Médecins du Monde : une stratégie de développement au service du changement social

Emblématique de ces French doctors qui inventèrent un modèle économique de la solidarité fondé en grande partie sur le financement citoyen, l’association Médecins du Monde tente de composer avec une réalité plus complexe. Entre doutes quant à la pérennité des dons de particuliers et des subventions publiques et ouverture aux financements des entreprises, les deux auteurs retracent l’itinéraire d’une association de médecins d’un monde qui change, mais qu’ils ne désespèrent pas de changer

Contribution of cyclodextrins in the developement of different pharmaceutical formulations of a nex matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor

Ro 28-2653 is a new synthetic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases. The ability of these enzymes to degrade various components of the extracellular matrix seems to play a major role in tumors progression and is potentially effective against bronchial remodeling in asthma and BPCO. Ro 28-2653 is very poorly soluble in water. This low solubility estimated at about 0.56 lg/ml in water at 25 C gives rise to difficulties in pharmaceutical formulation of oral, injectable or nebulizable solutions. The purpose of our study is to prepare and to characterize inclusion complexes between Ro 28-2653 and cyclodextrins and to investigate the biopharmaceutical repercussion of the inclusion of the active substance.The complex formation was investigated by phase solubility studies. 1H-NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling studies were carried out to elucidate the structure of the inclusion complex between Ro 28-2653 and cyclodextrin. Oral, intravenous and nebulizable solutions of Ro 28-2653 were developed with cyclodextrin. The in vivo studies were performed on healthy sheep for the pharmacokinetic evaluation of the oral and intravenous formulations while the nebulization of the complex solution was studied by using an asthma model in mouse

From experimentation to the simulation of hygrothermal properties of walls insulated with straw

Le projet aPROpaille, dont les premiers résultats sont présentés ici, vise à améliorer la connaissance générale sur le comportement hygrothermique de mur dont l’isolation est principalement réalisée en paille. Outre une caractérisation globale des propriétés de la paille et de deux types d’enduits à base d’argile, une campagne d’essais a permis de déterminer les propriétés hygrothermiques de ces matériaux: porosité, courbe de sorption, perméabilité à la vapeur d’eau, absorption capillaire, absorption d’eau totale, chaleur massique et conductivité thermique. La détermination de ces paramètres a parfois nécessité la mise en place de protocoles ou de matériels inédits. Des simulations basées sur les propriétés définies dans la campagne d’essais sont également présentées. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’influence du type d’argile et de l’orientation des brins de paille.First results of aPROpaille project are presented. The goal of this project is to improve the knowledge about hygrothermal performances of walls in which thermal insulation is mainly provided by straw. Besides an overall properties characterization of straw and two types of earth plaster, a series of tests was performed to determine the hygrothermal properties of these materials: porosity, sorption curve, water vapour diffusion, capillary absorption, total water absorption, specific heat and thermal conductivity. The determination of these parameters required sometimes the implementation of unusual protocols or unreleased materials. Numerical simulations based on the properties defined in the test campaign are also presented. Results clearly point out the influence of the type of plaster and the orientation of fibres into straw bale.aPROpaill

Automated method for the determination of a new matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor in ovine plasma and serum by coupling of restricted access material for on-line sample clean-up to liquid chromatography

A fully automated liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of Ro 28-2653, a new synthetic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), in ovine serum and plasma. The method was based on the coupling of a pre-column packed with restricted access material, namely LiChrospher RP-8 ADS (alkyl diol silica), for sample clean-up to an analytical column containing octyl silica stationary phase. One hundred mul of biological sample, to which 2-propanol was automatically added, were injected onto the ADS pre-column, which was then washed with a washing liquid consisting of a mixture of 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and acetonitrile (90: 10; v/v) for 10 min. By rotation of the switching valve, the analyte was then eluted in the back-flush mode with the LC mobile phase composed of a mixture of acetonitrile and 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) (57:43; v/v). The UV detection was performed at 395 nm. The main parameters likely to influence the sample preparation technique were investigated. The method was then validated over a concentration range from 17.5 to 1950 ng/mI, the first concentration level corresponding to the lower limit of quantitation. At this concentration level, the mean bias and the R.S.D. value for intermediate precision were -2.4% and 4.2%, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Late Quaternary co-seismic sedimentation in the Sea of Marmara's deep basins

25 pages, 15 figures, 1 tableauInternational audienceThe deep, northern, part of the Sea of Marmara (northwestern Turkey) is composed of several aligned, actively subsiding, basins, which are the direct structural and morphological expression of the North Anatolian Fault's northern branch. The last 20 kyr of their sedimentary fill (lacustrine before 12 kyr BP) have been investigated through giant piston coring onboard R/V MARION-DUFRESNE (MARMACORE Cruise, 2001) and chirp subbottom profiler onboard R/V ATALANTE during MARMARASCARPS Cruise (2002). Especially during the lacustrine stage, the infilling of the deep basins (Tekirda?, Central, Kumburgaz, and Çinarcic Basins; up to 1250 m depth) was dominated by turbidites (with coarse mixed siliciclastic and bioclastic basal part), intercalated in “hemipelagic-type” finegrained calcareous and slightly siliceous clays. Often – especially in the thickest ones – the turbidites show strong segregation and a sharp boundary between coarse part and suspendedload part. In the Central Basin, 8 m of a unique sedimentary event include a 5 to 8m-thick “homogenite” well imaged on seismic profiles. The latter is interpreted as related to a major – possibly triggered - tsunami effect, as described in the Eastern Mediterranean by Kastens and Cita (1981). In the marine (Holocene) upper part of the sedimentary fill, repeated to-and-from structures, affecting silt or fine sand, are evidencing seiche-like effects and, thus, earthquake triggering. Detailed correlations between two deep coring sites (1250 and 1200 m) indicate more than 100 % overthickening in the deepest one; this implies specific processes of distribution of terrigenous input by dense hyperpycnal currents (high kinetic energy, seiche effect, complex reflections on steep slopes). The peculiar sedimentary infilling of the Sea of Marmara's Central Basin (and, by extrapolation, of the whole set) is tentatively interpreted as a direct consequence of the strong seismic activity; the imprint of the latter is more obvious prior to the base of the Holocene, as environmental conditions favoured marginal accumulation (especially on the southern shelf) of large amounts of erosion products available for mass wasting