" Un peuple se sauve lui-même" Le Solidarity Movement et la restructuration de l'activisme afrikaner en Afrique du Sud depuis 1994

Malgré la déliquescence du nationalisme afrikaner causée par la chute du régime de l’apartheid et la prise du pouvoir politique par un parti non raciste et non ethnique en 1994, nous observons depuis les années 2000, un renouvèlement du mouvement identitaire afrikaner. L’objectif de cette thèse est donc de comprendre l’émergence de ce nouvel activisme ethnique depuis la transition démocratique. Pour approfondir notre compréhension du phénomène, nous nous posons les questions suivantes : comment pouvons-nous expliquer le renouvèlement de l’activisme afrikaner dans la « nouvelle » Afrique du Sud ? Comment sont définis les nouveaux attributs de la catégorie de l’afrikanerité ? Comment les élites ethnopolitiques restructurent-elles leurs stratégies pour assurer la pérennité de la catégorie dans l’Afrique du Sud post-apartheid ? Qu’est-ce que la résurgence d’une afrikanerité renouvelée nous apprend sur l’état de la cohésion sociale en Afrique du Sud et sur la mobilisation ethnolinguistique en général ? La littérature sur le mouvement post-apartheid fait consensus sur la disparition du nationalisme afrikaner raciste, mais offre peu d’analyses empiriques et de liens avec les nombreux écrits sur le mouvement nationaliste afrikaner pour comprendre les dynamiques de ce nouveau phénomène et effectue peu de liens avec les nombreux écrits sur le mouvement nationaliste afrikaner. Notre argument est que le nouvel activisme afrikaner est en continuité avec la trajectoire du nationalisme afrikaner, plus précisément avec le courant conservateur. Les entrepreneurs ethnopolitiques suivent les voies tracées par leurs prédécesseurs en reproduisant des stratégies politiques, institutionnelles ainsi qu’une structure idéologique dont les fondements sont semblables à ceux du mouvement nationaliste. Les entrepreneurs ethnopolitiques structurent l’activisme afrikaner selon trois processus. D’abord, ils procèdent au cadrage des nouveaux attributs de la catégorie en faisant notamment de l’autosuffisance communautaire, le cœur de l’afrikanerité. Ensuite, ils essayent d’institutionnaliser une nouvelle catégorie identitaire, qu’ils appellent les minorités discrimines raciales et ethniques. Ce processus de group-making vise à susciter une action collective déployée autant au niveau national qu’international, pour exercer une pression sur le gouvernement de l’ANC, accusée de discriminer les Afrikaners. Enfin, les entrepreneurs ethnopolitiques mettent sur pied un réseau d’organisations ethniques pour assurer la reproduction de l’afrikanerité et assurer la survie ethnique. Ces niches écologiques permettent de se substituer à l’État en offrant aux membres de la communauté des services et en créant des espaces réservés à la routinisation de l’afrikanerité.The thesis aims at understanding the restructuration processes of the Afrikaner movement following the South African democratic transition. Despite the collapse of Afrikaner nationalism caused by the end of the apartheid regime and the seizure of political power by a non-racist and non-ethnic party in 1994, we have seen a renewal of the Afrikaner identity movement since the 2000s. The aim of this thesis is therefore to understand the emergence of this new ethnic activism since the democratic transition. To deepen our understanding of the phenomenon, we ask the following questions: how can we explain the renewal of Afrikaner activism in the « new » South Africa? How are the new attributes of the Afrikaner category redefined? How do the ethnopolitical elites restructure their strategies to ensure the reproduction of the category within the new national context? What does the resurgence of a renewed Afrikanerity tell us about the state of social cohesion in South Africa and the ethnolinguistic mobilization in general? The literature on the post apartheid movement makes consensus on the death of the racist Afrikaner nationalism but offers little empirical analysis to understand the dynamics of this new phenomenon and the links with the many writings on Afrikaner nationalism are not made. To remedy these empirical shortcomings, our argument is that the new Afrikaner activism is in continuity with the trajectory of Afrikaner nationalism, more precisely with the conservative current. Ethnopolitical entrepreneurs follow the paths traced by their predecessors by reproducing political and institutional strategies as well as an ideological structure whose foundations are similar to those of the nationalist movement. However, continuity means that institutions must adapt to changing contexts in order to persist over time. In our case, the democratic transition has paved the way for institutional adaptation processes and historical awakening. Afrikaner activism is restructured through three processes. Ethnopolitical entrepreneurs are engaged in a framing process of the new attributes of the category in which community self-sufficiency is defined as the heart of Afrikanerity. Then, these elites try to institutionalize a new category as the new foundation of the political action of the movement. This is how ethno-political entrepreneurs mobilize what they call discriminated racial and ethnic minorities. This group-making process aims to stimulate collective action by depicting a frame of injustice to prove that Afrikaners are discriminated against by the government. This political strategy is deployed both nationally and internationally to exert pressure on the ANC government. Finally, ethnopolitical entrepreneurs have set up a network of ethnic organizations to ensure the reproduction of Afrikanerity and ensure ethnic survival. These ecological niches make it possible to replace the State by offering the members of the community services and by creating spaces for the routinization of Afrikanerity

