Hospital Resource Utilization and Costs in Patients with Heart Failure in France.

Background And Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, and economic burden on the healthcare system. The aim of this study was to estimate the current hospital resource utilization and costs for HF patients in France.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included adult HF patients hospitalized in France between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.

Public Health Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Empagliflozin (JARDIANCE) in the Treatment of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction in France, Based on the EMPEROR-Preserved Clinical Trial.

Introduction: The efficacy and safety of empagliflozin in the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) were demonstrated in the EMPEROR-Preserved trial, which showed a 21% reduction in combined risks of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization [hazard ratio (HR) 0.79; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69-0.

Genomic survey of NPF and NRT2 transporter gene families in five inbred maize lines and their responses to pathogens infection.

Besides manipulating nitrate uptake and allocation, nitrate transporters (NRTs) are also known to play crucial roles in pathogen defense and stress response. By blasting with the model NRT genes of poplar and Arabidopsis, a total of 408 gene members were identified from 5 maize inbred lines in which the number of NRTs ranged from 72 to 88. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the NRT genes of maize were classified into NRT1/PTR (NPF), NRT2 and NRT3 subfamilies, respectively.

Synthesis, phloem mobility and induced plant resistance of synthetic salicylic acid amino acid or glucose conjugates.

Background: The growing demand for food, combined with a strong social expectation for a diet produced with fewer conventional agrochemical inputs, has led to the development of new alternatives in plant protection worldwide. Among different possibilities, the stimulation of the plant innate immune system by chemicals represents a novel and promising way. The vectorization strategy of an active ingredient that we previously developed with fungicides can potentially extend to salicylic acid (SA) or its halogenated analogues.

Quality of life in SSc-ILD patients: Understanding the impact of the ILD and the needs of the SSc-ILD patients and their need for caregivers in France.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe the impact of systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease, on quality of life, to estimate the correlation between quality of life and severity of lung disease and to assess the impact of interstitial lung disease on caregivers.

Methods: Seven investigators included systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease patients from December 2019 to April 2020. Sociodemographics and clinical data were collected.

Epidemiology, Mortality and Healthcare Resource Utilization Associated With Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease in France.

To investigate the clinical characteristics, epidemiology, survival estimates and healthcare resource utilization and associated costs in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) in France. The French national administrative healthcare database, the Système National des Données de Santé (SNDS), includes data on 98.8% of the French population, including data relating to ambulatory care, hospitalizations and death.

How to Strengthen Wildlife Surveillance to Support Freedom From Disease: Example of ASF Surveillance in France, at the Border With an Infected Area.

Using a risk-based approach, the SAGIR network (dedicated to wildlife disease surveillance) had to strengthen surveillance activities after ASF was confirmed in Belgium in September 2018, very near the French border. Three new active dead wild boars search protocols supplemented opportunistic surveillance in Level III risk areas: patrols by volunteer hunters, professional systematic combing, and dog detection. Those protocols were targeted in terms of location and time and complemented each other.

A registry-based 2-year follow-up comparative study of two meshes used in transinguinal preperitoneal (TIPP) groin hernia repair.

Purpose: Onflex™ mesh has replaced Polysoft™ patch on the market, without being clinically evaluated thus far in the transinguinal preperitoneal (TIPP) technique.

Methods: All consecutive TIPP registered in our registry during the overlap period of availability of both meshes were included and studied with the chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) as primary endpoint, assessed with a verbal rating scale (VRS), and included in a patient-related outcome measurement (PROM) phone questionnaire.

Results: A total of 181 Onflex cases vs 182 Polysoft cases were studied with a 2-year follow-up rate of 92% vs 88%.

Auxinic herbicide conjugates with an α-amino acid function: Structural requirements for biological activity on motor cells.

Two Fabaceae exhibiting rapid osmocontractile pulvinar movements were used in this study because this activity is modified by natural auxin and dramatically by 2,4D. A short chain with a carboxylic group being required for auxinic properties, a critical point to analyze is whether the recently synthesized proherbicide ε-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetyl)-L-Lys (2-4D-L-Lys) maintains some biological activity despite the increase in length of the chain and the substitution of the carboxyl group by an α-amino acid function. No trace of 2,4D could be detected in the pulvinar tissues treated for 1 h with 2,4D-L-Lys.

Evaluating the combined effect of a systemic phenylpyrrole fungicide and the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Paraburkholderia phytofirmans (strain PsJN::gfp2x) against the grapevine trunk pathogen Neofusicoccum parvum.

Background: A new chemical control strategy for grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) is to develop site-targeted fungicides to protect grapevine vascular tissues. Due to the complexity of GTDs, the effectiveness of a single method is limited. Investigation of the interactions between chemical and biological agents is an essential requirement for integrated control strategies.

Cdc24 interacts with septins to create a positive feedback loop during bud site assembly in yeast.

Yeast cells select the position of their new bud at the beginning of each cell cycle. The recruitment of septins to this prospective bud site is one of the critical events in a complex assembly pathway that culminates in the outgrowth of a new daughter cell. During recruitment, septin rods follow the high concentration of Cdc42 that is generated by the focused localization of the Cdc42 guanine-nucleotide-exchange factor Cdc24.

Brucella melitensis Rev.1 vaccination generates a higher shedding risk of the vaccine strain in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) compared to the domestic goat (Capra hircus).

Epidemiological investigations implemented in wild and domestic ruminants evidenced a reservoir for Brucella in Capra ibex in the French Alps. Vaccination was considered as a possible way to control Brucella infection in this wildlife population. Twelve ibexes and twelve goats were allocated into four groups housed separately, each including six males or six non-pregnant females.

Vaginal tamoxifen for treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy: Pharmacokinetics and local tolerance in a rabbit model over 28 days.

