Clinical impact of the disposable ventouse iCup® versus a metallic vacuum cup: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Experimental Protocole. (DOCX 55 kb

Competitive intensity applied to cycling: Modelling and potential impacts on the organization of professional courses

© De Boeck Supérieur. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. Competitive balance is a concept that has given rise to numerous studies in sports economics. Recently, it has been complemented by the concept of competitive intensity. Nevertheless, these notions have been developed essentially for team sports. This article suggests a model of competitive intensity adapted to cycling. Based on the fact that individual performance is the most important factor in this sport, the model takes into account three elements which generate competitive intensity in the context of stage races: uncertainty about the general classification, uncertainty about the stage victory, and attacks. After having detailed the calculations for each of these three elements, the competitive intensity of two stages with a similar profile is compared so as to identify some factors that create uncertainty. The extension of this approach can help organisers in their choice of the routes to be favoured

Temporary organizational forms and coopetition in cycling: What makes a breakaway successful in the Tour de France?

Purpose: In road cycling races, one of riders’ main objectives is to win stages, which most often requires breaking away from the pack of riders. What is it that makes a breakaway succeed, i.e. enable one of its members to win the stage? Design/methodology/approach: Descriptive statistics were computed and a logit model of breakaway success was estimated, based on a new kind of statistical data describing the development of each of the 268 breakaways that occurred in the 76 regular stages of the Tour de France 2013 to 2016. Findings: Breakaway success partly depends on the physics of cycling: breakaways are more successful when the stage is hilly or in mountain than flat. In addition, the likelihood of breakaway success depends on strategic moves such as attack timing and the percentage of riders with a teammate in the breakaway. Research limitations/implications: Understanding why certain breakaways succeed and others do not is useful to comprehend cycling performance and to help coopetitive temporary organizational forms such as breakaways optimize their strategic behavior. A limitation is the focus on the Tour de France only. Originality/value: The present study adds to the literature on temporary organizational forms, coopetition and cycling performance by analyzing within-stage data in cycling and, as such, enabling to capture its strategic dimension

Gastric Lipomatosis

Gastric lipomatosis is an extremely rare condition. We present a case of a 69-year-old woman admitted with epigastric soreness. Computerized tomography (CT) revealed extrinsically compressing, fat-containing mass lesions on the entire gastric wall of the antrum and body except for the lesser curvature. A subtotal gastrectomy was performed. Pathology findings confirmed a gastric lipomatosis with multiple gastric ulcerations and extensive disruptions of the muscular layers. This case and reports of other gastric lipomatosis cases indicate that CT should be used to characterize large submucosal masses because CT can show the specific nature and extent of the disease. We believe that surgical treatment is the most appropriate treatment for symptomatic gastric lipomatosis that shows extensive gastric involvement, or when there are multiple gastric lipomas

In Vivo Reinsertion of Excised Episomes by the V(D)J Recombinase: A Potential Threat to Genomic Stability

It has long been thought that signal joints, the byproducts of V(D)J recombination, are not involved in the dynamics of the rearrangement process. Evidence has now started to accumulate that this is not the case, and that signal joints play unsuspected roles in events that might compromise genomic integrity. Here we show both ex vivo and in vivo that the episomal circles excised during the normal process of receptor gene rearrangement may be reintegrated into the genome through trans-V(D)J recombination occurring between the episomal signal joint and an immunoglobulin/T-cell receptor target. We further demonstrate that cryptic recombination sites involved in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia–associated chromosomal translocations constitute hotspots of insertion. Eventually, the identification of two in vivo cases associating episomal reintegration and chromosomal translocation suggests that reintegration events are linked to genomic instability. Altogether, our data suggest that V(D)J-mediated reintegration of episomal circles, an event likely eluding classical cytogenetic screenings, might represent an additional potent source of genomic instability and lymphoid cancer

Nectin-4: a new prognostic biomarker for efficient therapeutic targeting of primary and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer

International audienceBackground: Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are associated with a poor prognosis. In contrast to other molecular sub-types, they have no identified specific target and chemotherapy remains the only available systemic treatment. The adhesion molecule nectin-4 represents a new potential therapeutic target in different cancer models. Here, we have tested the prognos-tic value of nectin-4 expression and assessed the therapeutic efficiency of an anti-nectin 4 antibody drug conjugate (ADC) on localised and metastatic TNBC in vitro and in vivo. Materials and methods: We analysed nectin-4/PVRL4 mRNA expression in 5673 invasive breast cancers and searched for correlations with clinicopathological features including metastasis-free survival (MFS). Immunohistochemistry was carried out in 61 TNBCs and in samples of primary TNBC Patient-Derived Xenografts (PDXs). An anti-nectin-4 antibody eligible for ADC was produced and tested in vitro and in vivo in localised and metastatic TNBC PDXs. Results: High nectin-4/PVRL4 mRNA expression was associated with poor-prognosis features including the TN and basal sub-types. High PVRL4 mRNA expression showed independent negative prognostic value for MFS in multivariate analysis in TNBCs. Nectin-4 protein expression was not detected in adult healthy tissues including mammary tissue. Membranous protein expression was found in 62% of TNBCs, with strong correlation with mRNA expression. We developed an ADC (N41mab-vcMMAE) comprising a human anti-nectin-4 monoclonal antibody conjugated to monomethyl auristatin-E (MMAE). In vitro, this ADC bound to nectin-4 with high affinity and specificity and induced its internalisation as well as dose-dependent cytotoxicity on nectin-4-expressing breast cancer cell lines. In vivo, this ADC induced rapid, complete and durable responses on nectin-4-positive xenograft TNBC samples including primary tumours, metastatic lesions, and local relapses; efficiency was dependent on both the dose and the nectin-4 tumour expression level. Conclusion: Nectin-4 is both a new promising prognostic biomarker and specific therapeutic target for ADC in the very limited armamentarium against TNBC

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The James Webb Space Telescope mission

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