Les expériences de vieillissement vécues par des femmes sénégalaises âgées de 60 ans et plus, vivant dans la communauté.

Cette étude vise à mieux comprendre la signification que des femmes sénégalaises âgées de 60 ans et plus donnent au vieillissement. Des entrevues non structurées auprès de dix participantes ont été analysées selon l'approche phénoménologique descriptive de Giorgi. Vingt-quatre sous-thèmes, huit thèmes et une structure générale émergent de l'analyse des données recueillies. Le vieillissement féminin est vécu comme un processus de réflexion existentielle et une expérience d'épanouissement malgré une vulnérabilité physique, psychologique et économique. Ainsi, pour ces femmes, vieillir représente une expérience paradoxale intégrant à la fois des satisfactions et des contraintes. Des recommandations ont été faites dans le sens de la mise en oeuvre d'un programme de recherche visant l'amélioration des conditions de vie et de santé des femmes âgées de 60 ans et plus.

Cannabis use in a Swiss male prison: qualitative study exploring detainees' and staffs' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Several studies suggest a high prevalence of cannabis use before and during imprisonment, but subjective perspectives of detainees and staff towards its use in prison are lacking. This issue was explored in the framework of an observational study addressing tobacco use in three Swiss prisons in 2009 and 2010 that involved multiple strands (quantitative and qualitative components). This article presents qualitative data on cannabis use collected in one of the settings. METHODS: We used in-depth semi-structured interviews with both detainees and staff to explore their attitudes towards cannabis in one post-trial male Swiss prison. We performed specific coding and thematic analysis for cannabis with the support of ATLAS.ti, compared detainees' and staff's opinions, and considered the results with regard to drug policy in prison in general. RESULTS: 58 participants (31 male offenders, mean age 35 years, and 27 prison staff, mean age 46 years, 33% female) were interviewed. Detainees estimated the current use of cannabis use to be as high as 80%, and staff 50%. Participants showed similar opinions on effects of cannabis use that were described both at individual and institutional levels: analgesic, calming, self-help to go through the prison experience, relieve stress, facilitate sleep, prevent violence, and social pacifier. They also mentioned negative consequences of cannabis use (sleepiness, decreased perception of danger and social isolation), and dissatisfaction regarding the ongoing ambiguous situation where cannabis is forbidden but detection in the urine was not sanctioned. However, the introduction of a more restrictive regulation induced fear of violence, increased trafficking and a shift to other drug use. CONCLUSION: Although illegal, cannabis use is clearly involved in daily life in prison. A clearer and comprehensive policy addressing cannabis is needed, including appropriate measures tailored to individual users. To sustain a calm and safe environment in prison, means other than substance or medication use are required.

Lymphocyte subset analyses in healthy adults vaccinated with yellow fever 17DD virus

In this study the kinetics of humoral and cellular immune responses in first-time vaccinees and re-vaccinees with the yellow fever 17DD vaccine virus was analyzed. Flow cytometric analyses were used to determine percentual values of T and B cells in parallel to the yellow fever neutralizing antibody production. All lymphocyte subsets analyzed were augmented around the 30th post vaccination day, both for first-time vaccinees and re-vaccinees. CD3+ T cells increased from 30.8% (SE ± 4%) to 61.15% (SE ± 4.2%), CD4+ T cells from 22.4% (SE ± 3.6%) to 39.17% (SE ± 2%) with 43% of these cells corresponding to CD4+CD45RO+ T cells, CD8+ T cells from 15.2% (SE ± 2.9%) to 27% (SE ± 3%) with 70% corresponding to CD8+CD45RO+ T cells in first-time vaccinees. In re-vaccinees, the CD3+ T cells increased from 50.7% (SE ± 3%) to 80% (SE ± 2.3%), CD4+ T cells from 24.9% (SE ± 1.4%) to 40% (SE ± 3%) presenting a percentage of 95% CD4+CD45RO+ T cells, CD8+ T cells from 19.7% (SE ± 1.8%) to 25% (SE ± 2%). Among CD8+CD38+ T cells there could be observed an increase from 15 to 41.6% in first-time vaccinees and 20.7 to 62.6% in re-vaccinees. Regarding neutralizing antibodies, the re-vaccinees presented high titers even before re-vaccination. The levels of neutralizing antibodies of first-time vaccinees were similar to those presented by re-vaccinees at day 30 after vaccination, indicating the success of primary vaccination. Our data provide a basis for further studies on immunological behavior of the YF 17DD vaccine.

