Type IV dermoid sinus, intramedullary dermoid cyst and spina bifida in a Cane Corso.

A 1-year-old male Cane Corso was presented for progressive hindlimb neurologic deficits, with a history of suspected recurrent meningitis. Physical examination and advanced diagnostic imaging findings were suggestive of a thoracic dermoid sinus extending into the dura mater, and spina bifida. After initial medical treatment, the lesion was surgically excised, and the presence of an intramedullary cyst in continuation with the dermoid sinus was confirmed, requiring partial durectomy and myelotomy for removal. Histopathological examination of the excised tissue confirmed the diagnosis of a dermoid sinus associated with an intramedullary dermoid cyst. After surgery, the dog temporarily declined neurologically but then showed progressive neurological improvement. This report describes presentation and successful surgical treatment of a type IVa dermoid sinus associated with an intramedullary dermoid cyst and spina bifida in a dog.

Identification of effective elastic modulus using modal analysis; application to canine cancellous bone.

Mechanical properties of cancellous bone is of increasing interest due to its involvement in aging pathologies and oncology. Characterization of fragile bone tissue is challenging and available methodologies include quasi-static compressive tests of small size specimens, ultrasound and indentation techniques. We hypothesized that modal analysis of flexure beams could be a complementary methodology to obtain Young modulus. The sampling methodology was adapted such that the uniqueness of the linear dynamic response was available to determine the elastic modulus from natural frequencies and mode shapes. In a first step, the methodology was validated using a synthetic bone model as control. Then, water-jet cutting allowed collecting fourteen small beam-like specimens in canine distal femurs. X-ray microtomography confirmed the microarchitecture preservation, the homogeneity and the isotropy at the specimen scale to derive effective properties. The first natural frequency in clamped-free boundary conditions was used to obtain mean values of Young modulus, which ranged from 210 MPa to 280 MPa depending on the specimen collection site. Experimental tests were rapid and reproducible and our preliminary results were in good agreement with literature data. In conclusion, beam modal analysis could be considered for exploring mechanical properties of fragile and scarce biological tissues.

Chemicals or mutations that target mitochondrial translation can rescue the respiratory deficiency of yeast bcs1 mutants.

Bcs1p is a chaperone that is required for the incorporation of the Rieske subunit within complex III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Mutations in the human gene BCS1L (BCS1-like) are the most frequent nuclear mutations resulting in complex III-related pathologies. In yeast, the mimicking of some pathogenic mutations causes a respiratory deficiency. We have screened chemical libraries and found that two antibiotics, pentamidine and clarithromycin, can compensate two bcs1 point mutations in yeast, one of which is the equivalent of a mutation found in a human patient. As both antibiotics target the large mtrRNA of the mitoribosome, we focused our analysis on mitochondrial translation. We found that the absence of non-essential translation factors Rrf1 or Mif3, which act at the recycling/initiation steps, also compensates for the respiratory deficiency of yeast bcs1 mutations. At compensating concentrations, both antibiotics, as well as the absence of Rrf1, cause an imbalanced synthesis of respiratory subunits which impairs the assembly of the respiratory complexes and especially that of complex IV. Finally, we show that pentamidine also decreases the assembly of complex I in nematode mitochondria. It is well known that complexes III and IV exist within the mitochondrial inner membrane as supramolecular complexes III2/IV in yeast or I/III2/IV in higher eukaryotes. Therefore, we propose that the changes in mitochondrial translation caused by the drugs or by the absence of translation factors, can compensate for bcs1 mutations by modifying the equilibrium between illegitimate, and thus inactive, and active supercomplexes.

[Imaging of traumatic injuries of the knee]. / Imagerie des traumatismes du genou.

Traumatic injuries to the knee are frequent (road or sports related accidents, falls in elderly people). The Ottawa knee rules are applied and dictate the need for additional evaluation. Some fractures are adequately assessed on plain radiographs alone whereas other fractures (tibial plateau fracture) require additional evaluation with CT. Some fractures may be occult: the significance of lipohemarthrosis (indirect sign of intra-articular fracture on the lateral radiograph with horizontal beam) must be known. Benign appearing avulsion fractures suggest the presence of underlying capsuloligamentous injuries requiring further evaluation with MRI. The imaging work-up of sprains is usually negative. MRI may show areas of bone contusion that further the understanding of the mechanism of injury, predict and confirm the presence of capsuloligamentous injuries. Angiography is performed to detect popliteal artery injuries after knee dislocation which is associated with a risk of ischemia.

Hopf bifurcation cascade in small-alpha laser diodes subject to optical feedback.

We analyze theoretically the dynamics of a semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback, on the basis of the well-known Lang-Kobayashi equations. Previous investigations on this laser system suggest that a small linewidth enhancement factor (alpha factor) stabilizes the laser dynamics. By contrast, we unveil here optical feedback induced instabilities which are present for a small value of alpha but which disappear when alpha increases above alpha approximately 1. By combining numerical simulations and modern continuation methods for delay-differential equations, we unveil cascades of subcritical and supercritical Hopf bifurcations on the first external-cavity mode (ECM). We unveil for the first time, to our knowledge, the occurrence of subcritical Hopf bifurcation points for intermediate values of the EC length, i.e. close to the boundary between the short and the long EC regimes. They lead to severe laser instabilities such as large intensity and possibly chaotic pulsations. Moreover, these Hopf bifurcation cascades for small values of alpha are shown to be responsible for different bifurcation scenarios leading to restabilization of the first ECM and to ECM bistability.

