"The wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in neighboring Croatia and Kosovo grabbed the attention of the western world not only because of their ferocity and their geographic location, but also because of ...their timing. This violence erupted at the exact moment when the cold war confrontation was drawing to a close, when westerners were claiming their liberal values as triumphant, in a country that had only a few years earlier been seen as very well placed to join the west. In trying to account for this outburst, most western journalists, academics, and policymakers have resorted to the language of the premodern: tribalism, ethnic hatreds, cultural inadequacy, irrationality; in short, the Balkans as the antithesis of the modern west. Yet one of the most striking aspects of the wars in Yugoslavia is the extent to which the images purveyed in the western press and in much of the academic literature are so at odds with evidence from on the ground."-fromThe Myth of Ethnic War
V. P. Gagnon Jr. believes that the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s were reactionary moves designed to thwart populations that were threatening the existing structures of political and economic power. He begins with facts at odds with the essentialist view of ethnic identity, such as high intermarriage rates and the very high percentage of draft-resisters. These statistics do not comport comfortably with the notion that these wars were the result of ancient blood hatreds or of nationalist leaders using ethnicity to mobilize people into conflict.
Yugoslavia in the late 1980s was, in Gagnon's view, on the verge of large-scale sociopolitical and economic change. He shows that political and economic elites in Belgrade and Zagreb first created and then manipulated violent conflict along ethnic lines as a way to short-circuit the dynamics of political change. This strategy of violence was thus a means for these threatened elites to demobilize the population. Gagnon's noteworthy and rather controversial argument provides us with a substantially new way of understanding the politics of ethnicity.
Norway has a long history of using telemedicine, especially for geographical reasons. Despite the availability of promising telemedicine applications and the implementation of national initiatives ...and policies, the sustainability and scaling-up of telemedicine in the health system is still far from accomplished. The main objective of this study was to explore and identify the multi-level (micro, meso and macro) factors affecting telemedicine utilization in Norway.
We used a mixed methods approach. Data from a national registry were collected to analyze the use of outpatient visits and telemedicine contacts in Norway from 2009 to 2015. Interviews with key stakeholders at national, regional and local level helped complete and contextualize the data analysis and explore the main issues affecting the use of telemedicine by health authorities and hospitals. Relevant national documents were also used to support, contradict, contextualize or clarify information and data.
Telemedicine use in Norway from 2009 to 2015 remained very low, not exceeding 0.5% of total outpatient activity at regional level and 0.1% at national level. All four regions used telemedicine. Of the 29 hospitals, 24 used it at least once over the 7-year period. Telemedicine was not used regularly everywhere, with some hospitals using it sporadically. Telemedicine was mostly used in selected specialties, including rehabilitation, neurosurgery, skin and venereal diseases. Three major themes affecting implementation and utilization of telemedicine in Norway emerged: (i) governance and strategy; (ii) organizational and professional dimensions; (iii) economic and financial dimensions. For each theme, a number of factors and challenges faced at different health care levels were identified.
This study allowed shedding light on multi-level and interdependent factors affecting utilization of telemedicine in Norway. The identification of the main implementation and utilization challenges might support decision makers and practitioners in the successful scaling-up of telemedicine. This work provides a knowledge base useful to other countries which intend to implement telemedicine or other digital health services into their healthcare systems.
