Étude exploratoire sur l’environnement de la rave party : repères pour une pratique infirmière de proximité de réduction des méfaits

Les raves sont des événements festifs gagnant en popularité chez des jeunes adultes qui y consomment des drogues pour un usage récréatif. Cette consommation chez des jeunes qui sont généralement en bonne santé engendre une morbidité et une mortalité évitables. Des recherches menées depuis les 20 dernières années suggèrent de déployer des interventions de réduction des méfaits dans les raves, sans toutefois élaborer les conditions de l’environnement qui sont favorables à une telle pratique. Le but de cette recherche est de décrire l’environnement physique et social de raves publiques de grande envergure afin d’identifier des repères pouvant contribuer à l’introduction d’une pratique infirmière de proximité de réduction des méfaits dans un tel milieu. Cette recherche exploratoire de type qualitatif descriptif interprétatif (Thorne, 2016) s’appuie sur des repères théoriques du cadre socio-écologique de Bronfenbrenner (1979) et sur la Théorie de l’Acteur-réseau. Située dans un champ épistémologique constructiviste pragmatiste, cette étude comporte une entrée progressive sur le terrain de trois raves publiques de type festival de musique électronique dans la grande région de Montréal, Canada en 2016-2017, et un processus itératif de collecte et d’analyse de données. Le constat principal de la recherche est que l’environnement physique et social du type de rave étudié comporte une dynamique de plaisir surveillé au travers de laquelle les divers acteurs en interaction poursuivent des intérêts différents qui se traduisent par des méfaits potentiels ou réels à réduire. Ainsi, pour concevoir une pratique infirmière de proximité de réduction des méfaits qui soit viable, il s’agirait d’en assurer la contextualisation par l’analyse attentive des interactions qui lient les acteurs et leurs usages d’objets matériaux ou symboliques dans l’espace physique de la rave. Comprendre le rôle, l’identité, la position sociale et les atouts de chaque acteur permettrait de se situer à l’interface de divers intérêts et méfaits à réduire. La pratique infirmière de proximité de réduction des méfaits dans une rave serait ainsi celle d’un acteur stratégique à l’interface d’un complexe de méfaits à réduire dans l’optique de création de nouvelles ententes de collaboration. Partant de l’idée que l’environnement est constitutif de la pratique infirmière, cette recherche répond au besoin de développer des connaissances sur le concept d’Environnement dans la discipline.Raves are festive events that are increasingly popular among young adults. Recreational drug use among young adults that are otherwise known as healthy, has been associated with avoidable morbidity and mortality. Research conducted over the last 20 years suggests the implementation of harm reduction initiatives in raves. However, little is known as to how this particular environment could be conducive to such interventions. The purpose of this research is to describe the physical and social environment of large-scale public raves in order to identify conditions that could be favourable to the introduction of a harm reduction nursing outreach practice in this setting. An interpretive and descriptive qualitative research design (Thorne, 2016) based on Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological framework (1979), Actor-Network Theory concepts and pragmatic constructivist epistemology, was conducted in the greater Montreal area, Canada, in 2016-2017. Gradual entry into the three public raves that qualify as “electronic music festivals” was combined with an iterative process of data collection and analysis. The main finding of this exploratory study is that the physical and social environment of large-scale public raves comprises a dynamic coupling of pleasure and surveillance interactions through which diverse actors each pursue different interests. These interests convey, respectively, different kinds of potential or actual harms to reduce. Thus, a viable harm reduction nursing outreach practice would require careful analysis of the interactions that connect actors with the material or symbolic objects that they use in the physical confines of the rave to ensure its contextualisation in this particular environment. Close attention to the role, identity, social position, and potential assets of each actor could help nurses to situate themselves at the interface of various interests and harms to reduce. A rave located harm reduction nursing outreach practice would then appear as strategic action, at the interface of a nexus of harms to reduce, that attempts to build collaborative arrangements. Taking on the idea that environments are constitutive of nursing practice, this study recognises the need to further develop disciplinary knowledge about the concept of Environment in nursing

