Defect in lung growth Comparative study of three diagnostic criteria.

Traduction anglaise de l'article Arch Pediatr. 2004 Jun;11(6):515-7 Référence pubmed : 15158815A systematic analysis was made of the autopsies of 74 newborns and fetuses (49 pathological cases and 25 controls) to detect defects in lung growth. In each case lung/body (L/B) weight ratio was calculated, and radial alveolar (RA) count and histological assessment were performed. The L/B ratio is of diagnostic value when lower than 0.012 but not when there is intercurrent disease. RA count is low in lung hypoplasia but is not an entirely reliable diagnostic criterion since it change throughout pregnancy and the earlier the gestational age the wider the range of variation. Histological assessment showed an abnormally high number of bronchi and bronchi in distal location with in some cases delayed differentiation of distal airways. If any one of the above three critera fails to determine lung hypoplasia the other two can be used to arrive at diagnosis

Assessing land cover changes in the French Pyrenees since the 1940s A semi‐automatic GEOBIA approach using aerial photographs

International audienceAgro-pastoral landscapes of the Pyrenees are subject to fast spontaneous reforestation. The objective of this work is to assess the spatial patterns of land cover changes during the last 70 years in three study sites of the Pyrenees, and to compare the local dynamics in order to observe and to explain similarities and disparities

The integral monodromy of hyperelliptic and trielliptic curves

We compute the \integ/\ell and \integ_\ell monodromy of every irreducible component of the moduli spaces of hyperelliptic and trielliptic curves. In particular, we provide a proof that the \integ/\ell monodromy of the moduli space of hyperelliptic curves of genus $g$ is the symplectic group \sp_{2g}(\integ/\ell). We prove that the \integ/\ell monodromy of the moduli space of trielliptic curves with signature $(r,s)$ is the special unitary group \su_{(r,s)}(\integ/\ell\tensor\integ[\zeta_3])

Evidence of resonant surface wave excitation in the relativistic regime through measurements of proton acceleration from grating targets

The interaction of laser pulses with thin grating targets, having a periodic groove at the irradiated surface, has been experimentally investigated. Ultrahigh contrast ($\sim 10^{12}$) pulses allowed to demonstrate an enhanced laser-target coupling for the first time in the relativistic regime of ultra-high intensity >10^{19} \mbox{W/cm}^{2}. A maximum increase by a factor of 2.5 of the cut-off energy of protons produced by Target Normal Sheath Acceleration has been observed with respect to plane targets, around the incidence angle expected for resonant excitation of surface waves. A significant enhancement is also observed for small angles of incidence, out of resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2nd version implements final correction

Placing Madagascar's marine turtle populations in a regional context using community-based monitoring

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this record.Madagascar is an important foraging ground for marine turtles in the Western Indian Ocean, yet the status of the country's nesting aggregations remains poorly documented. We assess the current status and trend in nesting throughout Madagascar, including data recorded by a community-based monitoring project in the Barren Isles (western Madagascar). We contextualize the findings in comparison with data from Madagascar's closest neighbouring states. Reports indicate that nesting levels have declined at many coastal sites, with no known recordings since 2000 at > 40 nesting sites. We estimate there are a minimum of 1,200 nests per year in Madagascar, with the largest recorded nesting aggregation (< 1,000 nests per year) found on islands off the west and northern coasts. The majority of nesting aggregations, including those recorded by the community-based monitoring project in the Barren Isles, are relatively small, in the order of < 50 nests per year, yet they are potentially important sources of regional genetic diversity. Nesting on many of the islands (e.g. Tromelin, Europa) around Madagascar has increased over the last 20 years, despite the fact that thousands of turtles probably originating from these sites are taken by fishers in the waters of Madagascar annually. We discuss the importance of protecting small nesting populations, and how community-based monitoring could be an important tool for conserving remote and vulnerable populations and building capacity for natural resource management.We thank in particular Audrey Campillo, a researcher affiliated with the La Réunion-based research group Kelonia (www.kelonia.org), who provided initial training for the community monitoring team in Madagascar. We also thank the eight community members of the monitoring team from Maintirano, Jean Berthieu Nomenjanahary and Armel Bezafy for their assistance, Charlotte Moffat, Jérémie Bossert and Marianne Teoh for assisting with community interviews and data organization, Samir Gandhi for helping to prepare Figs 1–3, the State of the World's Sea Turtles, National Geographic's Conservation Trust and The Rufford Foundation for supporting Blue Ventures’ marine turtle conservation and research work in Madagascar, and two referees for their helpful input

Synthetic Lethality of Chk1 Inhibition Combined with p53 and/or p21 Loss During a DNA Damage Response in Normal and Tumor Cells

Cell cycle checkpoints ensure genome integrity and are frequently compromised in human cancers. A therapeutic strategy being explored takes advantage of checkpoint defects in p53-deficient tumors in order to sensitize them to DNA-damaging agents by eliminating Chk1-mediated checkpoint responses. Using mouse models, we demonstrated that p21 is a key determinant of how cells respond to the combination of DNA damage and Chk1 inhibition (combination therapy) in normal cells as well as in tumors. Loss of p21 sensitized normal cells to the combination therapy much more than did p53 loss and the enhanced lethality was partially blocked by CDK inhibition. In addition, basal pools of p21 (p53 independent) provided p53 null cells with protection from the combination therapy. Our results uncover a novel p53-independent function for p21 in protecting cells from the lethal effects of DNA damage followed by Chk1 inhibition. As p21 levels are low in a significant fraction of colorectal tumors, they are predicted to be particularly sensitive to the combination therapy. Results reported in this study support this prediction

