Chlamydia control activities in Europe: cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in Europe. The objective of the Screening for Chlamydia in Europe (SCREen) project was to describe current and planned chlamydia control activities in Europe. METHODS: The authors sent a questionnaire asking about different aspects of chlamydia epidemiology and control to public health and clinical experts in each country in 2007. The principles of sexually transmitted infection control were used to develop a typology comprising five categories of chlamydia control activities. Each country was assigned to a category, based on responses to the questionnaire. RESULTS: Experts in 29 of 33 (88%) invited countries responded. Thirteen of 29 countries (45%) had no current chlamydia control activities. Six countries in this group stated that there were plans to introduce chlamydia screening programmes. There were five countries (17%) with case management guidelines only. Three countries (10%) also recommended case finding amongst partners of diagnosed chlamydia cases or people with another sexually transmitted infection. Six countries (21%) further specified groups of asymptomatic people eligible for opportunistic chlamydia testing. Two countries (7%) reported a chlamydia screening programme. There was no consistent association between the per capita gross domestic product of a country and the intensity of chlamydia control activities (P = 0.816). CONCLUSION: A newly developed classification system allowed the breadth of ongoing national chlamydia control activities to be described and categorized. Chlamydia control strategies should ensure that clinical guidelines to optimize chlamydia diagnosis and case management have been implemented before considering the appropriateness of screening programmes.

L'élève du brahmarâkshas (nouvelle de Muktibodh trad. du hindi)

Le premier volume de cette nouvelle série a pour ambition de faire découvrir au lecteur la littérature hindi, véritable trésor peu connu du public francophone. Ces dix nouvelles inédites ont pour auteurs des écrivains emblématiques des courants de sensibilité qui ont jalonné l'histoire de l'Inde moderne. Elles donnent un aperçu de l'évolution et de la complexité de la littérature hindi. Une introduction substantielle les situe, et situe leurs auteurs, dans l'histoire politique, sociale et culturelle du siècle écoulé, de l'époque coloniale à l'indépendance et aux défis de la modernité. Une plongée dans un univers poétique et humain à la fois exotique et familier. Ce titre ouvre une nouvelle collection consacrée aux littératures du sous-continent indien.

Translating from India and the Moving Space of Translation (Illustrated by the Works of Ajñeya)

The inadequacies and obsolescence of Eurocentric theories based on a binaryand static worldview have become a staple topic of postcolonial studies, and tosome extent also of translation studies. Nonetheless, the literary texts that arecalled upon in order to show the dynamism and hybridity of (post)modern worksbelong for the most part to the languages of the former colonial powers, especiallyEnglish, and remain inserted in a system that construes literatures interms of opposition. As a consequence, there is outside India a doubly misleadingunderstanding of Indian literatures other than those written in English:firstly, that translations of works in Hindi and in the Indian bhāṣā seem to belacking, if not inexistent, and secondly, that these "minor" literatures - as theyare regularly termed - are still often viewed as being highly dependent on theidea of "tradition," in opposition to the "postmodern" hybridity of the literatureswritten in the "dominant" languages, such as English or French. Againstthese views and supported by the analysis of Ajñeya's works in Hindi togetherwith their English translations, this paper aims to show: 1) that translationsfrom Hindi, which are not in fact non-existent, are mainly carried out in India,and 2) that Ajñeya's works, while representing a significant instance of the effectivehybridity present in Indian literatures, help to illustrate the moving spaceof translation. This demonstration effectively invalidates the above-mentionedoppositional standpoint.

