How about a Nuit des Musées with a health and history theme? Head for the Musée de l'AP-HP, l'Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris For the 21st edition of the cultural event the museum is offering free evening visits on Saturday A historical and artistic museum opened in 1934 inviting visitors to discover paintings and other works on the theme of medicine offering a representative selection of the museum's collections the artistic event returns this year for its 21st edition Ile-de-France residents and visiting tourists to discover their favorite museums by night It's a great opportunity to learn something new 2025 - 17:00 ⤏ 22:00Free admission to the "À pleines dents!" exhibition The rudimentary treatments practiced in public from the Middle Ages onwards by empirical operators have left a lasting mark on the collective imagination Although this depiction reduces dental professionals to mere tooth pullers it masks a very different historical reality: that of a discipline that innovated in many fields the 18th century was a pivotal period for the dental profession reflection on training and the creation of professional statutes Tracing the history of dentistry from Antiquity to the present day the exhibition aims to revisit this caricatured and simplistic vision of the dentist to highlight the milestones and decisive innovations of oral medicine which has long remained on the bangs of medical care Over 100 works of art and scientific objects are brought together in this exhibition Guided tour of the "À pleines dents!" exhibition by the museum team zen chez le dentiste" workshop (relaxation breathing and visualization time) by shiatsu specialist Laure de Scitivaux (duration of visit 1h and "relaxation" discovery session 30min Le programme est mis à jour en fonction des annonces officielles visit the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris museum Refer your establishment, click herePromote your event, click here The Night of Solidarity is an operation that counts the number of homeless people in a particular area on a given night The seventh Night of Solidarity in Paris took place during the night of the 25th to 26th January 2024 mobilising over 2,000 volunteers and professionals of the social fields the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis - coordinated their third Night of Solidarity with nearly 2,000 volunteers and 120 partner non-profit associations in the 32 volunteer municipal Communes: Alfortville 785 people were met on the same night in the 32 volunteer municipal Communes of Grand Paris Metropolis Apur processes your data to manage sending out the newsletter. For more information on the management of your personal data and to exercise your rights, please click here Kremlin-Bicêtre looks forward to seeing you on July 14 the evening promises to be more than festive The perfect way to celebrate the Fête Nationale And why not take the opportunity to discover some of the best places to visit in Val-de-Marne The City of Light unveils a wide-ranging program for this event which returns for its 41st edition on the weekend of September 21 and 22 But the surrounding region is not to be outdone: the whole of theÎle-de-France region joins in the Journées du Patrimoine dance Heritage Days 2024: exhibition, tours and workshops at the AP-HP Museum (94)The AP-HP Museum, located in Val-de-Marne, is taking part in the new Heritage Days on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2024. [Read more] le programme est mis à jour en fonction des annonces officielles Classical music is fantastic Come and enjoy an afternoon of music with the Villejuif and Kremlin-Bicêtre intercommunal conservatories 3:30 pm Hôtel de ville Make way for a masterly concert entitled "Le jubilé" by the orchestra from the Villejuif and Kremlin-Bicêtre intercommunal conservatories This musical program pays double tribute to two great French composers who left their mark on twentieth-century music whose death is being celebrated one hundred years ago The program also opens with a surprising work by American composer Charles Ives Viral infections may involve all ocular tissues and may have short and long-term sight-threatening consequences ocular infections caused by herpesviruses are the most frequent HSV-1 keratitis and kerato-uveitis affect approximately are the leading cause of infectious blindness in the Western world mainly because of corneal opacification caused by recurrences they may warrant long-term antiviral prophylaxis accounts for 10 to 20% of all shingles locations and can be associated with severe ocular involvement (keratitis kerato-uveitis) of which a quarter becomes chronic/recurrent Post herpetic neuralgias in the trigeminal territory can be particularly debilitating Necrotizing retinitis caused by herpesviruses (HSV but must be considered as absolute visual emergencies requiring urgent intravenous and intravitreal antiviral treatment Clinical pictures depend on the immune status of the host Adenovirus are the most frequent cause of infectious conjunctivitis These most often benign infections are highly contagious and may be complicated by visually disabling corneal lesions that may last over months or years Some arboviruses may be associated with inflammatory ocular manifestations congenital Zika infections may cause macular or optic atrophy Conjunctivitis is frequent during the acute phase of Ebola virus disease Up to 15% of survivors present with severe chronic inflammatory ocular conditions caused by viral persistence in uveal tissues COVID-19-associated conjunctivitis can precede systemic disease or even be the unique manifestation of the disease Utmost caution must be taken because of viral shedding in tears.Copyright © 2020 Société Nationale Française de Médecine Interne (SNFMI) About Physician’s Weekly Careers Memberships & Verifications Advertise With Us Our Partners Blog Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Editorial Policy Contact Us The content of this site is intended for healthcare professionals Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views A profile showcasing an individual's professional experience A profile for companies that LinkedIn users can follow prospective study evaluating the WEB 17 system in ruptured and unruptured aneurysms to understand the safety and effectiveness of the newest and smallest WEB system The study comprised of 163 patients across 17 European centres with results concluding that WEB 17 is just as safe and effective as previous WEB generations with a low complication rate The adequate occlusion rate was 86.5% for ruptured aneurysms (73.1% complete occlusion) and 82.4% for unruptured aneurysms (57.1% complete occlusion) at one-year follow-up The results of CLEVER demonstrate that the WEB 17 system maintains the same efficacy as previous generations of WEB WEB is the most well-studied intrasaccular device available on the marketplace today with seven good clinical practice (GCP) studies and more than 200 peer-reviewed publications It is described by the company as a first-in-class intrasaccular technology offering a single-device solution for wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms that minimises the need for a dual antiplatelet regimen required for intraluminal therapies “One-year angiographic results of CLEVER show excellent complete occlusion rates at one year in the population of wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms treated with WEB 17,” said Laurent Spelle (Bicêtre Hospital a leading author for the recent publication of CLEVER in JNIS “WEB has changed my practice and set a new standard for safety in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms,” added Adam Arthur (University of Tennessee Health Science Center principal investigator for the WEB-IT Trial—which was the investigational device exemption (IDE) study supporting WEB’s post-market approval (PMA) in the USA Microvention is also currently celebrating the five-year anniversary of WEB in the USA showcasing this product and its entire line of innovative medical device products at the 2024 Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) annual meeting (22–26 July “Microvention’s WEB aneurysm embolisation system is now the most studied intrasaccular device available today underscoring our commitment to physicians and patients alike to provide innovative advanced medical device technology coupled with long-term safety and effectiveness,” said Carsten Schroeder president and chief executive officer at Microvention WEB advances treatment of wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms with one intrasaccular device—clinically proven ‘one and done’ treatment We will continue to work side-by-side with leading physicians around the world to identify the evolving needs in patient care and then transform those insights into innovative technologies that help to save patient lives.” and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" They are considered to be in long-term virological remission from HIV infection they have been controlling the virus for more than 25 years without treatment seems to facilitate post-treatment control of HIV,1 but the immune mechanisms had previously remained unclear Head of the Institut Pasteur’s Viral Reservoirs and Immune Control Unit has found that some genetic characteristics associated with innate immunity cells (natural killer or NK cells) are very frequently found in post-treatment controllers in the VISCONTI cohort A retrospective analysis of the ANRS CO6 PRIMO cohort (where the scientists analyzed the genetic characteristics of more than 1,600 participants monitored since the first weeks following infection) confirmed that the presence of these genetic markers seems to encourage lasting HIV remission in individuals who began treatment early and then stopped it for various reasons The scientists showed that these genetic markers are accompanied by the existence of specific NK cell populations that are better able to control infection "These results support the role of NK cells in long-term HIV remission and could guide the development of novel immunotherapies," commented Asier Sáez-Cirión To confirm these findings, a clinical trial entitled ANRS 175 RHIVIERA01 The aim of the trial is to analyze links between the genetic markers of NK cells and post-treatment control 16 individuals with these genetic characteristics who began treatment immediately after infection were invited to discontinue treatment under close surveillance the scientists are characterizing exactly how these genetic characteristics associated with remission influence the program and function of NK cells This approach could pave the way for immunotherapies aimed at mobilizing these specific cells in other people living with HIV "This discovery represents a crucial step in efforts to achieve sustained remission from HIV infection At a time when programs offering access to antiretroviral therapy are coming under threat there is an urgent need for novel therapies enabling people living with HIV to lead a normal life without the need for treatment," concludes Asier Sáez-Cirión This study is associated with the VISCONTI study and the PRIMO cohort The scientists also received funding from the NIH especially in connection with the ERASE HIV project [1] Passaes, et al. Nat Com 2024: HIV: early treatment, one key to remission A genetic fingerprint associated with durable HIV remission after interruption of antiretroviral treatment. ANRS VISCONTI/PRIMO, Med Laurence Meyer1 and Asier Sáez-Cirión2,3,*; ANRS PRIMO cohort and VISCONTI study Université Paris Saclay; Inserm CESP U1018; APHP Laboratoire d’Immunologie et Histocompatibilité Unité Régulation des Infections Rétrovirales SEND THE PRESS OFFICE AN EMAIL She received her BA in English and a minor in communication studies from Temple University in Philadelphia.\n\nHornick has worked in medical publishing since 2022 She is currently an online content editor for Pulmonology She previously worked as an editorial assistant writing for multiple specialties.