Pour quels motifs les jeunes s’engagent-ils dans le djihad ?

RésuméLes travaux sur l’étiologie de la radicalisation en lien avec l’islam abordent cette dernière sous différents angles. Cette recherche propose une analyse des motifs d’engagement radical, sous-jacents au projet de départ chez Daesh, pour 809 jeunes suivis en désembrigadement par le Centre de prévention, de déradicalisation et de suivi individuel (CPDSI). Cette association, mandatée par le Ministère de l’intérieur comme cellule mobile nationale, pour transmettre sa méthode expérimentale de déradicalisation aux équipes anti-radicalité des préfectures, a accompagné ces jeunes entre 2014 et 2016, suite à leur arrestation à la frontière par la police ou à l’intervention des parents pour les empêcher de partir. Une analyse qualitative des informations recueillies dans le cadre des prises en charge a mis en évidence sept motifs distincts d’engagement relevant tous d’une recherche d’idéal et/ou d’une fuite du monde réel, en plus d’une catégorie transversale concernant les jeunes possiblement suicidaires. Des événements de vie spécifiques se sont avérés associés à chaque motif d’engagement. L’analyse des premières vidéos et supports de propagande conservés par les jeunes a permis en outre d’identifier l’adaptation du discours des rabatteurs à la sensibilité particulière de chacun et apporte un éclairage sur les leviers d’embrigadement opérants pour chaque motif d’engagement.AbstractBackgroundResearch in radicalization linked with Islam uses several different approaches. The aim of this study was to investigate personal motivations for radical commitment underlying a project to join Daesh in the Middle East.MethodThe research included 809 youth arrested on the border by the police or after direct parent intervention to prevent their child from traveling, and who have been afterwards accompanied by the CPDSI prevention deradicalization and individual follow-up center. This association has been mandated by French Ministry of the Interior to provide deradicalization support to prefectures between 2014 and 2016. A qualitative method has been used with the CPDSI team (n=6) in addition to an analysis of the available videos provided by radical movements to the youth in order to identify their salient individual motivations for radical commitment.ResultsSeven commitment motives to join Daesh have been identified, all of them related to an ideal quest (of self, others, or community) and/or linked to a kind of flight from the real world. A significant proportion of the youth with different commitment motives, seems to have been suicidal either previously or at the moment of their radicalization. More than one commitment motive has sometimes been identified for each person. Moreover, for each commitment motive, some specific life events are frequently associated, and also some particular videos have been found, showing that communication material provided by radical groups are adapted to personal commitment motive(s) of the youth.DiscussionEven if the youth from Muslim families seem to be under-represented, this research highlights the very different individual motivations behind radicalization leading to join Daesh. It also provides a better understanding of radical propaganda efficiency levers in its interaction with personal commitment motive(s)

Simvastatin and purine analogs have a synergic effect on apoptosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells

Despite many therapeutic regimens introduced recently, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is still an incurable disorder. Thus, there is an urgent need to discover novel, less toxic and more effective drugs for CLL patients. In this study, we attempted to assess simvastatin, widely used as a cholesterol-lowering drug, both as a single agent and in combination with purine analogs—fludarabine and cladribine—in terms of its effect on apoptosis and DNA damage of CLL cells. The experiments were done in ex vivo short-term cell cultures of blood and bone marrow cells from newly diagnosed untreated patients. We analyzed expression of active caspase-3 and the BCL-2/BAX ratio as markers of apoptosis and the expression of phosphorylated histone H2AX (named γH2AX) and activated ATM kinase (ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase), reporters of DNA damage. Results of our study revealed that simvastatin induced apoptosis of CLL cells concurrently with lowering of BCL-2/BAX ratio, and its pro-apoptotic effect is tumor-specific, not affecting normal lymphocytes. We observed that combinations of simvastatin+fludarabine and simvastatin+cladribine had a synergic effect in inducing apoptosis. Interestingly, the rate of apoptosis caused by simvastatin alone and in combination was independent of markers of disease progression like ZAP-70 and CD38 expression or clinical stage according to Rai classification. We have also seen an increase in γH2AX expression in parallel with activation of ATM in most of the analyzed samples. The results suggest that simvastatin can be used in the treatment of CLL patients as a single agent as well as in combination with purine analogs, being equally effective both in high-risk and good-prognosis patients. One of the mechanisms of simvastatin action is inducing DNA damage that ultimately leads to apoptosis

Comparative genomics reveals diversity among xanthomonads infecting tomato and pepper

