Migrations sans frontières mais...barrières des représentations [Migration without borders, but...barriers of meaning].

Immigration, a political, economic, demographic, social and ethic, as well as a medical issue, continues. Among migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented immigrants are characterised by their vulnerability, particularly related to their health status. Western physicians are more and more frequently confronted to "colorful" and often vulnerable patients. They face diseases related to international migrations; and at the same time have to integrate the differences in representations and meanings given to illness by patients of diverse origins. A bio-psychosocial and spiritual approach coupled with an evaluation of pre-migration, migration and post-migration trajectories is therefore useful for the clinician; these complementary approaches have all been integrated in the learning of cultural competencies.

Genetic evidence for female-biased dispersal and gene flow in a polygynous primate.

Many models of sex-biased dispersal predict that the direction of sex-bias depends upon a species' mating system. In agreement with this, almost all polygynous mammals show male-biased dispersal whereas largely monogamous birds show female-biased dispersal (FBD). The hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) is polygynous and so dispersal is predicted to be male biased, as is found in all other baboon subspecies, but there are conflicting field data showing both female and male dispersal. Using 19 autosomal genetic markers genotyped in baboons from four Saudi Arabian populations, we found strong evidence for FBD in post-dispersal adults but not, as expected, in pre-dispersal infants and young juveniles, when we compared male and female: population structure (F(st)), inbreeding (F(is)), relatedness (r), and the mean assignment index (mAIc). Furthermore, we found evidence for female-biased gene flow as population genetic structure (F(st)), was about four times higher for the paternally inherited Y, than for either autosomal markers or for maternally inherited mtDNA. These results contradict the direction of sex-bias predicted by the mating system and show that FBD has evolved recently from an ancestral state of male-biased dispersal. We suggest that the cost-benefit balance of dispersal to males and females is tightly linked to the unique hierarchical social structure of hamadryas baboons and that dispersal and social organization have coevolved.

A decrease of plasma macrophage migration inhibitory factor concentration is associated with lower numbers of circulating lymphocytes in experimental Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of malarial anaemia. However, field studies have reported contradictory results on circulating MIF concentrations in patients with clinically overt Plasmodium falciparum malaria. We determined plasma MIF levels over time in 10 healthy volunteers during experimental P. falciparum infection. Under fully controlled conditions, MIF levels decreased significantly during early blood-stage infection and reached a nadir at day 8 post-infection. A decrease in the number of circulating lymphocytes, which are an important source of MIF production, paralleled the decrease in MIF levels. Monocyte/macrophage counts remained unchanged. At MIF nadir, the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10, which is an inhibitor of T-cell MIF production, was detectable in only 2 of 10 volunteers. Plasma concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and IL-1beta were only marginally elevated. We conclude that circulating MIF levels decrease early in blood-stage malaria as a result of the decline in circulating lymphocytes.

A global view of cross-border migration

This paper evaluates the global welfare impact of observed levels of migration using a quantitativemulti-sector model of the world economy calibrated to aggregate and firm-level data.Our framework features cross-country labor productivity differences, international trade, remittances,and a heterogeneous workforce. We compare welfare under the observed levels ofmigration to a no-migration counterfactual. In the long run, natives in countries that receiveda lot of migration -such as Canada or Australia- are better o due to greater product varietyavailable in consumption and as intermediate inputs. In the short run the impact of migrationon average welfare in these countries is close to zero, while the skilled and unskilled nativestend to experience welfare changes of opposite signs. The remaining natives in countries withlarge emigration flows -such as Jamaica or El Salvador- are also better off due to migration,but for a different reason: remittances. The welfare impact of observed levels of migration issubstantial, at about 5 to 10% for the main receiving countries and about 10% in countries withlarge incoming remittances. Our results are robust to accounting for imperfect transferabilityof skills, selection into migration, and imperfect substitution between natives and immigrants.

