Autobiographical memory, self, and stress-related psychiatric disorders: which implications in cancer patients?

International audienceAutobiographical memory refers to information and memories of personal life events, accumulated since childhood, which enable the construction of a feeling of identity and continuity. Autobiographical memory retrieval is a dynamic and reconstructive process, as mental representations change with the passage of time. This flexible aspect of memory is linked to one's changing self and aspirations over time, that evolve according to our personal status and environment. Hence, any breakdown in the continuity of life involves a distortion of memory. Such distortions can be observed in stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, where autobiographical memory retrieval is characterized by overgenerality (i.e., the tendency to recall generic memories rather than specific events in response to cue words). Such memory disorders can be observed at different degrees in cancer patients. We will report studies focusing on the above-mentioned psychiatric disorders and cancer, and will attempt to establish a relation with autobiographical memory disturbances. The better understanding of such memory deficits could permit new pathophysiological hypotheses to emerge. Recommendations for future research that will enhance understanding of the factors that contribute to autobiographical memory in cancer are suggested

Fictitious Domain Method for Unsteady Problems: Application to Electromagnetic Scattering

In this work, we present and implement a fictitious domain method for time dependent problems of scattering by obstacles. We focus our attention on the case of 2D electromagnetic waves and perfectly conducting boundaries. Such a method allows us to work with uniform meshes for the electric field, independently of the geometry of the obstacle, the boundary condition being taken into account via the introduction of a Lagrange multiplier that can be interpreted as a surface current. After a brief description of the method and a presentation of its main properties, we show the superiority in terms of accuracy of this new method over the method that consists in using a staircase like approximation of the boundary

Accurate characterization of pure silicon-substituted hydroxyapatite powders synthesized by a new precipitation route

International audienceThis paper presents a new aqueous precipitation method to prepare silicon-substituted hydroxyapatites Ca10(PO4)6-y(SiO4)y(OH)2-y(VOH)2-y (SiHAs) and details the characterization of powders with varying Si content up to y = 1.25 mol molSiHA−1. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to accurately characterize samples calcined at 400°C for 2 h and 1000°C for 15 h. This method allows the synthesis of monophasic SiHAs with controlled stoichiometry. The theoretical maximum limit of incorporation of Si into the hexagonal apatitic structure is y < 1.5. This limit depends on the OH content in the channel, which is a function of the Si content, temperature and atmosphere of calcination. These results, particularly those from infrared spectroscopy, raise serious reservations about the phase purity of previously prepared and biologically evaluated SiHA powders, pellets and scaffolds in the literature

Perceived Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Survivors and Its Relationships with Psychological Factors

Cognitive complaints are common adverse effects for breast cancer survivors, with potential negative impacts on quality of life or return to work. Identifying subjects at risk could allow to reduce cognitive disorders or to set up appropriate care. In this study we explored current cognitive complaints reported by breast cancer survivors, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognition (FACT-Cog) questionnaire and examined the relationships between current cognitive complaints and current psychological symptoms (especially post-traumatic stress symptoms). This large survey showed that about half of breast cancer survivors reported cognitive complaints after cancer treatments. These complaints were mainly associated with chemotherapy, age, self-reported sleep difficulties, the frequency of psychotropic treatments and psychological factors including post-traumatic stress symptoms or. Some modifiable risk factors should be detected early to reduce persistent cognitive complaints after cancer, including sleep difficulties and post-traumatic stress symptoms

Micro-confinement of bacteria into w/o emulsion droplets for rapid detection and enumeration

