet–leukocyte aggregates (PLAs) among monocytes (P-Mon), neutrophils (P-Neu), and lymphocytes (P-Lym) were studied without and with stimulation by submaximal concentrations of ADP, thrombin, and the thromboxane analog U46619. White blood cell counts were increased during the initial postoperative course, and platelet counts were increased after one month. Platelet P-selectin expression was significantly enhanced at one month when stimulated by thrombin and U46619 and at three months with ADP and thrombin. All PLAs subtypes were increased at one month without stimulation in vitro. P-Mon and P-Neu stimulated by ADP, thrombin, or U46619 were significantly increased one month after the operation but decreased compared to baseline at three months. Agonist stimulated P-Lyms were increased at one month and remained increased at three months after ADP stimulation. There was significant platelet activation and formation of PLAs unstimulated and after agonist stimulation by ADP, thrombin, and a thromboxane analog after CABG in patients with stable coronary artery disease irrespective of ASA treatment. Changes observed up to three months after CABG support further studies of the clinical implications of protracted increases in platelet activation and platelet–leukocyte interactions.

Keyphrases: Coronary bypass, Platelet activation, Platelet aggregates
Platelet function tests

Traditionally developed for diagnosis of bleeding disorders, platelet function assays have become increasingly used in basic research on platelet physiology, in phenotype-genotype associations in bleeding disorders, in drug development as surrogate endpoints of efficacy for new antiplatelet therapy, and to an extent, in monitoring of antiplatelet therapy in clinical practice to predict thrombotic and bleeding risk. A multiplicity of platelet function assays is available to measure the level of platelet activity in various settings. These include assays that are restricted to a specialized laboratory as well as point-of-care instruments meant to investigate platelet function at patient bedside. Unlike tests that determine a defined quantity or measurement of a clinical biomarker (e.g. cholesterol or blood pressure), platelet function testing assesses the dynamics of living cells, which immediately presents a series of unique problems to any laboratory or clinic. This article presents currently used platelet function assays and discusses important variables to take into account when performing these assays, including pre-analytical issues and difficulties in interpreting platelet function test results.

Keyphrases: Antiplatelet therapy, Bleeding disorders, Platelet function testing
Ammonia toxicity: from head to toe?

Ammonia is diffused and transported across all plasma membranes. This entails that hyperammonemia leads to an increase in ammonia in all organs and tissues. It is known that the toxic ramifications of ammonia primarily touch the brain and cause neurological impairment. However, the deleterious effects of ammonia are not specific to the brain, as the direct effect of increased ammonia (change in pH, membrane potential, metabolism) can occur in any type of cell. Therefore, in the setting of chronic liver disease where multi-organ dysfunction is common, the role of ammonia, only as neurotoxin, is challenged. This review provides insights and evidence that increased ammonia can disturb many organ and cell types and hence lead to dysfunction.

Keyphrases: Ammonia, Brain, Hepatic encephalopathy, Liver, Muscle, Toxicity
Astrocyte glutamine synthetase : pivotal in health and disease

The multifunctional properties of astrocytes signify their importance in brain physiology and neurological function. In addition to defining the brain architecture, astrocytes are primary elements of brain ion, pH and neurotransmitter homoeostasis. GS (glutamine synthetase), which catalyses the ATP-dependent condensation of ammonia and glutamate to form glutamine, is an enzyme particularly found in astrocytes. GS plays a pivotal role in glutamate and glutamine homoeostasis, orchestrating astrocyte glutamate uptake/release and the glutamate-glutamine cycle. Furthermore, astrocytes bear the brunt of clearing ammonia in the brain, preventing neurotoxicity. The present review depicts the central function of astrocytes, concentrating on the importance of GS in glutamate/glutamine metabolism and ammonia detoxification in health and disease.

