Les régulations des politiques d’éducation

La « régulation » des politiques d’éducation, comprise comme la recherche de la définition ajustée et du contrôle souple de l’action publique dans ce domaine, constitue le sujet de cet ouvrage collectif particulièrement riche et intéressant. Il faut assurément le lire si l’on s’intéresse à l’exercice du pouvoir sur et dans les établissements, aux « performances » que fournit cette immense « machinerie » et à la « conformité » de ces « résultats » avec les objectifs – officiels – du système éd..

Assessing the Effectiveness of Core-Shamanism on a Group of Westerners: A Brief Research Report

A study was conducted on Western adults who participated in a group undergoing initiation into therapeutic shamanism. It investigated how shamanic work could be a factor triggering changes in persons who never had been previously immersed in such a tradition. Five groups, each composed of six people for a total of 30 participants, met eight times over a period of four months. Analyzing questions asked of the 27 who completed the program resulted in the following identified themes: experiences of the group, trust in the shamanic practitioner, raised awareness of their feeling states, experiences of the shamanic journeys, understanding of the origin of personal difficulties, solutions discovered to improve one’s life, identification of striking moments, belief in the existence of “spirits,” and other relevant changes like disappearance of allergies, improved self-confidence, more assertiveness, a desire to live, optimism, the capacity to live in the present moment and to make choices. The structural role of ritual and trance in this type of program is highlighted, including discussion about implications of the changes reported

Nickel and skin irritants up-regulate tumor necrosis factor-α mRNA in keratinocytes by different but potentially synergistic mechanisms

A critical role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in irritant contact dermatitis and in the challenge phase of allergic contact dermatitis has recently been demonstrated in vivo. As in situ hybridization studies have indicated that keratinocytes were the cellular source of TNF-α in these reactions, we studied the mechanisms of TNF-α mRNA induction in keratinocytes by agents that induce contact dermatitis. Murine Ia−;/CD3− epidermal cells were stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and NiSO4, all of which up-regulated epidermal cell TNF-α mRNA production. In contrast, trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid and trinitrochlorobenzene did not significantly up-regulate TNF-α mRNA. These results were confirmed with murine keratinocyte cell lines. In keratinocytes transfected with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase construct containing the −1059 to +138 base pair TNF-α promoter, increased promoter activity was observed upon stimulation with PMA and DMSO. In addition, PMA stimulation did not affect the stability of TNF-α mRNA. The PMA- but also the DMSO- and SDSinduced up-regulation of TNF-α mRNA was abolished by an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC). In contrast, NISO4 up-regulated TNF-α mRNA by a PKC-independent mechanism, did not increase TNF-α promoter activity, but markedly increased the stability of the TNF-α mRNA. Co-stimulation with PMA and NISO4 induced a marked increase in TNF-a mRNA over that obtained with each agent alone. Thus, whereas PKC-dependent irritants act by up-regulating TNF-α promoter activity, nickel acts via post-transcrlptional regulation. Our results, also establish that some irritants and irritant sensitizers directly induce TNF-α in keratinocytes without intermediate Langerhans cell derived signal

Development of skin diseases following systemic exposure: example of dioxins

Most skin manifestations of exposure to toxic compounds are a consequence of a direct contact with the toxicants. However, some toxicants may reach the skin following systemic exposure, and promote skin diseases. Good examples of such chemicals are dioxin-like compounds. This family of lipophilic molecules comprises polychlorinated (dibenzodioxins, dibenzofurans and biphenyls). The most potent member of this family is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Following oral ingestion of as little as a few mg TCDD, skin lesions appear in a couple of weeks, starting from the face and diffuse then on the trunk and limbs. This syndrome was historically called “chloracne” and the skin lesions have now been shown to be skin hamartoma induced by TCDD. Sweat glands release their lipid content on the surface of the skin by a holocrine secretion, and so any lost sebocyte should be transmitted to progenitor cells to differentiate and migrate to the sebaceous gland to replace the lost sebocyte. TCDD acts by inducing a switch in this signal and skin hamartoma develop in place of new sebocytes

cAMP up-regulates IL-4 and IL-5 production from activated CD4+ T cells while decreasing IL-2 release and NF-AT induction

Seven days after activation with concanavalin A and irradiated spleen cells, murine CD4+ T cells were re-stimulated with lonomycin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). IL-2 and IL-4 were determined in the supernatant. When cholera toxin, forskolin together with phosphodlesterase inhibitors or dibutyryl-cAMP were added at the time of re-stimulation, a dose-dependent increase of IL-4 and IL-5 release was noted. IL-2 was down-regulated as reported before. The up-regulatlon of IL-4 and the down-regulation of IL-2 correlated with an increase of IL-4 mRNA and a decrease of IL-2 mRNA as determined by semi-quantitative reverse tratucriptase polymerase chain reaction. Similar results were found with prostaglandin E2 using PMA and ionomycin or plate-bound anti-CD3 antibody as re-stimulants. These results suggest that, in activated CD4+ T cells, cAMP-elevating agents induce a switch of lymphokine production towards a Th-like phenotype through regulation at the transcriptional level. This is supported by the fact that complex formation between a synthetic nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT) binding site from the IL-2 promoter and nuclear extracts was decreased when cholera toxin was added to re-activated CD4+ T cells, suggesting that cholera toxin and cAMP down-regulate IL-2 expression via decreased NF-AT binding. Finally, since IL-4 has been reported to amplify IL-4 release from activated CD4+ T cells, the autoinduction of IL-4 may very well function via cAM

Symptomatic Primary Infection Due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: Review of 31 Cases

In this series of 31 patients with acute infection due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1, the male-to-female ratio was 3.4:1 and the mean age was 31.3 years. Sexual transmission accounted for 83.9% of cases; 45.2% of the patients were homosexual and 38.7% were heterosexual. The mean duration of symptoms and signs was 21 days (range, 5-60 days). Fever (87.1%) and skin rash (67.7%) were most commonly reported. Physical examination findings were abnormal for 96% of the patients; the oral cavity (76.7%) and the skin (73.3%) were the most frequently involved sites. Thirteen of 25 patients with sexually acquired infection had genital or oral ulcers, whereas five intravenous drug users had none (P = .052). Thrombocytopenia was the most common hematologic abnormality and was detected in 17 of 23 patients tested. P24 antigenemia, an initially negative screening test for HIV antibody, and a low CD4+ lymphocyte count were noted in 23 of 29, 23 of 30, and 14 of 21 tested patients, respectivel