International audienceToday, rapid detection and identification of bacteria in microbiological diagnosis is a major issue. Reference methods usually rely on growth of microorganisms, with the drawback of lengthy time-to-result. The method provides global information on a clonal population that is known to be inhomogeneous relative to metabolic states and activities. Therefore, there may be a significant advantage of methods that allow characterisation of individual bacteria from a large population, both for test time reduction and the clinical value of the characterisation. We report here a method for rapid detection and real-time monitoring of the metabolic activities of single bacteria. Water-in-oil emulsions were used to encapsulate single Escherichia coli cells into picolitre (pL)-sized microreactor droplets. The glucuronidase activity in each droplet was monitored using the fluorogenic reporter molecule MUG (4-methylumbelliferyl- - d-glucuronide) coupled to time-lapse fluorescence imaging of the droplets. Such bacterial confinement provides several major advantages. (1) Enzymatic activities of a large number of single bacterium-containing droplet could be monitored simultaneously, allowing the full characterisation of metabolic heterogeneity in a clonal population. We monitored glucuronidase enzymatic activity and growth over ∼200 single bacteria over a 24-h period. (2) Micro-confinement of cells in small volumes allows rapid accumulation of the fluorescent metabolite, hence decreasing the detection time. Independent of the initial concentration of bacteria in the sample, detection of the presence of bacteria could be achieved in less than 2 h. (3) Considering the random distribution of bacteria in droplets, this method allowed rapid and reliable enumeration of bacteria in the initial sample. Overall, the results of this study showed that confinement of bacterial cells increased the effective concentration of fluorescent metabolites leading to rapid (2 h) detection of the fluorescent metabolites, thus significantly reducing time to numeration

Apoptosis, G1 Phase Stall, and Premature Differentiation Account for Low Chimeric Competence of Human and Rhesus Monkey Naive Pluripotent Stem Cells

After reprogramming to naive pluripotency, human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) still exhibit very low ability to make interspecies chimeras. Whether this is because they are inherently devoid of the attributes of chimeric competency or because naive PSCs cannot colonize embryos from distant species remains to be elucidated. Here, we have used different types of mouse, human, and rhesus monkey naive PSCs and analyzed their ability to colonize rabbit and cynomolgus monkey embryos. Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) remained mitotically active and efficiently colonized host embryos. In contrast, primate naive PSCs colonized host embryos with much lower efficiency. Unlike mouse ESCs, they slowed DNA replication after dissociation and, after injection into host embryos, they stalled in the G1 phase and differentiated prematurely, regardless of host species. We conclude that human and non-human primate naive PSCs do not efficiently make chimeras because they are inherently unfit to remain mitotically active during colonization

Severe pain management in the emergency department: patient pathway as a new factor associated with IV morphine prescription

BackgroundAcross the world, 25–29% of the population suffer from pain. Pain is the most frequent reason for an emergency department (ED) visit. This symptom is involved in approximately 70% of all ED visits. The effective management of acute pain with adequate analgesia remains a challenge, especially for severe pain. Intravenous (IV) morphine protocols are currently indicated. These protocols are based on patient-reported scores, most often after an immediate evaluation of pain intensity at triage. However, they are not systematically prescribed. This aspect could be explained by the fact that physicians individualize opioid pain management for each patient and each care pathway to determine the best benefit–risk balance. Few data are available regarding bedside organizational factors involved in this phenomenon.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the organizational factors associated with no IV morphine prescription in a standardized context of opioid management in a tertiary-care ED.MethodsA 3-month prospective study with a case–control design was conducted in a French university hospital ED. This study focused on factors associated with protocol avoidance despite a visual analog scale (VAS) ≥60 or a numeric rating scale (NRS) ≥6 at triage. Pain components, physician characteristics, patient epidemiologic characteristics, and care pathways were considered. Qualitative variables (percentages) were compared using Fisher’s exact test or the chi-squared tests. Student’s t-test was used to compare continuous variables. The results were expressed as means with their standard deviation (SD). Factors associated with morphine avoidance were identified by logistic regression.ResultsA total of 204 patients were included in this study. A total of 46 cases (IV morphine) and 158 controls (IV morphine avoidance) were compared (3:1 ratio). Pain patterns and patient’s epidemiologic characteristics were not associated with an IV morphine prescription. Regarding NRS intervals, the results suggest a practice disconnected from the patient’s initial self-report. IV morphine avoidance was significantly associated with care pathways. A significant difference between the IV morphine group and the IV morphine avoidance group was observed for “self-referral” [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 5.11, 95% CIs: 2.32–12.18, p &lt; 0.0001] and patients’ trajectories (Fisher’s exact test; p &lt; 0.0001), suggesting IV morphine avoidance in ambulatory pathways. In addition, “junior physician grade” was associated with IV morphine avoidance (aOR: 2.35, 95% CIs: 1.09–5.25, p = 0.03), but physician gender was not.ConclusionThis bedside case–control study highlights that IV morphine avoidance in the ED could be associated with ambulatory pathways. It confirms the decreased choice of “NRS-only” IV morphine protocols for all patients, including non-trauma patterns. Modern pain education should propose new tools for pain evaluation that integrate the heterogeneity of ED pathways

