The NOD mouse beyond autoimmune diabetes

Autoimmune diabetes arises spontaneously in Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice, and the pathophysiology of this disease shares many similarities with human type 1 diabetes. Since its generation in 1980, the NOD mouse, derived from the Cataract Shinogi strain, has represented the gold standard of spontaneous disease models, allowing to investigate autoimmune diabetes disease progression and susceptibility traits, as well as to test a wide array of potential treatments and therapies. Beyond autoimmune diabetes, NOD mice also exhibit polyautoimmunity, presenting with a low incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis and Sjögren’s syndrome. Genetic manipulation of the NOD strain has led to the generation of new mouse models facilitating the study of these and other autoimmune pathologies. For instance, following deletion of specific genes or via insertion of resistance alleles at genetic loci, NOD mice can become fully resistant to autoimmune diabetes; yet the newly generated diabetes-resistant NOD strains often show a high incidence of other autoimmune diseases. This suggests that the NOD genetic background is highly autoimmune-prone and that genetic manipulations can shift the autoimmune response from the pancreas to other organs. Overall, multiple NOD variant strains have become invaluable tools for understanding the pathophysiology of and for dissecting the genetic susceptibility of organ-specific autoimmune diseases. An interesting commonality to all autoimmune diseases developing in variant strains of the NOD mice is the presence of autoantibodies. This review will present the NOD mouse as a model for studying autoimmune diseases beyond autoimmune diabetes

L’ANTHROPOCENE COMME RUPTURE DE L’HISTOIRE DE L’ECONOMIE

Si le passage à l’Anthropocène révèle la capacité de l’homme à transformer l’ensemble du système terrestre, les théories économiques ont de tout temps, minimisé ce changement d’époque géologique, préférant focaliser leur attention sur la dynamique du système capitaliste ou la sacro-sainte croissance économique. Si des limites à la croissance sont bien mentionnées, elles restent cantonnées à des contraintes socio-techniques (pénurie de main d'œuvre, coût élevé du capital, prix des matières premières, faiblesse des investissements, absence de prise de risques des entrepreneurs…). Tout laisse à penser que les sociétés, par essence économiques, se seraient libérées des limites biophysiques. L’Anthropocène montre au contraire que ces limites imposent un réencastrement de l’économie dans l’environnement et dans le social. La question du temps, souvent réduite au court terme et à des questions de statique ou de dynamique dans la théorie économique, impose de penser l’avenir, sans pour autant reposer sur une extrapolation du passé. Dès lors, les théories économiques doivent proposer un corpus d’hypothèses et de concepts susceptibles de forger de nouveaux paradigmes, plus à même de se représenter les futurs possible

Process for generation of high-producing CHO cell lines for biomanufacturing of biologics using our CHOrcTA platform

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Exploration du support social et de l'école auprès des jeunes durant la période de lockdown de la pandémie de COVID-19

editorial reviewedObjectives: This study aimed to explore social and school support for physical activity during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in adolescents, to investigate how those young people interacted with their school environment during the spring 2020 lockdown, and to examine how this could have impacted their practice of physical activity. This study also meant to provide an international perspective to these outcomes. Methods: Between December 2020 and March 2021, 2,948 Canadian and 1,356 Belgian high school students completed an online questionnaire assessing their perceived change in physical activity, their interaction with schools regarding physical activity, and the physical activity-related resources offered to them by their schools. Results: During the spring lockdown, most of the participants from both Canada and Belgium perceived a decrease in their practice of physical activity in comparison to prior to the spring lockdown, reporting important barriers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, significant decrease in the proportion of participants reporting a strong or a very strong support was observed during the spring lockdown for family, friends, community, and school. Finally, most of the participants indicated that they did not have contact with any of the school team members to discuss about physical activity during that period. Conclusion: Results of the present study describe a perceived decrease in adolescents physical activity levels an unsatisfactory overall picture of the social and school support provided to them during the spring 2020 lockdown, encouraging to take a step back and reflect on subsequent adapted strategies

Activité physique, temps d’écran et sommeil chez les adolescents belges et canadiens: le rôle de l’école lors du confinement lié à la COVID-19

Lors de la première vague de la pandémie de la COVID-19, plusieurs régions du monde ont imposé un confinement général à ses citoyens, forçant ainsi les écoles à fermer. C’est le cas notamment de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgique) et de la région de de Montréal (Canada), où la poursuite de l’enseignement à distance a pris un certain temps à s’organiser. Dans ces deux régions, les écoles secondaires sont demeurées fermées de la mi-mars jusqu’aux vacances estivales, entraînant une diminution des contacts entre les élèves et leurs enseignants en éducation physique, en plus d’une diminution des opportunités de pratique d’activités physiques. Néanmoins, peu d’information existe concernant ce qui a été mis en place par les écoles secondaires durant cette période afin de promouvoir la pratique d’activités physiques des adolescents. Les objectifs de cette étude sont de : 1) documenter comment les écoles secondaires de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles et de Montréal ont promu l’adoption d’un mode de vie physiquement actif chez leurs élèves, et 2) comparer la pratique d’activités physiques, le temps d’écran et le sommeil de ces élèves lors de la période précédant le confinement avec la période du confinement. Près de 2000 élèves de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles ainsi que 2661 élèves de Montréal ont complété le questionnaire en ligne. Les résultats obtenus permettront de brosser un portrait des contacts réalisés entre le personnel scolaire et les élèves, des sujets abordés lors de ces prises de contact, des ressources proposées et de l’impact de ces ressources sur la pratique d’activités physiques des élèves, en plus d’évaluer les effets du confinement sur leur pratique d’activités physiques, leur temps d’écran et leur sommeil. Une analyse comparative entre la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles et la région de Montréal est également proposé afin d’exposer les différences et les similitudes vécues dans ces deux régions

