Should immunosuppressives be stopped in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's granulomatosis) patients undergoing dialysis?

Immunosuppressives are frequently stopped in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) (Wegener's grantilomatosis)who develop end-stage renal disease. This is done because of the high frequency of infections reported among dialysis patients under immunosuppressives and the former impression that GPA patients no longer experience relapses after the development of end-stage renal disease. We present here a 22-year-old male patient with GPA who had gastrointestinal, genitourinary and respiratory system involvement. The patient died because of a gastrointestinal disease activation that occurred after immunosuppressives were stopped at the initiation of dialysis. The decision to stop immunosuppressives while starting dialysis should be made on an individual basis in patients with GPA, and the risks and benefits should be carefully evaluated

Validation expérimentale du concept des "îlots flottants": réalisation d'une FLIdiodes verticale 95 volts

National audienceDans ce papier, le concept des "îlots flottants" a été implémenté sur silicium : pour la première fois une FLIDiode a été fabriquée. Les résultats expérimentaux confirment les simulations prédictives 2D : cette nouvelle diode affiche une importante tenue en tension (aux alentours de 95 Volts) avec une concentration de la couche épitaxiée de 1,1.1016 cm-3 qui est habituellement utilisée pour des composants 50 Volts. Ces mesures valident d'une part le concept des "îlots flottants" et, d'autre part, l'efficacité de la structure de bord qui sera utilisée dans la technologie FLIMOS : on peut donc espérer que la résistance spécifique à l'état passant du transistor FLIMOS sera considérablement réduite par rapport à celle du transistor VDMOS conventionnel

Experimental validation of the "FLoating Island" concept: A 95 Volts Vertical breakdown voltage FLIDiode

International audienceIn this paper, the "FLoating Island" concept has been implemented on silicon: a FLIDiode has been built for the first time. Experimental results confirm the predictive 2D simulations: this new diode exhibits an important breakdown voltage (about 95 Volts) with a N- epitaxial layer doping concentration (1.1 x 1016 cm-3) usually dedicated to 50 Volts devices. These measurements validate the "FLoating Island" concept and the efficiency of the original edge cell that will be used in the FLIMOS technology: it can be expected that the specific onresistance of the FLIMOSFET will be drastically reduced compared to the conventional VDMOSFET

Experimental validation of the “FLoating Island” concept: realization of low on-resistance FLYMOS™ transistors

The present 14 volts automotive electrical system will soon become 42 volts. For these future automotive applications, development of 80 volts power MOSFETs exhibiting low on-resistance is desired. The “FLoating Island” MOSFET (FLIMOSFET) is one of the new candidates to break the silicon limit, which is the “specific on-resistance/breakdown voltage” trade-off limit of conventional power MOSFETs. In this paper, the “FLoating Island” concept has been implemented on silicon: new vertical N-channel FLIMOSFETs (FLYMOS™) dedicated to automotive applications (below 100 volts) have been fabricated for the first time, using two steps epitaxy process. Experimental results show that the FLYMOS™ transistor exhibit a breakdown voltage of 73 volts but also an improved specific on-resistance compared to conventional VDMOSFETs (33% reduction of the specific on-resistance for the same breakdown voltage). In other words, in terms of “specific on-resistance/breakdown voltage” trade-off, the FLYMOS™ transistor is one of the best MOS devices in low voltage applications. These measurements validate the “FLoating Island” concept and the efficiency of the original edge cell that is used in the FLYMOS™ technology

Experimental validation of the ‘FLoating Islands’ concept: 95 V breakdown voltage vertical FLIDiode

International audienceIn this paper, the “FLoating Island” concept has been implemented on silicon: a FLIDiode has been built for thefirst time. Experimental results confirm the predictive 2D simulations: this new diode exhibits an importantbreakdown voltage (about 95 Volts) with a N- epitaxial layer doping concentration (1.1 x 1016 cm-3) usuallydedicated to 50 Volts devices. These measurements validate the “FLoating Island” concept and the efficiency ofthe original edge cell that will be used in the FLIMOS technology: it can be expected that the specific on-resistance of the FLIMOSFET will be drastically reduced compared to the conventional VDMOSFE

Combined effect of Cd and Pb spiked field soils on bioaccumulation, DNA damage, and peroxidase activities in Trifolium repens

International audienceThe present study was designed to investigate the combined effects of Cd and Pb on accumulation and genotoxic potential in white clover (Trifolium repens). For this purpose, T. repens was exposed to contaminated soils (2.5–20 mg kg−1 cadmium (Cd), 250–2000 mg kg−1 lead (Pb) and a mixture of these two heavy metals) for 3, 10 and 56 days. The resulting bioaccumulation of Cd and Pb, DNA damage (comet assay) and peroxidase activities (APOX and GPOX) were determined. The exposure time is a determinant factor in experiments designed to measure the influence of heavy metal contamination. The accumulation of Cd or Pb resulting from exposure to the two-metal mixture does not appear to depend significantly on whether the white clover is exposed to soil containing one heavy metal or both. However, when T. repens is exposed to a Cd/Pb mixture, the percentage of DNA damage is lower than when the plant is exposed to monometallic Cd. DNA damage is close to that observed in the case of monometallic Pb exposure. Peroxidase activity cannot be associated with DNA damage under these experimental conditions