Formes histologiques particulieres du cancer du nasopharynx

Le carcinome épidermoïde du nasopharynx est la forme histopathologique la plus fréquente. Cependant, d'autres formeshistologiques, bien qu’exceptionnelles peuvent se voir. Le but de notre travail est d'étudier le profil thérapeutique et évolutif de ces entités. Nous rapportons trois observations particulières de cancer du cavum. Il s'agissait de 3 patientes âgées respectivement de 15, 36 et 33 ans. La première patiente, atteinte d'un mélanome malin du cavum (T2aN2Mo) (UICCC 97), a bénéficié d'un évidement ganglionnaire cervical radical droit suivi d'une chimiothérapie. La patiente est décédée un mois et demi plus tard. La deuxième patiente, atteinte d'un carcinome mucoépidermoïde du cavum (T4NoMo) (UICCC 97) a bénéficié d'uneradio-chimiothérapie concomitante avec rémission complète à 17 mois de recul. La troisième patiente, présente un carcinome adénoïde kystique du cavum (T2bNoMo) (UICCC 97), a bénéficié d'une exérèse tumorale large avec évidement ganglionnaire cervical homolatéral suivie d'une radiothérapie post opératoire. Elle a présenté des métastases pulmonaires 12 mois après, traitées par chimiothérapie avec une réponse partielle. Actuellement, elle est à 18 mois de recul après la chimiothérapie. Ces formes histopathologiques du cancer du cavum sont exceptionnelles (< 1 % des tumeurs malignes du cavum). Il n'existe aucune particularité clinique ou radiologique et le diagnostic reste histopathologique. Ces tumeurs posent un problème de prise en charge puisqu’il n’existe pas de traitement codifié pour ces formes rares. Le pronostic dépend du stade de la maladie et du type histologique.Mots clés : nasopharynx, cancer, mélanome, carcinome mucoépidermoïde, carcinome adénoïde kystique, chirurgie, radiothérapie, chimiothérapie

The DmsABC Sulfoxide Reductase Supports Virulence in Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae.

Although molybdenum-containing enzymes are well-established as having a key role in bacterial respiration, it is increasingly recognized that some may also support bacterial virulence. Here, we show that DmsABC, a putative dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) reductase, is required for fitness of the respiratory pathogen Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) in different models of infection. Expression of the dmsABC operon increased with decreasing oxygen availability, but despite this, a Hi2019Δd msA strain did not show any defects in anaerobic growth on chemically defined medium (CDM), and viability was also unaffected. Although Hi2019Δd msA exhibited increased biofilm formation in vitro and greater resistance to hypochlorite killing compared to the isogenic wild-type strain, its survival in contact with primary human neutrophils, in infections of cultured tissue cells, or in a mouse model of lung infection was reduced compared to Hi2019WT. The tissue cell infection model revealed a two-fold decrease in intracellular survival, while in the mouse model of lung infection Hi2019Δd msA was strongly attenuated and below detection levels at 48 h post-inoculation. While Hi2019WT was recovered in approximately equal numbers from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue, survival of Hi2019Δd msA was reduced in lung tissue compared to BALF samples, indicating that Hi2019Δd msA had reduced access to or survival in the intracellular niche. Our data clearly indicate for the first time a role for DmsABC in H. influenzae infection and that the conditions under which DmsABC is required in this bacterium are closely linked to interactions with the host

Applying MDA and OMG Robotic Specification for Developing Robotic Systems

Robotics systems have special needs often related with their realtime nature and environmental properties. Often, control and communication paths within the system are tightly coupled to the actual physical configuration of the robot. As a consequence, these robots can only be assembled, configured, and programmed by robot experts. Traditional approaches, based on mainly writing the code without using software engineering techniques, are still used in the development process of these systems. Even when these robotic systems are successfully used, several problems can be identified and it is widely accepted that new approaches should be explored. The contribution of this research consists in delineating guidelines for the construction of robotic software systems, taking advantage of the application of the OMG standard robotic specifications which adhere to the model-driven approach MDA. Thereby the expert knowledge is captured in standard abstract models that can then be reused by other less experienced developers. In addition part of the code is automatically generated, reducing costs and improving quality

A case of coexisting Warthin tumor and langerhans cell histiocytosis associated with necrosis, eosinophilic abscesses and a granulomatous reaction in intraparotid lymph nodes

We present a patient (50-year-old male) with coexisting Warthin tumor and involvement of two intraparotid lymph nodes by Langerhans cell histiocytosis associated with necrosis, eosinophilic abscesses and a granulomatous reaction. This is the second documented case of this unusual combination of histological changes in nodal Langerhans cell histiocytosis and the first case involving intraparotid lymph nodes occurring together with an ipsilateral Warthin tumor

Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) degradation by nitrate-reducing bacteria

