Hemodynamic evaluation of biomaterial-based surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot using a biorobotic heart, in silico, and ovine models.

Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart disease affecting newborns and involves stenosis of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). Surgical correction often widens the RVOT with a transannular enlargement patch, but this causes issues including pulmonary valve insufficiency and progressive right ventricle failure. A monocusp valve can prevent pulmonary regurgitation; however, valve failure resulting from factors including leaflet design, morphology, and immune response can occur, ultimately resulting in pulmonary insufficiency.

A Collaborative Model to Implement Flexible, Accessible and Efficient Oncogenetic Services for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: The C-MOnGene Study.

Medical genetic services are facing an unprecedented demand for counseling and testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) in a context of limited resources. To help resolve this issue, a collaborative oncogenetic model was recently developed and implemented at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval; Quebec; Canada. Here, we present the protocol of the C-MOnGene (Collaborative Model in OncoGenetics) study, funded to examine the context in which the model was implemented and document the lessons that can be learned to optimize the delivery of oncogenetic services.

Sr-90 soil to plant transfer factor reduction using calcium and polymer soil amendments.

Introducing calcium into soils can inhibit Sr-90 uptake by plants. To test the efficacy of calcium amendments on the inhibition of Sr-90 uptake by edible plants, a number of different calcium applications, including calcium nitrate, calcium thiosulfate and a mixture of both liquid solutions, were used in this study. Pea plants (Pisum sativum 'Sabre') grown in Sr-90 contaminated soil from seeds to maturity were watered with these calcium solutions.

Straightforward extraction and selective bioconversion of high purity chitin from Bombyx eri larva: Toward an integrated insect biorefinery.

Chitins of different purity grades (45%, 89.7% and 93.3%) were efficiently extracted from Bombyx eri larva and fully physico-chemically characterized.

Wheat Bran Pretreatment by Room Temperature Ionic Liquid-Water Mixture: Optimization of Process Conditions by PLS-Surface Response Design.

Room Temperature Ionic Liquids (RTILs) pretreatment are well-recognized to improve the enzymatic production of platform molecules such as sugar monomers from lignocellulosic biomass (LCB). The conditions for implementing this key step requires henceforth optimization to reach a satisfactory compromise between energy saving, required RTIL amount and hydrolysis yields. Wheat bran (WB) and destarched wheat bran (DWB), which constitute relevant sugar-rich feedstocks were selected for this present study.

The impact of trauma exposure on explicit and implicit memory.

The present study aimed to determine whether explicit and implicit memory systems are modulated by the type of content (neutral, emotional trauma-related and generally-emotional) in sexual abuse victims who did not develop PTSD, compared to non-exposed controls. A mixed-factorial design with Content (neutral, trauma-related, generally-emotional) as a within-subject variable and Group (victims, controls) as a between-subject variable was used in two experiments. In both experiments, participants were required to learn three stories presented orally: a neutral, an emotional trauma-related (sexual abuse) and a generally-emotional story.

Effects of 90Sr on Tree Swallow Nestlings Near Groundwater Contaminant Plumes.

Discharge of groundwater contaminant plumes has created elevated concentrations of Sr in some aquatic sediments at Chalk River Laboratories. Tree swallows (Tachycenita bicolor) feed and supply their nestlings almost exclusively with airborne insects that developed as larvae in aquatic sediments. To monitor the uptake and test for potential detriment due to Sr in a terrestrial animal, we measured the gross beta concentrations in the bone of 12-d-old tree swallow nestlings in areas having sediments with elevated levels of gross beta (Sr and Y) and in several control areas where sediment gross beta was primarily due to naturally occurring K.

Biofilm-Constructing Variants of Paraburkholderia phytofirmans PsJN Outcompete the Wild-Type Form in Free-Living and Static Conditions but Not .

Members of the genus colonize diverse ecological niches. Among the plant-associated strains, PsJN is an endophyte with a broad host range. In a spatially structured environment (unshaken broth cultures), biofilm-constructing specialists of PsJN colonizing the air-liquid interface arose at high frequency.

