Perseverance of North American Train Hopping Travels: A Look at the Past & the Present

Drawing on ethnographic materials gathered at three different locations namely Britt, Montreal and online, this thesis looks at aspects of the persistence of contemporary train hopping travels from the perspective of young adult travelers who hopped and traveled via freight trains, once and again, between North American locales. To better understand the current contexts and motivations that continue to entice these travelers to engage in train hopping journeys, I sought to review the historical backgrounds or processes that encouraged earlier forms of train hopping travels in North America especially between the few decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. In considering the orientations of the interlocutors participating in this research in light of the historical accounts associated with earlier train hopping travels, this thesis suggests that a certain category of travelers is likely to continue their involvement in train hopping journeys because they consider themselves particularly advantaged in knowing how to navigate the prohibited space of railroad freight lines. More specifically, these travelers derive a peculiar sense of pride in fashioning a style of train hopping by continuing to improvise new train hopping paths of their own. Such improvised paths are not only uncertain, irregular, unpaved or un-pedestrian-like, hence difficult to navigate, but also diverge from other previous yet ephemeral routes. The willingness of some insiders to the train hopping traveling culture to resume finding or tracing their own fleeting paths to a departing freight railcar machine may account in part for the persistence of train hopping journeys today. At times, a few will never hesitate to encourage or even take other potential travelers on such journeys. Keywords Train hopping, Freight hopping, Tramping, Hoboing, and Catching ou

Place de la néphrolithotomie à ciel ouvert dans le traitement du calcul coralliforme: à propos d'une série de 53 patients

Le but de notre étude est de discuter la place de la chirurgie ouverte dans le traitement de la lithiase rénale, et notamment le coralliforme complexe, devant l'avènement de nouvelles techniques moins invasives. Nous rapportons une série de 53 calculs coralliformes colligés au sein de notre formation durant une période de 7 ans, de janvier 2011 au janvier 2018, traités par néphrolithotomie ouverte par lombotomie. La moyenne d'hospitalisation postopératoire était de 10 jours. Les suites postopératoires immédiates et précoces étaient simples chez 36 patients, 6 patients ont nécessités une transfusion sanguin, 2 ont représenté un sepsis sévère en postopératoire, 5 cas une infection de la paroi et 4 cas une fistule urinaire jugulée secondairement par un drainage endoscopique. Les calculs résiduels sont retrouvés dans 9 cas (16,9%). Ces calculs sont traités essentiellement par la lithotripsie extra corporelle. Les suites tardives étaient marquées par une atrophie rénale chez 2 patients, une récidive lithiasique chez 9 patients. Une amélioration de la clairance de créatinine chez 9 patients, et une légère aggravation chez 5 patients. La chirurgie à ciel ouvert de la lithiase rénale a de nombreuses complications, elle n'est pas recommandée en première ligne, mais il est important de reconnaître les patients chez lesquels une néphrolithotomie par voie ouverte pourrait représenter un choix valide de traitement

Development and evaluation of a real-time PCR assay for detection and quantification of blastocystis parasites in human stool samples: prospective study of patients with hematological malignancies.

International audienceBlastocystis anaerobic parasites are widespread worldwide in the digestive tract of many animal species, including humans. Epidemiological Blastocystis studies are often limited by the poor sensitivity of standard parasitological assays for its detection. This report presents a highly sensitive real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay developed to detect Blastocystis parasites in stool samples. The assay targets a partial sequence of the Blastocystis small ribosomal subunit (SSU) rRNA gene, allowing subtyping (ST) of Blastocystis isolates by direct sequencing of qPCR products. This qPCR method was assessed in a prospective study of 186 patients belonging to two cohorts--a group of 94 immunocompromised patients presenting hematological malignancies and a control group of 92 nonimmunocompromised patients. Direct-light microscopy and xenic in vitro stool culture analysis showed only 29% and 52% sensitivity, respectively, compared to our qPCR assay. Of the 27 (14.5%) Blastocystis-positive patients, 8 (4%) experienced digestive symptoms. No correlation was found between symptomatic patients and immune status, parasite load, or parasite subtypes, although subtyping of all isolates revealed a high (63.0%) prevalence of ST4. Two unexpected avian subtypes were found, i.e., ST6 and ST7, which are frequently isolated in Asia but rarely present in Western countries. In conclusion, this qPCR proved by far the most sensitive of the tested methods and allowed subtype determination by direct sequencing of qPCR products. New diagnostic tools such as the qPCR are essential for evaluating the clinical relevance of Blastocystis subtypes and their role in acute or chronic digestive disorders

Impact of the microsporidian Nosema ceranae on the gut epithelium renewal of the honeybee, Apis mellifera