Optical feedback induces polarization mode hopping in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers subjected to weak polarization-insensitive optical feedback are studied experimentally and theoretically. We find that the feedback induces random anticorrelated hopping between the two orthogonal linearly polarized modes. This polarization mode hopping is accompanied by rapid anticorrelated oscillations in the linearly polarized intensities at the external-cavity frequency. The study of a simple stochastic delay differential equation suggests that these oscillations generated by the delay are typical of any hopping phenomenon between states.

Nonlinear polarization dynamics in directly modulated vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

A current-modulated vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is shown to exhibit interesting nonlinear dynamics in its two orthogonal linearly polarized (LP), fundamental transverse modes. The intensities of the two LP modes may exhibit in-phase time-periodic dynamics or chaotic regimes with combination of in-phase and antiphase dynamics at two different time scales. Chaotic dynamics are found in a large range of laser and modulation parameters.

Saddle-node ghost-induced low-frequency fluctuations in an external-cavity laser diode.

We investigate numerically the low-frequency fluctuation regime in a laser diode subject to optical feedback. We demonstrate that a saddle-node ghost can induce this regime.

Comparison of two types of synchronization of external-cavity semiconductor lasers.

We study numerically the synchronization of external-cavity semiconductor lasers in a master-slave configuration, based on a Lang-Kobayashi-type model. Depending on the feedback and coupling strengths, the slave laser synchronizes with the injected optical field or with the injected field but lags in time. We show that these two types of synchronization present different robustness with respect to the noise, frequency detuning, and current modulation of the master laser.

Bifurcation to polarization self-modulation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

Experiments have yielded polarization self-modulation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) subject to a pi/2 polarization-rotating optical feedback. The phenomenon has been simulated numerically, but its bifurcation has never been explained. We show that polarization self-modulation results from a Hopf bifurcation mechanism that can be analyzed in terms of the laser feedback parameters. Our analysis predicts other bifurcations for low values of the feedback rate, which explain why more-complex time-dependent outputs have been observed as alternatives to polarization self-modulation.

Two types of synchronization in unidirectionally coupled chaotic external-cavity semiconductor lasers.

We study numerically two distant unidirectionally coupled single-mode semiconductor lasers subject to coherent optical feedback. We show that two fundamentally different types of chaotic synchronization can occur depending on the strengths of the coupling and of the feedback of the receiver laser.

Bandpass filters based on pi-shifted long-period fiber gratings for actively mode-locked erbium fiber lasers.

We have fabricated bandpass filters based on pi-shifted long-period gratings for application in actively mode-locked erbium fiber lasers. Introducing the pi-phase shift in the middle of the grating opens a bandpass within the core-cladding mode resonance peaks. With a 22-nm bandwidth filter inserted in an actively mode-locked erbium fiber sigma laser, solitonlike pulses are generated, with a power-dependent duration of approximately 3-5 ps , at a 3-GHz repetition rate. These all-fiber filters have the advantages of low insertion loss (<0.5 dB) and a wide bandwidth (10-20 nm), and they do not require that a circulator be inserted into the laser cavity.

Secure communication scheme using chaotic laser diodes subject to incoherent optical feedback and incoherent optical injection.

We propose a secure communication scheme based on anticipating synchronization of two chaotic laser diodes, one subject to incoherent optical feedback and the other to incoherent optical injection. This scheme does not require fine tuning of the optical frequencies of both lasers as is the case for other schemes based on chaotic laser diodes subject to coherent optical feedback and injection. Our secure communication scheme is therefore attractive for experimental investigation.

Measurement of pulse width and amplitude jitter noises of gigahertz optical pulse trains by time-domain demodulation.

We propose a technique for measuring both pulse width and amplitude jitter noises of high-repetition-rate optical pulse trains and the cross correlation between these noises as well. The technique is based on time-domain amplitude demodulation of three harmonic components of the detected pulse train. We applied this technique to characterize noises of a gigahertz optical pulse train generated by an actively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser. Correlation between pulse width jitter and pulse amplitude jitter was observed at low frequencies in this laser. Unlike relaxation oscillation noise, low-frequency noise is free from pulse energy jitter. Owing to its ability to measure pulse width jitter in addition to amplitude and phase jitters, this technique is of great interest for characterizing noises of a wide variety of optical pulse train sources.

Nuclear-specific degradation of Far1 is controlled by the localization of the F-box protein Cdc4.