Keyphrases: Y-aminobutyric acid (GABA), Ammonia, Astrocyte, Glutamate, Glutamine, Glutamine synthetase
The bile duct ligated rat : a relevant model to study muscle mass loss in cirrhosis

Muscle mass loss and hepatic encephalopathy (complex neuropsychiatric disorder) are serious complications of chronic liver disease (cirrhosis) which impact negatively on clinical outcome and quality of life and increase mortality. Liver disease leads to hyperammonemia and ammonia toxicity is believed to play a major role in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy. However, the effects of ammonia are not brain-specific and therefore may also affect other organs and tissues including muscle. The precise pathophysiological mechanisms underlying muscle wasting in chronic liver disease remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we characterized body composition as well as muscle protein synthesis in cirrhotic rats with hepatic encephalopathy using the 6-week bile duct ligation (BDL) model which recapitulates the main features of cirrhosis. Compared to sham-operated control animals, BDL rats display significant decreased gain in body weight, altered body composition, decreased gastrocnemius muscle mass and circumference as well as altered muscle morphology. Muscle protein synthesis was also significantly reduced in BDL rats compared to control animals. These findings demonstrate that the 6-week BDL experimental rat is a relevant model to study liver disease-induced muscle mass loss.

Keyphrases: Ammonia, Experimental cirrhosis, Hepatic encephalopathy, Muscle mass loss, Protein synthesis
Media do not exist : performativity and mediating conjunctures

Media Do Not Exist: Performativity and Mediating Conjunctures by Jean-Marc Larrue and Marcello Vitali-Rosati offers a radically new approach to the phenomenon of mediation, proposing a new understanding that challenges the very notion of medium. It begins with a historical overview of recent developments in Western thought on mediation, especially since the mid 80s and the emergence of the disciplines of media archaeology and intermediality. While these developments are inseparable from the advent of digital technology, they have a long history. The authors trace the roots of this thought back to the dawn of philosophy.   Humans interact with their environment – which includes other humans – not through media, but rather through a series of continually evolving mediations, which Larrue and Vitali-Rosati call ‘mediating conjunctures’. This observation leads them to the paradoxical argument that ‘media do not exist’. Existing theories of mediation processes remain largely influenced by a traditional understanding of media as relatively stable entities. Media Do Not Exist demonstrates the limits of this conception. The dynamics relating to mediation are the product not of a single medium, but rather of a series of mediating conjunctures. They are created by ceaselessly shifting events and interactions, blending the human and the non-human, energy, and matter.

Keyphrases: Circulation des contenus, Conjonctures médiatrices, Intermédialité, Légitimation des contenus, Médias, Performativité, Pratiques intermédiales, Production des contenus
De la mesure au sens de la mesure : l’économie scripturaire du sida et de son traitement en République centrafricaine (RCA)

Pour donner sens à la mesure, il faut la rapporter à un système de valeurs qui en permet l’évaluation et le jugement. Voilà le parti pris théorique qui sous-tend cet article consacré aux pratiques d’écriture de la lutte contre le sida à partir d’une approche à l’intersection de l’anthropologie politique de la santé et du domaine des science studies. Afin d’investiguer le passage et les éventuels blocages entre la mesure et le sens de cette mesure, je vais revenir sur l’histoire de la mise en place de systèmes d’indicateurs pour accompagner les traitements du sida en République centrafricaine (RCA), un pays parmi les plus pauvres au monde et avec des capacités étatiques très faibles. L’article vise précisément à décrire et comprendre comment, dans ce contexte de grande incertitude matérielle et de violence structurelle, un système de mesure dans la lutte contre le sida s’est construit et dans un deuxième temps comment les mesures ont circulé à l’intersection du global et du local ; formant ce que nous appelons une économie scripturaire. La réflexion s’articule donc autour de deux axes. Un premier qui présentera la mise en place des pratiques, des outils de connaissances et de mesure de l’infection par le VIH en RCA. Un deuxième abordera plus particulièrement les effets inattendus des usages de la mesure : de la performance à la perte du « sens de la mesure » avec le gel des financements d’un programme vital.