International audienceThe invasive microsporidian species, Nosema ceranae, causes nosemosis in honeybees and is suspected to be involved in Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) declines worldwide. The midgut of honeybees is the site of infection; the microsporidium can disturb the functioning of this organ and, thus, the bee physiology. Host defense against pathogens is not limited to resistance (i.e. the immune response) but also involves resilience. This process implies that the host can tolerate and repair damage inflicted by the infection– by the pathogen itself or by an excessive host immune response. Enterocyte damage caused by N. ceranae can be compensated by proliferation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that are under the control of multiple pathways. In the present study, we investigated the impact of N. ceranae on honeybee epithelium renewal by following the mitotic index of midgut stem cells during a 22-day N. ceranae infection. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunostaining experiments were performed to follow the parasite proliferation/progression in the intestinal tissue, especially in the ISCs as they are key cells for the midgut homeostasis. We also monitored the transcriptomic profile of 7 genes coding for key proteins involved in pathways implicated in the gut epithelium renewal and homeostasis. We have shown for the first time that N. ceranae can negatively alter the gut epithelium renewal rate and disrupt some signaling pathways involved in the gut homeostasis. This alteration is correlated to a reduced longevity of N. ceranae-infected honeybees and we can assume that honeybee susceptibility to N. ceranae could be due to an impaired ability to repair gut damage

Thrombose de la veine dorsale profonde de la verge revelant une maladie de Behcet

La thrombose de la veine dorsale profonde de la verge (TVDPV) est une urgence rare et mal connue en urologie. Elle nécessite une prise en charge précoce symptomatique et étiologique afin de préserver la fonction érectile et d’éviter les récidives. Nous rapportant à travers notre observation un cas de thrombose veineuse dorsale de la verge révélée par un priapisme spontané non résolutif, et confirmé par un écho-doppler pénien. Apres prise en charge du priapisme et de la TVDPV, l’enquête étiologique a révélé une maladie de Behçet dont le diagnostic a été retenu sur l’association d’un critère majeur qui est l’aphtose buccale, et de 3 critères  pathergique cutané positif à 24h. Un traitement étiologique a été instauré avec bonne évolution clinique, et conservation de la fonction érectile.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2

Duplication iléale chez l’adulte révélée par une perforation

Les duplications intestinales sont des malformations digestives rares (0,2 % des malformations de l’enfant). Elles sont diagnostiquées généralement avant l’âge d’un an, mais elles peuvent rester asymptomatiques et diagnostiquées à l’âge adulte. Le diagnostic est fait le plus souvent lors de laparotomie faite en urgence devant une complication. Elles sont traitées par résection chirurgicale

Genome sequence of the stramenopile Blastocystis, a human anaerobic parasite

International audienceABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Blastocystis is a highly prevalent anaerobic eukaryotic parasite of humans and animals that is associated with various gastrointestinal and extraintestinal disorders. Epidemiological studies have identified different subtypes but no one subtype has been definitively correlated with disease. RESULTS: Here we report the 18.8 Mb genome sequence of a Blastocystis subtype 7 isolate, which is the smallest stramenopile genome sequenced to date. The genome is highly compact and contains intriguing rearrangements. Comparisons with other available stramenopile genomes (plant pathogenic oomycete and diatom genomes) revealed effector proteins potentially involved in the adaptation to the intestinal environment, which were likely acquired via horizontal gene transfer. Moreover, Blastocystis living in anaerobic conditions harbors mitochondria-like organelles. An incomplete oxidative phosphorylation chain, a partial Krebs cycle, amino acid and fatty acid metabolisms and an iron-sulfur cluster assembly are all predicted to occur in these organelles. Predicted secretory proteins possess putative activities that may alter host physiology, such as proteases, protease-inhibitors, immunophilins and glycosyltransferases. This parasite also possesses the enzymatic machinery to tolerate oxidative bursts resulting from its own metabolism or induced by the host immune system. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights into the genome architecture of this unusual stramenopile. It also proposes candidate genes with which to study the physiopathology of this parasite and thus may lead to further investigations into Blastocystis-host interactions

New Insights into Blastocystis spp.: A Potential Link with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

International audienceBlastocystis spp. belong to the phylum Stramenopila, a complex and heterogeneous evolutionary assemblage of heterotrophic and photosynthetic protozoa [1]. Interestingly, this is the only stramenopile living in the lower digestive tract of humans, and it also lives in other mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects [1]. Even though isolates were reported to be morphologically indistinguishable, an extensive genetic variation among isolates from both humans and animals has been observed. Thirteen subtypes (ST1-ST13), with the first nine being found in humans, have been identified based on genes coding for the small-subunit ribosomal RNA [2]. Preferential repartition of STs exists among animals that appear to constitute the main reservoir for environmental dissemination and human contamination