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Healthcare workers (HCWs) on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic exhibit a high prevalence of depression and psychological distress. Moral injury (MI) can lead to such mental health problems. MI occurs when perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. Since the start of the pandemic, psychosocial stressors at work (PSWs) might have been exacerbated, which might in turn have led to an increased risk of MI in HCWs. However, research into the associations between PSWs and MI is lacking. Considering these stressors are frequent and most of them are modifiable occupational risk factors, they may constitute promising prevention targets. This study aims to evaluate the associations between a set of PSWs and MI in HCWs during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, Canada. Furthermore, our study aims to explore potential differences between urban and non-urban regions. The sample of this study consisted of 572 HCWs and leaders from the Quebec province. Prevalence ratios (PR) of MI and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were modelled using robust Poisson regressions. Several covariates were considered, including age, sex, gender, socio-economic indicators, and lifestyle factors. Results indicated HCWs exposed to PSWs were 2.22-5.58 times more likely to experience MI. Low ethical culture had the strongest association (PR: 5.58, 95% CI: 1.34-23.27), followed by low reward (PR: 4.43, 95% CI: 2.14-9.16) and high emotional demands (PR: 4.32, 95% CI: 1.89-9.88). Identifying predictors of MI could contribute to the reduction of mental health problems and the implementation of targeted interventions in urban and non-urban areas.

In 2021, a first outbreak of anaplasmosis occurred in animals and humans in southern Québec, with 64% of confirmed human cases located in Bromont municipality. Ixodes scapularis ticks and Peromyscus mouse ear biopsies collected in Bromont from 2019 to 2021 were analyzed for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap) with the objective of determining whether an early environmental signal could have been detected before the outbreak.Samples were collected for a concurrent study aiming to reduce Lyme disease risk. Between 2019 and 2021, up to 14 experimental sites were sampled for ticks and capture of small mammals took place on three sites in 2021. Samples were screened for Ap using multiplex real-time PCR, and genetic strains were identified using a single-nucleotide polymorphism assay.Analyses showed an increase of 5.7% in Ap prevalence in ticks (CI95: 1.5-9.9) between 2019 and 2020, i.e., one year before the outbreak. A majority of Ap-positive ticks were infected with the zoonotic strain (68.8%; CI95: 50.0-83.9) during the study period. In 2021, 2 of 59 captured Peromycus mice were positive for Ap, for a prevalence of 3.4% (CI95: 0.4-11.7).We conclude that data collected in Bromont could have provided an early signal for an anaplasmosis risk increasing in the targeted region. This is a reminder that integrated surveillance of tick-borne diseases through structured One Health programs, i.e. systematically integrating data from humans, animals and the environment, can provide useful and timely information for better preparedness and response in public health.RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: En 2021, suivant une éclosion d’anaplasmoses chez les animaux et les humains dans le sud du Québec, des tiques de l’espèce Ixodes scapularis et des biopsies de souris Peromyscus spp. échantillonées à Bromont, la municipalité où 64 % des cas humains confirmés était localisé, ont été testées pour Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap) avec pour objectif de déterminer si un signal environnemental précoce d’augmentation du risque aurait pu être détecté avant l’éclosion. MéTHODE: L’échantillonnage a été réalisé dans le cadre d’une étude visant à réduire le risque de maladie de Lyme. De 2019 à 2021, 14 sites expérimentaux ont été échantillonnés pour les tiques. En 2021, trois sites ont été sélectionnés pour la capture des micromammifères. Les échantillons ont été testés pour la présence d’Ap à l’aide d’un PCR multiplex en temps réelle et les lignées génétiques ont été identifiées grâce à un test de polymorphisme mononucléotidique. RéSULTATS: Les analyses ont montré une augmentation de 5,7 % (IC95% : 1,5–9,9) de la prévalence de Ap entre 2019 et 2020, c’est-à-dire un an avant l’éclosion. Cette augmentation est associée à la présence d’une majorité d’Ap de la lignée zoonotique (68,8 %; IC95% : 50,0–83,9) sur l’ensemble de la période étudiée. En 2021, deux Peromycus spp. capturées sur 59 étaient positives pour Ap pour une prévalence de 3,4 % (IC95% : 0,4–11,7). CONCLUSION: Les données environnementales échantillonnées à Bromont auraient pu fournir un signal précoce de l’augmentation du risque d’anaplasmose dans la région. C’est un rappel que la surveillance intégrée des maladies transmises par les tiques inspirée de l’approche Une seule santé, intégrant systématiquement des données humaines, animales et environnementales, peut fournir des informations utiles et opportunes aux autorités de santé publique.

