A Theory without Space & Time

Einstein would have like a theory with no space and no time; he added that he didn’t know how to do it (Klein & Spiro,1996). I guess that Einstein was not excited by the job, all the more that getting rid of space and time requires having accurate definitions beforehand. This is the case today, but, if it’s quite easy to proceed, we can’t ensure that the replacement leads to significant progress in the theory. It’s no doubt paradoxical that Einstein never defined time and space, neither did contemporary researchers like Stephen Hawking. The lack of definitions about space and time is a real disadvantage, insofar as defining something is saying what it is; otherwise, we don’t know what we’re talking about. For example, what is the physical nature of space as such? What are the physical properties of time? Is time a phenomenon or a concept? In addition, a good definition is supposed to bring some theoretical extensions. For this purpose, the definitions of the second and the meter will be clarified; the signification of the covariance of the parameters in a relativistic situation will be reminded. Our target, getting rid of time and space, is based on two ideas:• Given that the international unit of time is defined in relation to the frequency of the cesium, the term which is related to time will be replaced by a term related to the frequency.• The cesium wavelength is a fundamental constant; it’s of course covariant. It turns out that any length is proportional to the cesium wavelength; the proportionality coefficient, which is a multiple of the cesium wavelength, is invariant. The splitting in two parts is not only an arithmetical trick, it allows circumscribing the covariance

Very Late Local Relapse of Ewing's Sarcoma of the Head and Neck treated with Aggressive Multimodal Therapy

Ewing's sarcoma's relapse rarely occurs more than two years after the initial diagnosis. We report the case of a 26-year-old man with a history of Ewing's sarcoma of the left maxillary sinus at the age of 10 who presented with a very late local relapse, 16 years after the first occurrence of disease. Ultimate control was achieved after multimodal therapy including surgery, high-dose chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. This report indicates that local relapses of Ewing's sarcoma can be treated with curative intent in selected cases

Standardisation des piégeages en ligne pour quelques espèces de rongeurs

Une méthode standardisée de piégeage en ligne a été expé rimentée pour les rongeurs suivants : Eliomys quercinus, Pitymys multiplex, Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus arvalis, Apodemus sylvaticus et Taterillus pygargus. Toutes ces expériences confir ment l’idée générale qu’il existe une relation de proportionnalité entre la densité de population et le nombre de captures en un temps donné sur une longueur donnée de ligne. Mais cette relation dépend étroitement des caractères de l’activité des Rongeurs. Il est montré que le coefficient de ligne est une fonction puissance négative de la moyenne des distances entre recaptures successives de la catégorie considérée. Des coefficients de ligne d’usage pra tique sont indiqués.A standard line trapping technique has been tested with the following Rodent species : Eliomys quercinus, Pitymys multiplex, Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus arvalis, Apodemus sylvaticus and Taterillus pygargus. A proportional relation occurs between population density and number of catches during a given time- period, along a given length of trap-line. However this rela tionship depends also on the activity pattern and daily movements of the species studied. The « Line coefficient » is a negative power function of the average distance between successive catches (« average-D »)

Characteristics and management of congenital esophageal stenosis: findings from a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Congenital esophageal stenosis (CES) is a rare condition frequently associated with esophageal atresia (EA). There are limited data from small series about the presentation, treatment, and outcomes of CES. METHODS: Medical records of all patients with CES included in the French Network on Esophageal Malformations and Congenital Diseases were reviewed retrospectively with regard to diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. RESULTS: Over 18 years, 61 patients (30 boys) had CES, and 29 (47%) of these patients also had EA. The mean age at diagnosis was 24 months (1 day to 14 years) and was younger in patients with CES and EA than in those with isolated CES (7 vs. 126 months, p < 0.05). Twenty-one of the 61 patients with CES had no clinical symptoms: in three patients, the findings were incidental, and in 18 of the 29 patients with associated EA, CES was diagnosed at the time of surgical repair of EA or during a postoperative systematic esophageal barium study. In the 40 other patients, at diagnosis, 50% presented with dysphasia, 40% with vomiting, 50% with food impaction, and 42% with respiratory symptoms. Diagnosis of CES was confirmed by esophageal barium study (56/61) and/or esophageal endoscopy (50/61). Sixteen patients had tracheobronchial remnants (TBR), 40 had fibromuscular stenosis (FMS), and five had membrane stenosis (MS). Thirty-four patients (56%) were treated by dilation only (13/34 remained asymptomatic at follow-up); 15 patients were treated by dilation but required later surgery because of failure (4/15 remained asymptomatic at follow-up); and nine patients had a primary surgical intervention (4/9 were asymptomatic at follow-up). Dilation was complicated by esophageal perforation in two patients (3.4%). At follow-up, dysphagia remained in 36% (21/58) of patients, but the incidence did not differ between the EA and the isolated CS groups (10/29 vs. 7/32, p = 0.27). CONCLUSIONS: CS diagnosis can be delayed when associated with EA. Dilation may be effective for treating patients with FMS and MS, but surgical repair is often required for those with TBR. Our results show clearly that, regardless of the therapeutic option, dysphagia occurs frequently, and patients with CES should be followed over the long term

