Elastic and thermo-elastic characterizations of thin resin films using colored picosecond acoustics and spectroscopic ellipsometry.

Colored Picosecond Acoustics (CPA) and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) are combined to measure elastic and thermoelastic properties of polymer thin-film resins deposited on 300 mm wafers. Film thickness and refractive index are measured using SE. Sound velocity and thickness are measured using CPA from the refractive index. Comparing the two thicknesses allows checking consistency between both approaches. The same combination is then applied at various temperatures from 19° to 180°C. As the sample is heated, both thickness and sound velocity change. By monitoring these contributions separately, the Temperature Coefficient on sound Velocity (TCV) and the Coefficient on Thermal Expansion are deduced. The protocol is applied to five industrial samples made of different thin-film resins currently used by microelectronic industry. Young's modulus varies from resin to resin by up to 20%. TCV is large on each resin and varies from one resin to another up to 57%.

Incidence, complications, and costs of peripheral venous catheter-related bacteraemia: a retrospective, single-centre study.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral venous catheter (PVC) complications occur on average in approximately half of patients, necessitating premature PVC removal, suspending administration of ongoing therapies, and catheter replacement. AIM: To estimate the current incidence, complications, and costs of bloodstream infection (BSI) attributable to PVCs. METHODS: Patients with PVC-related BSI (cases) were matched with patients without PVC-related BSI (controls). FINDINGS: From January 1st, 2018 to March 31st, 2020, a total of 9833 out of 113,068 patients visiting the emergency department (9%) were hospitalized in a medical ward after insertion of a PVC. Among them, 581 (6%) had at least one positive blood culture. Twenty-five (4%) of these were judged as having a PVC-related BSI. Major complications were noted in nine patients. One patient presented severe sepsis requiring admission to intensive care unit for eleven days followed by thoracic (T4-T7) spondylodiscitis requiring prolonged antimicrobial therapy. Another patient developed mitral valve endocarditis also requiring prolonged antimicrobial therapy. One patient developed a pre-sacral abscess three months after initial PVC infection and required hospital readmission for 19 days for drainage. Median (interquartile range) hospital stay costs were €11,597 (8,479-23,759) for cases and €6,789 (4,019-10,764) for controls, leading to median additional costs of €5,587. CONCLUSION: Though the risk of developing PVC-related BSI in patients admitted to medical wards may seem low, complications of PVC-related BSI are severe, and associated mortality remains high. The financial resources used to treat these complications could be better spent on prevention, including the use of high-quality materials and technologies, and improved training of healthcare providers.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in childhood cancer.

BACKGROUND: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is characterized by seizures, headaches, altered mental status, cortical blindness and typical transient lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We describe seven childhood cancer patients with clinical and radiological symptoms of PRES, and reviewed all well-documented PRES cases reported during childhood cancer treatment. RESULTS: Fifty-six children with PRES, including our 7 cases, were identified in the literature. Mean age at onset was 9 (range: 2-17) years. Primary diagnoses were acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 31), acute myeloid leukemia (n = 5), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 7) and solid tumors (n = 13). PRES patients presented with seizures (n = 50), altered mental status (n = 20), visual disturbances (n = 24) and/or headaches (n = 17). PRES was associated with hypertension in 49 patients. About 86% of the patients had both clinical and radiological reversible symptoms. Four patients developed epilepsy, in one patient ataxia remained and one patient had a persistent mydriasis. CONCLUSION: Although PRES has predominantly been described in leukemia patients, it occurs in children with solid tumors as well. Hypertension seems to be the most important trigger for the occurrence of PRES during childhood cancer treatment. Seizures are the most common accompanying sign. Symptoms and radiological findings normalize in ∼90% of the cases, but in 10% neurological symptoms remain.

Ultrafast acoustics in the middle UV range: coherent phonons at higher frequencies and in smaller objects.

We show that the propagation of coherent acoustic phonons generated by femtosecond optical excitation can be clearly resolved using a probe laser in the middle UV (MUV) range. The MUV probe is easily produced from a high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser and a homemade frequency tripler. We present various experimental results that demonstrate efficient and high frequency detection of acoustic phonons. Thus, we show that the MUV range offers a unique way to reach higher frequencies and probe smaller objects in ultrafast acoustics.

