Using chaotic dynamics to characterize the complexity of rough surfaces.

In this work, we use the basic ingredients of chaotic dynamics (stretching and folding of phase space points) for the characterization of the complexity of microscopy images of rough surfaces. The key idea is to use an image as the initial condition of a chaotic discrete dynamical system, such as the Arnold cat map, and track its transformations during the first iterations of the map. Since the basic effects of the Arnold map are the stretching and folding of image texture, the application of the map leads to an enhancement of the high frequency content of images along with an increase of discontinuities in pixel intensities.

Safety of biological agents in paediatric rheumatic diseases: A real-life multicenter retrospective study using the JIRcohorte database.

Objective: To analyse and report the incidence of side effects of biological agents in paediatric patients with inflammatory diseases using of real-life follow-up cohort.

Methods: In this international, observational, retrospective, multicentre study of children treated by biological agents and followed in the Juvenile Inflammatory Rheumatism (JIR) cohort (JIRcohorte) network, a Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the occurrence of adverse events. A Cox model was constructed to identify independent predictors of adverse events.

CACP syndrome: identification of five novel mutations and of the first case of UPD in the largest European cohort.

Camptodactyly-Arthropathy-Coxa vara-Pericarditis (CACP) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in PRG4 gene that encodes for proteoglycan 4, a mucin-like glycoprotein that is the major lubricant for joints and tendon surfaces. The molecular studies reported so far have described the identification of 15 mutations associated with this syndrome and the majority of them were found in families of Arabian origin. Here we report the molecular investigation of the largest European cohort that comprises 13 patients, and allowed the identification of 5 novel mutations and of the first case of CACP syndrome resulting from uniparental disomy of chromosome 1.

Validation of the new paediatric criteria for the diagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever: data from a mixed population of 100 children from the French reference centre for auto-inflammatory disorders.

Objective: We aimed to validate the new paediatric criteria for diagnosis of FMF in a mixed population of 100 French patients.

Methods: The study group included 100 FMF children from the French reference centre for auto-inflammatory disorders. A control group of 40 patients with unexplained recurrent fever was reviewed in parallel.