Including osteoprotegerin and collagen IV in a score-based blood test for liver fibrosis increases diagnostic accuracy

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive methods for liver fibrosis evaluation in chronic liver diseases have been recently developed, i.e. transient elastography (Fibroscan™) and blood tests (Fibrometer®, Fibrotest®, and Hepascore®). In this study, we aimed to design a new score in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) by selecting blood markers in a large panel and we compared its diagnostic performance with those of other noninvasive methods. METHODS: Sixteen blood tests were performed in 306 untreated CHC patients included in a multicenter prospective study (ANRS HC EP 23 Fibrostar) using METAVIR histological fibrosis stage as reference. The new score was constructed by non linear regression using the most accurate biomarkers. RESULTS: Five markers (alpha-2-macroglobulin, apolipoprotein-A1, AST, collagen IV and osteoprotegerin) were included in the new function called Coopscore©. Using the Obuchowski Index, Coopscore© shows higher diagnostic performances than for Fibrometer®, Fibrotest®, Hepascore® and Fibroscan™ in CHC. Association between Fibroscan™ and Coopscore© might avoid 68% of liver biopsies for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Coopscore© provides higher accuracy than other noninvasive methods for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in CHC. The association of Coopscore© with Fibroscan™ increases its predictive value

Timbre from Sound Synthesis and High-level Control Perspectives

International audienceExploring the many surprising facets of timbre through sound manipulations has been a common practice among composers and instrument makers of all times. The digital era radically changed the approach to sounds thanks to the unlimited possibilities offered by computers that made it possible to investigate sounds without physical constraints. In this chapter we describe investigations on timbre based on the analysis by synthesis approach that consists in using digital synthesis algorithms to reproduce sounds and further modify the parameters of the algorithms to investigate their perceptual relevance. In the first part of the chapter timbre is investigated in a musical context. An examination of the sound quality of different wood species for xylophone making is first presented. Then the influence of instrumental control on timbre is described in the case of clarinet and cello performances. In the second part of the chapter, we mainly focus on the identification of sound morphologies, so called invariant sound structures responsible for the evocations induced by environmental sounds by relating basic signal descriptors and timbre descriptors to evocations in the case of car door noises, motor noises, solid objects, and their interactions

The different facets of timbre: data-driven modelling of musical instruments sounds perception

International audienceAlthough extensively studied for many years, defining the timbre of musical sounds remains unclear and somewhatcontroversial. We here address this question by using representations of sounds inspired by auditory cortical processes - so-called spectro-temporal modulation representations - as front-end representations to interpretable metric learning techniques modelling human dissimilarity ratings. We present a meta-analysis of 17 published experiments on the perception of musical instrument timbre. The results reveal that these studies are only partly replicable. Interestingly, we observed that spectro-temporal modulations embed relevant information to model human dissimilarity ratings of musical instruments sounds. Thanks to an interpretable distance metric learning technique, the results strikingly suggest that humans use both generic and context-driven acoustical cues defining the different facets of musical instrument timbre. This study hereby provides a unique overview of 17 historical studies on timbre and points the limitation of the traditional dimensional analyses. We further propose a new way to investigate the acoustical correlates of timbre. The proposed methodology hence opens avenues to link acoustical representations to high-level human judgements

Synthesis and evaluation of hybrid molecules targeting the vinca domain of tubulin.

International audienceSome hybrids of vinca alkaloids and phomopsin A, linked by a glycine pattern, have been synthesized in one or two steps, by an insertion reaction and shown to inhibit microtubule assembly. These compounds have been elaborated in order to interact with both the "vinca site" and the "peptide site" of the vinca domain in tubulin. Two out of three hybrids are potent inhibitors of microtubules assembly and they present good cytotoxicity against different cell lines. Molecular modelling studies show that they could bind, within the vinca domain, in similar spatial regions as those of vinca and phomopsin thanks to the flexibility provided by the glycine linker used to elaborate these hybrids

Synthesis and evaluation of hybrid molecules targeting the vinca domain of tubulin.

International audienceSome hybrids of vinca alkaloids and phomopsin A, linked by a glycine pattern, have been synthesized in one or two steps, by an insertion reaction and shown to inhibit microtubule assembly. These compounds have been elaborated in order to interact with both the "vinca site" and the "peptide site" of the vinca domain in tubulin. Two out of three hybrids are potent inhibitors of microtubules assembly and they present good cytotoxicity against different cell lines. Molecular modelling studies show that they could bind, within the vinca domain, in similar spatial regions as those of vinca and phomopsin thanks to the flexibility provided by the glycine linker used to elaborate these hybrids

Audio-Motor Synchronization: The Effect of Mapping Between Kinematics and Acoustic Cues on Geometric Motor Features

International audienceThis paper presents an experiment dealing with the sensorimotor relation between auditory perception and graphical movements. Subjects were asked to synchronize their gestures with synthetic friction sounds. Some geometrical and dynamical parameters of the motor productions are analyzed according to the different mappings. This experiment provides a formal framework for a wider study which aims to evaluate the relation between audition, vision and gestures

An Intuitive Synthesizer of Continuous Interaction Sounds: Rubbing, Scratching and Rolling

International audienceIn this paper, we propose a control strategy for synthesized continuous interaction sounds. The framework of our research is based on the \emph{action-object} paradigm that describes the sound as the result of an action on an object and that presumes the existence of sound invariants, i.e. perceptually relevant signal morphologies that carry information about the action's or the object's attributes. Auditory cues are here investigated for the evocations of rubbing, scratching and rolling interactions. A generic sound synthesis model that simulates these interactions is detailed. Then, we propose an intuitive control strategy that enables users to navigate continuously from one interaction to another in an ''action space'', hereby offering the possibility to simulate morphed interactions, for instance between rubbing and rolling