Le marché légal du cannabis suite à sa légalisation au Canada : pistes de réflexion pour un encadrement efficace.

The upcoming legalization of cannabis in Canada poses several challenges in which each province will have to respond with effective regulation. Studies show that policies alone have little impact on use rates. However, regulatory approaches and modalities seem important to reduce the possible negative consequences that may result from legalization.

Formal and Informal Control of Cannabis: Regular Users' Experience.

Background: The debate on recreational use of cannabis, recently relaunched by the election of the Liberal Party of Canada that intends to legalize and regulate its use and access, implies a better understanding of social control mechanisms that are in place, and their influence on users' behaviors.

Objective: This study addresses the issue of formal and informal controls by providing, first, a theoretical perspective of this concept, and, second, by illustrating its operation from the users' perspective.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 164 regular, adult cannabis users recruited in four large Canadian cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax).

Essential role for vacuolar acidification in Candida albicans virulence.

Fungal infections are on the rise, with mortality above 30% in patients with septic Candida infections. Mutants lacking V-ATPase activity are avirulent and fail to acidify endomembrane compartments, exhibiting pleiotropic defects in secretory, endosomal, and vacuolar pathways. However, the individual contribution of organellar acidification to virulence and its associated traits is not known.

Sphingomyelinase selectively reduces M1 muscarinic receptors in rat hippocampal membranes.

Although there is evidence that nicotinic acetylcholine (Ach) receptors are influenced by ceramides, we do not currently know whether or not these sphingolipids can also regulate the muscarinic subtypes of Ach receptors. Using the whole-cell patch technique, we demonstrated that the effectiveness of the muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine, in enhancing spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents in CA1 pyramidal cells, was completely abolished in hippocampal slices pre-exposed to the ceramide-generating enzyme sphingomyelinase (SMase). Western blot experiments, performed with biotinylated hippocampal membranes, showed that this electrophysiological defect possibly relies on the loss of M1 muscarinic Ach receptors at the cell surface.

Myocardin-related transcription factor-A complexes activate type I collagen expression in lung fibroblasts.

Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by the excessive deposition of a collagen-rich extracellular matrix. The accumulation of collagen within the lung interstitium leads to impaired respiratory function. Furthermore, smooth muscle actin-positive myofibroblasts within the fibrotic lung contribute to disease progression.