La première génération de Saguenayens : provenance, apparentement, enracinement

La population du Saguenay se caractérise par une forte prévalence ou incidence de quelques maladies génétiques rares ou inexistantes ailleurs. Traditionnellement, ce phénomène a été imputé au fait que cette population régionale se serait développée en vase clos, après la mise en place d’une poignée de familles fondatrices aux environs de 1840. Les reconstitutions auxquelles se sont livrés les auteurs ne corroborent pas cette représentation. Entre 1838 et 1911, la région a accueilli plus de 28 000 immigrants, soit un rapport moyen d’un immigrant pour trois naissances. Toute explication de l’homogénéité (relative au demeurant) du bassin génétique saguenayen doit donc tenir compte du nombre élevé des entrées sur une longue période, surtout lorsqu’on considère que ces immigrants provenaient très majoritairement d’une seule région et étaient regroupés en familles, elles-mêmes très apparentées.The population of the Saguenay region in Quebec is well known for its high prevalence or incidence of some genetic disorders that are rare or do not exist elsewhere. Traditionally, this phenomenon has been blamed on the isolation in which the population has developed since the first settlements in 1838-1840. It is widely assumed that a few family founders are the ancestors of most of the current population. Our investigations have brought about conclusions that do not support this view. Actually, between 1838 and 1911, more than 28,000 immigrants (representing one third of the number of births) settled in Saguenay, a major fact that has to be taken into account if one sets out to explain the genetic structure of this population, particularly if one considers that most of these immigrants came from the same region and were grouped in kin-related families.La población del Saguenay se caracterisa por una fuerte prevalencia o incidencia de algunas enfermedades genéticas raras o inexistentes en otros lugares. Tradicionalmente este fenómeno ha sido imputado al hecho que dicha población regional se hubiera desarrollado en un ambiente cerrado, después del establecimeinto de un grupo de familias fundadoras alrededor de 1840. Las reconstituciones a las cuales se han librado los autores no han probado esta representación. Entre 1838 y 1911 la región ha acogido más de 28 000 inmigrantes, o sea un promedio de un inmigrante por cada 3 nacimientos. Toda explicación de homogenidad de la cuenca genética del Saguenay debe entonces tener en cuenta el numero elevado de entradas sobre un largo período, sobre todo cuando se considera que estos inmigrantes provenían en su gran mayoría de una sola región y que estaban agrupados en familias, ellas mismas muy emparentadas

Considering culture and context when supporting the development of communities

In order to improve population health, public health authorities in the province of Quebec (Canada) have integrated in 2003 a crosscutting health promotion strategy in their public health plans: "Support for the development of communities". Although it has been in the plans for several years, its implementation had not yet been documented. Using an ethnographic case study, the project aimed at answering the following question: How does the implementation of a community development initiative, as defined in the official documents of public health authorities in Quebec, actually occurs? After 32 months of participant observation and 14 semi-structured interviews with key informants, it was possible to describe how it happened in an inner-city neighborhood of Quebec City, chosen as an exemplary case to study. The results revealed that such an initiative is significantly conditioned by a neighborhood's culture and that the context in which the process occurs needs to be centrally taken into account. Authors advocate for a culturally sensitive strategy that focuses on the contexts where the action take place and considers the culture of place as a central element when wanting to improve population health and health equity

Acute invariant NKT cell activation triggers an immune response that drives prominent changes in iron homeostasis

Iron homeostasis is an essential biological process that ensures the tissue distribution of iron for various cellular processes. As the major producer of hepcidin, the liver is central to the regulation of iron metabolism. The liver is also home to many immune cells, which upon activation may greatly impact iron metabolism. Here, we focus on the role of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a subset of T lymphocytes that, in mice, is most abundant in the liver. Activation of iNKT cells with the prototypical glycosphingolipid antigen, α-galactosylceramide, resulted in immune cell proliferation and biphasic changes in iron metabolism. This involved an early phase characterized by hypoferremia, hepcidin induction and ferroportin suppression, and a second phase associated with strong suppression of hepcidin despite elevated levels of circulating and tissue iron. We further show that these changes in iron metabolism are fully dependent on iNKT cell activation. Finally, we demonstrate that the biphasic regulation of hepcidin is independent of NK and Kupfer cells, and is initially driven by the STAT3 infammatory pathway, whereas the second phase is regulated by repression of the BMP/SMAD signaling pathway. These fndings indicate that iNKT activation and the resulting cell proliferation infuence iron homeostasis

