[Slowing down the flow of facial information enhances facial scanning in children with autism spectrum disorders: A pilot eye tracking study]. / Amélioration de l'exploration visuelle d'un visage par des enfants avec autisme grâce au ralentissement de la dynamique faciale : une étude préliminaire en oculométrie.

OBJECTIVE: Face and gaze avoidance are among the most characteristic and salient symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Studies using eye tracking highlighted early and lifelong ASD-specific abnormalities in attention to face such as decreased attention to internal facial features. These specificities could be partly explained by disorders in the perception and integration of rapid and complex information such as that conveyed by facial movements and more broadly by biological and physical environment. Therefore, we wish to test whether slowing down facial dynamics may improve the way children with ASD attend to a face. METHODS: We used an eye tracking method to examine gaze patterns of children with ASD aged 3 to 8 (n=23) and TD controls (n=29) while viewing the face of a speaker telling a story. The story was divided into 6 sequences that were randomly displayed at 3 different speeds, i.e. a real-time speed (RT), a slow speed (S70=70% of RT speed), a very slow speed (S50=50% of RT speed). S70 and S50 were displayed thanks to software called Logiral™, aimed at slowing down visual and auditory stimuli simultaneously and without tone distortion. The visual scene was divided into four regions of interest (ROI): eyes region; mouth region; whole face region; outside the face region. The total time, number and mean duration of visual fixations on the whole visual scene and the four ROI were measured between and within the two groups. RESULTS: Compared to TD children, children with ASD spent significantly less time attending to the visual scenes and, when they looked at the scene, they spent less time scanning the speaker's face in general and her mouth in particular, and more time looking outside facial area. Within the ASD group mean duration of fixation increased on the whole scene and particularly on the mouth area, in R50 compared to RT. Children with mild autism spent more time looking at the face than the two other groups of ASD children, and spent more time attending to the face and mouth as well as longer mean duration of visual fixation on mouth and eyes, at slow speeds (S50 and/or S70) than at RT one. CONCLUSIONS: Slowing down facial dynamics enhances looking time on face, and particularly on mouth and/or eyes, in a group of 23 children with ASD and particularly in a small subgroup with mild autism. Given the crucial role of reading the eyes for emotional processing and that of lip-reading for language processing, our present result and other converging ones could pave the way for novel socio-emotional and verbal rehabilitation methods for autistic population. Further studies should investigate whether increased attention to face and particularly eyes and mouth is correlated to emotional/social and/or verbal/language improvements.

[Outpatient rehabilitation after myocardial infarction or for heart failure]. / Ambulante Rehabilitation nach Herzinfarkt und bei Herzinsuffizienz.

Reducing cardiac mortality and improving quality of life are the main objectives of cardiac rehabilitation. In recent years, outpatient rehabilitation within easy patient reach has achieved the same status as inpatient rehabilitation. Outpatient rehabilitation permits close involvement of the patient's family and social environment, thus easing reintegration into everyday life. However, the health care system is not yet utilizing outpatient rehabilitation to its full potential. This contribution illustrates the principles of rehabilitation following myocardial infarction or for heart failure in an outpatient setting, as well as its potential and future development.

QTL detection by multi-parent linkage mapping in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.).

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis designed for a multi-parent population was carried out and tested in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), which is a diploid cross-fertilising perennial species. A new extension of the MCQTL package was especially designed for crosses between heterozygous parents. The algorithm, which is now available for any allogamous species, was used to perform and compare two types of QTL search for small size families, within-family analysis and across-family analysis, using data from a 2 x 2 complete factorial mating experiment involving four parents from three selected gene pools. A consensus genetic map of the factorial design was produced using 251 microsatellite loci, the locus of the Sh major gene controlling fruit shell presence, and an AFLP marker of that gene. A set of 76 QTLs involved in 24 quantitative phenotypic traits was identified. A comparison of the QTL detection results showed that the across-family analysis proved to be efficient due to the interconnected families, but the family size issue is just partially solved. The identification of QTL markers for small progeny numbers and for marker-assisted selection strategies is discussed.

