Sustainable control of grassland small mammals

International audienceSmall mammals such as the European rabbits, the plateau pikas, the prairie dogs have been traditionally perceived as pests and targeted for control on a large scale despite their importance as key-stone species in their native ecosystem. This is also the case for the fossorial form of the water vole (Arvicola terrestris). This species can reach large population densities and causes heavy damage to grassland with subsequent economic losses for farmers (9,000 to 25,000 € for a 70 ha farm during an outbreak year in Franche-Comté, France). However, higher population densities of A. terrestris and also of Microtus arvalis, help maintaining a large and rich community of vole predators. Such non-target species (red kite, common buzzard, wild boar, red fox, etc.) are impacted, some of them heavily, by the unconditional use of rodenticides (e.g. bromadiolone). In order to minimize the use of rodenticides in controlling A. terrestris populations, a long term research program has been undertaken since the late 80s, aiming at identifying the key-parameters of such regional systems. Based on a systems approach, this collaborative research network involves academic researchers, farmer, game, conservationist organizations and governmental and local administrations together. On a regional scale (area of about 2500 km2), Delattre et al. (1992), Giraudoux et al. (1997), Fichet et al. (2000) provided evidence that M. arvalis and A. terrestris population dynamic patterns correlate with land composition. On a sectorial scale (area of about 25 km2), Delattre et al. (1996), Delattre et al. (1999) showed for M. arvalis that landscape heterogeneity dampen population fluctuations and may modulate prey/predator relationships; Duhamel et al. (2000) that A. terrestris outbreak epicentres occur in homogeneous grassland and Foltete et al. (2008) that hedgerow networks slow down the propagation of travelling waves. On a local scale (area of about 0.01 km2), Delattre et al. (2006), Morilhat et al. (2007, 2008) showed that A. terrestris population growth was enhanced by larger gallery networks of Talpa europea, was slowed down by ploughing and cattle tramping and was modified by neighbouring landscape (10 - 100 ha). This led to a number of recommendations, now implemented for a more sustainable control of A. terrestris (Delattre and Giraudoux 2009) with substantial decrease in rodenticide utilization and lesser impact on non-target species. Poster downloadable at: http://pagesperso-orange.fr/giraudoux/PosterSETAC_120416_1200.pd

Forme atypique d’une maladie de Lyme

La maladie de Lyme est une zoonose qui se manifeste essentiellement par des signes cutanés, articulaires, neurologiques et cardiaques. Elle peut exceptionnellement mimer une dermatomyosite. Nous rapportons l'observation d'une patiente âgée de 37 ans qui a présenté des myalgies et un érythroedème de la face et en péri-orbitaire. Une dermatomyosite a été fortement suspectée devant une élévation des enzymes musculaires. Elle a été traitée par une corticothérapie à forte dose. L'évolution a été marquée par l'aggravation des myalgies et l'apparition d'un déficit musculaire. Elle a été alors hospitalisée dans notre service. Les enzymes musculaires étaient élevées. L'électromyogramme était sans anomalies. Le bilan immunologique était négatif. Une enquête infectieuse a été réalisée retrouvant une sérologie de Lyme positive. Après administration d'une antibiothérapie adaptée, l'évolution était bonne avec disparition du tableau clinico-biologique de dermatomyosite. La précocité du diagnostic et l'instauration d'un traitement efficace permet d'éviter des complications graves

List of reviewers

The following is a list of reviewers who from January 2007 to December 2007, have contributed their time and talent to the success of the publication of the ELECTRONIC LETTERS ON COMPUTER VISION AND IMAGE ANALYSIS

Combined DWT and DCT Image Compression Using Sliding RLE Technique

A number of compression schemes were put forward to achieve high compression factors with high image quality at a low computational time. In this paper, a combined transform coding scheme is proposed which is based on discrete wavelet (DWT) and discrete cosine (DCT) transforms with an added new enhancement method, which is the sliding run length encoding (SRLE) technique, to further improve compression. The advantages of the wavelet and the discrete cosine transforms were utilized to encode the image. This first step involves transforming the color components of the image from RGB to YUV planes to acquire the advantage of the existing spectral correlation and consequently gaining more compression. DWT is then applied to the Y, U and V color space information giving the approximate and the detail coefficients. The detail coefficients are quantized, coded using run length encoding (RLE) and SRLE. The approximate coefficients were coded using DCT, since DCT has superior compression performance when image information has poor power concentration in high frequency areas. This output is also quantized, coded using RLE and SRLE. Test results showed that the proposed DWT DCT SRLE system proved to have encouraging results in terms of Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Compression Factor (CF) and execution time when compared with some DWT based image compressions