Correlated responses for DNA damage, phagocytosis activity and lysosomal function revealed in a comparison between field and laboratory studies: Fathead minnow exposed to tritium.

Tritium entering the aquatic environment can confer a whole body internal radiological dose to aquatic organisms. Multiple stressors inherent in natural environments, however, confound estimates for observable radiation specific responses. To disentangle differences between field and laboratory outcomes to tritium exposures, a multivariate analysis comparing biomarkers for radiation exposure at the cellular level with changes in biological processes within tissues is described for fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas).

The establishment of a new culture of Hyalella azteca that would permit toxicity tests to be conducted on low-ionic strength waters.

The objective of the present study was to establish a culture of Hyalella azteca that could be used for laboratory toxicity testing in low-ionic strength waters with electrical conductivities of <200 μS/cm. A wild strain of H. azteca was collected from Twin Lake, a small seepage lake with an electrical conductivity of 81 ± 27 μS/cm located on the property of Chalk River Laboratories in Chalk River, Canada.

Effects of in vivo exposure to tritium: a multi-biomarker approach using the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas.

Tritium (H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. In the environment, the most common form of tritium is tritiated water (HTO). However, tritium can also be incorporated into organic molecules, forming organically bound tritium (OBT).

Kluyveromyces marxianus, an Attractive Yeast for Ethanolic Fermentation in the Presence of Imidazolium Ionic Liquids.

Imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) are promising solvents for lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) pretreatment and allow the achievement of higher ethanolic yields after enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanolic fermentation. However, residual ILs entrapped in pretreated biomass are often toxic for fermentative microorganisms, but interaction mechanisms between ILs and cells are still unknown. Here we studied the effects of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [Emim][OAc] and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylphosphonate [Emim][MeO(H)PO₂] on , a thermotolerant ethanologenic yeast.

Impact of two ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylphosphonate, on Saccharomyces cerevisiae: metabolic, physiologic, and morphological investigations.

Background: Ionic liquids (ILs) are considered as suitable candidates for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment prior enzymatic saccharification and, obviously, for second-generation bioethanol production. However, several reports showed toxic or inhibitory effects of residual ILs on microorganisms, plants, and animal cells which could affect a subsequent enzymatic saccharification and fermentation process.

Results: In this context, the impact of two hydrophilic imidazolium-based ILs already used in lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment was investigated: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [Emim][OAc] and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylphosphonate [Emim][MeO(H)PO2].

Exome sequencing identifies mutations in the gene TTC7A in French-Canadian cases with hereditary multiple intestinal atresia.

Background: Congenital multiple intestinal atresia (MIA) is a severe, fatal neonatal disorder, involving the occurrence of obstructions in the small and large intestines ultimately leading to organ failure. Surgical interventions are palliative but do not provide long-term survival. Severe immunodeficiency may be associated with the phenotype.

Synthesis, surface tension properties and antibacterial activities of amphiphilic D-galactopyranose derivatives.

Several amphiphilic d-galactopyranose derivatives were synthesized in which the glycosidic moiety was separated from the hydrophobic alkyl chain (along 8 or 12 carbon atoms) by a spacer arm (butyl, butynyl or benzyl) in order to increase their surfactant properties and to obtain new antibacterial compounds. The surface tensions of the products were analyzed by Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) and γCMC measurements and the antimicrobial activities were assayed against 10 bacterial species by Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) determination in liquid broth. The introduction of an aliphatic spacer arm increased the amphiphilic properties of the compounds and the CMC values were 40-500 times lower than their analogs without spacer arm.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of ionic liquid-pretreated celluloses: contribution of CP-MAS 13C NMR and SEM.

The supramolecular structure of four model celluloses was altered prior to their enzymatic saccharification using two ionic liquid pretreatments: one with the commonly used 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim](+)[CH(3)COO](-)) and the other with the newly developed 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylphosphonate ([Emim](+)[MeO(H)PO(2)](-)). The estimation of crystallinity index (CrI) by solid state (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance for each untreated/pretreated celluloses was compared with the performances of their enzymatic hydrolysis. For α-cellulose, both pretreatments led to a significant decrease in CrI from 25% to 5% but had no effect on glucose yields.