Acute invariant NKT cell activation triggers an immune response that drives prominent changes in iron homeostasis

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licen ses/by/4.0/.Iron homeostasis is an essential biological process that ensures the tissue distribution of iron for various cellular processes. As the major producer of hepcidin, the liver is central to the regulation of iron metabolism. The liver is also home to many immune cells, which upon activation may greatly impact iron metabolism. Here, we focus on the role of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a subset of T lymphocytes that, in mice, is most abundant in the liver. Activation of iNKT cells with the prototypical glycosphingolipid antigen, α-galactosylceramide, resulted in immune cell proliferation and biphasic changes in iron metabolism. This involved an early phase characterized by hypoferremia, hepcidin induction and ferroportin suppression, and a second phase associated with strong suppression of hepcidin despite elevated levels of circulating and tissue iron. We further show that these changes in iron metabolism are fully dependent on iNKT cell activation. Finally, we demonstrate that the biphasic regulation of hepcidin is independent of NK and Kupffer cells, and is initially driven by the STAT3 inflammatory pathway, whereas the second phase is regulated by repression of the BMP/SMAD signaling pathway. These findings indicate that iNKT activation and the resulting cell proliferation influence iron homeostasis.This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, Grant no. PJT-159775) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC, Grant RGPIN-2018-06442) to MMS. HH received a PhD scholarship from the NSERC. SL is a Research Scholars Emeritus awardee from the FRQS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Attentes du personnel infirmier de la relève envers l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel : un premier jalon pour la conception d’interventions organisationnelles au Québec (Canada)

Introduction : Les conditions de travail difficiles compromettent la qualité des emplois infirmiers, accentuent le roulement ainsi que l’attrition, et ce, particulièrement pour le personnel infirmier de la relève. La compréhension des perspectives du personnel infirmier sur l’engagement professionnel est essentielle pour élaborer des interventions organisationnelles innovantes et adaptées en ce sens. Objectifs : L’étude vise à 1- définir les attentes du personnel infirmier de la relève face à l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel et 2- identifier les actions organisationnelles prioritaires pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel. Méthodes : Suivant un devis de recherche mixte selon une démarche de cartographie conceptuelle, des infirmières et infirmières auxiliaires de la relève (N=14) dans un centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) semi-urbain du Québec (Canada) ont été invitées à répondre à la question : « Que peut faire l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel? ». Des analyses statistiques d’échelonnement multidimensionnel et en grappe ont permis d’organiser les 49 énoncés formulés par le personnel infirmier. Parallèlement, les participantes ont établi les actions prioritaires en cotant « l’importance » et « la probabilité de succès d’implantation » de chaque énoncé. Résultats : Les attentes du personnel infirmier envers leur employeur sont : des conditions de travail attractives, un leadership positif, des conditions de pratique sécuritaires, le soutien au développement professionnel et un cheminement personnalisé. Plus précisément, les actions prioritaires pour l’employeur consistent à : démontrer du respect, offrir un environnement sain et éviter les déplacements dans des départements non souhaités. Discussion et conclusion : Les résultats suggèrent plusieurs pistes d’actions pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel du personnel infirmier de la relève, en contexte semi-urbain au Québec, notamment : l’offre de ressources humaines et matérielles, l’implantation d’une culture organisationnelle positive et l’exercice d’un leadership bienveillant.  

Attentes du personnel infirmier de la relève envers l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel : un premier jalon pour la conception d’interventions organisationnelles au Québec (Canada)