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00253-017-8212-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.The surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) is widely used in the composition of detergents and frequently ends up in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). While aerobic SLES degradation is well studied, little is known about the fate of this compound in anoxic environments, such as denitrification tanks of WWTPs, nor about the bacteria involved in the anoxic biodegradation. Here, we used SLES as sole carbon and energy source, at concentrations ranging from 50 to 1000 mg L1, to enrich and isolate nitrate-reducing bacteria from activated sludge of a WWTP with the anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2/O) concept. In the 50 mg L1 enrichment, Comamonas (50%), Pseudomonas (24%), and Alicycliphilus (12%) were present at higher relative abundance, while Pseudomonas (53%) became dominant in the 1000 mg L1 enrichment. Aeromonas hydrophila strain S7, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain S8, and Pseudomonas nitroreducens strain S11 were isolated from the enriched cultures. Under denitrifying conditions, strains S8 and S11 degraded 500 mg L1 SLES in less than 1 day, while strain S7 required more than 6 days. Strains S8 and S11 also showed a remarkable resistance to SLES, being able to grow and reduce nitrate with SLES concentrations up to 40 g L1. Strain S11 turned out to be the best anoxic SLES degrader, degrading up to 41% of 500 mg L1. The comparison between SLES anoxic and oxic degradation by strain S11 revealed differences in SLES cleavage, degradation, and sulfate accumulation; both ester and ether cleavage were probably employed in SLES anoxic degradation by strain S11.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (contract project CTQ2007-64324 and 447 CONSOLIDER-CSD 2007-00055). The Regional Government of Castilla y Leon (Ref. GR76) is also gratefully acknowledged. MRD is supported by the WIMEK graduate school (project BAdaptive capacity and functionality of multi-trophic aquatic ecosystems^). AJMS is supported by the Gravitation grant (project 024.002.002) of the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Science Foundation (NWO). AJMS and AJC are supported by an European ResearchCouncil (ERC) Grant (Project 323009).Thisstudywassupported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. This study was alsosupportedbythePortugueseFoundationforScienceandTechnology (FCT) under the scope of the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462). Joana Alves from University of Minho (Portugal) is acknowledged for support with the molecular techniques.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lipolytic Enzymes as Potential Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: New diagnosis tests are urgently needed to address the global tuberculosis (TB) burden and to improve control programs especially in resource-limited settings. An effective in vitro diagnostic of TB based on serological methods would be regarded as an attractive progress because immunoassays are simple, rapid, inexpensive, and may offer the possibility to detect cases missed by standard sputum smear microscopy. However, currently available serology tests for TB are highly variable in sensitivity and specificity. Lipolytic enzymes have recently emerged as key factors in lipid metabolization during dormancy and/or exit of the non-replicating growth phase, a prerequisite step of TB reactivation. The focus of this study was to analyze and compare the potential of four Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipolytic enzymes (LipY, Rv0183, Rv1984c and Rv3452) as new markers in the serodiagnosis of active TB. METHODS: Recombinant proteins were produced and used in optimized ELISA aimed to detect IgG and IgM serum antibodies against the four lipolytic enzymes. The capacity of the assays to identify infection was evaluated in patients with either active TB or latent TB and compared with two distinct control groups consisting of BCG-vaccinated blood donors and hospitalized non-TB individuals. RESULTS: A robust humoral response was detected in patients with active TB whereas antibodies against lipolytic enzymes were infrequently detected in either uninfected groups or in subjects with latent infection. High specifity levels, ranging from 93.9% to 97.5%, were obtained for all four antigens with sensitivity values ranging from 73.4% to 90.5%, with Rv3452 displaying the highest performances. Patients with active TB usually exhibited strong IgG responses but poor IgM responses. CONCLUSION: These results clearly indicate that the lipolytic enzymes tested are strongly immunogenic allowing to distinguish active from latent TB infections. They appear as potent biomarkers providing high sensitivity and specificity levels for the immunodiagnosis of active TB

Modelling and Verification of Timed Robotic Controllers

Designing robotic systems can be very challenging, yet controllers are often specified using informal notations with development driven primarily by simulations and physical experiments, without relation to abstract models of requirements. The ability to perform formal analysis and replicate results across different robotic platforms is hindered by the lack of well-defined formal notations. In this paper we present a timed state-machine based formal notation for robotics that is informed by current practice. We motivate our work with an example from swarm robotics and define a compositional CSP-based discrete timed semantics suitable for refinement. Our results support verification and, importantly, enable rigorous connection with sound simulations and deployments.</p

Modelling and verification for swarm robotics

RoboChart is a graphical domain-specific language, based on UML, but tailored for the modelling and verification of single robot systems. In this paper, we introduce RoboChart facilities for modelling and verifying heterogeneous collections of interacting robots. We propose a new construct that describes the collection itself, and a new communication construct that allows fine-grained control over the communication patterns of the robots. Using these novel constructs, we apply RoboChart to model a simple yet powerful and widely used algorithm to maintain the aggregation of a swarm. Our constructs can be useful also in the context of other diagrammatic languages, including UML, to describe collections of arbitrary interacting entities.</p