Raja-Yoga : Histoire et tradition. Vol 7 : Glossaire de culture indienne

Voici rassemblées en un ouvrage les philosophies, les origines et les filiations du Yoga, plus particulièrement du Raja-Yoga, dans une vision plurielle et chronologique. Le lecteur au fil des textes sélectionnés prend conscience des moyens extraordinaires et exigeants développés par les sages de l'Inde pour répondre aux questions universelles du sens de la vie et de sa finalité. À l'opposé de l'esprit occidental, qui s'appuie sur la dialectique pour explorer le monde, le Yoga se défie du seul intellect, et privilégie l'expérience de soi. Les témoignages et les révélations d'êtres spirituels, tels que Patanjali, Vivekananda ou Ram Chandra, montrent que le chemin de la connaissance passe par soi, le chercheur étant à la fois l'objet de l'expérience, l'observateur et la conscience transformée. S'adressant à chacun de nous dans sa quête de sens et de vérité, le Raja-Yoga est une science, une méthode de réalisation de soi vivante qui, tout en s'inscrivant dans une tradition religieuse et philosophique, reste libre d'évoluer et de répondre aux besoins de l'homme à chaque époque. Ce coffret a eu pour désir de mettre à disposition d'un public occidental la spiritualité de l'Inde vue par elle-même, sous l'angle du Raja-Yoga. L'intérêt porté par des universitaires occidentaux à cette démarche a contribué à mettre en valeur l'apport remarquable des chercheurs indiens, praticiens et érudits, autour d'un sujet sur lequel il n'existait pas d'étude approfondie. Pour la première fois, le Raja-Yoga révèle sa noblesse et son efficacité dans sa dimension de science spirituelle ouverte à tous.

Duloxetine inhibits effects of MDMA ("ecstasy") in vitro and in humans in a randomized placebo-controlled laboratory study.

This study assessed the effects of the serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) transporter inhibitor duloxetine on the effects of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in vitro and in 16 healthy subjects. The clinical study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, four-session, crossover design. In vitro, duloxetine blocked the release of both 5-HT and NE by MDMA or by its metabolite 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine from transmitter-loaded human cells expressing the 5-HT or NE transporter. In humans, duloxetine inhibited the effects of MDMA including elevations in circulating NE, increases in blood pressure and heart rate, and the subjective drug effects. Duloxetine inhibited the pharmacodynamic response to MDMA despite an increase in duloxetine-associated elevations in plasma MDMA levels. The findings confirm the important role of MDMA-induced 5-HT and NE release in the psychotropic effects of MDMA. Duloxetine may be useful in the treatment of psychostimulant dependence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00990067.

Employment risk, unemployment insurance and search strategies: a disaggregated equilibrium approach with application to the Swiss labour market in the 1990-ies

The Organization of the Thesis The remainder of the thesis comprises five chapters and a conclusion. The next chapter formalizes the envisioned theory into a tractable model. Section 2.2 presents a formal description of the model economy: the individual heterogeneity, the individual objective, the UI setting, the population dynamics and the equilibrium. The welfare and efficiency criteria for qualifying various equilibrium outcomes are proposed in section 2.3. The fourth section shows how the model-generated information can be computed. Chapter 3 transposes the model from chapter 2 in conditions that enable its use in the analysis of individual labor market strategies and their implications for the labor market equilibrium. In section 3.2 the Swiss labor market data sets, stylized facts, and the UI system are presented. The third section outlines and motivates the parameterization method. In section 3.4 the model's replication ability is evaluated and some aspects of the parameter choice are discussed. Numerical solution issues can be found in the appendix. Chapter 4 examines the determinants of search-strategic behavior in the model economy and its implications for the labor market aggregates. In section 4.2, the unemployment duration distribution is examined and related to search strategies. Section 4.3 shows how the search- strategic behavior is influenced by the UI eligibility and section 4.4 how it is determined by individual heterogeneity. The composition effects generated by search strategies in labor market aggregates are examined in section 4.5. The last section evaluates the model's replication of empirical unemployment escape frequencies reported in Sheldon [67]. Chapter 5 applies the model economy to examine the effects on the labor market equilibrium of shocks to the labor market risk structure, to the deep underlying labor market structure and to the UI setting. Section 5.2 examines the effects of the labor market risk structure on the labor market equilibrium and the labor market strategic behavior. The effects of alterations in the labor market deep economic structural parameters, i.e. individual preferences and production technology, are shown in Section 5.3. Finally, the UI setting impacts on the labor market are studied in Section 5.4. This section also evaluates the role of the UI authority monitoring and the differences in the Way changes in the replacement rate and the UI benefit duration affect the labor market. In chapter 6 the model economy is applied in counterfactual experiments to assess several aspects of the Swiss labor market movements in the nineties. Section 6.2 examines the two equilibria characterizing the Swiss labor market in the nineties, the " growth" equilibrium with a "moderate" UI regime and the "recession" equilibrium with a more "generous" UI. Section 6.3 evaluates the isolated effects of the structural shocks, while the isolated effects of the UI reforms are analyzed in section 6.4. Particular dimensions of the UI reforms, the duration, replacement rate and the tax rate effects, are studied in section 6.5, while labor market equilibria without benefits are evaluated in section 6.6. In section 6.7 the structural and institutional interactions that may act as unemployment amplifiers are discussed in view of the obtained results. A welfare analysis based on individual welfare in different structural and UI settings is presented in the eighth section. Finally, the results are related to more favorable unemployment trends after 1997. The conclusion evaluates the features embodied in the model economy with respect to the resulting model dynamics to derive lessons from the model design." The thesis ends by proposing guidelines for future improvements of the model and directions for further research.

