[Life lessons from Dr Françoise Dieterlen: of research on early murine hematopoiesis and beyond].

This text reports my participation in the tribute to Dr Françoise Dieterlen that took place in Paris at the Campus Pierre et Marie Curie of Sorbonne University, on the 21st of June, 2022. I mention her role as my doctoral thesis director and mentor, as well as the relevance and the impact of her scientific contributions to fundamental knowledge of embryonic hematopoiesis and its links with the vascular system. My testimony also includes aspects of her personality that have influenced my own personal development.

Interface Modification, Water Absorption Behaviour and Mechanical Properties of Injection Moulded Short Hemp Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites.

The effects of maleic anhydride, stearic acid and water absorption on the physical and flexural properties of injection moulded short hemp fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites were investigated, in order to understand the suitability of these materials for outdoor applications. The water absorption, diffusion mechanisms and kinetics of composites were evaluated by immersing the specimens in distilled water at 23 °C. Flexural fracture surface morphologies were investigated in order to compare the results of flexural tests with qualitative morphological observations.

Re-emergence of thiamine deficiency disease in the Pacific islands (2014-15): A case-control study.

Background: From late 2014 multiple atolls in Kiribati reported an unusual and sometimes fatal illness. We conducted an investigation to identify the etiology of the outbreak on the most severely affected atoll, Kuria, and identified thiamine deficiency disease as the cause. Thiamine deficiency disease has not been reported in the Pacific islands for >5 decades.

Lmo2 and GATA-3 associated expression in intraembryonic hemogenic sites.

It is now widely accepted that hemopoietic cells born intraembryonically are the best candidates for the seeding of definitive hemopoietic organs. To further understand the mechanisms involved in the generation of definitive hemopoietic stem cells, we analysed the expression of the hemopoietic-related transcription factors Lmo2 and GATA-3 during the early steps of mouse development (7-12 dpc), with a particular emphasis on intraembryonic hemogenic sites. We show here that both Lmo2 and GATA-3 are present in the intraembryonic regions known to give rise to hemopoietic precursors in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that they act together at key points of hemopoietic development.

Antigenic profiles of endothelial and hemopoietic lineages in murine intraembryonic hemogenic sites.

Two hemogenic sites are present in mouse embryos before the onset of fetal liver hemopoiesis. While the yolk sac provides for immediate erythropoiesis, an intraembryonic region encompassing the dorsal aorta produces definitive hematopoietic stem cells, as shown experimentally. At early developmental stages this region, that we named paraaortic splanchnopleura, produces multipotent progenitors.

Genetic linkage studies of Machado-Joseph disease with chromosome 14q STRPs in 16 Portuguese-Azorean kindreds.

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is a dominant multisystem degeneration found mostly among Azoreans and characterized by the adulthood onset of cerebellar, ocular, pyramidal, extrapyramidal, and/or peripheral signs. MJD has been recorded in many other populations, particularly in the United States and Japan. Using the microsatellite DNA polymorphisms (STRPs) D14S53, D14S55, D14S48, and D14S45, we found significantly positive lod scores in 16 Portuguese kindreds, suggesting that the MJD locus is linked to chromosome 14q in this population.

Machado-Joseph disease is genetically different from Holguin dominant ataxia (SCA2).

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) and Holguin ataxia (SCA2) are autosomal dominant multisystem degenerations with spinocerebellar involvement that are predominant among people of Portuguese-Azorean and of Cuban descent, respectively. Their clinical distinction may at times be difficult to make in individual patients, due to significant phenotypic overlapping (similar overall age-of-onset and duration of cerebellar ataxia, eye movement, and, often, other common problems. The recent mapping of SCA2 to chromosome 12q provided another candidate region for linkage studies of MJD.

Effect of ethidium bromide on the oxidative metabolism and enzyme profiles of Crithidia fasciculata.

Changes in the metabolism of Crithidia fasciculata ATCC 11745 when grown in the presence of ethidium bromide were studied. Ethidium bromide-grown cells had decreased respiratory activity as measured by oxygen consumption. More than 50% of the organisms cultivated in a defined medium containing 1.