Maroc à suivre

En 2008, l’ABF a initié un cycle d’actions de formation qui se poursuivront cette année. De son côté la région Paca souhaitait réactiver des accords de coopération. Ce voyage d’étude organisé par le groupe ABF-Paca et le Cobiac a embarqué quatorze bibliothécaires de la région travaillant en BM, BDP et BU, désireux de découvrir à leur tour ce jeune réseau de lecture publique en plein essor

Robust estimation of fetal heart rate from US Doppler signals

International audienceIn utero, Monitoring of fetal wellbeing or suf-fering is today an open challenge, due to the high number of clinical parameters to be considered. An automatic mon-itoring of fetal activity, dedicated for quantifying fetal well-being, becomes necessary. For this purpose and in a view to supply an alternative for the Manning test, we used an ultrasound multitransducer muligate Doppler system. One important issue (and first step in our investigation) is the accurate estimation of fetal heart rate (FHR). An estima-tion of the FHR is obtained by evaluating the autocorrela-tion function of the Doppler signals for ills and healthiness foetus. However, this estimator is not enough robust since about 20% of FHR are not detected in comparison to a ref-erence system. These non detections are principally due to the fact that the Doppler signal generated by the fetal mov-ing is strongly disturbed by the presence of others several Doppler sources (mother' s moving, pseudo breathing, etc.). By modifying the existing method (autocorrelation method) and by proposing new time and frequency estimators used in the audio' s domain, we reduce to 5% the probability of non-detection of the fetal heart rate. These results are really encouraging and they enable us to plan the use of automatic classification techniques in order to discriminate between healthy and in suffering foetus

Female rats with severe left ventricle volume overload exhibit more cardiac hypertrophy but fewer myocardial transcriptional changes than males

Aortic valve regurgitation (AR) imposes a volume overload (VO) to the left ventricle (LV). Male rats with a pathological heart overload usually progress more quickly towards heart failure than females. We examined whether a sexual dimorphism exists in the myocardial transcriptional adaptations to AR. Adult Wistar male and female rats either underwent a sham operation or were induced with AR and then followed for 26 weeks. Female AR rats gained relatively more LV mass than males (75 vs. 42%). They had a similar increase in LV chamber dimensions compared to males but more wall thickening. On the other hand, fatty acid oxidation (FAO)-related LV enzyme activity was only decreased in AR males. The expression of genes encoding FAO-related enzymes was only reduced in AR males and not in females. A similar situation was observed for the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis or function as well as for genes encoding for transcription factors implicated in the control of bioenergetics and mitochondrial function (Errα, Errγ or Pgc1α). Although females develop more LV hypertrophy from severe VO, their myocardial gene expression remains closer to normal. This could provide survival benefits for females with severe VO

Early LV signaling events in pressure overload

The early events leading to the establishment of left ventricular hypertrophy associated to pressure overload (PO) are not well characterized. To explore these early events, aortic banding (AB) was performed in rats to induce left ventricle (LV) PO. Animals were sacrificed after 24, 48 h or 14 days. An echocardiogram was performed before the procedure and at sacrifice. LVs were preserved for the evaluation of fibrosis, angiotensin II (AT) receptors expression and stress-related MAP kinases (ERK 1/2, JNK and p38) pathways. We observed that concentric LV hypertrophy was established after only 14 days. Collagen I and fibronectin gene expressions were decreased the first 2 days after AB induction whereas AT receptors mRNA levels were sharply increased. ERK 1/2 and JNK activities in LV homogenates were decreased 24 h after AB but came back to normal after 14 days. p38 activity however was stable during the period studied. We also evaluated the presence of two phosphorylated transcription factors related to JNK signaling pathway (ATF-2 and c-Jun) in cardiomyocyte nuclei. The proportion of LV cell nuclei positive for these two activated transcription factors was significantly reduced in AB rats compared to sham. These results suggest that the early response of the LV to acute PO is to attenuate the expression of some pro-fibrotic and pro-hypertrophic signaling pathways and possibly AT signaling by decreasing ERK 1/2 and JNK relative activities