Imunotherapy : new drugs, different adverse events

Imunoterapija je v zadnjih letih postala eden izmed pomembnih načinov sistemskega zdravljenja bolnikov z rakom. Priča smo bili različnim imunskim strategijam, med temi je tudi inhibicija kontrolnih točk. Zdravila proti CTLA-4, PD-1 in PD-L1 so protitelesa proti zaviralcem kontrolnih točk, ki lahko povišajo imunsko aktivnost proti rakavim celicam in tako ojačajo imunski odgovor proti raku. Večja uporaba teh zdravil pa je privedla do pojava posebne vrste imunsko pogojenih neželenih učinkov. Ti se najpogosteje izrazijo na koži, črevesju, žlezah z notranjim izločanjem, pljučih in mišično-skeletnem sistemu, lahko pa je prizadet kateri koli organ. Večina imunsko pogojenih neželenih učinkov je blagih do zmernih, v literaturi pa obstajajo poročila o hudih in življenje ogrožajočih. Pomembna je njihova zgodnja prepoznava in zdravljenje, kakor tudi multidisciplinaren pristop, da preprečimo resne zaplete.Over the past years, immunotherapy has become an important systemic treatment strategy for cancer patients. We have seen multiple different strategies, and checkpoint blockade is one them. Anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) are antibodies against checkpoint inhibitors that can increase immune activity against cancer, thus making the immune system stronger against cancer cells. However, the increasing use of these agents has exposed a discrete group of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Skin, gut, endocrine, lung, and musculoskeletal irAEs are the most common, although every organ can be affected. The majority of irAEs are mild to moderate in severity, however, serious and life-threatening irAEs are reported in literature. Early detection and treatment of irAEs is important, and a multidisciplinary approach is sometimes needed to prevent serious consequences

Détection de la vitesse de la marche à l'aide d'un radar Doppler : Analyse par ondelettes

International audienceLa santé, le bien-être et l’autonomie d’une personne âgée dépendent pour partie de sa capacité à se mouvoir. Les évaluations cliniques de la mobilité sont pratiquées en consultation gériatrique au travers de tests standardisés. Cependant, une surveillance quotidienne peut fournir plus d’information s sur l’état fonctionnel d’une personne tout en préservant son autonomie à domicile. Cet article propose une nouvelle méthode d’une surveillance continue de la vitesse de la marche à travers un système radar Doppler placé à domicile en se basant sur l’analyse de la transformée en ondelettes. Plus de 70 ondelettes mères ont été testées sur des signaux de marche obtenus par le radar. Un système optoélectronique (Vicon) a été utilisé durant l’expérimentation afin de choisir la/les convenable(s) ondelette(s) mère(s). Le coefficient de corrélation de Pearson (ρ) a été calculé entre les signaux de vitesse de la marche obtenus par le système radar et ceux obtenus par le système Vicon. Nos résultats suggèrent l’utilisation de Daubechies5 et Symlet7 étant donné une valeur ρ de 0,86 et 0,85, respectivement et une valeur d’erreur quadratique inférieur à 0,05 m/

List of reviewers

The following is a list of reviewers who from January 2007 to December 2007, have contributed their time and talent to the success of the publication of the ELECTRONIC LETTERS ON COMPUTER VISION AND IMAGE ANALYSIS

Texture Classification with Local Binary Pattern Based on Continues Wavelet Transformation

Abstract: In this paper, a new algorithm which is based on the continues wavelet transformation and local binary patterns (LBP) for content based texture image classification is proposed. We improve the Local Binary Pattern approach with Wavelet Transformation to propose the texture classification. We used 12 classes of Brodatz textures data base for proposed method. Each class is divided to 64 texture image and then wavelet transformation is applied to each texture. After transformed texture from wavelet the feature extraction matrix is formation using LBP. The same concept is utilized at LBP calculation which is generating nine LBP patterns from a given 3×3 pattern. Finally, nine LBP histograms are calculated which are used as a feature vector for image classification. Two experiments have been carried out for proving the worth of our algorithm. It is further mentioned that the database considered for experiments are Brodatz database. We verify the other method and proposed method is very good and efficient for classification texture image