Background Lyme disease (LD) is an increasing public health threat in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, yet relatively few methods exist for reducing LD risk in endemic areas. Disrupting the LD transmission cycle in nature is a promising avenue for risk reduction. This experimental study evaluated the efficacy of fluralaner, a recent oral acaricide with a long duration of effect in dogs, for killing Ixodes scapularis ticks in Peromyscus maniculatus mice, a known wildlife reservoir for Borrelia burgdorferi in nature. Methods We assigned 87 mice to 3 fluralaner treatment groups (50 mg/kg, 12.5 mg/kg and untreated control) administered as a single oral treatment. Mice were then infested with 20 Ixodes scapularis larvae at 2, 28 and 45 days post-treatment and we measured efficacy as the proportion of infesting larvae that died within 48 h. At each infestation, blood from 3 mice in each treatment group was tested to obtain fluralaner plasma concentrations (Cp). Results Treatment with 50 mg/kg and 12.5 mg/kg fluralaner killed 97% and 94% of infesting larvae 2 days post-treatment, but no significant effect of treatment on feeding larvae was observed 28 and 45 days post-treatment. Mouse Cp did not differ significantly between the two tested doses. Mean Cp decreased from 13,000 ng/ml in the 50 mg/kg group and 4000 ng/ml in the 12.5 mg/kg group at Day 2 to Conclusions We provide the first evidence that fluralaner is effective for killing immature ticks in Peromyscus mice, a first step in evaluating its potential for treating wild rodents as a public health intervention to reduce LD risk in endemic areas.

The development of interventions that reduce Lyme disease incidence remains a challenge. Reservoir-targeted approaches aiming to reduce tick densities or tick infection prevalence with Borrelia burgdorferi have emerged as promising ways to reduce the density of infected ticks. Acaricides of the isoxazoline family offer high potential for reducing infestation of ticks on small mammals as they have high efficacy at killing feeding ticks for a long period. Fluralaner baits were recently demonstrated as effective, in the laboratory, at killing Ixodes scapularis larvae infesting Peromyscus mice, the main reservoir for B. burgdorferi in northeastern North America. Here, effectiveness of this approach for reducing the infestation of small mammals by immature stages of I. scapularis was tested in a natural environment. Two densities of fluralaner baits (2.1 baits/1,000 m2 and 4.4 baits/1,000 m2) were used during three years in forest plots. The number of I. scapularis larvae and nymphs per mouse from treated and control plots were compared. Fluralaner baiting reduced the number of larvae per mouse by 68% (CI95: 51–79%) at 2.1 baits/1,000 m2 and by 86% (CI95: 77–92%) at 4.4 baits/1,000 m2. The number of nymphs per mouse was reduced by 72% (CI95: 22–90%) at 4.4 baits/1,000 m2 but was not significantly reduced at 2.1 baits/1,000 m2. Reduction of Peromyscus mouse infestation by immature stages of I. scapularis supports the hypothesis that an approach targeting reservoirs of B. burgdorferi with isoxazolines has the potential to reduce tick-borne disease risk by decreasing the density of infected ticks in the environment.

Moral injuries can occur when perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the fact that psychosocial stressors at work, such as high emotional demands, are placing Canadian healthcare workers at risk of moral injuries. Evidence linking psychosocial stressors at work to moral injuries are needed to better predict, prevent and manage moral injuries, as these stressors are frequent and modifiable occupational risk factors. This protocol presents a study aiming to: 1) understand workplace events having the potential to either cause or reduce moral injuries, 2) predict the risk and severity of moral injuries using a disease prevention model, 3) identify biological signatures (biomarkers) associated with psychosocial stressors at work and moral injuries and 4) elaborate preliminary guidelines of organizational practices for frontline healthcare workers to reduce and manage moral injuries. This study is a mixed methods research with three components: qualitative, quantitative and biological. The data collection has been completed and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was adjusted to allow for gathering qualitative and quantitative data remotely. Frontline healthcare workers and leaders were included. Through focus groups and individual interviews, and an online questionnaire, events and psychosocial working conditions that may increase the risk of moral injuries will be documented. In addition, blood samples which were collected from a sub-sample of volunteer participants will measure an innovative set of biomarkers associated with vulnerability to stress and mental health. Data analyses are ongoing. We anticipate to identify workplace events that may trigger moral injuries. We expect that potential predictors of moral injury risk occurrence and severity will be identified from psychosocial stressors at work that can be improved by implementing organizational practices. We also expect to observe a different mental health state and biological inflammation signature across workers exposed compared to workers not exposed to psychosocial stressors at work. Based on these future findings, we intend to develop preliminary recommendations of organizational practices for managers. This research will contribute to expand our knowledge of the events in the workplace likely to generate or lessen the impact moral injuries, to build a model for predicting the risk of moral injuries at work, all in the specific context of the COVID-19 health crisis among healthcare workers.

