HfO2:X (X = Eu(3+), Ce(3+), Y(3+)) sol gel powders for ultradense scintillating materials.

Hafnium dioxide (HfO 2) presents a high crystalline density which makes it attractive for host lattice activated by rare earths for applications as scintillating materials. HfO 2 powders doped with Eu (3+) or Ce (3+) luminescent ions are prepared by sol gel process. The annealing temperature and the concentration of doping ions are optimized to provide the powder presenting the best scintillation yield.

Prenatal diagnosis of partial lumbar asoma by two- and three-dimensional ultrasound and computed tomography: embryological aspects and perinatal management.

Asoma is an unusual type of hemivertebra distinct from lateral hemivertebra in its underlying mechanisms, its rarity, its often isolated nature and the high risk of it causing medullary compression. We report a case of isolated partial agenesis of a vertebral body (asoma) diagnosed at 23 weeks' gestation by ultrasonography, in a fetus showing hyperkyphosis with vertebral canal disruption. The diagnosis was established using ultrasound and computed tomography, which allowed measurement of the angle of kyphosis and helped in the determination of the postnatal orthopedic prognosis.

Synthesis, and two photon absorption properties of 7,7'-(iminundecahydro-closo-dodecaborate)-9,9'-(dihexyl)-2,2'-bifluorene.

Hybrid organic-inorganic bis-tetrabutylammonium-7,7'-(iminundecahydro-closo-dodecaborate)-9,9'-(dihexyl)-2,2'-bifluorene (5) was prepared, and the influence of the closo-dodecaborate cluster on the two-photon absorption properties of bi-fluorene derivatives was demonstrated.

The satiety molecule nesfatin-1 is co-expressed with melanin concentrating hormone in tuberal hypothalamic neurons of the rat.

Overlapped in the tuberal hypothalamic area (THA), melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) and hypocretin (Hcrt) neurons contribute to the integrated regulation of food intake, energy regulation and sleep. Recently, physiological role in appetite suppression has been defined for a novel hypothalamic molecule, nesfatin-1. Acute i.

Abnormal Sylvian fissure on prenatal cerebral imaging: significance and correlation with neuropathological and postnatal data.

Objective: To illustrate and determine the significance of abnormal Sylvian fissure development (or abnormal operculization) in cases in which prenatal cerebral imaging is suggestive of underlying cortical dysplasia.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 15 fetuses at 24-34 weeks in which abnormal operculization was identified on prenatal cerebral imaging and for which follow-up data were available. The imaging findings were correlated to macro- and microscopic neuropathological data (n = 11) or to postnatal clinical and imaging findings (n = 4).

B cell survival in intragraft tertiary lymphoid organs after rituximab therapy.

Background: Rituximab is emerging as a potent therapeutic option in chronic inflammatory diseases associated with a prominent humoral component. Recent studies have demonstrated that chronic inflammatory infiltrate organize progressively themselves into ectopic lymphoid tissues (tertiary lymphoid organs; TLOs) supporting a local humoral immune response. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of rituximab therapy on TLOs associated with chronic active antibody-mediated rejection, a prototypic humoral chronic inflammatory condition.

Accumulation of methylguanidine and changes in guanidino compound levels in plasma, urine, and kidneys of furosemide-treated rats.

Antidiuresis and renal diseases alter the levels of guanidino compounds (GCs) in various tissues. Therefore, we hypothesized that diuresis could also disturb GC metabolism, storage, and elimination. In this study, rats were made diuretic to analyze GC levels in plasma, urine, and kidneys.

Subliminal display of action words interferes with motor planning: a combined EEG and kinematic study.

Recent evidence has shown that processing action-related language and motor action share common neural representations to a point that the two processes can interfere when performed concurrently. To support the assumption that language-induced motor activity contributes to action word understanding, the present study aimed at ruling out that this activity results from mental imagery of the movements depicted by the words. For this purpose, we examined cross-talk between action word processing and an arm reaching movement, using words that were presented too fast to be consciously perceived (subliminally).

Functional neuroanatomical networks associated with expertise in motor imagery.

Although numerous behavioural studies provide evidence that there exist wide differences within individual motor imagery (MI) abilities, little is known with regards to the functional neuroanatomical networks that dissociate someone with good versus poor MI capacities. For the first time, we thus compared, through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the pattern of cerebral activations in 13 skilled and 15 unskilled imagers during both physical execution and MI of a sequence of finger movements. Differences in MI abilities were assessed using well-established questionnaire and chronometric measures, as well as a new index based upon the subject's peripheral responses from the autonomic nervous system.

[The disfigured men represented by the great painters (O. Dix - G. Grosz - R. Freida.) Disfiguration in the history of art].

Sophie Delaporte's book, Philippe Paillard's, Chantal Roussels's novels and Dupeyron's movie underline the difficulties of repairing physical and moral sufferings of the "disfigured men" wounded during the Great War. Beside medical and technical didactic aimed drawings the exhibition of wasted, mutilated or out of repair faces remains little known. In France, Germany or Great Britain there are many artists who took part in war.

Solid-solution precursor to melting in onion-ring Pd-Pt nanoclusters: a case of second-order-like phase change?

