[About twins: Epidemiological, genetic, and obstetrical aspects, specific risks, and outcome]. / Le monde des jumeaux : aspects épidémiologiques et génétiques, enjeux obstétricaux, risques spécifiques et devenir.

The incidence of twin pregnancies has increased steadily for the last 40 years due to assisted reproductive technology and increased maternal childbearing age. Multiple pregnancies, especially monochorionic twin pregnancies, carry a high risk for the mother and the fetuses and require close follow-up. Twins are exposed to a higher risk of perinatal anoxia, in utero fetal demise, preterm birth, congenital malformations, fetal growth restriction, and vascular complications. Compared to singletons, twins are at higher risk of perinatal mortality and impaired neurodevelopmental outcome, justifying a thorough follow-up by pediatricians, including assessment and management of familial and psychosocial impact. This paper discusses the epidemiological, obstetrical, and genetic issues raised by twin pregnancies and reviews the data on the perinatal and neurological long-term outcomes of twins, as well as the psychosocial impact of multiple births on twins and their families.

Coupling-geometry-induced temperature scales in the conductance of Luttinger liquid wires.

We study electronic transport through a one-dimensional, finite-length quantum wire of correlated electrons (Luttinger liquid) coupled at arbitrary position via tunnel barriers to two semi-infinite, one-dimensional as well as stripe-like (two-dimensional) leads, thereby bringing theory closer towards systems resembling set-ups realized in experiments. In particular, we compute the temperature dependence of the linear conductance G of a system without bulk impurities on the temperature T. The appearance of new temperature scales introduced by the lengths of overhanging parts of the leads and the wire implies a G(T) which is much more complex than the power-law behavior described so far for end-coupled wires. Depending on the precise set-up the wide temperature regime of power-law scaling found in the end-coupled case is broken up into up to five fairly narrow regimes interrupted by extended crossover regions. Our results can be used to optimize the experimental set-ups designed for a verification of Luttinger liquid power-law scaling.

Prevalência e perfil de sensibilidade de microrganismos em infecções do trato urinário / Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility in urinary tract pathogens

Infecções bacterianas do trato urinário são um problema muito comum tanto em infecções nosocomiais quanto na comunidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a prevalência de patógenos responsáveis por infecções no trato urinário, relacionando-os com a sua susceptibilidade frente aos antimicrobianos utilizados. Durante o período de janeiro de 1998 a dezembro de 2001 foram analisados resultados de 2378 culturas de urinas positivas de pacientes ambulatoriais, sem restrições de sexo e idade, de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Escherichia coli foi o microrganismo isolado mais prevalente: 74,3 porcento, seguido de Proteus mirabilis com 8,0 porcento e Enterobacter aerogenes com 4,88 porcento. Nitrofurantoína (NIT) apresentou altos índices de atividade frente ao Cocos Gram-positivos, enquanto que o Norfloxacin foi o antimicrobiano que apresentou a maior atividade frente aos Bacilos Gram-negativos.

Stripe conductivity in La1.775Sr0.225NiO4

We report Raman light-scattering and optical conductivity measurements on a single crystal of La1.775Sr0.225NiO4 which exhibits incommensurate charge-stripe order. The extra phonon peaks induced by stripe order can be understood in terms of the energies of phonons that occur at the charge-order wave vector Q(c). A strong Fano antiresonance for a Ni-O bond-stretching mode provides clear evidence for finite dynamical conductivity within the charge stripes.

[In vivo effects of plasma substitutes on the rheologic properties of blood]. / Effets in vivo de substituts plasmatiques sur les propriétés rhéologiques du sang.

The objective was to investigate in vivo the rheological effects of plasma substitutes (fluid gelatin, dextran 40, dextran 60, hydroxyethylstarch). The study was performed during a hypervolemic hemodilution in 60 adult volunteers who underwent an odontological surgery. Two control groups were infused with Ringer-Lactate or 4% human albumin. Each patient was infused with 500 ml of plasma substitute or control fluid. Blood samples were obtained at four different times: prior to (t0) and immediately after (t1) the infusion, then 3 hours (t2) and 24 hours (t3) after the hemodilution. At t1 and t2, plasma viscosity did not present important variations, except for the group infused with dextran 60 where a significant increase in plasma viscosity was observed. Blood viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation measurements were performed at hematocrit 40% to determine the intrinsic properties of substitute and eliminate the effects of hemodilution. Blood viscosity at high shear rates underwent minor variations in all groups. In contrast, blood viscosity at low shear rate and aggregation parameters exhibited important variations which markedly depended on the used substitute. The infusion of Ringer-Lactate, albumin and dextran 40 induced a significant decrease in blood viscosity and in erythrocyte aggregation. With dextran 60 and gelatin, blood viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation increased. Finally, the infusion with hydroxyethylstarch did not present important differences as compared to the results recorded at t0. Twenty for hours after the infusion, it should be noted an increase in plasma fibrinogen, probably due to surgery, which caused an increase in erythrocyte aggregation in all groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)