\n\nShe enjoys reading and crocheting in her free time Connect with her on LinkedIn here SAN DIEGO — Among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension seralutinib lowered pulmonary vascular resistance over 72 weeks according to research presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference professor of respiratory medicine at Université Paris-Saclay and consultant at the French Referral Center for Pulmonary Hypertension in the department of respiratory and intensive care medicine at Hôpital Bicêtre in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre As Healio previously reported multicenter phase 2 TORREY study showed that seralutinib (Gossamer Bio) reduced pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) over 24 weeks in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension In an open-label extension study of TORREY, Sitbon and colleagues assessed 73 patients with PAH from the phase 2 study and one patient from a phase 1B study (total 50 years; 89.2% women) to see if twice-daily 90 mg inhaled seralutinib was safe and effective in terms of PVR over 72 weeks the cutoff date for these interim results was Oct Although every patient in this extension study received seralutinib 40 of the included patients received placebo during the TORREY study (placebo-to-seralutinib) whereas the remaining 34 patients received seralutinib (seralutinib-to-seralutinib) Most of the patients in the continued seralutinib group belonged to WHO FC II (76.5%) followed by FC III (17.6%) and FC I (5.9%) most patients either belonged to WHO FC II (45%) or FC III (40%) with fewer patients in FC I (7.5%) and FC IV (7.5%) researchers observed a greater proportion of patients on two of three PAH-specific background medications in the placebo-to-seralutinib group vs In terms of treatment-emergent adverse events patients frequently reported headaches (24.3%) 43.2% of those receiving seralutinib and 38.1% of those receiving placebo reported cough researchers noted that cough occurred less frequently in both the continued seralutinib group (20.6%) and the placebo-to-seralutinib group (22.5%) at week 72 18 patients discontinued seralutinib due to a treatment-emergent adverse event Researchers found that cough was often the event behind discontinuation the reason for discontinuation was heightened aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase None of the reported deaths (n = 3) were related to the study drug researchers had data for 26 patients in the continued seralutinib group and 24 patients in the placebo-to-seralutinib group Median PVR in the placebo-to-seralutinib group (644.5 dyne*s/cm5) was higher than the median in the continued seralutinib group (500 dyne*s/cm5) when assessed at the start of the extension study Researchers evaluated median changes in PVR from week 24 to week 72 and from the baseline of the TORREY study to week 72 PVR decreased by 47.5 dyne*s/cm5 (–9.1%) between week 24 and week 72 A similar reduction was observed in the placebo-to-seralutinib group during this 48-week timeframe (–47 dyne*s/cm5; –7.3%) More patients in the continued seralutinib group vs the placebo-to-seralutinib group had PVR that improved by at least 10% (n = 15; 57.7% vs researchers found a large reduction in PVR among patients in the continued seralutinib group between TORREY baseline and week 72 (143 dyne*s/cm5; –23.6%) For patients in the placebo-to-seralutinib group PVR decreased by 71 dyne*s/cm5 (–10.5%) during this timeframe “Further reductions from week 24 to week 72 in PVR demonstrated by seralutinib-to-seralutinib patients suggest persistence of treatment effect,” Sitbon and colleagues wrote further research on seralutinib is underway in the phase 3 PROSERA study Interim results from the phase 1B and phase 2 TORREY open-label extension study of seralutinib in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) Presented at: American Thoracic Society International Conference; May 17-22 Get the latest news and education delivered to your inbox The email address associated with your Healio account is: If you would like to edit or change the email address that your subscriptions and alerts are sent to You'll receive reminders to complete your saved activities from Healio CME In order to report on the local disparities in the supply of general medical services in the Greater Paris - Grand Paris - the map proposes an analysis based on squares of 200x200 metres general medical services carried out by private general practitioners and medical centres This density is measured against  the resident population It shows the inequalities in distribution in more detail than at a municipal scale and is intended to support the implementation of territorial Health Policies Although the density of available services appears to be greater in neighbourhoods in the west of Paris (with the exception of the southern area of the 16th district) and in certain neighbourhoods of Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine the density  of services is inadequate in Grand Paris Metropolis with shortcomings in areas spread throughout the metropolitan territory Research on the VISCONTI cohort has provided proof of concept of possible long-term remission for people living with HIV These individuals received early treatment that was maintained for several years When they subsequently interrupted their antiretroviral treatment they were capable of controlling viremia for a period lasting more than 20 years in some cases the team leading the VISCONTI study suggested that starting treatment early could promote control of the virus the scientists used a primate model of SIV2 infection which allowed them to control all the parameters (sex etc.) that may have an impact on the development of immune responses and progression to disease They compared groups that had received two years of treatment starting either shortly after infection (in the acute phase) or several months after infection (in the chronic phase) The reproducible results show that starting treatment within four weeks of infection (as was the case for most of the participants in the VISCONTI study) strongly promotes viral control after discontinuation of treatment This protective effect is lost if treatment is started just five months later "We show the link between early treatment and control of infection after treatment interruption and our study indicates that there is a window of opportunity to promote remission of HIV infection," comments Asier Sáez-Cirión Head of the Institut Pasteur's Viral Reservoirs and Immune Control Unit and co-last author of the study The scientists also demonstrated that early treatment promotes the development of an effective immune response against the virus Although the antiviral CD8+ T immune cells developed in the first weeks after infection have very limited antiviral potential the early introduction of long-term treatment promotes the development of memory CD8+ T cells which have a stronger antiviral potential and are therefore capable of effectively controlling the viral rebound that occurs after treatment interruption "We observed that early treatment maintained for two years optimizes the development of immune cells They acquire an effective memory against the virus and can eliminate it naturally when viral rebound occurs after discontinuation of treatment," explains Asier Sáez-Cirión These results confirm how important it is for people with HIV to be diagnosed and begin treatment as early as possible "Starting treatment six months after infection a delay that our study shows results in a loss of effectiveness is already considered as a very short time frame compared with current clinical practice with many people with HIV starting treatment years after infection because they are diagnosed too late," notes Roger Le Grand Director of IDMIT (Infectious Disease Models for Innovative Therapies) and co-last author of the study "Early treatment has a twofold effect: individually as early treatment prevents diversification of the virus in the body and preserves and optimizes immune responses against the virus; and collectively as it prevents the possibility of the virus spreading to other people," adds Asier Sáez-Cirión these results should guide the development of novel immunotherapies targeting the immune cells involved in the remission of HIV infection These are the initial results of the p-VISCONTI study, which began in 2015 in collaboration with the institutions cited above and received funding from MSD Avenir and the support of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases as part of the RHIVIERA consortium 2 SIV: simian immunodeficiency virus only affects non-human primates SIV infection of animals recapitulates the key features of human HIV infection Early antiretroviral therapy favors post-treatment SIV control associated with the expansion of enhanced memory CD8+ T-cells, Nature Communications Viral Reservoirs and Immune Control Unit Paris Hematological and Bacterial diseases (IMVA-HB/IDMIT Department) France.9 Université Paris Cité/APHP Hôpital Necker - Enfants Malades Current HIV treatments need to be taken for life by those infected as antiretroviral therapy is unable to eliminate viral reservoirs lurking in immune cells Institut Pasteur scientists have identified the characteristics of CD4 T lymphocytes that are preferentially infected by the virus – it is their metabolic (or energy-producing) activity1 that enables the virus to multiply the researchers have managed to destroy these infected cells Their findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism on December 20 The antiretroviral treatment used today is designed to block HIV infection but it is not able to eliminate the virus from the body The virus remains in reservoirs – the CD4 T lymphocyte immune cells the virus does not infect all types of CD4 cell and until now the reason for this was not well known Inflammation and Persistence Unit at the Institut Pasteur and colleagues have identified the characteristics of the different CD4 subpopulations the more they need to produce energy to perform their function Experiments have shown that it is the metabolic activity of the cell that plays a key role in susceptibility to HIV infection The virus primarily targets cells with high metabolic activity it hijacks the energy and products provided by the cell This requirement constitutes a weakness for the virus and could be exploited to tackle infected cells Scientists succeeded in blocking the infection ex vivo thanks to metabolic activity inhibitors that have already been investigated in cancer research Asier Saez-Cirion, coordinator of the studyRead the portrait the virus is no longer able to infect cells and amplification is halted in reservoirs of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment Schematic representation of CD4 T lymphocytes (in purple) Left: the CD4 T lymphocyte with significant metabolic activity is infected with HIV (in green) Right: the CD4 T lymphocyte has no metabolic activity and therefore cannot be infected This research opens new ways towards possible remission through the elimination of reservoir cells The next research phase will involve assessing the potential of these metabolic inhibitors in vivo This study was funded by the Institut Pasteur AmfAR (American Foundation for AIDS research) and Sidaction It is the cell's molecule synthesis and breakdown activities that enable it to produce energy Cellular metabolism is a major determinant of HIV-1 reservoir seeding in CD4+ T cells and offers an opportunity to tackle infection, Cell Metabolism Nicolas Chomont (10) and Asier Sáez-Cirión (1) Hub Bioinformatique et Biostatistique – C3BI Service de Médecine Interne et Immunologie clinique Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (7) Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier Immunology of Viral Infections and Autoimmune Diseases (IMVA) (10) Centre de Recherche du CHUM and Department of microbiology are the starting point in Sophie Leclercq’s search for part of colonialism’s visual history; for it is through things seen and touched daily that the student learned to think and feel From the depths of various museums’ collections and cut outs in order to grasp their meaning Her work brings to life a world of exotic and false images of a colonial empire hitherto unknown to children With the advent of the Third Republic schools in France became an institution This institutionalization was reliant on a place learning aids refer to a pedagogical support in a designed and didactic form In an even more tangible way for the student educational material refers to the totality of the daily objects used in learning The fact that ‘school manual’ can also be used for ‘school textbook’ illustrates how learning is embodied: knowledge can be held manually We might answer these questions by considering the images in questions as ‘objects’ by questioning the relationship between iconography and device as well as the exchanges they might have had with images of the Empire brought together as they were within the space of the school Fig. 1. Cahiers d’enseignement illustrés n°79 : Colonies françaises, ‘Objets divers (archipels polynésiens’, c. 1900, ed. by Baschet. Munaé, Paris. © Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / Photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé School imagery of the colonies filled a triple need: documentary It was about making the colonies known and making them loved Fig. 2.1 et 2.2  Pierre Portelette, La France d’outre-mer, ‘L’existence à Tahiti’» and ‘Récolte de la canne à sucre’, 1938, 39 x 104 cm, ed. Delagrave. Munaé, Paris.© Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / Photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé at the crossroads of these documentary and esthetic ambitions school imagery was inherently born out of political ambition in the context of strengthening the Republic imperial policy was enhanced and new generations could be convinced of the merit of colonialism as a source of national glory where the colonial act was always glorious: that is to say images of domination or of the ‘colonial peace’ that resulted from it here to give a visual form to textual content these images were made to be reproduced on school artefacts toeing the line between graphic material and object The schoolroom could be transformed into a display space to enable learning and to invite the student’s reverie and escapism printed sheets representing naturalistic colonial produce or maps of the Empire were enhanced with landscapes and typologies of the various tribes suggesting a tri-dimensional view of these far-away territories Teachers also had at their disposal photographic prints that they would sometimes organize on larger boards that represented the colonies The class wall then became a space for visual layouts Large scale mural posters were edited in the context of sets dealing with the colonies recreated an image of the colonial world as utopia made real but also of a size that allowed them to be used in schools and put up all together while still providing a panoramic view (just like the format) of the Empire once the sheets were hung one next to another In this way it is almost like a miniature colonial exhibition where the student’s gaze could travel from his desk to the colonies within the restricted space of the classroom Fig. 3. Blotting paper with an advertisement for ‘Petit Negro ’ », c. 1955. Munaé, Paris. © Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / Photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé a caricatural yet very immersive and seductive narrative device was offered to the students Fig. 4. ‘Nègres du Congo’, from Cahiers géographiques, n°19, ill. by Gilbert et Fraipont, c. 1900, Hachette et Cie éd. Munaé, Paris © Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / Photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé n° inv Fig. 5. ‘Le caoutchouc – Congo (Afrique)’, 1905. Munaé, Paris (© Munaé © Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / Photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé ‘Loto des colonies et protectorats français’ Paris (© Munaé (musée national de l’Éducation) / photographies reproduites avec l’aimable autorisation du Munaé) we also find images the student could transform into objects the cardboard sheets made by Pélican Blanc in 1936 Each of the colonies is represented by a supposedly typical character the student could then make little cardboard figures and arranging them into a pocket-sized diorama of the French colonies These three functions that were exhibition collection and play allow us to understand how educational imagery was presented It followed various systems of materiality collective contemplation and the handling of images within a set of images meant to invoke pleasure and desire but also the colonial world they represented The image was no longer just an educational illustration meant to teach something both recreating the colonies on a microcosmic scale capable of being appropriated and handled by schoolchildren in the intimacy of the schoolroom the school environment allowed for a discovery of the colonies through various visuals means held to the central tenet of increasing knowledge and love of the Empire as well as successfully spreading republican propaganda in its favor sometimes even made into objects by it: educational objects although the former was far away and so different from this communal space One could posit that the colonial world in itself became objectified by its display in schools consequently allowed the youth of France to appropriate it in a narrative that was that of the national epic Les arts coloniaux dans les images scolaires (1871-1958)’ La pédagogie par l’image au temps de l’imprimé Sophie Leclercq holds a PhD in cultural history She has worked in both the research and education department of the musée du quai Branly (both before and after its opening) and at the CNDP/Réseau Canopé (Ministry for Education) and published in 2010 La Rançon du colonialisme les surréalistes face aux mythes de la France coloniale (les presses du réel) provide proof of concept for a cell therapy that could prove effective in achieving HIV remission HIV controllers are rare individuals identified as being able to control viral infection naturally without treatment In these very rare individuals (less than 1% of people living with HIV) no multiplication of the virus in the blood can be detected after more than 10 years of infection without treatment scientists at the Institut Pasteur described how those of controllers are able to rapidly destroy infected CD4+ T cells Asier Sáez-Cirión's group also demonstrated in a previous study that the cells from controllers use a different molecular program Their research shows that anti-HIV CD8+ T cells in controllers not only have huge antiviral potential; they are also programmed to survive the cell program predisposes them to exhaustion and cell death Inflammation and Persistence Unit at the Institut Pasteur have now successfully reprogrammed non-controllers' CD8+ T cells to acquire key characteristics of controllers' cells and polyfunctionality including an enhanced ability to suppress HIV infection The ability of CD8+ T cells to acquire and maintain such properties appears crucial to achieving natural control of HIV This reprogramming was performed in vitro through temporary exposure of HIV non-controllers' cells to a GSK 3 inhibitor a small molecule targeting two signaling pathways identified as essential to optimal functioning of CD8+ T cells The scientists observed in vitro that this reprogramming promoted functional capacities associated with natural control of infection "The goal of this study is to eventually use this strategy as part of cell therapy to achieve HIV remission This would involve isolating non-controllers' cells and re-injecting them before potentially discontinuing treatment," commented Asier Sáez-Cirión Leader of the Viral Reservoirs and Control Group at the Institut Pasteur and coordinator of the study there may be applications beyond HIV for these findings since the cellular characteristics achieved after reprogramming are highly desirable for cancer cell therapies This study was conducted in collaboration with the ANRS CO6 PRIMO and CO21 CODEX cohorts and the Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP) with funding from ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases and the NIH ((1UM1AI164562-01) Reprogramming dysfunctional CD8+ T cells to promote properties associated with natural HIV control, The Journal of Clinical Investigation Michaela Müller-Trutwin1,Olivier Lambotte5 France.3Université Paris Saclay; Inserm CESP U1018; APHP Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces infected lymphocytes to synthesize an extracellular mesh that contains viral particles and protects them against the immune system and antiretroviral drugs This is the conclusion of an ANRS-supported study conducted Maria-Isabel Thoulouze at the Virology department of the Institut (Institut Pasteur/CNRS UMR 3569 Paris) and her colleagues at Inserm and the Kremlin Bicêtre University Hospital will be presented in an oral communication on July 26 during the 9th Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2017) organized by the International AIDS Society and the ANRS in Paris from July 23rd to 26th 2017 HIV is a fragile virus of quite low infectivity but it is easily transmitted from one cell to another when these cells are in contact An ANRS-supported study conducted by Maria-Isabel Thoulouze at the Virology department (Institut Pasteur/CNRS) in collaboration with colleagues from Inserm and the Kremlin Bicêtre University Hospital sheds new light on the mode of HIV transmission This study shows that HIV is transferred between lymphocytes mainly as highly infectious clusters of viral particles transported in an adhesive extracellular matrix which also shelters them from the immune system and antiretroviral drugs “We have discovered that HIV is able to modify the secretion profile of infected lymphocytes in order to form an external protective mesh containing viral particles,” says Dr Thoulouze This protective mesh is composed principally of proteins and carbohydrates and is comparable to that of bacterial biofilm an extracellular matrix network secreted by some bacteria as protection against their environment Dr Thoulouze and colleagues analyzed the extracellular mesh formed at the surface of these cells and evaluated viral infection after its destruction They then compared the infectivity of viral particles within the mesh and isolated viral particles in the absence or presence of antiretrovirals and assessed the efficacy of neutralizing antibodies against HIV What they found is that “viral biofilm” formation increases HIV infectivity those transported in this protective cocoon are also more readily transferred from one cell to another “Thanks to this viral biofilm,” says Dr Thoulouze but by colonies of several hundred viral particles Concentrated and compartmentalized in this way HIV becomes less sensitive to drugs and less accessible to the immune system which could explain how it persists in the body despite treatment.” This extracellular mesh constitutes a new therapeutic target could be a way “to limit the collective transport of viral particles and to increase the efficacy of the immune response to HIV and of antiretroviral therapies.” Further studies are needed to validate this new strategy HIV-1 concentrates and shelters cell-associated infectivity a “viral biofilm” - IAS Conference (oral).C The initial findings of the ANRS CLEAC[1] study[2] coordinated by Pierre Frange (Hôpital Necker – AP-HP) help define the immunological and virological benefits of early antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children living in France The results of this study will be presented by Florence Buseyne (Oncogenic Virus Epidemiology & Pathophysiology Team - Institut Pasteur) this Wednesday 25 July at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) being held in Amsterdam from 23 to 26 July 2018 an HIV-infected child is at greater risk of disease progression to AIDS than an adult Initiation of early treatment in infants shows an undeniable clinical benefit by reducing the risk of death in early childhood It may also be accompanied by a significant reduction of the viral reservoir (the amount of total viral DNA present in the immune cells of patients) which could promote the accumulation of conditions required for remission It is therefore essential to better understand the interactions between the virus and the immune systems of children and more accurately evaluate the short and long-term virological and immunological benefits of initiation of early therapy in children These are the objectives of the ANRS CLEAC study This physiopathological study included 46 children (from five to 12 years old) and 30 adolescents (from 13 to 18 years old) living with HIV since birth 36 started antiretroviral therapy before the age of six months and 40 after the age of two years Researchers examined participants’ blood samples defined their immunological and virological status and analysed the results according to their age at the time of the study and the age at which they started treatment the ANRS CLEAC team assessed the viral reservoir and observed that the viral ADN level was significantly lower in children and adolescents who started their treatment before the age of six months compared with those who started treatment after the age of two years This lower viral reservoir also persists in early-treated adolescents even though some of them take their medication less regularly the immunological analysis looked at naïve T lymphocytes which have the ability to respond to new pathogens and vaccines The ANRS CLEAC team found that these immune cells were present in greater numbers in children who started antiretroviral therapy before the age of six months This difference was not observed in the adolescents This higher level of naïve T lymphocytes is one of the markers of a healthy immune system the initial findings of the ANRS CLEAC study show that initiation of antiretroviral therapy before the age of six months in HIV-infected infants has undeniable virological and immunological benefits [1] Comparison of Late Versus Early Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-infected Children [2] This study was conducted in collaboration with Véronique Avettand-Fenoel (Hopital Necker) and  the French perinatal survey (ANRS CO10 cohort) led by Josiane Warszawski (centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations) Impact of late versus early antiretroviral therapy on PBMC-associated HIV-1-DNA levels and the percentage of naive T lymphocytes in HIV-1 infected children and adolescents – The ANRS-EP59-CLEAC