Microplastic and microfiber fluxes in the Seine River: Flood events versus dry periods.

Studies on the influence of hydrodynamic conditions on anthropogenic microfiber (MF) and microplastic (MP) distributions in freshwater environments are sparse. In this study, we evaluated the influence of urbanisation gradient on the spatial variability of MFs and MPs. Temporal variability was also assessed by comparing the concentrations and fluxes of MFs and MPs under low flow conditions with those during the January-February 2018 flood event.

Left atrial strain is a predictor of left ventricular systolic and diastolic reverse remodelling in CRT candidates.

Aims: The left atrium (LA) has a pivotal role in cardiac performance and LA deformation is a well-known prognostic predictor in several clinical conditions including heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on both LA morphology and function and to assess the impact of LA reservoir strain (LARS) on left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic remodelling after CRT.

Methods And Results: Two hundred and twenty-one CRT-candidates were prospectively included in the study in four tertiary centres and underwent echocardiography before CRT-implantation and at 6-month follow-up (FU).

Microplastics and microfibers in urban runoff from a suburban catchment of Greater Paris.

Microplastics (MPs) and microfibers (MFs) in stormwater have been poorly investigated. Data on their intra and inter rain events variability over time are still sparse. For the first time, the variability of microlitter concentrations in stormwater has been studied.

Echocardiographic view and feature selection for the estimation of the response to CRT.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an implant-based therapy applied to patients with a specific heart failure (HF) profile. The identification of patients that may benefit from CRT is a challenging task and the application of current guidelines still induce a non-responder rate of about 30%. Several studies have shown that the assessment of left ventricular (LV) mechanics by speckle tracking echocardiography can provide useful information for CRT patient selection.

Characterization of Responder Profiles for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy through Unsupervised Clustering of Clinical and Strain Data.

Background: The mechanisms of improvement of left ventricular (LV) function with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) are not yet elucidated. The aim of this study was to characterize CRT responder profiles through clustering analysis, on the basis of clinical and echocardiographic preimplantation data, integrating automatic quantification of longitudinal strain signals.

Methods: This was a multicenter observational study of 250 patients with chronic heart failure evaluated before CRT device implantation and followed up to 4 years.

Left ventricular strain for predicting the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy: two methods for one question.

Aims: Myocardial work (manually controlled software) and integral-derived longitudinal strain (automatic quantification of strain curves) are two promising tools to quantify dyssynchrony and potentially select the patients that are most likely to have a reverse remodelling due to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We sought to test and compare the value of these two methods in the prediction of CRT-response.

Materials And Results: Two hundred and forty-three patients undergoing CRT-implantation from three European referral centres were considered.

Prediction of response to cardiac resynchronization therapy using a multi-feature learning method.

We hypothesized that a multiparametric evaluation, based on the combination of electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters, could enhance the appraisal of the likelihood of reverse remodeling and prognosis of favorable clinical evolution to improve the response of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Three hundred and twenty-three heart failure patients were retrospectively included in this multicenter study. 221 patients (68%) were responders, defined by a decrease in left ventricle end-systolic volume ≥15% at the 6-month follow-up.

Prognostic Usefulness of Myocardial Work in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction Treated by Sacubitril/Valsartan.

The noninvasive assessment of myocardial work (MW) by pressure-strain loops analysis (PSL) is a relative new tool for the evaluation of myocardial performance. Sacubitril/Valsartan is a treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) which has a spectacular effect on the reduction of cardiovascular events (major adverse cardiovascular events [MACEs]). This study aimed to evaluate the short- and medium-term effect of Sacubitril/Valsartan treatment on MW parameters and the prognostic value of MW in this specific group of patients.

Limited elimination of two viruses by cryotherapy of pelargonium apices related to virus distribution.

The possibility of eradicating the pelargonium flower break virus (PFBV) and pelargonium line pattern virus (PLPV) by cryotherapy of axillary shoot apices was investigated using five Pelargonium cultivars. Viruses were detected by DAS-ELISA and their location was determined by immunolocalization. Apex culture did not permit elimination of PFBV and only 15 percent regenerated plants of 'Stellar Artic' cultivar were ELISA PLPV-negative.

Methods for in vitro propagation of Pelargonium x Hortorum and others: from meristems to protoplasts.

Geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) are among the most popular bedding and pot plants (25% of the French domestic market). On one hand, as vegetatively propagated plants, Pelargonium are submitted to pathogen pressure.

Cryopreservation of Pelargonium apices by droplet-vitrification.