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bacterial spot of tomato and pepper is caused by four <it>Xanthomonas </it>species and is a major plant disease in warm humid climates. The four species are distinct from each other based on physiological and molecular characteristics. The genome sequence of strain 85-10, a member of one of the species, <it>Xanthomonas euvesicatoria </it>(<it>Xcv</it>) has been previously reported. To determine the relationship of the four species at the genome level and to investigate the molecular basis of their virulence and differing host ranges, draft genomic sequences of members of the other three species were determined and compared to strain 85-10.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We sequenced the genomes of <it>X. vesicatoria </it>(<it>Xv</it>) strain 1111 (ATCC 35937), <it>X. perforans </it>(<it>Xp</it>) strain 91-118 and <it>X. gardneri </it>(<it>Xg</it>) strain 101 (ATCC 19865). The genomes were compared with each other and with the previously sequenced <it>Xcv </it>strain 85-10. In addition, the molecular features were predicted that may be required for pathogenicity including the type III secretion apparatus, type III effectors, other secretion systems, quorum sensing systems, adhesins, extracellular polysaccharide, and lipopolysaccharide determinants. Several novel type III effectors from <it>Xg </it>strain 101 and <it>Xv </it>strain 1111 genomes were computationally identified and their translocation was validated using a reporter gene assay. A homolog to Ax21, the elicitor of XA21-mediated resistance in rice, and a functional Ax21 sulfation system were identified in <it>Xcv</it>. Genes encoding proteins with functions mediated by type II and type IV secretion systems have also been compared, including enzymes involved in cell wall deconstruction, as contributors to pathogenicity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Comparative genomic analyses revealed considerable diversity among bacterial spot pathogens, providing new insights into differences and similarities that may explain the diverse nature of these strains. Genes specific to pepper pathogens, such as the O-antigen of the lipopolysaccharide cluster, and genes unique to individual strains, such as novel type III effectors and bacteriocin genes, have been identified providing new clues for our understanding of pathogen virulence, aggressiveness, and host preference. These analyses will aid in efforts towards breeding for broad and durable resistance in economically important tomato and pepper cultivars.</p

HIV interactions with monocytes and dendritic cells: viral latency and reservoirs

HIV is a devastating human pathogen that causes serious immunological diseases in humans around the world. The virus is able to remain latent in an infected host for many years, allowing for the long-term survival of the virus and inevitably prolonging the infection process. The location and mechanisms of HIV latency are under investigation and remain important topics in the study of viral pathogenesis. Given that HIV is a blood-borne pathogen, a number of cell types have been proposed to be the sites of latency, including resting memory CD4+ T cells, peripheral blood monocytes, dendritic cells and macrophages in the lymph nodes, and haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. This review updates the latest advances in the study of HIV interactions with monocytes and dendritic cells, and highlights the potential role of these cells as viral reservoirs and the effects of the HIV-host-cell interactions on viral pathogenesis

Distinct functions of HTLV-1 Tax1 from HTLV-2 Tax2 contribute key roles to viral pathogenesis

While the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), to date, its close relative HTLV-2 is not associated with ATL or other types of malignancies. Accumulating evidence shows that HTLV-1 Tax1 and HTLV-2 Tax2 have many shared activities, but the two proteins have a limited number of significantly distinct activities, and these distinctions appear to play key roles in HTLV-1 specific pathogenesis. In this review, we summarize the functions of Tax1 associated with cell survival, cell proliferation, persistent infection as well as pathogenesis. We emphasize special attention to distinctions between Tax1 and Tax2

Are primate lentivirus accessory genes incidental

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Correlative association between resident plasmid and chromosome in a diverse Agrobacterium soil population

Soil samples collected from a fallow field which had not been cultivated for 5 years harbored a population of Agrobacterium spp. estimated at 3 x 10 CFU/g. Characterization of 72 strains selected from four different isolation media showed the presence of biovar 1 (56%) and bv. 2 (44%) strains. Pathogenicity assays on five different test plants revealed a high proportion (33%) of tumorigenic strains in the resident population. All tumorigenic strains belonged to bv. 1. Differentiation of the strains by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of cellular proteins, and utilization patterns of 95 carbon substrates (Biolog GN microplate) revealed a diversified bv. 1 population, composed of five distinct chromosomal backgrounds (chr A, C, D, E, and F), and a homogeneous bv. 2 population (chr B). chr A, B, C, and D were detected at similar levels throughout the study site. According to opine metabolism, pathogenicity, and agrocin sensitivity, chr A strains carried a nopaline Ti plasmid (pTi), whereas chr C strains had an octopine pTi. In addition, four of six nontumorigenic bv. 1 strains (two chr D, one chr E, and one chr F) had distinct and unusual opine catabolism patterns. chr B (bv. 2) strains were nonpathogenic and catabolized nopaline. Although agrocin sensitivity is a pTi-borne trait, 14 chr B strains were sensitive to agrocin 84, apparently harboring a defective nopaline pTi similar to pAtK84b. The other two chr B strains were agrocin resistant. The present analysis of chromosomal and plasmid phenotypes suggests that in this Agrobacterium soil population, there is a preferential association between the resident plasmids and their bacterial host