IntroductionDespite tremendous progress in care, people living with HIV (PLHIV) continue to experience HIV-related stigmatisation by nurses in non-HIV-specialised healthcare settings. This has consequences for the health of PLHIV and the spread of the virus. In the province of Quebec (Canada), only four interventions aimed at reducing the impact of HIV-related stigmatisation by nurses have been implemented since the beginning of the HIV pandemic. While mentoring and persuasion could be promising strategies, expression of fears of HIV could have deleterious effects on nurses’ attitudes towards PLHIV. In literature reviews on stigma reduction interventions, the contextual elements in which these interventions have been implemented is not considered. In order to develop new interventions, we need to understand how the mechanisms (M) by which interventions (I) interact with contexts (C) produce their outcomes (O).Methods and analysisRealist synthesis (RS) was selected to formulate a programme theory that will rely on CIMO configuration to describe (1) nursing practices that may influence stigmatisation experiences by PLHIV in non-HIV-specialised healthcare settings, and (2) interventions that may promote the adoption of such practices by nurses. The RS will draw on the steps recommended by Pawson: clarify the scope of the review; search for evidence; appraise primary studies and extract data; synthesise evidence and draw conclusions. To allow an acute interpretation of the disparities between HIV-related stigmatisation experiences depending on people’s serological status, an initial version of the programme theory will be formulated from data gathered from scientific and grey literature, and then consolidated through realist interviews with various stakeholders (PLHIV, nurses, community workers and researchers).Ethics and disseminationEthical approval for realist interviews will be sought following the initial programme theory design. We intend to share the final programme theory with intervention developers via scientific publications and recommendations to community organisations that counter HIV-related stigmatisation.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) management is a core competency for nursing practice in HIV as documented in best practice guidelines. Nurse-led interventions are effective in fostering ART adherence in people living with HIV (PLWH). However, these evidence-based interventions and professional expectations pertaining to these guidelines do not reflect current practice, nor do they expose the challenges faced by nurses. We conducted a qualitative exploratory study with nurses to explore their professional practices in the context of ART adherence. Sixteen nurses participated in data collection: nine in a focus group and seven in individual interviews. We identified four themes: building a therapeutic relationship with PLWH as a foundation of HIV nursing care; nursing activities to support PLWH with ART adherence; challenges faced by nurses providing ART-related care; and resource mobilization supporting nursing practice development in ART management and HIV care. Aspects of HIV nursing practice need to be strengthened to enhance best practice care, such as managing powerlessness in the context of ART nonadherence.

The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is driving health care systems to rethink their operations. Despite numerous studies supporting the advantages of primary health care nurse practitioners (PHCNPs) in chronic disease management, implementing practices that fully use the skills of these practitioners seems impeded in the Canadian province of Québec. This study explores the views of leaders involved in primary health care regarding the contributions PHCNPs can make in chronic disease management and the challenges they face in doing so.Through semistructured interviews, an exploratory descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 20 key informants across Québec who hold a variety of professional positions connected to PHCNPs.Primary health care nurse practitioners were perceived to be able to improve self-management support for chronic diseases. In reality, however, PHCNPs are mainly devoting their time to clientele in acute care, and current regulations governing their practices limit their involvement in chronic disease management.Integrating PHCNPs offers a unique opportunity for health care settings to redefine the roles of family physicians and registered nurses and to restructure practices toward a chronic disease-oriented system. A clinical manager should be designated to monitor this restructuring process and ensure its success.

Despite its industry’s importance and its impact on its community, commercial fishing did not receive much attention from the researchers. Little is understood about accident causations and safety issues among fishermen and their vessels. The paper’ objective was to develop a conceptual framework based on accident analysis models and safety issues, adapted to commercial fishing activities. In this paper, Haddon matrix was used to conceptualize a “man overboard” accident which represents the primary cause of death among marine fisheries’ workers in Canada. This reflective paper attempts to address the complex context of safety issues in the commercial fishing industry by providing a conceptual framework. This study highlights the need of a better understanding of accidental events and safety issues, hence also encouraging fellow researchers to investigate and explore further into health and safety domains.

