Perspectives sobre la participació juvenil: cal modificar o incorporar la participació puntual?

S’analitza quina és la situació de la participació juvenil en el context social, econòmic i cultural en el que vivim actualment, així com les diferents perspectives que conviuen al respecte. Després es descriuen algunes de les diferents formes de participació que existeixen en l’actualitat, focalitzant-nos en les perspectives que cada un té sobre la participació puntual/individual. Per últim, s’exposa un cas concret de participació sobre els consells municipals de la ciutat de Mataró, i de manera específica, s’analitza el Consell Municipal de Joventut de la ciutat. L’eix central del treball és posar de manifest el dualisme existent vers la participació puntual, esporàdica o individual; dualisme entre si cal incorporar i/o acceptar aquest tipus de participació perquè és el resultat del nostre temps i és quelcom positiu; o bé, si el que cal és modificar la participació puntual perquè va en contra de l’ideal participatiu on l’associacionisme és la clau per crear teixit social i arribar a una plena ciutadania

Four years with FALCON - an ESTRO educational project: achievements and perspectives.

Variability in anatomical contouring is one of the important uncertainties in radiotherapy. FALCON (Fellowship in Anatomic deLineation and CONtouring) is an educational ESTRO (European SocieTy for Radiation and Oncology) project devoted to improve interactive teaching, the homogeneity in contouring and to compare individual contours with endorsed guidelines or expert opinions. This report summarizes the experience from the first 4 years using FALCON for educational activities within ESTRO School and presents the perspectives for the future.

Risks of endemicity, morbidity and perspectives regarding the control of Chagas disease in the Amazon Region

Chagas disease, in the Amazon Region as elsewhere, can be considered an enzootic disease of wild animals or an anthropozoonosis, an accidental disease of humans that is acquired when humans penetrate a wild ecosystem or when wild triatomines invade human dwellings attracted by light or searching for human blood. The risk of endemic Chagas disease in the Amazon Region is associated with the following phenomena: (i) extensive deforestation associated with the displacement of wild mammals, which are the normal sources of blood for triatomines, (ii) adaptation of wild triatomines to human dwellings due to the need for a new source of blood for feeding and (iii) uncontrolled migration of human populations and domestic animals that are already infected with Trypanosoma cruzi from areas endemic for Chagas disease to the Amazon Region. Several outbreaks of severe acute cases of Chagas disease, as well as chronic cases, have been described in the Amazon Region. Control measures targeted to avoiding endemic Chagas disease in the Amazon Region should be the following: improving health education in communities, training public health officials and communities for vector and Chagas disease surveillance and training local physicians to recognise and treat acute and chronic cases of Chagas diseases as soon as possible.

The phylogeny of Simulium (Chirostilbia) (Diptera: Simuliidae) and perspectives on the systematics of the genus in the Neotropical Region

Recently, knowledge of Neotropical Simuliidae has been accumulating quickly. However, information about supra-specific relationships is scarce and diagnoses of Simulium subgenera are unsatisfactory. To investigate the relationships among Simulium (Chirostilbia) species and test the subgenus monophyly, we performed a cladistic analysis. The ingroup included all species of this subgenus and the outgroup included representatives of the 17 species groups of Neotropical Simulium and three Holarctic species. The study was based on a data matrix with 31 terminal taxa and 45 morphological characteristics of adult, pupa and larva. The phylogenetic analysis under equal weights resulted in eight most-parsimonious trees (length = 178, consistency index = 34, retention index = 67). The monophyly of the S. (Chirostilbia) was not supported in our analysis. The Simulium subpallidum species group was closer to Simulium (Psilopelmia) and Simulium (Ectemnaspis) than to the Simulium pertinax species group. Additionally, we describe the three-dimensional shape of the terminalia of male and female of Simulium (Chirostilbia) for the first time and provide comments about the taxonomic problems involving some species of the subgenus: Simulium acarayense, Simulium papaveroi, S. pertinax, Simulium serranum, Simulium striginotum and S. subpallidum.

Perspectives féministes en éducation

A entendre le discours ambiant d'aujourd'hui, tout serait résolu dans la question de l'éducation des filles et de l'égalité des sexes dans le domaine de l'éducation. A l'école, voilà plusieurs années que les filles ont en moyenne de meilleurs résultats scolaires que les garçons et qu'elles forment la majorité de la population estudiantine universitaire dans pratiquement toute l'Europe. En fait l'école n'est pas neutre et les institutions de formation continuent de prendre une part active, avec la famille et la culture, à la construction d'individus répondant aux rôles sexués traditionnels. Réfléchir aux pratiques qui permettraient de rendre l'éducation égalitaire reste donc un objectif à l'ordre du jour, d'autant plus que la formation scolaire et professionnelle constitue un pré-requis pour l'émancipation des femmes.

A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.

African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P<0.0071), were directionally consistent in the Replication cohort and were associated with T2DM in subjects without nephropathy (P<0.05). Meta-analysis in all cases and controls revealed a single SNP reaching genome-wide significance (P<2.5×10(-8)). SNP rs7560163 (P = 7.0×10(-9), OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.67-0.84)) is located intergenically between RND3 and RBM43. Four additional loci (rs7542900, rs4659485, rs2722769 and rs7107217) were associated with T2DM (P<0.05) and reached more nominal levels of significance (P<2.5×10(-5)) in the overall analysis and may represent novel loci that contribute to T2DM. We have identified novel T2DM-susceptibility variants in the African-American population. Notably, T2DM risk was associated with the major allele and implies an interesting genetic architecture in this population. These results suggest that multiple loci underlie T2DM susceptibility in the African-American population and that these loci are distinct from those identified in other ethnic populations.

Current situation and perspectives regarding human Chagas disease in midwestern of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Recognising the importance of Chagas disease in Brazil, Bambuí set up epidemiological surveillance for Chagas disease in 1974 and was the first municipality to do so. To ascertain the current epidemiology of Chagas disease in this municipality, 1.782 blood samples from the general population were analysed; 7.7% of samples were found to be seropositive for Chagas disease. A strong positive correlation between increasing age and Chagas disease was evident in both genders, with the highest prevalence in individuals aged over 60 years. Clinically, the cardiodigestive form of Chagas disease was the most common in these samples. These data confirm the interruption of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission, in parallel with a still important residual morbidity of Chagas disease in the county, thus supporting political decisions that will prioritise epidemiological surveillance and medical treatment of Chagas disease in the coming years.

Penser/panser les plaies des enfants soldats: quelles perspectives pour une approche psychodynamique

La clinique des enfants soldats bouscule l'approche psychanalytique classique par sa nouveauté et les adaptations qu'elle nécessite. Il sera question de penser ce bouleversement, en rappelant brièvement que les enjeux autour de la clinique du trauma sont discutés dès la naissance de la psychanalyse, mais également de s'interroger sur la nécessité de réinscrire ces thérapies dans une perspective anthropologique et historique plus large, guidés par des études récentes dans le monde francophone.

Qualité des statistiques de causes de décès: problèmes actuels et perspectives. [Quality of statistics on causes of death: current problems and perspectives].

Statistics of causes of death remain an important source of epidemiological data for the evaluation of various medical and health problems. The improvement of analytical techniques and, above all, the transformation of demographic and morbid structures of populations have prompted researchers in the field to give more importance to the quality of death certificates. After describing the data collection system presently used in Switzerland, the paper discusses various indirect estimations of the quality of Swiss data and reviews the corresponding international literature.