Le veda : histoire d'une reconstruction

Voici rassemblées en un ouvrage les philosophies, les origines et les filiations du Yoga, plus particulièrement du Raja-Yoga, dans une vision plurielle et chronologique. Le lecteur au fil des textes sélectionnés prend conscience des moyens extraordinaires et exigeants développés par les sages de l'Inde pour répondre aux questions universelles du sens de la vie et de sa finalité. À l'opposé de l'esprit occidental, qui s'appuie sur la dialectique pour explorer le monde, le Yoga se défie du seul intellect, et privilégie l'expérience de soi. Les témoignages et les révélations d'êtres spirituels, tels que Patanjali, Vivekananda ou Ram Chandra, montrent que le chemin de la connaissance passe par soi, le chercheur étant à la fois l'objet de l'expérience, l'observateur et la conscience transformée. S'adressant à chacun de nous dans sa quête de sens et de vérité, le Raja-Yoga est une science, une méthode de réalisation de soi vivante qui, tout en s'inscrivant dans une tradition religieuse et philosophique, reste libre d'évoluer et de répondre aux besoins de l'homme à chaque époque. Ce coffret a eu pour désir de mettre à disposition d'un public occidental la spiritualité de l'Inde vue par elle-même, sous l'angle du Raja-Yoga. L'intérêt porté par des universitaires occidentaux à cette démarche a contribué à mettre en valeur l'apport remarquable des chercheurs indiens, praticiens et érudits, autour d'un sujet sur lequel il n'existait pas d'étude approfondie. Pour la première fois, le Raja-Yoga révèle sa noblesse et son efficacité dans sa dimension de science spirituelle ouverte à tous.

Le retour (nouvelle d'Usha Priyamvada trad. du hindi )

Le premier volume de cette nouvelle série a pour ambition de faire découvrir au lecteur la littérature hindi, véritable trésor peu connu du public francophone. Ces dix nouvelles inédites ont pour auteurs des écrivains emblématiques des courants de sensibilité qui ont jalonné l'histoire de l'Inde moderne. Elles donnent un aperçu de l'évolution et de la complexité de la littérature hindi. Une introduction substantielle les situe, et situe leurs auteurs, dans l'histoire politique, sociale et culturelle du siècle écoulé, de l'époque coloniale à l'indépendance et aux défis de la modernité. Une plongée dans un univers poétique et humain à la fois exotique et familier. Ce titre ouvre une nouvelle collection consacrée aux littératures du sous-continent indien.

Role of MyD88 and Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 in the sensing of Parachlamydia acanthamoebae.

Parachlamydia acanthamoebae is a Chlamydia-related organism whose pathogenic role in pneumonia is supported by serological and molecular clinical studies and an experimental mouse model of lung infection. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a seminal role in sensing microbial products and initiating innate immune responses. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of MyD88, TLR2, and TLR4 in the interaction of Parachlamydia with macrophages. Here, we showed that Parachlamydia entered bone-marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) in a TLR-independent manner but did not multiply intracellularly. Interestingly, compared to live bacteria, heat-inactivated Parachlamydia induced the production of substantial amounts of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-12p40 by BMDMs and of TNF and IL-6 by peritoneal macrophages as well as RAW 264.7 and J774 macrophage cell lines. Cytokine production by BMDMs, which was partially inhibited upon trypsin treatment of Parachlamydia, was dependent on MyD88, TLR4, and, to a lesser extent, TLR2. Finally, MyD88(-/-), TLR4(-/-), and TLR2(-/-) mice were as resistant as wild-type mice to lung infection following the intratracheal instillation of Parachlamydia. Thus, in contrast to Chlamydia pneumoniae, Parachlamydia acanthamoebae weakly stimulates macrophages, potentially compensating for its low replication capacity in macrophages by escaping the innate immune surveillance.

Phenylbutyrate therapy for pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency

Deficiency of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) is the most common disorder leading to lactic acidemia. Phosphorylation of specific serine residues of the E1-alpha subunit of the PDHC by pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) inactivates the enzyme, whereas dephosphorylation restores PDHC activity. We recently found that phenylbutyrate prevents phosphorylation of the E1-alpha subunit of the branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase complex (BCKDC) and reduces plasma concentrations of neurotoxic branched chain amino acids in patients with maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), due to the deficiency of BCKDC. We hypothesized that, similarly to BCKDC, phenylbutyrate enhances PDHC enzymatic activity by increasing the portion of unphosphorylated enzyme. To test this hypothesis, we treated wild-type human fibroblasts at different concentrations of phenylbutyrate and found that it reduces the levels of phosphorylated E1-alpha as compared to untreated cells. To investigate the effect of phenylbutyrate in vivo, we administered phenylbutyrate to C57B6 wild-type mice and we detected a significant increase in Pdhc enzyme activity and a reduction of phosphorylated E1-alpha subunit in brains and muscles as compared to saline treated mice. Being a drug already approved for human use, phenylbutyrate has great potential for increasing the residual enzymatic activity of PDHC and to improve the clinical phenotype of PDHC deficiency.

Une autre vie. Un siècle de nouvelles hindi

Le premier volume de cette nouvelle série a pour ambition de faire découvrir au lecteur la littérature hindi, véritable trésor peu connu du public francophone. Ces dix nouvelles inédites ont pour auteurs des écrivains emblématiques des courants de sensibilité qui ont jalonné l'histoire de l'Inde moderne. Elles donnent un aperçu de l'évolution et de la complexité de la littérature hindi. Une introduction substantielle les situe, et situe leurs auteurs, dans l'histoire politique, sociale et culturelle du siècle écoulé, de l'époque coloniale à l'indépendance et aux défis de la modernité. - Introduction : Nicola Pozza, maître d''enseignement et de recherche en histoire des religions à l'Université de Lausanne - Écrivains hindi: Mumsi Premcand, Jay Shankar Prasâd, Yashpal, Agyeya, Muktibodh, Mohan Râkesh, Manu Bandhari, Usha Priyamvada, Harishankar Parsai, Nirmal Verma.

Population based screening - the difficulty of how to do more good than harm and how to achieve it.

Screening people without symptoms of disease is an attractive idea. Screening allows early detection of disease or elevated risk of disease, and has the potential for improved treatment and reduction of mortality. The list of future screening opportunities is set to grow because of the refinement of screening techniques, the increasing frequency of degenerative and chronic diseases, and the steadily growing body of evidence on genetic predispositions for various diseases. But how should we decide on the diseases for which screening should be done and on recommendations for how it should be implemented? We use the examples of prostate cancer and genetic screening to show the importance of considering screening as an ongoing population-based intervention with beneficial and harmful effects, and not simply the use of a test. Assessing whether screening should be recommended and implemented for any named disease is therefore a multi-dimensional task in health technology assessment. There are several countries that already use established processes and criteria to assess the appropriateness of screening. We argue that the Swiss healthcare system needs a nationwide screening commission mandated to conduct appropriate evidence-based evaluation of the impact of proposed screening interventions, to issue evidence-based recommendations, and to monitor the performance of screening programmes introduced. Without explicit processes there is a danger that beneficial screening programmes could be neglected and that ineffective, and potentially harmful, screening procedures could be introduced.