Reliability and agreement testing of a new automated measurement method to determine facial vitiligo extent using standardized ultraviolet images and a dedicated algorithm.

Background: Facial repigmentation is the primary outcome measure for most vitiligo trials. The Facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (F-VASI) score is often chosen as the primary outcome measure to assess the efficacy of treatments for facial vitiligo. Although useful, this scoring system remains subjective and has several limitations.

[Epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae strains collected in 2004 in France and in vitro assessment of their susceptibility to antibiotics].

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of H. influenzae strains collected in 2004 at the National Reference Center and to evaluate their susceptibility to various antibiotics.

Methods: Demographic and clinical characteristics, capsular serotyping by slide agglutination with specific antisera, beta-lactamase by a chromogenic cephalosporin test (Nitrocefin) and MICs of amoxicillin, co-amoxiclav, cefpodoxime, cefaclor, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, erythromycin, pristinamycin and telithromycin by agar dilution method on Haemophilus Test Medium were determined for each strain.

Behavioral thermoregulation in a non human primate: effects of age and photoperiod on temperature selection.

Deficits in autonomic thermoregulatory capacities have been identified in aged humans and animals, but little is known about the effect of aging on behavioral thermoregulation and the potential effect of season. Preferred ambient temperature (T(a)) in a thermal gradient (available T(a)s from 10 to 30 degrees C) was measured in the mouse lemur, a nocturnal Malagasy primate. Male mouse lemurs (40 adults and 40 aged) were studied under short (SP, resting season) and long photoperiod (LP, breeding season).

Genotyping of type b Haemophilus influenzae strains, comparison of strains collected before and during vaccine availability.

Objective And Method: Five hundred and seventy-eight strains of type b Haemophilus influenzae (521 isolated in children, and 57 in adults) were compared using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to assess strain evolution and to study the impact of the generalization of anti-Haemophilus b (anti-Hib) vaccination in France. Among these strains, 398 (including 342 from meningitis) were isolated in 1985-1992 (pre-vaccination era), 39 (including 31 from meningitis) in 1993 (year of the generalization of anti-Hib vaccination), and 141 (including 50 from CSF) in 1994-2001 (vaccination era).

Results: A total of 102 PFGE patterns (patterns for 1-101 isolates) were obtained after SmaI restriction of the 578 strains.

Changes in olfactory inputs modify the energy balance response to short days in male gray mouse lemurs.

The role of olfaction/olfactory cues on photoperiodic responses was assessed in Malagasy primate, the gray mouse lemur. When exposed to short photoperiod (SP), this primate demonstrates rapid changes in energy balance as adaptive anticipatory response for winter survival. To follow early changes induced by SP exposure, body mass, food intake, resting metabolism (RMR) and free thyroxin levels in plasma (T4) were measured in males abruptly transferred to SP: six intact males (controls), eight males that underwent bilateral olfactory removal (BOX) and eight males exposed to male urinary cues (U-exposed).

[Epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae strains identified in 2001 in France, and assessment of their susceptibility to beta-lactams].

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of H. influenzae strains collected in 2001 at the National Reference Center and to evaluate their susceptibility to beta-lactams.

Methods: The demographic characteristics were recorded for each strain, then were determined their capsular serotyping (slide agglutination with specific antisera), as well as their beta-lactamase production (chromogenic cephalosporin test, Nitrocefin), and their MICs (agar dilution method on Haemophilus Test Medium) for amoxicillin (AMX), co-amoxiclav (AMC), cefpodoxime (CPD), cefaclor (CEC), cefuroxime (CXM), and cefotaxime (CTX).

Factors affecting the daily rhythm of body temperature of captive mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus).

