Domaine de la biologie théorique

Summary In order to delimit the field of theoretical biology, the author distinguishes in empirical biology a substructure and a superstructure. Empirical biology cannot be constituted without a minimum of reference to philosophical ideas such as the principle of identity (substructure); having regard to its objective, which is explanation by means of physico-chemical models, it does not easily avoid ontological aspirations. Further, experimental research makes great use of scientific theories. Finally, the elaboration of the empirical data of biology may find its fulfilment in an ontological science, philosophical biology, which is a branch of the philosophy of nature. Philosophical biology, superstructure of experimental biology, is a discipline intermediate between the special sciences of life, defined in an empirical sense, and metaphysics.

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Zusammenfassung Um den Bereich der theoretischen Biologie abzugrenzen, unterscheidet der Autor in der positiven Biologie eine “Infrastruktur” und eine “Suprastruktur”. Die positive Biologie kann nicht ohne ein Minimum von Beziehungen zu den philosophischen Begriffen aufgebaut werden, wie z.B. zu dem Prinzip der Identit?t (Infrastruktur); ihrem Ziele nach betrachtet, welches in der Erkl?rung durch physiko-chemische Grundbegriffe besteht, kann sie sich nicht gut den ontologischen Ansprüchen entziehen. Darüber hinaus bedient sich die experimentelle Forschung weitgehend der wissenschaftlichen Theorien. Zum Schluss kann die Bearbeitung der empirischen Erkenntnisse in der Biologie ihre Vollendung in einer ontologischen Wissenschaft, die philosophische Biologie, welche ein Zweig der Philosophie der Natur ist, finden. Die philosophische Biologie, die der experimentellen übergeordnet ist, steht als Disziplin zwischen den besonderen Wissenschaften vom Leben, verstanden im empirischen Sinne, und der Metaphysik.

     

Observations sur la biologie de la guêpe orientaleVespa orient alis F.

Résumé Nous avons décrit des nids d'élevage artificiels et les conditions d'élevage appropriées par lesquelles nous avons élevé des colonies deVespa orientalis. La méthode que nous avons utilisée rend possible des observations méthodiques de ce qui se passe dans la colonie, et en élevant un certain nombre de colonies, nous avons pu comparer des phénomènes différents, qui se retrouvent dans toute colonie.Au cours de nos observations, nous avons mis l'accent sur la structure sociale de la colonie pendant la saison d'activité. Nous avons décrit le comportement de la reine dans le nid, son activité, et les rapports existant entre la reine et les ouvrières.Nous avons réalisé des expériences diverses sur le transfert des reines de nid à nid, et élevé ainsi des colonies orphelines, afin de comparer le comportement de celles-ci avec les colonies en ayant une.

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Summary The Oriental Hornet is common in the whole Mediterranean Basin. In Israel, colonies of the hornet are numerous in nearly all parts of the country. The colonies are annual and their main activity occurs during the hot season. At the approach of winter, only houng fertilized queens remain; they winter in hidden secret places, emerging in the spring to establish a new colony.In order to watch what is passing in the hornets' nest, we built artificial breeding houses having one glasse wall. In the spring, we transferred small colonies of hornets into these houses, where they continued todevelop until the end of the season.Stress was put in our observations, on the social structure of the hornet colony. The mother-Queen, having laid the foundations for the colony in the spring, keeps leaving the nest to bring food and building materials from the fields until early June. From then onwards she remains in the nest, engaging chiefly in egg laying, while her daughters, the workers, collect food from the fields and perform all other duties in the nest. The queen is easily recognized by the workers, even in the darkness of the nest. They tend to approach her when she is resting on the combs and to crowd around her. Some of the workers come to her often in order to lick her body, others hit the walls with their bellies.Side by side with colonies possessing a queen, we also reared queen — less ones, which enabled us to compare the behaviour of both.A sufficiently lucid explanation of the activity of the workers in relation to the queen has not been arrived at so far, further observations being required.

     

Quand l’évolution parle à la biologie fondamentale

Like many results in comparative anatomy, the works on bone histology led by Armand de Ricqlès have found their whole sense within the framework of the theory of evolution. It seems to be the same thing in genomics and molecular biology. However, some examples show that the fluidity of genomes is not realized by the same processes in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes. In the first taxon, transposons play a fundamental role, since in the other case horizontal gene transfers are essential. These dynamics seem to be necessary for understanding the bases of genomic evolution both from fundamental and applied points of view.     

