277 research outputs found

    Comment une collectivité et les services de lutte s'organisent-ils face à une augmentation des risques incendies ? L'exemple du département du Var -

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    Face à la perspective d'une augmentation des risques incendies, nous avons demandé à Jean Labadie et Stéphane Farcy, respectivement forestier au Conseil général du Var et lieutenant colonel au Service d'incendie et de secours du même département, de nous décrire comment leurs institutions anticipent la question : réflexions, nouvelles politiques, stratégies d'interventions, premières mesures..

    A review of volatiles in the Martian interior

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    Multiple observations from missions to Mars have revealed compelling evidence for a volatile-rich Martian crust. A leading theory contends that eruption of basaltic magmas was the ultimate mechanism of transfer of volatiles from the mantle toward the surface after an initial outgassing related to the crystallization of a magma ocean. However, the concentrations of volatile species in ascending magmas and in their mantle source regions are highly uncertain. This work and this special issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science summarize the key findings of the workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior (Nov. 3–4, 2014), the primary open questions related to volatiles in Martian magmas and their source regions, and the suggestions of the community at the workshop to address these open questions

    Carotid artery blowout producing massive hematemesis in the emergency department

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    AbstractCarotid blowout syndrome (CBS) is a rare and fatal complication which arises from patients who have been treated for head and neck cancer. The incidence of CBS is rare and not commonly seen by emergency physicians. We review a case of a 68-year-old woman with a history of laryngectomy and chemo-radiation therapy presenting with massive oral bleeding and hypotension. Her course and treatments are highlighted, literature referring to CBS are described and we reintroduce the approach of managing such a patient in the emergency department

    Growing old, yet staying young: The role of telomeres in bats' exceptional longevity

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    Understanding aging is a grand challenge in biology. Exceptionally long-lived animals have mechanisms that underpin extreme longevity. Telomeres are protective nucleotide repeats on chromosome tips that shorten with cell division, potentially limiting life span. Bats are the longest-lived mammals for their size, but it is unknown whether their telomeres shorten. Using >60 years of cumulative mark-recapture field data, we show that telomeres shorten with age inRhinolophus ferrumequinumandMiniopterus schreibersii, but not in the bat genus with greatest longevity,Myotis. As in humans, telomerase is not expressed inMyotis myotisblood or fibroblasts. Selection tests on telomere maintenance genes show thatATMandSETX, which repair and prevent DNA damage, potentially mediate telomere dynamics inMyotisbats. Twenty-one telomere maintenance genes are differentially expressed inMyotis, of which 14 are enriched for DNA repair, and 5 for alternative telomere-lengthening mechanisms. We demonstrate how telomeres, telomerase, and DNA repair genes have contributed to the evolution of exceptional longevity inMyotisbats, advancing our understanding of healthy aging

    Toward a European coastal observing network to provide better answers to science and to societal challenges : The JERICO research infrastructure

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    The coastal area is the most productive and dynamic environment of the world ocean, offering significant resources and services for mankind. As exemplified by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it has a tremendous potential for innovation and growth in blue economy sectors. Due to the inherent complexity of the natural system, the answers to many scientific and societal questions are unknown, and the impacts of the cumulative stresses imposed by anthropogenic pressures (such as pollution) and climate change are difficult to assess and forecast. A major challenge for the scientific community making observations of the coastal marine environment is to integrate observations of Essential Ocean Variables for physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes on appropriate spatial and temporal scales, and in a sustained and scientifically based manner. Coastal observations are important for improving our understanding of the complex biotic and abiotic processes in many fields of research such as ecosystem science, habitat protection, and climate change impacts. They are also important for improving our understanding of the impacts of human activities such as fishing and aquaculture, and underpin risk monitoring and assessment. The observations enable us to better understand ecosystems and the societal consequences of overfishing, disease (particularly shellfish), loss of biodiversity, coastline withdrawal, and ocean acidification, amongst others. The European coastal observing infrastructure JERICO-RI, has gathered and organized key communities embracing new technologies and providing a future strategy, with recommendations on the way forward and on governance. Particularly, the JERICO community acknowledges that the main providers of coastal observations are: (1) research infrastructures, (2) national monitoring programs, and (3) monitoring activities performed by marine industries. The scope of this paper is to present some key elements of our coastal science strategy to build it on long term. It describes how the pan-European JERICO community is building an integrated and innovation-driven coastal research infrastructure for Europe. The RI embraces emerging technologies which will revolutionize the way the ocean is observed. Developments in biotechnology (molecular and optical sensors, omics-based biology) will soon provide direct and online access to chemical and biological variables including in situ quantification of harmful algae and contaminants. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things will soon provide operational platforms and autonomous and remotely operated smart sensors. Embracing key technologies, high quality open access data, modeling and satellite observations, it will support sustainable blue growth, warning and forecasting coastal services and healthy marine ecosystem. JERICO-FP7 is the European 7th framework project named JERICO under Grant Agreement No. 262584. JERICO-NEXT is the European Horizon-2020 project under Grant Agreement No. 654410. JERICO-RI is the European coastal observing research infrastructure established and structured through JERICO-FP7 and JERICO-NEXT, and beyond

    Osmoregulation and salinity-induced oxidative stress: is oxidative adaptation determined by gill function?

