Haïti, le Document de stratégie nationale pour la croissance et la réduction de la pauvreté (DSNCRP) : étude des aspects institutionnels, socioéducatifs et culturels

Le DSNCRP s’inscrit dans la logique des documents de stratégie pour la réduction de la pauvreté (DSRP) exigés aux pays pauvres par les institutions financières internationales, la Banque mondiale et le fonds monétaire international, comme condition de déblocage en leur faveur de l’aide. Il fait suite au Cadre de coopération intérimaire (CCI, 2004), qui avait repris l’essentiel des dispositifs des deux Plans d’ajustement structurel (PAS) de 1986-87 et de 1996-97 – dont le Programme d’urgence et de redressement économique de 1994-95 – imposés à Haïti par ces institutions, concernant la politique monétaire et la politique fiscale, l’amélioration de la gestion des finances publiques, l’exécution du budget, la transparence des finances publiques et l’administration fiscale et douanière. Il met en œuvre une approche axée sur une vision à long terme, caractérisée par l’accent mis sur le développement et la rénovation des structures organisationnelles allant dans le sens d’une plus grande efficacité en termes de mobilisation des ressources nationales pour mettre le pays sur les rails du développement durable

Le renouvellement du mandat de la MINUSTAH en Haïti : enjeux et limites

Le 15 février 2007, le Conseil de sécurité (CS) des Nations Unies décide de proroger jusqu’au 15 octobre 2007 le mandat de la mission de stabilisation des Nations Unies en Haïti (MINUSTAH), instituée dans la foulée de la rébellion armée ayant provoqué la chute du président Jean-Bertrand Aristide, le 29 février 2004. Parmi les objectifs visés, figurent la mise en place d’un nouveau gouvernement légitime, ainsi que l’installation de nouvelles assemblées issues du suffrage universel au niveau territorial et national. Il faut ajouter également l’application d’un programme de reformes des institutions constituantes du secteur de la sécurité, à savoir le droit, la police, la justice et le système pénitencier. Malgré les résultats positifs enregistrés, le CS considère « que la situation en Haïti continue de menacer la paix et la sécurité internationales dans la région malgré les progrès accomplis à ce jour » [Résolution 1743 (2007)]. L’hypothèse centrale qui sera développée ici est la suivante : cette prorogation répond à la nécessité de constituer un pôle de stabilité dans le paysage institutionnel haïtien en proie à de profondes mutations

Calcium Carbonate Suppresses Haem Toxicity Markers without Calcium Phosphate Side Effect on Colon Carcinogenesis

Red meat intake is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer. We have previously shown that haemin, haemoglobin and red meat promote carcinogen-induced preneoplastic lesions, aberrant crypt foci, in the colon of rats. We have also shown that dietary calcium phosphate inhibits haemin-induced promotion, and normalizes faecal lipoperoxides and cytotoxicity. Unexpectedly, high-calcium phosphate control diet-fed rats had more preneoplastic lesions in the colon than low-calcium control diet-fed rats. The present study was designed to find a calcium supplementation with no adverse effect, by testing several doses and types of calcium salts. One in vitro study and two short-term studies in rats identified calcium carbonate as the most effective calcium salt to bind haem in vitro and to decrease faecal biomarkers previously associated with increased carcinogenesis: faecal water cytotoxicity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. A long term carcinogenesis study in dimethylhydrazine-injected rats demonstrated that a diet containing 100 µmol/g calcium carbonate did not promote aberrant crypt foci, in contrast with previously tested calcium phosphate diet. The results suggest that calcium carbonate, and not calcium phosphate, should be used to reduce haem-associated colorectal cancer risk in meat-eaters. They support the concept that the nature of the associated anion to a protective metal ion is important for chemoprevention

Meat processing and colon carcinogenesis: Cooked, nitrite-treated and oxidized high-heme cured meat promotes mucin depleted foci in rats

Processed meat intake is associated with colorectal cancer risk, but no experimental study supports the epidemiologic evidence. To study the effect of meat processing on carcinogenesis promotion, we first did a 14-day study with 16 models of cured meat. Studied factors, in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 design, were muscle color (a proxy for heme level), processing temperature, added nitrite, and packaging. Fischer 344 rats were fed these 16 diets, and we evaluated fecal and urinary fat oxidation and cytotoxicity, three biomarkers of heme-induced carcinogenesis promotion. A principal component analysis allowed for selection of four cured meats for inclusion into a promotion study. These selected diets were given for 100 days to rats pretreated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine. Colons were scored for preneoplastic lesions: aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and mucin-depleted foci (MDF). Cured meat diets significantly increased the number of ACF/colon compared with a no-meat control diet (P = 0.002). Only the cooked nitrite-treated and oxidized high heme meat significantly increased the fecal level of apparent total N-nitroso compounds (ATNC) and the number of MDF per colon compared with the no-meat control diet (P < 0.05). This nitrite-treated and oxidized cured meat specifically increased the MDF number compared with similar non nitrite-treated meat (P = 0.03) and with similar non oxidized meat (P = 0.004). Thus, a model cured meat, similar to ham stored aerobically, increased the number of preneoplastic lesions, which suggests colon carcinogenesis promotion. Nitrite treatment and oxidation increased this promoting effect, which was linked with increased fecal ATNC level. This study could lead to process modifications to make non promoting processed meat

Electronic structure of epitaxial graphene layers on SiC: effect of the substrate