Adhesion and transcellular migration of neutrophils and B lymphocytes on fibroblasts

During tissue inflammation, infiltrated leukocytes may have physical contacts with fibroblasts. We observed that neutrophils and B lymphocytes adhered in a larger proportion than T cells on cultured fibroblasts. Microscopy showed that adhesion was also characterized by leukocyte engulfment by the fibroblasts. In migration assays, only neutrophils and B lymphocytes were selectively able to migrate through a fibroblast barrier. Adhesion and migration were increased by stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). Antibodies against ICAM-1/beta2 integrin blocked the interaction of neutrophils to fibroblasts. For B lymphocytes the couple VCAM-1/alpha4 integrin was also involved in this interaction. Human skin fibroblasts presented similar adhesion characteristics as rat cardiac fibroblasts. By measuring the distance between the border of migration holes and cadherin-positive adherens junctions, more than 65% of the holes correspond to the transcellular route over the paracellular route. Furthermore, vimentin staining revealed that the migration holes were highly nested by intermediate filaments in accordance with the transcellular route. Our results demonstrated that engulfment of neutrophils and B lymphocytes by fibroblasts resulted in selective passage by a transcellular route.This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Counci

Analysis of the cell surface layer ultrastructure of the oral pathogen Tannerella forsythia

The Gram-negative oral pathogen Tannerella forsythia is decorated with a 2D crystalline surface (S-) layer, with two different S-layer glycoprotein species being present. Prompted by the predicted virulence potential of the S-layer, this study focused on the analysis of the arrangement of the individual S-layer glycoproteins by a combination of microscopic, genetic, and biochemical analyses. The two S-layer genes are transcribed into mRNA and expressed into protein in equal amounts. The S-layer was investigated on intact bacterial cells by transmission electron microscopy, by immune fluorescence microscopy, and by atomic force microscopy. The analyses of wild-type cells revealed a distinct square S-layer lattice with an overall lattice constant of 10.1 ± 0.7 nm. In contrast, a blurred lattice with a lattice constant of 9.0 nm was found on S-layer single-mutant cells. This together with in vitro self-assembly studies using purified (glyco)protein species indicated their increased structural flexibility after self-assembly and/or impaired self-assembly capability. In conjunction with TEM analyses of thin-sectioned cells, this study demonstrates the unusual case that two S-layer glycoproteins are co-assembled into a single S-layer. Additionally, flagella and pilus-like structures were observed on T. forsythia cells, which might impact the pathogenicity of this bacterium

Design and Experimental Validation of an Active Catheter for Endovascular Navigation

International audienceEndovascular technique has many advantages but relies strongly on operator skills and experience. Robotically steerable catheters have been developed but few are clinically available. We describe here the development of an active and efficient catheter based on Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) actuators. We first establish the specifications of our device considering anatomical constraints. We then present a new method for building active SMA-based catheters. The proposed method relies on the use of a core body made of three parallel metallic beams and integrates wire-shaped SMA actuators. The complete device is encapsulated into a standard 6F catheter for safety purposes. A trial-error campaign comparing 70 different prototypes is then conducted to determine the best dimensions of the core structure and of the SMA actuators with respect to the imposed specifications. The final prototype is tested on a silicon-based arterial model and on a 23-kg pig. During these experiments we were able to cannulate the supra-aortic trunks and the renal arteries with different angulations and without any complication

L’évaluation de la validité prédictive du LS/CMI dans la prédiction des incidents disciplinaires en prison

