Réflexion sur la création d'un centre culturel dans le Val de Bagnes

Ce travail a été réalisé sur mandat du Service de la culture de la commune de Bagnes dans le canton du Valais. Le Service de la culture souhaitait que soit menée une réflexion sur la possible création dans la commune d’un centre culturel regroupant diverses institutions communales, parmi lesquelles la bibliothèque, les archives et le musée, mais aussi d’autres services susceptibles de se montrer intéressés. L’étude a donc porté sur une analyse des tendances dans l’évolution des bibliothèques, des archives, des musées et de leurs modes de collaboration. Cette analyse s’est complétée d’une étude de cas pratiques recensés en Suisse. Le travail a permis de mettre en évidence la très grande variété de services partenaires, ainsi que trois types de collaboration possible : cohabitation, collaboration à un projet commun, fusion complète. Dans une deuxième partie, un état des lieux des espaces, des ressources humaines et des activités a été réalisé dans la commune de Bagnes pour les archives, la bibliothèque, le musée, mais aussi pour la ludothèque, le Conservatoire de musique, le Service des affaires sociales et l’Office du tourisme. Le travail a démontré la nécessité de procéder à des aménagements dans chaque institution ou service. Des suggestions sont faites, assorties de propositions pour l’intégration dans un même bâtiment. Trois modèles de collaboration sont proposés : un centre de référence sur le Val de Bagnes et les régions alpines, à forte identité patrimoniale, un centre socioculturel plus axé sur l’intégration et une Maison de la culture et des générations qui fait converger les deux axes, patrimonial et social, du projet.Diese Arbeit wurde im Auftrag der Kulturabteilung der Gemeinde Bagnes im Kanton Wallis durchgeführt. Die Kulturabteilung wünschte, dass eine Diskussion über die mögliche Schaffung eines Kulturzentrums in der Gemeinde geführt wird, das verschiedene Institutionen wie Bibliothek, Archiv und Museum, aber auch andere Dienstleistungen zusammenführt. Die Studie konzentrierte sich daher auf eine Analyse der Entwicklung von Bibliotheken, Archiven, Museen und deren Zusammenarbeit. Diese Analyse wurde durch eine praktische Fallstudie über Fälle in der Schweiz ergänzt. Die Arbeit zeigte die sehr große Vielfalt der Partner sowie drei mögliche Formen der Zusammenarbeit: Zusammenleben, Zusammenarbeit an einem gemeinsamen Projekt, vollständige Fusion. Im zweiten Teil wurde eine Bestandsaufnahme von Räumen, Personal und Aktivitäten für das Archiv, die Bibliothek, das Museum, aber auch für die Ludothek, die Musikhochschule, die Abteilung für Soziales und die Touristeninformation durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigten den Bedarf an Veränderungen in jeder Einrichtung oder Abteilung. Es werden Vorschläge unterbreitet, begleitet von Vorschlägen für die Integration in das gleiche Gebäude. Es werden drei Modelle vorgeschlagen: ein Referenzzentrum für das Val de Bagnes und die Alpenregionen mit einer starken historischen Identität, ein soziokulturelles Zentrum, das sich stärker auf Integration konzentriert, und ein Zentrum für Kultur und Generationen, das das Erbe und die soziale Achse des Projekts vereint

A large genome-wide association study of age-related macular degeneration highlights contributions of rare and common variants.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3448Advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, with limited therapeutic options. Here we report on a study of >12 million variants, including 163,714 directly genotyped, mostly rare, protein-altering variants. Analyzing 16,144 patients and 17,832 controls, we identify 52 independently associated common and rare variants (P < 5 × 10(-8)) distributed across 34 loci. Although wet and dry AMD subtypes exhibit predominantly shared genetics, we identify the first genetic association signal specific to wet AMD, near MMP9 (difference P value = 4.1 × 10(-10)). Very rare coding variants (frequency <0.1%) in CFH, CFI and TIMP3 suggest causal roles for these genes, as does a splice variant in SLC16A8. Our results support the hypothesis that rare coding variants can pinpoint causal genes within known genetic loci and illustrate that applying the approach systematically to detect new loci requires extremely large sample sizes.We thank all participants of all the studies included for enabling this research by their participation in these studies. Computer resources for this project have been provided by the high-performance computing centers of the University of Michigan and the University of Regensburg. Group-specific acknowledgments can be found in the Supplementary Note. The Center for Inherited Diseases Research (CIDR) Program contract number is HHSN268201200008I. This and the main consortium work were predominantly funded by 1X01HG006934-01 to G.R.A. and R01 EY022310 to J.L.H