Immature and mature bone marrow-derived dendritic cells exhibit distinct intracellular mechanical properties

ABSTRACT: Dendritic cells (DCs) patrol the organism at an immature stage to detect the presence of pathogens. Once activated, these mature DCs reach the lymph nodes to activate antigen-specific T lymphocytes and thus initiate an adaptative immune response to control the pathogen. The migration of both immature and mature DCs is a key process for their optimal function. DC migration requires transit through narrow constrictions that is allowed by their high local and global deformation capabilities. In addition to cytoplasmic changes, the nucleus mechanical properties also have a major impact for cellular migration and motility. Yet, nucleus intracellular mobility of dendritic cells or its variation upon maturation have not been investigated. Our study defines the biophysical phenotypic variations of dendritic cells upon maturation using interferometric deformability cytometry. This method characterizes different cellular mechanical properties, such as elongation and nucleus offset, by assessing the refractive index spatial distribution of shear-induced deformed cells. By using these parameters, our data suggest that in vitro bone marrow derived dendritic cell (BMDC) maturation induces cell stiffening and reduces nucleus mobility, allowing to distinguish immature and mature dendritic cells. Overall, our method provides insights on intracellular mechanical properties of two dendritic cell states

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens Abound in the Cattle Population of the Rabat-Sale Kenitra Region, Morocco

18 Pág. Departamento de Reproducción Animal​ (INIA)Tick-borne pathogens cause the majority of diseases in the cattle population in Morocco. In this study, ticks were collected from cattle in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region of Morocco and identified morphologically, while tick-borne pathogens were detected in cattle blood samples via polymerase chain reaction assay and sequencing. A total of 3394 adult ixodid ticks were collected from cattle and identified as eight different tick species representing two genera, Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus. The collected ticks consisted of Hyalomma marginatum, Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, Rhipicephalus bursa, Hyalomma detritum, Hyalomma lusitanicum, Hyalomma dromedarii, and Hyalomma impeltatum. The overall prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in blood samples was 63.8%, with 29.3% positive for Babesia/Theileria spp., 51.2% for Anaplasma/Ehrlichia spp., and none of the samples positive for Rickettsia spp. Sequencing results revealed the presence of Theileria annulata, Babesia bovis, Anaplasma marginale, Theileria buffeli, Theileria orientalis, Babesia occultans, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma capra, Anaplasma platys, Anaplasma bovis, Ehrlichia minasensis, and one isolate of an unknown bovine Anaplasma sp. Crossbreeds, females, older age, and high tick infestation were the most important risk factors for the abundance of tick-borne pathogens, which occurred most frequently in Jorf El Melha, Sidi Yahya Zaer, Ait Ichou, and Arbaoua locations.The research was supported by the Flemish Interuniversity Council-University Development Cooperation and Directorate GeneraPeer reviewe

Competition and site weakly explain tree growth variability in undisturbed Central African moist forests

peer reviewedIdentifying and quantifying factors that influence tree growth are crucial issues to ensure sustainable forest management, particularly in moist tropical forests. Tree growth depends on several factors comprising ontogenic stage, competition by neighbours and environmental conditions. Several studies have focused on one or two of them, but very few have considered all three, especially in Central Africa. We investigated the effects of diameter and competition on tree growth, in four Central African sites characterized by their soil physicochemical properties, at both tree community and population levels. We calibrated growth models using diameter data collected on 29,741 trees between 2015 and 2018, on twelve 4 or 9-ha plots spread over the four sites. These models included diameter, wood density, competition indices and site effect as explainable variables at the community level and excluded wood density at the population level. At the community level, the best models explained 11% of growth variability with a decreasing effect of species wood density, diameter, site and competition. Our results show that even if low, site effect can result from different soil nutrients depending on both tree size and species wood density. We observed higher tree growth on sites with (i) high exchangeable K, organic C, total N and total P for low wood density species; (ii) high available P and C:N for small trees, high exchangeable Ca and Mg for medium to large trees, all belonging to medium and hard wood density species. At the population level, the best models explained between 0 to 43% of growth variability, with significant competition effect (resp. site effect) for 21 (resp. 9) of the 43 species studied. Site ranking varied greatly between the 9 species concerned, probably reflecting different sensitivities to the scarcity of particular soil nutrients. Synthesis. Our study provides original results on the factors influencing tree growth in Central Africa, showing that the potential effect of soil nutrients depends on tree size and species wood density. Remaining highly unpredictable at the population level, this effect makes it essential to increase the number of dynamics monitoring systems in logging concessions

Dendara métropole

Le chantier « Dendara métropole » vise à étudier les divers aspects du temple d’Hathor dans son environnement, en portant les investigations sur l’étude architecturale des monuments ainsi que sur l’exploration archéologique des quartiers d’habitations et des cimetières. Outre la poursuite des travaux sur l’architecture monumentale, sur les secteurs associés aux fondations de Montouhotep II et sur la nécropole de l’Ancien Empire, la campagne 2019 a ouvert de nouvelles perspectives de recherche..