Molecular switch for signal transduction: structural differences between active and inactive forms of protooncogenic ras proteins.

Ras proteins participate as a molecular switch in the early steps of the signal transduction pathway that is associated with cell growth and differentiation. When the protein is in its GTP complexed form it is active in signal transduction, whereas it is inactive in its GDP complexed form. A comparison of eight three-dimensional structures of ras proteins in four different crystal lattices, five with a nonhydrolyzable GTP analog and three with GDP, reveals that the "on" and "off" states of the switch are distinguished by conformational differences that span a length of more than 40 A, and are induced by the gamma-phosphate. The most significant differences are localized in two regions: residues 30 to 38 (the switch I region) in the second loop and residues 60 to 76 (the switch II region) consisting of the fourth loop and the short alpha-helix that follows the loop. Both regions are highly exposed and form a continuous strip on the molecular surface most likely to be the recognition sites for the effector and receptor molecule(or molecules). The conformational differences also provide a structural basis for understanding the biological and biochemical changes of the proteins due to oncogenic mutations, autophosphorylation, and GTP hydrolysis, and for understanding the interactions with other proteins.

The use of multivariate MR imaging intensities versus metabolic data from MR spectroscopic imaging for brain tumour classification.

This study investigated the value of information from both magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to automated discrimination of brain tumours. The influence of imaging intensities and metabolic data was tested by comparing the use of MR spectra from MRSI, MR imaging intensities, peak integration values obtained from the MR spectra and a combination of the latter two. Three classification techniques were objectively compared: linear discriminant analysis, least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) with a linear kernel as linear techniques and LS-SVM with radial basis function kernel as a nonlinear technique. Classifiers were evaluated over 100 stratified random splittings of the dataset into training and test sets. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used as a global performance measure on test data. In general, all techniques obtained a high performance when using peak integration values with or without MR imaging intensities. For example for low- versus high-grade tumours, low- versus high-grade gliomas and gliomas versus meningiomas, the mean test AUC was higher than 0.91, 0.94, and 0.99, respectively, when both MR imaging intensities and peak integration values were used. The use of metabolic data from MRSI significantly improved automated classification of brain tumour types compared to the use of MR imaging intensities solely.

Identification of a functional androgen-response element in the exon 1-coding sequence of the cystatin-related protein gene crp2.

Two hormone-responsive segments, one in the region of the promoter and one in intron 1, are identified in two homologous androgen-regulated and differentially expressed rat genes encoding the cystatin-related proteins (CRPs). Footprint analysis with the androgen receptor (AR) DNA-binding domain on the promoter-containing fragments reveals an AR-binding site downstream of the transcription start point in the crp2 gene (ARBSd/crp2, +40/+63). It displays an androgen response element-like sequence motif 5'-AGAAGAaaaTGTACA-3' and overlaps with the ATG translation start codon. A double-stranded oligonucleotide containing this sequence forms a DNA-protein complex with the full-length AR synthesized by vaccinia, as seen in band shift assays. Additional AR-binding sites, ARBSu/crp1 and ARBSu/crp2, occur 5' upstream of the transcription start point and are located at an identical position (-142/ -120) in crp1 and crp2. The AR affinity for these two slightly different sequence motifs is relatively weak. The biological function of all three AR-binding sites as transcription control elements has been studied. The ARBSd/crp2 element clearly shows androgen-response element characteristics. The contribution of the common upstream element to the androgen-dependent control of reporter gene transcription is less clear. The transcription of a reporter gene construct containing the crp2 footprint fragment crp2F (-273/+88) is hormonally regulated as determined by transfection into the human breast cancer cell line T-47D. Androgens, but also glucocorticoids, efficiently stimulate steroid-dependent transcription of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. Mutation of the 5'-TGTACA-3' sequence in ARBSd/crp2 destroys the AR binding and abolishes the androgen-dependent synthesis of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. A large fragment derived from intron 1 of the crp1 and crp2 gene can also provide the androgen-dependent transcription of chimeric constructs in T-47D cells. However, the induction measured is less than the one observed with crp2F (-273/+88), and this activity seems to reside in several subfragments that each display a low but consistent androgen responsiveness.

An effect of androgens on the length of the poly(A)-tail and alternative splicing cause size heterogeneity of the messenger ribonucleic acids encoding cystatin-related protein.

The 22-kilodalton glycoprotein, expressed in the rat ventral prostate under the influence of androgens, is structurally a cystatin-related protein (CRP), as has been shown by copy DNA sequencing. In fact, two slightly different forms (CRP-1 and CRP-2) are expressed in the prostate; one of them (CRP-1) is also expressed in the exorbital lacrymal gland. In both glands, the CRP-1 messenger RNA (mRNA)s are androgen regulated. Moreover, androgens also influence the size of these mRNAs, which show marked heterogeneity (from 760-950 nucleotides). Indeed, the smaller forms are predominant in castrated animals, whereas the large forms are observed immediately after androgen induction. Hybridization with oligo(dT) followed by ribonuclease H treatment revealed that differences in length of the poly(A)-tail are responsible for this effect of androgens. Indeed, two well defined forms of CRP mRNA subsisted after removal of the poly(A)-tail by this treatment. In the less abundant shorter form (CRP-1 delta), 123 nucleotides are deleted by alternative splicing at the junction between the third and the fourth exon. The variant mRNA encodes a truncated protein, wherein the last 27 amino acids are replaced by a hydrophobic stretch of 8 amino acids. No alternative splicing was observed for the CRP-2 mRNA.

Androgens transcriptionally regulate the expression of cystatin-related protein and the C3 component of prostatic binding protein in rat ventral prostate and lacrimal gland.

In this report, it is demonstrated that the C3 component of prostatic binding protein (PBP) is also expressed and androgen regulated in the exorbital lacrimal gland, as shown previously for cystatin-related protein (CRP), another abundant secretory protein from the ventral prostate. The presence of C3 messenger RNA (mRNA) could be demonstrated by both Northern blot hybridization and PCR amplification and sequencing. The mRNAs encoding the C1 and C2 components of PBP, however, were undetectable. At the protein level, the C3 component in the lacrimal gland is glycosylated and linked by disulfide bridges to a new 10-kDa component not reacting with the PBP antiserum. As shown previously for CRP, the expression of C3 in the lacrimal gland requires the simultaneous presence of androgens and a functional androgen receptor. The effects of castration and androgen treatment on CRP and C3 mRNA concentrations were studied by Northern blot and dot blot hybridization; effects on transcription rates were determined by nuclear run-on assay. Two days after castration, the relative abundance of CRP mRNA had declined significantly (P < 0.01) to 10.5 +/- 1.5% (+/-SEM) of precastration levels in the prostate and to 14.5 +/- 8.0% in the lacrimal gland; the transcription rates declined to 14.3% and 10.0%, respectively. The C3 mRNA level and transcription rate in the prostate showed a more moderate decrease (P < 0.05) to 40.6 +/- 8.5% and 41.7%, but were hardly measurable in the lacrimal gland. Androgen administration resulted in a rapid increase in the transcription rates, which reached or exceeded control levels after 6-9 h of treatment and clearly preceded the increase in mRNA levels. It is concluded that the lacrimal gland, which can be studied conveniently in female and long term androgen-depleted animals offers a suitable model for the study of androgen-regulated gene expression.

Structure of rat genes encoding androgen-regulated cystatin-related proteins (CRPs): a new member of the cystatin superfamily.

Cystatin-related proteins (CRPs) are abundant androgen-regulated secretory glycoproteins that are specifically synthesized in the ventral prostate and lachrymal gland of the rat. Two complete 6-kb genes, Crp1 and Crp2, have been cloned and characterized. They are differentially expressed and encode slightly different proteins. The genes each contain four exons which are interrupted by large introns. An alignment of their sequences demonstrates an overall homology of 90%. The 3' end of a third gene, Crp3, from which only a 1.5-kb fragment was isolated, displays a sequence identity of 84%. These data indicate the existence of a Crp multigene family. The 5' flanking regions of Crp1 and Crp2 are highly homologous and contain a GATAAA sequence 29 nt upstream from the transcription start point. This TATA-box-like element is also found in the promoters of the genes encoding cystatin type-2 proteins. No other recognizable transcription control elements can be detected. Potential binding sites (ARE) for the androgen receptor are scattered throughout the entire genes. The exon/intron organization of the genes encoding CRPs, the size of the exons and their encoding amino acid sequences exhibiting a characteristic spacing of the Cys residues are structural elements displaying a remarkable similarity with the corresponding elements in the genes encoding cystatin type-2 proteins. CRPs must therefore belong to the cystatin superfamily. However, due to their additional domain encoded in an extra exon 2, CRPs must be classified as a new family, type 5.

