History of biological warfare and bioterrorism.

Bioterrorism literally means using microorganisms or infected samples to cause terror and panic in populations. Bioterrorism had already started 14 centuries before Christ, when the Hittites sent infected rams to their enemies. However, apart from some rare well-documented events, it is often very difficult for historians and microbiologists to differentiate natural epidemics from alleged biological attacks, because: (i) little information is available for times before the advent of modern microbiology; (ii) truth may be manipulated for political reasons, especially for a hot topic such as a biological attack; and (iii) the passage of time may also have distorted the reality of the past. Nevertheless, we have tried to provide to clinical microbiologists an overview of some likely biological warfare that occurred before the 18th century and that included the intentional spread of epidemic diseases such as tularaemia, plague, malaria, smallpox, yellow fever, and leprosy. We also summarize the main events that occurred during the modern microbiology era, from World War I to the recent 'anthrax letters' that followed the World Trade Center attack of September 2001. Again, the political polemic surrounding the use of infectious agents as a weapon may distort the truth. This is nicely exemplified by the Sverdlovsk accident, which was initially attributed by the authorities to a natural foodborne outbreak, and was officially recognized as having a military cause only 13 years later.

Inhibition of cell migration and invasion mediated by the TAT-RasGAP317-326 peptide requires the DLC1 tumor suppressor.

TAT-RasGAP317-326, a peptide corresponding to the 317-326 sequence of p120 RasGAP coupled with a cell-permeable TAT-derived peptide, sensitizes the death response of various tumor cells to several anticancer treatments. We now report that this peptide is also able to increase cell adherence, prevent cell migration and inhibit matrix invasion. This is accompanied by a marked modification of the actin cytoskeleton and focal adhesion redistribution. Interestingly, integrins and the small Rho GTP-binding protein, which are well-characterized proteins modulating actin fibers, adhesion and migration, do not appear to be required for the pro-adhesive properties of TAT-RasGAP317-326. In contrast, deleted in liver cancer-1, a tumor suppressor protein, the expression of which is often deregulated in cancer cells, was found to be required for TAT-RasGAP317-326 to promote cell adherence and inhibit migration. These results show that TAT-RasGAP317-326, besides its ability to favor tumor cell death, hampers cell migration and invasion.

GAP-independent functions of DLC1 in metastasis.

Metastases are responsible for most cancer-related deaths. One of the hallmarks of metastatic cells is increased motility and migration through extracellular matrixes. These processes rely on specific small GTPases, in particular those of the Rho family. Deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1) is a tumor suppressor that bears a RhoGAP activity. This protein is lost in most cancers, allowing malignant cells to proliferate and disseminate in a Rho-dependent manner. However, DLC1 is also a scaffold protein involved in alternative pathways leading to tumor and metastasis suppressor activities. Recently, substantial information has been gathered on these mechanisms and this review is aiming at describing the potential and known alternative GAP-independent mechanisms allowing DLC1 to impair migration, invasion, and metastasis formation.

Renforcer la participation politique : une approche évaluative du projet du Bureau lausannois pour les immigrés "Votre Ville, Votre Vie, Votre Voix"

Ce mémoire de recherche a pour thématique la participation politique, dans son acception large. Celle-ci est abordée sous un angle novateur, celui des politiques publiques. Les objectifs sont, d'une part, de déterminer les mécanismes mis en place pour renforcer la participation politique et, d'autre part, d'en évaluer les impacts. L'étude consiste en une étude de cas du projet « Votre Ville, Votre Vie, Votre Voix » développé par le Bureau lausannois pour les immigrés. Plus précisément, deux sortes d'activités menées entre mars et juin 2014 dans le cadre de ce projet ont été sélectionnées pour l'évaluation : une séance d'information sur les droits politiques et des visites d'institutions politiques. Pour ce faire, une dizaine de participants à ces activités ont été interviewés. Les résultats de l'étude mettent en évidence des impacts marqués sur les facteurs de la participation politique liés aux affects ou aux opinions et des impacts moins nets sur la compétence politique et sur les différentes composantes du comportement politique. Ces différents effets ressortent enfin plus clairement chez les interviewés ayant participé aux visites qu'à la séance.