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    Osmoregulating decapods such as the Mediterranean green crab Carcinus aestuarii possess two groups of spatially segregated gills: anterior gills serve mainly respiratory purposes, while posterior gills contain osmoregulatory structures. The co-existence of similar tissues serving different functions allows the study of differential adaptation, in terms of free radical metabolism, upon salinity change. Crabs were immersed for 2 weeks in seawater (SW, 37 ppt), diluted SW (dSW, 10 ppt) and concentrated SW (cSW, 45 ppt). Exposure to dSW was the most challenging condition, elevating respiration rates of whole animals and free radical formation in hemolymph (assessed fluorometrically using C-H2DFFDA). Further analyses considered anterior and posterior gills separately, and the results showed that posterior gills are the main tissues fueling osmoregulatory-related processes because their respiration rates in dSW were 3.2-fold higher than those of anterior gills, and this was accompanied by an increase in mitochondrial density (citrate synthase activity) and increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation (1.4-fold greater, measured through electron paramagnetic resonance). Paradoxically, these posterior gills showed undisturbed caspase 3/7 activity, used here as a marker for apoptosis. This may only be due to the high antioxidant protection that posterior gills benefit from [superoxide dismutase (SOD) in posterior gills was over 6 times higher than in anterior gills]. In conclusion, osmoregulating posterior gills are better adapted to dSW exposure than respiratory anterior gills because they are capable of controlling the deleterious effects of the ROS production resulting from this salinity-induced stress.journal articleresearch support, non-u.s. gov't2016 Jan2015 11 13importe

    Gene Expression Rhythms in the Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.) across an Annual Cycle

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    Seasonal environmental changes may affect the physiology of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.), an intertidal filter-feeder bivalve occurring commonly in Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal areas. We investigated seasonal variations in relative transcript abundance of the digestive gland and the mantle (gonads) of males and females. To identify gene expression trends – in terms of relative mRNA abundance- we used a medium-density cDNA microarray (1.7 K probes) in dual-color competitive hybridization analyses. Hierarchical clustering of digestive gland microarray data showed two main branches, distinguishing profiles associated with the “hot” months (May–August) from the other months. Genes involved in chitin metabolism, associated with mussel nutrition and digestion showed higher mRNA levels during summer. Moreover, we found different gene transcriptomic patterns in the digestive glands of males when compared to females, during the four stages of mussel gonadal development. Microarray data from gonadal transcripts also displayed clear patterns during the different developmental phases respect to the resting period (stage I) with peak relative mRNA abundance at the ripe phase (stage III) for both sexes. These data showed a clear temporal pattern in transcriptomic profiles of mussels sampled over an annual cycle. Physiological response to thermal variation, food availability, and reproductive status across months may contribute to variation in relative mRNA abundance

    Large-Scale Meta-GWAS Reveals Common Genetic Factors Linked to Radiation-Induced Acute Toxicities across Cancers

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    BACKGROUND: This study was designed to identify common genetic susceptibility and shared genetic variants associated with acute radiation-induced toxicity (RIT) across four cancer types (prostate, head and neck, breast, and lung).METHODS: A GWAS meta-analysis was performed using 19 cohorts including 12,042 patients. Acute standardized total average toxicity (rSTATacute) was modelled using a generalized linear regression model for additive effect of genetic variants adjusted for demographic and clinical covariates. LD score regression estimated shared SNP-based heritability of rSTATacute in all patients and for each cancer type.RESULTS: Shared SNP-based heritability of STATacute among all cancer types was estimated at 10% (se = 0.02), and was higher for prostate (17%, se = 0.07), head and neck (27%, se = 0.09), and breast (16%, se = 0.09) cancers. We identified 130 suggestive associated SNPs with rSTATacute (5.0x10-8&lt;P-value&lt;1.0x10-5) across 25 genomic regions. rs142667902 showed the strongest association (effect allele A; effect size -0.17; P-value=1.7x10-7), which is located near DPPA4, encoding a protein involved in pluripotency in stem cells, which are essential for repair of radiation-induced tissue injury. Gene-set enrichment analysis identified 'RNA splicing via endonucleolytic cleavage and ligation' (P = 5.1 x10-6, Pcorrected =0.079) as the top gene set associated with rSTATacute among all patients. In-silico gene expression analysis showed the genes associated with rSTATacute were statistically significantly up-regulated in skin (not sun exposed Pcorrected=0.004; sun exposed Pcorrected=0.026).CONCLUSIONS: There is shared SNP-based heritability for acute RIT across and within individual cancer sites. Future meta-GWAS among large radiotherapy patient cohorts are worthwhile to identify the common causal variants for acute radiotoxicity across cancer types.</p