Vaginally delivered tamoxifen is being developed as alternative to estrogen-based therapies for the treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) symptoms in subjects at high risk for breast cancer, undergoing treatment for breast cancer with aromatase inhibitors or are breast cancer survivors. Tamoxifen (1 or 20 mg) was administered intra-vaginally to female rabbits once-daily over a 28-day period to assess its pharmacokinetics, systemic exposure and local vaginal tolerance. Plasma samples were taken to assess concentrations of tamoxifen and its metabolites 4-hydroxytamoxifen and N-desmethyltamoxifen over the first day of vaginal administration and following the last dose on Day 28.

Multi-host disease management: the why and the how to include wildlife.

In recent years, outbreaks caused by multi-host pathogens (MHP) have posed a serious challenge to public and animal health authorities. The frequent implication of wildlife in such disease systems and a lack of guidelines for mitigating these diseases within wild animal populations partially explain why the outbreaks are particularly challenging. To face these challenges, the French Ministry of Agriculture launched a multi-disciplinary group of experts that set out to discuss the main wildlife specific concepts in the management of MHP disease outbreaks and how to integrate wildlife in the disease management process.

Vectorizing agrochemicals: enhancing bioavailability via carrier-mediated transport.

Systemicity of agrochemicals is an advantageous property for controlling phloem sucking insects, as well as pathogens and pests not accessible to contact products. After the penetration of the cuticle, the plasma membrane constitutes the main barrier to the entry of an agrochemical into the sap flow. The current strategy for developing systemic agrochemicals is to optimize the physicochemical properties of the molecules so that they can cross the plasma membrane by simple diffusion or ion trapping mechanisms.

Functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the 2-year PERFORM study.

Background: The Prospective Epidemiological Research on Functioning Outcomes Related to Major depressive disorder (PERFORM) study describes the course of depressive symptoms, perceived cognitive symptoms, and functional impairment over 2 years in outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and investigates the patient-related factors associated with functional impairment.

Methods: This was a 2-year observational study in 1,159 outpatients with MDD aged 18-65 years who were either initiating antidepressant monotherapy or undergoing their first switch of antidepressant. Functional impairment was assessed by the Sheehan Disability Scale and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire.

Use of D-glucose-fenpiclonil conjugate as a potent and specific inhibitor of sucrose carriers.

Until now, specific inhibitors of sucrose carriers were not available. This led us to study the properties of the recently synthesized D-glucose-fenpiclonil conjugate (D-GFC). This large amphiphilic glucoside exhibited an extremely low phloem systemicity in contrast to L-amino acid-fenpiclonil conjugates.

Elimination of Schistosoma mansoni in infected mice by slow release of artemisone.

The current treatment of schistosomiasis is based on the anti-helminthic drug praziquantel (PZQ). PZQ affects only the adult stages of schistosomes. In addition, resistance to PZQ is emerging.

Vectorisation of agrochemicals via amino acid carriers: influence of the spacer arm structure on the phloem mobility of phenylpyrrole conjugates in the Ricinus system.

Background: Excessive agrochemical use poses significant threats to environmental safety and human health. Reducing pesticide use without reducing yield is necessary for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, we developed a vectorisation strategy to enhance agrochemical delivery through plant amino acid carriers.

Structure-Activity Relationship of the Antimalarial Ozonide Artefenomel (OZ439).

Building on insights gained from the discovery of the antimalarial ozonide arterolane (OZ277), we now describe the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the antimalarial ozonide artefenomel (OZ439). Primary and secondary amino ozonides had higher metabolic stabilities than tertiary amino ozonides, consistent with their higher pK and lower log D values. For primary amino ozonides, addition of polar functional groups decreased in vivo antimalarial efficacy.

Vectorization of agrochemicals: amino acid carriers are more efficient than sugar carriers to translocate phenylpyrrole conjugates in the Ricinus system.

Producing quality food in sufficient quantity while using less agrochemical inputs will be one of the great challenges of the twenty-first century. One way of achieving this goal is to greatly reduce the doses of plant protection compounds by improving the targeting of pests to eradicate. Therefore, we developed a vectorization strategy to confer phloem mobility to fenpiclonil, a contact fungicide from the phenylpyrrole family used as a model molecule.

A Split-Ubiquitin Based Strategy Selecting for Protein Complex-Interfering Mutations.

Understanding the topologies and functions of protein interaction networks requires the selective removal of single interactions. We introduce a selection strategy that enriches among a random library of alleles for mutations that impair the binding to a given partner protein. The selection makes use of a split-ubiquitin based protein interaction assay.

Unsaturated amino acids derived from isoleucine trigger early membrane effects on plant cells.

Unsaturated amino acids (UnsAA) have been shown to affect the activity of various biological processes. However, their mode of action has been investigated poorly thus far. We show in this work that 2-amino-3-methyl-4-pentenoic acid (C2) and 2-amino-3-methyl-4-pentynoic acid (C3) structurally derived from isoleucine (Ile) exhibited a multisite action on plant cells.

Modifications of the chemical structure of phenolics differentially affect physiological activities in pulvinar cells of Mimosa pudica L. II. Influence of various molecular properties in relation to membrane transport.

Early prediction of compound absorption by cells is of considerable importance in the building of an integrated scheme describing the impact of a compound on intracellular biological processes. In this scope, we study the structure-activity relationships of several benzoic acid-related phenolics which are involved in many plant biological phenomena (growth, flowering, allelopathy, defense processes). Using the partial least squares (PLS) regression method, the impact of molecular descriptors that have been shown to play an important role concerning the uptake of pharmacologically active compounds by animal cells was analyzed in terms of the modification of membrane potential, variations in proton flux, and inhibition of the osmocontractile reaction of pulvinar cells of Mimosa pudica leaves.