National strategy for neighbourhood renewal : a framework for consultation

"This report contains FEDA’s response to National strategy for neighbourhood renewal: a framework for consultation, the report by the Social Exclusion Unit. FEDA supports the vision set out in the paper and would like to play a significant role in taking the strategy forward. Detailed responses are given to the chapters relating to reviving local economies, reviving communities and leadership and joint working" -- back cover

Wealth-in-people and practical rationality: aspirations and decisions about money in South Africa

This article explores crucial decisions made by Sylvia, a Xhosa woman living in the townships of Cape Town, during a period of approximately thirty years. These decisions involved large sums of money and had important consequences for her own life, for those of her son and grandchild, and for the relationships she had with her first and second husbands and in‐laws. Sylvia's decisions continued to be influenced by gendered ways of belonging to ancestors and descendants but also show important changes in connecting wealth and people. The wealth‐in‐people approach offers important insights into how Sylvia's decisions are guided by power and control over people as well as by prestige. However, it also becomes evident that the wealth‐in‐people approach does not sufficiently explain or theorize the agency of people. By drawing on the philosophical notion of practical rationality as a complementary analytical perspective, I explore agency in relation to aspirations and the acquisition of new open‐ended values. The perspective offered by practical rationality increases our understanding of how individual decisions, especially complex decisions around money, are made because of their transformative potential and the aspiration to cultivate oneself.Horizon 2020(H2020)Global Challenges (FSW

Baseline Chest Computed Tomography as Standard of Care in High-Risk Hematology Patients

Baseline chest computed tomography (BCT) in high-risk hematology patients allows for the early diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The distribution of BCT implementation in hematology departments and impact on outcome is unknown. A web-based questionnaire was designed. International scientific bodies were invited. The estimated numbers of annually treated hematology patients, chest imaging timepoints and techniques, IPA rates, and follow-up imaging were assessed. In total, 142 physicians from 43 countries participated. The specialties included infectious diseases (n = 69; 49%), hematology (n = 68; 48%), and others (n = 41; 29%). BCT was performed in 57% (n = 54) of 92 hospitals. Upon the diagnosis of malignancy or admission, 48% and 24% performed BCT, respectively, and X-ray was performed in 48% and 69%, respectively. BCT was more often used in hematopoietic cell transplantation and in relapsed acute leukemia. European centers performed BCT in 59% and non-European centers in 53%. Median estimated IPA rate was 8% and did not differ between BCT (9%; IQR 5-15%) and non-BCT centers (7%; IQR 5-10%) (p = 0.69). Follow-up computed tomography (CT) for IPA was performed in 98% (n = 90) of centers. In high-risk hematology patients, baseline CT is becoming a standard-of-care. Chest X-ray, while inferior, is still widely used. Randomized, controlled trials are needed to investigate the impact of BCT on patient outcome

Mitochondrial targeting of recombinant RNAs modulates the level of a heteroplasmic mutation in human mitochondrial DNA associated with Kearns Sayre Syndrome

International audienceMitochondrial mutations, an important cause of incurable human neuromuscular diseases, are mostly heteroplasmic: mutated mitochondrial DNA is present in cells simultaneously with wild-type genomes, the pathogenic threshold being generally >70% of mutant mtDNA. We studied whether heteroplasmy level could be decreased by specifically designed oligoribonucleotides, targeted into mitochondria by the pathway delivering RNA molecules in vivo. Using mitochondrially imported RNAs as vectors, we demonstrated that oligoribo-nucleotides complementary to mutant mtDNA region can specifically reduce the proportion of mtDNA bearing a large deletion associated with the Kearns Sayre Syndrome in cultured transmito-chondrial cybrid cells. These findings may be relevant to developing of a new tool for therapy of mtDNA associated diseases