Compact Patch Antenna for Automatic Identification System (AIS)

International audienceThis paper presents a radiating element developed for the space AIS application. This element is a compact sized and reduced mass microstrip patch antenna integrating frequency resonant adjustment devices. Theoretical and experimental results with good agreement are presented

Hadron Helicity Violation in Exclusive Processes: Quantitative Calculations in Leading Order QCD

We study a new mechanism for hadronic helicity flip in high energy hard exclusive reactions. The mechanism proceeds in the limit of perfect chiral symmetry, namely without any need to flip a quark helicity. The fundamental feature of the new mechanism is the breaking of rotational symmetry of the hard collision by a scattering plane in processes involving independent quark scattering. We show that in the impulse approximation there is no evidence for of the helicity violating process as the energy or momentum transfer $Q^2$ is increased over the region 1 GeV^2 < Q^2 < 100 GeV^2. In the asymptotic region Q^2> 1000 GeV^2, a saddle point approximation with doubly logarithmic accuracy yields suppression by a fraction of power of Q^2. ``Chirally--odd" exclusive wave functions which carry non--zero orbital angular momentum and yet are leading order in the high energy limit, play an important role.Comment: uuencoded LaTeX file (21 pages) and PostScript figure

The sea urchin kinome: A first look

AbstractThis paper reports a preliminary in silico analysis of the sea urchin kinome. The predicted protein kinases in the sea urchin genome were identified, annotated and classified, according to both function and kinase domain taxonomy. The results show that the sea urchin kinome, consisting of 353 protein kinases, is closer to the Drosophila kinome (239) than the human kinome (518) with respect to total kinase number. However, the diversity of sea urchin kinases is surprisingly similar to humans, since the urchin kinome is missing only 4 of 186 human subfamilies, while Drosophila lacks 24. Thus, the sea urchin kinome combines the simplicity of a non-duplicated genome with the diversity of function and signaling previously considered to be vertebrate-specific. More than half of the sea urchin kinases are involved with signal transduction, and approximately 88% of the signaling kinases are expressed in the developing embryo. These results support the strength of this nonchordate deuterostome as a pivotal developmental and evolutionary model organism

A simplified table using validated diagnostic criteria is effective to improve characterization of colorectal polyps: the CONECCT teaching program

International audienceIntroduction and study aims Accurate real-time endoscopic characterization of colorectal polyps is key to choosing the most appropriate treatment. Mastering the currently available classifications is challenging. We used validated criteria for these classifications to create a single table, named CONECCT, and evaluated the impact of a teaching program based on this tool.Methods A prospective multicenter study involving GI fellows and attending physicians was conducted. During the first session, each trainee completed a pretest consisting in histological prediction and choice of treatment of 20 colorectal polyps still frames. This was followed by a 30-minute course on the CONECCT table, before taking a post-test using the same still frames reshuffled. During a second session at 3 – 6 months, a last test (T3 M) was performed, including these same still frames and 20 new ones.Results A total 419 participants followed the teaching program between April 2017 and April 2018. The mean proportion of correctly predicted/treated lesions improved significantly from pretest to post-test and to T3 M, from 51.0 % to 74.0 % and to 66.6 % respectively (P < 0.001). Between pretest and post-test, 343 (86.6 %) trainees improved, and 153 (75.4 %) at T3 M. Significant improvement occurred for each subtype of polyp for fellows and attending physicians. Between the two sessions, trainees continued to progress in the histology prediction and treatment choice of polyps CONECCT IIA. Over-treatment decreased significantly from 30.1 % to 15.5 % at post-test and to 18.5 % at T3 M (P < 0.001).Conclusion The CONECCT teaching program is effective to improve the histology prediction and the treatment choice by gastroenterologists, for each subtype of colorectal polyp

Analysis of the P. lividus sea urchin genome highlights contrasting trends of genomic and regulatory evolution in deuterostomes

Sea urchins are emblematic models in developmental biology and display several characteristics that set them apart from other deuterostomes. To uncover the genomic cues that may underlie these specificities, we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly for the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and an extensive gene expression and epigenetic profiles of its embryonic development. We found that, unlike vertebrates, sea urchins retained ancestral chromosomal linkages but underwent very fast intrachromosomal gene order mixing. We identified a burst of gene duplication in the echinoid lineage and showed that some of these expanded genes have been recruited in novel structures (water vascular system, Aristotle's lantern, and skeletogenic micromere lineage). Finally, we identified gene-regulatory modules conserved between sea urchins and chordates. Our results suggest that gene-regulatory networks controlling development can be conserved despite extensive gene order rearrangement

SRH and HrQOL: does social position impact differently on their link with health status?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-rated Health (SRH) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are used to evaluate health disparities. Like all subjective measures of health, they are dependent on health expectations that are associated with socioeconomic characteristics. It is thus needed to analyse the influence played by socioeconomic position (SEP) on the relationship between these two indicators and health conditions if we aim to use them to study health disparities. Our objective is to assess the influence of SEP on the relationship between physical health status and subjective health status, measured by SRH and HRQoL using the SF-36 scale.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from the French National Health Survey. SEP was assessed by years of education and household annual income. Physical health status was measured by functional limitations and chronic low back pain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Regardless of their health status, people with lower SEP were more likely than their more socially advantaged counterparts to report poor SRH and poorer HRQoL, using any of the indicators of SEP. The negative impact of chronic low back pain on SRH was relatively greater in people with a high SEP than in those with a low SEP. In contrast, chronic low back pain and functional limitations had less impact on physical and mental component scores of quality of life for socially advantaged men and women.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both SRH and HRQoL were lower among those reporting functional limitations or chronic low back pain. However, the change varied according SEP and the measure. In relative term, the negative impact of a given health condition seems to be greater on SRH and lower on HRQoL for people with higher SEP in comparison with people with low SEP. Using SRH could thus decrease socioeconomic differences. In contrast using HRQoL could increase these differences, suggesting being cautious when using these indicators for analyzing health disparities.</p