study                Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center Chloroquine may be associated with serious psychiatric side effects even in patients with no family or personal history of psychiatric disorders In a letter to the editor published online July 28 in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry the authors summarize data from several studies published as far back as 1993 and as recently as May 2020 "In addition to previously reported side effects chloroquine could also induce psychiatric side effects which are polymorphic and can persist even after stopping the drug," lead author Florence Gressier "In COVID-19 patients who may still be [undergoing treatment] with chloroquine close psychiatric assessment and monitoring should be performed," she said Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been at the center of heated controversy for their potential role in preventing or treating COVID-19 Following findings of a small French study that suggested efficacy in lowering the viral load in patients with COVID-19 President Donald Trump expressed optimism regarding the role of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 Other studies, however, have called into question both the efficacy and the safety of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19. On June 15, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked the emergency use authorization it had given in March to chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 As discussed in a Medscape expert commentary a group of physicians who held a "white coat summit" in front of the US Supreme Court building promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 The video of their summit was retweeted by President Trump and garnered millions of views before it was taken down by Twitter "we wanted to alert the public and practitioners on the potentially psychiatric risks induced by chloroquine as it could be taken as self-medication or potentially still prescribed," Gressier said "We think the format of the letter to the editor allows information to be provided in a concise and clear manner," she added chloroquine psychosis may be more affective and include prominent visual hallucinations with preserved insight," the authors write They note that the frequency of symptoms does not appear to be connected to the cumulative dose or the duration of treatment and the onset of psychosis or other adverse effects is usually "sudden." In addition, they warn that the drug's psychiatric effects may go unnoticed, especially because COVID-19 itself has been associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms making it hard to distinguish between symptoms caused by the illness and those caused by the drug Although the psychiatric symptoms typically occur early after treatment initiation some "subtle" symptoms might persist after stopping the drug possibly owing to its "extremely long" half-life Gressier noted that practicing clinicians should look up reports about self-medication with chloroquine "and warn their patients about the risk induced by chloroquine." MBA, a rheumatologist at the Rheumatology Center of Houston said she uses hydroxychloroquine "all the time" in clinical practice to treat patients with rheumatic conditions "I cannot comment on whether it [hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine] is a potential prophylactic or treatment for COVID-19 as a rheumatologist who uses hydroxychloroquine at a dose of 400 mg/day I do not think we need to worry about serious [psychiatric] side effects," Bose told Medscape Medical News when asked to comment Because clinicians are trying all types of possible treatments for COVD-19 it is a great medicine from a rheumatologic perspective and is safe," she added higher doses will cause more side effects," said Bose who was not involved in authoring the letter She counsels patients about potential psychiatric side effects of hydroxychloroquine because some of her patients have complained about irritability Also commenting on the letter for Medscape Medical News Henry Phipps professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences said the "take-home message of this letter is that serious psychiatric effects psychotic illness in particular," can occur in individuals who take chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine "these are potentially very concerning side effects that psychiatrists should be aware of," noted Potash who is also the department director and psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins He said that one of his patients who had been "completely psychiatrically healthy" took chloroquine prophylactically prior to traveling overseas she had an episode of mania that resolved once she discontinued the medication and received treatment for the mania "If you add potential psychiatric side effects to the other side effects that can result from these medications that adds up to a pretty important reason to be wary of taking them particularly for the indication of COVID-19 where the level of evidence that it helps in any way is still quite weak," Potash said executive director at the Quinism Foundation and faculty associate in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health "The authors of this letter are to be commended for their efforts in raising awareness of the potentially lasting and disabling psychiatric effects of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as with similar effects from other synthetic quinoline antimalarials have occasionally been overlooked or misattributed to other conditions," Nevin told Medscape Medical News "I have proposed that the chronic neuropsychiatric effects of this class of drug are best considered not as side effects but as signs and symptoms of a disorder known as chronic quinoline encephalopathy caused by poisoning of the central nervous system," he said and Potash have reported no relevant financial relationships Nevin reviewed the letter to the editor and serves as the executive director of the Quinism Foundation a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes education and research on disorders caused by poisoning by quinoline drugs He has also been retained as a consultant and expert witness in legal cases involving claims of adverse effects from quinoline antimalarial drugs J Clin Psychiatry. Published online July 28, 2020. Full text For more Medscape Psychiatry news, join us on Facebook and Twitter Medscape Medical News © 2020  Click the topic below to receive emails when new articles are available You will receive email when new content is published Want more science? You can get 5 issues of our partner “How It Works” magazine for $5 for the latest amazing science news.  A relatively rare chemical reaction can turn people's pee purple A woman who was hospitalized after having a stroke surprised doctors when but doctors have witnessed the anomaly enough times to give it a name Related: 11 Surprising Uses For Pee and Poop   as she was eating foods rich in the chemical tryptophan gets broken down into a chemical called "indoxyl sulfate," a key ingredient for purple pee.  the Klebsiella pneumoniae and indoxyl sulfate mix in the urinary bag the bacteria split indoxyl sulfate into two new chemicals: One part red Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox Usually, purple pee signals that a patient may have a urinary tract infection, according to a 2011 article in the Canadian Urological Association Journal This was not the case with the French patient the patient's pee returned to its normal color after she was treated with intravenous hydration for a few days The patient was then transferred to a long-term care facility where doctors continued to treat the lingering effects of her stroke Originally published on Live Science.  Nicoletta LaneseSocial Links NavigationChannel Editor HealthNicoletta Lanese is the health channel editor at Live Science and was previously a news editor and staff writer at the site She holds a graduate certificate in science communication from UC Santa Cruz and degrees in neuroscience and dance from the University of Florida she also remains heavily involved in dance and performs in local choreographers' work 'Mirror life forms' may sound like science fiction but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment brains and spider eyeballs: 20 jaw-dropping snapshots of the microscopic world around us Amateur astronomer captures detailed photos of Croc's Eye and Whirlpool galaxies from backyard observatory France have reported a rare case of Purple Urine after catheterization The case has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS) is rare and is signified by purple discolouration of the urine usually seen in women and chronically debilitated patients with long term indwelling urinary catheters The condition is often associated with urinary tract infection and can be distressing for patients family members and healthcare workers who are unaware of this association Discolouration of the urine bag is due to the presence of indigo and indirubin pigments which precipitate and react with the synthetic materials of the catheter and urinary bag According to history a 70-year-old woman had a urinary catheter placed during a hospitalization for aphasia and hemiplegia after an acute stroke Urinalysis showed leukocytes but no nitrites A urine culture grew Klebsiella pneumoniae The purple discoloration is thought to occur as a result of a chemical reaction facilitated by certain bacteria in alkaline environments Dietary tryptophan is converted to indole within the gut and metabolized by the liver to form indoxyl sulfate indoxyl sulfate can be broken down by bacterial enzymes to form indigo and indirubin This reaction is known to occur in the presence of several other bacteria Since the patient had no clinical signs consistent with infection The purple discoloration resolved over 4 days and the urinary pH returned to a normal level but the patient remained hemiplegic and aphasic and was admitted to a long-term care facility • Email: info@medicaldialogues.in • Phone: 011 - 4372 0751 Metrics details With the dissemination of extremely drug resistant bacteria colistin is now considered as the last-resort therapy for the treatment of infection caused by Gram-negative bacilli (including carbapenemase producers) the increase use of colistin has resulted in the emergence of resistance as well colistin resistance is mostly caused by the addition of phosphoethanolamine to the lipid A through the action of a phosphoethanolamine transferase chromosomally-encoded by the pmrC gene which is regulated by the two-component system PmrA/PmrB baumannii clinical isolate the main resistance mechanism to colistin involves mutations in pmrA pmrB or pmrC genes leading to the overexpression of pmrC rapid detection of resistance is one of the key issues to improve the treatment of infected patient baumannii still relies on MIC determination through microdilution we evaluated the performance of a recently described MALDI-TOF-based assay which allows the rapid detection of colistin resistance-related modifications to lipid A (i.e phosphoethanolamine addition) This test accurately detected all colistin-resistant A baumannii isolates in less than 15 minutes directly on intact bacteria with a very limited sample preparation prior MALDI-TOF analysis The acid formation resulting from carbohydrate metabolism during the continuous growth of colistin resistant bacteria even in presence of polymyxin is detected by the color change of a pH indicator Also this test was validated for fermenting bacteria it cannot conceptually be applied to non-fermenters such as Acinetobacter we evaluated the ability of the MALDIxin test to detect colistin-resistance in A Representative spectra of a polymyxin-susceptible A baumannii isolate (Ab-S1) (panel a) and a colistin-resistant A The peaks at m/z 1728.1 m/z and 1910.3 m/z corresponds to the native lipid A of A the peak at m/z 1935.3 likely corresponds to the addition of pETN on the phosphate group at position 4’ of the native lipid A of A baumannii with concomitant loss of the phosphate group on position 1 and the peak at m/z 2033.3 corresponds to the addition of one pETN on the phosphate group at position 1 of the native lipid A of A Compared to the unique rapid detection method available for the detection of colistin resistance the MALDIxin test can work on a large panel of Gram negative bacteria this study paves the way for the future development of a rapid diagnostic test that could detect colistin resistance in all Gram-negative bacteria optimizations are still needed to allow the direct detection of L-Ara4N-modified lipid A which remains the main cause of colistin resistance in K A collection of 17 A. baumannii isolates including 9 colistin-resistant and 8 colistin-susceptible isolates were subjected to the MALDIxin test. The 9 polymyxin-resistant isolates, of which 5 harboured modifications of PmrB and one is mutated in PmrA (Table 1) pmrB and pmrC were verified by whole genome sequencing (Illumina) a single colony cultured on Mueller-Hinton agar (bioMérieux France) was resuspended in 200 μl of distilled water washed three times with double distilled water and resuspended in 100 μl of double distilled water 0.4 μL of the bacterial solution was loaded onto the target and immediately overlaid with 0.8 μL of a 2 5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) matrix (Sigma Aldrich United-Kingdom) used at a final concentration of 10 mg/mL in chloroform/methanol (CHCl3/MeOH) 90:10 v/v Bacterial solution and matrix were mixed directly on the target by pipetting and the mix was dried gently under a stream of air (less than one minute) MALDI-TOF MS analysis was performed on a 4800 Proteomics Analyzer (Applied Biosystems Samples were analyzed by operating at 20 kV in the negative ion mode using an extraction delay time set at 20 ns Mass spectrometry data were analyzed using Data Explorer version 4.9 (Applied Biosystems) The expression of pmrC/eptA was normalized using 16 S RNA encoding gene The fold change expression of pmrC/eptA was related to the basal expression of pmrC/eptA in the colistin susceptible Ab-S4 isolate Xie, R., Zhang, X. D., Zhao, Q., Peng, B. & Zheng, J. Analysis of global prevalence of antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii infections disclosed a faster increase in OECD countries. Emerging microbes & infections 7, 31, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41426-018-0038-9 (2018) Qureshi, Z. A. et al. Colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: beyond carbapenem resistance. Clinical infectious diseases 60, 1295–1303, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/civ048 (2015) Adams, M. D. et al. Resistance to colistin in Acinetobacter baumannii associated with mutations in the PmrAB two-component system. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 53, 3628–3634, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00284-09 (2009) Cai, Y., Chai, D., Wang, R., Liang, B. & Bai, N. Colistin resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii: clinical reports, mechanisms and antimicrobial strategies. J Antimicrob Chemother 67, 1607–1615, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dks084 (2012) Jeannot, K., Bolard, A. & Plesiat, P. Resistance to polymyxins in Gram-negative organisms. International journal of antimicrobial agents 49, 526–535, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2016.11.029 (2017) Partridge, S. R. et al. Proposal for assignment of allele numbers for mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes. J Antimicrob Chemother, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dky262 (2018) Poirel, L., Jayol, A. & Nordmann, P. Polymyxins: antibacterial activity, susceptibility testing, and resistance mechanisms encoded by plasmids or chromosomes. Clinical microbiology reviews 30, 557–596, https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00064-16 (2017) Jayol, A., Nordmann, P., Lehours, P., Poirel, L. & Dubois, V. Comparison of methods for detection of plasmid-mediated and chromosomally encoded colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. Clinical microbiology and infection 24, 175–179, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2017.06.002 (2018) Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) joint subcommittee Recommendations for MIC determination of colistin (polymyxin E) as recommended by the joint CLSI-EUCAST Polymyxin Breakpoints Working Group (2017) Hindler, J. A. & Humphries, R. M. Colistin MIC variability by method for contemporary clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli. Journal of clinical microbiology 51, 1678–1684, https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.03385-12 (2013) Nordmann, P., Jayol, A. & Poirel, L. Rapid detection of polymyxin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. Emerging infectious diseases 22, 1038–1043, https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2206.151840 (2016) The taxonomic significance of fermentative versus oxidative metabolism of carbohydrates by various gram negative bacteria Rapid detection and discrimination of chromosome- and MCR-plasmid-mediated resistance to polymyxins by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in Escherichia coli: The MALDIxin test Larrouy-Maumus, G., Clements, A., Filloux, A., McCarthy, R. R. & Mostowy, S. Direct detection of lipid A on intact Gram-negative bacteria by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Journal of microbiological methods 120, 68–71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2015.12.004 (2016) Arroyo, L. A. et al. The pmrCAB operon mediates polymyxin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978 and clinical isolates through phosphoethanolamine modification of lipid A. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 55, 3743–3751, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00256-11 (2011) Beceiro, A. et al. Phosphoethanolamine modification of lipid A in colistin-resistant variants of Acinetobacter baumannii mediated by the pmrAB two-component regulatory system. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 55, 3370–3379, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00079-11 (2011) Olaitan, A. O., Morand, S. & Rolain, J. M. Mechanisms of polymyxin resistance: acquired and intrinsic resistance in bacteria. Frontiers in microbiology 5, 643, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00643 (2014) Jaidane, N. et al. Genomic analysis of in vivo acquired resistance to colistin and rifampicin in Acinetobacter baumannii. International journal of antimicrobial agents 51, 266–269, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2017.10.016 (2018) Download references LD has received funding from the People ProGramme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 under REA grant agreement n° [654909] and from the University Paris Sud GLM received funding from an MRC Confidence in Concept Award (Wellcome Trust: ISSF Wellcome Trust 105603/Z/14/Z) MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection function and expression of broad spectrum β-lactamases” French National Reference Center for Antibiotic Resistance had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors are co-inventors of the MALDIxin test for which a patent has been filed by Imperial Innovations Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35041-y Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2025) Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology (2025) European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2023) Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research In a study published in the prestigious Immunity journal on February 21 researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and in Shanghai Paris-Sud University and the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) reported on the discovery of a new group of B lymphocytes which are only present in infants and are the preferential target of the virus responsible for bronchiolitis This shows why this infection of the lower respiratory tract mainly affects newborns so severely This publication paves the way for new diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities for treating acute bronchiolitis Bronchiolitis — the leading cause of consultations and hospital treatment in pediatric departments and pediatric intensive care units during the winter months — is an infection caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) Its severity is specific to the age of the patient While the infection remains asymptomatic in adults young infants are very susceptible to the virus newborns under three months old are the most prone to developing very severe bronchiolitis which requires respiratory assistance in intensive care There is no vaccine or treatment for this infection Severe RSV infection represents 2-6% of all admissions to pediatric intensive care units in developed countries It is estimated that each hospitalization in pediatric intensive care for severe RSV infection costs between 28,000 and 92,000 US dollars Richard Lo-Man’s group at the Institut Pasteur (Human Histopathology Unit) together with Prof Pierre Tissières’s team[1] at Bicêtre Hospital (AP-HP NICU) and Paris-Sud University newly identified a B lymphocyte population only found in very young children (under 1 year old) which is preferentially infected by the RSV virus B lymphocytes are immune system cells producing antibodies capable of neutralizing pathogens that protect against infectious diseases the B lymphocytes discovered by the scientists have regulatory properties which tend to reduce the inflammation and immune response to the virus By infecting these specific B lymphocytes — named nBreg (for neonatal regulatory B lymphocytes) — in infants RSV activates nBregs that decrease viral clearance and thus contribute to the disease severity the researchers have described a mechanism whereby the RSV virus infects the nBreg lymphocytes This mechanism draws on a dual recognition system between the virus and the immune cell The initial recognition occurs through contact between a protein on the surface of the virus (F protein) and a specific antibody on the surface of the nBreg cell Lymphocyte activation and expression of CX3CR1 which in turn recognizes the viral G protein leads to viral infection the virus can then inhibit the antiviral immune response by expressing the anti-inflammatory response genes the RSV virus therefore uses the infant immune system to persist in its host "Our research sheds light on the unclear reasons as to why infants are susceptible to RSV bronchiolitis" By identifying these new nBreg lymphocytes as prognostic biomarkers for the severity of the disease the research will enable risk factors to be defined at birth and help develop more effective treatment" Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (CNRS/CEA/Paris-Sud University) Respiratory syncytial virus infects regulatory B cells in human neonates via chemokine receptor CX3CR1 and promotes lung disease severity Pierre Tissières14,15,16 and Richard Lo-Man1 (3) Régulation Immunitaire et Vaccinologie (6) Unité de Génomique virale et vaccination (12) Unité de Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires (13) Bioaster Microbiology Technology Institute (16) Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell - UMR 9196 (17) Laboratory of Humoral Response to Pathogens (19) Laboratory of Vaccinology and Mucosal Immunity (20) Unit of Innate Defense and Immune Modulation Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology About the AP-HP (Paris Public Hospital Network): The AP-HP is a globally-recognized European-scale university teaching hospital network its 39 hospitals treat eight million patients during appointments or as part of scheduled hospital stays or home care It ensures a 24/7 public health care service for all which is both a duty and a source of pride The AP-HP is the leading employer in the Greater Paris area: 100,000 people – doctors administrative staff and workers – are on its staff About Paris-Sud University Hospitals: This Hospital Group which is made up of three hospitals (Antoine-Béclère in Hauts-de-Seine and Bicêtre and Paul-Brousse in Val-de-Marne) offers a full range of health care services that stand out for their highly complementary nature in terms of treatment for children and adults These health care services are built around nine teaching hospital centers that offer outreach activities Teams from the Hospital Group do their utmost to adapt health care services to patients’ changing health care needs for instance by developing early diagnosis tools About the Institut Pasteur: The Institut Pasteur a private foundation with officially recognized charitable status set up by Louis Pasteur in 1887 is today an internationally renowned center for biomedical research with a network of 33 institutes worldwide In the pursuit of its mission to prevent and fight against diseases in France and throughout the world the Institut Pasteur operates in four main areas: scientific and medical research and business development and technology transfer About the CNRS: The French National Center for Scientific Research is the main public research body in France and Europe It produces knowledge for the benefit of society a 2015 budget of €3.3 bn (including €769 m of self-generated resources) and a presence throughout France the CNRS is active in all fields of knowledge and is supported by over 1,100 laboratories The CNRS has a long-standing tradition of excellence with 21 Nobel Prize winners and 12 Fields Medals the journal Lancet Neurology published the results of a gene therapy trial conducted in four children with Sanfilippo type B syndrome (also known as MPS IIIB) This trial is the achievement of a two-decade partnership with financial support of AFM-Téléthon and the cooperation of the