La grille au service du développement médical en Afrique

PCSV, présenté par F. Jacq, pas de proceedingsObjectives: Telemedicine networks allow to train local physicians and to improve diagnosis by exchanging medical data. But the set-up of multipoint dynamic telemedicine requires moving towards GRID technologies. The objective is to develop telemedicine services for physicians from Burkina Faso and France with the perspective of setting up a grid infrastructure between the participating medical sites. Methods: A web site to exchange diagnosis on diabetic retinopathy was developed in PHP. Another application using web services was developed to exchange patient information on ophthalmology between two databases. Results: The main difficulty comes from limited resources in developing countries including staff skills, bandwidth and funding. But the collaboration with dispensaries opened a door to enhanced collaboration between physicians of France and Burkina Faso Conclusions: These applications are designed with the aim of their use on grids which opens the perspective of multipoint dynamic telemedicine. We are developing a new generation of telemedicine service using experience acquired in the last two years

Towards grid-enabled telemedicine in Africa

Telemedicine services are very relevant tools to train local physicians and to improve diagnosis by exchanging medical data. Telemedicine networks allow these exchanges but the set-up of multipoint dynamic telemedicine requires moving towards GRID technologies. A healthgrid is an environment where data of medical interest can be stored and is easily available between the different actors of healthcare. Two telemedicine applications were developed to link physicians from Burkina Faso and France with the perspective of setting up a grid infrastructure between the participating medical sites. A web site to exchange diagnosis on diabetic retinopathy was developed in PHP and another application using web services was developed to exchange patient information between two databases.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, IST-Africa 2006 Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, to be published in the proceeding

Національно-демократичні об'єднання та політичні партії в Україні кінця XIX - початку XX століття

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become increasingly important for the treatment and relief of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, tremor, dystonia and psychiatric illness. As DBS implantations and any other stereotactic and functional surgical procedure require accurate, precise and safe targeting of the brain structure, the technical aids for preoperative planning, intervention and postoperative follow-up have become increasingly important. The aim of this paper was to give and overview, from a biomedical engineering perspective, of a typical implantation procedure and current supporting techniques. Furthermore, emerging technical aids not yet clinically established are presented. This includes the state-of-the-art of neuroimaging and navigation, patient-specific simulation of DBS electric field, optical methods for intracerebral guidance, movement pattern analysis, intraoperative data visualisation and trends related to new stimulation devices. As DBS surgery already today is an important technology intensive domain, an "intuitive visualisation" interface for improving management of these data in relation to surgery is suggested

A study of computational reconfiguration in a process network

In the process network model, the network evolves by reconfiguration. Reconfiguration changes the representation of the network. With a multi-threaded implementation of the process network system, it is necessary to coordinate concurrent accesses to the representational structure. We compare two approaches to the problem of ensuring consistency of representation during reconfiguration. One is a “localized” view, taken from the viewpoint of the process undergoing reconfiguration. The other requires a “global” view of the entire process network structure. We show how reconfiguration takes place in each case, and compare advantages and disadvantages of each.D.L. Webb, A.L.Wendelborn and J. Vayssier

Inhibition of Bcl-2-dependent cell survival by a caspase inhibitor: a possible new pathway for Bcl-2 to regulate cell death

International audienceThe REtsAF cell line expresses a temperaturesensitive mutant of the SV40 large tumor antigen. At restrictive temperature (39.5³C), the cells undergo p53-mediated apoptosis, which can be inhibited by Bcl-2. Here, we show that Z-VADfmk, a caspase inhibitor, can suppress the Bcl-2-dependent cell survival at 39.5³C. This result suggests that a caspase-like activity can act as an inhibitor of apoptosis in this model, downstream of Bcl-2. Our results also suggest that this activity may be up-regulated by Bcl-2 and may be responsible for cleavage of the tumor suppressor Rb protein

Use of emergency contraceptive pill by 15-year-old girls: results from the international health behaviour in school-aged children (hbsc) study

Objective To describe emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) use and variation across countries/regions; and to explore personal and contextual factors associated with ECP use and differences across countries/regions. Design Data were obtained from 11 countries/regions in the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children cross-sectional study. Setting Data were collected by self-report questionnaire in school classrooms. Population The analysis is based on 2118 sexually active 15-year-old girls. Methods Contraceptive behaviours were compared across countries/regions by chi-square tests. Individual factors related to ECP use were investigated with separate logistic regression models. Multilevel random-intercept models allowed the investigation of individual and contextual effects, by partitioning the variance into student, school and country/region levels. Main outcome measures ECP use at last sexual intercourse. Results ECP use rate varied significantly across countries/regions. Poor communication with at least one adult (odds ratio [OR] 1.62 [1.12-2.36], P = 0.011) and daily smoking (OR 1.46 [1.00-2.11], P = 0.048) were independently associated with ECP use in comparison with condom and/or birth-control pill use. Sexual initiation at 14 years or later (OR 2.02 [1.04-3.93], P = 0.039), good perceived academic achievement (OR 1.69 [1.04-2.75], P = 0.035) and daily smoking (OR 1.63 [1.01-2.64], P = 0.045) were associated with higher levels of ECP use in comparison with unprotected girls. The country-level variance remained significant in both comparisons. Conclusions These data document the large heterogeneity in rates of ECP use between countries/regions. These differences could not be explained by individual or contextual factors, and raise further questions in relation to ECP access for adolescents and their education in its appropriate use

Use of emergency contraceptive pill by 15-year-old girls: results from the international health behaviour in school-aged children (hbsc) study

Objective To describe emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) use and variation across countries/regions; and to explore personal and contextual factors associated with ECP use and differences across countries/regions. Design Data were obtained from 11 countries/regions in the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children cross-sectional study. Setting Data were collected by self-report questionnaire in school classrooms. Population The analysis is based on 2118 sexually active 15-year-old girls. Methods Contraceptive behaviours were compared across countries/regions by chi-square tests. Individual factors related to ECP use were investigated with separate logistic regression models. Multilevel random-intercept models allowed the investigation of individual and contextual effects, by partitioning the variance into student, school and country/region levels. Main outcome measures ECP use at last sexual intercourse. Results ECP use rate varied significantly across countries/regions. Poor communication with at least one adult (odds ratio [OR] 1.62 [1.12-2.36], P = 0.011) and daily smoking (OR 1.46 [1.00-2.11], P = 0.048) were independently associated with ECP use in comparison with condom and/or birth-control pill use. Sexual initiation at 14 years or later (OR 2.02 [1.04-3.93], P = 0.039), good perceived academic achievement (OR 1.69 [1.04-2.75], P = 0.035) and daily smoking (OR 1.63 [1.01-2.64], P = 0.045) were associated with higher levels of ECP use in comparison with unprotected girls. The country-level variance remained significant in both comparisons. Conclusions These data document the large heterogeneity in rates of ECP use between countries/regions. These differences could not be explained by individual or contextual factors, and raise further questions in relation to ECP access for adolescents and their education in its appropriate use

Evidence for a mitochondrial localization of Rb protein

International audienc