Successful migration of three tracers without identification of sentinel nodes during intraoperative lymphatic mapping for non-small cell lung cancer.

Prospective comparative evaluation of patent V blue, fluorescein and (99m)TC-nanocolloids for intraoperative sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping during surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Ten patients with peripherally localised clinical stage I NSCLC underwent thoracotomy and peritumoral subpleural injection of 2 ml of patent V blue dye, 1 ml of 10% fluorescein and 1ml of (99m)Tc-nanocolloids (0.4 mCi). The migration and spatial distribution pattern of the tracers was assessed by direct visualisation (patent V blue), visualisation of fluorescence signalling by a lamp of Wood (fluorescein) and radioactivity counting with a hand held gamma-probe ((99m)Tc-nanocolloids). Lymph nodes at interlobar (ATS 11), hilar (ATS 10) and mediastinal (right ATS 2,4,7; left ATS 5,6,7) levels were systematically assessed every 10 min up to 60 min after injection, followed by lobectomy and formal lymph node dissection. Successful migration from the peritumoral area to the mediastinum was observed for all three tracers up to 60 min after injection. The interlobar lympho-fatty tissue (station ATS 11) revealed an early and preferential accumulation of all three tracers for all tumours assessed and irrespective of the tumour localisation. However, no preferential accumulation in one or two distinct lymph nodes was observed up to 60 min after injection for all three tracers assessed. Intraoperative SLN mapping revealed successful migration of the tracers from the site of peritumoral injection to the mediastinum, but in a diffuse pattern without preferential accumulation in sentinel lymph nodes.

Tangential migration of neuronal precursors of glutamatergic neurons in the adult mammalian brain.

In a classic model of mammalian brain formation, precursors of principal glutamatergic neurons migrate radially along radial glia fibers whereas GABAergic interneuron precursors migrate tangentially. These migration modes have significant implications for brain function. Here we used clonal lineage tracing of active radial glia-like neural stem cells in the adult mouse dentate gyrus and made the surprising discovery that proliferating neuronal precursors of glutamatergic granule neurons exhibit significant tangential migration along blood vessels, followed by limited radial migration. Genetic birthdating and morphological and molecular analyses pinpointed the neuroblast stage as the main developmental window when tangential migration occurs. We also developed a partial "whole-mount" dentate gyrus preparation and observed a dense plexus of capillaries, with which only neuroblasts, among the entire population of progenitors, are directly associated. Together, these results provide insight into neuronal migration in the adult mammalian nervous system.

Effect of chronic ethanol consumption in female rats subjected to experimental sepsis

The objective of this research was to evaluate the interference of ethanol consumption by female rats with cytokines involved in the sepsis process and its correlation with mortality, the main outcome of sepsis. Female Wistar rats in estrus phase were evaluated in three experiments. Experiment 1 (n=40) was performed to determine survival rates. Experiment 2 (n=69) was designed for biochemical analysis, measurement of cytokine and estrogen levels before and after sepsis, and experiment 3 (n=10) was performed to evaluate bacterial growth by colony counts of peritoneal fluid. In all experiments, treated animals were exposed to a 10% ethanol/water solution (v/v) as the single drinking source, while untreated animals were given tap water. After 4 weeks, sepsis was induced in the rats by ip injection of feces. In experiment 1, mortality in ethanol-exposed animals was delayed compared with those that drank water (48 h; P=0.0001). Experiment 2 showed increased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and decreased interleukin-6 (IL-6) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor in septic animals exposed to ethanol compared to septic animals not exposed. Sepsis also increased TNF-α and IL-6 levels in both ethanol- and water-exposed groups. Biochemical analysis showed higher creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase and decreased glucose levels in septic animals that were exposed to ethanol. In experiment 3, septic animals exposed to ethanol showed decreased numbers of colony-forming units than septic animals exposed to water. These results suggest that ethanol consumption delays the mortality of female rats in estrus phase after sepsis induction. Female characteristics, most probably sex hormones, may be involved in cytokine expression.