charity "Vaincre les Maladies Lysosomales" (VML) After monitoring of the treated children for 30 months and Professors Marc Tardieu and Michel Zérah from the Paris public hospital administration (AP-HP) and the Paris-Sud and Paris Descartes Universities conclude that the treatment was well tolerated and associated with neurocognitive benefits for the patients Sanfilippo syndrome is a rare genetic disease which affects approximately one in every 100,000 children It alters brain development after birth and leads to brain degeneration several years later The first symptoms of the disease are hyperactivity and delayed cognitive acquisition which are usually noticed when children are around two-years old A genetic anomaly prevents the production of an enzyme needed to breaking down mucopolysaccharides Mucopolysaccharides are large macromolecules that help the neurons develop effective connections in young children during learning Incomplete degradation and accumulation are toxic for brain cells The disease progressively leads to a state of severe and multiple impairments and to premature death within periods of 5 to 10 years The challenge to treat Sanfilippo syndrome lies in the design of a method to supply the missing enzyme to the brain as early as possible after birth  The therapeutic trial conducted by the Institut Pasteur at the Bicêtre Hospital (AP-HP) used gene therapy for that purpose A gene therapy vector (AAV2/5) capable of inducing the production of the missing enzyme by brain cells was injected at several sites in the brain and cerebellum of affected children The specific aim of this phase I/II trial was the assessment of tolerance to the surgical procedure and to the candidate drug delivered by gene therapy The clinical study initiated in 2013 was preceded by more than ten years of preclinical studies in animals naturally affected by the disease The researchers administered the treatment for the first time to four children aged between 1.5 and 4 years (20 radiological or biological side effects associated with the treatment were observed within 30 months of administration Within one month of treatment and throughout the 30 months of the trial researchers detected the previously missing enzyme in the cerebrospinal fluid of the four treated children very careful and regular neurocognitive monitoring revealed positive impact on cognitive acquisition and behavioral development which were more pronounced in the youngest treated child The encouraging findings of this phase I/II clinical trial suggest that treatment could be proposed to patients with Sanfilippo syndrome in the future the next step would consist in a large and multicentric phase III clinical trial Intracerebral gene therapy in children with mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB syndrome: an uncontrolled phase 1/2 clinical trial Appuyez sur la touche échap pour fermer la recherche Algerian Imane Khelif took to the ring for her final fight of the Paris Olympics on Friday August 9 Unknown to the general public until the opening of the Games Recevez le meilleur de l’actualité internationale Merci !Votre inscription a bien été prise en compte avec l'adresse email : Pour découvrir toutes nos autres newsletters, rendez-vous ici : MonCompte En vous inscrivant, vous acceptez les conditions générales d’utilisations et notre politique de confidentialité relied on a number of experts based in Algeria Le Point was able to reach one of them by phone : Georges Cazorla who has worked out a program for her physical preparation for the Games he has consulted for several leading sport federations and clubs Le Point : You helped prepare the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif for the Paris Olympics Georges Cazorla : I was a teacher of biology applied to physical activity and sport in the University of Bordeaux I supervised the master thesis of Nasser Yefsah He lived in Nice – and still does – and would come to Bordeaux to sit in my class on a regular basis Nasser reached out to me and offered to help Imane Khelif prepare for the World Championship the African Championship and the Olympic Games And you didn't know much about boxing either  But I've lived in the sports universe for a long time I have been analyzing fights : how many punches are thrown or received the body movements… I also used a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy technique developed by one of my former PhD students which allows for the analysis of 19 parameters (including some carbohydrates and also some inflammatory parameters such as CRP and immunoglobulins which reflects the level of training) from only three drops of blood This gave us valuable information about Imane's physical and physiological condition we began developing a rigorous training program to maximize her progress I'm not saying she wasn't good before meeting me Imane had already reached a good level in boxing her training relied on a pragmatic and intuitive approach You continued your testing in Paris with Imane Khelif In a testing center of the 13th arrondissement we put her through a series of more or less sophisticated performance tests we developed a training formula that we called “FAITPAS” She's often come to France to take part in training sessions or tests in a club that had been founded by the former national technical manager of Algeria Karim Aiouaz which had a good technical and medical center who's got a good reputation in the South of France boxing scene Her manager would commute between the two countries And I didn't see Imane Khelif during her last training course in Vittel in mid-July either ; it was supervised by her Cuban-American coach on whom she's relied completely in recent weeks An emotional connection has developed between us even though neither Imane nor her coach speak much French an exceptional athlete who deserves all our respect You were asked to supervise her at the end of 2022 Were you aware of the conflict between the International Boxing Association (IBA) and Imane Khelif  I found it out while watching the videos of the World Championship in March 2023 She was disqualified from the final against a Chinese female boxer At the time I thought it was a matter of international and diplomatic disputes… But the decision was backed up by tests Regardless of the results of these biological tests and without going into the details – that's the biologists and doctors'business – this poor young girl was shattered The prospect of the Olympics helped put it all back together she can also rely on her family (a very modest one that she helps thanks to her boxing) who live in a small town in Algeria even though her morphotype is rather peculiar people have a distinct physical appearance why not test all the people whose abilities are superior to the others  the French basketball player Victor Wembanyama or there wouldn't be any competition at all Let's look at it from a performance perspective : what is competition  And the Algerian team didn't know anything either  They are light years away from these biological issues They were happy to have a good female boxer So what happened after that thunderclap announcement  I took the initiative and contacted a renowned endocrinologist at the University Hospital Kremlin-Bicêtre in Paris He confirmed that Imane was indeed a woman despite of her karyotype and her testosterone levels He said : “There is a problem with her hormones but she's a woman.” That was all that mattered to us We then worked with an Algeria-based doctor to control and regulate Imane's testosterone levels Some tests clearly show that all her muscle qualities and others have diminished since then Were you following an International Olympic Committee recommendation regarding this testosterone level  I was so disappointed to see her stupidly disqualified from the New Delhi Championship that I decided to anticipate I wonder now if I wasn't wrong to step in… The Olympic Medical Committee had made a lot of publicity about the training of its testers who would assess the testosterone levels of the athletes participating in the Games So I wanted to stack all the odds in her favor and make sure that her numbers were just right individuals with XY chromosomes have a physical and muscular superiority over those with XX chromosomes It is said that everyone must do some kind of sport Some say we should have special categories but even within a group of hypoandrogenic or hyperandrogenic people there are differences from one person to another There is so much variation that it's impossible to create categories I'm going to ask the biology teacher in you the same question… it's during puberty that a testosterone-related dissociation takes place Which explains why boys are stronger than girls on a muscular level because some women show a muscular quality close to that of men And performance is an interaction of various components the physical aspects play an important part in performance You'll never see puny boxers in either the men's or the women's categories Did you watch the IBA press conference held during the Olympics  He doesn't want the IOC to get involved in boxing… All I know is that the IBA eventually justified itself in retrospect If they had warned us before the 2023 World Championship They qualified Imane for her first three fights asking her to sign it in order to get her results That she recognized her disqualification… Everything in New Delhi was strangely organized during this championship Translated from French by Bérengère Viennot Partagez votre opinion avec les autres membres du Point Pour info : article publié en français le 09/08/2024 à 23 : 35 Il est facile à retrouver en utilisant la fonction « recherche » Ou vous faire vacciner pour revenir au Français Consultez toute l’actualité en France et dans le monde sur Le Point suivez les informations en temps réel et accédez à nos analyses Extract from the birth certificate of a child given “orphan of the Nation” status (A) after being linked to the father’s military death certificate (B) (A) Archives de Bordeaux / (B) Mémoire des Hommes. and Child Development”: Nicolas Todd Research has shown that early-life stress can have repercussions throughout an individual’s life This is the case for example with exposure to famine during pregnancy which increases the risk of cardiovascular the long-term consequences of such stress on mortality remain largely unknown In an attempt to better understand this issue Inserm researchers studied a cohort of children born in the period 1914-16 and examined over 90,000 birth certificates Following comparison with the French Ministry of Defense’s database of the 1.4 million soldiers killed in World War I they identified 2,651 pupilles de la Nation (orphans of the Nation) whose fathers died in combat during this period and fetal mechanisms that may have contributed to the long-term impact of paternal death on prenatal orphans a steroid hormone that controls various stages of fetal development but which is also involved in the body’s response to stress in other periods of life We are all familiar with taking our pulse to check our heart rate This signal is due to the propagation of a wave caused by the arteries dilating under... Why does some music make us want to dance more than others This is the question that a research team from Inserm and Aix-Marseille Université tried to answer by... We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns Other cookies are those that are being identified and have not been classified into any category as yet Newly published scientific study describes 14 adult patients in long term functional remission of HIV seven years after being taken off early antiretroviral treatment The Anrs EP 47`VISCONTI´ cohort confirms on a larger and durable scale what the Mississippi `functionally cured´ baby indicated – that early therapeutic intervention may be instrumental in HIV remission and has important implications for HIV cure research The teams of hepato-gastroenterology department of adult Bicetre Hospital in collaboration with the department of neurology adult show that a derivative of somatostatin may be effective to treat chronic diarrhea suffered by patients with family amyloid neuropathy (NAF). This side effect concerns a quarter of patients after 5 years of follow-impairing their quality of life The results of this study, which highlight once again the expertise of the AP-HP in the treatment of rare diseases, are published in the journal Plos One  Inserm researcher of Hepato-Gastroenterology department of adult Bicetre Hospital AP-HP conducted a retrospective study of four patients with familial amyloid neuropathy (NAF). This is a rare progressive genetic disorder that causes multiple organ dysfunction and loss of autonomy The teams analyzed particularly gastrointestinal side effects such as diarrhea abdominal pain and incontinence. A quarter of patients after 5 years of follow suffer from chronic diarrhea. Diarrhea is a symptom very debilitating for