Dans son plan stratégique, le ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec souligne les problèmes actuels de surpopulation carcérale au Québec. Ce phénomène peut contribuer à une augmentation des conflits vécus par les détenus et, par extension, à l’émergence des incidents disciplinaires. Dans un tel contexte, il semble nécessaire d’améliorer la gestion du risque lié à ce type d’incidents. Dans le cadre de cet article, l’objectif principal visé est de mettre à l’épreuve la validité prédictive du LS/CMI sur l’occurrence des incidents disciplinaires. L’échantillon consiste en 934 détenus incarcérés au Service correctionnel du Québec (SCQ) entre janvier et décembre 2007. Durant cette même période, tous les détenus ont été évalués dans les semaines suivant leur admission avec la version québécoise du LS/CMI. Les résultats permettent de confirmer l’efficacité du LS/CMI dans la prédiction des incidents disciplinaires, et ce, indépendamment de leur nature et de leur cible.The purpose of this study was to address the critical need to improve accuracy in risk assessment for prison misconducts and hence improve decision-making. With the increased prison crowding in the correctional facilities in Quebec, there is a critical need for the development of better instruments to assist clinicians in their task. Since February 2007, all offenders sentenced for a violent crime or to six month or more are now evaluated with the French-Canadian version of the LS/CMI. Although the LS/CMI is generally good at predicting recidivism, it was not specifically designed to predict prison misconducts. The present study investigates the potential predictive validity of the LS/CMI. The sample consisted of 934 male offenders sentenced for a violent crime or to 6 month or more in the Correctional Services of Quebec between February 2007 and December 2007. In general, results indicate that the LS/CMI can predict violent and non violent misconducts.En su plan estratégico, el ministerio de Seguridad pública de Quebec destaca los problemas actuales de sobrepoblación en las cárceles de Quebec. Dicho fenómeno corre el riesgo de contribuir al aumento de conflictos entre los detenidos y, por extensión, a la emergencia de incidentes disciplinarios. En ese contexto, se vuelve necesario mejorar la gestión de riesgos asociados a ese tipo de incidentes. El objetivo principal del presente estudio fue poner a prueba la validez predictiva del LS/CMI sobre ocurrencia de incidentes disciplinarios. La muestra consistió en 934 detenidos encarcelados en el Servicio correccional de Quebec (SCQ) entre enero y diciembre de 2007. Durante ese periodo, todos los detenidos fueron evaluados en las semanas que siguieron a su admisión con la versión canadiense del LS/CMI. Los resultados permiten confirmar la eficacia del LS/CMI en la predicción de incidentes disciplinarios independientemente de su naturaleza

Autoradiographic detection of kinin receptors in the human medulla of control, hypertensive, and diabetic donors

Kinins have been elected to the status of central neuromediators. Their effects are mediated through the activation of two G-protein-coupled receptors, denoted B-1 and B-2. Functional and binding studies suggested that B-1 and B-2 receptors are upregulated in the medulla and spinal cord of hypertensive and diabetic rats. the aim of this study was to localize and quantify kinin receptors in post-mortem human medulla obtained from normotensive, hypertensive, and diabetic subjects, using in vitro receptor autoradiography with the radioligands [I-125]HPP-HOE140 (B-2 receptor) and [I-125]HPP[des-Arg(10)]-HOE140 (B-1 receptor). Data showed specific binding sites for B-2 receptor (0.4-1.5 fmol/mg tissue) in 11 medullary nuclei from 4 control specimens (paratrigeminal > ambiguus > cuneate, gelatinous layer of the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus > caudal and interpolar spinal trigeminal, external cuneate, solitary tract > hypoglossal > gracile > inferior olivary nuclei). Increased density of B-2 receptor binding sites was observed in seven medullary nuclei of four hypertensive specimens (paratrigeminal > external cuneate > interpolar and caudal spinal trigeminal, gracile, inferior olivary > hypoglossal nuclei). B-2 receptor binding sites were seemingly increased in the same medullary nuclei of two diabetic specimens. Specific binding sites for B-1 receptor (1.05 and 1.36 fmol/mg tissue) were seen only in the inferior olivary nucleus in two out of the ten studied specimens. the present results support a putative role for kinins in the regulation of autonomic, nociceptive, and motor functions at the level of the human medulla. Evidence is also provided that B-2 receptors are upregulated in medullary cardiovascular centers of subjects afflicted of cardiovascular diseases.Univ Montreal, Fac Med, Dept Physiol, Montreal, PQ H3T 1J4, CanadaUniv Montreal, Clin Res Inst, Montreal, PQ H3T 1J4, CanadaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biophys, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biophys, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc