New indices to characterize drawing behavior in humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Techniques used in cave art suggest that drawing skills emerged long before the oldest known representative human productions (44,000 years BC). This study seeks to improve our knowledge of the evolutionary origins and the ontogenetic development of drawing behavior by studying drawings of humans (N = 178, 3- to 10-year-old children and adults) and chimpanzees (N = 5). Drawings were characterized with an innovative index based on spatial measures which provides the degree of efficiency for the lines that are drawn.

A Study of the Radiation Tolerance of CVD Diamond to 70 MeV Protons, Fast Neutrons and 200 MeV Pions.

We measured the radiation tolerance of commercially available diamonds grown by the Chemical Vapor Deposition process by measuring the charge created by a 120 GeV hadron beam in a 50 μm pitch strip detector fabricated on each diamond sample before and after irradiation. We irradiated one group of samples with 70 MeV protons, a second group of samples with fast reactor neutrons (defined as energy greater than 0.1 MeV), and a third group of samples with 200 MeV pions, in steps, to (8.

Light ion source for proton∕deuteron production at CEA Saclay for the Spiral2 project.

The production of rare radioactive ion beam (RIB) far from the valley of stability is one of the final purposes of the Spiral2 facility in Caen. The RIB will be produced by impinging a deuteron beam onto a carbon sample to produce a high neutron flux, which will interact with a uranium target. The primary deuteron beam is produced by an ion source based on ECR plasma generation.

Classification of sleep-disordered breathing.

Increasing recognition of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and its morbidity have prompted reevaluation of techniques to identify respiratory events during sleep. The present study was designed to evaluate the utility of various metrics of SDB and to identify the optimal respiratory metric that objectively correlates to symptoms of excessive daytime somnolence (EDS). Metrics were derived from combinations of conventional apnea/hypopnea, flow limitation events (transient elevated upper airway resistance identified by characteristic flattening on the flow/time tracing, using a noninvasive nasal cannula technique), desaturation, and arousal.

[Auto-controlled continuous positive pressure in the titration and treatment of obstruction sleep disorders].

Self-adjusted Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or autoCPAP machines have been engineered to automatically adjust the pressure to maintain the upper airway patency. They can be used for titration or long-term home therapy. They have been developed to improve efficiency and compliance of CPAP treatment and the cost-effectiveness of titration and also to decrease the long waiting lists for manual titration.

[Auto-CPAP in the titration and treatment of obstructive respiratory sleep disorders].

Self-adjusted Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or autoCPAP machines have been engineered to automatically adjust the pressure to maintain the upper airway patency. They can be used for titration or long-term home therapy. They have been developed to improve efficiency and compliance of CPAP treatment and the cost-effectiveness of titration and also to decrease the long waiting lists for manual titration.

Relative occurrence of flow limitation and snoring during continuous positive airway pressure titration.

Objectives: To examine the relative temporal appearance of flow limitation and snoring during continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration, compare their sensitivity as indicators of airway obstruction, and assess their relative utility as feedback variables for automatic titration of CPAP.

Design: Retrospective review of data.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Detection of flow limitation with a nasal cannula/pressure transducer system.

We previously showed that upper airway resistance can be inferred from the inspiratory flow contour during continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The present study examines whether similar information can be obtained from inspiratory flow measured by a nasal cannula/pressure transducer. Ten symptomatic patients (snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome [UARS], or OSAS) and four asymptomatic subjects underwent nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG) with monitoring of flow (nasal cannula) and respiratory driving pressure (esophageal or supraglottic catheter).

Effect of oxidant air pollutants on the respiratory system: insights from experimental animal research.

In the present paper, we have reviewed experimental animal studies on the effects of the two most important oxidant airborne pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, on the respiratory system. The toxic effects depend on concentration and length of exposure, and are generally similar for both oxidants, with ozone operative at lower concentrations. High doses of both oxidants cause death due to lung oedema.

[Role of adhesion molecules in bronchial inflammation and bronchial hyperreactivity].

Adhesion molecules are glycoproteins situated in the cell membrane. These molecules permit cells to integrate specifically with the specific cellular receptors or ligands and with the extracellular matrix during intra-tissular migration. Structurally, 4 large families can be distinguished: the immunoglobulin family, the integrins, the selectines, and finally the cadherines.

Measurement of respiratory impedance by forced oscillation: comparison of the standard and head generator methods.

Physiological and clinical studies have shown that the standard method of measuring respiratory impedance by forced oscillation leads to less efficient control of the upper airway shunt effect than the head generator method. To test the effects of these two techniques in epidemiological studies, we compared, in a sample of 73 French agricultural workers, the values obtained with each method for five forced oscillation parameters: resistance, frequency dependence of resistance, inertance, compliance and resonant frequency. For these comparisons, subjects were classified according to four respiratory status factors: smoking status, cough, expectoration and airway obstruction assessed from the maximum expiratory flow volume curve.

Sputum eosinophilia after asthmatic responses induced by isocyanates in sensitized subjects.

To assess the nature and the time-course of the cellular component of airway inflammation induced by isocyanates, we examined nine subjects with occupational asthma induced by toluene- or methylene diphenyl-diisocyanate (TDI, MDI) and four control subjects never exposed to isocyanates. Sputum was induced by inhalation of ultrasonically nebulized hypertonic saline (3-4% NaCl) before and 8, 24, 48 h after inhalation challenge with TDI or MDI. Expectorated samples were incubated with dithiothreitol, washed and cytocentrifuged.

Mycotic aneurysm of the upper abdominal aorta ruptured into the stomach.

We report a case of primary aortogastric fistula with erosion of a mycotic aneurysm of the upper abdominal aorta into the stomach. The patient was successfully operated on with an in situ aortoaortic tube graft, incorporating the splanchnic vessels, and direct suture of the gastric erosion.