Keyphrases: Mesure, Sida, RCA, Économie scripturaire, Anthropologie, Sociologie, Médicament, Santé mondiale, Sens de la mesure
Impaired EAT-4 vesicular glutamate transporter leads to defective nocifensive response of caenorhabditis elegans to noxious heat

In mammals, glutamate is an important excitatory neurotransmitter. Glutamate and glutamate receptors are found in areas specifically involved in pain sensation, transmission and transduction such as peripheral nervous system, spinal cord and brain. In C. elegans, several studies have suggested glutamate pathways are associated with withdrawal responses to mechanical stimuli and to chemical repellents. However, few evidences demonstrate that glutamate pathways are important to mediate nocifensive response to noxious heat. The thermal avoidance behavior of C. elegans was studied and results illustrated that mutants of glutamate receptors (glr-1, glr-2, nmr-1, nmr-2) behaviors was not affected. However, results revealed that all strains of eat-4 mutants, C. elegans vesicular glutamate transporters, displayed defective thermal avoidance behaviors. Due to the interplay between the glutamate and the FLP-18/FLP-21/NPR-1 pathways, we analyzed the effectors FLP-18 and FLP-21 at the protein level, we did not observebiologically significant differences compared to N2 (WT) strain (fold-change < 2) except for the IK602 strain. The data presented in this manuscript reveals that glutamate signaling pathways are essential to elicit a nocifensive response to noxious heat in C. elegans.

Keyphrases: Caenorhabditis elegans, Glutamate, Glutamate Transporter, Nociception, Thermotaxis
Autophagy drives fibroblast senescence through MTORC2 regulation

Sustained macroautophagy/autophagy favors the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Cellular senescence, another means of responding to long-term cellular stress, has also been linked to myofibroblast differentiation and fibrosis. Here, we evaluate the relationship between senescence and myofibroblast differentiation in the context of sustained autophagy. We analyzed markers of cell cycle arrest/senescence in fibroblasts in vitro, where autophagy was triggered by serum starvation (SS). Autophagic fibroblasts expressed the senescence biomarkers CDKN1A/p21 and CDKN2A/p16 and exhibited increased senescenceassociated GLB1/beta-galactosidase activity. Inhibition of autophagy in serum-starved fibroblasts with 3-methyladenine, LY294002, or ATG7 (autophagy related 7) silencing prevented the expression of senescence-associated markers. Similarly, suppressing MTORC2 activation using rapamycin or by silencing RICTOR also prevented senescence hallmarks. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that senescence and myofibroblast differentiation were induced in different cells, suggesting mutually exclusive activation of senescence and myofibroblast differentiation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known inducers of senescence and exposing fibroblasts to ROS scavengers decreased ROS production during SS, inhibited autophagy, and significantly reduced the expression of senescence and myofibroblast differentiation markers. ROS scavengers also curbed the AKT1 phosphorylation at Ser473, an MTORC2 target, establishing the importance of ROS in fuelling MTORC2 activation. Inhibition of senescence by shRNA to TP53/p53 and shRNA CDKN2A/p16 increased myofibroblast differentiation, suggesting a negative feedback loop of senescence on autophagy-induced myofibroblast differentiation. Collectively, our results identify ROS as central inducers of MTORC2 activation during chronic autophagy, which in turn fuels senescence activation and myofibroblast differentiation in distinct cellular subpopulations.