Contribution à la connaissance des fungi keratinophiles de l'ouest de la France V. Étude au microscope électronique à balayage

Résumé La recherche des Fungi kératinophiles dans 301 prélèvements de sol de la Loire-Atlantique a permis de trouver une fois sur troisArthroderma uncinatum. A. curreyi est assez abondant.Nannizzia cajetani, A. quadrifidum etA. tuberculatum ont été également assez souvent mis en évidence.Chrysosporium keratinophilum semble rare. Plus rares également sont les espèces plus spécialement pathogènes:A. benhamiae, N. fulva etN. incurvata.L'étude au microscope électronique à balayage permet de séparer et définir différentes espèces par l'observation des ornementations: verrues, granules, érosions planes, crêtes. C'est ainsi que nous pouvons confirmer la séparation des deux espècesN. fulva etN. incurvata.     

Diagnostic de l’embolie pulmonaire chez la femme enceinte : apport de la scintigraphie. Étude rétrospective à propos de 116 cas

IntroductionPulmonary embolism during pregnancy is a leading cause of maternal mortality. The aim of our study was to evaluate pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism prevalence of lesions on the lung perfusion as well as the relationship between the parenchymal lesions and various clinical factors and biological risk.MethodsThis is a retrospective study of 116 pregnant patients referred for suspected pulmonary embolism. The median age was 30 years, ranging from 15 to 47 years and the median gestational term was 31 weeks with a range of 12 to 40 weeks. Suspicion of pulmonary embolism was established with the presence of clinical signs (dyspnea, chest pain and palpitations). No patient had received a chest radiograph. The patients underwent planar perfusion scintigraphy with injected activity of 40 to 50 MBq of macroaggregates of human albumin (MAA) labeled with 99mTc. The scintigraphic results were classified according to the PIOPED criteria, depending on the likelihood of EP. The scans with low or intermediate probability were included in the same group, that of indeterminate results.ResultsThe scan was positive (with high probability) in 16 patients (13.8%), normal in 78 patients (67.2%) and classified as inconclusive in 22 patients (18.9%). In 16 patients with a positive scan, the lesions were interested the left lung in 10 cases (62.5%), the right lung in 1 case (6.25%) and were bilateral in 5 cases (31.25%).ConclusionsIn cases of suspected pulmonary embolism in a pregnant woman, the choice of imaging technique depends on both its diagnostic value and also its adverse effects. Lung scintigraphy is the examination to be carried out first in pregnant women with a chest radiograph. In others, it is that angiography should be performed as first line.     

L'emploi de la formule d'arrhénius en biologie,est-il justifié?

Sans résumé     

Applications à la conchyliculture des récentes acquisitions sur la biologie des mollusques bivalves

Today, mollusc farming represents the fourth part of the mundial aquaculture production. These results have been permitted by the improvement of farming techniques commercially important but also by advances in the biology of a species. Valuable reproductive studies have been carried out in s.a. hatcheries on triploids and tetraploids animals. Since the last decade, advances in the knowledge of metabolism and growth mechanisms has helped the improvement of the brood stock. Nevertheless, the mundial expansion of bivalve farming increases the outbreak of strong epizooties. Investigations allow a valuable knowledge on the scope of molluscan defence mechanisms against pathogen agents. The results are discussed in relation to a possible selection for bivalve farming.     

Mensurations échographiques de la thyroïde chez des enfants de zéro à 15 ans de la ville de Ouagadougou

