Analytical validation of the new plasma calibrated Accu-Chek (R) Test Strips (Roche Diagnostics)

peer reviewedBackground: The Accu-Chek Inform glucose monitor is a point-of-care system for testing blood glucose. New test strips, calibrated to deliver glucose plasma-like values, were launched on the market in May 2005. The aim of our study was to perform analytical validation of these new strips. Methods: We compared the new plasma strips with whole blood strips; results for the plasma strips with plasma values obtained using a clinical analyzer and with whole blood values given by the glucose electrode of a blood gas analyzer; and the influence of the type of blood (capillary or venous) on the results obtained by the glucose monitor with the plasma calibrated strips. Results: Plasma strips give on average 7% higher results than the previous whole blood strips. However, the results given by the plasma strips on capillary whole blood, even if well correlated, are not completely comparable with those given by an analyzer for venous plasma. Nevertheless, these plasma strips and the glucose electrode of a blood gas analyzer give comparable results. Conclusions: Accu-Chek Inform plasma strips are a good method for monitoring of blood glucose values in patients with diabetes

La route des Flandres

Le groupe Champagne-Ardenne organisait les 18 et 19 septembre son premier voyage d’étude depuis sa reconstitution en décembre 2005 à Rotterdam, via Bruxelles. Une trentaine d’adhérents de toute la région, de la bibliothèque de Warnecourt (Ardenne) à la toute nouvelle bibliothèque Robert de Sorbon de l’université de Reims, ont visité tour à tour le musée de l’Imprimerie, la chalcographie de la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique et la Bibliothèque centrale du réseau de Rotterdam

Metadata Systems for Data Lakes: Models and Features

International audienceOver the past decade, the data lake concept has emerged as an alternative to data warehouses for storing and analyzing big data. A data lake allows storing data without any predefined schema. Therefore, data querying and analysis depend on a metadata system that must be efficient and comprehensive. However, metadata management in data lakes remains a current issue and the criteria for evaluating its effectiveness are more or less nonexistent.In this paper, we introduce MEDAL, a generic, graph-based model for metadata management in data lakes. We also propose evaluation criteria for data lake metadata systems through a list of expected features. Eventually, we show that our approach is more comprehensive than existing metadata systems

From statistical categorizations to ordinary categorizations of social space: history and legacy of an original study based on a card game

This article puts the sociology of quantification invented and promoted by Alain Desrosières into perspective regarding a fruitful but rarely addressed approach in this research stream: the relationships that are built between official (or scholar) classifications and ordinary categorizations of the social space. In order to achieve this, the article first sheds light on the history of an innovative study designed by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, a study which aimed to put ordinary people in the position to produce their own classification of the social space on the basis of a “card game.” In a second step, we aim to compare and analyze the later uses of this study in France and abroad (Germany, Chile and Switzerland). Beyond differences due to each study’s design and theoretical background, every study’s collected ranking clearly depicts hierarchical social structures, even though those rankings show some variations which rely on the kind of information indicated on each card games, national contexts and respondents’ dispositions

Insulin amyloidosis: A case report

Insulin amyloidosis is a rare form of localized amyloidosis due to insulin aggregation into subcutaneous amyloid fibrils. We describe the case of a 55 years old male with insulin-requiring type 1 diabetes presenting with two non-inflammatory intra-dermal nodules associated with local lymph node enlargement. Diagnosis was confirmed by Congo red coloration of the amyloid deposit and insulin protein identification on mass spectrometry. Insulin amyloidosis is a potential complication of repeated subcutaneous insulin injections. The main risk factor is the intrinsic characteristic of the insulin used. Insulin amyloidosis leads to systemic metabolic consequences such as chronic hyperglycemia or unpredictable hypoglycemia, as well as unesthetic cutaneous lumps or abscesses. Standard-of-care is yet to be defined but mainly rely on therapeutical education of insulin injections, while surgical excision is reported to improve glycemic control in some patients

Orodental phenotype and genotype findings in all subtypes of hypophosphatasia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypophosphatasia (HP) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by a wide spectrum of defects in mineralized tissues and caused by deficiency in the tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase gene (<it>ALPL</it>). The symptoms are highly variable in their clinical expression, and relate to numerous mutations in this gene. The first clinical sign of the disease is often a premature loss of deciduous teeth, mostly in the moderate forms.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to document the oral features of HP patients and to relate theses features to the six recognized forms of HP in 5 patients with known genotype and to investigate the genotype-phenotype correlations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Clinical and radiographic examinations were carried out. We collected medical and dental history in the kindred and biochemical data. Finally, mutations in the <it>ALPL </it>gene were tested by DNA sequencing in SESEP laboratory.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have for the first time related the known dental anomalies which occur as integral features of HP to the recognized clinical forms of HP. We also pointed out striking dental abnormalities which were never described in association with this rare disease. Accurate genotype-phenotype severity correlations were observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work allowed us to compare orodental manifestations in all the clinical forms of HP within the patient's sample. According to the severity of the disorder, some dental defects were infrequent, while other were always present. The long term prognosis of the permanent teeth varies from a patient to another. As premature loss of primary teeth is often the first, and sometimes the only visible symptom of the milder forms, the paediatric dentist plays a critical role in the detection and diagnosis of the disease.</p

G x E interactions on yield and quality in Coffea arabica: New F1 hybrids outperform American cultivars

Conventional American cultivars of coffee are no longer adapted to global warming. Finding highly productive and stable cultivars in different environments without neglecting quality characteristics has become a priority for breeders. In this study, new Arabica F1 hybrids clones were compared to conventional American varieties in seven contrasting environments, for yield, rust incidence and volume of the canopy. The quality was assessed through size, weight of 100 beans, biochemical analysis (24 aroma precursors and 31 volatiles compounds) and sensory analysis. Conventional varieties were the least productive, producing 50% less than the best hybrid. The AMMI model analysis pointed out five hybrids as the most stable and productive. Two F1 hybrids clones, H1-Centroamericano and H16-Mundo Maya, were superior to the most planted American cultivar in Latin and Central America showing a high yield performance and stability performance. H1-Centroamerica and Starmaya contain more d-limonene than Caturra, while Starmaya contain more 3-methylbutanoic acid than the control. Those two latter volatiles compounds are linked with good cup quality in previous studies. In terms of sensory analysis, Starmaya and H1-Centroamericano scored better than control

Experimental Study of Collective Pedestrian Dynamics

We report on two series of experiments, conducted in the frame of two different collaborations designed to study how pedestrians adapt their trajectories and velocities in groups or crowds. Strong emphasis is put on the motivations for the chosen protocols and the experimental implementation. The first series deals with pattern formation, interactions between pedestrians, and decision-making in pedestrian groups at low to medium densities. In particular, we show how pedestrians adapt their headways in single-file motion depending on the (prescribed) leader’s velocity. The second series of experiments focuses on static crowds at higher densities, a situation that can be critical in real life and in which the pedestrians’ choices of motion are strongly constrained sterically. More precisely, we study the crowd’s response to its crossing by a pedestrian or a cylindrical obstacle of 74cm in diameter. In the latter case, for a moderately dense crowd, we observe displacements that quickly decay with the minimal distance to the obstacle, over a lengthscale of the order of the meter