The thermodynamical behaviour of icosahedral, multilayer Pd-Pt clusters is addressed using a combination of simulation tools, mainly parallel tempering Monte Carlo. A preferential swapping trial move is introduced to increase the chance of successfully exchanging Pd and Pt atoms in the cluster. The 2-, 3- and 4-shell, Pd-rich clusters have been studied.

Detection of a thalassemic alpha-chain variant (Hemoglobin Groene Hart) by reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

Background: Hemoglobin (Hb) Groene Hart [alpha119 (H2)Pro-->Ser (alpha1)], also known as Hb Bernalda, is a nondeletional alpha-thalassemic Hb variant that is frequent in southern Italy and North Africa. This variant is not supposed to be produced in the erythrocytes of carriers. The alpha-thalassemic behavior of this variant has been explained as an impaired interaction between the alpha-globin chain and the alpha-Hb-stabilizing protein.

[Multiple SEEG-guided RF-thermolesions of epileptogenic foci].

In many patients with drug-resistant partial epilepsy, depth electrode recordings may be required to delineate the best region for cortical resection. We usually implant depth electrodes according to Talairach's stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) methodology. Using these chronically-implanted depth electrodes, it is possible to generate radiofrequency (RF) thermolesions of the epileptic foci and networks.

[Epilepsy and insula].

The insula is the only cortical part of the brain that is not visible on the surface of the hemisphere, because it is totally covered by the frontoparietal and temporal opercula. The insula is triangular in shape and is separated from the opercula by the anterior, superior, and inferior peri-insular sulci. It is morphologically divided into two parts by the central insular sulcus.

Effect of imagined movement speed on subsequent motor performance.

Researchers realize that motor imagery (MI) duration is closely linked to actual motor action duration. In 2 experiments, the authors investigated the effect of changing MI speed on actual movement duration over a 3-week training period. Experiment 1 involved 2 series of body movements that 24 participants mentally performed faster or slower than their actual execution speeds.

Ancient DNA clarifies the evolutionary history of American Late Pleistocene equids.

Hippidions are past members of the equid lineage which appeared in the South American fossil record around 2.5 Ma but then became extinct during the great late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction. According to fossil records and numerous dental, cranial, and postcranial characters, Hippidion and Equus lineages were expected to cluster in two distinct phylogenetic groups that diverged at least 10 MY, long before the emergence of the first Equus.

The clinical relevance of changes in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale using the minimum clinically important difference approach.

Objective: To identify the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) in randomised studies of depression, and to cross-validate the estimated MCID.

Design And Methods: Placebo-treated patients from three similarly-designed, 8-week, double-blind, randomised depression trials with a stable health status between baseline and Week 1 ('no change' rating on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale) were eligible. To calculate the MCID using the distribution-based approach, the standard deviation was estimated using baseline MADRS data while the reliability parameter was measured as the intraclass correlation coefficient between baseline and Week 1.

[Impact of corticosteroid withdrawal in chronic urticaria: a prospective study of 17 patients].

Background: Although two reports have indicated benefits of oral steroids in acute urticaria, the 2003 French guidelines emphasized their inefficacy in the treatment of idiopathic chronic urticaria, and the lack of studies. We present the results of a prospective study in 17 patients presenting severe chronic urticaria who agreed to stop taking oral steroids over a one-year period.

Patients And Methods: This single-centre prospective study included adults (1) presenting chronic urticaria as defined by the French consensus conference committee on chronic urticaria (2003), (2) exhibiting at least two of the following three criteria: sleep disturbance due to itching, repeated angioedema, general symptoms; (3) unresponsive or mildly improved by antihistaminic (anti-H1) therapy; (4) receiving oral steroids at least three days per month.

Plant cell polarity: sterols enter into action after cytokinesis.

In yeast and animal cells, the sterol composition of membranes is a key factor that controls the polarity of membrane proteins by regulating their intracellular trafficking or lateral diffusion. A recent study in Nature Cell Biology demonstrates that plant sterols play a major role in the acquisition of cell polarity by modulating endocytosis after cell division.

Laboratory study highlights the key influences of stormwater sediment thickness and bioturbation by tubificid worms on dynamics of nutrients and pollutants in stormwater retention systems.

In urban area, the accumulation of polluted stormwater sediments (SWS) in retention ponds may be a source of dissolved pollutants and nutrients for the aquatic ecosystems. Our objective was to quantify the influence of the thickness of SWS layer and the occurrence of tubificid worms on organic matter processing (O(2) uptake and fluxes of NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), PO(4)(3-), and dissolved organic carbon between sediment and water), releases of 17 PAHs and 4 heavy metals, and microbial characteristics. Results showed that oxidation of SWS organic matter (O(2) and NO(3)(-) uptakes) and releases of nutrients were significantly increased by the quantity of accumulated SWS and the worm bioturbation.

Persistent inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition by preconditioning during the first hours of reperfusion.

Mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening is a crucial event in cardiomyocyte death after I/R. We questioned whether preconditioning (PC) may inhibit mPTP opening during ischemia and/or during reperfusion and whether this effect would persist as reperfusion evolves. Anesthetized New Zealand white rabbits underwent a test ischemia followed by reperfusion.