Publications by authors named "Germain M"

Mitochondria are crucial for cellular metabolism and signalling. Mitochondrial activity is modulated by mitochondrial fission and fusion, which are required to properly balance metabolic functions, transfer material between mitochondria, and remove defective mitochondria. Mitochondrial fission occurs at mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) contact sites, and requires the formation of actin filaments that drive mitochondrial constriction and the recruitment of the fission protein DRP1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are the most common type of cancer in the U.S., and image-guided superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT) effectively treats them, but the influence of patient comorbidities and socioeconomic status (SES) on treatment outcomes has been under-researched.
  • A large retrospective study analyzed nearly 20,000 NMSC lesions to determine how SES and comorbidity levels (using ADI and CCI metrics) affected recurrence rates after IGSRT, finding minimal differences in outcomes for both factors at 2, 4, and 6 years.
  • Results showed that neither SES nor comorbidity burden significantly impacted recurrence rates, suggesting that I
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Venous thromboembolism (VT) is a frequent (annual incidence of 1 to 2 per 1,000) and potentially life-threatening (case-fatality rate up to 10%) disease. VT is associated with serious short-term and long-term complications including a recurrence rate of approximately 20% within five years. Anticoagulant therapy, the mainstay of VT treatment, drastically reduces the risk of early VT recurrence, but it exposes patients to a substantial risk of bleeding.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Factor V (FV) is crucial for the blood coagulation process, and its plasma levels are linked to various health issues like blood clots and diabetes.
  • The researchers used a specific statistical method called the Brown-Forsythe methodology to analyze genetic factors affecting FV levels in 4505 individuals from four different studies.
  • They identified a significant genetic variant (rs75463553) associated with the variability in FV plasma levels, highlighting the interaction between neutrophil-related genes and FV biology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study was designed to determine the effect of 16 weeks of supplementation with Hi-maize 260 resistant starch (RS) on the gut microbiota, uremic toxins (indoxyl sulfate and p-cresyl sulfate [PCS]), markers of inflammation, and oxidative stress along with vascular function in patients with stage G3a-G4 chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Design And Methods: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial. Sixty-eight patients with stage-G3a-G4 CKD were randomized to either RS with usual care or placebo and usual care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The Letter reports the most accurate measurement so far of the matter-antimatter imbalance during Pb-Pb collisions at a high energy level of 5.02 TeV.
  • It utilizes the Statistical Hadronization framework to determine precise values for the electric charge and baryon chemical potentials, μ_{Q} and μ_{B}.
  • The analysis of antiparticle-to-particle yield ratios shows that the collisions create a system that is generally baryon-free and electrically neutral at midrapidity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nanomedicines have created a paradigm shift in healthcare. Yet fundamental barriers still exist that prevent or delay the clinical translation of nanomedicines. Critical hurdles inhibiting clinical success include poor understanding of nanomedicines' physicochemical properties, limited exposure in the cell or tissue of interest, poor reproducibility of preclinical outcomes in clinical trials, and biocompatibility concerns.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Over the past few years in Québec, Canada, exclusion criteria for blood donation and plasma donation for fractionation have been modified. Héma-Québec, the institution responsible for blood products, has made changes to allow more inclusive access to blood and plasma donation, in accordance with evolving scientific data concerning donation safety. The study, conducted before those changes were implemented, aimed to assess acceptability of recipients and parents of recipients of plasma-derived products for men who have sex with men (MSM) to become eligible to donate plasma for fractionation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum (high p_{T}) hadron trigger in proton-proton and central Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. A data-driven statistical method is used to mitigate the large uncorrelated background in central Pb-Pb collisions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Conventional serological tests are not very sensitive for detecting recent SARS-CoV-2 infections in vaccinated people due to their reduced anti-nucleocapsid response, leading to the development of a new "ratio-based approach" for more accurate detection.
  • A study conducted in Québec examined plasma samples from donors over time to estimate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections during the Omicron wave, finding a 28.3% rate of reinfections among participants.
  • Results indicated that a significant portion of the Québec population was likely infected during the Omicron wave, showcasing the effectiveness of the ratio-based method in identifying infections in vaccinated individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • In Canada, each province and territory handles their own health data, which made it tricky to share information during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • There were 11 different surveys done to test how many people had antibodies from the virus, but they each used different methods, making it hard to compare results across regions.
