Ontoterminology: A new paradigm for terminology

International audienceToday, collaboration and the exchange of information are increasing steadily and players need to agree on the meaning of words. The first task is therefore to define the domain‟s terminology. However, terminology building remains a demanding and time-consuming task, even in specialised domains where standards already exist. While reaching a consensus on the definition of terms written in natural language remains difficult, we have observed that in specialised technical domains, experts agree on the domain conceptualisation when it is defined in a formal language. Based on this observation, we have introduced a new paradigm for terminology called ontoterminology. The main idea is to separate the linguistic dimension from the conceptual dimension of terminology and establish relationships between them. The linguistic component consists of terms (both normalised and non-normalised specialised words) linked by linguistic relationships such as hyponymy and synonymy. The term definition, written in natural-language, is considered a linguistic explanation. The conceptual component is a formal ontology whose concepts are linked by conceptual relationships like the is-a (kind of) and part-of relations. The concept definition, written in a formal language, is viewed as logical specification. An ontoterminology enables us to link these two non-isomorphic networks in a global and coherent system

Combination therapy versus monotherapy: a randomised pilot study on the evolution of inflammatory parameters after ventilator associated pneumonia [ISRCTN31976779]

INTRODUCTION: Combination antibiotic therapy for ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is often used to broaden the spectrum of activity of empirical treatment. The relevance of such synergy is commonly supposed but poorly supported. The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical outcome and the course of biological variables in patients treated for a VAP, using a monotherapy with a beta-lactam versus a combination therapy. METHODS: Patients with VAP were prospectively randomised to receive either cefepime alone or cefepime in association with amikacin or levofloxacin. Clinical and inflammatory parameters were measured on the day of inclusion and thereafter. RESULTS: Seventy-four mechanically ventilated patients meeting clinical criteria for VAP were enrolled in the study. VAP was microbiologically confirmed in 59 patients (84%). Patients were randomised to receive cefepime (C group, 20 patients), cefepime with amikacin (C-A group, 19 patients) or cefepime with levofloxacin (C-L group, 20 patients). No significant difference was observed regarding the time course of temperature, leukocytosis or C-reactive protein level. There were no differences between length of stay in the intensive care unit after infection, nor in ventilator free days within 28 days after infection. No difference in mortality was observed. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic combination using a fourth generation cephalosporin with either an aminoside or a fluoroquinolone is not associated with a clinical or biological benefit when compared to cephalosporin monotherapy against common susceptible pathogens causing VAP

Spin transport properties of spinel vanadate-based heterostructures

Spin-orbit coupling and breaking of inversion symmetry are necessary ingredients to enable a pure spin current-based manipulation of the magnetization via the spin-orbit torque effect. Currently, magnetic insulator oxides with non-dissipative characteristics are being explored. When combined with non-magnetic heavy metals, known for their large spin-orbit coupling, they offer promising potential for energy-efficient spin-orbitronics applications. The intrinsic electronic correlations characterizing those strongly correlated oxides hold the promises to add extra control-knobs to the desired efficient spin-wave propagation and abrupt magnetization switching phenomena. Spinel vanadate FeV2O4 (FVO) exhibits several structural phase transitions which are accompanied by an intricate interplay of magnetic, charge and orbital orderings. When grown as a thin film onto SrTiO3, the compressive strain state induces a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, making FVO-based heterostructures desirable for spin-orbitronics applications. In this study, we have optimised the deposition of stoichiometric and epitaxial Pt/FVO heterostructures by Pulsed Laser Deposition and examined their spin-related phenomena. From angle-dependent magnetotransport measurements, we observed both Anisotropic Magnetoresistance (AMR) and Spin Hall Magnetoresistance (SMR) effects. Our findings show the SMR component as the primary contributor to the overall magnetoresistance, whose high value of 0.12% is only comparable to properly optimized oxide-based systems

Detection of decreased glomerular filtration rate in intensive care units: serum cystatin C versus serum creatinine

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<i>SNHG5</i> promotes colorectal cancer cell survival by counteracting STAU1-mediated mRNA destabilization

We currently have limited knowledge of the involvement of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in normal cellular processes and pathologies. Here, we identify and characterize SNHG5 as a stable cytoplasmic lncRNA with up-regulated expression in colorectal cancer. Depletion of SNHG5 induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro and limits tumour outgrowth in vivo, whereas SNHG5 overexpression counteracts oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis. Using an unbiased approach, we identify 121 transcript sites interacting with SNHG5 in the cytoplasm. Importantly, knockdown of key SNHG5 target transcripts, including SPATS2, induces apoptosis and thus mimics the effect seen following SNHG5 depletion. Mechanistically, we suggest that SNHG5 stabilizes the target transcripts by blocking their degradation by STAU1. Accordingly, depletion of STAU1 rescues the apoptosis induced after SNHG5 knockdown. Hence, we characterize SNHG5 as a lncRNA promoting tumour cell survival in colorectal cancer and delineate a novel mechanism in which a cytoplasmic lncRNA functions through blocking the action of STAU1

Cytokine Profiles in Sepsis Have Limited Relevance for Stratifying Patients in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Observational Study

INTRODUCTION: Morbidity, mortality and social cost of sepsis are high. Previous studies have suggested that individual cytokines levels could be used as sepsis markers. Therefore, we assessed whether the multiplex technology could identify useful cytokine profiles in Emergency Department (ED) patients. METHODS: ED patients were included in a single tertiary-care center prospective study. Eligible patients were >18 years and met at least one of the following criteria: fever, suspected systemic infection, ≥ 2 systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria, hypotension or shock. Multiplex cytokine measurements were performed on serum samples collected at inclusion. Associations between cytokine levels and sepsis were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regressions, principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC). RESULTS: Among the 126 patients (71 men, 55 women; median age: 54 years [19-96 years]) included, 102 had SIRS (81%), 55 (44%) had severe sepsis and 10 (8%) had septic shock. Univariate analysis revealed weak associations between cytokine levels and sepsis. Multivariate analysis revealed independent association between sIL-2R (p = 0.01) and severe sepsis, as well as between sIL-2R (p = 0.04), IL-1β (p = 0.046), IL-8 (p = 0.02) and septic shock. However, neither PCA nor AHC distinguished profiles characteristic of sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: Previous non-multiparametric studies might have reached inappropriate conclusions. Indeed, well-defined clinical conditions do not translate into particular cytokine profiles. Additional and larger trials are now required to validate the limited interest of expensive multiplex cytokine profiling for staging septic patients

[Avian cytogenetics goes functional] Third report on chicken genes and chromosomes 2015

High-density gridded libraries of large-insert clones using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and other vectors are essential tools for genetic and genomic research in chicken and other avian species... Taken together, these studies demonstrate that applications of large-insert clones and BAC libraries derived from birds are, and will continue to be, effective tools to aid high-throughput and state-of-the-art genomic efforts and the important biological insight that arises from them