Lorsque l'imaginaire migratoire rencontre les réalités de la migration : parcours de migrants volontaires et qualifiés de l'Afrique de l'Ouest au Québec

Différentes réalités et contextes actuels mondiaux font en sorte que de plus en plus de gens envisagent la migration comme projet de vie. La présente recherche s’intéresse à l’imaginaire migratoire comme facteur de mobilité, mais également comme facteur de modulation des réactions et du regard qu’entretiendra le migrant en rapport avec son vécu migratoire. Ainsi, la réflexion s’amorce en Afrique de l’Ouest, tandis que de jeunes Africains instruits et qualifiés élaborent un projet de migration volontaire vers le Canada, plus précisément dans la région du Québec. C’est investi de leur désir de l’Ailleurs, des représentations de l’Occident, de leur besoin de se réaliser et de l’impossibilité qu’ils rencontrent à accéder à la vie professionnelle souhaitée en Afrique qu’ils migrent vers le Canada. Quoiqu’ils soient dotés d’une détermination et d’un optimisme considérable, la rencontre entre l’imaginé et le quotidien de la vie au Québec comme immigrant et comme émigrant n’est pas toujours facile. Elle viendra révéler la profondeur du rêve, des mythes et des ambitions; les failles intérieures individuelles, les valeurs et les ambivalences de chacun, mais surtout la capacité qu’aura l’individu à revoir son imaginaire, à effectuer la réappropriation de son expérience migratoire et à élaborer de nouveaux projets. L’écart vécu par le sujet entre l’imaginé et le rencontré nous questionnera sur ce que véhiculent les messages et les images en circulation sur le Canada et l’Occident. Aussi, il témoignera de la prédominance de la préparation factuelle et psychologique de l’individu pour anticiper et mieux accueillir les réalités du parcours migratoire.

«Pour l'amour de Dieu madame, n'annulez pas votre venue!» : la migration familiale au Nouveau Monde espagnol d’après les «Cartas privadas de emigrantes a Indias», 1540-1616

Le mouvement migratoire espagnol en Amérique à l'époque moderne peut être partagé en deux phases distinctes : La première est essentiellement masculine alors que la seconde intègre un nombre considérable de femmes et d'enfants. En analysant la correspondance privée provenant des Indes espagnoles entre 1540 et 1616, avec une attention particulière aux missives échangées entre les membres d'une même famille, l’objectif de ce mémoire est d’accéder au quotidien et à l'intimité des migrants et des migrantes et d’expliquer les origines et les modalités de la migration familiale dont l'apogée se situe entre 1560 et 1620. L'analyse dans la perspective du genre des « Cartas privadas de emigrantes a Indias » jette ainsi une lumière nouvelle sur les pratiques épistolaires familiales, les motifs des réunions des familles et sur l’agentivité des Espagnoles dans la construction de la société coloniale.

Characterization of the acute inflammatory response in the hybrid tambacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus male × Colossoma macropomum female) (Osteichthyes)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sex Determination and Female Reproductive Development in the GenuSchistosoma: A Review

Os parasitas do gênero Schistosoma situam-se entre os primeiros metazoários que desenvolveram sexos separados, determinado cromossomicamente no ovo fertilizado. Apesar da ocorrência de cromossomos sexuais específicos, as fêmeas de Schistosoma não atingem a maturidade somática e sexual sem a presença dos machos. Na verdade, um dos aspectos mais controversos e, ao mesmo tempo, mais fascinantes, envolvendo o desenvolvimento sexual das fêmeas está em se desvendar a natureza do estímulo que controla e mantém tal processo. Muito embora a natureza do estímulo (físico ou químico) seja motivo de controvérsia, concordam os mais diferentes autores que o acasalamento é um requisito indispensável para que ocorra a maturação e migração das fêmeas para o sítio definitivo de permanência no sistema vascular do hospedeiro vertebrado. Admite-se, ainda, que o estímulo não é espécie-específico e, em alguns casos, nem mesmo gênero-específico. Não obstante a existência de um número considerável de artigos dedicados ao tema, não há um consenso sobre o processo (ou processos) que controla(m) o encontro de machos e fêmeas no sistema circulatório do hospedeiro vertebrado, bem como está por ser determinada a natureza do estímulo, oriundo dos machos, que controla e mantém o desenvolvimento somático e sexual das fêmeas. Ao longo dos anos os machos de Schistosoma têm sido considerados, por vezes pejorativamente, os irmãos, os músculos ou o fígado das fêmeas. em síntese, resta saber se a natureza do estímulo responsável pelo desenvolvimento das fêmas envolve a transferência de hormônios, nutrientes, a mera estimulação tátil ou a combinação de dois ou mais desses fatores

