Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) have previously been shown to induce gut inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). We developed a set of mannosides to prevent AIEC attachment to the gut by blocking the FimH bacterial adhesin. The crystal structure of the FimH lectin domain in complex with a lead thiazolylaminomannoside highlighted the preferential position for pharmacomodulations. A small library of analogues showing nanomolar affinity for FimH was then developed. Notably, AIEC attachment to intestinal cells was efficiently prevented by the most active compound and at around 10000-fold and 100-fold lower concentrations than mannose and the potent FimH inhibitor heptylmannoside, respectively. An ex vivo assay performed on the colonic tissue of a transgenic mouse model of CD confirmed this antiadhesive potential. Given the key role of AIEC in the chronic intestinal inflammation of CD patients, these results suggest a potential antiadhesive treatment with the FimH inhibitors developed.

The dynamics of a point-to-plane corona discharge induced in high pressure air under nanosecond scale high overvoltage is investigated. The electrical and optical properties of the discharge can be described in space and time with fast and precise current measurements coupled to gated and intensified imaging. Under atmospheric pressure, the discharge exhibits a diffuse pattern like a multielectron avalanche propagating through a direct field ionization mechanism. The diffuse regime can exist since the voltage rise time is much shorter than the characteristic time of the field screening effects, and as long as the local field is higher than the critical ionization field in air. As one of these conditions is not fulfilled, the discharge turns into a multi-channel regime and the diffuse-to-filamentary transition strongly depends on the overvoltage, the point-to-plane gap length and the pressure. When pressure is increased above atmospheric pressure, the diffuse stage and its transition to streamers seem to satisfy similarity rules as the key parameter is the reduced critical ionization field only. However, above 3 bar, neither diffuse avalanche nor streamer filaments are observed but a kind of streamer–leader regime, due to the fact that mechanisms such as photoionization and heat diffusion are not similar to pressure.

This study aimed to analyze main groups accused on social media of causing or spreading the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. In this analysis, blame is construed as a vehicle of meaning through which the lay public makes sense of an epidemic, and through which certain classes of people become ''figures of blame''. Data was collected from Twitter and Facebook using key word extraction, then categorized thematically. Our findings indicate an overall proximate blame tendency: blame was typically cast on ''near-by'' figures, namely national governments, and less so on ''distant'' figures, such as generalized figures of otherness (''Africans'', global health authorities, global elites). Our results also suggest an evolution of online blame. In the early stage of the epidemic, blame directed at the affected populations was more prominent. However, during the peak of the outbreak, the increasingly perceived threat of inter-continental spread was accompanied by a progressively proximal blame tendency, directed at figures with whom the social media users had pre-existing biopolitical frustrations. Our study proposes that pro-active and on-going analysis of blame circulating in social media can usefully help to guide communications strategies, making them more responsive to public perceptions.

These results confirm an increase in perception of discrimination and psychological distress among Arab Muslim recent immigrant communities after September 11, 2001, and highlight the importance this context may have for other immigrant groups.