Spatial inequalities in life expectancy within postindustrial regions of Europe: a cross-sectional observational study

Objectives To compare spatial inequalities in life expectancy (LE) in West Central Scotland (WCS) with nine other postindustrial European regions.<p></p> Design A cross-sectional observational study.<p></p> Setting WCS and nine other postindustrial regions across Europe.<p></p> Participants Data for WCS and nine other comparably deindustrialised European regions were analysed. Male and female LEs at birth were obtained or calculated for the mid-2000s for 160 districts within selected regions. Districts were stratified into two groups: small (populations of between 141 000 and 185 000 people) and large (populations between 224 000 and 352 000). The range and IQR in LE were used to describe within-region disparities.<p></p> Results In small districts, the male LE range was widest in WCS and Merseyside, while the IQR was widest in WCS and Northern Ireland. For women, the LE range was widest in WCS, though the IQR was widest in Northern Ireland and Merseyside. In large districts, the range and IQR in LE was widest in WCS and Wallonia for both sexes.<p></p> Conclusions Subregional spatial inequalities in LE in WCS are wide compared with other postindustrial mainland European regions, especially for men. Future research could explore the contribution of economic, social and political factors in reducing these inequalities.<p></p&gt

Les facteurs influençant le choix de fréquenter un collège privé ou public [rapport final]

Rapport final d'un projet de recherche financé par l'Association des collèges privés du Québec (ACPQ) dans le cadre du programme de recherche et d’expérimentation pédagogique (PREP) et appuyé par la Fédération des établissements d'enseignement privé (FEEP)

Étude comparative des facteurs influençant les élèves du secondaire privé à choisir un collège privé ou public pour la suite de leurs études

Rapport final d'un projet de recherche financé par l'Association des collèges privés du Québec (ACPQ) dans le cadre du programme de recherche et d’expérimentation pédagogique (PREP) et appuyé par la Fédération des établissements d'enseignement privé (FEEP).Comprend des références bibliographiques

Evaluation de la contamination bactérienne extra-vésicale de l'urine prélevée lors de miction volontaire chez la truie

La contamination de l'urine des truies est fréquemment estimée par les vétérinaires pour préciser la prévalence des infections urinaires chez les truies d'élevage. L'urine est généralement prélevée lors de miction volontaire, car cette technique est facile à réaliser et peu traumatisante pour les truies. Cependant, cette technique est souvent questionnée car elle est sujette à la contamination par la flore génitale et cutanée. L'objectif de cette étude était d'évaluer la contamination bactérienne extra-vésicale de l'urine prélevée lors de miction volontaire chez les truies d'élevage. Pour répondre à cet objectif, l'urine de 11 truies multipares (parité moyenne de 3) était prélevée lors de miction volontaire et par cathétérisation. Nous avons isolé les bactéries fréquemment observées dans l'urine des truies (E. coli. Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp. et Corynebacterium rénale) mais il n'y avait pas de différence entre la quantité et la diversité des bactéries cultivées à partir de l'urine prélevée par les deux méthodes. Nous avons recherché la bactérie Actinobaculum suis mais nous ne l'avons pas trouvée. Cette étude suggère que l'estimation de la bactériurie de l'urine prélevée lors de miction volontaire estime principalement la bactériurie vésicale. Par conséquent, l'estimation de la bactériurie devrait être une méthode efficace pour estimer la prévalence des infections urinaires des truies d'élevage. L'auteur rappelle aussi l'importance et la pathogénie de la cystite et de la pyélonéphrite chez la truie d'élevage

Synthesis and self-assembly of aminyl and alkynyl substituted sophorolipids

Sophorolipids are one of the most important microbial biosurfactants, because of their large-scale production and applications developed so far in the fields of detergency, microbiology, cosmetics or environmental science. However, the structural variety of native sophorolipids is limited/restricted, a limiting fact for the development of new properties and their potential applications. In their open acidic form, C18:1 sophorolipids (SL) are classically composed of a sophorose headgroup and a carboxylic acid (COOH) end-group. The carboxyl group gives them unique pH-responsive properties, but they are a poorly-reactive group and their charge can only be negative. To develop a new generation of pH-responsive, positively-charged, SL and to improve their reactivity for further functionalization, we develop here SLs with an amine (-NH2) or terminal alkyne (-C$\not\equiv$CH) end-group analogues. The amine group generates positively-charged SL and is more reactive than carboxylic acids, e.g. towards aldehydes; the alkyne group provides access to copper-based click chemistry. In this work, we synthesize (C18:1) and (C18:0) --NH2 and (C18:1) -C$\not\equiv$CH sophorolipid derivatives and we study their self-assembly properties in response to pH and/or temperature changes by means of static and dynamic light scattering, small angle (X-ray, neutron) scattering and cryogenic electron microscopy. Monounsaturated aminyl SL-C18:1-NH2 sophorolipids form a micellar phase in their neutral form at high pH and a mixed micellar-bilayer phase in their positively-charged form at low pH. Saturated aminyl SL-C18:0-NH2 sophorolipids form a micellar phase in their charged form at low pH and a twisted ribbon phase in their neutral form at high pH and monounsaturated alkynyl SL-C18:1-C$\not\equiv$CH sophorolipids form a main micellar phase at T> 51.8{\textdegree}C and a twisted ribbon phase at T< 51.8 {\textdegree}C

Regulation of CD4+NKG2D+ Th1 cells in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with sorafenib : role of IL-15Rα and NKG2D triggering

Beyond cancer-cell intrinsic factors, the immune status of the host has a prognostic impact on patients with cancer and influences the effects of conventional chemotherapies. Metastatic melanoma is intrinsically immunogenic, thereby facilitating the search for immune biomarkers of clinical responses to cytotoxic agents. Here, we show that a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sorafenib, upregulates interleukin (IL)-15Rα in vitro and in vivo in patients with melanoma, and in conjunction with natural killer (NK) group 2D (NKG2D) ligands, contributes to the Th1 polarization and accumulation of peripheral CD4+NKG2D+ T cells. Hence, the increase of blood CD4+NKG2D+ T cells after two cycles of sorafenib (combined with temozolomide) was associated with prolonged survival in a prospective phase I/II trial enrolling 63 patients with metastatic melanoma who did not receive vemurafenib nor immune checkpoint-blocking antibodies. In contrast, in metastatic melanoma patients treated with classical treatment modalities, this CD4+NKG2D+ subset failed to correlate with prognosis. These findings indicate that sorafenib may be used as an "adjuvant" molecule capable of inducing or restoring IL-15Rα/IL-15 in tumors expressing MHCclass I-related chain A/B (MICA/B) and on circulating monocytes of responding patients, hereby contributing to the bioactivity of NKG2D+ Th1 cells.peer-reviewe

SeaFlow Data V1, High-Resolution Abundance, Size and Biomass of Small Phytoplankton in the North Pacific

SeaFlow is an underway flow cytometer that provides continuous shipboard observations of the abundance and optical properties of small phytoplankton (\u3c5 μm in equivalent spherical diameter, ESD). Here we present data sets consisting of SeaFlow-based cell abundance, forward light scatter, and pigment fluorescence of individual cells, as well as derived estimates of ESD and cellular carbon content of picophytoplankton, which includes the cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and small-sized Crocosphaera (\u3c5 μm ESD), and picophytoplankton and nanophytoplankton (2–5 μm ESD). Data were collected in surface waters (≈5 m depth) from 27 oceanographic cruises carried out in the Northeast Pacific Ocean between 2010 and 2018. Thirteen cruises provide high spatial resolution (≈1 km) measurements across 32,500 km of the Northeast Pacific Ocean and 14 near-monthly cruises beginning in 2015 provide seasonal distributions at the long-term sampling site (Station ALOHA) of the Hawaii Ocean Time-Series. These data sets expand our knowledge of the current spatial and temporal distributions of picophytoplankton in the surface ocean