Interest of qualitative and quantitative profiling of endocannabinoids for evaluation of their implication in drug addiction process

Introduction: In the middle of the 90's, the discovery of endogenous ligands for cannabinoid receptors opened a new era in this research field. Amides and esters of arachidonic acid have been identified as these endogenous ligands. Arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide or AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) seem to be the most important of these lipid messengers. In addition, virodhamine (VA), noladin ether (2-AGE), and N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) have been shown to bind to CB receptors with varying affinities. During recent years, it has become more evident that the EC system is part of fundamental regulatory mechanisms in many physiological processes such as stress and anxiety responses, depression, anorexia and bulimia, schizophrenia disorders, neuroprotection, Parkinson disease, anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells, drug addiction, and atherosclerosis. Aims: This work presents the problematic of EC analysis and the input of Information Dependant Acquisition based on hybrid triple quadrupole linear ion trap (QqQLIT) system for the profiling of these lipid mediators. Methods: The method was developed on a LC Ultimate 3000 series (Dionex, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) coupled to a QTrap 4000 system (Applied biosystems, Concord, ON, Canada). The ECs were separated on an XTerra C18 MS column (50 × 3.0 mm i.d., 3.5 μm) with a 5 min gradient elution. For confirmatory analysis, an information-dependant acquisition experiment was performed with selected reaction monitoring (SRM) as survey scan and enhanced produced ion (EPI) as dependant scan. Results: The assay was found to be linear in the concentration range of 0.1-5 ng/mL for AEA, 0.3-5 ng/mL for VA, 2-AGE, and NADA and 1-20 ng/mL for 2-AG using 0.5 mL of plasma. Repeatability and intermediate precision were found less than 15% over the tested concentration ranges. Under non-pathophysiological conditions, only AEA and 2-AG were actually detected in plasma with concentration ranges going from 104 to 537 pg/mL and from 2160 to 3990 pg/mL respectively. We have particularly focused our scopes on the evaluation of EC level changes in biological matrices through drug addiction and atherosclerosis processes. We will present preliminary data obtained during pilot study after administration of cannabis on human patients. Conclusion: ECs have been shown to play a key role in regulation of many pathophysiological processes. Medical research in these different fields continues to growth in order to understand and to highlight the predominant role of EC in the CNS and peripheral tissues signalisation. The profiling of these lipids needs to develop rapid, highly sensitive and selective analytical methods.

Lectures littéraires d'étudiant.e.s plurilingues et appropriations langagières

La présente thèse de doctorat s'inscrit dans le champ des recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures. Il s'agit d'une étude théorique et empirique qui s'interroge sur le rôle que la lecture littéraire joue dans l'appropriation langagière et culturelle d'individus adultes plurilingues, apprenant le français comme langue seconde et/ou étrangère en contexte universitaire. Dans la partie théorique, dans le droit fil d'une approche plurilingue et pluriculturelle, la lecture est considérée comme une pratique littératiée, c'est-à-dire une pratique langagière contextualisée relative au langage écrit. La littérature, quant à elle, est définie comme un ensemble de discours faisant l'objet de représentations sociales et auxquels sont attribuées des valeurs symboliques. L'appropriation langagière et culturelle, considérée dans une perspective socio-discursive, est liée aux notions d'identités multiples, de représentations et de subjectivité. En conformité avec le champ des recherches en didactique des littératures, en outre, la lecture littéraire est définie comme une manière particulière de lire des textes. Elle varie selon les contextes et les tâches requises, selon les postures que les lecteurs adoptent (ce qui permet de définir différents types de lecture) et selon les compétences que ces lecteurs mettent en oeuvre pour comprendre et pour interpréter les textes (les modes de lecture). La partie empirique consiste en une analyse qualitative et compréhensive de témoignages recueillis auprès de dix étudiants universitaires (neuf femmes et un homme) interrogés à plusieurs reprises par oral et par écrit et observés en classe. L'analyse porte à la fois sur la forme et sur les contenus des discours. Il s'agit d'appréhender la manière dont les participants décrivent leurs pratiques de lecture, reconfigurent leurs identités multiples de lecteurs et de locuteurs plurilingues selon différents contextes et construisent leurs représentations sur la lecture, la langue, la littérature et l'apprentissage. Dans la partie didactique conclusive, en se basant sur les analyses effectuées et en reprenant le cadre théorique, il est procédé à une conceptualisation de la lecture littéraire plurilingue. Les répartitions traditionnelles entre modes et types de lecture sont reconsidérées en observant des oppositions scalaires complexes entre les différents modes et les différents types. Dès lors, il est possible de théoriser les notions de lecture- capital et de lecture-plaisir comme deux types de lecture, conformes aux descriptions des participants, pouvant devenir des objectifs d'apprentissage en contexte de classe. Ces types de lecture se lient en effet à deux actions indispensables en vue de déclencher le processus d'appropriation : l'investissement et l'engagement. Les étudiants, par ailleurs, montrent qu'ils disposent d'un répertoire langagier et culturel pluriel et commun à toutes leurs langues et qu'ils mobilisent des ressources linguistiques et symboliques pour s'approprier les nouveaux textes qu'ils lisent. Par conséquent, conformément aux études relatives à la compétence plurilingue et pluriculturelle, on peut constater que le lecteur plurilingue effectue des transferts et des renvois au sein de l'ensemble de ses langues. La thèse se termine avec une ouverture sur des pistes pédagogiques qui prennent en compte les pratiques de lecture et les représentations observées : les approches les plus adaptées à une didactique de la lecture littéraire et de la littérature s'adressant à des lecteurs-acteurs plurilingues se révèlent être des approches plurielles, plurilingues et intégrées.

