L’ « animateur de communauté politique »

Cet article propose une discussion théorique autour de la notion de l’animateur de communauté dans le domaine politique. Plus précisément nous nous intéressons au rôle que ce dernier joue dans l’émergence de débats délibératifs au sein d’échanges ayant lieu sur les pages Facebook de partis politiques allemands. En s’appuyant sur les recherches portant sur les modérateurs de forums politiques et sur la recherche à propos de la gestion de communauté en communication marketing, le texte se questionne sur la relation entre l’animateur de communauté, son public et le parti politique. Ce faisant, trois hypothèses sont élaborées. Premièrement, le statut de l’animateur de communauté au sein de son équipe pourrait jouer un rôle dans le développement des échanges sur les pages en question. Deuxièmement, la modération silencieuse ne favoriserait pas l’émergence de débats. Troisièmement, le maintien de la frontière de l’espace de discussion susciterait des tensions entre internautes et partis politiques. À travers le concept du gatekeeping (contrôle des flux d’information), il est possible de capturer les rapports de force qui se déploient entre la communauté, l’animateur et le parti politique dans ce contexte. This article reflects a theoretical discussion about the notion of community management in German politics. It shows the role that the community manager plays in exchanges that take place on Facebook pages of political parties. More precisely, the article focuses on the community manager’s influence on the emergence of deliberative debates. Referring to research about moderation of political parties’ discussion forums as well as to marketing and communication studies on community management, this text questions the relation between community manager, its public and the political party. In doing so, three hypotheses are elaborated. First, the community manager’s status within the communication department and the party itself could play a role in the development of exchanges on the pages in question. Second, silent moderation would not favour emergence of debates. Finally, the maintenance of the frontiers defining the sphere of discussion may provoke tensions between the participants and the party. By applying the concept of gatekeeping, we are able to capture the power relations between users, management and political party in this context

L’ « animateur de communauté politique »

Cet article propose une discussion théorique autour de la notion de l’animateur de communauté dans le domaine politique. Plus précisément nous nous intéressons au rôle que ce dernier joue dans l’émergence de débats délibératifs au sein d’échanges ayant lieu sur les pages Facebook de partis politiques allemands. En s’appuyant sur les recherches portant sur les modérateurs de forums politiques et sur la recherche à propos de la gestion de communauté en communication marketing, le texte se questionne sur la relation entre l’animateur de communauté, son public et le parti politique. Ce faisant, trois hypothèses sont élaborées. Premièrement, le statut de l’animateur de communauté au sein de son équipe pourrait jouer un rôle dans le développement des échanges sur les pages en question. Deuxièmement, la modération silencieuse ne favoriserait pas l’émergence de débats. Troisièmement, le maintien de la frontière de l’espace de discussion susciterait des tensions entre internautes et partis politiques. À travers le concept du gatekeeping (contrôle des flux d’information), il est possible de capturer les rapports de force qui se déploient entre la communauté, l’animateur et le parti politique dans ce contexte. This article reflects a theoretical discussion about the notion of community management in German politics. It shows the role that the community manager plays in exchanges that take place on Facebook pages of political parties. More precisely, the article focuses on the community manager’s influence on the emergence of deliberative debates. Referring to research about moderation of political parties’ discussion forums as well as to marketing and communication studies on community management, this text questions the relation between community manager, its public and the political party. In doing so, three hypotheses are elaborated. First, the community manager’s status within the communication department and the party itself could play a role in the development of exchanges on the pages in question. Second, silent moderation would not favour emergence of debates. Finally, the maintenance of the frontiers defining the sphere of discussion may provoke tensions between the participants and the party. By applying the concept of gatekeeping, we are able to capture the power relations between users, management and political party in this context

Les dynamiques communicationnelles sur les pages Facebook de partis politiques : le cas des élections fédérales en Allemagne en 2013