0052: Role of kinins in diabetic wound healing

The diabetic foot is associated with pain, decrease in patient's quality of life, considerable costs, and amputation. In this study, we determined the role of KKS, via activation of bradykinin receptors (B1R or B2R), in a mouse model of diabetic wound healing. Diabetic or nondiabetic mice are wounded with an 8-mm punch biopsy and then are treated or not with specific B1R or B2R agonists (720nmol/kg.d-1) and/or B2R antagonist (Icatibant, 500μg/kg.dg/d-1). The wound-healing surface was daily followed up. At 11 days, the scar were analysed by histology (Masson's trichrome staining) and B1R and B2R expression were assessed (RT-qPCR). Effects of the agonists on cells (fibroblasts and keratinocytes) migration and proliferation were also analysed. In diabetic condition, mRNA of B1R and B2R was increased in skin (p<0.01). B1R activation had no effect on wound closure in our model. In contrast, B2R activation dramatically delayed wound healing in diabetic (p<0.001) or nondiabetic (p<0.01) mice. Histological analysis of scar showed significant skin disorganization and epidermis thickening with B2R agonist (p<0.05). In vitro, B2R agonist induced an increase of keratinocyte proliferation (+46% after 48h, p<0.01) and a stimulation of keratinocyte migration (+30% after 24h, p<0.05). These effects was associated with ERK phosphorylation which occurs downstream of EGFR activation (p<0.05). B2R agonist had no effect on fibroblast migration but decreased fibroblast proliferation (–33% after 48h, p<0.05). Co-treatment with Icatibant abrogated in vivo and in vitro effects observed with B2R agonist. Moreover, Icatibant alone hastened wound healing and decrease the epidermis thickening induced by diabetes. In conclusion, KKS, through the B2R but not the B1R, plays a critical role in proliferation and remodelling phases of skin wound healing in mice. While more studies are needed, Icatibant could be used to correct the diabetic wound healing defect

Molecular Imaging of Microglial Activation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

There is growing evidence of activated microglia and inflammatory processes in the cerebral cortex in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Activated microglia is characterized by increased expression of the 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) in the brain and may be a useful biomarker of inflammation. In this study, we evaluated neuroinflammation in ALS patients using a radioligand of TSPO, 18F-DPA-714. Ten patients with probable or definite ALS (all right-handed, without dementia, and untreated by riluzole or other medication that might bias the binding on the TSPO), were enrolled prospectively and eight healthy controls matched for age underwent a PET study. Comparison of the distribution volume ratios between both groups were performed using a Mann-Whitney’s test. Significant increase of distribution of volume ratios values corresponding to microglial activation was found in the ALS sample in primary motor, supplementary motor and temporal cortex (p = 0.009, p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). These results suggested that the cortical uptake of 18F-DPA-714 was increased in ALS patients during the ‘‘time of diagnosis’’ phase of the disease. This finding might improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of ALS and might be a surrogate marker of efficacy of treatment on microglial activation

A89 – La-Tour-de-Salvagny/Balbigny

Identifiant de l'opération archéologique : 9704 Date de l'opération : 2008 (EV) Le tracé de l'A 89 long de 48 km traverse deux départements et représente une emprise totale d'environ 600 ha. L'ensemble des opérations archéologiques, diagnostics et fouilles préventives, doit s'inscrire entre 2007 et 2010. En concertation avec l'aménageur et le calendrier des travaux prévus, le tracé du projet autoroutier a été divisé en 12 tronçons. Chacun est autonome et fait l'objet d'un rapport de diagnosti..

Warm Molecular Hydrogen Emission in Normal Edge-On Galaxies NGC 4565 and NGC 5907

We have observed warm molecular hydrogen in two nearby edge-on disk galaxies, NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, using the Spitzer high-resolution infrared spectrograph. The 0-0 S(0) 28.2 micron and 0-0 S(1) 17.0 micron pure rotational lines were detected out to 10 kpc from the center of each galaxy on both sides of the major axis, and in NGC 4565 the S(0) line was detected at r = 15 kpc on one side. This location lies beyond a steep drop in the radio continuum emission from cosmic rays in the disk. Despite indications that star formation activity decreases with radius, the H2 excitation temperature and the ratio of the H2 line and the far-IR luminosity surface densities, Sigma_L(H2}/Sigma_L(TIR}, change very little as a function of radius, even into the diffuse outer region of the disk of NGC 4565. This suggests that the source of excitation of the H2 operates over a large range of radii, and is broadly independent of the strength and relative location of UV emission from young stars. Although excitation in photodissociation regions is the most common explanation for the widespread H2 emission, cosmic ray heating or shocks cannot be ruled out. The inferred mass surface densities of warm molecular hydrogen in both edge-on galaxies differ substantially, being 4(-60) M_solar/pc^2 and 3(-50) M_solar/pc^2 at r = 10 kpc for NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, respectively. The higher values represent very unlikely point-source upper limits. The point source case is not supported by the observed emission distribution in the spectral slits. These mass surface densities cannot support the observed rotation velocities in excess of 200 km/s. Therefore, warm molecular hydrogen cannot account for dark matter in these disk galaxies, contrary to what was implied by a previous ISO study of the nearby edge-on galaxy NGC 891.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal (20 pages, 17 figures, 7 tables