Anaplasma marginale: effect of challenge of cattle with varying doses of infected erythrocytes.

Three groups, each of 6 Hereford cattle, were infected by the i.v. inoculation of 10(10), 10(8) or 10(6) Anaplasma marginale-infected erythrocytes. The mean time taken to reach a 1% parasitaemia was 7.3, 13.9 and 19.9 days in the 10(10), 10(8)and 10(6) infection dose groups, respectively. The rates of increase in parasitaemias during the exponential phase of parasite multiplication were similar for the 3 groups (doubling time 0.9 days). The exponential increase of the parasitaemia in the 10(10) dose group extended to a higher level or 10(6) dose groups (to approximately 10% compared with 3%). The mean maximum parasitaemia attained in the 10(10), 10(8), and 10(6) infection dose groups was 23.7, 14.7 and 8.7%, respectively> The time taken to reach the treatment criterion (packed cell volume decrease to 15% or lower) from a 1% parasitaemia was similar for the 3 groups. These results showed that the pathological outcome (anaemia) of anaplasmosis were similar over the 10,000-fold infective dose range tested.

Classification of brain tumours using short echo time 1H MR spectra.

The purpose was to objectively compare the application of several techniques and the use of several input features for brain tumour classification using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). Short echo time 1H MRS signals from patients with glioblastomas (n = 87), meningiomas (n = 57), metastases (n = 39), and astrocytomas grade II (n = 22) were provided by six centres in the European Union funded INTERPRET project. Linear discriminant analysis, least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) with a linear kernel and LS-SVM with radial basis function kernel were applied and evaluated over 100 stratified random splittings of the dataset into training and test sets. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to measure the performance of binary classifiers, while the percentage of correct classifications was used to evaluate the multiclass classifiers. The influence of several factors on the classification performance has been tested: L2- vs. water normalization, magnitude vs. real spectra and baseline correction. The effect of input feature reduction was also investigated by using only the selected frequency regions containing the most discriminatory information, and peak integrated values. Using L2-normalized complete spectra the automated binary classifiers reached a mean test AUC of more than 0.95, except for glioblastomas vs. metastases. Similar results were obtained for all classification techniques and input features except for water normalized spectra, where classification performance was lower. This indicates that data acquisition and processing can be simplified for classification purposes, excluding the need for separate water signal acquisition, baseline correction or phasing.

Brain tumor classification based on long echo proton MRS signals.

There has been a growing research interest in brain tumor classification based on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) signals. Four research centers within the EU funded INTERPRET project have acquired a significant number of long echo 1H MRS signals for brain tumor classification. In this paper, we present an objective comparison of several classification techniques applied to the discrimination of four types of brain tumors: meningiomas, glioblastomas, astrocytomas grade II and metastases. Linear and non-linear classifiers are compared: linear discriminant analysis (LDA), support vector machines (SVM) and least squares SVM (LS-SVM) with a linear kernel as linear techniques and LS-SVM with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel as a non-linear technique. Kernel-based methods can perform well in processing high dimensional data. This motivates the inclusion of SVM and LS-SVM in this study. The analysis includes optimal input variable selection, (hyper-) parameter estimation, followed by performance evaluation. The classification performance is evaluated over 200 stratified random samplings of the dataset into training and test sets. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis measures the performance of binary classification, while for multiclass classification, we consider the accuracy as performance measure. Based on the complete magnitude spectra, automated binary classifiers are able to reach an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of more than 0.9 except for the hard case glioblastomas versus metastases. Although, based on the available long echo 1H MRS data, we did not find any statistically significant difference between the performances of LDA and the kernel-based methods, the latter have the strength that no dimensionality reduction is required to obtain such a high performance.

[Qualitative assessment of labile blood product prescription in Le Havre Hospital]. / Evaluation qualitative de la prescription de produits sanguins labiles au groupe hospitalier du Havre.