Microcebus murinus, a small nocturnal Malagasy primate, exhibits adaptive energy-saving strategies such as daily hypothermia and gregarious patterns during diurnal rest. To determine whether ambient temperature (T(a)), food restriction and nest sharing can modify the daily body temperature (T(b)) rhythm, T(b) was recorded by telemetry during winter in six males exposed to different ambient temperatures (T(a) = 25, 20, 15 degrees C) and/or to a total food restriction for 3 days depending on social condition (isolated versus pair-grouped). At 25 degrees C, the daily rhythm of T(b) was characterized by high T(b) values during the night and lower values during the day.

Olfactory bulbectomy modifies photic entrainment and circadian rhythms of body temperature and locomotor activity in a nocturnal primate.

Studies on rodents have emphasized that removal of the olfactory bulbs modulates circadian rhythmicity. Using telemetric recordings of both body temperature (Tb) and locomotor activity (LA) in a male nocturnal primate, the gray mouse lemur, the authors investigated the effects of olfactory bulbectomy on (1) the circadian periods of Tb and LA in constant dim light condition, and (2) photic re-entrainment rates of circadian rhythms following 6-h phase shifts of entrained light-dark cycle (LD 12:12). Under free-running condition, bulbectomized males had significantly shorter circadian periods of Tb and LA rhythms than those of control males.

Haemophilus influenzae carriage in children attending French day care centers: a molecular epidemiological study.

The nasopharyngeal Haemophilus influenzae flora of healthy children under the age of 3 years attending day care centers in three distinct French geographic areas was analyzed by sampling during two periods, spring 1999 (May and June) and fall 1999 (November and December). The average carrier rate among 1,683 children was 40.9%.

Diversity of beta-lactam resistance-conferring amino acid substitutions in penicillin-binding protein 3 of Haemophilus influenzae.

The sequences of the ftsI gene, encoding the transpeptidase domain of penicillin binding protein (PBP) 3A and/or PBP 3B, which are involved in septal peptidoglycan synthesis, were determined for 108 clinical strains of Haemophilus influenzae with reduced susceptibility to beta-lactam antibiotics with or without beta-lactamase production and were compared to those of the ampicillin-susceptible Rd strain and ampicillin-susceptible clinical isolates. The sequences have 18 different mutation patterns and were classified into two groups on the basis of amino acid substitutions deduced from the nucleotide sequences located between bp 960 and 1618 of the ftsI gene. In group I strains (n = 7), His-517 was substituted for Arg-517.

[in vitro activity of telithromycin against Haemophilus influenzae].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of telithromycin against 142 strains of Haemophilus influenzae using determination of MICs by agar dilution method and to evaluate the correlation between MICs and inhibition diameter zones obtained by disk diffusion testing. MIC50 and MIC90 of telithromycin were 1 and 2 mg/L respectively. Telithromycin activity against H.

[Study of susceptibility of Haemophilus influenzae to antibiotics (other than beta-lactams) by using HTM gelose (Haemophilus test medium)].

HTM agar was used for in vitro study for antibiotics activity (other than beta-lactams) on H. influenzae. Tested strains belong to various phenotypes.

[Study of susceptibility of Haemophilus influenzae to beta-lactams by using HTM gelose (Haemophilus test medium)].

HTM agar was used for in vitro study of bêta-lactam antibiotics activity on H. influenzae. Tested strains belong to the three ampicillin phenotypes: sensitive, betalactamase production and ampicillin resistance without production of betalactamase.

The activity of clarithromycin and its 14-hydroxy metabolite against Haemophilus influenzae, determined by in-vitro and serum bactericidal tests.

The in-vitro activity of clarithromycin and its main metabolite 14-hydroxy clarithromycin against Haemophilus influenzae was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations. The 14-hydroxy metabolite was more active than the parent compound against H. influenzae.

[Sensitivity of Kingella kingae to antibiotics].

Kingella kingae is a small Gram negative rod of the Neisseriaceae family, formerly called Moraxella kingae. This microorganism is found occasionally in the oral cavity and is capable of causing infections. We report three cases of septic arthritis in children due to K.