Osmoregulated trehalose-derived oligosaccharides in Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Sinorhizobium meliloti is a soil bacterium accumulating glutamate, N-acetylglutaminyl glutamine amide and trehalose in hyperosmolarity. Besides these compatible solutes, we highlighted several compounds in S. meliloti Rm1021 wild-type strain.

Founder SH3TC2 mutations are responsible for a CMT4C French-Canadians cluster.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth polyneuropathies (CMT) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous. We describe a French-Canadian cluster of 17 recessive CMT cases belonging to 10 families with variable early-onset CMT and scoliosis. The patients demonstrate great intra- and inter-familial variability.

Enhancing genetic mapping of complex genomes through the design of highly-multiplexed SNP arrays: application to the large and unsequenced genomes of white spruce and black spruce.

Background: To explore the potential value of high-throughput genotyping assays in the analysis of large and complex genomes, we designed two highly multiplexed Illumina bead arrays using the GoldenGate SNP assay for gene mapping in white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) and black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.

Two mutations in the HSN2 gene explain the high prevalence of HSAN2 in French Canadians.

Background: Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type 2 (HSAN2; MIM 201300) is a rare recessive neuropathy typically diagnosed in the first decade. The 1973 study of a French Canadian family led to the definition of HSAN2.

Objectives: To demonstrate that the apparent higher prevalence of HSAN2 in Quebec is due to the presence of two HSN2 mutations and that carriers of different mutations appear to have a similar phenotype.

Mutations in senataxin responsible for Quebec cluster of ataxia with neuropathy.

Senataxin recently was identified as the mutated gene in ataxia-oculomotor apraxia 2, which is characterized by ataxia, oculomotor apraxia, and increased alpha-fetoprotein levels. In this study, we evaluated 24 ataxic patients from 10 French-Canadian families. All cases have a homogeneous phenotype consisting of a progressive ataxia appearing between 2 and 20 (mean age, 14.

Megagametophyte-derived linkage maps of white spruce ( Picea glauca) based on RAPD, SCAR and ESTP markers.

We have constructed linkage maps for two parents of white spruce [ Picea glauca (Moench) Voss]. Haploid megagametophytes from 92 and 96 seeds of parents M2 and 80132, respectively, were analysed with RAPD, SCAR and ESTP markers. Fragments segregating in a 1:1 Mendelian ratio were classified and mapped using MAPMAKER, GMENDEL and JOINMAP.

A deeper investigation on carbohydrate cycling in Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Recycling of triose-phosphate and pentose-phosphate was previously reported on glucose in Sinorhizobium meliloti, a polysaccharide-synthesizing bacterium, but the metabolic basis of such processes remained unclear. In this work, we have used (13)C-labelling strategies to demonstrate that carbohydrate cycling in this organism is independent of the gluconate bypass, the alternative pathway for glucose assimilation involving its periplasmic oxidation into gluconate. Furthermore, carbohydrate cycling in S.

Role of endogenous opioid system in the regulation of the stress response.

Numerous studies and reviews support an important contribution of endogenous opioid peptide systems in the mediation, modulation, and regulation of stress responses including endocrine (hypothalamopituitary-adrenal, HPA axis), autonomic nervous system (ANS axis), and behavioral responses. Although several discrepancies exist, the most consistent finding among such studies using different species and stressors is that opioids not only diminish stress-induced neuroendocrine and autonomic responses, but also stimulate these effector systems in the non-stressed state. A distinctive feature of the analgesic action of opioids is the blunting of the distressing, affective component of pain without dulling the sensation itself.

Effect of oxidative stress on stability and structure of neurofilament proteins.

Neurofilament proteins are highly phosphorylated molecules in the axonal compartment of the adult nervous system. We report the structural analysis of neurofilament proteins after oxidative damage. SDS-PAGE, immunoblotting, circular dichroism, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate the relative sensitivity of neurofilaments to oxidative stress and to identify changes in their molecular organization.