Challenges of phylogenetic analyses of aDNA sequences

One of the crucial steps of authentication of aDNA sequences is phylogenetic consistency. Amplified sequences should fit into the phylogenetic framework of their supposed origin. An inherent property of aDNA sequences however, is their short sequence length. Additionally, genes for aDNA studies are often chosen by their preservation potential rather than by phylogenetically informative content. This poses potential challenges regarding their analyses, and might result in an inaccurate reflection of the supposed phylogenetic history of the sequence or organism under study. In this paper some fundamental problems of phylogenetic analysis and interpretation of aDNA datasets are discussed. Suggestions for character sampling and treatment of missing data are made. The publication is the result of a talk from the 1st PAMINSA Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, July 2005.

Quality assurance in road traffic analyses in Switzerland.

Swiss laboratories performing toxicological road traffic analyses have been authorized for many years by the Swiss Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). In 2003 FEDRO signed a contract with the Swiss Society of Legal Medicine (SSLM) to organize the complete quality management concerning road traffic analyses. For this purpose a multidisciplinary working group was established under the name of "road traffic commission (RTC)". RTC has to organize external quality control, to interpret the results of these controls, to perform audits in the laboratories and to report all results to FEDRO. Furthermore the working group can be mandated for special tasks by FEDRO. As an independent organization the Swiss Center for Quality Control (CSCQ) in Geneva manages the external quality controls in the laboratory over the past years. All tested drugs and psychoactive substances are listed in a federal instruction. The so-called 'zero tolerance substances' (THC, morphine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA and MDEA) and their metabolites have to be tested once a year, all other substances (benzodiazepines, zolpidem, phenobarbital, etc.) periodically. Results over the last years show that all laboratories are generally within the confidence interval of +/-30% of the mean value. In cases of non-conformities measures have to be taken immediately and reported to the working group. External audits are performed triennially but accredited laboratories can combine this audit with the approval of the Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS). During the audits a special checklist filled in by the laboratory director is assessed. Non-conformities have to be corrected. During the process of establishing a new legislation, RTC had an opportunity of advising FEDRO. In collaboration with FEDRO, RTC and hence SSLM can work actively on improving of quality assurance in road traffic toxicological analyses, and has an opportunity to bring its professional requests to the federal authorities.

Swiss adolescents' and adults' perceptions of cannabis use: a qualitative study.

Few studies have attempted to investigate the nature of adolescents' and adults' conceptions and perceptions of cannabis use. Our objectives were to explore adolescent and adult perception of use and misuse of cannabis, and their opinions and beliefs about the current legal context and preventive strategies. We used focus group discussions with four categories of stakeholders: younger (12-15 year old) adolescents, older (16-19 year old) adolescents, parents of teenagers and professionals working with young people. In some areas (legal framework, role of the media, importance of early preventive interventions), we found consensual attitudes and beliefs across the four groups of participants. In all four groups, participants did not have any consensual vision of the risks of cannabis use or the definition of misuse. In the area of the prevention of cannabis use/misuse, while parents focused on the potential role of professionals and the media, thus minimizing their own educational and preventive role, professionals stressed the importance of parental control and education. Within the Swiss context, we conclude there exists an urgent need for information and clarification of the issues linked with cannabis use and misuse directed at parents and professionals.