Réflexions sur l’importance et le rôle de l’hôpital psychiatrique dans une psychiatrie contemporaine

Au cours des dernières décennnies le rôle et l’importance de l’hôpital psychiatrique ont été contestés. La tendance officielle et générale va dans le sens d’une réduction des hospitalisations en chiffres absolus et en chiffres relatifs par rapport aux autres ressources graduellement mises en place. C’est sans doute comme cela qu’il convient de comprendre le terme de psychiatrie moderne : comme une psychiatrie orientée vers la communauté qui insiste sur la réinsertion sociale par opposition à l’institutionnalisation, et qui multiplie les dispositifs destinés à soigner le malade psychiatrique le plus près possible de son milieu. Tout ce mouvement laisse espérer que le moment de la disparition pure et simple du monstrueux asile n’est pas trop éloigné. Pourtant nous pensons qu’il n’est pas sans intérêt d’attirer l’attention sur quelques aspects du problème qui le compliquent singulièrement, et qui font que toute simplification peut être lourde de conséquences. Le débat reste relativement flou, ce qui est dans la nature des choses, puisqu’il n’est pas possible de parler d’institutions psychiatriques sans parler aussi de la folie, et que celle-ci, en tant que phénomène humain, ne se laisse pas enfermer dans des schémas conceptuels trop délimités ; il n’en reste par moins qu’un effort de clarification est toujours nécessaire. C’est ce à quoi nous voudrions contribuer ici en essayant de montrer pourquoi l’hôpital psychiatrique reste un endroit unique et irremplaçable en l’état actuel des choses. Ce qui, en passant, nous place à contre-courant de ce qui est généralement admis sur ce sujet.The psychiatric hospital is extremely controversial and there is no absence of voices calling for its disappearance. The object of this work is to draw the readers' attention to the fact that the problem is more complex than it appears and that any radical solution would be impractical and undesirable. An historical overview allows a better understanding of how and why the institution has become what it is : a place that is both reprehensible and deplorable in many respects. Inversely, it is also a place of life and culture where important facets of human reality are expressed; a microcosm of all the currents of society. It is a place where marginality has a particular status, and where men and women live their lives with a set of services that would be difficult to replaced and morally unacceptable to suppress

Psychothérapie dramatisée d’un groupe d’enfants autistes

Une thérapie de deux ans auprès d'un groupe d'enfants autistes par un groupe de thérapeutes est relatée dans les détails. Le médium de communication utilisé est, pour l'essentiel, l'action dramatisée. Ce moyen qui a permis de «jouer» et d'exprimer les fantasmes archaïques supposés des patients, a entraîné une modification des positions autistiques. La référence théorique se situe dans un cadre psychodynamique d'inspiration kleinienne.A two year group therapy with autistic children done by a group of therapists is presented in detail. Dramatised action is the medium of communication used for the most part. This method which lets patients play and express their supposed archaic fantaisies has brought about a modification of their autistic positions. The theoretical reference is based on a psychodynamic frame of Kleinien inspiration

New insight in lymnaeid snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda) as intermediate hosts of Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda, Digenea) in Belgium and Luxembourg

<b>Background</b><p></p> The present study aims to assess the epidemiological role of different lymnaeid snails as intermediate hosts of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica in Belgium and Luxembourg.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> During summer 2008, 7103 lymnaeid snails were collected from 125 ponds distributed in 5 clusters each including 25 ponds. Each cluster was located in a different biogeographic area of Belgium and Luxembourg. In addition, snails were also collected in sixteen other biotopes considered as temporary wet areas. These snails were identified as Galba truncatula (n = 2474) (the main intermediate host of F. hepatica in Europe) and Radix sp. (n = 4629). Moreover, several biological and non-biological variables were also recorded from the different biotopes. DNA was extracted from each snail collected using Chelex® technique. DNA samples were screened through a multiplex PCR that amplifies lymnaeid internal transcribed spacer 2 gene sequences (500–600 bp) (acting as an internal control) and a 124 bp fragment of repetitive DNA from Fasciola sp.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> Lymnaeid snails were found in 75 biotopes (53.2%). Thirty individuals of G. truncatula (1.31%) and 7 of Radix sp. (0.16%) were found to be positive for Fasciola sp. The seven positive Radix sp. snails all belonged to the species R. balthica (Linnaeus, 1758). Classification and regression tree analysis were performed in order to better understand links and relative importance of the different recorded factors. One of the best explanatory variables for the presence/absence of the different snail species seems to be the geographic location, whereas for the infection status of the snails no obvious relationship was linked to the presence of cattle.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Epidemiological implications of these findings and particularly the role of R. balthica as an alternative intermediate host in Belgium and Luxembourg were discussed

Du capteur à l'image couleur

This chapter deals with the acquisition of colour images by mono-CCD colour cameras. These devices acquire only one colour component at each pixel through the CFA (Colour Filter Array) that covers the CCD sensor. A procedure - called demosaicing - is necessary to estimate the other two missing colour components at each pixel to obtain a colour image. A mathematical formalization for demosaicing is proposed, before we present some of the methods in the demosaicing literature, as well as the post-processing algorithms to correct the estimated images. We then present objective criteria for the quality evaluation of colour images, and apply them to estimated images to draw up conclusions about the selection of a demosaicing method. At last, we examine why and how white balancing is required and implemented to provide images faithfull to the observed scene under varying illumination conditions

On the Collective Motion in Globally Coupled Chaotic Systems

A mean-field formulation is used to investigate the bifurcation diagram for globally coupled tent maps by means of an analytical approach. It is shown that the period doubling sequence of the single site map induces a continuous family of periodic states in the coupled system. This type of collective motion breaks the ergodicity of the coupled map lattice. The stability analysis suggests that these states are stable for weak coupling strength but opens the possibility for more complicated types of motion in the regime of moderate coupling.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 3 eps figures included also available "at http://athene.fkp.physik.th-darmstadt.de/public/wolfram.html" or "at ftp://athene.fkp.physik.th-darmstadt.de/pub/publications/wolfram/" Phys. Rep. in pres

Adolescence et institution s’opposent-elles?

Après un rappel et une mise en perspective de la problématique générale des institutions, les auteurs centrent leur réflexion sur les aspects institutionnels du processus normal d'adolescence; la place des mécanismes psychopathologiques dans les transactions de certains adolescents avec les institutions; l'utilité de la formalisation en terme d'institution pour la mise en place de milieux et activités thérapeutiques.After reviewing and putting into perspective the general situation of institutions, the authors concentrate on the institutional aspects of the normal process of adolescence; the room given to psychopathological mechanisms in the transactions of certain adolescents with the institutions ; the usefulness of institutional formalization in setting up therapeutic environments and activities