Clotho, a collaborative information weaving tool / by Alexandre Stouffs.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 50).Clotho is a collaborative field-reporting tool that provides an environment for gathering stories about a subject or event in a meaningful structure. The relationships between stories constitute the backbone of the structure. Because the main use of the tool is geared towards capturing immediacy, the focus is on mobile devices such as wireless-enabled PDAs. We present the implementation of the tool based on Java and JXME, an open peer-to-peer architecture for mobile devices. An evaluation of the tool and its results are examined. Keywords: collaborative, linking, mobile, pda, field-reporting, news, peer-to-peer.S.M

Perceptual correlates of homosynaptic long-term potentiation in human nociceptive pathways: A replication study

Animal studies have shown that high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of peripheral C-fibres induces long-term potentiation (LTP) within spinal nociceptive pathways. The aim of this replication study was to assess if a perceptual correlate of LTP can be observed in humans. In 20 healthy volunteers, we applied HFS to the left or right volar forearm. Before and after applying HFS, we delivered single electrical test stimuli through the HFS electrode while a second electrode at the contra-lateral arm served as a control condition. Moreover, to test the efficacy of the HFS protocol, we quantified changes in mechanical pinprick sensitivity before and after HFS of the skin surrounding both electrodes. The perceived intensity was collected for both electrical and mechanical stimuli. After HFS, the perceived pain intensity elicited by the mechanical pinprick stimuli applied on the skin surrounding the HFS-treated site was significantly higher compared to control site (heterotopic effect). Furthermore, we found a higher perceived pain intensity for single electrical stimuli delivered to the HFS-treated site compared to the control site (homotopic effect). Whether the homotopic effect reflects a perceptual correlate of homosynaptic LTP remains to be elucidated.Fil: van de Broeke, Emanuel N.. Université Catholique de Louvain; BélgicaFil: Vanmaele, Tessa. Katholikie Universiteit Leuven; BélgicaFil: Mouraux, André. Université Catholique de Louvain; BélgicaFil: Stouffs, Alexandre. Université Catholique de Louvain; BélgicaFil: Biurrun Manresa, José Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática; ArgentinaFil: Torta, Diana M.. Katholikie Universiteit Leuven; Bélgic

Intraoperatively diagnosed tracheal tear during a parathyroidec-tomy with previously undiagnosed tracheomalacia: a case report

Tracheal rupture is a rare complication of endotracheal intubation and surgery of thyroid gland. We present a case of tracheal rupture diagnosed and repaired intraoperatively. A 76-year-old female patient with a recurrent parathyroid adenoma and cold thyroid nodule was scheduled for a bilateral exploration of the parathyroid glands associated to thyroid lobectomy. Induction of anesthesia was uncomplicated. Orotracheal intubation was easy and atraumatic using a 6.5 mm EMG endotracheal tube (ETT) with low pressure cuff. Approximately 30 minutes after begining surgery, a tracheal tear was suspected by the anesthesiologist warned by his respiratory monitoring alarms (leakage in the ventilatory system). After confirming the diagnosis, a suture was performed and antibiotic coverage was administrated. The patient made a slight cervical subcutaneous emphysema and fully recovered after four weeks without any other complication. We review the litterature and discuss the risk factors of tracheal tear during thryroidectomy surgery and endotracheal intubation

Interruptions as Multimodal Outputs: Which are the Less Disruptive?

This paper describes exploratory studies of interruption modalities and disruptiveness. Five interruption modalities were compared: Heat, Smell, Sound, Vibration, and Light. Much more notable than the differences between modalities was the differences between people. We found that subjects' sensitiveness depended on their previous life exposure to the modalities

Thermodynamic and economic evaluation of an innovative electricity storage system based on thermal energy storage

International audienc

Thermodynamic analysis of a 200 MWh electricity storage system based on high temperature thermal energy storage

International audienc

What Can We Learn from Sarcopenia with Curarisation in the Context of Cancer Surgery? A Review of the Literature