Tarmmykobiota, serum anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antikroppar och calprotectin koncentrationer hos patienter med inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom som får infliximab medicinering

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a globally increasing chronic disease, for which the pathogenesis still is unclear. The most common subtypes of IBD are Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). It is widely known that, in addition to the genetics, an altered immune response against the gut microbiome plays an important role in the development of the disease. For the IBD patients, to whom conventional medication is not sufficient, the TNF-α blocker infliximab, is given. However, about one third of the patients receiving infliximab treatment, do not respond to the drug, or lose response over time. Since there to this day are no reliable diagnostic markers available, the finding of such is of great importance. The goal of this study was to investigate possible markers for drug response in the gut mycobiota composition of IBD patients. The gut mycobiota composition of 72 IBD patients receiving infliximab was studied by MiSeq sequencing of fungal DNA from fecal samples, collected during one year. The sequencing data was analyzed using the mare package in R. In addition, anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) concentrations were measured from baseline serum samples by ELISA. Finally, calprotectin concentrations were measured from baseline and twelve weeks post infliximab serum samples by ELISA to study whether serum samples could be used instead of fecal samples for measuring calprotectin values. Results show an increase of the Candida and Spiromyces genera in the gut mycobiota of non-responding patients at baseline. At all timepoints, the Spiromyces genus was observed at a higher abundance, compared to the group of patients responding well or partially to the medication. Interestingly, the increase of Candida was seen only in Crohn’s disease patients, when looking at the composition at all timepoints. ASCA values did not differ between the response groups. The serum calprotectin values did not correlate with fecal calprotectin, and serum calprotectin can thus not be used as a marker of gut inflammation. In conclusion, the gut mycobiota can offer predictive markers for drug response prediction to infliximab in IBD patients, which can with further studies offer a clinical diagnostic tool for prediction of drug response.Inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom (IBD) är en kronisk inflammation i tarmarna som är allt mer förekommande i hela världen. De vanligaste typerna av IBD är Crohn’s sjukdom och ulcerös colit. En tydlig orsak till sjukdomen har inte blivit hittad, men man vet att IBD delvis orsakas av en ovanlig immunreaktion mot tarmens mikrobiom hos en genetiskt belagd person. Åt patienter, för vilka den vanliga inflammationshämmande medicineringen inte är tillräcklig, ges den biologiska medicinen infliximab. Upp till en tredjedel av patienterna som får infliximab får ingen läkemedelsrespons mot medicinen, antingen på grund av brist på respons från början, eller avfall av respons efter medicinering. Det är mycket viktigt att forska i prediktiva markörer, eftersom det i nuläget inte finns diagnostiska metoder för undersökning av respons mot infliximab. Målet med denna studie var att undersöka möjliga markörer för läkemedelsrespons i tarmmykobiotan hos IBD patienter. Tarmmykobiotans komposition undersöktes hos 72 IBD patienter, som får denna medicinering, genom MiSeq sekvensering av svamp DNA i avföringsprov tagna under ett år. Koncentrationen av anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antikroppar (ASCA) har mätts från serumprov tagna före medicineringen började genom ELISA. Slutligen mättes även koncentrationen av calprotectin från serumprov tagna före medicineringen började samt tolv veckor efter medicinering för att undersöka om dessa kunde användas istället för calprotectin värden mätta från avföring. I studien observeras en ökning av släkten Candida och Spiromyces i tarmmykobiotan hos gruppen av patienter för vilka infliximab inte fungerade i prover tagna innan påbörjad medicinering. En ökning av släktet Spiromyces var observerad även i prover tagna under medicinering, medan ökningen av Candida bara var observerad hos patienter som lider av Crohn’s sjukdom i prover tagna under medicineringen. Det observerades ingen korrelation mellan calprotectinvärden mätta från serum och avföring, vilket betyder att serum calprotectinvärden inte fungerar som inflammationsmarkör för tarmen. Slutligen observerades inga skildaktigheter i ASCA-värden i de olika grupperna. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att tarmmykobiotan erbjuder möjliga prediktiva markörer för läkemedelsrespons mot infliximab hos IBD patienter som kan användas i diagnostiken