This retrospective study assessed the conformity of prescriptions of labile blood products as well as the respect of legal requirements and recommendations concerning red blood cells specifications. This study was carried out in two phases one year apart, so as to be able to compare between them. It consisted in an analysis of the administrative and medical information present on the prescription forms and of the discrepancies between the prescribed product and that which was dispensed. Quality of prescriptions was overall better, but some points needed further improvement. The data moreover showed that some prescriptions of phenotyped and cross-matched red blood cells were incomplete. This did not improve over time. Out of 1000 prescriptions for red blood cells, 216 were altered by the transfusion service dispensing unit. A closer look at these changes showed that 49% were justified by statutory requirements or by local protocols. The discrepancies observed between the prescribed product and that which was dispensed were partly due to a poor understanding by the prescribers of statutory requirements. However they are mostly related to particular circumstances, such as emergencies. Furthermore, the prescribers expected the transfusion center to adapt the product in terms of the clinical context.

Quantitative aspects of the Staphylococcus aureus flora of poultry.

Important populations of Staphylococcus aureus were found to be present on the body surfaces of live poultry originating from flocks without history of staphylococcal disease. Their sized increased considerably until approximately the seventh week of life after which time they were maintained at equally high levels. Significant correlations were found between the populations recovered from superficial wash samples and skin-tissue samples. Similarly the numbers isolated from the nasal cavities were correlated with other surface counts. Low numbers were present in the intestinal tract. Birds with staphylococcal synovitis had higher numbers in all sampling regions. The counts were very high in subjects suffering from staphylococcal dermatitis. Higher rates of positive birds and higher numbers of staphylococci were detected with a whole body sampling method than with a nasal swab technique. The isolates obtained in this study belonged to the S. aureus biotype B which is associated with poultry and pigs.

[Acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Large bowel complications (author's transl)]. / Les complications coliques de la pancréatite aiguë. A propos de 12 observations avec revue de la littérature.

Fifteen large bowel lesions are reported among 12 patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis: 6 stenosis (transient in one case), 5 necrosis and 4 perforation. In 7 cases out of 12, abdominal plain film was suggestive of colonic involvement. Barium enema and coloscopy may confirm the diagnosis. Previously reported cases (56 stenosis, 84 perforations, 35 necrosis) are reviewed and clinical course radiographic features and the results of surgical management are discussed.

[Virus excretion and changes in virulence of type 1 paramyxovirus of pigeons following passage through chickens]. / Virusuitscheiding en virulentiewijziging van het paramyxovirus type 1 van de duif bij kuikenpassage.

Paramyxovirus type 1 of pigeons (strain PMV1-D) was transmitted by sequential contact over nine groups of SPF chicks. The first and last (9th) passages were made in 12-day-old SPF chicks, whereas the others were made in day-old chicks. Mortality was much higher in the last passage group than it was in the first group. None of the day-old chicks survived the PMV1-D infection. Increased virulence of PMV1-D for chickens following passages was also found to be present by the virus characterisation indexes, the EID50, the ICPI and the IVPI in particular.

[Clinical study of a mivacurium-propofol combination for laparoscopic surgery in children]. / Etude clinique de l'association mivacurium-propofol pour la chirurgie coelioscopique chez l'enfant.

Coelioscopic surgery in children is today in constant progress and requires pharmacological agents which provide excellent surgical conditions for variable and unpredictable durations. The mivacurium-propofol association was clinically studied in this context in 30 ASA I patients aged from 6 to 16 years and appeared safe, efficient and easy to use. The orbicularis oculi and pollicis adductor stimulation allows simple and adapted neuromuscular blockade monitoring. Double-burst stimulation at the ulnar nerve improves the detection of a residual curarization.

Ultrafast optical technique for measuring the electrical dependence of the elasticity of piezoelectric thin film: demonstration on AlN.

We present a technique based on ultrafast acoustics which permits us to measure the electrical dependence of the elastic properties of a thin piezoelectric layer. Ultrafast acoustics offers a unique way of measuring elastic properties of thin-layer in a non-destructive way using ultrashort optical pulses. We apply this technique to a thin layer to which a dc voltage is simultaneously applied. Both the film thickness and the sound velocity are affected. The two effects can be separated by use of a semi-transparent top electrode. A demonstration is made on a thin aluminum nitride (AlN). From that the d(33) piezoelectric coefficient and the stiffness variation induced by the bias in AlN are measured.