Determinants of participation in colonoscopic screening by siblings of colorectal cancer patients in France

International audienceBACKGROUND: Targeted colonosocopic screening is recommended for first-degree relatives of colorectal cancer patients diagnosed before the age of 60 and offers the possibility of reducing morbidity and mortality, but participation remains too low. The objective of this study was to determine in a French population the factors that affect siblings' participation in screening, notably those relating to the individuals, their medical care, their family and their social network. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted in siblings of index patients having undergone surgery for colorectal cancer between 1999 and 2002 in two French counties. Siblings were contacted during 2007 and 2008 through the index patient. The factors affecting participation in colonoscopic screening were studied by logistic regression taking into account family cluster effect. RESULTS: 172 siblings of 74 index cases were included. The declared rate of undergoing at least one colonoscopy among siblings was 66%; 95%CI 59-73%. Five variables were independently associated with colonoscopic screening: perceiving fewer barriers to screening (OR = 3.2; 95%CI 1.2-8.5), having received the recommendation to undergo screening from a physician (OR = 4.9; 1.7-13.7), perceiving centres practising colonoscopy as more accessible (OR = 3.2, 1.3-7.8), having discussed screening with all siblings (OR = 3.9; 1.6-9.6) and being a member of an association (OR = 2.6; 1.0-6.6). CONCLUSIONS: The factors independently associated with participation in CRC screening by an individual at increased risk belonged to each of four dimensions relating to his individual psychosocial characteristics, to his relationship with a physician, within the family and social environment. The relevance of these results to clinical practice may help to improve compliance to recommendations in a global preventive strategy including all stages of the information pathway from the physician to the index patient and his relatives

Rapid Effect of Treatment of Psoriatic Erythrocytes with the Synthetic Retinoid Acitretin to Increase 8-Azido Cyclic AMP Bindings to the RI Regulatory Subunit

We have recently demonstrated a deficiency in the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) – dependent protein kinases (PKA), the intracellular mediator of AMP, in psoriasis. This enzyme defect is expressed in fibroblasts and in red blood cells isolated from psoriatic patients. In these cells, the abnormality noted in cAMP binding to PKA correlates well with the severity of the disease and is corrected by long-term treatment with etretinate. In this study, we determined the effect of oral administration of acitretin in four psoriatic patients on the altered cAMP binding observed with the RI regulatory subunit of PKA in erythrocytes prepared from these patients. Acitretin (30 mg/day) induced a rapid (within 1 h) increase in the ability of the RI regulatory subunit of erythrocytes to bind the 8-azido[32P]cAMP photoaffinity analogue of cAMP. The maximal plateau for this effect of acitretin was observed within 24 h of treatment and preceded the clinical improvement of the disease. The effect of acitretin was dose-dependent, with the maximal response observed at 40 mg acitretin/d. In addition, the rapid exposure (15 mm) of erythrocytes isolated from untreated patients exhibiting severe psoriasis to acitretin also promoted an increase in binding of 8-azido[32P]cAMP to the RI cAMP binding protein. Retinoic acid and 13-cis-retinoic acid were as efficient as acitretin in inducing the increase in binding of 8- azido[32P]cAMP to the RI regulatory subunit, whereas arotinoid was without effect. These results suggest that acitretin may act to modify PKA (the RI regulatory subunit) at the post-transcriptional level, and this may reflect, in part, on the mechanism of action of this synthetic retinoid. Further, monitoring this biochemical event may be helpful in determining the choice of retinoid therapy and in the management of its pharmacology