On Polynomial Recursive Sequences.

We study the expressive power of , a nonlinear extension of the well-known class of linear recursive sequences. These sequences arise naturally in the study of nonlinear extensions of weighted automata, where (non)expressiveness results translate to class separations. A typical example of a polynomial recursive sequence is = !.

[The principle of double effect in palliative care].

Caregivers sometimes feel powerless in complex end-of-life situations. Some therapies used to relieve the patient can have the effect of shortening the patient's life. This is why it is essential to explain clearly the principle known as the double effect.

Epidemiology and costs of diabetes treated with insulin in France.

Extrapolating from the results of the 1998 and 2000 French National Sickness Insurance Fund surveys, it can be estimated that at the end of 2002, 3.4% of the French population, i.e.

Sample size calculation should be performed for design accuracy in diagnostic test studies.

Background And Objectives: Guidelines for conducting studies and reading medical literature on diagnostic tests have been published: Requirements for the selection of cases and controls, and for ensuring a correct reference standard are now clarified. Our objective was to provide tables for sample size determination in this context.

Study Design And Setting: In the usual situation, where the prevalence Prev of the disease of interest is <0.

[Detection of Alzheimer's disease in general medicine: preliminary results of a Sentinelles general practitioner's network survey].

Context: The availability of cholinesterase inhibitors has reinforced the need for early detection of Alzheimer's disease in which the general practitioner plays a key role. This study seeks to appraise the diagnostic procedures of Alzheimer's disease in general medicine.

Method: A postal survey of 1176 general practitioners belonging to the French Sentinelles network.

Antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and Clostridium difficile in the community.

Background: Clostridium difficile is the main cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhoea and the causative agent of antibiotic-associated colitis. The involvement of C. difficile infection in antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in the community is poorly documented.

Hepatitis C virus-Epstein-Barr virus interaction in patients with AIDS.

Immortalization of B cells by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and their subsequent proliferation leads to B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in immunocompromised patients. The role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has recently been raised, and an interaction between HCV and EBV is supported by recent in vitro experiments. The aim of this study was to investigate in vivo interactions between HCV and EBV in patients with AIDS, i.

Effects of sotalol on ambulatory electrocardiography in volunteers.

The effects of sotalol dosing, 160, 240, and 320 mg/day, for 10 days in seven healthy volunteers were studied. Twenty-four-hour ECG was recorded continuously under placebo and on days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 14. Sotalol at the three doses significantly lowered mean heart rate, reducing mean diurnal heart rate significantly between noon and 6:00 PM and decreasing mean nocturnal heart rate between midnight and 6:00 AM at 320 mg/day.

Myocardial and vascular effects of perindopril, a new converting enzyme inhibitor, during hypertension development in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The effects of a new angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), perindopril (P), on genetic hypertension development (GHD), on mesenteric arteriolar compliance and reactivity to noradrenaline and on myocardial and aortic hypertrophy, have been investigated at intervals in SHRs. P (4 mg/kg, q.d.

Cimetidine does not alter free unchanged captopril pharmacokinetics and biological effects in healthy volunteer.

The effects of cimetidine (single or repeated administration) on free unchanged captopril plasma levels, pharmacokinetic parameters and plasma converting enzyme inhibitory effects have been investigated in normal healthy volunteers. Cimetidine affected neither captopril pharmacokinetic parameters nor its biological effects, suggesting that no change in captopril dosing is necessary when cimetidine is co-administered.

[Nicardipine: experimental antihypertensive action and interactions with the alpha-adrenergic sympathetic system].

The antihypertensive properties of nicardipine have been studied in various experimental models of hypertension. Furthermore, the possible contribution of the nicardipine-alpha-adrenergic system interaction to the drug's antihypertensive effect has been investigated. In the conscious normotensive rat, nicardipine (10 and 30 mg/kg, orally) reduces arterial blood pressure (by about 25%) and increases heart rate; these effects are maximal one hour after drug administration and disappear within 4 to 6 hours.

[Operated aortic stenosis. Evaluation of the long-term prognosis using clinical and hemodynamic parameters in a series of 249 cases].

The long-term results and the prognostic factors in aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis were assessed from a series of 249 operated cases (comprising 199 pure or dominant stenosis and 50 mixed aortic lesions) followed up for a maximal period of 9 years. The postoperative survival rate, 71% at 5 years, 62,6% at 8 years, including the operative mortality, is better than in a comparable series of pure chronic aortic incompetence (58% at 5 years) despite a higher average age. In the same age group the difference is significant at the 6th year.