Background: Some nurses may feel ill-equipped to support people living with HIV who do not optimally adhere to their antiretroviral therapy. In response, to enhance the relational skills nurses require in situations of non-adherence, we developed a virtual patient simulation that features an HIV-positive man struggling to adhere to his therapy. The simulation is informed by a strengths-based nursing approach, motivational interviewing, and adult learning theories This study aimed to assess nurses’ perception of simulation’s acceptability. Specific objectives were: to measure the simulation design elements, its role in supporting practice, its quality and technology acceptance, and the achievement of learning objectives; to explore nurses’ learning experience.Methods: We conducted a convergent mixed methods study by combining a quantitative pre-experimental, one-group post-test design and a qualitative exploratory study. We used convenience and snowball sampling approaches to select Canadian registered nurses (n=49). who self-reported as having basic computer literacy skills. Participants completed an online sociodemographic questionnaire, consulted the simulation, and filled out an online post-test survey. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD, median, interquartile range) were used to present quantitative findings. From the 27 participants who completed the simulation and post-test survey, five participated in a focus group to explore their learning experience. The discussion transcript was subjected to thematic analysis. At the final stage of the study, we used a comparison strategy for integrating the quantitative and qualitative results.Results: Nurses perceived the simulation to be highly acceptable. They rated the global system quality and the technology acceptance with high scores. They reported having enjoyed the simulation and recommended other providers use it. Four qualitative themes were identified: motivations to engage in the simulation-based research; learning in a realistic, immersive, and non-judgmental environment; perceived utility of the simulation; and perceived difficulty in engaging in the simulation-based research.Conclusions: The simulation contributed to knowledge and skills development on motivational interviewing and enhanced nurses’ self-confidence in applying relational skills. Simulation holds the potential to change practice, as nurses become more self-reflective and aware of the impact of their relational skills on patient care. Relational skills are fundamental to high-quality nursing care.Trial registration: ISRCTN18243005, retrospectively registered on July 3 2020.

Background Although helping people living with HIV manage their antiretroviral therapy is a core competency of HIV nursing care, no educational intervention has sought to strengthen this competency. Thus, we codeveloped a simulation of a virtual patient (VP) having difficulty adhering to treatment to foster the relational skills that nurses require in such situations. Objective This viewpoint paper aims to describe the codevelopment process and the content of VP simulation, as well as the challenges encountered and the strategies used to overcome them. Methods We use a collaborative and iterative approach to develop the simulation based on qualitative evidence, theoretical approaches (strengths-based nursing, motivational interviewing [MI], and adult learning theories), and expert recommendations. We carried out 2 main phases: (1) planning the simulation development and (2) designing the simulation content, sequence, and format. We created the script as if we were writing a choose-your-own-adventure book. All relational skills (behavior change counseling techniques derived from MI) were integrated into a nurse-patient dialogue. The logic of the simulation is as follows: if the nurse uses techniques consistent with MI (eg, open-ended questions, summarizing), a dialogue is opened up with the VP. If the nurse uses relational skills inconsistent with MI (eg, providing advice without asking for permission), the VP will react accordingly (eg, defensively). Learners have opportunities to assess and reflect on their interventions with the help of quizzes and feedback loops. Results Two main challenges are discussed. The most salient challenge was related to the second phase of the VP simulation development. The first was to start the project with divergent conceptions of how to approach the VP simulation—the simulation company’s perspective of a procedural-type approach versus the clinical team’s vision of a narrative approach. As a broad strategy, we came to a mutual understanding to develop a narrative-type VP simulation. It meshed with our conception of a nurse-patient relationship, the values of strengths-based nursing (a collaborative nurse-patient relationship), and the MI’s counseling style. The second challenge was the complexity in designing realistic relational skills in preprogrammed and simulated nurse-patient dialogue while preserving an immersive learning experience. As a broad strategy, we created a collaborative and work-in-progress writing template as a shared working tool. Conclusions Our experience may be helpful to anyone looking for practical cues and guidance in developing narrative VP simulations. As relational skills are used by all nurses—from novices to experts—and other health care practitioners, focusing on this clinical behavior is a good way to ensure the simulation’s adaptability, sustainability, and efficiency.