Introduction: Poor work conditions jeopardize the quality of nursing jobs and increase turnover and attrition rates, especially for early career nurses and licensed practical nurses. Understanding perspectives of the nursing staff on work engagement is essential to develop innovative and responsive organizational interventions. Objectives: 1- Define the expectations of early career nursing staff with respect to their workplace in order to support work engagement 2- Identify priority actions to support work engagement at organizational level. Methods: A mixed-methods research design based on a conceptual mapping approach was used. Early career nurses and licensed practical nurses (N=14) working in a semi-urban integrated health and social services center in Quebec (Canada) were asked the following question: “What can the workplace do to promote work engagement?” Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to organize the 49 statements provided by the nursing staff. At the same time, participants prioritized actions by rating the “importance” and “probability of a successful implementation” of each statement. Results: Nursing staffs’ expectations toward their workplace in order to support work engagement were: attractive working conditions, positive leadership, safe working conditions, professional development opportunities, and personalized career path. More specifically, the priority actions identified were: showing respect, providing a healthy environment and avoiding transfer to unwanted departments. Discussion and conclusion: The results suggest several actions to promote work engagement of early career nursing staff working in semi-urban settings in Quebec, including providing human and material resources, implementing a positive organizational culture, and exercising benevolent leadership. Introduction : Les conditions de travail difficiles compromettent la qualité des emplois infirmiers, accentuent le roulement ainsi que l’attrition, et ce, particulièrement pour le personnel infirmier de la relève. La compréhension des perspectives du personnel infirmier sur l’engagement professionnel est essentielle pour élaborer des interventions organisationnelles innovantes et adaptées en ce sens. Objectifs : L’étude vise à 1- définir les attentes du personnel infirmier de la relève face à l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel et 2- identifier les actions organisationnelles prioritaires pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel. Méthodes : Suivant un devis de recherche mixte selon une démarche de cartographie conceptuelle, des infirmières et infirmières auxiliaires de la relève (N=14) dans un centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) semi-urbain du Québec (Canada) ont été invitées à répondre à la question : « Que peut faire l’employeur pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel? ». Des analyses statistiques d’échelonnement multidimensionnel et en grappe ont permis d’organiser les 49 énoncés formulés par le personnel infirmier. Parallèlement, les participantes ont établi les actions prioritaires en cotant « l’importance » et « la probabilité de succès d’implantation » de chaque énoncé. Résultats : Les attentes du personnel infirmier envers leur employeur sont : des conditions de travail attractives, un leadership positif, des conditions de pratique sécuritaires, le soutien au développement professionnel et un cheminement personnalisé. Plus précisément, les actions prioritaires pour l’employeur consistent à : démontrer du respect, offrir un environnement sain et éviter les déplacements dans des départements non souhaités. Discussion et conclusion : Les résultats suggèrent plusieurs pistes d’actions pour favoriser l’engagement professionnel du personnel infirmier de la relève, en contexte semi-urbain au Québec, notamment : l’offre de ressources humaines et matérielles, l’implantation d’une culture organisationnelle positive et l’exercice d’un leadership bienveillant.  &nbsp

High-throughput refractive index-based microphotonic sensor for enhanced cellular discrimination

This paper presents a novel microphotonic sensor based on silicon technologies for high-throughput single cell measurements. It employs a highly sensitive Fabry-Pérot resonant cavity to extract cellular refractive index information. The integrated large cross-section rib waveguides provide a single-mode like behavior important for resonant cell sensing. Differentiated myeloid cells derived from a promyelocytic leukemia cell line were injected in a microchannel, sheathlessly focused using inertial forces and analyzed while flowing through the resonant cavity volume. Results were compared against a commercial flow cytometer and showed a substantial improvement on cellular discrimination. Thus, this sensor has the ability to discriminate cell populations, usually identified using fluorescent parameters, without any dyes and can reach measurement rate as high as 2000 cells per second. By harnessing the cell's effective volume refractive index, our device offers complementary measurements readily improving actual technologies and thus providing crucial information for research and clinical professionals

The discovery of Halictivirus resolves the Sinaivirus phylogeny.

By providing pollination services, bees are among the most important insects, both in ecological and economical terms. Combined next-generation and classical sequencing approaches were applied to discover and study new insect viruses potentially harmful to bees. A bioinformatics virus discovery pipeline was used on individual Illumina transcriptomes of 13 wild bees from three species from the genus Halictus and 30 ants from six species of the genera Messor and Aphaenogaster. This allowed the discovery and description of three sequences of a new virus termed Halictus scabiosae Adlikon virus (HsAV). Phylogenetic analyses of ORF1, RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp) and capsid genes showed that HsAV is closely related to (+)ssRNA viruses of the unassigned Sinaivirus genus but distant enough to belong to a different new genus we called Halictivirus. In addition, our study of ant transcriptomes revealed the first four sinaivirus sequences from ants (Messor barbarus, M. capitatus and M. concolor). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses were performed on a 594 nt fragment of the ORF1/RdRp region from 84 sinaivirus sequences, including 31 new Lake Sinai viruses (LSVs) from honey bees collected in five countries across the globe and the four ant viral sequences. The phylogeny revealed four main clades potentially representing different viral species infecting honey bees. Moreover, the ant viruses belonged to the LSV4 clade, suggesting a possible cross-species transmission between bees and ants. Lastly, wide honey bee screening showed that all four LSV clades have worldwide distributions with no obvious geographical segregation