Cerebrospinal fluid markers before and after shunting in patients with secondary and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to explore biochemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) induced by shunt surgery and the relationship between these changes and clinical improvement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We measured clinical symptoms and analysed lumbar CSF for protein content, neurodegeneration and neurotransmission markers in patients with secondary (SNPH, n = 17) and idiopathic NPH (INPH, n = 18) before and 3 months after shunt surgery. Patients were divided into groups according to whether or not there was improvement in clinical symptoms after surgery.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preoperatively, the only pathological findings were elevated neurofilament protein (NFL), significantly more so in the SNPH patients than in the INPH patients, and elevated albumin content. Higher levels of NFL correlated with worse gait, balance, wakefulness and neuropsychological performance. Preoperatively, no differences were seen in any of the CSF biomarkers between patients that improved after surgery and those that did not improve. Postoperatively, a greater improvement in gait and balance performance correlated with a more pronounced reduction in NFL. Levels of albumin, albumin ratio, neuropeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal peptide and ganglioside GD3 increased significantly after shunting in both groups. In addition, Gamma amino butyric acid increased significantly in SNPH and tau in INPH.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that a number of biochemical changes occur after shunt surgery, but there are no marked differences between the SNPH and INPH patients. The results indicate that NFL may be a marker that can predict a surgically reversible state in NPH.</p

Radioactive beam diagnostics status and development at the SPIRAL facility

International audienceIn 2001 the first radioactive beam will be accelerated in the CIME cyclotron of the SPIRAL project at GANIL. In order to be able to tune such low intensity beams in the cyclotron (down to few particles per second), a silicon and a scintillator detectors are mounted on probes. They measure the beam energy and the beam phase/RF in the cyclotron as a function of the radius. Such fragile diagnostics are meant to be used routinely from the control room by non-specialists in instrumentation and in presence of various beam intensities. Therefore, a program is developed to control and secure the acquisition procedure, the measurements and the isochronism correction. Additional detectors are installed at a fixed position in the ejection line before the experimental areas. Additionally, a diamond detector is foreseen to be installed in the machine to be tested in order to ease the CIME operation

Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus among French prison inmates in 2010: a challenge for public health policy

International audienceWe evaluated prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among prison inmates in France in 2010, in a cross-sectional single-day study based on a two-stage design. Sampling favoured larger establishments and included all types of prisons. Establishments were stratified by geographical region. Estimates were adjusted by post-stratification of the total population of inmates in France. From 60,975 inmates in all 188 prisons on the sampling day, 2,154 were selected from 27 prisons, and 1,876 questionnaires completed. HIV prevalence was estimated at 2.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.9-4.2), 2.6% (95% CI: 0.7-8.8) in women and 2.0% (95% CI: 0.9-4.3) in men; 75% of inmates were receiving treatment for HIV. HCV prevalence was estimated at 4.8% (95% CI: 3.5-6.5) and was higher for women (11.8%; 95% CI: 8.5-16.1) than men (4.5%; 95% CI: 3.3-6.3). Almost half of HCV-infected inmates had chronic hepatitis C and 44% were receiving or had received treatment. HIV and HCV prevalence was six times higher than in the general population, and 2.5% of inmates had viraemic hepatitis C. The moment of incarceration provides an ideal opportunity for testing and treating, limiting spread of HCV and improving patients' prognosis

Museus e seus arquivos: em busca de fontes para estudar os públicos Museums and their archives: in search of sources for researching audiences

Aborda a relevância dos arquivos históricos dos museus como fontes documentais para o desenvolvimento de estudos sobre os públicos. Analisa o processo de construção do conhecimento sobre a relação dos museus com os seus diversos visitantes e usuários, contextualizando o surgimento dos públicos como categoria de entendimento e objeto de estudo nas ciências sociais. Apresenta, como importante subsídio para as pesquisas nesta temática, o Guia de fontes primárias: o Museu Nacional - seu público no século XIX e no início do XX, elaborado por Luciana Sepúlveda Köptcke e Marcelle Pereira. O guia de fontes consiste em ferramenta de orientação capaz de expandir o significado dos fundos documentais, revelando a natureza e o grau de importância atribuídos aos diferentes públicos pela instituição.<br>The article explores to what extent historical archives at museums may serve as documental sources in developing audience research. It analyzes the process by which we construct our knowledge of the relation between museums and their different visitors and also contextualizes the emergence of 'audience' as a category and object of study by the social sciences. The article presents Luciana Sepúlveda Köptcke and Marcelle Pereira's Guia de fontes primárias: o Museu Nacional - seu público no século XIX e no início do XX (Guide of primary sources: the National Museum - its audience in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries), a valuable research tool that can enhance the significance of documental fonds and reveal the nature and import assigned to different audiences by these institutions