Keyphrases: Autophagy, CDKN1A, CDKN2A, Differentiation, Fibroblast, MTORC2, Myofibroblast, Rapamycin, ROS, Senescence
Comparison of three radio-frequency discharge modes on the treatment of breast cancer cells in vitro

Non-thermal plasmas (NTPs) are known for their ability to induce thermal-free cytotoxic effects on cancer cells. However, as the variety of NTP devices increases, comparison of their cytotoxic effect becomes increasingly essential. In this work, we compare the cytotoxicity of three different radio-frequency NTPs. MDA-MB-231 triple negative breast cancer cells are treated in suspension in DMEM culture medium by the effluents of a single radiofrequency (RF) discharge device operating in three modes, namely the   and   modes of the capacitively coupled radio-frequency (CCRF) discharge and a RF plasma jet mode. All three discharge modes reduce the proliferative capacity of MDA-MB-231 cells, but the treatment time required to reach the same efficacy is more than ten times longer using the   and the   modes than using the jet mode. In all cases, using the appropriate treatment time, cells exhibit an impaired proliferation and eventually start to show signs of cell death (about 48 h after treatment). The three discharge modes also induce nuclear DNA damages. Plasma-produced H2O2 was not found to contribute to the cytotoxicity of the treatment. Furthermore, short-lived reactive species (gas phase or liquid phase species with a lifetime below 1 s) are expected to play a dominant role over the long-lived reactive species in the anti-cancer effect of all three discharge modes.

Keyphrases: Non-thermal plasma, Plasma oncology, Triple negative breast cancer, Plasma jet, Radio-frequency discharge, MDA-MB-231, Suspension, DNA damages, Proliferation
Machine learning to analyze single-case data : a proof of concept

Visual analysis is the most commonly used method for interpreting data from singlecase designs, but levels of interrater agreement remain a concern. Although structured aids to visual analysis such as the dual-criteria (DC) method may increase interrater agreement, the accuracy of the analyses may still benefit from improvements. Thus, the purpose of our study was to (a) examine correspondence between visual analysis and models derived from different machine learning algorithms, and (b) compare the accuracy, Type I error rate and power of each of our models with those produced by the DC method. We trained our models on a previously published dataset and then conducted analyses on both nonsimulated and simulated graphs. All our models derived from machine learning algorithms matched the interpretation of the visual analysts more frequently than the DC method. Furthermore, the machine learning algorithms outperformed the DC method on accuracy, Type I error rate, and power. Our results support the somewhat unorthodox proposition that behavior analysts may use machine learning algorithms to supplement their visual analysis of single-case data, but more research is needed to examine the potential benefits and drawbacks of such an approach.

Keyphrases: AB design, Artificial intelligence, Error rate, Machine learning, Single-case design
Romeo Castellucci, Anne Imhof : au-delà de la mimesis

En analysant deux spectacles différents, Angst II d’Anne Imhof et Les Métopes du Parthénon de Romeo Castellucci, cet article explore comment les notions de « théâtre » et « performance » se déploient et remettent en cause le cadre de la mimesis. En particulier, nous considérons que le théâtre performatif, en tant que revendication spécifique de la forme esthétique, peut être uniquement saisi comme un code artistique se situant au-delà du principe de l’imitation. Dès lors, nous souhaitons démontrer que ces deux performances, tout en étant basées sur une logique non mimétique, créent un univers théâtral cohérent dans sa communication avec les spectateurs. This paper offers an analysis of two different performances : Angst II by Anne Imhof and Les Métopes du Parthénon by Romeo Castellucci, examining how equivalencies between “Theatre” and “Performance” are developed and challenged within the mimesis frame. In particular, it considers that performative theatre, as a specific validity claim of aesthetic form, can only be understood as an artistic code which reaches far beyond the limited realm of the imitation principle. I thus argue that these two performances, although based on non-mimetic logic, create internal theatrical coherence in communication with the audience.

Keyphrases: Performance, Théâtre performatif, Mimesis, Présence, Performance, Mimesis, Performative theatre, Presence
Coisotropic characteristic classes

In this paper, we introduce coisotropic characteristic classes in order to study coisotropic immersions in Cn, and prove that they actually are the isotropic classes introduced by Lalonde (Math Ann 285:343–351, 1989). We conclude with some remarks on the differences between the h-principles for coisotropic immersions, and the one for isotropic immersions that the coisotropic classes fail to capture. Dans cet article, nous introduisons des classes caractéristiques coisotropes afin d’étudier les immersions coisotropes dans Cn et démontrons qu’elles sont en réalité les classes isotropes introduites par Lalonde (1989). Nous concluons par une discussion sur les différences entre le h-principe pour les immersions isotropes et celui pour les immersions coisotropes que les classes coisotropes n’arrivent pas à détecter.

