Theme C: Medical information systems and databases - results and future work

International audienceThis paper presents the activities of the theme C “medical information systems and databases” in the GDR Stic Santé. Six one-day workshops have been organized during the period 2011–2012. They were devoted to 1) sharing anatomical and physiological object models for simulation of clinical medical images, 2) advantages and limitations of datawarehouse for biological data, 3) medical information engineering, 4) systems for sharing medical images for research, 5) knowledge engineering for semantic interoperability in e-health applications, and 6) using context in health. In the future, our activities will continue with a specific interest on information systems for translational medicine and the role of electronic healthcare reports in decision-making. Workshops with other research groups will be organized in particular with the e-health research group

Programmation par les utilisateurs finaux : Composition d'applications Web respectueuse de la vie privée

International audienceFacebook, Gmail and Dropbox are only three examples of successful web applications. Each of them provides specif ic functionalities and application composition allows user to extend the range of functionalities they can benefit from. However, they rely on mediation code produced by expert developers. As a result, end users cannot freely compose web applications. They cannot precisely configure their privacy preferences either. These two constrains impair users experience. Our work seeks to deal with this lacks. We propose a model-driven approach which permits end users to specify the composition of their web applicati ons and their privacy preferences. Our approach allows to generate the execution code so that end users do not have to rely on developers. Our work is implemented as a modeling and execution tool. We use our tool to realiz e a real - world compositio

Personalized Temporal Medical Alert System

International audienceThe continuous increasing needs in telemedicine and healthcare, accentuate the need of well-adapted medical alert systems. Such alert systems may be used by a variety of patients and medical actors, and should allow monitoring a wide range of medical variables. This paper proposes Tempas, a personalized temporal alert system. It facilitates customized alert configuration by using linguistic trends. The trend detection algorithm is based on data normalization, time series segmentation, and segment classification. It improves state of the art by treating irregular and regular time series in an appropriate way, thanks to the introduction of an observation variable valid time. Alert detection is enriched with quality and applicability measures. They allow a personalized tuning of the system to help reducing false negatives and false positives alert

Bacterial Biofilm Characterization and Microscopic Evaluation of the Antibacterial Properties of a Photocatalytic Coating Protecting Building Material

se of photocatalytic paint-like coatings may be a way to protect building materials from microbial colonization. Numerous studies have shown the antimicrobial efficiency of TiO 2 photocatalysis on various microorganisms. However, few have focused on easy-to-apply solutions and on photocatalysis under low irradiance. This paper focuses on (a) the antibacterial properties of a semi-transparent coating formulated using TiO 2 particles and (b) the microscopic investigations of bacterial biofilm development on TiO 2 -coated building materials under accelerated growth conditions. Results showed significant antibacterial activity after few hours of testing. The efficiency seemed limited by the confinement of the TiO 2 particles inside the coating binder. However, a pre-irradiation with UV light can improve efficiency. In addition, a significant effect against the formation of a bacterial biofilm was also observed. The epifluorescence approach, in which fluorescence is produced by reflect rather than transmitted light, could be applied in further studies of microbial growth on coatings and building material

A review of indoor microbial growth across building materials and sampling and analysis methods

Microorganisms from damp indoor environments are known to be one of the main causes of the degradation of indoor air quality and can be serious health hazards to occupants because of the production of airborne particles. Surfaces of building materials (plasterboard, mortar, etc.) are generally highly porous and rough. In damp environments, these materials can provide an environment favourable to proliferation and growth of microorganisms. Sampling of microbial communities on building materials, in addition to air sampling, is thus necessary to evaluate microbial proliferation indoors. The present paper aims to (i) summarise and compare the different methods used for sampling and analysing microbial growth on building materials and (ii) make a synthesis on the colonising microbial communities and the building materials parameters (humidity, chemical composition, pH, etc.) affecting their growth. With regards to methods, our investigations focused exclusively on studies dealing with building materials. When available, studies comparing the efficiency of methods on building materials were discussed. In-situ sampling campaigns were reviewed and the microorganisms identified on building materials were listed. Factors determining bio-receptivity of materials were also examined on the basis of studies performed on various types of materials (including building materials). The microorganisms the most frequently detected on indoor building materials are (i) fungi genera Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Stachybotrys, and (ii) Gram negative bacteria and mycobacteria. Some correlations between microbial genera/species and the type material can also be outlined. The water activity, the chemical composition, the pH and the physical properties of surfaces are parameters influencing microbial growth on materials. The particular behaviour of porous materials in terms of water sorption and the effect of water on microbial proliferation are underlined. In the future, the standardisation of methods for sampling, analysis and laboratory testing will be helpful in the assessment of microbial proliferation in building materials. Moreover, investigations on the impact of the material's mineralogy and its surface properties on growth will be necessary for a better understanding and predicting of microbial proliferation on these substrates

