Absence of airway secretion accumulation predicts tolerance of noninvasive ventilation in subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: To assess factors that predict good tolerance of noninvasive ventilation (NIV), in order to improve survival and quality of life in subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study in subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and requiring NIV. The primary end point was NIV tolerance at 1 month.

Enteral delivery of proteins stimulates protein synthesis in human duodenal mucosa in the fed state through a mammalian target of rapamycin-independent pathway.

Background: Glutamine modulates duodenal protein metabolism in fasted healthy humans, but its effects in a fed state remain unknown.

Objective: We aimed to assess the effects of either glutamine or an isonitrogenous protein mixture on duodenal protein metabolism in humans in the fed state.

Design: Twenty-four healthy volunteers were randomly included in 2 groups.

Comparison of 2 correction methods for absolute values of esophageal pressure in subjects with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, mechanically ventilated in the ICU.

Background: A recent trial showed that setting PEEP according to end-expiratory transpulmonary pressure (P(pl,ee)) in acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) might improve patient outcome. P(pl,ee) was obtained by subtracting the absolute value of esophageal pressure (P(es)) from airway pressure an invariant value of 5 cm H(2)O. The goal of the present study was to compare 2 methods for correcting absolute P(es) values in terms of resulting P(pl,ee) and recommended PEEP.

Tidal volume delivery from ICU ventilators at BTPS conditions: a bench study.

Background: Even though it is not a common practice, an external filter to the expiratory limb of the breathing circuit may protect the expiratory valve from water saturation in case of nebulization, or from the environment in case of lung infection with multi-drug-resistant micro-organisms or H1N1 influenza.

Methods: We added an external filter to the expiratory limb and measured tidal volume (VT) from 6 ICU ventilators: 2 with built-in expiratory filter (Avea, Puritan Bennett 840), and 4 without (Engström Carestation, Evita XL, Evita V500, and Servo-i), set in volume controlled mode, at BTPS (body temperature and pressure saturated) condition, with a heated humidifier and a lung model (compliance 16 mL/cm H2O, resistance 20 cm H2O/L/s) placed inside a neonatal incubator. The temperature was targeted at 37°C for both the heated humidifier and the incubator.

PD-1-expressing tumor-infiltrating T cells are a favorable prognostic biomarker in HPV-associated head and neck cancer.

Head and neck cancers positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) have a more favorable clinical outcome than HPV-negative cancers, but it is unknown why this is the case. We hypothesized that prognosis was affected by intrinsic features of HPV-infected tumor cells or differences in host immune response. In this study, we focused on a comparison of regulatory Foxp3(+) T cells and programmed death-1 (PD-1)(+) T cells in the microenvironment of tumors that were positive or negative for HPV, in two groups that were matched for various clinical and biologic parameters.

Kidney biopsy in the critically ill patient, results of a multicentre retrospective case series.

Background: The impact of a contributive result of kidney biopsy on the management of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) has not been extensively investigated yet.

Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted between 2000 and 2011 in five French ICUs. The study included 56 patients.

Homeostatic and tissue reparation defaults in mice carrying selective genetic invalidation of CXCL12/proteoglycan interactions.

Background: Interaction with heparan sulfate proteoglycans is supposed to provide chemokines with the capacity to immobilize on cell surface and extracellular matrix for accomplishing both tissue homing and signaling of attracted cells. However, the consequences of the exclusive invalidation of such interaction on the roles played by endogenous chemokines in vivo remain unascertained.

Methods And Results: We engineered a mouse carrying a Cxcl12 gene (Cxcl12(Gagtm)) mutation that precludes interactions with heparan sulfate structures while not affecting CXCR4-dependent cell signaling of CXCL12 isoforms (α, β, γ).

Bifunctional mixed-lanthanide cyano-bridged coordination polymers Ln(0.5)Ln'(0.5)(H2O)5[W(CN)8] (Ln/Ln' = Eu3+/Tb3+, Eu3+/Gd3+, Tb3+/Sm3+).

A new family of mixed-lanthanide cyano-bridged coordination polymers Ln(0.5)Ln'(0.5)(H(2)O)(5)[W(CN)(8)] (where Ln/Ln' = Eu(3+)/Tb(3+), Eu(3+)/Gd(3+), and Tb(3+)/Sm(3+)) containing two lanthanide and one transition metal ions were obtained and characterized by X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, magnetic analyses, and theoretical computation.

Alteration of glucose metabolism in cultured astrocytes after AQP9-small interference RNA application.

Aquaglyceroporin-9 (AQP9) facilitates diffusion of water and energy substrates such as glycerol and monocarboxylates. AQP9 is present in plasma membrane and mitochondria of astrocytes and catecholaminergic neurons, suggesting that it plays a role in the energetic status of these cells. Using specific small interference RNA directed against AQP9 in astrocyte cultures, we showed that glycerol uptake is decreased which is associated with an increase in glucose uptake and oxidative metabolism.

Adjunct therapy of n-3 fatty acids to 5-ASA ameliorates inflammatory score and decreases NF-κB in rats with TNBS-induced colitis.

5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is widely used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recent studies have evaluated the potential of nutritional intervention as adjunct therapy to 5-ASA in IBD. N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have shown potent anti-inflammatory properties in gut inflammation.