The increasing number of multidrug resistant bacteria has revitalized interest in seeking alternative sources for controlling bacterial infection. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), are amongst the most ...promising candidates due to their wide microbial spectrum of action. In this work, we report on the safety and efficacy of the incorporation of collagen coated AgNPs into collagen hydrogels for tissue engineering. The resulting hybrid materials at AgNPs < 0.4 μM retained the mechanical properties and biocompatibility for primary human skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes of collagen hydrogels; they also displayed remarkable anti-infective properties against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa at considerably lower concentrations than silver nitrate. Further, subcutaneous implants of materials containing 0.2 μM AgNPs in mice showed a reduction in the levels of IL-6 and other inflammation markers (CCL24, sTNFR-2, and TIMP1). Finally, an analysis of silver contents in implanted mice showed that silver accumulation primarily occurred within the tissue surrounding the implant.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, opportunistic pathogen that infects immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis patients. Treatment is difficult due to antibiotic resistance, and new ...antimicrobials are needed to treat infections. The alternative sigma factor 54 (σ
, RpoN), regulates many virulence-associated genes. Thus, we evaluated inhibition of virulence in P. aeruginosa by a designed peptide (RpoN molecular roadblock, RpoN*) which binds specifically to RpoN consensus promoters. We expected that RpoN* binding to its consensus promoter sites would repress gene expression and thus virulence by blocking RpoN and/or other transcription factors. RpoN* reduced transcription of approximately 700 genes as determined by microarray analysis, including genes related to virulence. RpoN* expression significantly reduced motility, protease secretion, pyocyanin and pyoverdine production, rhamnolipid production, and biofilm formation. Given the effectiveness of RpoN* in vitro, we explored its effects in a Caenorhabditis elegans-P. aeruginosa infection model. Expression of RpoN* protected C. elegans in a paralytic killing assay, whereas worms succumbed to paralysis and death in its absence. In a slow killing assay, which mimics establishment and proliferation of an infection, C. elegans survival was prolonged when RpoN* was expressed. Thus, blocking RpoN consensus promoter sites is an effective strategy for abrogation of P. aeruginosa virulence.
The concentration of the saxitoxin analogue LWTX-1 was quantified in samples of the benthic filamentous cyanobacterium Lyngbya wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) Speziale and Dyck collected in two fluvial ...lakes of the St. Lawrence River (Canada) over the 2006–2013 period. The study was aimed at documenting the spatial (between fluvial lakes, between sites within each lake) and temporal (inter-annual, monthly) variations of toxin concentration in relation with hydrological (water level), physical (water temperature, conductivity, transparency), chemical (nutrients in overlying water) and biological (L. wollei biomass and mat condition) characteristics. Toxin concentration was hypothesized to vary seasonally with biomass accumulation and environmental conditions. Toxin concentrations measured in Lake Saint-Louis (51±40μg LWTX-1g−1 DM, N=29 days in 2007, 2009–2011) were double those in Lake Saint-Pierre (25±31μg LWTX-1g−1 DM, N=26 days in 2006–2008, 2012–2013); however, August 2007 measurements taken from both lakes did not differ significantly. Ten of the twelve highest values (>100μg LWTX-1g−1 DM) were obtained from Lake Saint-Louis, between April and October in 2007, 2010 or 2011. Under ice samples showed intermediate concentrations of LWTX-1 (42±9μg LWTX-1g−1 DM, N=2). Concentrations of LWTX-1 were positively correlated with Secchi depth (r=0.59, p<0.001), L. wollei biomass (Spearman r=0.31, p<0.01) and %N in filaments (r=0.48, p<0.001), suggesting toxin production was linked to mat growth and metabolism rather than water quality. Although LWTX-1 has been reported to have a low toxicity, monitoring of L. wollei abundance is required to assess the environmental and human health risks posed by this taxon in the St. Lawrence - Great Lakes system.
A majority of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) display persistent exercise intolerance despite new specific therapies. Whether patients with IPAH exhibit peripheral ...muscle dysfunction that may contribute to this limitation remains unknown. The hypothesis that the muscles of patients with IPAH are weaker and display morphological changes compared with those of control subjects and that those changes partly correlate with their exercise capacity was tested.
To characterise quadriceps function, morphology and the enzymatic profile of patients with IPAH.
Exercise capacity, limb muscle cross-sectional area by CT scan, quadriceps strength by maximal voluntary contraction and non-volitional magnetic stimulation of the femoral nerve (quadriceps twitch; TWq), and muscle morphology and enzymatic profile by quadriceps biopsy of 10 patients with IPAH were compared with those of 10 matched controls subjects.