  • To do better in the future, Canada needs a strong and flexible system for tracking health data that can quickly adjust to new situations and work together across different areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Cancers evade the immune system, and effective immunotherapies, especially those targeting PD1, work by enhancing T-cell functions, particularly IFNγ production.
  • While immunotherapies have improved patient outcomes, not everyone responds, necessitating alternative treatments to enhance their effectiveness.
  • The study shows that iron supplementation boosts T-cell responses and enhances the effectiveness of anti-PD1 therapy in mice, indicating that combining iron with immunotherapy could improve cancer treatment outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Venous thromboembolism (VTE) poses significant health risks, with a notable difference in incidence rates between Black and White Americans.
  • Researchers developed polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for VTE using data from both European and African-ancestry populations to enhance predictive capability.
  • Results showed that multi-ancestry PRSs slightly outperformed ancestry-specific ones in predicting VTE risk, indicating potential benefits in using diverse data for better risk assessment across populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

K^{+}K^{-} pairs may be produced in photonuclear collisions, either from the decays of photoproduced ϕ(1020) mesons or directly as nonresonant K^{+}K^{-} pairs. Measurements of K^{+}K^{-} photoproduction probe the couplings between the ϕ(1020) and charged kaons with photons and nuclear targets. The kaon-proton scattering occurs at energies far above those available elsewhere.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The thrombin generation assay (TGA) measures how well plasma can produce thrombin, which helps assess an individual's blood clotting ability.
  • The study sought to find new biological factors affecting thrombin generation by analyzing data from 770 venous thrombosis patients and validating findings in 536 healthy individuals.
  • Results showed that complement proteins C5 and C9 were significantly linked to thrombin generation, with C9 having a notable impact when tested in the lab, suggesting these proteins could influence clotting, though more research is needed to clarify their roles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - This Letter discusses the measurement of ridge yields from charged hadron angular correlations in proton-proton collisions at a high energy of 13 TeV, specifically within certain pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges.
  • - The research extends ridge yield measurements to low charged-particle multiplicity regions, where typically a strong interacting medium is not expected to form during collisions.
  • - Findings indicate that ridge yields in pp collisions are significantly higher than those observed in e^{+}e^{-} collisions, suggesting that processes in e^{+}e^{-} annihilations do not significantly influence long-range correlations in proton-proton interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The ALICE detector measured the cross section for incoherent photonuclear production of J/ψ vector mesons, focusing on the Mandelstam |t| variable, during ultraperipheral collisions of Pb nuclei at a very high energy of 5.02 TeV.
  • The measurement was conducted within a rapidity interval of |y|<0.8 and covers a specific range of Bjorken-x values.
  • Analysis showed that models without quantum fluctuations in the gluon density predicted a much steeper |t|-dependence than observed, but including these fluctuations improved the models' alignment with the data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Traditional methods for analyzing SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence often underestimate antibody presence in vaccinated individuals, particularly in detecting anti-nucleocapsid responses.
  • A study compared four different immunoassays using a new method that focuses on increases in anti-N antibody levels, revealing significantly better sensitivity than conventional approaches.
  • Results showed that while the conventional approach fell short of regulatory standards for sensitivity, the new ratio-based method allowed all tested immunoassays to meet the necessary criteria, enhancing reliability in assessing seroprevalence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Foxo family transcription factors are critically involved in multiple processes, such as metabolism, quiescence, cell survival and cell differentiation. Although continuous, high activity of Foxo transcription factors extends the life span of some species, the involvement of Foxo proteins in mammalian aging remains to be determined. Here, we show that Foxo1 is down-regulated with age in mouse T cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interorganelle contact sites regulate lipid metabolism, organelle dynamics and positioning, as well as apoptosis and autophagy. Here, we present a proximity ligation assay (PLA) protocol for measuring the association of two organelles in fixed cells. We describe steps for primary cell culture, primary cell transfection, and the assay itself.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The production of the ψ(2S) charmonium state was measured with ALICE in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, in the dimuon decay channel. A significant signal was observed for the first time at LHC energies down to zero transverse momentum, at forward rapidity (2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF