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A literatura contemporânea é caracterizada por uma variedade de representações da identidade pessoal. Desde os anos 1960, a presença do sujeito narrativo no discurso literário é ubíqua. Neste artigo, discuto três modelos subjacentes à representação dos personagens ficcionais na ficção do Quebec: pós-modernismo, literatura imigrante e cultura transnacional. O princípio norteador da análise é que o sujeito literário é fortemente condicionado por mudanças sociológicas e epistemológicas. Dizer Eu na literatura contemporânea é expressar a multiplicidade do sujeito pós-moderno, a angústia da voz imigrante e a emancipação do personagem ficcional transnacional

Background: Climate change is among the major challenges for health this century, and adaptation to manage adverse health outcomes will be unavoidable. The risks in Ontario - Canada's most populous province - include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and alterations to precipitation regimes. Socio-economic-demographic patterns could magnify the implications climate change has for Ontario, including the presence of rapidly growing vulnerable populations, exacerbation of warming trends by heat-islands in large urban areas, and connectedness to global transportation networks. This study examines climate change adaptation in the public health sector in Ontario using information from interviews with government officials., Methods: Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted, four with provincial and federal health officials and 49 with actors in public health and health relevant sectors at the municipal level. We identify adaptation efforts, barriers and opportunities for current and future intervention., Results: Results indicate recognition that climate change will affect the health of Ontarians. Health officials are concerned about how a changing climate could exacerbate existing health issues or create new health burdens, specifically extreme heat (71%), severe weather (68%) and poor air-quality (57%). Adaptation is currently taking the form of mainstreaming climate change into existing public health programs. While adaptive progress has relied on local leadership, federal support, political will, and inter-agency efforts, a lack of resources constrains the sustainability of long-term adaptation programs and the acquisition of data necessary to support effective policies., Conclusions: This study provides a snapshot of climate change adaptation and needs in the public health sector in Ontario. Public health departments will need to capitalize on opportunities to integrate climate change into policies and programs, while higher levels of government must improve efforts to support local adaptation and provide the capacity through which local adaptation can succeed.

Specific binding of human prolactin to human breast cancer cells in culture was demonstrated for the first time by immunocytochemistry ad autoradiography. Using the former technique, it was found that prolactin binding to the cell surface was heterogeneous: some cells showing intense to moderate peroxidase reaction product and some cells showing absence of reaction product. After the cells were incubated with 125I-labeled prolactin and then embedded in plastic, autoradiography of sections revealed both surface-localized and intracellular silver grains, the latter suggesting internalization of prolactin. These two cytological techniques are useful for visualizing prolactin binding to human breast cancer cells and are applicable to studies on prolactin binding in human breast cancer.

We have demonstrated previously that many human cancer cell lines maintained in tissue culture possess specific cell surface receptors for human prolactin (HPRL) and human growth hormone (HGH). In the present studies, the biological response in vitro of one human breast cancer cell line, T-47D, to the two pituitary hormones was examined. T-47D cells, when grown on tissue culture dishes, display typical epithelioid characteristics; cells are flat and polygonal in shape and are very adhesive to the plastic substratum. Upon the addition of HPRL or HGH (10 to 1000 ng/ml), in the presence of hydrocortisone, insulin, and triiodothyronine, each at 1 microgram/ml, the T-47D cells became round and refractile. In addition, there was a dramatic reduction in the adhesiveness of the cells to the substratum; 80% of the hormone-treated cells were detached by trypsin (25 micrograms/ml) in 30 min at 37 degrees, as compared with 5% for cells not treated with hormones. These prolactin-induced changes could be abolished upon the addition of antiserum to prolactin. Neither HPRL nor the combination of hydrocortisone, insulin, and triiodothyronine alone was active, indicating a synergism between HPRL and hydrocortisone, insulin, and triiodothyronine. It was subsequently found that only hydrocortisone was required for the action of HPRL, and that human luteininzing hormone and ovine growth hormone were inactive, whereas ovine prolactin exerted a very weak effect. In addition, in the presence of hydrocortisone (or hydrocortisone, insulin, and triiodothyronine), HPRL (or HGH) retarded cell proliferation by 30%, whereas HPRL or hydrocortisone by itself had no effect on cell growth. Ultrastructural studies revealed that, accompanying cell rounding and reduced adhesion, HPRL and HGH increased the formation of intracytoplasmic lipid droplets in the T-47D cells. The increase in lipid synthesis was confirmed by the staining of cells with Oil Red O, and by monitoring the incorporation of [14C]acetate into lipid; HPRL stimulated lipid synthesis and accumulation by approximately 2-fold. Thus, receptor-positive human breast cancer cells are biologically responsive in vitro to HPRL and HGH.