INTRODUCTION: The monitoring of the curarisation is a unique opportunity to investigate the function of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) during cancer surgery, especially in frailty-induced and age-related sarcopenia. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive literature review in PubMed, without any limit of time related to frailty, sarcopenia, age and response to neuromuscular blockers in the context of cancer surgery. RESULTS: Several modifications appear with age: changes in cardiac output, a decrease in muscle mass and increase in body fat, the deterioration in renal and hepatic function, the plasma clearance and the volume of distribution in elderly are smaller. These changes can be exacerbated in cancer patients. We also find modifications of the NMJ: dysfunctional mitochondria, modifications in the innervation of muscle fibers and motor units, uncoupling of the excitation-contraction of muscle fibers, inflammation. Neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) compete with acetylcholine and prevent it from fixing itself on its receptor. Many publications reported guidelines for using NMBAs in the elderly, based on studies comparing old people with young people. No one screened frailty before, and thus, no studies compared frail elderly and non-frail elderly undergoing cancer surgery. CONCLUSION: Despite many studies about curarisation in the specific populations, and many arguments for a potential interest for investigation, no studies investigated specifically the response to NMBAs in regard of the frailty-induced and age-related sarcopenia

Can high frequency electrical stimulation of the skin (HFS) induce a sustained secondary hyperalgesia at the distal lower limb?

Background and Aims: High Frequency Stimulation (HFS) applied onto the human skin produces an increase in sensitivity to mechanical pinprick stimuli in the surrounding non-stimulated skin. This phenomenon is thought to be related to the secondary hyperalgesia caused by a lesion, and to be a consequence of central sensitization. Most previous studies have explored HFS-induced secondary hyperalgesia at the upper limb [1; 3]. The aim of this study was to characterize the change in mechanical pinprick sensitivity induced by HFS delivered to another body part, the distal end of the lower limb. Methods: 32 healthy volunteers (15 women and 17 men aged between 20 and 30; mean 23,7) were included in the experiment. Half of the participants received HFS on the volar forearm (10 cm distal from the cubital fossa, dermatomes C6-C7-T1) [2; 4]. The other half received HFS on the lateral side of the foot (dermatomes L5-S1) [2]. The stimulation consisted of 5 trains of 100 Hz pulses (pulse width: 2 ms) lasting 1 s. The electrode consisted of 16 blunt, stainless steel pins with a diameter of 0,2 mm protruding 1 mm from the base (MRC Systems, GmbH, Heidelberg University, Germany). The time interval between each train onset was 10 s. The intensity of stimulation corresponded to 20 times the detection threshold to a single pulse (forearm: 0.12 +/-0.06 mA [mean +/- SD], foot : 0.30 +/-0.10 mA). Pinprick sensitivity was assessed before HFS and 30 min, 60 min, 90 min, 120 min, 180 min and 240 min after HFS by asking participants to rate the intensity of a 128 mN pinprick stimulus (0.25 mm probe) applied perpendicular to the conditioned skin. The area of increased pinprick sensitivity was assessed along eight radial axes at each time point. Results: Both HFS applied to the volar forearm and HFS applied to the lateral foot dorsum induced a significant increase in pinprick sensitivity, which was present both up to 240 min at the forearm and the foot. The increase in sensitivity was greater at the forearm compared to the foot dorsum (p < .05). The area of increased sensitivity was also greater at the forearm as compared to the foot (p = 0,003). Conclusions: HFS can be used to explore secondary hyperalgesia at the lower limbs. However, the change in pinprick sensitivity induced by HFS at the foot is not as strong as the change in pinprick sensitivity induced by HFS at the volar forearm. This could be due to differences at peripheral or central level, including differences in epidermal nerve fiber density, differences in skin thickness, differences in the daily exposures to stimuli, and/or differences in the central processing of nociceptive input originating from the upper and lower limbs. References: [1] Klein T, Stahn S, Magerl W, Treede RD. The role of heterosynaptic facilitation in long-term potentiation (LTP) of human pain sensation. Pain 2008;139(3):507-519. [2] Lee M, McPhee R, Stringer MJCATOJotAAoCA, Anatomists tBAoC. An evidence?based approach to human dermatomes. 2008;21(5):363-373. [3] van den Broeke EN, Gousset S, Bouvy J, Stouffs A, Lebrun L, van Neerven SGA, Mouraux A. Heterosynaptic facilitation of mechanical nociceptive input is dependent on the frequency of conditioning stimulation. J Neurophysiol 2019. [4] van den Broeke EN, Mouraux A. High-frequency electrical stimulation of the human skin induces heterotopical mechanical hyperalgesia, heat hyperalgesia, and enhanced responses to nonnociceptive vibrotactile input. J Neurophysiol 2014;111(8):1564-1573. Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare Source of Financial Support for the Project: This study was supported by a funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No [777500]. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and EFPIA. www.imi.europa.eu; www.imi-paincare.eu. The statements and opinions presented here reflect the author's view and neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein