Predicting Optimal Lengths of Random Knots

In thermally fluctuating long linear polymeric chain in solution, the ends come from time to time into a direct contact or a close vicinity of each other. At such an instance, the chain can be regarded as a closed one and thus will form a knot or rather a virtual knot. Several earlier studies of random knotting demonstrated that simpler knots show their highest occurrence for shorter random walks than more complex knots. However up to now there were no rules that could be used to predict the optimal length of a random walk, i.e. the length for which a given knot reaches its highest occurrence. Using numerical simulations, we show here that a power law accurately describes the relation between the optimal lengths of random walks leading to the formation of different knots and the previously characterized lengths of ideal knots of the corresponding type

Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system: secondary progression despite successful surgical treatment, mimicking amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Case report and review

Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system is a rare disorder with hemosiderin deposition in the spinal and cranial leptomeninges and subpial layer, mostly from repetitive subarachnoid hemorrhage. Progressive sensorineural deafness, cerebellar ataxia, and pyramidal signs comprise the typical clinical presentation. We describe a 47-year-old patient, who showed initial 2-year improvement after successful occlusion of an intradural bleeding source at T4. Secondary progression of symptoms without further bleedings was noted thereafter, with a clinical picture of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This case illustrates that the disease may progress secondarily even without re-bleedings, and that secondary progression might be due to a similar pathomechanism as in amyotrophic lateral sclerosi

Health Universities - Konzept, Relevanz und Best Practice : Mit regionaler Versorgung und interprofessioneller Bildung zu bedarfsgerechten Gesundheitsfachleuten

Das Konzept der Health Universities entstand als eine Antwort auf die Herausforderungen des Gesundheitswesens in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren. Es vereint bildungs- und versorgungspolitische Ansprüche, die schwierig unter einen Hut zu bringen sind. Wie hat sich dieses Konzept in Europa weiter entwickelt? Welche Bedeutung hat es für die Herausforderungen von heute? Dieser Bericht zeigt das Potential der Health Universities für eine bedarfsgerechte Ausbildung von Gesundheitsfachleuten zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts, indem Konzept, Relevanz und Best Practice beschrieben werden

Learning Outcomes for Health Professions: The Concept of the Swiss Competencies Framework

Modern conceptions of education are based on normative goals concerning learning outcomes in terms of competencies to acquire. The objective of the Swiss competencies framework was to define general and profession-specific learning outcomes for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy (ergotherapy), midwifery, nutrition counselling, and technicians in medical radiology. In addition, national authorities needed an instrument that allowed the integration of the old professional trainings into a nationally-harmonised education system and that showed the specificities of the levels (higher vocational education; bachelor and master degree at university level). While the general learning outcomes were derived from legal bases, the profession-specific learning outcomes are elaborated according to the competency-based CanMEDS framework. In the CanMEDS framework, knowledge, skills, and attitudes are condensed into meta-competencies which in turn are divided into seven roles, including the medical expert (central role). Taxonomic characteristics and indicators were elaborated in an iterative process that involved regulators, the universities of applied sciences and professional organisations. For the degree programmes mentioned above, the framework developed focuses not only on professional expertise, but also on collaboration with other health professions. Moreover, the interface-management in care taking processes is a critical success factor. Based on this conception, three levels of objectives were identified: general competencies, profession-specific learning outcomes and learning objectives to be implemented in the universities of applied sciences. The general competencies are composed of four dimensions and apply to all health professionals. The profession-specific learning outcomes for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes are outlined with 3 to 5 indicators each in all seven professions concerned. The definition and identification of these learning outcomes allows locating the different study programmes on the correct level of tertiary education. The resulting competency framework can be applied to all health professions. The general and job-specific learning outcomes are a coherent, coordinated set of standards, which represent the objectives of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in a differentiated way and promote inter-professional collaboration

Bayesian detection of abnormal hematological values to introduce a no-start rule for heterogeneous populations of athletes.