Far1 is a bifunctional protein that is required to arrest the cell cycle and establish cell polarity during yeast mating. Here we show that SCF(Cdc4) ubiquitylates Far1 in the nucleus, which in turn targets the multi-ubiquitylated protein to 26S proteasomes most likely located at the nuclear envelope. In response to mating pheromones, a fraction of Far1 was stabilized after its export into the cytoplasm by Ste21/Msn5. Preventing nuclear export destabilized Far1, while conversely cytoplasmic Far1 was stabilized, although the protein was efficiently phosphorylated in a Cdc28-Cln-dependent manner. The core SCF subunits Cdc53, Hrt1 and Skp1 were distributed in the nucleus and the cytoplasm, whereas the F-box protein Cdc4 was exclusively nuclear. A cytoplasmic form of Cdc4 was unable to complement the growth defect of cdc4-1 cells, but it was sufficient to degrade Far1 in the cytoplasm. Our results illustrate the importance of subcellular localization of F-box proteins, and provide an example of how an extracellular signal regulates protein stability at the level of substrate localization.

The F-box protein Skp2 is a ubiquitylation target of a Cul1-based core ubiquitin ligase complex: evidence for a role of Cul1 in the suppression of Skp2 expression in quiescent fibroblasts.

The ubiquitin protein ligase SCF(Skp2) is composed of Skp1, Cul1, Roc1/Rbx1 and the F-box protein Skp2, the substrate-recognition subunit. Levels of Skp2 decrease as cells exit the cell cycle and increase as cells re-enter the cycle. Ectopic expression of Skp2 in quiescent fibroblasts causes mitogen-independent S-phase entry. Hence, mechanisms must exist for limiting Skp2 protein expression during the G(0)/G(1) phases. Here we show that Skp2 is degraded by the proteasome in G(0)/G(1) and is stabilized when cells re-enter the cell cycle. Rapid degradation of Skp2 in quiescent cells depends on Skp2 sequences that contribute to Cul1 binding and interference with endogenous Cul1 function in serum-deprived cells induces Skp2 expression. Furthermore, recombinant Cul1-Roc1/Rbx1-Skp1 complexes can catalyse Skp2 ubiquitylation in vitro. These results suggest that degradation of Skp2 in G(0)/G(1) is mediated, at least in part, by an autocatalytic mechanism involving a Skp2-bound Cul1-based core ubiquitin ligase and imply a role for this mechanism in the suppression of SCF(Skp2) ubiquitin protein ligase function during the G(0)/G(1) phases of the cell cycle.

Isolation and characterization of HRT1 using a genetic screen for mutants unable to degrade Gic2p in saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Skp1p-cullin-F-box (SCF) protein complexes are ubiquitin ligases required for degradation of many regulatory proteins involved in cell cycle progression, morphogenesis, and signal transduction. Using a genetic screen, we have isolated a novel allele of the HRT1/RBX1 gene in budding yeast (hrt1-C81Y). hrt1-C81Y mutant cells exhibited an aberrant morphology but were viable at all temperatures. The cells displayed multiple genetic interactions with mutations in known SCF components and were defective for the degradation of several SCF targets including Gic2p, Far1p, Sic1p, and Cln2p. In addition, they also failed to degrade the F-box proteins Grr1p, Cdc4p, and Met30p. Wild-type Hrt1p but not Hrt1p-C81Y was able to bind multiple F-box proteins in an F-box-dependent manner. Hrt1p-C81Y harbors a single mutation in its ring-finger domain, which is conserved in subunits of distinct E3 ligases. Finally, Hrt1p was localized in both nucleus and cytoplasm and despite a short half-life was expressed constitutively throughout the cell cycle. Taken together, these results suggest that Hrt1p is a core subunit of multiple SCF complexes.

Regulation of cytokinesis by the Elm1 protein kinase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant unable to grow in a cdc28-1N background was isolated and shown to be affected in the ELM1 gene. Elm1 is a protein kinase, thought to be a negative regulator of pseudo-hyphal growth. We show that Cdc11, one of the septins, is delocalised in the mutant, indicating that septin localisation is partly controlled by Elm1. Moreover, we show that cytokinesis is delayed in an elm1delta mutant. Elm1 levels peak at the end of the cell cycle and Elm1 is localised at the bud neck in a septin-dependent fashion from bud emergence until the completion of anaphase, at about the time of cell division. Genetic and biochemical evidence suggest that Elm1 and the three other septin-localised protein kinases, Hsl1, Gin4 and Kcc4, work in parallel pathways to regulate septin behaviour and cytokinesis. In addition, the elm1delta;) morphological defects can be suppressed by deletion of the SWE1 gene, but not the cytokinesis defect nor the septin mislocalisation. Our results indicate that cytokinesis in budding yeast is regulated by Elm1.

Experimental demonstration of suppression of low-frequency fluctuations and stabilization of an external-cavity laser diode.

We demonstrate experimentally all-optical stabilization of a single-mode laser diode subject to external optical feedback operating in the low-frequency fluctuations (LFF) regime, by the technique of applying a second delayed optical feedback. We interpret our results as suppression of LFF through destruction of the antimodes responsible for the LFF crises and stabilization of the laser through creation of new maximum gain modes, in agreement with recent theoretical predictions.