Prenatal low-dose aspirin and neurobehavioral outcomes of children born very preterm.

Objective: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) given during pregnancy may alter brain development in very preterm infants. We report the short- and long-term outcomes of very preterm infants according to LDA treatment.

Patients And Methods: Data were from the Etude Epidemiologique des Petites Ages Gestationnels (EPIPAGE) cohort study, which included all infants born before 33 weeks of gestation in 9 French regions in 1997.

Kin selection in Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus): littermate kin provide individual fitness benefits.

Since W. D. Hamilton's seminal work on the evolution of sociality, a large body of research has accumulated on how kin selection might explain the evolution of cooperation in many group-living species.

[Evidence versus experience in neonatal practice: the example of extremely premature infants].

We focused on current nutritional and ventilation strategies of extremely preterm infants and reviewed the evidence and the practical experience in four French neonatal intensive care units. The recommendations from reviews and the local clinical guidelines were compared and were overall in agreement. We wanted then to evaluate if different ventilatory and nutritional styles existed between four French intensive neonatal units, and if these approaches had an effect on short term outcomes.

[Immediate fetal-maternal morbidity of first instrumental vaginal delivery using Thierry's spatulas. A prospective continuous study of 195 fetal extractions].

Objectives: To investigate the immediate fetal-maternal morbidity related to Thierry's spatula for first instrumental vaginal delivery.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in Toulouse university hospital, including primiparas who vaginally delivered a live singleton cephalic infant>36 WG, between December 2005 and June 2006. Instrumental deliveries were performed using short spatulas in all cases.

Endothelial dysfunction and specific inflammation in obesity hypoventilation syndrome.

Background: Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity. What moderate chronic hypoventilation adds to obesity on systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction remains unknown.

Question: To compare inflammatory status and endothelial function in OHS versus eucapnic obese patients.

Chemokine CCL5/RANTES inhibition reduces myocardial reperfusion injury in atherosclerotic mice.

Although beneficial for cardiomyocyte salvage and to limit myocardial damage and cardiac dysfunction, restoration of blood flow after prolonged ischemia exacerbates myocardial injuries. Several deleterious processes that contribute to cardiomyocyte death have been proposed, including massive release of reactive oxygen species, calcium overload and hypercontracture development or leukocyte infiltration within the damaged myocardium. Chemokines are known to enhance leukocyte diapedesis at inflammatory sites.

MCC, a new interacting protein for Scrib, is required for cell migration in epithelial cells.

To further characterize the molecular events supporting the tumor suppressor activity of Scrib in mammals, we aim to identify new binding partners. We isolated MCC, a recently identified binding partner for beta-catenin, as a new interacting protein for Scrib. MCC interacts with both Scrib and the NHERF1/NHERF2/Ezrin complex in a PDZ-dependent manner.

Late termination of pregnancy: a comparison of obstetricians' experience in eight European countries.

Objective: To compare the experience and attitude of obstetricians in Europe towards late termination of pregnancy and the factors affecting their responses.

Design: Cluster sampling cross-sectional survey. All neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)-associated maternity units were recruited (census sampling) in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Inter-observer agreement in clinical decision-making for abnormal cardiotocogram (CTG) during labour: a comparison between CTG and CTG plus STAN.

Objective: To compare inter-observer agreement for clinical decision-making with cardiotocography (CTG) and combined CTG with ST-segment analysis (STAN).

Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Three hospital obstetrics departments in France.

Cardiovascular consequences of sleep-disordered breathing: contribution of animal models to understanding the human disease.

Sleep-disordered breathing, and particularly the highly prevalent obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, is a multicomponent disorder combining intermittent hypoxia (IH), sleep fragmentation, and obstructed respiratory efforts. It is frequently associated with comorbidities and leads to numerous complications, including cardiovascular consequences that are conditioned by genetic predisposition and environment. The complexity of the disease and the reduced possibilities for patient investigations, especially at the tissue level, have limited progress in the understanding of sleep apnea pathophysiology and in the development of specific treatments.

Behavioral problems and cognitive performance at 5 years of age after very preterm birth: the EPIPAGE Study.

Objectives: We compared the frequency of behavioral problems in very preterm and term children at 5 years of age. We hypothesized that behavioral problems would be associated with cognitive impairment and environmental factors and that differences between the 2 groups would be reduced but persist after adjusting for cognitive performance and environmental factors.

Patients And Methods: The Etude Epidémiologique sur les Petits Ages Gestationnels (EPIPAGE) study was a prospective population-based cohort study that included all births occurring between 22 and 32 weeks' gestation and a control group of infants born at 39 to 40 weeks' gestation in 1997 in 9 French regions.