Sports authorities exclude athletes with abnormal levels of blood parameters. Here, the consideration of longitudinal blood profiles together with heterogeneous factors such as ethnicity and age produces a model with enhanced sensitivity to detect blood doping. Sports disciplines with heterogeneous populations now have a general method to introduce the no-start rule

Analysis of a specific modular serine protease acting in the Drosophila Toll pathway

In Drosophila, the Toll pathway plays an important role in the immune defense against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. Molecular determinants coming from those pathogens are directly detected by pattern recognition receptors (PPRs) circulating in the hemolymph. It has been proposed that several serine protease cascades are activated by PRRs, leading to the activation of a cleaved form of the cytokine-like molecule Spätzle, the ligand of the Toll receptor. The results obtained during my master project demonstrate an essential role for ModSP, a modular serine protease acting in the activation of the Toll pathway upon Gram-positive and fungal infections. We demonstrate that ModSP integrates signals coming from GNBP3 and PGRP-SA recognition molecules and that ModSP sends this signal to Grass, a serine protease already known to activate SPE and thereby Spätzle. Further biochemical experiments show the interaction between ModSP and GNBP1 demonstrating an apical role of this serine protease in the proteolytic cascades leading to Toll pathway activation. We also find that ModSP is expressed in specific vesicles released from the fat bodies into the hemolymph. Also, preliminary studies suggest that ModSP does not participate in the melanization reaction, a secondary but important insect immune mechanism. Biochemical analysis done by some collaborators indicates that ModSP does not cleave Grass and that ModSP exhibits a high level of auto-proteolysis when this molecule is expressed. Our data reveal a conserved role of modular serine protease in the regulation of immune proteolytic cascade in insect

Role mezidruhové kompetice v ekologické diferenciaci a speciaci u dvou druhů pěvců, Luscinia megarhynchos a Luscinia luscinia

(in Czech) Předpokládá se, že mezidruhová kompetice hraje důležitou roli v morfologické a ekologické diferenciaci druhů s překrývajícím se areálem a může také přispět k posílení reprodukční izolace mezi druhy. Nicméně, empirických dokladů ukazujících přímou souvislost mezi kompeticí, ekologickou divergencí a specifickými morfologickými adaptacemi je stále velmi málo. Tato práce se zaměřuje na roli mezidruhové kompetice v ekologické diferenciaci a evoluci reprodukční izolace u dvou blízce příbuzných druhů pěvců, slavíka obecného (Luscinia megarhynchos) a slavíka tmavého (Luscinia luscinia). Oba druhy jsou hmyzožraví a mají podobné ekologické niky. Divergovali před 1.8 miliony let a v současné době se jejich areály střetávají v oblasti sekundární kontaktní zóny, kde oba druhy příležitostně hybridizují. Předchozí studie na tomto systému ukázaly zvýšenou divergenci ve velikosti zobáku v sympatrii ve srovnání s alopatrií. To naznačuje, že mezidruhová kompetice mohla vést k divergenci potravní niky v oblasti překryvu areálů. V rámci této dizertační práce jsem studovala možnou souvislost mezi divergencí v morfologii zobáku, složením potravy, habitatem a složením střevní mikrobioty. Ukázali jsme, že oba druhy slavíků se liší potravní nikou v sypatrii a že tyto potravní rozdíly mohou částečně vysvětlit...(in English) Interspecific competition is assumed to play an important role in the morphological and ecological differentiation of co-occurring species and could contribute to their speciation. However, empirical studies showing a direct association between competition, ecological niche divergence and specific morphological adaptations are scarce. This thesis focuses on the role of interspecific competition in the differentiation and the evolution of reproductive isolation between two closely related passerine species: the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). Both species are insectivorous and have similar ecological niches. They have diverged 1.8 Mya and their areas currently overlap in a secondary contact zone, where both species still occasionally hybridize. Previous studies have reported an accentuate bill size divergence in sympatric populations compared to allopatric populations, suggesting that interspecific competition might have resulted in feeding niche divergence between the two species in sympatry. Within this PhD thesis, I have studied potential associations between bill morphology divergence, diet composition, habitat use and gut microbiota composition. We found that the two nightingale species have diverged in feeding niche in...Katedra zoologieDepartment of ZoologyPřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc

Semiautomatic mammographic parenchymal patterns classification using multiple statistical features.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Our project was to investigate a complete methodology for the semiautomatic assessment of digital mammograms according to their density, an indicator known to be correlated to breast cancer risk. The BI-RADS four-grade density scale is usually employed by radiologists for reporting breast density, but it allows for a certain degree of subjective input, and an objective qualification of density has therefore often been reported hard to assess. The goal of this study was to design an objective technique for determining breast BI-RADS density. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proposed semiautomatic method makes use of complementary pattern recognition techniques to describe manually selected regions of interest (ROIs) in the breast with 36 statistical features. Three different classifiers based on a linear discriminant analysis or Bayesian theories were designed and tested on a database consisting of 1408 ROIs from 88 patients, using a leave-one-ROI-out technique. Classifications in optimal feature subspaces with lower dimensionality and reduction to a two-class problem were studied as well. RESULTS: Comparison with a reference established by the classifications of three radiologists shows excellent performance of the classifiers, even though extremely dense breasts continue to remain more difficult to classify accurately. For the two best classifiers, the exact agreement percentages are 76% and above, and weighted kappa values are 0.78 and 0.83. Furthermore, classification in lower dimensional spaces and two-class problems give excellent results. CONCLUSION: The proposed semiautomatic classifiers method provides an objective and reproducible method for characterizing breast density, especially for the two-class case. It represents a simple and valuable tool that could be used in screening programs, training, education, or for optimizing image processing in diagnostic tasks

Evaluation de l'exposition professionnelle aux ultraviolets chez les travailleurs du bâtiment de la région valaisanne: une étude mandatée par l'Etat du Valais

Une exposition excessive, intermittente ou chronique, au rayonnement ultraviolet solaire est à l'origine de la majorité des cancers de la peau chez l'homme. L'augmentation de l'irradiation solaire au sol en raison de la pollution anthropique, l'élévation du niveau de vie (vacances dans des régions de forte irradiation) et le développement des activités de plein air contribuent à une augmentation de l'exposition. Ce n'est donc pas un hasard si, de tous les cancers, ce sont les cancers de la peau qui connaissent le plus fort taux de croissance (en terme de cas diagnostiqués). L'objectif de cette étude est d'évaluer l'exposition individuelle aux ultraviolets chez les travailleurs en extérieur et de caractériser l'influence des facteurs individuels (posture, orientation par rapport au soleil) sur l'exposition effective. Des mesures d'exposition individuelle par dosimétrie UV ont été effectuées chez des travailleurs du bâtiment à trois niveaux d'altitude dans le canton du Valais.L'activité posturale et les conditions d'exposition durant les périodes de mesure ont par ailleurs été relevées. L'exposition mesurée lors de journées ensoleillées est importante. La dose journalière obtenue dépasse largement les limites d'exposition recommandées pour des peaux non protégées, justifiant pleinement l'emploi systématique de mesures préventives. Pour ces raisons, des campagnes ciblées, par le canal professionnel, chez les populations de travailleurs à risque sont recommandées. De plus, en raison d'un risque d'exposition subaiguë accru, les populations à risque devraient bénéficier d'un dépistage systématisé. [Auteurs]]]> Occupational Exposure ; Radiation Injuries ; Skin Neoplasms ; Ultraviolet Rays oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_B8AA106B58C9 2022-05-07T01:25:45Z openaire documents urnserval <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_B8AA106B58C9 Biomarker of food intake for assessing the consumption of dairy and egg products. info:doi:10.1186/s12263-018-0615-5 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1186/s12263-018-0615-5 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/30279743 Münger, L.H. Garcia-Aloy, M. Vázquez-Fresno, R. Gille, D. Rosana, ARR Passerini, A. Soria-Florido, M.T. Pimentel, G. Sajed, T. Wishart, D.S. Andres Lacueva, C. Vergères, G. Praticò, G. info:eu-repo/semantics/review article 2018 Genes &amp; nutrition, vol. 13, pp. 26 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/1555-8932 urn:issn:1555-8932 <![CDATA[Dairy and egg products constitute an important part of Western diets as they represent an excellent source of high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals and fats. Dairy and egg products are highly diverse and their associations with a range of nutritional and health outcomes are therefore heterogeneous. Such associations are also often weak or debated due to the difficulty in establishing correct assessments of dietary intake. Therefore, in order to better characterize associations between the consumption of these foods and health outcomes, it is important to identify reliable biomarkers of their intake. Biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) provide an accurate measure of intake, which is independent of the memory and sincerity of the subjects as well as of their knowledge about the consumed foods. We have, therefore, conducted a systematic search of the scientific literature to evaluate the current status of potential BFIs for dairy products and BFIs for egg products commonly consumed in Europe. Strikingly, only a limited number of compounds have been reported as markers for the intake of these products and none of them have been sufficiently validated. A series of challenges hinders the identification and validation of BFI for dairy and egg products, in particular, the heterogeneous composition of these foods and the lack of specificity of the markers identified so far. Further studies are, therefore, necessary to validate these compounds and to discover new candidate BFIs. Untargeted metabolomic strategies may allow the identification of novel biomarkers, which, when taken separately or in combination, could be used to assess the intake of dairy and egg products