Biases in the perceived timing of perisaccadic perceptual and motor events

Subjects typically experience the temporal interval immediately following a saccade as longer than a comparable control interval. One explanation of this effect is that the brain antedates the perceptual onset of a saccade target to around the time of saccade initiation. This could explain the apparent continuity of visual perception across eye movements. Thisantedating account was tested in three experiments in which subjects made saccades of differing extents and then judged either the duration or the temporal order of key events. Postsaccadic stimuli underwent subjective temporal lengthening and had early perceived onsets. A temporally advanced awareness of saccade completion was also found, independently of antedating effects. These results provide convergent evidence supporting antedating and differentiating it from other temporal biases

Faecal occult blood screening and reduction of colorectal cancer mortality: a case-control study

To estimate the efficacy of screening on colorectal cancer mortality, a population-based case–control study was conducted in well-defined areas of Burgundy (France). Screening by faecal occult blood test prior to diagnosis in cases born between 1914 and 1943 and who died of colorectal cancer diagnosed in 1988–94 was compared with screening in controls matched with the case for age, sex and place of residence. Cases were less likely to have been screened than controls, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48–0.94]. The negative overall association did not differ by gender or by anatomical location. The odds ratio of death from colorectal cancer was 0.64 (95% CI 0.46–0.91) for those screened within 3 years of case diagnosis compared with those not screened. It was 1.14 (95% CI 0.50–2.63) for those screened more than 3 years before case diagnosis. There was a negative association between the risk of death from colorectal cancer and the number of participations in the screening campaigns. The inverse association between screening for faecal occult blood and fatal colorectal cancer suggests that screening can reduce colorectal cancer mortality. This report further supports recommendations for population-based mass screening with faecal occult blood test. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

A multifactorial approach including tumoural epidermal growth factor receptor, p53, thymidylate synthase and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase to predict treatment outcome in head and neck cancer patients receiving 5-fluorouracil

The prognostic value of tumoural epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), p53, thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) was analysed on 82 advanced head and neck cancer patients (71 men, 11 women; mean age 59). Induction treatment was cisplatin–5-FU ± folinic acid (61 patients, Chem group) or concomitant cisplatin–5-FU–radiotherapy (21 patients, RChem group). EGFR (binding assay), p53 protein (Sangtec immunoluminometric assay), TS and DPD activities (radioenzymatic assays) were measured on biopsies obtained at time of diagnosis. Significant positive correlation was demonstrated between p53 and EGFR. In the RChem group, p53 was higher in non-complete responders (median 1.03 ng mg−1) than in complete responders (median 0.08 ng mg−1) (P = 0.057). Univariate Cox analyses stratified on treatment group showed that specific survival (33 events) was significantly related to T staging, p53 taken as continuous or categorial (below vs over 0.80 ng mg−1) variable, and EGFR (below vs over 220 fmol mg−1); survival increased when EGFR and p53 were below thresholds. Multivariate stepwise analysis including T staging, EGFR and p53 revealed that T staging and EGFR were independent predictors of survival; relative risks were 3.68 for T staging and 2.65 for EGFR. Overall, EGFR remained an independent prognostic factor when response to treatment and T staging were considered in the multivariate analysis. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Combined effects of bevacizumab with erlotinib and irradiation: a preclinical study on a head and neck cancer orthotopic model

Clinical benefit has been demonstrated in patients with head and neck tumours receiving an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) agent in combination with radiotherapy (RT). Recent preclinical and clinical studies suggest beneficial effects from combining anti-angiogenic drugs with RT. To investigate the effect of combining these approaches, we evaluated in vivo the anti-tumour efficacy of the anti-angiogenic compound bevacizumab, a highly specific monoclonal antibody directed against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), erlotinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and irradiation given alone and in combination. Investigations were performed using a VEGF-secreting human head and neck tumour cell line, CAL33, with a high EGFR content, injected as orthotopic xenografts into the mouth floor of nude mice. Three days after tumour cell injection, bevacizumab (5 mg kg−1, 5 days a week, i.p.), erlotinib (100 mg kg−1, 5 days a week, orally) and irradiation (6 Gy, 3 days a week) were administered alone and in combination for 10 days. As compared with the control, concomitant administration of drugs produced a marked and significant supra-additive decrease in tumour mass; the addition of irradiation almost completely abolished tumour growth. The drug association markedly reduced the number of metastatic nodes and the triple combination significantly reduced the total number of pathologically positive lymph nodes as compared with controls. The RT-induced proliferation, reflected by Ki67 labelling, was reduced to control level with the triple combination. Radiotherapy induced a strong and very significant increase in tumour angiogenesis, which was no longer observed when combined with erlotinib and bevacizumab. The efficacy of the combination of bevacizumab+erlotinib and RT may be of clinical importance in the management of head and neck cancer patients

How environmental managers perceive and approach the issue of invasive species: the case of Japanese knotweed s.l. (Rhône River, France)

We would like to thank Springer for publishing our article. The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10530-015-0969-1International audienceStudying the perceptions of stakeholders or interested parties is a good way to better understand behaviours and decisions. This is especially true for the management of invasive species such as Japanese knotweed s.l. This plant has spread widely in the Rhône basin, where significant financial resources have been devoted to its management. However, no control technique is recognized as being particularly effective. Many uncertainties remain and many documents have been produced by environmental managers to disseminate current knowledge about the plant and its management. This article aims at characterizing the perceptions that environmental managers have of Japanese knotweed s.l. A discourse analysis was conducted on the printed documentation produced about Japanese knotweed s.l. by environmental managers working along the Rhône River (France). The corpus was both qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The results indicated a diversity of perceptions depending on the type of environmental managers involved, as well as the geographicalareas and scales on which they acted. Whereas some focused on general knowledge relating to the origins and strategies of colonization, others emphasized the diversity and efficacy of the prospective eradication techniques. There is a real interest in implementing targeted actions to meet local issues. To do so, however, these issues must be better defined. This is a challenging task, as it must involve all types of stakeholders

Prognostic significance of cortactin levels in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: comparison with epidermal growth factor receptor status

Cortactin is an actin-binding Src substrate involved in cell motility and invasion. In this study, we sought to examine the prognostic importance of cortactin protein expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). To do so, cortactin and EGF receptor (EGFR) expression was retrospectively evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray composed of 176 HNSCCs with a mean follow-up time of 5 years. Cortactin immunoreactivity was weak to absent in normal epithelial tissue. Overexpression of the protein in 77 out of 176 tumours (44%) was associated with more advanced tumour-node-metastasis stage and higher histologic grade. Cortactin overexpression was associated with significantly increased local recurrence rates (49 vs 28% for high and low expressing carcinomas, respectively), decreased disease-free survival (17 vs 61%), and decreased the 5-year overall survival of (21 vs 58%), independently of the EGFR status. In multivariate analysis, cortactin expression status remained an independent prognostic factor for local recurrence, disease-free survival, and overall survival. Importantly, we identified a subset of patients with cortactin-overexpressing tumours that displayed low EGFR levels and a survival rate that equalled that of patients with tumoral overexpression of both EGFR and cortactin. These findings identify cortactin as a relevant prognostic marker and may have implications for targeted therapies in patients with HNSCC