patients The researchers show that similar to somatostatin appear effective for treating chronic diarrhea. Nine of the fourteen patients who received this treatment had a remission of chronic diarrhea after 6 months follow-up. These molecules are already available for other medical indications including the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors hemorrhagic complications of portal hypertension and some endocrine disorders. They are also used off-label in the treatment of severe dumping syndrome Their use in the refractory diarrhea had already been studied in the context of HIV chemotherapy-induced diarrhea or diarrhea secondary to digestive suffering from scleroderma Induced diarrhea amylose is a multifactorial diarrhea but involves disorders of the secretion of digestive hormones (including somatostatin) and of intestinal motility disorders Often humps transit aggravate constipation in these patients associated with dysmotility. Sandostatin acts on intestinal secretion and intestinal motility in complex ways. Treatment with octreotide should be monitored and patients with amyloidosis warned of the risk of hypoglycemia This work was conducted in collaboration with the teams of Adult Neurology Service – reference center for family amyloid neuropathy and other neuropathies few devices – Professor Adams that showed the effectiveness of the drug candidate Patisiran, Interferent RNA, promising to treat and improve familial amyloid neuropathy transthyretin in July 2018 in France there are between 40,000 and 50,000 people with neuromuscular disease (NM) The conditions under national chain of neuro muscular diseases FILNEMUS include muscle diseases (myopathy) rare diseases of the peripheral nerve and spinal muscular atrophy infantile Many cases of sudden cardiac death could be avoided thanks to artificial intelligence As part of a new study to be published in European Heart Journal Anaemia is a major public health problem worldwide affecting around one third of the population but the most common are a lack of red blood... 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Pixels Subscribers only Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris The risks of staff shortages and working conditions in maternity wards require urgent measures from the authorities say a group of perinatal care professionals working in the Ile-de-France region Published on June 3, 2022, at 7:17 am (Paris), updated on June 3, 2022, at 7:17 am 3 min read Lire en français At the maternity ward of the Diaconesses hospital MARTIN BUREAU / AFP Perinatal health care professionals (midwives childcare assistants and pediatricians) are extremely worried about the risk that staff shortages pose to pregnant women and after having alerted our supervisors on many occasions over the last few years as heads of department and members of the management of the maternity units of Ile-de-France university and non-university maternity units in the public service wish to raise the alarm on the extremely worrying situation perinatal care has suffered due to the organization and working conditions imposed by regulating bodies who do not necessarily work in the field are not recognized as such and the staff must fill the gaps under the watchful eye of authorities who are aware of the problem but fail to propose any significant measure the boat is sinking and there are still no concrete plans on the table in an attempt to avoid the shipwreck The situation is only getting worse and nursing staff are fleeing the poor working conditions Those who choose to stay see their working conditions change for the worse Despite our regular alerts to the regional health agency of Ile-de-France and the ministry they do not seem to truly understand the gravity of the situation and the urgency You have 75.27% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la 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leaders "without much fuss and without a big parade Ponticelli was the last recognized veteran of in France the last living survivor of the more than 8 million people who were called to arms by the French Republic some 1.4 million did not survive the massive slaughter He was known as "le dernier poilu" (the last of the hairy ones) or "le der des der" (the last of the last) a popular term for the ordinary soldiers fighting at the front in the "Great War," who held the line in the mud and filth of the trenches unwashed and unshaven (hence the term of endearment "poilu," or hairy) suffering the greatest of deprivations and ultimately becoming an icon in the mythological imagery of France's collective memory The funeral mass was broadcast on live television from the Les Invalides complex in Paris and it was attended by some of the country's highest ranking leaders: then-President Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor Jacques Chirac the presidents of the National Assembly and the senate the prime minister and key members of the cabinet Eleven French Foreign Legion soldiers carried the coffin And now Ponticelli's adopted country was bidding farewell to him with military honors and a mass in Saint-Louis Cathedral Italian by birth and French by choice." Guillaume Kaleff recited a poem that his ninth-grade class had written in memory of the poilus and their fight for freedom Flags flew at half-mast on public buildings and schools and government offices observed a minute of silence "When we began an assault," Ponticelli used to say "we promised each other: You must think of me if I die." France has remained true to this promise and there is no doubt that the country will solemnly reinforce it in the 100th commemorative year of the Great War In contrast to Germany  France does not treat the war as a remote and de-emotionalized part of history but as the vivid subject of what historian Nicolas Offenstadt called a "social and cultural practice," or "Activism 14/18." The nation and at greater risk than ever of falling behind in the competitive struggle of a globalized economy is turning inward to find refuge and protection The memory of the last war of the modern age from which France emerged victorious -- and the invocation of those four years in which a united heroic and self-sacrificing people (at least in the prevailing self-image) passed a test of global history -- provides contemporary France with an excellent source of meaning It gives the French confidence and support despite the current economic and political upheavals And it allows for an ecumenical interpretation of the past European idealists and nationalists can find common ground The symbolically exalted poilu serves politicians as a useful point of crystallization and orientation in the reconstruction of an unhappy suffering national identity that threatens to come apart in the wind gusts of modernity Both conservative former President Sarkozy and his Socialist successor saw the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I as a welcome opportunity to transfer the national unity courage and willingness to make sacrifices of the French in 1914 to the present The virtues of that moment can be tapped again today: solidarity closing ranks and standing together as one are the recurring buzzwords in a patriotic discourse that appeals to those alive today by honoring past generations A memory intended to bolster dwindling self-confidence produces a completely different commemorative culture than in Germany where the culture of remembrance is dominated by what French philosopher Pascal Bruckner calls a "guilt complex." The last presumed German participant in World War I only three months before Ponticelli's death It was telling that the German public learned almost nothing about the quiet death of this veteran who had the same name as a famous German writer There was no official German reaction to Kästner's death Americans and French paid more attention to it than did his own countrymen a research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Paris the example of the two veterans underscores the "stable asymmetry in perception of the years 1914 to 1918" between the French and the Germans World War II and the Holocaust are the negative myth of origin of the Federal Republic one that has largely eliminated World War I from the collective consciousness "World War I plays no role whatsoever when it comes to the symbolism and self-image of the Federal Republic within Germany's political culture," says Weinrich The French find this difficult to understand just as German observers have trouble relating to the idea that 14/18 and the cult surrounding the last poilus have developed into a positive original myth for modern France in the national collection of symbols of the Fifth Republic an importance readily comparable with the French Revolution of 1789." Accordingly the French associate the anniversary year with a historic mission that completely lacks an equivalent moral foundation in Berlin Europe simply lacks a common memory of the war Declarations of commitment to European integration and to the Franco-German friendship have long since acquired the tone of ritual formulaic prayers on both sides of the Rhine as if officials there aimed to reestablish the Carolingian Empire No crisis seems capable of breaking the couple apart and yet the relationship is becoming more and more imbalanced France is keeping a watchful eye on Germany fluctuating between expectation and mistrust runs the risk that its view of neighboring France will freeze into benevolent indifference The gradual estrangement of Paris and Berlin accompanied as it may be by constant empty talk of reconciliation could well be the beginning of the end of the European adventure -- and a betrayal of the legacy of those who gave their lives in World War I French society imposed on itself the dual obligation that Germany was only willing to accept after 1945: never to forget and never to allow such a catastrophe to happen again The pacification and unification of Europe was based on this common experience even though it occurred 30 years later in Germany was the sad counterpart to Bastille Day on July 14 The two dates mark the "death and resurrection of the nation" -- and of Europe The many milestones of Franco-German reconciliation -- Robert Schuman's 1951 plan to create the European Coal and Steel Community the 1963 Elysée Treaty between then-President Charles de Gaulle and then-Chancellor Konrad Adenauer the handshake between later heads of state François Mitterand and Helmut Kohl in a graveyard near Verdun in 1984 and Sarkozy's invitation to Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Nov in keeping with the utopia of poet Charles Péguy shortly before he was killed at the front in September 1914: "I am going to battle for general disarmament roughly 36,000 "monuments aux morts," or monuments to the fallen the architecture of these monuments expressed the will of the surviving and returning soldiers to honor the victims and not to glorify the victors In addition to mourning the 1.4 million dead the French were faced with the need to reintegrate the 4.3 million wounded into society When the 537,000 prisoners of war and those missing in action are added to the total the French military lost 78 percent of the roughly 8 million who had been conscripted (compared with 56 percent in Germany) France had only one main enemy on one front why did the Allies suffer significantly greater losses on the Western Front than the Germans remained superior to the French and the British in the art of killing which was supposedly in excellent shape at the beginning of the war lose about 230,000 soldiers in the first three months more than in any other time period after that an average of 900 Frenchmen were killed every day the French army experienced a disaster of historic proportions In a series of battles near the town of Rossignol in the Belgian Ardennes Mountains 27,000 French soldiers were killed in a single day four times as many as at the Battle of Waterloo a century earlier in both the past and the future of the country's long military history The disastrous beginning of the war in the late summer of 1914 which almost led France to defeat within a few weeks raised questions that were eventually addressed by a parliamentary investigation committee in the summer of 1919 despite the smooth mobilization of French forces the enemy could penetrate so deeply into the country that the frontline stretched across French territory until the end Why were the ore mines of Briey in Lorraine in eastern and northern France became embroiled in the war and were fully or partially occupied by the Germans They include the center of French heavy industry which was the equivalent of Germany's industrial Ruhr region The members of the investigative committee failed to reach any clear conclusions A ruthless investigation would have been politically inopportune because it would have painted the nation's new heroes after the victory especially the supreme commander in the