Patients with IPAH displayed a lower proportion of type I muscle fibres (p=0.05), a lower maximal voluntary contraction (p=0.05) and TWq (p=0.01), and an increased muscular phosphofructokinase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase ratio (p=0.05). They also tended to have lower thigh muscle cross-sectional area (p=0.15). Maximal oxygen uptake correlated with quadriceps strength (R(2)=0.42, p=0.04), and oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold correlated with muscle oxidative capacity assessed by oxidative enzyme level for citrate synthase (R(2)=0.45, p=0.05) and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase (R(2)=0.86, p<0.01), and type I fibre capillarity (R(2)=0.57, p=0.02).
Patients with IPAH present significant peripheral muscle changes that partly correlated with their exercise capacity.
Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) have been used as bioindicator species of environmental contamination in Canada since the 1970s. In the present study, seals were harvested during subsistence hunts in ...four regions of the Canadian Arctic: Beaufort Sea, Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay, and coastal Labrador. An extensive suite of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was determined in seal blubber collected for multiple years between 1972 and 2016. Results from this long-term study indicate geographical differences in the contaminant concentrations in seals and the significant general decrease of most POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and related compounds, chlordanes (CHL), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH) over time in ringed seals. The highest decrease rates (up to −9.1%/year for α-HCH) were found in seals from the Hudson Bay region where all chemicals investigated have significantly decreased since 1986. Significant increases in concentrations of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in seals from Labrador and β-HCH in Sachs Harbour, NT and Arctic Archipelago were observed. Site-specific and contaminant-specific associations between climate pattern (i.e., Arctic Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and Pacific/North American pattern) and mean ice-coverage (total, first-year ice, and old-ice) were found at sites with the longest time trend data (i.e., Arviat, Sachs Harbour/Ulukhaktok and Resolute Bay). Overall, results suggest that North American and international regulations have led to the long-term reduction of most POPs in Canadian Arctic ringed seals by reducing emissions from primary sources. However, other sources of legacy compounds (e.g., environmental reservoirs) as well changes in food web composition and structure in relation to climate changes could also be influencing the very slow rates of decline, or stable levels, of contaminants found in seals at some sites. Further work is warranted to discern between co-variation of climate changes and contaminant concentrations and cause-and-effect relationships.
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•Ringed seal sampling was conducted across the Canadian Arctic during subsistence hunts.•POPs and organochlorine pesticides were determined in blubber of seals (1972–2016).•Σ10PCBs, ΣDDTs, ΣCHLs, α-HCH and trans‑nonachlor have decreased in seals over time.•Increases in HCB and β-HCH were observed in seals.•Mean ice-coverage and oscillation patterns were associated with contaminants in seals.
In 2015, five billion liters of untreated urban wastewater (UWW) were released into the St. Lawrence River (Quebec, Canada) over the course of four days in order to repair the Montreal’s sewer ...interceptor network related to the city’s primary wastewater treatment plant. The UWW discharge originated mainly from household, industrial, and hospital sources. The objective of this study was to investigate the toxicological effects of this unprecedented punctual UWW release on aquatic invertebrates to gather information that could help understand the potential impacts to the receiving environment of overflow episodes occurring during heavy rain events. Water samples were collected at four impacted and non-impacted sites during and four weeks after the release. The freshwater crustacean
Daphnia magna
were experimentally exposed to surface water collected from UWW-impacted sites for 13 days and analyzed for life-history endpoints and suitable biomarkers related to oxidative stress (i.e., catalase, superoxide dismutase, lipid peroxidation, and glutathione-s-transferase) and reproduction (chitinase). Results indicated that
D. magna
growth and reproduction were significantly increased by exposure to UWWs. These effects were correlated with an increase in chitinase activity, which is primarily controlled by reproductive hormones and involved in growth, suggesting potential impacts on these processes. Results also indicated that some UWW samples might have caused oxidative stress during the release but that it was overcome by antioxidant defenses and did not lead to cellular damage. Overall, current results contribute to a better understanding of the biological impacts of UWW to aquatic invertebrates for a better stormwater management.
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