Determinants of students' attitudes towards peers with disabilities.

Aim: To explore factors associated with students' attitudes towards their peers with disabilities.

Method: All 7th grade students (aged 12-13y) from 12 schools in the Toulouse area were invited to participate (n=1509). Attitudes were measured using the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH) questionnaire (affective, behavioural, cognitive, and total scores).

Obstructive sleep apnea, immuno-inflammation, and atherosclerosis.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder leading to cardiovascular and metabolic complications. OSA is also a multicomponent disorder, with intermittent hypoxia (IH) as the main trigger for the associated cardiovascular and metabolic alterations. Indeed, recurrent pharyngeal collapses during sleep lead to repetitive sequences of hypoxia-reoxygenation.

Participation in life situations of 8-12 year old children with cerebral palsy: cross sectional European study.

Objectives: To evaluate how involvement in life situations (participation) in children with cerebral palsy varies with type and severity of impairment and to investigate geographical variation in participation.

Design: Cross sectional study. Trained interviewers visited parents of children with cerebral palsy; multilevel multivariable regression related participation to impairments, pain, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Radiographic trabecular 2D and 3D parameters of proximal femoral bone cores correlate with each other and with yield stress.

Unlabelled: Radiographic images of bone cores taken from cadaver proximal femora provided two-dimensional parameters of projected trabecular patterns that correlated highly with conceptually equivalent three-dimensional parameters in the same cores. Measurements also highly correlated with yield stress, suggesting that both parameters have similar biomechanical qualities.

Introduction: We compared morphometric measurements of trabecular patterns in two-dimensional (2D) projection radiographic images of cores from cadaver proximal femoral bones with conceptually equivalent measurements from three-dimensional microcomputed tomography (3D microCT) images.

Obstructive sleep apnea and atherosclerosis.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with significant cardiovascular morbidity and excess in mortality. Atherosclerosis has been shown to occur in OSA patients free of any other significant risk factors. In particular, intima media thickness, an early marker of atherosclerosis, may be increased at the carotid level in OSA.

Anaesthesia mode for caesarean section and mortality in very preterm infants: an epidemiologic study in the EPIPAGE cohort.

Background: Little is known about the influence of anaesthesia for caesarean section on outcome in very preterm infants.

Methods: A prospective, population-based, cohort study (the EPIPAGE cohort) included all births before 33 weeks in nine French regions in 1997. Of 2360 infants live-born between 27 and 32 weeks, 1338 were delivered by caesarean section with general anaesthesia (n=711, 53.

Biochemical studies and molecular dynamics simulations of Smad3-Erbin interaction identify a non-classical Erbin PDZ binding.

In this work, we describe how the Erbin PDZ domain interacts with Smad3, a transductor of the Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGFbeta) pathway, via its MH2 domain. This interaction was described as important for TGFbeta signaling as it could potentially repress the transcriptional activity of the growth factor. In order to clarify our preliminary experimental observations pointing this interaction, we built a 3D model of the Erbin PDZ/Smad3 MH2 complex and checked its stability using molecular dynamics simulations.

Health status of children with cerebral palsy living in Europe: a multi-centre study.

Aim: The aim of this report is to describe the health status of 8-12-year-old children with cerebral palsy (CP) of all severities in Europe using the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ).

Method: A total of 818 children with CP from nine centres in defined geographical areas participated. CP type, gross and fine motor function, additional impairments were classified and family data were obtained.

French database of children and adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare multisystem genetic disease leading to severe complications mainly related to obesity. We strongly lack information on the natural history of this complex disease and on what factors are involved in its evolution and its outcome. One of the objectives of the French reference centre for Prader-Willi syndrome set-up in 2004 was to set-up a database in order to make the inventory of Prader-Willi syndrome cases and initiate a national cohort study in the area covered by the centre.

Intermittent hypoxia and sleep-disordered breathing: current concepts and perspectives.

There are three major types of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) with respect to prevalence and health consequences, i.e. obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), Cheyne-Stokes respiration and central sleep apnoea (CSR-CSA) in chronic heart failure, and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS).

G6PD deficiency, absence of alpha-thalassemia, and hemolytic rate at baseline are significant independent risk factors for abnormally high cerebral velocities in patients with sickle cell anemia.

Stroke is predicted by abnormally high cerebral velocities by transcranial doppler (TCD). This study aimed at defining predictive factors for abnormally high velocities (>/= 2 m/sec) based on the Créteil pediatric sickle cell anemia (SCA) cohort composed of 373 stroke-free SCA children. alpha genes and beta-globin haplotypes were determined.