Keyphrases: Symplectic topology, Characteristic classes, Coisotropic immersions
Manipulations médiatiques dans la sphère esthétique contemporaine

Le présent texte vise à comprendre les enjeux médiatiques les plus récents dans le domaine de l’art scénique et la façon dont ils repensent les possibilités d’atteinte de l’aire perceptuelle du spectateur. Pour ce faire, dans un premier temps, nous allons présenter quelques exemples où les technologies nouvelles modifient ou remettent en cause certains aspects culturelles, tel que l’éducation, mettant ainsi à mal les règles établies. Nous allons ensuite analyser l’installation scénique Stifters Dinge de Heiner Goebbels. Notre démarche sera de l’analyser selon une perspective intermédiale pour soutenir l’hypothèse pouvant être ainsi formulée : la création artistique Stifters Dinge manipule l’expérience esthétique du spectateur car elle repose sur un acte de communication médiatique et non sur un acte rhétorique. En outre, par l’utilisation de dispositifs audio-visuels, l’installation scénique développe un langage scénique spécifique reposant sur les illusions optiques, sur l’immersion, sur la mise en scène de machines complexes. Dans un deuxième temps, nous allons aborder le cadre conceptuel du paradigme communicatif dont l’application permettra à la fois une meilleure appréhension de la forme sous laquelle ce spectacle apparaît et une mise en perspective plus large du phénomène théorique dans lequel il s’inscrit. Dans cette section, nous nous appuierons essentiellement sur les ouvrages d’Yves Citton, de Jean-Marc Larrue, de Branko et Dejana Prnjat, de Rémy Rieffel et de Violeta JelacicSrbulj. L’hypothèse de travail présentée dans le cadre de cette seconde section suppose que cette forme artistique nouvelle, reliant les médias, le théâtre et les arts plastiques crée un nouveau modèle de la politique culturelle, basé sur une hybridation des technologies et de l’art.

Keyphrases: Intermédialité, Manipulation, Scène, Dispositif, Communication
De la disparition scénique entre le postmoderne et le posthumain

Cet article propose une réflexion critique sur les concepts de postmodernisme et de posthumanisme dans le cadre du spectacle vivant contemporain. Dans un premier temps, en nous référant aux travaux de Jean-François Lyotard, Fredric Jameson et Cary Wolfe, nous allons mettre en évidence, selon une perspective historique, la genèse de ces concepts et analyser la façon dont ils repensent les rapports entre les nouvelles technologies et l’humain. Dans un deuxième temps, nous allons analyser le spectacle Le Sacre du Printemps (Paris, 2015) de Romeo Castellucci pour vérifier l’hypothèse du présent travail d’analyse qui suppose que cette création scénique se découvre sur le plan esthétique comme une mise en pratique des théories articulant la dualité postmodernisme/posthumanisme. The article offers a critical framework of postmodernism and posthumanism in relationship with contemporary performance. Referring on works of Jean-François Lyotard, Fredric Jameson and Cary Wolfe, I will first put into historical perspective the genesis of these concepts and examine how they rethink the relations between new technologies and human being. Secondly, I will analyze the performance The Rite of Spring (Paris, 2015) of Romeo Castellucci in order to uphold the following assumption : on aesthetic level, this scenic creation puts into practice the theories related to dualism postmodernism/posthumanism.

Keyphrases: Postmodernisme, Posthumanisme, Postmodernism, Posthumanism, Machine, Disparition, Technocorps, Disappearance, Postmodernism, Posthumanism