Genetic differentiation of wild and cultivated populations: diversity of Coffea canephora Pierre in Uganda.

Coffea canephora Pierre ex Frohener is a perennial plant originated from Africa. Two main groups, Guinean and Congolese, have already been identified within this species. They correspond to main refugia in western and central Africa. In this paper we present the analysis of a region that has not yet been studied, Uganda. Two wild, one feral (once cultivated but abandoned for many years), and two cultivated populations of C. canephora from Uganda were evaluated using 24 microsatellite markers. Basic diversity, dissimilarity and genetic distances between individuals, genetic differentiation between populations, and structure within populations were analysed. Expected heterozygosity was high for wild compartments (0.48 to 0.54) and for cultivated and feral ones (0.57 to 0.59), with the number of private alleles ranging from 12 for cultivated genotypes to 37 for a wild compartment. The Ugandan samples show significant population structuring. We compared the Ugandan populations with a representative sample of known genetic diversity groups within the species using 18 markers. Coffea canephora of Ugandan origin was found to be genetically different from previously identified diversity groups, implying that it forms another diversity group within the species. Given its large distribution and extremely recent domestication, C. canephora can be used to understand the effect of refugia colonization on genetic diversity.

Plasticity, elasticity, and adhesion energy of plant cell walls: nanometrology of lignin loss using atomic force microscopy.

The complex organic polymer, lignin, abundant in plants, prevents the efficient extraction of sugars from the cell walls that is required for large scale biofuel production. Because lignin removal is crucial in overcoming this challenge, the question of how the nanoscale properties of the plant cell ultrastructure correlate with delignification processes is important. Here, we report how distinct molecular domains can be identified and how physical quantities of adhesion energy, elasticity, and plasticity undergo changes, and whether such quantitative observations can be used to characterize delignification. By chemically processing biomass, and employing nanometrology, the various stages of lignin removal are shown to be distinguished through the observed morphochemical and nanomechanical variations. Such spatially resolved correlations between chemistry and nanomechanics during deconstruction not only provide a better understanding of the cell wall architecture but also is vital for devising optimum chemical treatments.

Definitive and palliative radiotherapy for cervix cancer in the elderly.

The elderly population is increasing in number. Aggressive therapeutic intervention in this patient group may not always be possible because of age, the presence of co-morbidity, and poor functional status. Hence, individualized management of cervix cancer (CC) in the elderly is often practiced. Because of the preceding consideration, the cases of 79 women 65 years of age and older with CC treated with radiation over the last 20 years were reviewed. The cases were classified into two groups--those who were aggressively irradiated (group 1: 43 patients) and those managed less intensively for palliation (group 2: 36 patients). Local tumor control, complications, and survival were assessed. There were fewer extremely aged (> or = 75 years of age) women (p = 0.006) with advanced stage disease (p = 0.012) in group 1 than in group 2. Also, group 1 women experienced fewer treatment failures (p < 0.0003) and more of them were alive and well at last follow-up (p < 0.005) than those from group 2. The median survival periods for groups 1 and 2 were 60 months and 11 months, respectively (p < 0.0001); the corresponding 5-year crude survival rates were 54% and 19%, respectively (p = 0.002). Two women required remedial surgery for bowel obstruction/perforation after irradiation, and one patient sustained chronic radiation cystitis.

Introgression into the allotetraploid coffee ( Coffea arabica L.): segregation and recombination of the C. canephora genome in the tetraploid interspecific hybrid ( C. arabicax C. canephora).

Transfer of desired characters from the diploid relative species such as Coffea canephora into the cultivated allotetraploid coffee species ( Coffea arabica L.) is essential to the continued improvement of varieties. Behaviour of the C. canephora genome and its interaction with the C. arabica genome were investigated in tetraploid interspecific hybrids ( C. arabicax C. canephora 4 x) resulting from a cross between an accession of C. arabica and a tetraploid plant of C. canephora obtained following colchicine treatment. Segregation and co-segregation of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and microsatellite loci-markers were studied in two BC(1) populations. These two populations of 28 and 45 individuals, respectively, resulted from the backcross of two tetraploid F(1)plants to C. arabica. The presence in BC(1) plants of specific C. canephora markers was scored for 24 loci (11 RFLP and 13 microsatellites) distributed on at least 7 of the 11 linkage groups identified in C. canephora. At almost all loci analysed, the segregation of C. canephora alleles transmitted by the ( C. arabicax C. canephora 4 x) hybrids conformed to the expected ratio assuming random chromosome segregation and the absence of selection. The recombination fractions of C. canephorachromosome segments were estimated for seven marker intervals, and compared with the recombination fractions previously observed in C. canephora for the equivalent marker intervals. The recombination frequencies estimated in both plant materials were rather similar, suggesting that recombination in the ( C. arabicax C. canephora 4 x) hybrid is not significantly restricted by the genetic differentiation between chromosomes belonging to the different genomes. The hybrid ( C. arabicax C. canephora 4 x) therefore appeared particularly favourable to intergenomic recombination events and gene introgressions.

Introgression of self-compatibility from Coffea heterocalyx to the cultivated species Coffea canephora.

Self-compatibility segregation was assessed in two successive backcross progenies originating from an interspecific cross between Coffea canephora (self-incompatible) and Coffea heterocalyx (self-compatible). After self- and cross-pollination, pollen tube behaviour in styles was observed under ultraviolet fluorescence microscopy and fruit-set was determined at harvesting time. Segregation ratios in the two progenies were consistent with monofactorial control of self-compatibility. Self-compatible plants exhibited higher fruit-set than self-incompatible ones in open-pollination conditions. Segregation of AFLP markers was scored in the first backcross progeny. By molecular linkage analysis, the S locus could be mapped to a short linkage group.

Antagonism by chlorisondamine and propranolol, but not by atenolol, of the circadian phase-dependent phentolamine-induced changes in the cardiac noradrenaline turnover in the rat.

The effects of phentolamine alone or in combination with propranolol, atenolol and chlorisondamine were studied on the concentration and turnover of noradrenaline in the heart of light-dark (L:D = 12:12 h) synchronized rats. In order to detect possible circadian phase-dependent variations in the drug effects, the same experiments were performed in the light-period and dark-period, respectively. The parameters of the turnover were calculated from the exponential decline of i.v. injected 3H-(-)-noradrenaline. Phentolamine significantly decreased the noradrenaline concentration during L, but not during D. Reduction in 3H-noradrenaline accumulation by phentolamine was 42.3% during L and 22.2% during D. Phentolamine increased the turnover rate of cardiac noradrenaline more than 3-fold in either photoperiod. Chlorisondamine reversed all the effects of phentolamine studied. Propranolol, but not atenolol, antagonized the effects of phentolamine in a dose-dependent and stereospecific way, being more effective when applied during D. Thus, the chronopharmacological studies in unrestrained rats show a circadian phase-dependency of the effects of adrenoceptor blocking drugs. It is concluded that a central site of action is responsible for the antagonism by propranolol of the phentolamine-induced increase in the turnover of the cardiac noradrenaline in vivo.

[Choledocal cyst associated with congenital cystic duct dilatation: report of two cases]. / Kyste du cholédoque avec dilatation congénitale du canal cystique : à propos de deux cas.

We report two cases of a choledochal cyst associated with dilatation of the cystic duct. This unusual variant of choledochal cyst was explored by ultrasonography and MR cholangiopancreatography.

[Evaluation of the psychosocial care in maternity: experience at the Poitiers University Hospital]. / Evaluation de la prise en charge psychosociale en maternité: expérience du CHU de Poitiers.

BACKGROUND: High psychosocial risk pregnancies require specialized multidisciplinary help and follow-up in order to improve the outcome of babies. POPULATION AND METHODS: Thirty pregnancies were selected among 3500 and followed by a multidisciplinary team during 1990 and 1991. Evaluation included risk predictors, neurodevelopmental outcome of children at 9 and 24 months, number and time of judicial notifications. Evaluation of the mother-to-baby relationship by a psychologist as well as the environmental variables were performed. RESULTS: Four families had one or two, 20 families three or five and six families, six or more of the 15 risk predictors studied. Over the babies followed-up until the age of 24 months, four were placed out of the family, three hospitalizations were medically unjustified and there was no hospitalization for child abuse or neglect. Twelve children had development delay and two developed an environmental-related staturo-ponderal delay. Judicial notifications were realized 18 times during pregnancy or just after delivery and six times during the follow-up for child abuse and neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Taking care of high psychosocial risk pregnancies could be improved in special hospitalization units for mother and child. A better awareness of this problem could also improve the outcome of children, which remains very alarming.