Monoglyceride to protect building materials against microbial proliferation

Use of bio-based products from the recycling of glycerol, a valuable by-product of agro-industry as antimicrobial coatings may be an eco-friendly alternative to the classic ways of protecting building materials against microbial proliferation such as metal-based treatments, biocides, etc. Monoglycerides (MG) can be synthetized starting from oleochemical synthons such as glycerol and fatty acids. Numerous studies have shown the antimicrobial efficiency of fatty acids and esters against various microorganisms. This paper focuses on evaluating the antimicrobial potential of a specific MG molecule with the aim of incorporating it in a semi-transparent aqueous coating intended for building materials. Three types of experiments were carried out: (i) evaluation of bactericidal activity in liquid phase, (ii) evaluation of antibacterial activity according to JIS Z 2801, and (iii) evaluation of the resistance of coated building materials to natural microbial contamination. Results showed that the MG molecule tested possessed strong antibacterial properties. These promising results highlight potential of such molecules in the protection of building materials and encourage further studies

Effets induits des grandes infrastructures : synthèse de l'analyse bibliographique

Ce rapport constitue la synthèse de l'étude bibliographique réalisée dans le cadre de l'action du programme, menée sur trois ans, dont il est la première phase, et qui porte plus largement sur la problématique des effets induits des grandes infrastructures . L'analyse a été volontairement limitée à une cinquantaine de références centrées d'une part, sur les effets socio-économiques, il s'agit d'études réalisées en application de la loi d'orientation sur les transports intérieurs, et d'autre part, sur les infrastructures autoroutières et voies ferrées à grande vitesse. L'objectif de cette approche vise non seulement à dresser un état des lieux de la connaissance et des pratiques d'études sur le thème des effets induits, mais aussi, à repérer les marges de progrès et de renouvellements à la fois dans les concepts et les méthodes. En conséquence, le rapport est conçu selon deux parties : • la première consacrée à l'état des connaissances et des pratiques, notamment sur le concept d'effets induits et sur la mesure de ces effets, • la deuxième développée autour du constat que l'évolution de la représentation spatiale rend nécessaire le renouvellement des concepts et des pratiques

High prevalence of PRPH2 in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa in France and characterization of biochemical and clinical features.

International audiencePURPOSE:To assess the prevalence of PRPH2 in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), to report six novel mutations, to characterize the biochemical features of a recurrent novel mutation and to study the clinical features of adRP patients.DESIGN:Retrospective clinical and molecular genetic study.METHODS:Clinical investigations included visual field testing, fundus examination, high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence imaging and electroretinogram (ERG) recording. PRPH2 was screened by Sanger sequencing in a cohort of 310 French families with adRP. Peripherin-2 protein was produced in yeast and analyzed by Western blot.RESULTS:We identified 15 mutations, including 6 novel and 9 previously reported changes in 32 families, accounting for a prevalence of 10.3% in this adRP population. We showed that a new recurrent p.Leu254Gln mutation leads to protein aggregation, suggesting abnormal folding. The clinical severity of the disease in examined patients was moderate with 78% of the eyes having 1 to 0.5 of visual acuity and 52% of the eyes retaining more than 50% of the visual field. Some patients characteristically showed vitelliform deposits or macular involvement. In some families, pericentral RP or macular dystrophy were found in family members while widespread RP was present in other members of the same families.CONCLUSIONS:The mutations in PRPH2 account for 10.3% of adRP in the French population, which is higher than previously reported (0-8%) This makes PRPH2 the second most frequent adRP gene after RHO in our series. PRPH2 mutations cause highly variable phenotypes and moderate forms of adRP, including mild cases which could be underdiagnosed