BACKGROUND Although helping people living with HIV manage their antiretroviral therapy is a core competency of HIV nursing care, no educational intervention has sought to strengthen this competency. Thus, we codeveloped a simulation of a virtual patient (VP) having difficulty adhering to treatment to foster the relational skills that nurses require in such situations. OBJECTIVE This viewpoint paper aims to describe the codevelopment process and the content of VP simulation, as well as the challenges encountered and the strategies used to overcome them. METHODS We use a collaborative and iterative approach to develop the simulation based on qualitative evidence, theoretical approaches (strengths-based nursing, motivational interviewing [MI], and adult learning theories), and expert recommendations. We carried out 2 main phases: (1) planning the simulation development and (2) designing the simulation content, sequence, and format. We created the script as if we were writing a choose-your-own-adventure book. All relational skills (behavior change counseling techniques derived from MI) were integrated into a nurse-patient dialogue. The logic of the simulation is as follows: if the nurse uses techniques consistent with MI (eg, open-ended questions, summarizing), a dialogue is opened up with the VP. If the nurse uses relational skills inconsistent with MI (eg, providing advice without asking for permission), the VP will react accordingly (eg, defensively). Learners have opportunities to assess and reflect on their interventions with the help of quizzes and feedback loops. RESULTS Two main challenges are discussed. The most salient challenge was related to the second phase of the VP simulation development. The first was to start the project with divergent conceptions of how to approach the VP simulation—the simulation company’s perspective of a procedural-type approach versus the clinical team’s vision of a narrative approach. As a broad strategy, we came to a mutual understanding to develop a narrative-type VP simulation. It meshed with our conception of a nurse-patient relationship, the values of strengths-based nursing (a collaborative nurse-patient relationship), and the MI’s counseling style. The second challenge was the complexity in designing realistic relational skills in preprogrammed and simulated nurse-patient dialogue while preserving an immersive learning experience. As a broad strategy, we created a collaborative and work-in-progress writing template as a shared working tool. CONCLUSIONS Our experience may be helpful to anyone looking for practical cues and guidance in developing narrative VP simulations. As relational skills are used by all nurses—from novices to experts—and other health care practitioners, focusing on this clinical behavior is a good way to ensure the simulation’s adaptability, sustainability, and efficiency.

Background Primary health care nurse practitioners (PHCNPs) can play a key role in chronic disease management. However, little is known about the challenges they face. Purpose The study aimed to describe PHCNPs’ perspectives on their role for patients with chronic health conditions, the barriers they face, and facilitating factors. Methods A qualitative descriptive exploratory study was conducted with 24 PHCNPs in the Canadian province of Quebec. Results PHCNPs believe that they are in an optimal position to address the needs of patients with chronic health conditions, especially in providing self-management support. However, PHCNPs reported feeling pressured to practice according to a biomedical model and to constantly defend their role in chronic disease management. They feel that they are frequently being diverted from their role to compensate for the lack of family doctors. PHCNPs made concrete recommendations to optimize their autonomous practice and quality of care: promoting strong interprofessional communication skills, genuine mentoring relationships between PHCNPs and partner physicians, managers upholding the full scope of PHCNPs’ practice, and a more flexible legislative framework. Conclusions The original conception of PHCNPs as health professionals with unique characteristics is at stake. The factors that should be targeted to support the autonomy of PHCNPs were identified.

International audience; The ability to modulate our emotional experience, depending on our current goal and context, is of critical importance for adaptive behavior. This ability encompasses various emotion regulation strategies, such as fictional reappraisal, at stake whenever one engages in fictional works (e.g., movies, books, video games, virtual environments). Neuroscientific studies investigating the distinction between the processing of real and fictional entities have reported the involvement of brain structures related to self-relevance and emotion regulation, suggesting a threefold interaction between the appraisal of reality, aspects of the Self, and emotions. The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of implicit fictional reappraisal on different components of emotion, as well as on the modulatory role of autobiographical and conceptual self-relevance. While recording electrodermal, cardiac, and brain activity (EEG), we presented negative and neutral pictures to 33 participants, describing them as either real or fictional. After each stimulus, the participants reported their subjective emotional experience, self-relevance of the stimuli, as well as their agreement with their description. Using the Bayesian mixed-modeling framework, we showed that stimuli presented as fictional, compared with real, were subjectively appraised as less intense and less negative, and elicited lower skin conductance response, stronger heart-rate deceleration, and lower late positive potential amplitudes. Finally, these phenomenal and physiological changes did, to a moderate extent, rely on variations of specific aspects of self-relevance. Implications for the neuroscientific study of implicit emotion regulation are discussed.