Binding of moesin and ezrin to membranes containing phosphatidylinositol (4,5) bisphosphate: a comparative study of the affinity constants and conformational changes.

The plasma membrane-cytoskeleton interface is a dynamic structure participating in a variety of cellular events. Moesin and ezrin, proteins from the ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) family, provide a direct linkage between the cytoskeleton and the membrane via their interaction with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). PIP(2) binding is considered as a prerequisite step in ERM activation.

Middle fossa approach for resection of vestibular schwannoma: impact of cochlear fossa extension and auditory monitoring on hearing preservation.

Objective: To analyze the impact of patient selection and auditory monitoring on hearing results after middle fossa craniotomy approach for resection of a vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Candida albicans and non-Candida albicans fungemia in an institutional hospital during a decade.

Since the outcomes of patients with candidemia is poor and Candida spp. with increased resistance to antifungal therapy may be associated with these results, the emergence of these blood infections caused by non-C. albicans Candida spp.

Actin network architecture can determine myosin motor activity.

The organization of actin filaments into higher-ordered structures governs eukaryotic cell shape and movement. Global actin network size and architecture are maintained in a dynamic steady state through regulated assembly and disassembly. Here, we used experimentally defined actin structures in vitro to investigate how the activity of myosin motors depends on network architecture.

Comparison of Alpha 200 and CoughAssist as intermittent positive pressure breathing devices: a bench study.

Background: Intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) is used in non-intubated patients to increase lung volume and to enhance coughing. Alpha 200 (Salvia Lifetec, Kronberg, Germany) is a specific IPPB device. CoughAssist (Respironics France, Carquefou, France) is a mechanical insufflator-exsufflator used to remove secretions in patients with inefficient cough.

Deciphering the molecular basis of wine yeast fermentation traits using a combined genetic and genomic approach.

The genetic basis of the phenotypic diversity of yeast is still poorly understood. Wine yeast strains have specific abilities to grow and ferment under stressful conditions compared with other strains, but the genetic basis underlying these traits is unknown. Understanding how sequence variation influences such phenotypes is a major challenge to address adaptation mechanisms of wine yeast.

Coupling in vitro gastrointestinal lipolysis and Caco-2 cell cultures for testing the absorption of different food emulsions.

There is a growing interest in the optimization of dietary emulsions for monitoring postprandial lipid metabolism in the frame of preventing metabolic diseases. Using various emulsions, we investigated in a systematic scheme the combination of (i) in vitro gastrointestinal lipolysis and (ii) absorption and metabolism of lipolysis media in Caco-2 cells. Four emulsions based on either milk fat olein (OL) or rapeseed oil (RA) as the dispersed phase and either lecithin (LE) or sodium caseinate (CA) as the emulsifier were tested.

Endothelial cell-derived microparticles loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles: feasibility of MR imaging monitoring in mice.

Purpose: To assess the feasibility of loading iron oxide nanoparticles in endothelial microparticles (EMPs), thereby enabling their noninvasive monitoring with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in mice.

Materials And Methods: Experiments were approved by the French Ministry of Agriculture. Endothelial cells, first labeled with anionic superparamagnetic nanoparticles, were stimulated to generate EMPs, carrying the nanoparticles in their inner compartment.

The profibrotic cytokine transforming growth factor-β1 increases endothelial progenitor cell angiogenic properties.

Background: Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is a profibrotic cytokine that plays a major role in vascular biology, and is known to regulate the phenotype and activity of various vascular cell populations. Because most fibrotic diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), are associated with vascular remodeling, and as endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) may be involved in this process, we investigated the impact of TGF-β1 modulation of EPC angiogenic properties.

Methods: TGF-β1 plasma levels were determined in 64 patients with IPF and compared with those in controls.

Flow cytometry: retrospective, fundamentals and recent instrumentation.

Flow cytometry is a complete technology given to biologists to study cellular populations with high precision. This technology elegantly combines sample dimension, data acquisition speed, precision and measurement multiplicity. Beyond the statistical aspect, flow cytometry offers the possibility to physically separate sub-populations.

Sympathetic nervous system regulates bone marrow-derived cell egress through endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation: role in postischemic tissue remodeling.

Objective: Catecholamines have been shown to control bone marrow (BM)-derived cell egress, yet the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in this effect and their subsequent participation to postischemic vessel growth are poorly understood.

Methods And Results: Tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA levels, as well as dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) contents, were increased in the ischemic BM of mice with right femoral artery ligation. Angiographic score, capillary density, and arteriole number were markedly increased by treatments with DA (IP, 50 mg/kg, 5 days) or NE (IP, 2.

Near-infrared luminescent and magnetic cyano-bridged coordination polymers Nd(phen)n(DMF)m[M(CN)8] (M = Mo, W).

New cyano-bridged coordination polymers [Nd(phen)(2)(DMF)(2)(H(2)O)Mo(CN)(8)]·2H(2)O (1) and [Nd(phen)(DMF)(5)M(CN)(8)]·xH(2)O [M = Mo (2), W (3); phen = 1,10-phenanthroline] have one-dimensional structures with variable number of phenanthroline ligands. Compounds exhibit photoluminescence in the near-infrared region and ferromagnetic Nd(3+)-M(5+) interactions.