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Abstract: Donor and recipient sample biobanks are a precious tool in hemovigilance studies as well as in epidemiological and biological research, in particular with regards to safety against blood-borne agents. This paper describes the main transfusion biobanks existing in France and gives their advantages and limits. The National blood donation biobank, organized for medicolegal reasons, preserves samples of each blood donation for a 5-year period. The biobank of the Blood and Organ Transmissible Infectious Agents (BOTIA) project stocks paired donor–recipient samples with a research objective. Preserved over a long period of time, such transfusion biobanks will be useful in terms of public health, as a reflection of the biological state of a population at a given moment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: This paper presents the results from France of a prospective, cross-sectional, international survey conducted among patients and physicians to identify symptom perception and the impact of allergic rhinitis on health-related quality of life. Methods: Data about the presence, severity and impact of symptoms were recorded by 504 patients and matched with data from their physicians. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the Mini Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire. Results: According to the physicians’ assessments, a large proportion (71%) of patients had moderate or severe disease, persistent disease (48.3%), and comorbidities such as asthma (32.3%) and anxiety (19%). Persistent disease was present in 55.3% of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis and 44.9% with seasonal allergic rhinitis. Physicians tended to underestimate the incidence of some symptoms reported by the patients, most notably cough, headache, and itchy eyes. Health-related quality of life was negatively correlated with disease severity and number of symptom-free days. Allergic rhinitis had a significantly greater impact on patients with more persistent disease compared with those with intermittent disease (2.0±1.3 versus 1.8±1.2; p <0.05); nevertheless, 73.9% of patients with intermittent disease reported some impairment of their daily life. Conclusions: Allergic rhinitis remains a significant health problem in France due to the high prevalence of moderate or severe, persistent disease in patients presenting during routine care as well as to the impact of the disease on health-related quality of life. Patients and physicians differed significantly in their perception of disease severity and in the reporting of some symptoms, including ocular symptoms and cough. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Marcel Jousse (1886–1961), professor of linguistic anthropology, was introduced in 1927 by Frederic Lefèvre in Les Nouvelles Littéraires as “one of [the] most famous and [the] most loyal disciples [of Pierre Janet] […] who was able to apply Pierre Janet''s basic ideas of psychology on a yet unexplored field with a youthful mastery”. On his part, Joseph Morlaas (1895–1981), author of a thesis in medicine entitled Contribution to the Study of Apraxia, sees in “Marcel Jousse : a master […] a firm support for a better understanding” of what he sees being deconstructed in what is pathological. This paper reviews the master–disciple relationship between these men, in a first step that of Pierre Janet and Marcel Jousse, and then that of Marcel Jousse and Joseph Morlaas. We will explore in this communication, relationships master–disciple between these men, in a first step of Pierre Janet and Marcel Jousse, then of Marcel Jousse and Joseph Morlaas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The lateral brachial flap is a fascio-cutaneus flap. This flap is secured. The functional and cosmetic sequelae are limited. The authors propose in this paper its utilisation as free flap in the reconstruction of facial defects. Thanks to its low morbidity, this free flap may be used in old patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective. – Ethical and methodological quality of scientific papers on cosmetic surgery is often criticised. This is why we have proposed to create and validate an ethical and a methodological grid in the field of cosmetic surgery.Methods. – A questionnaire had been mailed to 40 cosmetic surgeons. The questionnaire was voluntary and simple and included two open questions and the possibility of giving one’s opinion on this subject. The first question was: “Please mention, without describing your first ten methodological criteria, when you decide to evaluate a scientific publication concerning cosmetic surgery”. The second question was written exactly in the same way, except that the word “methodological” was replaced by the word “ethical”.Results. – In the methodological field, our results are the same as the classical criteria that permit answers the following questions: what did you do?, why did you do?, how did you do?, what did you find?, what is the meaning of this finding?, what is the future of this finding? Finally, except for the importance of comparing before and after photography, our criteria are not so different from the methodological criteria of all scientific studies. In the ethical field, in a decreasing order, we found the balance of benefits and risks, the probity of the author, the respect for the a priori equivalence clause, the disclosure of conflicts interest, the quality of the iconography, the respect for legislation, the transparency on the effective work of each author, the existence of rules for early stopping of the study and the transparency on preliminary animal studies if necessary.Conclusion. – Similar to the existing practice, a study could be refused for publication because of its methodological insufficiencies; in the future, more and more studies would be refused because of their ethical insufficiencies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The following paper aims at finding and analyzing the objective conditions and the subjective processes which lead people to choose studying psychiatry. The authors have used the testimonies of 29 French psychiatrists who had been invited by the review Psychiatrie Internationale and who had been asked the question: “Why have you chosen to study psychiatry?” These texts were compiled and published in 1993 and have undergone content analysis. The results show that in order to explain this choice of studies, it is necessary to consider objective factors (social background, level of achievement during internship, etc.), contingent elements (encounters with professors and/or patients), and more subjective processes which make the choice of this medical specialization an answer to each person''s problems. Furthermore, the specificities of this original corpus show the importance of socio-historical conditions under which the choice of studies is done and invite us to reconsider the issue through the current context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Purpose. – This paper introduces a series of short articles focusing on methodological tools in clinical research, and describes some of the relations existing between medical practice and clinical research. State of the art and main points. – The nature of the differences between statistical, epidemiological, and clinical uncertainty, and the lack of knowledge regarding relations between in vivo and in vitro phenomenon are explored. Also, notions of precision of numbers and validity of quantification are discussed and compared with the validity of narrative description of a pathological process, such as it is supposed to actually occur. Perspectives and projets. – Intrinsic limitations of analytical and observational methods being explained, the usefulness of these same methods in the understanding of a disease or the evaluation of a therapy will be progressively described in more details. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Internet offers interesting informations concerning health issues. This paper presents a selection of french sites destined for youth about general and reproductive health. Pediatricians could recommend them to their adolescent patients. These adresses and their content need to be checked at regular intervals [Copyright &y& Elsevier]