first postwar years the committee would have had to investigate the myth that France was waging a purely defensive war and that the struggle to defend the nation was deeply just and that the horrible sacrifices also had to be accepted as being justified an intelligent but arrogant and suspicious officer who kept his commanders on a short leash he was chiefly motivated by a position: to attack at all costs everywhere and wherever French troops encountered the enemy as Joffre's first order to all army commanders on Aug to seek to bring the enemy to decisive battle." The French leadership had not sought or even wanted war it would be "offensive to the extreme" ("offensive à outrance") in keeping with the theories Colonel Louis de Grandmaison had devised in 1906 These notions stemmed from the conviction that modern weapons technology and the mobilization of large-scale armies made a quick decision imperative The Germans and the French alike believed that a lengthy war of attrition could not be sustained The new "Plan XVII," which Joffre developed between April 1913 and April 1914 envisioned swift and massive attacks on territory in Alsace and Lorraine that had been lost in 1871 The goal was to wrest control of the former départements on the Mosel and Rhine Rivers The general mobilization that was decided on Aug two days before the German declaration of war constituted a critical moment of uncertainty for then President Raymond Poincaré and Prime Minister René Viviani a nationalist student had shot and killed the Socialist leader Jean Jaurès through the open window of a restaurant on Rue Montmartre in Paris a powerful leader of the leftist peace movement had been having dinner with a few of his supporters in a sense a French version of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo calls for strikes by trade unions and a blockade of the railroads The authorities had placed 2,481 suspicious persons on a blacklist known as Carnet B who were to be arrested in the event of an emergency But despite the dismay over the Jaurès killing calm prevailed in the otherwise nervous capital The French proletariat did its patriotic duty and obeyed the call to arms trade union leader Léon Jouhaux solemnly promised that the workers would respond vigorously to the mobilization by reporting to duty The French concentration of troops progressed in good order Some 800,000 active-duty soldiers and close to 1.3 million reservists advanced to their positions along the northern and eastern borders 4,278 trains transported the bulk of the army to the train stations in Sedan The armed forces requisitioned more than 600,000 horses and mules the navy began bringing in colonial troops from Algeria and Tunisia France had increased compulsory military service from two to three years in an effort to offset Germany's numerical superiority In a speech to the Chamber of Deputies on Aug President Poincaré invoked the "union sacrée," or sacred union denominations and classes in sacred unity to defend the nation -- no small matter in a deeply divided republic which had only introduced the separation of church and state in 1905 following a bitter culture war with the Catholic Church The internal truce lasted almost the entire war politicians retained their primacy over the military leadership it only became stronger during the course of the war because of his unsuccessful and losing strategy the real father of victory was not a military leader but a politician the combative republican Georges Clemenceau became prime minister and war minister in November 1917 and he subsequently led the peace negotiations in Versailles -- a sort of French response to Bismarck's unification of the German Empire at Versaille in 1871 which began in 1919 as a result of Clemenceau's efforts was intended to provide France with a security guarantee it only poisoned relations between the two countries for years to come the war could have ended with France's total defeat in mid-September 1914 even more quickly than the German general staff had planned (and as it succeeded in doing in 1940) The attacks in Alsace and Lorraine ordered by Joffre failed and after the fall of the Belgian city of Liège on Aug in forced marches of up to 30 kilometers (19 miles) a day hurried through Belgium and toward the French border two German armies encountered the French Fifth Army which was advancing in the direction of Namur Should he defend at all costs the Charleroi-Namur line no supporter of the prevailing offensive doctrine recognized the danger of being encircled by the Germans along his left and right flanks he beat a retreat with the entire Fifth Army Some of the officers on his staff were outraged over his trepidation because Lanrezac's decision also forced the majority of the French troops together with the British Expeditionary Force to retreat along the entire length of the front What no one recognized was that what appeared to be a shameful defeat actually contributed to the French being saved from the trap of the Schlieffen plan the German armies threatened to topple Paris The French government withdrew to Bordeaux (as it had done before in 1871 City commandant Joseph Gallieni prepared for a siege of the French capital which was still a fortified city of strongholds He even planned to blow up the Eiffel Tower and the bridges over the Seine River released his defensive forces for a counterattack and the "taxis de la Marne" went down in history assembled two new armies and recognized the opportunity to penetrate into a breach that had formed between Kluck's First and Second Armies along a front extending for more than 100 kilometers He also ordered the fortification of new positions on the banks of the Aisne River a decision that marked a turning point on the Western Front when position warfare in the trenches began From the fall of 1914 to the spring of 1917 -- in fact until the last German offensive in March 1918 -- the front stretching 750 kilometers from Ypern in Flanders to Mulhouse in Alsace It never bulged by more than 20 to 30 kilometers in either direction All advances (under Joffre in the Artois and Champagne in 1915 and under Nivelle along the Chemin des Dames ridge in 1917) failed causing immense losses while yielding strategically insignificant gains in territory The marshals and generals have been consigned to history The culture of the victim has replaced hero worship consternation and a morbid fascination with the horrors of the war The Great War formed the culmination of a catastrophic sequence from 1870 to 1940 tying France and Germany together as archenemies in a mimetic love-hate relationship chairman of the academic advisory council for the commemorative ceremonies sees this as the most important change brought about by 1914/18: The absolute sovereignty of the nation-states the greatest expression and terrible culmination of which was the war could have been laid to rest at the Panthéon in Paris the mausoleum to the great figures of the fatherland He rejected the honor and chose to be buried in his family plot instead his only memories were of his dead comrades "I cannot forget them," he would tell the visitors who were to record his testimony and legacy for posterity The passionate commemoration of World War I is a vital element of France's contemporary national cohesion But before a momentous turning point in August 1914 the country looked to be on the brink of defeat This photo shows French soldiers moving into attack from their trench during the Battle of Verdun in eastern France in 1916 which cost hundreds of thousands of French and German lives heroic and self-sacrificing people (at least in the prevailing self-image) passed a test of global history -- provides contemporary France with an excellent source of meaning amidst the current economic and political upheavals an Allied gun crew fires against German forces on the Western Front in 1918 French Legionnaires carry the casket of Lazare Ponticelli the last recognized veteran of World War I in France during a funeral ceremony at the Les Invalides complex in Paris on March 17 The funeral mass was broadcast on live television and attended by some of the country's highest ranking leaders: then-President Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor Jacques Chirac So many of the milestones of Franco-German reconciliation lead back to the First World War former French President François Mitterand (left) is seen with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at a ceremony in Verdun the site of a major World War I battle with mass casualties on both sides The 1984 meeting there is viewed today as a symbolic moment of reconciliation between the countries French soldiers inspect equipment captured from German forces during the Battle of the Marne of September 1914 known in France as the "Miracle of the Marne," was a dramatic turning point in the war French and British soldiers halted the German advance across Europe but at the cost of some 250,000 casualties representing 15,000 women annually in France They represent the development of the egg outside the uterus which can endanger the woman’s life in the absence of medical intervention mortality linked to an ectopic pregnancy remains the exception; doctors are therefore interested in preserving subsequent fertility and thus the possibility for the women in question to become pregnant again researchers in the Inserm “Epidemiology of reproduction and infant development” team (Unit 1018 at the “Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health”) compared all of the existing treatments for ectopic pregnancy with respect to their impact on natural fertility during the subsequent two years The conclusions of the study reproduced in the journal Human Reproduction indicate that the ability to have a normal pregnancy after an ectopic pregnancy (subsequent fertility) is not linked to the type of treatment especially the conservation of the Fallopian tube in which the pregnancy was implanted ©Fotolia an ectopic pregnancy is implanted in a Fallopian tube The treatment consists in interrupting the growth of the egg and removing it – Medical treatment by injection (intramuscular or directly into the tube) of methotrexate which destroys the egg and eliminates the ectopic pregnancy without damaging the tube – A so-called “conservational” surgical treatment in which the tube is incised to remove the egg – A so called “radical” surgical treatment in which the tube is removed with the egg Each of these treatments successfully eliminates the ectopic pregnancy the woman’s life is hardly ever in danger in developed countries The objective of doctors is thus the preservation of the woman’s subsequent fertility Depending on the gravity and urgency of the case so-called inactive ectopic pregnancies for which medical or surgical treatment may be decided so-called active ectopic pregnancies for which surgical treatment is necessary which may be conservational or radical For the first time in a single therapeutic trial the Inserm researchers compared the fertility of women two years after the various treatments the researchers included women presenting with an ectopic pregnancy that was treated in the 17 French centres that took part in the study between 2005 and 2009 Just over 400 women were divided into two groups depending on the activeness (and seriousness) of the ectopic pregnancy one of two possible treatments were selected through drawing lots  and the women were then monitored for two years 70% of the women who wanted to become pregnant again were able to achieve an intra-uterine pregnancy after conservation surgery and 64% after radical surgical treatment.For the researchers the results of this trial are an invitation to gynæcologists to reconsider the treatment they offer for ectopic pregnancies taking account of the various factors governing subsequent fertility the length of follow-up after treatment and patient preference as well as the risks inherent in each of the treatments “medical treatment should be prioritised in the case of an inactive ectopic pregnancy due on the one hand to patient preference but also to the lesser risk especially thanks to the absence of anæsthesia and surgery however of the absence of difference regarding subsequent fertility surgical treatment should be offered initially to women who might not to stick to the treatment (supervision after medical treatment can be extended for several weeks)”  “In the case of ectopic pregnancies that require surgical treatment doctors can reassure women that even radical surgery will not alter their chances of subsequently having a natural pregnancy” In order to understand its genetic causes and biological mechanisms a new international study led by Inserm Research Director Nabila Bouatia-Naji at the Paris-Cardiovascular Research Center - PARCC (Inserm/Université... Human cognitive biases can particularly affect decision-making when speed is of the essence such as when lives are at stake in a medical emergency