Periodontal conditions of teeth presenting pathologic migration.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the periodontal conditions of anterior teeth that presented pathologic migration in patients with chronic periodontitis and to compare periodontal destruction in migrated versus non-migrated teeth. The sample included 32 patients of both sexes (mean age: 46.0 +/- 11.6 years) diagnosed with generalized chronic periodontitis and selected on the basis of the presence of pathologic migration in one or more anterior teeth. This migration was classified according to the following categories: facial flaring, diastema, proximal tilting, rotation or extrusion. The periodontal parameters recorded were clinical attachment loss (CAL) and percentage of radiographic bone loss (BL). Mean CAL of 5.50 +/- 2.20 mm and mean BL of 41.90 +/- 15.40% were found in 115 teeth assessed. The most frequent type of migration was facial flaring (34.80%), followed by diastema (27.00%). Extrusion was hardly observed in the sample (4.30%). However, greater severity of BL and CAL were observed in teeth with this type of migration (59.44% and 8.42 mm, respectively), and in teeth with facial flaring (45.17% of BL and 6.07 mm of CAL). Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that BL presented by teeth with extrusion or facial flaring was greater than that observed in rotated or tilted teeth (p < 0.05), while there was no difference between groups regarding CAL (p = 0.11). It was observed that anterior teeth with pathologic migration presented greater CAL and BL (5.1 mm and 40%) than non-migrated teeth (4.1 and 31%). The study indicated that the most prevalent kind of pathologic migration is facial flaring, which was associated to higher level of bone loss.

Sociodemographic vulnerability in the Caribbean: an examination of the social and demographic impediments to equitable development with participatory citizenship in the Caribbean at the dawn of the twenty-first century

Includes bibliography

International migration, human rights and development in Latin America and the Caribbean: summary and conclusions

Includes bibliography

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor and oral cancer

Background: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine with pro-inflammatory functions and involved in tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression and localization of the macrophage MIF in oral squamous carcinoma (OSC). In addition, the relationship between MIF expression and clinicopathological parameters such as survival data, tobacco use, alcohol habits, TNM stage, tumor graduation, and peritumoral inflammatory infiltrate were evaluated. Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, expression and localization of MIF was detected in 44 specimens of OSC. The absolute number and relative proportions of MIF-positive cells detected were also determined separately for tumor parenchyma vs. stroma. All counts were determined from 10 consecutive high-power fields using an integration graticule. Moreover, some parameters were analyzed separately for lip and intra-oral cancers. Results: Migration inhibitory factor-positive cells were observed in both the tumor parenchyma and in inflammatory cells of all specimens. In contrast, MIF expression was not detected in tumoral nests associated with poorly differentiated tumors. In specimens of lip cancer, a greater number of MIF-positive stromal immune cells were detected than in intra-oral cancer specimens (Mann-Whitney test, P = 0.049). Conclusions: Oral squamous carcinoma cells consistently express MIF independent of their location. Lip tumors presented more MIF-positive peritumoral inflammatory cells, similar to control, suggesting that immunological differences in leukocyte activation exist between in lip and intra-oral cancers. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.