Recent transport measurements on thin graphite films grown on SiC show large coherence lengths and anomalous integer quantum Hall effects expected for isolated graphene sheets. This is the case eventhough the layer-substrate epitaxy of these films implies a strong interface bond that should induce perturbations in the graphene electronic structure. Our DFT calculations confirm this strong substrate-graphite bond in the first adsorbed carbon layer that prevents any graphitic electronic properties for this layer. However, the graphitic nature of the film is recovered by the second and third absorbed layers. This effect is seen in both the (0001)and $(000\bar{1})$ 4H SiC surfaces. We also present evidence of a charge transfer that depends on the interface geometry. It causes the graphene to be doped and gives rise to a gap opening at the Dirac point after 3 carbon layers are deposited in agreement with recent ARPES experiments (T.Ohta et al, Science {\bf 313} (2006) 951)

Multiscale investigation of graphene layers on 6H-SiC(000-1)

In this article, a multiscale investigation of few graphene layers grown on 6H-SiC(000-1) under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions is presented. At 100-μm scale, the authors show that the UHV growth yields few layer graphene (FLG) with an average thickness given by Auger spectroscopy between 1 and 2 graphene planes. At the same scale, electron diffraction reveals a significant rotational disorder between the first graphene layer and the SiC surface, although well-defined preferred orientations exist. This is confirmed at the nanometer scale by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Finally, STM (at the nm scale) and Raman spectroscopy (at the μm scale) show that the FLG stacking is turbostratic, and that the domain size of the crystallites ranges from 10 to 100 nm. The most striking result is that the FLGs experience a strong compressive stress that is seldom observed for graphene grown on the C face of SiC substrates

Freeze-Dried Ham Promotes Azoxymethane-Induced Mucin-Depleted Foci and Aberrant Crypt Foci in Rat Colon

Processed and red meat consumption is associated with the risk of colorectal cancer. Meta-analyses have suggested that the risk associated with processed meat is higher. Most processed meats are cured and cooked, which leads to formation of free nitrosyl heme. We speculated that free nitrosyl heme is more toxic than native myoglobin. The promoting effect of a freeze-dried, cooked, cured ham diet was looked for in a 100-day study. Colon carcinogenesis endpoints were aberrant crypt foci and mucin depleted foci (MDF). A second study (14 days) was designed 1) to compare the effect of ham, hemoglobin, and hemin; and 2) to test the effect of sodium chloride, nitrite, and phosphate in diet on early biomarkers associated with heme-induced promotion. In the 100-day study, control and ham-fed rats had 3.5 and 8.5 MDF/colon, respectively (P < 0.0001). Promotion was associated with cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation. In the short-term study, cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation of fecal water, and the urinary marker of lipid peroxidation, increased dramatically in ham- and hemin-fed rat. In contrast, the hemoglobin diet, sodium chloride, nitrite, phosphate diet had no effect. Freeze-dried cooked ham can promote colon carcinogenesis in a rodent model. Hemin, but not hemoglobin, mimicked ham effect on early biochemical markers associated with carcinogenesis

Red wine and pomegranate extracts suppress cured meat promotion of colonic mucin-depleted foci in carcinogen-induced rats

Processed meat intake is carcinogenic to humans. We have shown that intake of a workshop-made cured meat with erythorbate promotes colon carcinogenesis in rats. We speculated that polyphenols could inhibit this effect by limitation of endogenous lipid peroxidation and nitrosation. Polyphenol-rich plant extracts were added to the workshop-made cured meat and given for 14 days to rats and 100 days to azoxymethane-induced rats to evaluate the inhibition of preneoplastic lesions. Colons of 100-d study were scored for precancerous lesions (mucin-depleted foci, MDF), and biochemical end points of peroxidation and nitrosation were measured in urinary and fecal samples. In comparison with cured meat-fed rats, dried red wine, pomegranate extract, α-tocopherol added at one dose to cured meat and withdrawal of erythorbate significantly decreased the number of MDF per colon (but white grape and rosemary extracts did not). This protection was associated with the full suppression of fecal excretion of nitrosyl iron, suggesting that this nitroso compound might be a promoter of carcinogenesis. At optimized concentrations, the incorporation of these plant extracts in cured meat might reduce the risk of colorectal cancer associated with processed meat consumption

Understanding the role of contrasting urban contexts in healthy aging: an international cohort study using wearable sensor devices (the CURHA study protocol).

BACKGROUND: Given the challenges of aging populations, calls have been issued for more sustainable urban re-development and implementation of local solutions to address global environmental and healthy aging issues. However, few studies have considered older adults' daily mobility to better understand how local built and social environments may contribute to healthy aging. Meanwhile, wearable sensors and interactive map-based applications offer novel means for gathering information on people's mobility, levels of physical activity, or social network structure. Combining such data with classical questionnaires on well-being, physical activity, perceived environments and qualitative assessment of experience of places opens new opportunities to assess the complex interplay between individuals and environments. In line with current gaps and novel analytical capabilities, this research proposes an international research agenda to collect and analyse detailed data on daily mobility, social networks and health outcomes among older adults using interactive web-based questionnaires and wearable sensors. METHODS/DESIGN: Our study resorts to a battery of innovative data collection methods including use of a novel multisensor device for collection of location and physical activity, interactive map-based questionnaires on regular destinations and social networks, and qualitative assessment of experience of places. This rich data will allow advanced quantitative and qualitative analyses in the aim to disentangle the complex people-environment interactions linking urban local contexts to healthy aging, with a focus on active living, social networks and participation, and well-being. DISCUSSION: This project will generate evidence about what characteristics of urban environments relate to active mobility, social participation, and well-being, three important dimensions of healthy aging. It also sets the basis for an international research agenda on built environment and healthy aging based on a shared and comprehensive data collection protocol