Pour un pluralisme démocratique

Les démocraties modernes sont des sociétés traversées par l’individualisme. Elles ne sont pas nécessairement condamnées pour autant à sombrer dans l’égoïsme du marché ou dans la fragmentation identitaire. Il existe des formes de solidarité inhérentes à l’individualisme démocratique. Quatre formes de solidarité à l’oeuvre au sein des démocraties modernes sont définies de façon à dégager, en cette fin de siècle, les virtualités d’une possible recomposition démocratique du lien social.Modem democracies are becoming more and more individualized. This process cannot be equated to simple market individualism or fragmented identities. Democratic individualism inhenrently exhibits modern forms of solidarities. Four forms of solidarities related to modern democracy are examined as to reveal the actual potential of a democratic reconstruction of social life

De l’utilité de la distinction moderne privé/public

Cet article reconstitue l’histoire de la distinction moderne privé/public dans la perspective de l’articulation entre l’État et la société civile. Cette distinction qui contraint continuellement le système politique organisé (l’espace « dit » public) à valider sa légitimité dans une autre sphère, tout aussi publique, mais « dite » privée (la société civile), est constitutive dans nos sociétés d’un espace politique pluraliste et démocratique. En rejetant la distinction moderne du privé et du public, autant le marxisme, la nouvelle gauche des années soixante, et plus récemment le féminisme et le postmodernisme, s’empêchent ainsi d’inscrire leur critique dans une conception démocratique pluraliste du politique. De fait est-il rappelé que ce procès intenté à la séparation du privé et du public repose souvent sur une conception erronée du sens attribué à cette distinction par les modernes.This article traces the history of the modern division between the private and public spheres in the context of an articulated state and civil society. This division continuously forced the organized public system (the sphere "said" private) to confirm its legitimacy in another sphere, public as well but "said" private (i. e. civil society). This division is postulated to be constitutive, in modern times, of a pluralistic democratic space. By refusing the modern private/public separation, marxism, the new left movements of the sixties, and more recently, feminism and postmodernism, are incapable of bringing their criticisms to pluralistic and democratic conceptions of politics. In fact, it is maintened that the criticism intended is often based on an erroneous conception of the meaning given by modern thinkers to this public/private division

Restoration of mitochondrial integrity, telomere length, and sensitivity to oxidation by in vitro culture of Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy cells

PURPOSE. Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), a degenerative disease of the corneal endothelium that leads to vision loss, is a leading cause of corneal transplantation. The cause of this disease is still unknown, but the implication of oxidative stress is strongly suggested. In this study, we analyzed the impact of FECD on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity and telomere length, both of which are affected by the oxidative status of the cell. METHODS. We compared the levels of total mtDNA, mtDNA common deletion (4977 bp), and relative telomere length in the corneal endothelial cells of fresh Descemet’s membraneendothelium explants and cultured cells from healthy and late stage FECD subjects. Oxidantantioxidant gene expression and sensitivity to ultraviolet A (UVA)- and H2O2-induced cell death were assessed in cultured cells. RESULTS. Our results revealed increased mtDNA levels and telomere shortening in FECD explants. We also found that cell culture restores a normal phenotype in terms of mtDNA levels, telomere length, oxidant-antioxidant gene expression balance, and sensitivity to oxidative stress-induced cell death in the FECD cells compared with the healthy cells. CONCLUSIONS. Taken together, these results bring new evidence of the implication of oxidative stress in FECD. They also show that FECD does not evenly affect the integrity of corneal endothelial cells and that cell culture can rehabilitate the molecular phenotypes related to oxidative stress by selecting the more functional FECD cells

Oral colistin sulfate in pigs: pharmacokinetics and effect on fecal Escherichia coli excretion of weaned pigs challenged with Escherichia coli F4 (K88)

Colistin sulfate (CS), a polymyxin antibiotic, is used in Canada for the treatment of post-weaning diarrhea in pigs as an alternative to neomycin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate some pharmcokinetics parameters of CS and its effect on the evolution of the intestinal Escherichia coli population in pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC): F4

Impacts of colistin sulfate on fecal Escherichia coli resistance and on growth performance of piglets in a post-weaning diarrhea model

Colistin sulfate (CS) is used in Canada for the treatment of post weaning diarrhea (PWD), to overcome conventional therapeutic antibiotics failures. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a conventional oral regimen of CS for the treatment of PWD, on the development of E. coli CS resistance and to evaluate the effect of ETEC: F4 infection on CS intestinal absorption. A total of 48 pigs were used, challenge was carried out by oral administration of 109CFU of a hemolytic ETEC: F4 strain resistant to nalidixic acid. CS was administered at a dose of 50.000 UI/kg twice a day for 5 days. Feces were examined clinically and bacteriologically before and after challenge to evaluate presence of diarrhea and E. coli fecal excretion. ETEC: F4 virulence factors were monitored and CS plasma concentrations were quantified by an HPLC-MS/MS. From one until six days after CS administration, a significant reduction in the fecal excretion of ETEC: F4, total E. coli, ETEC: F4 virulence factors and in diarrhea scores was observed in the challenged treated group compared to the challenged untreated group (p\u3c0.0001). No significant difference in growth performances was observed in treated compared to non-treated pigs (p\u3e0.71). A significant selection pressure on E. coli total population was observed following CS treatment (p\u3c0.0001). Challenge with ETEC: F4 resulted in an increase in intestinal absorption of CS. Our study is the first to demonstrate in an experimental model of PWD, that CS at a dose of 50,000 IU/kg is effective in reducing fecal excretion of E. coli. However, this regimen was associated with a selection pressure on E. coli CS resistance, and did not improve growth performance in challenged pigs. Thus, the use of this antibiotic in pig should be revised