Among the methods used to carry out measurements of thyroid, echography is the best because it is noninvasive and more specific. The goals of this study were to determine the normal thyroid volume of the Burkinabe child; to study the parameters which induce a variation of thyroid volume and to compare our values with those from other localities. Through a cross-sectional study, 240 children from the town of Ouagadougou benefited from a thyroid echography. Thus the height (h), the transverse diameter (dt) and the thickness (e) were measured. Volume (vl) of each lobe was estimated by: vl = h × dt × e × 3.14/6. The total volume (VT) is the sum of the volumes of each lobe, the isthmus being neglected. A correlation set at the threshold p < 0.001 has been carried out between VT and some anthropometric parameters. The following averages were observed: before one year, the average volume is of 0.51 L ± 0.21; from one to three years, it is of 0.95 mL ± 0.33; from four to six years, the average volume is of 1.35 mL ± 0.43; from seven to nine years, it is of 1.95 mL ± 0.62. From 10 to 12 years, the average volume is of 3.01 mL ± 1.08 and it is of 5.32 mL ± 2.07 from 13 to 15 years. It stands out that the VT is positively associated with the age (r = 0.82), with the size (r = 0.73), with the weight (r = 0.81) and with body surface (r = 0.78). Moreover, the VT is higher among boys than in girls beyond one year of age. This parameter varies according to the area of origin. Lastly, compared with the American, European and Asian averages, our values are smaller. This study enabled us to establish our own standards which we will be able from now on to use in daily practice. However, multicentric studies associated with thyroid and sexual hormones blood levels measurements must be undertaken to ascertain these data.     

La fracture de verge à Dakar. à propos de 25 cas

Objectives

To describe the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of penile fracture in the department of Urology-Andrology of h?pital général de Grand Yoff, Dakar, Sénégal.

Materials and methods

We reviewed the medical records of cases of penile fracture managed at the h?pital général de Grand Yoff from January 2001 to December 2011. The data of interest were: age at diagnosis, geographic origin, clinical presentation, surgical findings, treatment and outcomes.

Results

In ten years, 25 cases of penile fracture were found with an average of 2,5 cases per year and patients mean age of 36 years with 22 and 60 years as extremes. The circumstances of occurrence were mainly forced manipulation (52%) and coitus (32%). Pain associated with penile curvature, swelling localized to the penis or extending to the pubis or the perineum were the major clinical findings. A prompt emergency (mean time for providing care was 2 hours ranging from 45 minuts to 2 days) surgical explorationwith suture of the albuginea of the corpus cavernosum was the treatment in all cases.

Conclusion

Penile fracture is a relatively uncommon urological emergency in our setting. The diagnosis is easy, mostly based on clinical examination. A prompt and appropriate surgical management is the key to cosmetic and functional outcomes.     

La parole à la portée du conduit vocal de l'homme de Neandertal. Nouvelles recherches,nouvelles perspectives

Investigations about the origin of articulated language result in different interpretations dealing with the phonetic capacity of our ancestors, namely after the discovery of the Neandertals. According to anatomic arguments now called to question, principally the position of the larynx as regard to the basis of skull, some authors claimed that these fossil humans could not be endowed with speech. From a new reconstruction of the estimated position of the larynx and the vocal tract, articulatory simulations were undertaken in order to propose some potential vocalic [i a u] prototypes for Neandertals. And we can show Neandertals could pronounce vowels as differentiated as those of modern humans. To cite this article: J.-L. Heim et al., C. R. Palevol 1 (2002) 129–134.     

Contribution à l'etude des thecamoebiens de la Province de Buenos Aires

Résumé La faune des Thécamoebiens fut étudiée dans deux étangs (La Brava et De los Padres) situe dans la Province de Buenos Aires (Argentina). Le nombre d'espèces trouvé en tout a été de 14, quelques-unes desquelles représentées par de différentes formae. Une nouvelle forma Centropyxis compressa (Cushman), forma brava n.f. a été trouvée et décrite, et une espèce de Pontigulasia a été proposée en nomenclatura aperta.

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Summary The Thecamoebiens of two lakes (La Brava and de los Padres) located in the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina) were studied. The total number of species found is 14, several of them are represented by various formae. A new forma was found and described, namely Centropyxis compressa (Cushman), forma brava n.f. and one species of Pontigulasia was put in nomenclatura aperta.

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Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires     

Les traumatismes de la verge: à propos de 23 cas

The authors report 23 cases of penile injuries based on a retrospective study of their urological practice in Senegal. The various cases were distributed as follows: fracture of the penis (19 cases), corpora cavernosa and urethral gunshot injuries (2 cases), rupture of the superficial dorsal vein of the penis (1 case) and laceration of the penile skin (1 case). The mean age of these patients was 32.4 years. Early surgical treatment of all penile fractures reduces the complication rate.     

Contributions à l'étude de la flore mycologique de l'Autriche

Sans résumé