    High weekly integral dose and larger fraction size increase risk of fatigue and worsening of functional outcomes following radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer

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    IntroductionWe hypothesized that increasing the pelvic integral dose (ID) and a higher dose per fraction correlate with worsening fatigue and functional outcomes in localized prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). MethodsThe study design was a retrospective analysis of two prospective observational cohorts, REQUITE (development, n=543) and DUE-01 (validation, n=228). Data were available for comorbidities, medication, androgen deprivation therapy, previous surgeries, smoking, age, and body mass index. The ID was calculated as the product of the mean body dose and body volume. The weekly ID accounted for differences in fractionation. The worsening (end of radiotherapy versus baseline) of European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-C30 scores in physical/role/social functioning and fatigue symptom scales were evaluated, and two outcome measures were defined as worsening in >= 2 (WS2) or >= 3 (WS3) scales, respectively. The weekly ID and clinical risk factors were tested in multivariable logistic regression analysis. ResultsIn REQUITE, WS2 was seen in 28% and WS3 in 16% of patients. The median weekly ID was 13.1 L center dot Gy/week [interquartile (IQ) range 10.2-19.3]. The weekly ID, diabetes, the use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and the dose per fraction were significantly associated with WS2 [AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristics curve) =0.59; 95% CI 0.55-0.63] and WS3 (AUC=0.60; 95% CI 0.55-0.64). The prevalence of WS2 (15.3%) and WS3 (6.1%) was lower in DUE-01, but the median weekly ID was higher (15.8 L center dot Gy/week; IQ range 13.2-19.3). The model for WS2 was validated with reduced discrimination (AUC=0.52 95% CI 0.47-0.61), The AUC for WS3 was 0.58, ConclusionIncreasing the weekly ID and the dose per fraction lead to the worsening of fatigue and functional outcomes in patients with localized PCa treated with EBRT

    A Deep Learning Approach Validates Genetic Risk Factors for Late Toxicity After Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy in a REQUITE Multi-National Cohort.

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    Background: REQUITE (validating pREdictive models and biomarkers of radiotherapy toxicity to reduce side effects and improve QUalITy of lifE in cancer survivors) is an international prospective cohort study. The purpose of this project was to analyse a cohort of patients recruited into REQUITE using a deep learning algorithm to identify patient-specific features associated with the development of toxicity, and test the approach by attempting to validate previously published genetic risk factors. Methods: The study involved REQUITE prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy who had complete 2-year follow-up. We used five separate late toxicity endpoints: ≥grade 1 late rectal bleeding, ≥grade 2 urinary frequency, ≥grade 1 haematuria, ≥ grade 2 nocturia, ≥ grade 1 decreased urinary stream. Forty-three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) already reported in the literature to be associated with the toxicity endpoints were included in the analysis. No SNP had been studied before in the REQUITE cohort. Deep Sparse AutoEncoders (DSAE) were trained to recognize features (SNPs) identifying patients with no toxicity and tested on a different independent mixed population including patients without and with toxicity. Results: One thousand, four hundred and one patients were included, and toxicity rates were: rectal bleeding 11.7%, urinary frequency 4%, haematuria 5.5%, nocturia 7.8%, decreased urinary stream 17.1%. Twenty-four of the 43 SNPs that were associated with the toxicity endpoints were validated as identifying patients with toxicity. Twenty of the 24 SNPs were associated with the same toxicity endpoint as reported in the literature: 9 SNPs for urinary symptoms and 11 SNPs for overall toxicity. The other 4 SNPs were associated with a different endpoint. Conclusion: Deep learning algorithms can validate SNPs associated with toxicity after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The method should be studied further to identify polygenic SNP risk signatures for radiotherapy toxicity. The signatures could then be included in integrated normal tissue complication probability models and tested for their ability to personalize radiotherapy treatment planning
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