Establishment and analysis of a reference transcriptome for Spodoptera frugiperda

International audienceBackground Spodoptera frugiperda (Noctuidae) is a major agricultural pest throughout the American continent. The highly polyphagous larvae are frequently devastating crops of importance such as corn, sorghum, cotton and grass. In addition, the Sf9 cell line, widely used in biochemistry for in vitro protein production, is derived from S. frugiperda tissues. Many research groups are using S. frugiperda as a model organism to investigate questions such as plant adaptation, pest behavior or resistance to pesticides.ResultsIn this study, we constructed a reference transcriptome assembly (Sf_TR2012b) of RNA sequences obtained from more than 35 S. frugiperda developmental time-points and tissue samples. We assessed the quality of this reference transcriptome by annotating a ubiquitous gene family - ribosomal proteins - as well as gene families that have a more constrained spatio-temporal expression and are involved in development, immunity and olfaction. We also provide a time-course of expression that we used to characterize the transcriptional regulation of the gene families studied.ConclusionWe conclude that the Sf_TR2012b transcriptome is a valid reference transcriptome. While its reliability decreases for the detection and annotation of genes under strong transcriptional constraint we still recover a fair percentage of tissue-specific transcripts. That allowed us to explore the spatial and temporal expression of genes and to observe that some olfactory receptors are expressed in antennae and palps but also in other non related tissues such as fat bodies. Similarly, we observed an interesting interplay of gene families involved in immunity between fat bodies and antennae

Low probability of disease cure in advanced ovarian carcinomas before the PARP inhibitor era

BACKGROUND: In ovarian carcinomas, the likelihood of disease cure following first-line medical-surgical treatment has been poorly addressed. The objective was to: (a) assess the likelihood of long-term disease-free (LDF) > 5 years; and (b) evaluate the impact of the tumour primary chemosensitivity (assessed with the modelled CA-125 KELIM) with respect to disease stage, and completeness of debulking surgery. METHODS: Three Phase III trial datasets (AGO-OVAR 9; AGO-OVAR 7; ICON-7) were retrospectively investigated in an "adjuvant dataset", whilst the Netherlands Cancer Registry was used in a "neoadjuvant dataset". The prognostic values of KELIM, disease stage and surgery outcomes regarding the likelihood of LDF were assessed using univariate/multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Of 2029 patients in the "adjuvant dataset", 82 (4.0%) experienced LDF (Stage I-II: 25.9%; III: 2.1%; IV: 0.5%). Multivariate analyses identified disease stage and KELIM (OR = 4.24) as independent prognostic factors. Among the 1452 patients from the "neoadjuvant dataset", 36 (2.4%) had LDF (Stage II-III: 3.3%; IV: 1.3%). Using multivariate tests, high-risk diseases (OR = 0.18) and KELIM (OR = 2.96) were significant. CONCLUSION: The probability of LDF > 5 years after first-line treatment in 3486 patients (<4%) was lower than thought. These data could represent a reference for future studies meant to assess progress related to PARP inhibitors