International audience; For over forty years, philosophers have struggled with the "paradox of fiction", which is the issue of how we can get emotionally involved with fictional characters and events. The few neuroscientific studies investigating the distinction between the processing of real and fictional entities have evidenced that midline cortical structures and lateral fronto-parietal regions are more engaged for real and fictional entities, respectively. Interestingly, the former network is engaged in autobiographical memory retrieval and self-reference, processes that are known to boost emotional reactivity, while the latter underpins emotion regulation. Thus, a possible modulation of the emotional response according to the nature (real or fictional) of the stimulus is conceivable. To test this hypothesis, we presented short emotional (negative and positive) and neutral video as fictional or real. For negative material, we found that subjective emotional experience, but not physiological arousal measured by electrodermal activity, was reduced in the fictional condition. Moreover, the amount of personal memories linked to the scenes counteracted this effect boosting the subjective emotional response. On the contrary, personal memories elicited by the scenes, but not fiction, modulate the emotional response for positive material. These results suggest that when a stimulus triggers a personal memory, the emotional response is less prone to be modulated by contextual factors, and suggest that personal engagement could be responsible for emotional reaction toward fiction. We discuss these results in the emotion regulation framework and underline their implications in informing theoretical accounts of emotion in the neuroscientific domain and the philosophical debate on the paradox of emotional response to fiction

This chapter introduces the main theme; namely, the admittedly complex relationship that holds between pictorial experience and aesthetic appreciation of picture. It focuses on the general rationale of the aesthetic appreciation of pictures, are those by Elisabeth Schellekens, Dominic Lopes and Clotilde Calabi with Wolfgang Huemer and Marco Santambrogio. The chapter includes cinematic pictures into the discussion with Robert Hopkins and Enrico Terrone. By Greg Currie, Georges Roque and David Davies examines how pictorial experience and aesthetic appreciation relate, if they do, to the gestures of the artist when she made the picture. From an evolutionary point of view, for instance, it is clear that the two things, seeing-in and aesthetic appreciation, must be kept apart. Defenders of the link between pictorial experience and aesthetic appreciation may bite the bullet and reply that, properly speaking, aesthetic appreciation occurs also whenever transparent pictures are attentively experienced.

Two criteria of inflection emerge from the philosophical discussion on inflection. The first criterion "Coalescence" (C) refers to the amalgamation of surface and ordinary properties in objects or scenes seen in inflected pictures. And "Face-to-Face Unseeability" (FFU), the second criterion of inflection, refers to the kind of objects or scenes seen in inflected pictorial experiences. A consequence of Style Inflectionism will be a reduction of indeterminacies. For a viewer of Magritte's Le Blanc-Seing who endorses Style Separatism, the scene correctly seen in the painting and represented by it will be of a non-particular woman riding a non-particular horse in a landscape in indeterminate ways. Style Separatism, though being a view inadequate for inflected pictures, remains a view relevant for many non-inflected pictures. The blurred contours are configurational items which do not claim to be part of the painting's content; Style Separatism is effective for Vermeer's paintings. These imaginings without representation have a precious aesthetic value.

La Libération se traduit par la volonté du monde agricole de participer à l’effort de modernisation du pays. Elle invite à s’interroger sur la place et le rôle de l’enseignement technique offert aux filles d’agriculteurs qui se destinent à devenir agricultrices. La formation dispensée dans les écoles ménagères agricoles, héritage de l’entre-deux-guerres glorifié par Vichy, s’adapte et répond aux exigences de la profession qui cherche à renouveler le modèle de l’exploitation familiale en participant à la définition de plus en plus stricte des domaines de compétences des fermières selon une logique de genre. L’échelle départementale permet d’en comprendre les mécanismes et d’en évaluer les expressions lors de ces deux décennies qui voient se dessiner une nouvelle France agricole. Elle permet surtout de montrer comment les acteurs locaux ont pu user des moyens dont ils disposaient pour les détourner en partie de leurs objectifs. At the moment of France’s Liberation the agricultural world made important steps to join the modernizing efforts of the country. This article explores the role of technical education offered to farmers’ daughters who intended to become farmers themselves. It shows how training within agricultural home economic schools, which had emerged in the interwar period and flourished under Vichy, both adapted to and responded to the requirements of the profession that sought to renew the model of the family farm. This involved an increasingly gendered definition of what constituted a woman farmer’s area of expertise. Research at the departmental level reveals the characteristics of this process during the two decades that refashioned French agricultural life. Above all it shows how local actors used the means available to them to divert some of the objectives of this training.

The impact on beholders of anthropomorphic representations depicting facial expressions undoubtedly plays a prominent role in societies, given the special place granted to these images through space and time, and their cultural and social importance. Here, we investigate this impact in terms of the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms behind the aesthetic experience. Given that face processing is universal among humans, this is necessarily a cross-cultural issue, and we therefore chose to tackle it from an interdisciplinary perspective, reviewing the artistic, ethnographic, anthropological and cognitive literature on figuration and facial expression processing. This review was informed by the results of an experimental pilot study. Our findings shed light on the relationship between the three dimensions of the aesthetic experience (attention, emotion, and aesthetic judgement), and show that figures share a common property that modulates the aesthetic impact.

Deux conceptions de l’interprétation des récits de fiction sont présentées : la conception « communicationnelle » de Currie et la conception « émotionnelle » de Velleman. Selon Currie, interpréter un récit de fiction requiert de rapporter les événements du récit aux intentions narratives de l’auteur (inféré). Cette conception suppose que l’interprète se représente le contexte pragmatique de production du récit et va à l’encontre d’un certain nombre de recherches empiriques montrant que le lecteur d’un récit de fiction ne construit que très rarement une représentation du contexte pragmatique de sa production. Selon Velleman, l’interprétation requiert de la part du lecteur ou du spectateur qu’il reconnaisse dans la séquence émotionnelle qu’il éprouve à la lecture ou au spectacle d’une fiction une séquence émotionnelle familière. Selon cette conception, les événements narrés sont interprétés en fonction de la manière dont ils « résonnent » émotionnellement dans l’esprit du lecteur ou du spectateur., I discuss two ways one may explain how we interpret the content of a fictional. In the first, the interpreter’s task aims at deciding what is true in a fictional story by figuring out the narrative intentions behind its production. Narrative interpretation is a matter of figuring out the story-telling intentions of the (implied) author of the work. This is Currie’s intentionalist model of narrative interpretation, a conception I present and discuss on the basis of experimental results in the psychology of language. In the second, narrative interpretation is explained by reference to the emotions of the reader or the viewer of the fictional narrative. It is on the basis of his emotional sensibility, of how things feel to him that the reader or the viewer is led to understand the narrated events. This is Velleman’s emotional theory of narrative understanding. Finally, I compare both conceptions.

According to many realist philosophers of fiction, one needs to posit an ontology of existing fictional characters in order to give a correct account of discourse about fiction. The realists' claim is opposed by pretense theorists for whom discourse about fiction involves, as discourse in fiction, pretense. On that basis, pretense theorists claim that one does not need to embrace an ontology of fictional characters to give an account of discourse about fiction. The ontolog-ical dispute between realists and pretense theorists is mainly a dispute in the realm of the phi-losophy of language concerning the status relative to pretense of discourse about fiction. Realists are persuaded that there is a sharp line between discourse in fiction and discourse about fiction while pretense theorists deny there exists such a line. I suggest that realists may have a wrong picture of discourse in fiction since, in many cases, discourse in fiction already contains many occurrences of discourse about fiction. Consequently, discourse about fiction, instead of ending fiction, should be regarded, following pretense theorists, as adding extra lay-ers of fiction.

Aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein are found in a group of diseases called tauopathies, which includes Alzheimer's disease. The causes and consequences of tau hyperphosphorylation are routinely investigated in laboratory animals. Mice are the models of choice as they are easily amenable to transgenic technology; consequently, their tau phosphorylation levels are frequently monitored by Western blotting using a panel of monoclonal/polyclonal anti-tau antibodies. Given that mouse secondary antibodies can recognize endogenous mouse immunoglobulins (Igs) and the possible lack of specificity with some polyclonal antibodies, non-specific signals are commonly observed. Here, we characterized the profiles of commonly used anti-tau antibodies in four different mouse models: non-transgenic mice, tau knock-out (TKO) mice, 3xTg-AD mice, and hypothermic mice, the latter a positive control for tau hyperphosphorylation. We identified 3 tau monoclonal antibody categories: type 1, characterized by high non-specificity (AT8, AT180, MC1, MC6, TG-3), type 2, demonstrating low non-specificity (AT270, CP13, CP27, Tau12, TG5), and type 3, with no non-specific signal (DA9, PHF-1, Tau1, Tau46). For polyclonal anti-tau antibodies, some displayed non-specificity (pS262, pS409) while others did not (pS199, pT205, pS396, pS404, pS422, A0024). With monoclonal antibodies, most of the interfering signal was due to endogenous Igs and could be eliminated by different techniques: i) using secondary antibodies designed to bind only non-denatured Igs, ii) preparation of a heat-stable fraction, iii) clearing Igs from the homogenates, and iv) using secondary antibodies that only bind the light chain of Igs. All of these techniques removed the non-specific signal; however, the first and the last methods were easier and more reliable. Overall, our study demonstrates a high risk of artefactual signal when performing Western blotting with routinely used anti-tau antibodies, and proposes several solutions to avoid non-specific results. We strongly recommend the use of negative (i.e., TKO) and positive (i.e., hypothermic) controls in all experiments.