The droplet-vitrification method was adapted to Pelargonium apices by optimizing the duration of the loading solution (LS) as well as the plant vitrification solution 2 (PVS2). The excised apices were dehydrated in two steps (20 min in LS and 15 min in PVS2) and then immersed directly in liquid nitrogen (LN). After thawing and unloading in the recovery solution at room temperature for 15 min, apices were plated onto semi-solid Murashige and Skoog medium.

EgAP2-1, an AINTEGUMENTA-like (AIL) gene expressed in meristematic and proliferating tissues of embryos in oil palm.

In order to better understand the developmental processes that govern the formation of somatic embryos in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), we investigated the transcription factor genes expressed during embryogenesis in this species. The AP2/EREBP transcription factor family includes the AP2 subgroup, which contains several proteins that play important roles in plant development.

Calcium channel blocker prevents T helper type 2 cell-mediated airway inflammation.

Rationale: Ca(2+) signaling controls the production of T helper (Th) type 2 cytokines known to be deleterious in asthma. Recently, we showed that Ca(2+) signaling was dihydropyridine (DHP)-sensitive in Th2 lymphocytes and that the DHP derivate, nicardipine, used in the treatment of cardiovascular pathologies, prevents Th2-dependent B cell polyclonal activation.

Objectives: We tested the effect of nicardipine in experimental allergic asthma.

Dihydropyridine receptors are selective markers of Th2 cells and can be targeted to prevent Th2-dependent immunopathological disorders.

Th1 cells that produce IFN-gamma are essential in the elimination of intracellular pathogens, and Th2 cells that synthetize IL-4 control the eradication of helminths. However, highly polarized Th1 or Th2 responses may be harmful and even lethal. Thus, the development of strategies to selectively down-modulate Th1 or Th2 responses is of therapeutic importance.

Selection of similar naive T cell repertoires but induction of distinct T cell responses by native and modified antigen.

To study the T cell responses induced by native and modified Ag, we have followed in vivo TCR selection and cytokine profile of T cells, as well as the isotype of induced Abs, in response to the model Ag hen egg-white lysozyme (HEL) and its reduced and carboxymethylated form (RCM-HEL). RCM-HEL induces in vivo a T cell response focused on the same immunodominant determinant characterizing the response to native HEL, but further skewed to the Th1 pathway. No difference between HEL and RCM-HEL could be observed in the efficiency of processing, nor in the type of APCs involved.

New N-pyridinyl(methyl)-N1-substituted-3-indolepropanamides acting as topical and systemic anti-inflammatory agents.

N-Pyridinyl(methyl)-N1-substituted-3-indolepropanamides (17-32) were prepared starting from the corresponding acids and screened for their anti-inflammatory activity. Pharmacomodulation was carried out on the indole and amidic nitrogens by incorporation of substituents associated with higher potency in previously synthesized related 3-indolepropanamides series. In the inhibition of topical inflammation determined by reduction of ear thickness in the acute PMA mouse ear swelling test, high levels of activity (ID50 approximately 0.

Blockade of CD86 in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major does not prevent the expansion of low avidity T cells.

The interactions between CD28 and its ligand CD86 are critical for the regulation of T cell responses. However, it is not clear whether CD4+ T cells expressing low and high avidity TCR are equally dependent on CD28 costimulation for their activation and expansion. To address this issue, we have used multimers of I-Ad molecules linked to a peptide derived from the Leishmania major homolog for the receptor of activated C kinase (LACK) antigen to compare the fate of LACK-specific CD4+ T cells in Leishmania-infected BALB/c mice which have been treated or not with anti-CD86 mAb.

Tracking T cell clonotypes in complex T lymphocyte populations by real-time quantitative PCR using fluorogenic complementarity-determining region-3-specific probes.

The T cell receptor (TCR) alpha and beta chains are encoded by a series of stochastic rearrangements between variable (V), diversity (D) for TCR beta chain only, and joining (J) gene segments, creating hypervariable complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) regions that contact the peptide/MHC complex and confer specificity. In the present paper, we applied the recently developed real-time quantitative RT-PCR technique to the detection of rearranged TCR beta chain mRNA transcripts. We designed BV- and BJ-specific primers together with TaqMan probes specific for the CDR3 regions of the clones of interest.

Chronic soluble antigen sensitization primes a unique memory/effector T cell repertoire associated with th2 phenotype acquisition in vivo.

Although much progress has been made in characterization of the signaling pathways that control Th cell commitment, little is known about the early events that govern differentiation of IL-4-producing T lymphocytes in vivo. We have previously shown that chronic administration of low dose, soluble hen egg white lysozyme (HEL) induced the selective development of Ag-specific Th2 in genetically predisposed BALB/c mice. Here, we show that these memory/effector Th2 cells express a unique TCR Vbeta repertoire, different from the TCR Vbeta profile of primary effector cells from HEL-adjuvant-primed mice.