Impact of HPV in Oropharyngeal Cancer

The incidence of oropharyngeal cancers has increased in the western world and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has been recognised as a risk factor in the last decades. During the same period the prevalence of HPV in oropharyngeal tumours has increased and HPV has been suggested responsible for the increase. The HPV-positive tumours are today recognized as a distinct subset of head and neck cancers with its own clinopathological and risk profile and have a significantly improved prognosis regardless of treatment strategy. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding human papillomavirus biology, oncogenic mechanisms, risk factors, and impact of treatment

Activation rate uniformity in a bilateral IVNAA facility for two anthropomorphic phantoms

Activation rate uniformity is the first property which is considered in the design of a prompt γ-ray in vivo neutron activation analysis facility. Preliminary studies on the activation rate distribution in the body can be done by use of Monte Carlo codes, such as the MCNP. In this paper, different bilateral configurations of an IVNAA system are considered in order to improve the activation rate uniformity in a water phantom measuring 32 cm x 100 cm x 16 cm. In the best case, uniformity parameters are U = 1.003 and R = 1.67, with the mean activation rate of 1.85×10-6 cm-3. In more accurate calculations, the water phantom is replaced by a body model. The model in question is a 5 year-old ORNL phantom filled with just soft tissue. For uniformity studies, the internal organs are not simulated. Finally, uniformity parameters in this case are U = 1.005 and R = 12.2

The Giardia duodenalis 14-3-3 protein is post-translationally modified by phosphorylation and polyglycylation of the C-terminal tail.

The flagellated protozoan Giardia duodenalis (syn. lamblia or intestinalis) has been chosen as a model parasite to further investigate the multifunctional 14-3-3s, a family of highly conserved eukaryotic proteins involved in many cellular processes, such as cell cycle, differentiation, apoptosis, and signal transduction pathways. We confirmed the presence of a single 14-3-3 homolog gene (g14-3-3) by an in silico screening of the complete genome of Giardia, and we demonstrated its constitutive transcription throughout the life stages of the parasite. We cloned and expressed the g14-3-3 in bacteria, and by protein-protein interaction assays we demonstrated that it is a functional 14-3-3. Using an anti-peptide antibody raised against a unique 18-amino acid sequence at the N terminus, we observed variations both in the intracellular localization and in the molecular size of the native g14-3-3 during the conversion of Giardia from trophozoites to the cyst stage. An affinity chromatography, based on the 14-3-3 binding to the polypeptide difopein, was set to purify the native g14-3-3. By matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectroscopy analysis, we showed that polyglycylation, an unusual post-translational modification described only for tubulin, occurred at the extreme C terminus of the native g14-3-3 on Glu246, Glu247, or both and that the Thr214, located in the loop between helices 8 and 9, is phosphorylated. We propose that the addition of the polyglycine chain can promote the binding of g14-3-3 to alternative ligands and that the differential rate of polyglycylation/deglycylation during the encystation process can act as a novel mechanism to regulate the intracellular localization of g14-3-3

Enteral tube feeding of head and neck cancer patients undergoing definitive chemoradiotherapy in the Nordic Countries : Survey of the Scandinavian Society for Head and Neck Oncology

Purpose We assessed current policies and perceptions of enteral tube feeding in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT). A web-based survey was used to compare the timing and method of tube feeding within and between the five Nordic countries, covering a population of 27 million. Methods From each of the 21 Nordic university hospitals, one oncologist and one otorhinolaryngology-head and neck (ORL-HN) surgeon responded to a survey. The respondents were asked whether tube insertion before the onset of CRT, or during CRT as required (prophylactic vs. reactive) was preferred. The use of a pretreatment nutritional screening tool and the choice of feeding route (nasogastric vs. gastrostomy tube) were assessed. In total, we analyzed responses from 21 oncologists and 21 ORL-HN surgeons. Results A tendency was observed towards decreasing the use of a PEG tube. Of the 21 university hospitals, only 2 (10%) reported using a prophylactic PEG tube in over half of HNC patients undergoing definitive CRT. The preferred method for reactive tube feeding was by a NG tube in 14 of 21 (67%), and by a PEG in 7 of 21 (33%). In general, both oncologists and ORL-HN surgeons were content with their current policy. Conclusions The practices for enteral tube feeding in HNC management vary within and between the Nordic countries. We suggest that unified protocols for tube feeding should be developed for this patient population.Peer reviewe

A comparative study of loRaWAN, sigFox, and NB-IoT for smart water grid

Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) are becoming the powerful communication technologies of the IoT of tomorrow. LoRaWAN, SigFox, and NB-IoT are the three competing LPWAN technologies. On the other hand, Smart Water Grid (SWG) is an emerging paradigm that promises to overcome issues such as pipes leaks encountered by current water infrastructure by deploying smart devices into the water infrastructure for monitoring purposes. This paper firstly explores the physical and communication features of the above LPWAN technologies and provides a comprehensive comparison between them as well as their suitability for the Smart Water Grid (SWG) use case. The important aspect of SWG is to connect devices such as smart water meters and other tiny devices like sensors installed into the water pipelines for the system monitoring purpose. We consider Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) also called Smart Water Metering when dealing with the water grid, which is the main application of SWG and we study the scalability of LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and SigFox in such application. Under NS3, the simulation results show that NB-IoT provides the best scalability compared to LoRaWAN and SigFox and thus is able to support a huge number of devices with a low packet error rate.publishe

La révolution pédagogique de l’enseignement supérieur, une universalité géographique et paradigmatique

Depuis un certain nombre d’années, l’université connaît de nombreuses mutations qui font évoluer l’enseignement et favorisent le développement d’un objet nouveau : la pédagogie universitaire. Les pratiques d’enseignement se modifient sous l’influence des changements sociaux et sociétaux : massification, arrivée des nouvelles technologies, changement du rapport au savoir, aspirations nouvelles et mobilité accrue des étudiants, exigence de pédagogies diversifiées, etc. De nouvelles formes d’enseignement apparaissent (apprentissage par problèmes, classe inversée, formations à distance, hybrides ou co-modales…), mais ce sont aussi les modalités d’évaluation et les espaces d’apprentissage qui changent. Et si, il y a quelques années encore, la formation des enseignants universitaires à la pédagogie était inexistante, des centres d’appui à la pédagogie se créent maintenant dans le monde entier, quelle que soit la typologie des établissements, tandis qu’émerge la question de la valorisation de l’engagement pédagogique des enseignants.For a number of years, universities have undergone many transformations that are changing teaching and promoting the development of something new: university pedagogy. Teaching practices are changing under the influence of social and societal changes: massification, arrival of new technologies, the change in the relation to knowledge, new aspirations and increased student mobility, the need for diversified teaching methods, etc. New forms of teaching are appearing (problem- based learning, flipped classroom, distance, blended or co-modal learning, etc.), yet evaluation methods and learning spaces are changing too. And although, a few years ago, teacher training for university lecturers was almost non-existent, teaching support centres are now being created all over the world, whatever the typology of institutions, while at the same time the question of how to value lecturers’ commitment to their teaching practice is emerging.Desde hace ya varios años, la universidad conoce numerosas mutaciones que suscitan una evolución de la enseñanza y favorecen el desarrollo de un objeto nuevo: la pedagogía universitaria. Las prácticas de enseñanza se modifican bajo la influencia de cambios sociales: masificación, llegada de nuevas tecnologías, cambio de la relación al saber, aspiraciones nuevas y movilidad creciente de los estudiantes, exigencia de pedagogías diversificadas, etc. Unas nuevas formas de enseñanza aparecen (aprendizaje por problemas, clase invertida, formación a distancia, híbridas o comodales…) pero cambian también las modalidades de evaluación y los espacios de aprendizaje. Y si, hace algunos años, la formación de los docentes universitarios a la pedagogía era todavía inexistente, unos centros de apoyo a la pedagogía se van creando ahora en el mundo entero, sea cual sea el tipo de los establecimientos, mientras que emerge la cuestión de la valoración de la enseñanza pedagógica de los docentes

Share data treatment and analysis processes inTechnology enhanced learning

International audienceIn the context of our research team (multidisciplinary with numerous and various TEL systems), we have been working during the last three years on the design and implementation of an open platform to collect, save and share experimental data drawn from the interaction with TEL systems, which could build, save and share analysis processes executed on these data. From our point of view both data and analysis processes are worth to be stored and shared, and moreover have to be joined in a unique repository to get the whole picture. This communication presents the analysis processes part of the project. Sharing analysis processes, i.e. the whole complex process, is rather unusual, whereas contemporary platforms or software already propose generic algorithms to work on data (for instance with a statistical point of view or a data mining point of view). Hence, we attempt to model the main concepts of global treatments for experimental data analysis in order to collect, execute, save and then share them in a platform, dedicated to TEL Systems. The execution part is the most difficult and constraining part of our work. This needs to be implemented with a complex architecture. An important part of the communication is so devoted to the description of the architecture, and to the link between the global point of view of the whole process and the local point of view of elementary or specific algorithms used during the process. A short, but realistic, example of application of our platform is given, with the definition of a global process and the definition of an elementary algorithm used in the global process. The process is executed on real data leading to a graphical display of results, which are then briefly analyzed

Molecular evidence for zoonotic transmission of Giardia duodenalis among dairy farm workers in West Bengal, India

No study in the past has examined the genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in India. To assess the importance of these animals as a source of human G. duodenalis infections and determine the epidemiology of bovine giardiasis in India, fecal samples from 180 calves, heifers and adults and 51 dairy farm workers on two dairy farms in West Bengal, India were genotyped by PCR-RFLP analysis of the β-giardin gene of G. duodenalis followed by DNA sequencing of the nested PCR products. The overall prevalence of G. duodenalis in cattle was 12.2% (22/180), the infection being more prevalent in younger calves than in adult cattle. Zoonotic G. duodenalis Assemblage A1 was identified in both calves and workers although the most prevalent genotype detected in cattle was a novel Assemblage E subgenotype. These findings clearly suggest that there is a potential risk of zoonotic transmission of G. duodenalis infections between cattle and humans on dairy farms in India