[Lipoblastoma of the buttock]. / Lipoblastome de la fesse.

Lipoblastoma is an uncommon benign soft tissue tumor arising from embryonal mesenchymal cells. It occurs mostly during early childhood with a predilection for the extremities, trunk, head and neck. This tumor tends to spread locally and no metastatic potential has been reported. Complete surgical resection is mandatory to prevent local recurrence. MRI provides excellent presurgical delineation of the tumor and confirms its fatty nature. Histology demonstrates the presence of lipoblasts in different stages of maturation; cytogenetic evaluation often discloses chromosomal anomalies of tumoral cells. A case of lipoblastoma of the buttock in a 10 month infant associated with anomalies of chromosome 8 is reported.

The prognostic value of pretreatment 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scan in women with cervical cancer.

There is substantial risk that prognosis determined with routine clinical staging for cervical cancer may be inaccurate. This is primarily due to understaging due to the lack of detection of nodal disease. This is particularly true for para-aortic nodal metastases. Treatment based on such staging may also be inadequate for the same reason. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been demonstrated to be useful in the staging of cervical cancer and superior to either computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging in the detection of nodal disease. Our objective was to determine the prognostic value of pretreatment 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) PET scan in women with cervical cancer. We reviewed the records of 56 women with cervical cancer who underwent FDG PET scan prior to treatment. The primary outcome was the effect of abnormal FDG uptake consistent with metastatic nodal disease on 20-month disease-free survival. The pretreatment PET scan demonstrated abnormal FDG uptake in the pelvic nodes alone in 14 (25%) women, in pelvic and para-aortic nodes in 10 (17.9%), and in neither pelvic nor para-aortic nodes in 32 (57.1%). Women with positive pelvic nodes by PET as well as women with positive para-aortic nodes had significantly poorer 20-month disease-free survival compared to women with negative nodes (P= 0.0003 and P= 0.0017, respectively). We conclude that pretreatment FDG PET scan revealing abnormal FDG uptake consistent with nodal disease is a robust predictor of disease recurrence and may alter the therapeutic management of some patients.

Main phase transitions in supported lipid single-bilayer.

We have studied the phase transitions of a phospholipidic single-bilayer supported on a mica substrate by real-time temperature-controlled atomic force microscopy. We show the existence of two phase transitions in this bilayer that we attribute to two gel (L(beta))/fluid (L(alpha)) transitions, corresponding to the independent melting of each leaflet of the bilayer. The ratio of each phase with temperature and the large broadening of the transitions' widths have been interpreted through a basic thermodynamic framework in which the surface tension varies during the transitions. The experimental data can be fit with such a model using known thermodynamic parameters.

Whole-body [18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan staging prior to planned radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy.

The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of whole-body [18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) imaging in properly selecting candidates for radical hysterectomy who are at low risk for subsequent chemoradiation. Retrospective study of 14 women undergoing planned radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy with clinically localized cervical cancer and either negative or inconclusive metastatic nodal disease by PET scan was performed. Pelvic lymph nodes were clearly negative by FDG PET scan in 12 of the 14 women. Two women had focal FDG uptake suspicious, although not definitive, for nodal metastasis, and pelvic nodes were positive at surgery in both. Computed tomography (CT) scan failed to detect nodal disease in either woman. Neither PET nor CT was effective at detecting parametrial disease, and both also failed to detect the primary tumor in some cases. Women with FDG PET scans that are clearly negative for nodal disease are good candidates for radical hysterectomy and are at low risk for subsequent chemoradiation.

Microsatellite-based high density linkage map in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.).