Characterization of Flexible RF Microcoil Dedicated to Surface Mri

In Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), to achieve sufficient Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), the electrical performance of the RF coil is critical. We developed a device (microcoil) based on the original concept of monolithic resonator. This paper presents the used fabrication process based on micromoulding. The dielectric substrates are flexible thin films of polymer, which allow the microcoil to be form fitted to none-plane surface. Electrical characterizations of the RF coils are first performed and results are compared to the attempted values. Proton MRI of a saline phantom using a flexible RF coil of 15 mm in diameter is performed. When the coil is conformed to the phantom surface, a SNR gain up to 2 is achieved as compared to identical but planar RF coil. Finally, the flexible coil is used in vivo to perform MRI with high spatial resolution on a mouse using a small animal dedicated scanner operating at in a 2.35 T.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Volumetric Enhancing Tumor Burden at CT to Predict Survival Outcomes in Patients with Neuroendocrine Liver Metastases after Intra-arterial Treatment

Purpose: To investigate whether liver enhancing tumor burden (LETB) assessed at contrast-enhanced CT indicates early response and helps predict survival outcomes in patients with multifocal neuroendocrine liver metastases (NELM) after intra-arterial treatment.Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients with NELM who underwent intra-arterial treatment with transarterial embolization (TAE) or chemoembolization (TACE) between April 2006 and December 2018. Tumor response in treated NELM was evaluated by using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) and modified RECIST (mRECIST). LETB was mea-sured as attenuation 2 SDs greater than that of a region of interest in the nontumoral liver parenchyma. Overall survival (OS); time to unTA(C)Eable progression, defined as the time from the initial treatment until the time when intra-arterial treatments were considered technically unfeasible, either not recommended by the multidisciplinary tumor board or until death; and hepatic and whole-body progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses, the Kaplan-Meier method, and log-rank test.Results: The study included 119 patients (mean age, 60 years +/- 11 [SD]; 61 men) who underwent 161 treatments. A median LETB change of -25.8% best discriminated OS (83 months in responders vs 51 months in nonresponders; P = .02) and whole-body PFS (18 vs 8 months, respectively; P &lt; .001). A -10% LETB change best discriminated time to unTA(C)Eable progression (32 months in re-sponders vs 12 months in nonresponders; P &lt; .001) and hepatic PFS (18 vs 8 months, respectively; P &lt; .001). LETB change remained independently associated with improved OS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.56), time to unTA(C)Eable progression (HR, 0.44), hepatic PFS (HR, 0.42), and whole-body PFS (HR, 0.47) on multivariable analysis. Neither RECIST nor mRECIST helped predict patient outcome. Conclusion: Response according to LETB change helped predict survival outcomes in patients with NELM after intra-arterial treat-ments, with better discrimination than RECIST and mRECIST

Combining short-range dispersion simulations with fine-scale meteorological ensembles: probabilistic indicators and evaluation during a ⁸⁵Kr field campaign

Numerical atmospheric dispersion models (ADMs) are used for predicting the health and environmental consequences of nuclear accidents in order to anticipate countermeasures necessary to protect the populations. However, these simulations suffer from significant uncertainties, arising in particular from input data: weather conditions and source term. Meteorological ensembles are already used operationally to characterize uncertainties in weather predictions. Combined with dispersion models, these ensembles produce different scenarios of radionuclide dispersion, called “members”, representative of the variety of possible forecasts. In this study, the fine-scale operational weather ensemble AROME-EPS (Applications of Research to Operations at Mesoscale-Ensemble Prediction System) from Météo-France is coupled with the Gaussian puff model pX developed by the IRSN (French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety). The source term data are provided at 10 min resolution by the Orano La Hague reprocessing plant (RP) that regularly discharges 85Kr during the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing process. In addition, a continuous measurement campaign of 85Kr air concentration was recently conducted by the Laboratory of Radioecology in Cherbourg (LRC) of the IRSN, within 20 km of the RP in the North-Cotentin peninsula, and is used for model evaluation. This paper presents a probabilistic approach to study the meteorological uncertainties in dispersion simulations at local and medium distances (2–20 km). First, the quality of AROME-EPS forecasts is confirmed by comparison with observations from both Météo-France and the IRSN. Then, the probabilistic performance of the atmospheric dispersion simulations was evaluated by comparison to the 85Kr measurements carried out during a period of 2 months, using two probabilistic scores: relative operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Peirce skill score (PSS). The sensitivity of dispersion results to the method used for the calculation of atmospheric stability and associated Gaussian dispersion standard deviations is also discussed. A desirable feature for a model used in emergency response is the ability to correctly predict exceedance of a given value (for instance, a dose guide level). When using an ensemble of simulations, the “decision threshold” is the number of members predicting an event above which this event should be considered probable. In the case of the 16-member dispersion ensemble used here, the optimal decision threshold was found to be 3 members, above which the ensemble better predicts the observed peaks than the deterministic simulation. These results highlight the added value of ensemble forecasts compared to a single deterministic one and their potential interest in the decision process during crisis situations.</p