La consommation d'aliments contenant du sucre ajouté et la densité mammaire

Une consommation élevée de sucre a été associée à une augmentation du risque de cancer du sein dans plusieurs études. Nous avons examiné l’association entre la consommation d’aliments contenant du sucre ajouté et la densité mammaire (DM), un facteur de risque important du cancer du sein, chez 1555 femmes québécoises. La consommation de boissons contenant du sucre ajouté était corrélée positivement avec le pourcentage de DM (r=0,054, P=0,038) et la DM absolue (r=0,051, P=0,049) dans la population totale. Cette dernière corrélation demeurait significative chez les femmes pré-ménopausées seulement lors des analyses stratifiées (r=0,088, P=0,016). Ces analyses ont aussi révélé une corrélation positive entre la consommation d’aliments solides contenant du sucre ajouté et la DM chez les femmes post-ménopausées (r=0,073, P=0,048). En conclusion, la consommation de certains aliments contenant du sucre ajouté et en particulier de boissons, semble être associée à une DM plus élevée.A high intake of sugar has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in several studies. We examined the association between sweet foods and drinks intake and mammographic density (MD), a strong breast cancer risk factor, among 1555 women in Quebec city. Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was positively correlated with percent MD (r=0.054, P=0.038) and absolute MD (r=0.051, P=0.049) in the total population. The latter correlation remained significant among premenopausal women only in stratified analyzes (r=0.088, P=0.016). These analyzes also revealed a positive correlation between sweet foods intake and MD among postmenopausal women (r=0.073, P=0.048). In conclusion, the consumption of sweet foods and especially sugar-sweetened beverages seems to be positively associated with MD

Methods for Sampling of Airborne Viruses

Summary: To better understand the underlying mechanisms of aerovirology, accurate sampling of airborne viruses is fundamental. The sampling instruments commonly used in aerobiology have also been used to recover viruses suspended in the air. We reviewed over 100 papers to evaluate the methods currently used for viral aerosol sampling. Differentiating infections caused by direct contact from those caused by airborne dissemination can be a very demanding task given the wide variety of sources of viral aerosols. While epidemiological data can help to determine the source of the contamination, direct data obtained from air samples can provide very useful information for risk assessment purposes. Many types of samplers have been used over the years, including liquid impingers, solid impactors, filters, electrostatic precipitators, and many others. The efficiencies of these samplers depend on a variety of environmental and methodological factors that can affect the integrity of the virus structure. The aerodynamic size distribution of the aerosol also has a direct effect on sampler efficiency. Viral aerosols can be studied under controlled laboratory conditions, using biological or nonbiological tracers and surrogate viruses, which are also discussed in this review. Lastly, general recommendations are made regarding future studies on the sampling of airborne viruse

An aerobiological perspective of dust in cage-housed and floor-housed poultry operations

The Canadian poultry production industry contributes nearly $10 billion to the Canadian economy and employs nearly 50,000 workers. However, modern poultry facilities are highly contaminated with airborne dust. Although there are many bioaerosols in the poultry barn environment, endotoxin is typically attributed with the negative respiratory symptoms observed in workers. These adverse respiratory symptoms have a higher prevalence in poultry workers compared to workers from other animal confinement buildings. Workers in cage-housed operations compared to floor-housed facilities report a higher prevalence of some respiratory symptoms. We review the current state of knowledge on airborne dust in poultry barns and respiratory dysfunction in poultry workers while highlighting the areas that need further investigation. Our review focuses on the aerobiological pathway of poultry dust including the source and aerosolization of dust and worker exposure and response. Further understanding of the source and aerosolization of dust in poultry operations will aid in the development of management practices to reduce worker exposure and response

Airborne microflora in Quebec dairy farms : lack of effect of bacterial hay preservatives

Pediococcus pentosaceus is a lactic-acid producing bacterium inoculated in hay to prevent hay deterioration. This study sought to verify the effect of this treatment on the barn microenvironment. Air samples were obtained from 19 barns using bacterial hay treatment and from 18 control barns with six-stage Andersen samplers and all-glass impingers. Appropriate culture media were used for the recovery and identification of microorganisms. Endotoxins were measured with chromogenic Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay. Median values (respectively for treated and untreated hay barns) were: 5.28 × 105 and 3.84 × 105 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 for total bacteria; 3.18 × 106 and 4.5 × 106 CFU/m3 for molds; 1.36 × 103 and 1.74 × 103 endotoxin units/m3 for endotoxin levels; and 1.03 × 103 and 3.00 × 103 CFU/m3 for Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula. No viable P. pentosaceus were recovered. The presence of S. rectivirgula, the causative agent for farmer's lung, was not influenced by the hay treatment. Since no significant difference was observed in any of the airborne contaminants, this type of hay treatment probably does not protect farmers from the respiratory effect of ambient microbial contaminants

Evaluation of the plasmid copy number in B. cereus spores, during germination, bacterial growth and sporulation using real-time PCR