A microsatellite-based high-density linkage map for oil palm (Elaeis guinensis Jacq.) was constructed from a cross between two heterozygous parents, a tenera palm from the La Me population (LM2T) and a dura palm from the Deli population (DA10D). A set of 390 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers was developed in oil palm from microsatellite-enriched libraries and evaluated for polymorphism along with 21 coconut SSRs. A dense and genome-wide microsatellite framework as well as saturating amplified fragments length polymorphisms (AFLPs) allowed the construction of a linkage map consisting of 255 microsatellites, 688 AFLPs and the locus of the Sh gene, which controls the presence or absence of a shell in the oil palm fruit. An AFLP marker E-Agg/M-CAA132 was mapped at 4.7 cM from the Sh locus. The 944 genetic markers were distributed on 16 linkage groups (LGs) and covered 1,743 cM. Our linkage map is the first in oil palm to have 16 independent linkage groups corresponding to the plant's 16 homologous chromosome pairs. It is also the only high-density linkage map with as many microsatellite markers in an Arecaceae species and represents an important step towards quantitative trait loci analysis and physical mapping in the E. guineensis species.

Genetic linkage map of Coffea canephora: effect of segregation distortion and analysis of recombination rate in male and female meioses.

Two complementary segregating plant populations of Coffea canephora were produced from the same clone. One population (DH) comprised 92 doubled haploids derived from female gametes, while the other population (TC) was a test cross consisting of 44 individuals derived from male gametes. Based on the DH population, a genetic linkage map comprising 160 loci was constructed. Eleven linkage groups that putatively correspond to the 11 gametic chromosomes of C. canephora were identified. The mapped loci included more than 40 specific sequence-tagged site markers, either single-copy RFLP probes or microsatellites, that could serve as standard landmarks in coffee-genome analyses. Furthermore, comparisons for segregation distortion and recombination frequency between the two populations were performed. Although segregation distortions were observed in both populations, the frequency of loci exhibiting a very pronounced degree of distortion was especially high in the DH population. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis of strong zygotic selection among the DH population. The recombination frequencies in both populations were found to be almost indistinguishable. These results offer evidence in favour of the lack of significant sex differences in recombination in C. canephora.

Single-locus inheritance in the allotetraploid Coffea arabica L. and interspecific hybrid C. arabica x C. canephora.

Molecular cytogenetic analysis has indicated that Coffea arabica is an amphidiploid formed from the hybridization between two closely related diploid progenitor species, C. canephora and C. eugenioides. Our aim was to determine the mode of inheritance in C. arabica and in a tetraploid interspecific hybrid (called arabusta) between C. arabica and C. canephora as revealed by segregation analyses of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) loci markers. The observed RFLP allele segregations in an F(2) progeny of C. arabica conform to disomic inheritance as expected, with regular bivalent pairing of homologous chromosomes in the F1 hybrid. In contrast, RFLP loci followed tetrasomic inheritance in the arabusta interspecific hybrid, although bivalents have been reported to predominate greatly at meiosis in its hybrid. These results suggest that homologous chromosomes do not pair in C. arabica, not as a consequence of structural differentiation, but because of the functioning of pairing regulating factors. Moreover, the arabusta hybrid seems to offer the possibility of gene exchange between the homologous genomes.

Growth-promoting effects of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor on rabbit articular chondrocytes aging in culture.

Rabbit articular chondrocytes have a limited growth potential in vitro. After four passages in culture, chondrocytes have accomplished more than 50% of their life span. At this stage of culture, they are considered to be senescent-like, since a dramatic decrease in proliferative capacity and enhanced cell size and protein content are observed. These aged cells are, however, still able to respond to fibroblast growth factor (FGF). The addition of either acidic or basic FGF (10 ng/ml) to culture medium permitted an enhanced proliferation. The attenuation of FGF mitogenic activity during aging was not observed for both fractions. Moreover, when treated with acidic or basic FGF, aged chondrocytes had a smaller size and a lower protein content. The acidic FGF was less potent than the basic FGF in delaying the evolution of aged chondrocytes to senescence.