Differential operators on supercircle: conformally equivariant quantization and symbol calculus

We consider the supercircle $S^{1|1}$ equipped with the standard contact structure. The conformal Lie superalgebra K(1) acts on $S^{1|1}$ as the Lie superalgebra of contact vector fields; it contains the M\"obius superalgebra $osp(1|2)$. We study the space of linear differential operators on weighted densities as a module over $osp(1|2)$. We introduce the canonical isomorphism between this space and the corresponding space of symbols and find interesting resonant cases where such an isomorphism does not exist

Successful treatment of fusarium solani ecthyma gangrenosum in a patient affected by leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 with granulocytes transfusions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ecthyma gangrenosum (EG) manifests as a skin lesion affecting patients suffering extreme neutropenia and is commonly associated with <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </it>in immunocompromised patients. Leukocyte adhesion deficiency I (LAD I) which count among primary immunodeficiency syndromes of the innate immunity, is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized in its severe phenotype by a complete defect in CD18 expression on neutrophils, delayed cord separation, chronic skin ulcers mainly due to recurrent bacterial and fungal infections, leucocytosis with high numbers of circulating neutrophils and an accumulation of abnormally low number of neutrophils at sites of infection.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We report at our knowledge the first case of a child affected by LAD-1, who experienced during her disease course a multi-bacterial and fungal EG lesion caused by <it>fusarium solani</it>. Despite targeted antibiotics and anti-fungi therapy, the lesion extended for as long as 18 months and only massive granulocytes pockets transfusions in association with G-CSF had the capacity to cure this lesion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We propose that granulocytes pockets transfusions will be beneficial to heal EG especially in severely immunocompromised patients.</p

Environmental risk assessments for transgenic crops producing output trait enzymes

The environmental risks from cultivating crops producing output trait enzymes can be rigorously assessed by testing conservative risk hypotheses of no harm to endpoints such as the abundance of wildlife, crop yield and the rate of degradation of crop residues in soil. These hypotheses can be tested with data from many sources, including evaluations of the agronomic performance and nutritional quality of the crop made during product development, and information from the scientific literature on the mode-of-action, taxonomic distribution and environmental fate of the enzyme. Few, if any, specific ecotoxicology or environmental fate studies are needed. The effective use of existing data means that regulatory decision-making, to which an environmental risk assessment provides essential information, is not unnecessarily complicated by evaluation of large amounts of new data that provide negligible improvement in the characterization of risk, and that may delay environmental benefits offered by transgenic crops containing output trait enzymes

Transformational digital government

The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) in government has been a topic that has been long debated (West, 2004). Since the reception of digital government research two decades ago, the transformational power of ICT and technology related changes have raised new hypes among practitioners and researchers alike (Andersen et al., 1994, Luna-Reyes and Gil-Garcia, 2012). As a matter of fact, digital government has been considered as a driving force of administrative reforms around the world (Morgeson and Mithas, 2009, Scholl, 2005). Transformation is often associated with changes that are pervasive and drastic (Layne & Lee, 2001). Fundamental changes in the way how public organizations are structured and operate, how public services are delivered, how policies are developed, implemented, and evaluated, as well as how citizens engage in democratic processes are often expected from the introduction of technologies. Over the years, we have seen support from researchers who observed certain level of changes. For example, the interactive nature of digital government technology is often seen as having the capability to increase efficiencies and reduce cost in government operations and improve transparency and accountability of the public sector (Gil-Garcia & Helbig, 2007). Some other researchers see an apparent debate about digital government benefits, pointing that the more optimistic views come from more conceptual approaches to the phenomenon, and the less optimistic views come from the more empirical ones (Norris and Reddick, 2013, Wood et al., 2009)

An assembly line balancing problem automotive cables

In this paper, an Assembly Line Balancing Problem (ALBP) is presented in a real-world automotive cables manufacturer company. This company found it necessary to balance its line, since it needs to increase the production rate. In this ALBP, the number of stations is known and the objective is to minimize cycle time where both precedence and zoning constrains must be satisfied. This problem is formulated as a binary linear program (BLP). Since this problem is NP-hard, an innovative Genetic Algorithm (GA) is implemented. The full factorial design is used to obtain the better combination GA parameters and a simple convergence experimental study is performed on the stopping criteria to reduce computational time. Comparison of the proposed GA results with CPLEX software shows that, in a reasonable time, the GA generates consistent solutions that are very close to their optimal ones. Therefore, the proposed GA approach is very effective and competitive

Apport du traitement substitutif par les immunoglobulines au cours des agammaglobulinémies : à propos de 10 cas

International audienceIntravenous immunoglobulin (Ig IV) has been used for many years in the treatment of primary antibody deficiencies. We performed a retrospective study of the clinical features and outcome of agammaglobulinemia children who received prolonged Ig IV infusions. Patients and methods. - Ten children, 9 male et 1 female, with agammaglobulinemia diagnosis were studied for the clinical manifestations before and during the Ig IV replacement therapy. Serum Ig levels were quantified by nephelometry. Circulating B ant T cells were counted by immuno fluorescence labeling by monoclonal antibodies. T-cell fonctions were assessed by using mitogen and antigen -induced T-cell proliferation assays in vitro. Patients clinical status was evaluated respectively, before initiation and at every moment (when patients had an infection) of the replacement therapy. Results. - Ig IV therapy was performed for 866 cumulated months, median 108 months. The median Ig IV doses administered to the 10 patients was 500 mg/kg/month. Residual serum IgG mean level was 3,9 g/L. All patients had 99 bacterial infections/ year before Ig IV, mainly respiratory tract infections (48,5%), and 4 patients had bronchiectasis before Ig replacement therapy. The number of infection /year fall to 25 during IgIV replacement, and the infection/patient/year rate decreases significantly. One patient developed an Echovirus 27 meningoencephalitis during this treatment. Conclusion. - Ig IV therapy with residual IgG mean level of 3,9 g/l reduced significantly the rate of bacterial infections. The use of specific antibiotherapy and respiratory kinesitherapy led to a lower rate of respiratory tract infections, and the stabilisation of the bronchiectasis. However this intravenous replacement therapy does not protect against viral meningoencephalitis. (c) 2006 Elsevier SAS. Tous droits reserves.L'administration par voie intraveineuse d'immunoglobulines polyvalentes (Ig IV) est utilisée, depuis de nombreuses années, dans le traitement substitutif des déficits immunitaires primitifs avec défaut de production d'anticorps. Dans cette étude, nous avons évalué le devenir d'enfants atteints par ces maladies ayant reçu ce type de traitement de façon prolongée