[Pregnancy and psychoactives substances: prevalence study based on the declared consumption].

Objectives: Evaluate substance use (tobacco, alcohol, psychotropic drugs, illicit drugs) declared before and during pregnancy.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred and forty-five pregnant women were interviewed through a self-administered and anonymous questionnaire as they were going to a prenatal consultation in a maternity hospital in the Parisian area.

Results: Before pregnancy, 16.

[Prediction of successful induction of labor: a comparison between fetal fibronectin assay and the Bishop score].

Objective: The aim of our study is to determine whether the fetal fibronectin is a better predictor of successful induction of labor than the Bishop score.

Material And Methods: A prospective observational non-randomized study was conducted in our unit including 234 patients scheduled for induction of labor from October 2000 to June 2004. Fetal fibronectin was assayed by taking sample from the endocervix and the cervical status was evaluated using the Bishop score.

Modelling the ontogeny of ectotherms exhibiting indeterminate growth.

Numerous growth functions exist to describe the ontogeny of animals. Such functions (e.g.

Oxidant-controlled regioselectivity in the oxidative arylation of N-acetylindoles.

N-Acetylindoles can be oxidatively coupled with arenes such as benzene or pentafluorobenzene in dioxane. The use of Cu(OAc)(2) as the stoichiometric oxidant produces selective arylation at the 3-position of indole while AgOAc produces selective arylation at indole's 2-position.

Bone mass and microarchitecture of irradiated and bone marrow-transplanted mice: influences of the donor strain.

Unlabelled: Total body irradiation and bone marrow transplantation induced dramatic trabecular bone loss and cortical thickening in mice. Transplanted cells were engrafted in bone marrow, along trabeculae, and in periosteal and endosteal envelopes. None of the osteocytes were of donor origin.

Decreased rates of nosocomial endometritis and urinary tract infection after vaginal delivery in a French surveillance network, 1997-2003.

Objectives: To identify independent risk factors for endometritis and urinary tract infection (UTI) after vaginal delivery, and to monitor changes in nosocomial infection rates and derive benchmarks for prevention.

Design: Prospective study.

Methods: We analyzed routine surveillance data for all vaginal deliveries between January 1997 and December 2003 at 66 maternity units participating in the Mater Sud-Est surveillance network.

Effect of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis against group B streptococcal infection on comparisons of rates of endometritis and urinary tract infection in multicenter surveillance.

Objective: To establish whether antibiotic prophylaxis against group B streptococcal infection may be a confounding factor in comparisons of rates of endometritis and urinary tract infection after vaginal delivery.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Maternity units at 48 hospitals in a regional surveillance network in France during 2001-2004.

Synthesis of fused 4,5-disubstituted indole ring systems by intramolecular friedel-crafts acylation of 4-substituted indoles.

4-Substituted indoles containing a variety of electrophiles and N-substituents undergo Friedel-Crafts acylation to give exclusively the products of cyclization at the 5-position of indole. These indanones and tetralones have been scarcely prepared and are subunits in natural products and analogues of potential biological significance.

Downward trends in surgical site and urinary tract infections after cesarean delivery in a French surveillance network, 1997-2003.

Objective: To evaluate whether the adjusted rates of surgical site infection (SSI) and urinary tract infection (UTI) after cesarean delivery decrease in maternity units that perform active healthcare-associated infection surveillance.

Design: Trend analysis by means of multiple logistic regression.

Setting: A total of 80 maternity units participating in the Mater Sud-Est surveillance network.

Molecular insights into human daily behavior.

Human beings exhibit wide variation in their timing of daily behavior. We and others have suggested previously that such differences might arise because of alterations in the period length of the endogenous human circadian oscillator. Using dermal fibroblast cells from skin biopsies of 28 subjects of early and late chronotype (11 "larks" and 17 "owls"), we have studied the circadian period lengths of these two groups, as well as their ability to phase-shift and entrain to environmental and chemical signals.

A subset of fibromyalgia patients have findings suggestive of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and appear to respond to IVIg.

Objectives: The aetiopathogenesis of the fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) remains unknown. Recent reports, however, suggest that a subgroup of FMS subjects has an immune-mediated disease. Therefore, our primary objective was to study FMS subjects for evidence of an immune-mediated demyelinating polyneuropathy.

[Sociodemographic, epidemiological and behavioral profile of women infected with HTLV-1 in Salvador, Bahia, an endemic area for HTLV].

The objective was to describe the sociodemographic, epidemiological and behavioral characteristics of women infected with HTLV-1 (64) and uninfected women (66) in Salvador, Bahia. The serological diagnosis was obtained via Elisa, Western Blot and Immunofluorescence. Epidemiological and sociodemographic data were collected using a standardized questionnaire.

Peritoneal cell-derived mast cells: an in vitro model of mature serosal-type mouse mast cells.

Bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC) have been used extensively as a mast cell model. BMMC, however, are immature cells that have no known physiological equivalent in tissues. They do not respond to IgG immune complexes.

Modular synthesis of tetrahydrofluorenones from 5-alkylidene Meldrum's acids.

The one-pot synthesis of tetrahydrofluorenones, the core 6-5-6 tricyclic structural motif found in norditerpenoid natural products, from alkylidene Meldrum's acids via thermal Diels-Alder/BF3.OEt2-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions is described. A series of tetrahydrofluorenones was assembled in good yields, and the Diels-Alder/Friedel-Crafts acylation protocol allowed modification of the substitution within the rings.

The effect of long-term somatostatin analogue treatment on free and total insulin-like growth factor (IGF) -I, -II and IGF binding protein -1, -2 and -3 serum levels in euthyroid patients with active thyroid eye disease.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term somatostatin analogue (SM-a) treatment on serum levels of free (F) and total (T) insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, -II and IGF binding protein (IGFBP) - 1, -2 and -3 in euthyroid patients with active thyroid ophthalmopathy. For this purpose, we measured the above-mentioned parameters in 21 patients (11M, 10F), aged 50.8+/-11.

The influence of processes for the purification of human bone allografts on the matrix surface and cytocompatibility.

Different industrial processes exist to purify allogenic bone, providing safe and cleaned blocks for bone allografting. However, they often make use of chemical reagents that can be aggressive for the bone matrix. Bone samples were processed with several soaking techniques used in industry: NaHCO3, H2O2, NaOH and H2O2+NaOH combined; the consequences on the bone matrix and cytocompoatibility were evaluated on femoral heads from osteoarthritic patients.

Yb(OTf)3-catalyzed reactions of 5-alkylidene Meldrum's acids with phenols: one-pot assembly of 3,4-dihydrocoumarins, 4-chromanones, coumarins, and chromones.

[reaction: see text] The Yb(OTf)3-catalyzed annulation reactions of phenols with 5-alkylidene Meldrum's acids enabled the synthesis of structurally diverse heterocycles in high isolated yields. A series of 4-substituted 3,4-dihydrocoumarins, 2,2-disubstituted 4-chromanones, coumarins, and 2-substituted chromones were readily and efficiently assembled, including the naturally occurring coumarins citropten, scoparone, and ayapin. Addition of phenols to biselectrophilic 5-alkylidene Meldrum's acids proceeded through two distinct multibond-forming modes: Friedel-Crafts C-alkylation/O-acylation and Friedel-Crafts C-acylation/O-alkylation.

[Changing medical practices and nosocomial infection rates in French maternity units from 1997 to 2000].

Objectives: In this study we describe the changes in medical practices and nosocomial infection rates in obstetrics observed through a surveillance network in the South East of France.

Material And Method: The maternity units which belong to this network participated in voluntary surveillance using the network's methodology. The criteria for the diagnosis of nosocomial infections were in accordance with the methods described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Modulation of gene expression induced in human epidermis by environmental stress in vivo.

Environmental insults on the skin induce biologic responses through the modulation of expression of genes implicated in different cell functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the modulation of gene expression profile in human epidermis in vivo following different stresses. We determined the modulations of gene expression using cDNA macroarray in the epidermis of 28 healthy volunteers, following mild and physiologic insults, including: (1), tape stripping; (2) application of 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate; (3) daily application of vaseline; and (4), exposure to one minimal erythema dose of solar-simulated radiation.

Free and total insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, -II, and IGF binding protein-1, -2, and -3 serum levels in patients with active thyroid eye disease.

To determine whether serum levels of total (T) and free (F) IGF-I and -II and IGF binding protein (IGFBP),-1, -2, and -3 are normal in euthyroid patients with Graves' disease and active thyroid ophthalmopathy, we investigated the above-mentioned parameters in 21 patients (11 male, 10 female) aged 50.8 +/- 11.8 yr (range 35-70) and 19 healthy individuals matched for age, gender, and body mass index.

Early specification of the hierarchical organization of visual cortical areas in the macaque monkey.

The laminar organization of cortico-cortical projection neurons (expressed by the percentage of supragranular projecting neurons - SLN%) characterizes cortical pathways as feedforward (FF) or feedback (FB) and determines the hierarchical ranking of cortical areas. There is evidence of a developmental reduction in SLN% of pathways to area V1. Here, by analyzing pre- and postnatal projections to area V4, we have been able to address whether developmental reductions of SLN% impact on information processing in the immature cortex.

Mohs micrographic surgery of a plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor.

Background: Plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor (PFT) is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm first described by Enzinger and Zhang in 1988. Clinically it is characterized by slow growth, frequent local recurrences, and rare systemic metastasis. These tumors occur chiefly in children and young adults and are most commonly located on the shoulders and forearms.