LGN regulates mitotic spindle orientation during epithelial morphogenesis

Disrupting LGN’s function at lateral membrane domains displaces the axis of cell division in cyst-forming MDCK cells

Statine et infection : quel impact sur le pronostic? (étude exposé/non exposé prospective en soin tertiaire)

BREST-BU Médecine-Odontologie (290192102) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Miocene Vertebrates from the Packwach area, West Nile, Uganda

International audienc

Statin use does not affect the outcome of acute infection: a prospective cohort study.

International audienceUNLABELLED: Statins are used to prevent atherosclerosis because of their hypolipemic effects. In vitro testing and murine models suggest that statins may affect outcome in sepsis. Our meta-analysis of epidemiological studies in humans confirms that previous statin use appears to have a protective effect on infection rates and outcomes. The studies considered, however, were very different and heterogeneity was high, especially for mortality criteria. OBJECTIVE: To compare outcome for current statin users and nonusers hospitalized with fever, under pragmatic circumstances. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: University Hospital of Brest (France). PARTICIPANTS: Febrile (>38 degrees C) patients older than 40 years, admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis in 2005. Patients' outcome was compared according to their exposure to statins (current user or nonuser). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality, length of hospitalization, admission to ICU and to convalescent homes RESULTS: Of 40 343 patients referred for admission by the emergency department in 2005, 964 patients older than 40 years had a fever higher than 38 degrees C and were included in the study. Statin-user status, however, was available for only 921. The ICU admission rate (relative risk: 4.69; 95% CI: 2.42-9.08) was significantly higher (p=0.009) among statin users (n=139) than nonusers (n=782). The groups had similar lengths of hospitalization and similar rates of mortality and of convalescent home admissions. CONCLUSION: Our study does not confirm that statin use affects infection outcome and suggests that previous findings may be associated instead with more cautious care or nonspecific cardiovascular prevention rather than with a specific infection-related effect. Thus, these data support the continuation of statin therapy during physiological aggression, including infection

Mio-Plio-Pleistocene geology and palaeobiology of Etosha Pan, Namibia

International audienceEtosha Pan, northern Namibia, at nearly 5,000 km', is one of the largest in the world. A major hurdle to understanding the geological history of Etosha Pan has been the lack of dated horizons in the local stratigraphic record. We here report the discovery of fossil plants, invertebrates and vertebrates at several distinct horizons within the pan and its immediate vicinity, which reveal the presence of deposits ranging in age from Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene. Most of the floor of the pan consists of Late Miocene deposits whereas in islands and ridges within the pan and along its margins there occurs a discontinuous deposit of Pliocene, Pleistocene sediments up to 20 metres thick. Finally, there are discontinuous patches of green silts on Pelican Island at an altitude of ca 1093 metres, some 8-10 metres above the floor of the pan, which attest to a Late Pleistocene lacustrine episode. Similar aged deposits at the western end of Oshigambo Peninsula has yielded a rich and diverse mammalian fauna containing remains of the aquaphile bovid Tragelaphus spekei (the sitatunga). The discovery of Mio-Pliocene fossils in Elosha is important as it helps to fill whal used to be a large geographic gap in the African palaeonlological map of this epoch. Laie Miocene sites in particular, are poorly represented over much of the continent, being concentrated in the rift valleys of East Africa, the Chad basin, the Maghreb and north African littoral zone.