Ce mémoire propose d'opposer les stratégies de communication politique à l'analyse des échanges citoyens sur Facebook dans l'intention de mieux comprendre les dynamiques communicationnelles entre prises de parole citoyenne et usages institutionnels de ce réseau socionumérique. Plus précisément, nous étudions les dynamiques communicationnelles sur les pages Facebook de six partis politiques qui se sont affrontés lors des élections fédérales en Allemagne en 2013. Notre but est ainsi de découvrir si les échanges ayant lieu sur ces pages relèvent de la délibération citoyenne au sens où l'entend Jürgen Habermas. En effet, ce travail de recherche s'inscrit à la suite des travaux étudiant le rôle des réseaux socionumériques dans l'espace public. Dès lors, ce mémoire se cadre dans les perspectives critiques en communication. Toutefois, pour appréhender les rapports de force entre partis politiques et citoyens dans leur intégralité, notre cadre théorique englobe à la fois des éléments de la communication électorale, de la théorie des usages des réseaux socionumériques ainsi que de la Théorie critique. Pour mener cette recherche, nous avons choisi de réaliser une étude de cas qualitative. Ceci implique une observation participante périphérique pour récolter nos données et deux analyses de contenu catégorielles comme méthodes d'explication de ces dernières. Ce mémoire témoigne de la complexité des rapports de force sur les pages Facebook de partis politiques dans le cas des élections fédérales en Allemagne en 2013. D'un côté, les partis politiques utilisent ce réseau socionumérique comme outil de diffusion d'information et dans le but de mobiliser leur électorat. Les possibilités interactives qu'offre cette plateforme ne sont guère exploitées. De l'autre côté, les usagers n'acceptent pas toujours de jouer le jeu proposé par leurs représentants. La mobilisation de différents types de prise de parole permet aux citoyens-internautes de se réapproprier Facebook à leurs fins. Le débat délibératif est une catégorie de ces modes d'expression. Finalement, la délibération citoyenne ayant lieu sur les pages Facebook étudiées ne correspond pas à la définition d'Habermas, mais plutôt à celle de Manin, qui décrit la délibération comme un processus autodidactique en constante évolution. Pour conclure, nous discutons du potentiel émancipateur des prises de paroles citoyennes dans le contexte de la crise de la démocratie représentative.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : partis politiques, réseaux socionumériques, délibération citoyenne, démocratie participative, communication politiqu

Public Sphere(s), Public Narratives, and Counter Public(s): Student Papers at the 2017 Canadian Communication Association

It is with enthusiasm that we present this special issue of Stream devoted to the student conference proceedings from the 2017 Canadian Communication Association annual meeting during the Congress for Social Science and Humanities held at Ryerson University. As current graduate students, we understand and appreciate the challenges that graduate students face and having a medium like the annual CCA-ACC conference provides the kind of professionalization that graduate students need to continue a career as academics

Repeated sensitization of mice with microfilariae of Litomosoides sigmodontis induces pulmonary eosinophilia in an IL-33-dependent manner

Background Eosinophilia is a hallmark of helminth infections and eosinophils are essential in the protective immune responses against helminths. Nevertheless, the distinct role of eosinophils during parasitic filarial infection, allergy and autoimmune disease-driven pathology is still not sufficiently understood. In this study, we established a mouse model for microfilariae-induced eosinophilic lung disease (ELD), a manifestation caused by eosinophil hyper-responsiveness within the lung. Methods Wild-type (WT) BALB/c mice were sensitized with dead microfilariae (MF) of the rodent filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis three times at weekly intervals and subsequently challenged with viable MF to induce ELD. The resulting immune response was compared to non-sensitized WT mice as well as sensitized eosinophil-deficient dblGATA mice using flow cytometry, lung histology and ELISA. Additionally, the impact of IL-33 signaling on ELD development was investigated using the IL-33 antagonist HpARI2. Results ELD-induced WT mice displayed an increased type 2 immune response in the lung with increased frequencies of eosinophils, alternatively activated macrophages and group 2 innate lymphoid cells, as well as higher peripheral blood IgE, IL-5 and IL-33 levels in comparison to mice challenged only with viable MF or PBS. ELD mice had an increased MF retention in lung tissue, which was in line with an enhanced MF clearance from peripheral blood. Using eosinophil-deficient dblGATA mice, we demonstrate that eosinophils are essentially involved in driving the type 2 immune response and retention of MF in the lung of ELD mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IL-33 drives eosinophil activation in vitro and inhibition of IL-33 signaling during ELD induction reduces pulmonary type 2 immune responses, eosinophil activation and alleviates lung lacunarity. In conclusion, we demonstrate that IL-33 signaling is essentially involved in MF-induced ELD development.</p

