Type I Interferon in Children with Viral or Bacterial Infections.

BACKGROUND: Fever is one of the leading causes of consultation in the pediatric emergency department for patients under the age of 3 years. Distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections etiologies in febrile patients remains challenging. We hypothesized that specific host biomarkers for viral infections, such as type I-interferon (IFN), could help clinicians' decisions and limit antibiotic overuse. METHODS: Paxgene tubes and serum were collected from febrile children (n = 101), age from 7 days to 36 months, with proven viral or bacterial infections, being treated at pediatric emergency departments in France. We assessed the performance of an IFN signature, which was based on quantification of expression of IFN-stimulated genes using the Nanostring® technology and plasma IFN-α quantified by digital ELISA technology. RESULTS: Serum concentrations of IFN-α were below the quantification threshold (30 fg/mL) for 2% (1/46) of children with proven viral infections and for 71% (39/55) of children with bacterial infections (P 0.91 for both) between viral and bacterial infection in febrile children, compared to C-reactive protein (0.83). CONCLUSIONS: IFN-α is increased in blood of febrile infants with viral infections. The discriminative performance of IFN-α femtomolar concentrations as well as blood transcriptional signatures could show a diagnostic benefit and potentially limit antibiotic overuse. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03163628)

(2009)" Un Nouveau Système d’Instrumentation en Ligne pour la Caractérisation et l’Adaptation Dynamique aux Variations

Résumé — Des dispositifs de surveillance embarqués du processus de fabrication et des paramètres environnementaux sont aujourd’hui indispensables à la lutte contre les effets de la variabilité. Ils permettent également une recherche du point de fonctionnement optimal qui permet de s’affranchir des marges conception, et autorise la baisse de la consommation par des systèmes d’adaptation dynamique. Ce papier présente un nouveau système de surveillance en ligne permettant d’anticiper en temps réel toute violation de temps en observant les variations des marges temporelles. Ce système est composé de structures spécifiques situées près des bascules, couplées avec un générateur de fenêtre de détection localisé sur l’arbre d’horloge. Validation et performances sont données en technologie 45 nm basse consommation et démontrent la faisabilité et l’efficacité de ce système. Mots clés — Variabilité, Surveillance en ligne, Marge temporelle, Compensation, Point de fonctionnement optimal, Basse consommation, adaptation dynamique

Cleaning of InGaAs and InP Layers for Nanoelectronics and Photonics Contact Technology Applications

International audienceInGaAs and InP layers were treated by using Ar and He direct plasmas coupled with wet chemical treatments. InP surfaces are more sensitive to the various treatments than the InGaAs ones. Suitable and efficient treatments have been proposed to offer a good compromise between impact on surface and native oxide removal. We have demonstrated that concentrated HCl solution cleanings followed by He direct plasma treatment are efficient for the removal of InGaAs native oxides whereas He plasma exposure combined to a diluted HCl solution cleaning is more suitable for InP surfaces

GaAs WET and Siconi Cleaning Sequences for an Efficient Oxide Removal

International audienceBefore metal deposit or epitaxial regrowth steps, efficient surface preparations are mandatory in order to remove both contaminants (C, F) and surface oxides. In this paper, we assess several cleaning sequences and compare their efficiency toward GaAs oxides removal. As III/V materials are very reactive in the air, in-situ surface preparation schemes (conducted for instance in a Siconi chamber) might be useful on GaAs surfaces. This way, the queue-time issues associated with wet surface preparations could be avoided. In this study, GaAs substrates were chemically oxidized to first characterize the oxide removal efficiency of HF, HCl and Siconi processes. Then, a new surface preparation strategy was proposed based on i) a wet chemical treatment followed by ii) a standard Siconi process. In situ Parallel Angle Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy was used to study the chemical composition of the native or chemical oxides and evaluate the impact of the various treatments on the GaAs surface. SIMS analyses were used to measure/quantify the efficiency of surface preparations on Carbon and Arsenic / Gallium oxides removal

Diamond as substrate for 3C-SiC growth: A TEM study

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Prognostic value of lesion dissemination in doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine-treated, interimPET-negative classical Hodgkin Lymphoma patients: A radio-genomic study

We evaluated the prognostic role of the largest distance between two lesions (Dmax), defined by positron emission tomography (PET) in a retrospective cohort of newly diagnosed classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) patients. We also explored the molecular bases underlying Dmax through a gene expression analysis of diagnostic biopsies. We included patients diagnosed with cHL from 2007 to 2020, initially treated with ABVD, with available baseline PET for review, and with at least two FDG avid lesions. Patients with available RNA from diagnostic biopsy were eligible for gene expression analysis. Dmax was deduced from the three-dimensional coordinates of the baseline metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and its effect on progression free survival (PFS) was evaluated. Gene expression profiles were correlated with Dmax and analyzed using CIBERSORTx algorithm to perform deconvolution. The study was conducted on 155 eligible cHL patients. Using its median value of 20 cm, Dmax was the only variable independently associated with PFS (HR = 2.70, 95% CI 1.1–6.63, pValue = 0.03) in multivariate analysis of PFS for all patients and for those with early complete metabolic response (iPET-). Among patients with iPET-low Dmax was associated with a 4-year PFS of 90% (95% CI 82.0–98.9) significantly better compared to high Dmax (4-year PFS 72.4%, 95% CI 61.9–84.6). From the analysis of gene expression profiles differences in Dmax were mostly associated with variations in the expression of microenvironmental components. In conclusion our results support tumor dissemination measured through Dmax as novel prognostic factor for cHL patients treated with ABVD

Treatment of intracranial hypertension and aspects on lumbar dural puncture in severe bacterial meningitis - Reply

BACKGROUND: Brain stem herniation due to raised intracranial pressure (ICP) is a common cause of mortality in severe bacterial meningitis, but continuous measurements of ICP and the effects of ICP-reducing therapy in these patients have, to our knowledge, not been described. METHODS: During a four-year period, an ICP-monitoring device was implanted in patients admitted to our hospital with severe bacterial meningitis and suspected intracranial hypertension. ICP above 20 mmHg was treated using the Lund Concept, which includes antihypertensive therapy (beta1-antagonist,alpha2-agonist), normalization of the plasma colloid osmotic pressure and the blood volume, and antistress therapy. RESULTS: ICP above 20 mmHg was found in all 12 patients studied. It was effectively reduced in all but two patients, who died. Both patients had a low cerebral perfusion pressure (<10 mmHg), dilated pupils at start of therapy and were beyond recovery. Radiological signs of brain swelling were present in only five patients. Seven patients recovered fully, while mild audiological impairment was observed in two and minor neurological sequelae in one patient. Eight patients showed signs suggesting imminent brain stem herniation before start of ICP-reducing treatment, seven of whom had been subjected to diagnostic lumbar dural puncture shortly before development of the brain stem symptoms. These symptoms gradually regressed after initiation of therapy, and in one patient reversal of brain stem herniation was documented by MRI. CONCLUSIONS: Severe bacterial meningitis can be associated with increased ICP, which can be reduced using the Lund Concept. The high survival rate, the low frequency of sequelae and the reversal of signs of imminent brain stem herniation in these high-risk patients indicated beneficial effects of the intervention. The study confirms earlier observations that lumbar dural puncture is potentially hazardous in patients with intracranial hypertension, because it may trigger brain stem herniation. A normal CT brain scan does not rule out intracranial hypertension