Only a small number of studies have measured the plasmid copy number (PCN) variation during bacterial growth. Besides, information about the PCN in spores is still rare. In this work, we utilized a real-time PCR assay to evaluate the PCN of four different plasmids in Bacillus cereus. The PCN was measured in spores as well as during germination, active bacterial growth, and sporulation. Plasmid stability was also evaluated to ensure that plasmid loss does not affect the accuracy of the PCN measurement. We demonstrated that the PCN of low and high copy number plasmids varies with growth phase as well as culture media over B. cereus life cycle. The PCN was minimum during the germination and maximum during the stationary growth phase for all plasmids tested. We also demonstrated that the use of antibiotic in the culture media is not enough to ensure stable inheritance in spores of plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance genes. Moreover, we revealed that the PCN in spores is related to the PCN during endospores formation. Therefore, the plasmid partitioning during sporulation is not influenced by the unequal-size of the forespores and the mother cells, even for a plasmid distributed randomly

Nettoyage dentaire : risque d’exposition aux bioaérosols

Cet article présente les résultats d’une expérience visant à identifier le risque d’exposition du personnel dentaire et des patients aux bioaérosols générés lors des traitements de nettoyage dentaire. En raison de plusieurs facteurs, tels leur nature et leur diamètre, les bioaérosols peuvent agir comme agents sensibilisants ou infectieux

Association study of genes associated to asthma in a specific environment, in an asthma familial collection located in a rural area influenced by different industries

Eight candidate genes selected in this study were previously associated with gene-environment interactions in asthma in an urban area. These genes were analyzed in a familial collection from a founder and remote population (Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean; SLSJ) located in an area with low air levels of ozone but with localized areas of relatively high air pollutant levels, such as sulphur dioxide, when compared to many urban areas. Polymorphisms (SNPs) were extracted from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) performed on the SLSJ familial collection. A transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) was performed using the entire family sample (1,428 individuals in 254 nuclear families). Stratification according to the proximity of aluminium, pulp and paper industries was also analyzed. Two genes were associated with asthma in the entire sample before correction (CAT and NQO1) and one was associated after correction for multiple analyses (CAT). Two genes were associated when subjects were stratified according to the proximity of aluminium industries (CAT and NQO1) and one according to the proximity of pulp and paper industries (GSTP1). However, none of them resisted correction for multiple analyses. Given that the spatial pattern of environmental exposures can be complex and inadequately represented by a few stationary monitors and that exposures can also come from sources other than the standard outdoor air pollution (e.g., indoor air, occupation, residential wood smoke), a new approach and new tools are required to measure specific and individual pollutant exposures in order to estimate the real impact of gene-environment interactions on respiratory health

Elaboration of an electroporation protocol for Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579

An electro-transformation procedure was established for Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579. Using early growth-stage culture and high electric field, the ectroporation efficiency was up to 2 x 10(9) cfu microg(-1) ml(-1) with pC194 plasmid DNA. The procedure was tested with three other plasmids, of various sizes, replication mechanisms and selection markers, and the transformation efficiencies ranged between 2 x 10(6) and 1 x 10(8) cfu microg(-1) ml(-)(1). The effects of two wall-weakening agents on electroporation rates were also evaluated. The transformation rate that was reached with our procedure is 10(3) times higher than that previously obtained with members of the Bacillus genus with similar plasmids, and 10(6) times superior than that achieved with available protocols for B. cereus. The proposed method is quick, simple, efficient with small rolling circle plasmids and large theta replicating plasmids with low copy number per cell, and suitable for many genetic manipulations that are not possible without high-efficiency transformation protocols

Characterization of bioaerosols from dairy barns : reconstructing the puzzle of occupational respiratory diseases by using molecular approaches

To understand the etiology of exposure-related diseases and to establish standards for reducing the risks associated with working in contaminated environments, the exact nature of the bioaerosol components must be defined. Molecular biology tools were used to evaluate airborne bacterial and, for the first time, archaeal content of dairy barns. Three air samplers were tested in each of the 13 barns sampled. Up to 106 archaeal and 108 bacterial 16S rRNA genes per m3 of air were detected. Archaeal methanogens, mainly Methanobrevibacter species, were represented. Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula, the causative agent of farmer’s lung, was quantified to up to 107 16S rRNA genes per m3 of air. In addition, a wide variety of bacterial agents were present in our air samples within the high airborne bioaerosol concentration range. Despite recommendations regarding hay preservation and baling conditions, farmers still develop an S. rectivirgula-specific humoral immune response, suggesting intense and continuous exposure. Our results demonstrate the complexity of bioaerosol components in dairy barns which could play a role in occupational respiratory diseas