Opinion Regulation or Civic dialogue? Seeking New Theo-retical Frameworks for the Study of Digital Politics

This article centers on the theoretical articulation of scientific studies examining interactions between different civic, political and economic actors implicated in discussions or informal exchanges among citizens on political parties’ social network sites (SNS). To come to a broader understanding of this phenomenon in western democracies, this text intends to contribute to the development of new, more nuanced, interdisciplinary, and generalizable analytical frameworks

S100A8/S100A9 deficiency increases neutrophil activation and protective immune responses against invading infective L3 larvae of the filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis.

Neutrophils are essentially involved in protective immune responses against invading infective larvae of filarial nematodes. The present study investigated the impact of S100A8/S100A9 on protective immune responses against the rodent filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis. S100A9 forms with S100A8 the heterodimer calprotectin, which is expressed by circulating neutrophils and monocytes and mitigates or amplifies tissue damage as well as inflammation depending on the immune environment. Mice deficient for S100A8/A9 had a significantly reduced worm burden in comparison to wildtype (WT) animals 12 days after infection (dpi) with infective L3 larvae, either by the vector or subcutaneous inoculation, the latter suggesting that circumventing natural immune responses within the epidermis and dermis do not alter the phenotype. Nevertheless, upon intradermal injection of L3 larvae, increased total numbers of neutrophils, eosinophils and macrophages were observed within the skin of S100A8/A9-/- mice. Furthermore, upon infection the bronchoalveolar and thoracic cavity lavage of S100A8/A9-/- mice showed increased concentrations of CXCL-1, CXCL-2, CXCL-5, as well as elastase in comparison to the WT controls. Neutrophils from S100A8/A9-/- mice exhibited an increased in vitro activation and reduced L3 larval motility more effectively in vitro compared to WT neutrophils. The depletion of neutrophils from S100A8/A9-/- mice prior to L. sigmodontis infection until 5dpi abrogated the protective effect and led to an increased worm burden, indicating that neutrophils mediate enhanced protective immune responses against invading L3 larvae in S100A8/A9-/- mice. Interestingly, complete circumvention of protective immune responses in the skin and the lymphatics by intravenous injection of L3 larvae reversed the phenotype and resulted in an increased worm burden in S100A8/A9-/- mice. In summary, our results reveal that lack of S100A8/S100A9 triggers L3-induced inflammatory responses, increasing chemokine levels, granulocyte recruitment as well as neutrophil activation and therefore impairs larval migration and susceptibility for filarial infection

Complementary medicine in Germany: a multi-centre cross-sectional survey on the usage by and the needs of patients hospitalized in university medical centers

BACKGROUND: The results of recent surveys indicate that more than 50% of the German population has experience with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or uses CAM regularly. This study investigated the CAM usage and CAM-related needs of hospitalized patients at university medical centres in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. METHODS: A multi-centre, paper-based, pseudonymous survey was carried out by the members of the Academic Centre for Complementary and Integrative Medicine. Patients of all ages, regardless of sex, diagnosis and treatment, who were hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Gynaecology or Surgery at the university medical centres in Freiburg, Heidelberg, Tübingen and Ulm were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS: Of the 1275 eligible patients, 67% (n = 854) consented to participate in the survey. Forty-eight percent of the study participants stated that they were currently using CAM. The most frequently used therapies were exercise (63%), herbal medicine (54%) and dietary supplements (53%). Only 16% of the patients discussed CAM usage with their attending physician. Half of the patients (48%) were interested in CAM consultations. More than 80% of the patients desired reliable CAM information and stated that physicians should be better informed about CAM. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of CAM usage and the need for CAM counselling among hospitalized patients at university medical centres in Baden-Württemberg are high. To better meet patients’ needs, CAM research and physician education should be intensified. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trial register (DRKS00015445)

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally