A Homogeneous Actor-Based Monitor Language for Adaptive Behaviour

This paper describes a structured approach to encoding monitors in an actor language. Within a configuration of actors, each of which publishes a history, a monitor is an independent actor that triggers an action based on patterns occurring in the histories. We define a monitor language based on linear temporal logic and show how it can be homogeneously embedded within an actor language. The approach is demonstrated through a number of examples and evaluated in terms of a real-world actor-based simulation

Genetic diversity and dynamics of the Noir Marron settlement in French Guyana : A study combining mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome and HTLV-1 genotyping [Abstract]

The Noir Marron are the direct descendants of thousands of African slaves deported to the Guyanas during the Atlantic Slave Trade and later escaped mainly from Dutch colonial plantations. Six ethnic groups are officially recognized, four of which are located in French Guyana: the Aluku, the Ndjuka, the Saramaka, and the Paramaka. The aim of this study was: (1) to determine the Noir Marron settlement through genetic exchanges with other communities such as Amerindians and Europeans; (2) to retrace their origins in Africa. Buffy-coat DNA from 142 Noir Marron, currently living in French Guyana, were analyzed using mtDNA (typing of SNP coding regions and sequencing of HVSI/II) and Y chromosomes (typing STR and SNPs) to define their genetic profile. Results were compared to an African database composed by published data, updated with genotypes of 82 Fon from Benin, and 128 Ahizi and 63 Yacouba from the Ivory-Coast obtained in this study for the same markers. Furthermore, the determination of the genomic subtype of HTLV-1 strains (env gp21 and LTR regions), which can be used as a marker of migration of infected populations, was performed for samples from 23 HTLV-1 infected Noir Marron and compared with the corresponding database. MtDNA profiles showed a high haplotype diversity, in which 99% of samples belonged to the major haplogroup L, frequent in Africa. Each haplotype was largely represented on the West African coast, but notably higher homologies were obtained with the samples present in the Gulf of Guinea. Y Chromosome analysis revealed the same pattern, i.e. a conservation of the African contribution to the Noir Marron genetic profile, with 98% of haplotypes belonging to the major haplogroup E1b1a, frequent in West Africa. The genetic diversity was higher than those observed in African populations, proving the large Noir Marron’s fatherland, but a predominant identity in the Gulf of Guinea can be suggested. Concerning HTLV-1 genotyping, all the Noir Marron strains belonged to the large Cosmopolitan A subtype. However, among them 17/23 (74%) clustered with the West African clade comprizing samples originating from Ivory-Coast, Ghana, Burkina-Fasso and Senegal, while 3 others clustered in the Trans-Sahelian clade and the remaining 3 were similar to strains found in individuals in South America. Through the combined analyses of three approaches, we have provided a conclusive image of the genetic profile of the Noir Marron communities studied. The high degree of preservation of the African gene pool contradicts the expected gene flow that would correspond to the major cultural exchanges observed between Noir Marron, Europeans and Amerindians. Marital practices and historical events could explain these observations. Corresponding to historical and cultural data, the origin of the ethnic groups is widely dispatched throughout West Africa. However, all results converge to suggest an individualization from a major birthplace in the Gulf of Guinea

Atmospheric O2/N2 changes, 1993-2002: Implications for the partitioning of fossil fuel CO2 sequestration

Improvements made to an established mass spectrometric method for measuring changes in atmospheric O2/N2 are described. With the improvements in sample handling and analysis, sample throughput and analytical precision have both increased. Aliquots from duplicate flasks are repeatedly measured over a period of 2 weeks, with an overall standard error in each flask of 3-4 per meg, corresponding to 0.6-0.8 ppm O2 in air. Records of changes in O2/N2 from six global sampling stations (Barrow, American Samoa, Cape Grim, Amsterdam Island, Macquarie Island, and Syowa Station) are presented. Combined with measurements Of CO2 from the same sample flasks, land and ocean carbon uptake were calculated from the three sampling stations with the longest records (Barrow, Samoa, and Cape Grim). From 1994-2002, We find the average CO2 uptake by the ocean and the land biosphere was 1.7 ± 0.5 and 1.0 ± 0.6 GtC yr -1 respectively; these numbers include a correction of 0.3 Gt C yr-l due to secular outgassing of ocean O2. Interannual variability calculated from these data shows a strong land carbon source associated with the 1997-1998 El Niño event, supporting many previous studies indicating that high atmospheric growth rates observed during most El Niño events reflect diminished land uptake. Calculations of interannual variability in land and ocean uptake are probably confounded by non-zero annual air sea fluxes of O2. The origin of these fluxes is not yet understood. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union

Consensus document for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections. a joint paper by the EANM, EBJIS, and ESR (with ESCMID endorsement)