The non-existence of fictional entities does not seem incompatible with their possible existence. The aim of this paper is to give an account of the intuitive truth of statements of possible existence involving fictional proper names in an actualist framework. After having made clear the opposition between a possibilist and an actualist approach of possible worlds, I distinguish between fictional individuals and fictional characters and between the fictional use of fictional proper names and their metafictional use. On that basis, statements of possible existence involving fictional proper names appear to say of fictional characters conceived as abstact objects that they might have been exemplified.

De meme que nous mettons du sens dans le comportement des autres grâce a la simulation mentale, cet article fait l'hypothese que la simulation –sous ses diverses formes – est a la base d'au moins une partie du sens que nous trouvons dans les fictions et les œuvres d'art.

Introduction: Ketamine is a common recreational drug. Severe lower urinary tract symptoms associated with its consumption have been reported, but little is known about the involved mechanisms. The effect of ketamine, which is excreted in urine, was evaluated by its application on an in vitro three-dimensional human tissue-engineered bladder model composed of an urothelium and a submucosa.Methods: Human urothelial cells were cultured with medium containing various concentrations of ketamine and harvested at different times to obtain growth curves. Using this model, specific activity of caspase-3 was measured to assess the level of apoptosis induced by ketamine. Finally, a human tissue-engineered bladder model was used. Urothelial cells were plated on a stromal layer made of dermal fibroblasts and incubated at the air/liquid interface to allow their differentiation. Ketamine was then put on the mature urothelium using paper or agarose vectors for 48 hours.Results: The presence of ketamine increased cells’ doubling times from 1.26 days for control to 1.38 days (p = 0.14) and 1.78 days (p < 0.01) for the 0.5 mM and 1.5 mM concentrations, respectively. 5 mM and 10 mM of ketamine led to decline in the major cell population. Exposure to 5 mM ketamine induced apoptosis, confirmed by a 2.5-fold increase in capase-3 specific activity from control (p = 0.03). The structure and cellular cohesion of the urothelium on the three-dimensional model, especially in the intermediate layers, were severely affected in a concentration dependant fashion with both vectors.Conclusion: The presence of ketamine in the bladder directly damages the urothelium through the induction of apoptosis.

This thesis deals with the relationship with facial representations in art (e.g. portraits, busts, masks, etc.), referred to, here, as "facial icons". This relationship is examined in the light of embodied emotion. The hypothesis is that facial icons might trigger facial mimicry and emotional contagion in the same way as human facial expressions. This thesis places the issue within Alfred Gell's theory of art agency, suggesting that facial mimicry and emotional contagion are cognitive means that might participate in the abduction of the agency of facial icons. The approach is interdisciplinary, it proposes a hypothesis in an anthropological framework, then approaches it according to a methodology of cognitive sciences. Experimental studies (questionnaire, EMG, SAM) are conducted to test parts of the hypothesis., Cette thèse porte sur la relation avec les représentations de visage dans l'art (ex. portraits, bustes, masques,etc.), dénommées, ici, "les icones faciales". Cette relation est examinée à la lumière de l'émotion incarnée. L'hypothèse est que les icones faciales déclencheraient un mimétisme facial et une contagion émotionnelle de la même manière que les expressions faciales humaines. Cette thèse inscrit la problématique dans la théorie de l'agentivité de l'art d'Alfred Gell, suggérant que le mimétisme facial et la contagion émotionnelle sont des moyens cognitifs qui participeraient à l'abduction de l'agentivité des icones faciales. L'approche est interdisciplinaire, elle propose une hypothèse dans un cadre anthropologique, ensuite l'aborde suivant une méthodologie des sciences cognitives. Des études expérimentales (questionnaire, EMG, SAM) sont menées pour tester des parties de l'hypothèse.