Université de Montréal

About: Université de Montréal is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 45641 authors who have published 100476 publications receiving 4004007 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Montreal & UdeM.

The new collagenase, collagenase-3, is expressed and synthesized by human chondrocytes but not by synoviocytes. A role in osteoarthritis.

Abstract: Recently, a new human collagenase, collagenase-3 has been identified. Since collagen changes are of particular importance in cartilage degeneration, we investigated if collagenase-3 plays a role in osteoarthritis (OA). Reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis revealed that in articular tissues collagenase-3 was expressed by the chondrocytes but not by the synoviocytes. Northern blot analysis of the chondrocyte mRNA revealed the presence of two major gene transcripts of 3.0 and 2.5 kb, and a third one of 2.2 kb was occasionally present. Compared to normal, OA showed a significantly higher (3.0 kb, P < or = 0.05; 2.5 kb, P < or = 0.03) level of collagenase-3 mRNA expression. Collagenase-3 had a higher catalytic velocity tate (about fivefold) than collagenase-1 on type II collagen. With the use of two specific antibodies, we showed that human chondrocytes had the ability to produce collagenase-3 as a proenzyme and as a glycosylated doublet. The chondrocyte collagenase-3 protein is produced in a significantly higher (P < or = 0.04) level in OA (approximately 9.5-fold) than in normal. The synthesis and expression of this new collagenase could also be modulated by two proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. This study provides novel and interesting data on collagenase-3 expression and synthesis in human cartilage cells and suggest its involvement in human OA cartilage patho-physiology.

Facing others in pain: the effects of empathy.

Abstract: Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Research Institute for Psychology & Health, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Academic Unit of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

Textual Agency: How Texts Do Things in Organizational Settings:

Abstract: Research on organizational discourse typically reduces it to what members do when producing and using texts in organizational contexts, but fails to recognize that texts, on their own, also seem to make a difference. This essay shows that one way to approach discourse is to analyze the active contribution of texts (especially, but not only, documents) to organizational processes, that is, to what extent texts such as reports, contracts, memos, signs, or work orders can be said to beperforming something. After reviewing what other scholars have been saying on the question of textual agency, I show how it is possible to ascribe to texts the capacity of doing something without falling into some modern form of animism. Having done that, I explore systematically the different types of action that texts can be said to be performing by taking up Searle’s well-known classification of speech acts. This review then leads me to address questions related to the constitution of organizations, that is, to what extent t...

Impact of Oophorectomy on Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Women With a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation

Abstract: Purpose The purposes of this study were to estimate the reduction in risk of ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation after oophorectomy, by age of oophorectomy; to estimate the impact of prophylactic oophorectomy on all-cause mortality; and to estimate 5-year survival associated with clinically detected ovarian, occult, and peritoneal cancers diagnosed in the cohort. Patients and Methods Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation were identified from an international registry; 5,783 women completed a baseline questionnaire and ≥ one follow-up questionnaires. Women were observed until either diagnosis of ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer, death, or date of most recent follow-up. Hazard ratios (HRs) for cancer incidence and all-cause mortality associated with oophorectomy were evaluated using time-dependent survival analyses. Results After an average follow-up period of 5.6 years, 186 women developed either ovarian (n = 132), fallopian (n = 22), or periton...

Autoantibodies and microvascular damage are independent predictive factors for the progression of Raynaud's phenomenon to systemic sclerosis: A twenty‐year prospective study of 586 patients, with validation of proposed criteria for early systemic sclerosis

Abstract: Objective To identify in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) independent markers that predict progression to definite systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to determine in patients with progression to SSc the type and sequence of microvascular damage and its relationship to SSc-specific autoantibodies. Methods Consecutive patients referred for evaluation of RP who had no definite connective tissue disease were evaluated for microvascular damage by nailfold capillary microscopy (NCM) and for anticentromere (anti–CENP-B), anti-Th/To, anti–topoisomerase I, and anti–RNA polymerase III (anti–RNAP III) autoantibodies by specific assays. Patients were studied prospectively. Results Of the 586 patients who were followed up for 3,197 person-years, 74 (12.6%) developed definite SSc. A characteristic sequence of microvascular damage was identified, starting with enlarged capillaries, followed by capillary loss, and then by capillary telangiectases. Definite SSc was diagnosed in close temporal relationship to capillary loss. Enlarged capillaries, capillary loss, and SSc-specific autoantibodies independently predicted definite SSc. Anti–CENP-B and anti-Th/To antibodies predicted enlarged capillaries; these autoantibodies and anti–RNAP III predicted capillary loss. Each autoantibody was associated with a distinct time course of microvascular damage. At followup, 79.5% of patients with 1 of these autoantibodies and abnormal findings on NCM at baseline had developed definite SSc. Patients with both baseline predictors were 60 times more likely to develop definite SSc. The data validated the proposed criteria for early SSc. Conclusion In RP evolving to definite SSc, microvascular damage is dynamic and sequential, while SSc-specific autoantibodies are associated with the course and type of capillary abnormalities. Abnormal findings on NCM at baseline together with an SSc-specific autoantibody indicate a very high probability of developing definite SSc, whereas their absence rules out this outcome.