Background: For the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection, real evidence-based guidelines to aid clinicians in choosing the most accurate diagnostic strategy are lacking. Aim and Methods: To address this need, we performed a multidisciplinary systematic review of relevant nuclear medicine, radiological, orthopaedic, infectious, and microbiological literature to define the diagnostic accuracy of each diagnostic technique and to address and provide evidence-based answers on uniform statements for each topic that was found to be important to develop a commonly agreed upon diagnostic flowchart. Results and Conclusion: The approach used to prepare this set of multidisciplinary guidelines was to define statements of interest and follow the procedure indicated by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (OCEBM)

Cooperation and Contagion in Web-Based, Networked Public Goods Experiments

A longstanding idea in the literature on human cooperation is that cooperation should be reinforced when conditional cooperators are more likely to interact. In the context of social networks, this idea implies that cooperation should fare better in highly clustered networks such as cliques than in networks with low clustering such as random networks. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of web-based experiments, in which 24 individuals played a local public goods game arranged on one of five network topologies that varied between disconnected cliques and a random regular graph. In contrast with previous theoretical work, we found that network topology had no significant effect on average contributions. This result implies either that individuals are not conditional cooperators, or else that cooperation does not benefit from positive reinforcement between connected neighbors. We then tested both of these possibilities in two subsequent series of experiments in which artificial seed players were introduced, making either full or zero contributions. First, we found that although players did generally behave like conditional cooperators, they were as likely to decrease their contributions in response to low contributing neighbors as they were to increase their contributions in response to high contributing neighbors. Second, we found that positive effects of cooperation were contagious only to direct neighbors in the network. In total we report on 113 human subjects experiments, highlighting the speed, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of web-based experiments over those conducted in physical labs

Consensus document for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections: a joint paper by the EANM, EBJIS, and ESR (with ESCMID endorsement).

For the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection, real evidence-based guidelines to aid clinicians in choosing the most accurate diagnostic strategy are lacking. To address this need, we performed a multidisciplinary systematic review of relevant nuclear medicine, radiological, orthopaedic, infectious, and microbiological literature to define the diagnostic accuracy of each diagnostic technique and to address and provide evidence-based answers on uniform statements for each topic that was found to be important to develop a commonly agreed upon diagnostic flowchart. The approach used to prepare this set of multidisciplinary guidelines was to define statements of interest and follow the procedure indicated by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (OCEBM)

Consensus document for the diagnosis of peripheral bone infection in adults: a joint paper by the EANM, EBJIS, and ESR (with ESCMID endorsement).

In adults with a suspicion of peripheral bone infection, evidence-based guidelines in choosing the most accurate diagnostic strategy are lacking. To provide an evidence-based, multidisciplinary consensus document on the diagnostic management of adult patients with PBIs, we performed a systematic review of relevant infectious, microbiological, orthopedic, radiological, and nuclear medicine literature. Delegates from four European societies (European Bone and Joint Infection Society, European Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, European Society or Radiology, and European Association of Nuclear Medicine) defined clinical questions to be addressed, thoroughly reviewed the literature pertinent to each of the questions, and thereby evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of each diagnostic technique. Inclusion of the papers per statement was based on a PICO (Population/problem - Intervention/indicator - Comparator - Outcome) question following the strategy reported by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. For each statement, the level of evidence was graded according to the 2011 review of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. All approved statements were addressed taking into consideration the available diagnostic procedures, patient acceptance, tolerability, complications, and costs in Europe. Finally, a commonly agreed-upon diagnostic flowchart was developed

Impact of obstructive sleep apnea on the occurrence of restenosis after elective percutaneous coronary intervention in ischemic heart disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Rationale</p> <p>There is growing evidence that obstructive sleep apnea is associated with coronary artery disease. However, there are no data on the course of coronary stenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To determine whether sleep apnea is associated with increased late lumen loss and restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>78 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention were divided in 2 groups: 43 patients with an apnea hypopnea – Index < 10/h (group I) and 35 pt. with obstructive sleep apnea and an AHI > 10/h (group II). Late lumen loss, a marker of restenosis, was determined using quantitative coronary angiography after 6.9 ± 3.1 months.</p> <p>Main results</p> <p>Angiographic restenosis (>50% luminal diameter), was present in 6 (14%) of group I and in 9 (25%) of group II (p = 0.11). Late lumen loss was significant higher in pt. with an AHI > 10/h (0.7 ± 0.69 mm vs. 0.38 ± 0.37 mm, p = 0.01). Among these 35 patients, 21(60%) used their CPAP devices regularly. There was a marginally lower late lumen loss in treated patients, nevertheless, this difference did not reach statistical significance (0.57 ± 0.47 mm vs. 0.99 ± 0.86 mm, p = 0.08). There was no difference in late lumen loss between treated patients and the group I (p = 0.206).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In summary, patients with OSA and coronary artery disease have a higher degree of late lumen loss, which is a marker of restenosis and vessel remodeling after elective percutaneous intervention.</p

Efficacy and safety of rituximab with and without methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients: Results from the GISEA register.

Rituximab (RTX) is a monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in association with methotrexate (MTX)