Adventitial Tertiary Lymphoid Organs as Potential Source of MicroRNA Biomarkers for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an inflammatory disease associated with marked changes in the cellular composition of the aortic wall. This study aims to identify microRNA (miRNA) expression in aneurysmal inflammatory cells isolated by laser microdissection from human tissue samples. The distribution of inflammatory cells (neutrophils, B and T lymphocytes, mast cells) was evaluated in human AAA biopsies. We observed in half of the samples that adventitial tertiary lymphoid organs (ATLOs) with a thickness from 0.5 to 2 mm were located exclusively in the adventitia. Out of the 850 miRNA that were screened by microarray in isolated ATLOs (n = 2), 164 miRNAs were detected in ATLOs. The three miRNAs (miR-15a-3p, miR-30a-5p and miR-489-3p) with the highest expression levels were chosen and their expression quantified by RT-PCR in isolated ATLOs (n = 4), M1 (n = 2) and M2 macrophages (n = 2) and entire aneurysmal biopsies (n = 3). Except for the miR-30a-5p, a similar modulation was found in ATLOs and the two subtypes of macrophages. The modulated miRNAs were then evaluated in the plasma of AAA patients for their potential as AAA biomarkers. Our data emphasize the potential of miR-15a-3p and miR-30a-5p as biomarkers of AAA but also as triggers of ATLO evolution. Further investigations will be required to evaluate their targets in order to better understand AAA pathophysiology.     

Development and commissioning of decision support tools for sewerage management.

Managing sewerage systems is a highly complex task due to the dynamic nature of the facilities. Their performance strongly depends on the know-how applied by the operators. In order to define optimal operational settings, two decision support tools based on mathematical models have been developed. Moreover, easy-to-use interfaces have been created as well, aiding operators who presumably do not have the necessary skills to use modelling software. The two developed programs simulate the behaviour of both wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and sewer network systems, respectively. They have essentially the same structure, including raw data management and statistical analysis, a simulation layer using the application programming interface of the applied software and a layer responsible for the representation of the obtained results. Four user modes are provided in the two software including the simulation of historical data using the applied and novel operational settings, as well as modes concerning prediction of possible operation periods and updates. Concerning the WWTP software, it was successfully installed in Nantes (France) in June 2004. Moreover, the one managing sewer networks has been deployed in Saint-Malo (France) in January 2005. This paper presents the structure of the developed software and the first results obtained during the commissioning phase.     

Nonreactive atom/molecule-surface scattering within the finite basis wave packet method

A quantum wave packet code for studying nonreactive scattering of closed-shell atoms or diatomic molecules from a rigid surface is described. The time evolution relies on the Chebychev propagator. Up to 5 collider degrees of freedom, 3 in translation and 2 in rotation, are treated in a pseudospectral way with the momentum or finite basis representation as the primary space. Potential matrix elements are efficiently evaluated by means of sequential 1D transformations between momentum and coordinate spaces. Fast Fourier transforms are performed for the translational and azimuthal coordinates whereas a Gauss-Legendre transform is used for the polar coordinate. This pseudospectral strategy minimizes memory requirements because no off-diagonal Hamiltonian matrix elements need to be stored. In addition, a wide variety of physical systems can be studied since no particular functional form is imposed for the interaction potential.     

Regulation of endothelial permeability by beta-adrenoceptor agonists: contribution of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors

The barrier function of cultured, macrovascular endothelial cells derived from bovine aorta was analyzed using confluent monolayers of cells and measuring the exchange of fluorescein dextrans of different molecular masses. The effects of beta-adrenoceptor agonists with different selectivity for beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors (AR) were investigated. Formoterol, a novel high-affinity agonist for beta 2-AR recently introduced in the treatment of bronchial asthma, showed a significant reduction of cell permeability with subnanomolar concentrations, whereas the catecholamines (-)-isoproterenol and (-)-norepinephrine only showed significant effects with micromolar concentrations. In order to elucidate if this difference in potential to regulate cell permeability is related to appropriate changes in the selectivity and affinity of the agonists for beta 2 AR, we investigated the beta AR-coupled adenylate cyclase (AC) in membranes from endothelial cells and compared AC stimulation with the binding of agonists to the receptors using [125I](-)-iodopindolol as radioligand. beta-Adrenoceptors revealed to be closely coupled to AC as assessed by a similar magnitude of effects by receptor agonists in comparison to GTP analogues and direct stimulants of AC activity. AC activity was increased by formoterol in parallel to its receptor occupancy of beta 2AR with nanomolar concentrations which were 50-fold higher than those used for the regulation of cell permeability indicating the existence of spare receptors. In contrast to formoterol, the catecholamines (-)-isoproterenol and (-)-norepinephrine stimulated AC activity through both beta 1AR and beta 2AR. From the overproportional high contribution of beta 1AR to AC stimulation (42%) in comparison to its low fraction (13%) in receptor binding we calculated that beta 1AR is 3-4-fold more effectively coupled to AC than beta 2 AR.     

Photothermoelectric (PTE) Versus Photopyroelectric (PPE) Detection of Phase Transitions

The photopyroelectric (PPE) technique is one of the photothermal (PT) methods mostly used for phase transitions investigations. In this paper, we want to compare the PPE results with those obtained using another, recently developed PT method [the photothermoelectric (PTE) calorimetry] for the same purpose of detecting phase transitions. The well-known ferro-paraelectric phase transition of TGS, taking place at a convenient temperature (about \(49\, {}^{\circ }\hbox {C}\)), has been selected for demonstration. A comparison of the two PPE and PTE methods, both in the back detection configuration (in the special case of optically opaque sample and thermally thick regime for both sensors and sample) shows that they are equally suitable for phase transitions detection. Performing a proper calibration, the amplitude and phase of the signals can be used in order to obtain the critical behaviour of all sample’s static and dynamic thermal parameters.     

Enhanced automatic detection of human settlements using Sentinel-1 interferometric coherence

This article presents an experiment in which multi-temporal interferometric coherence calculated from 6-days Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B image pairs and backscatter intensity σ° are jointly used for the extraction of built-up areas in the framework of the symbolic machine learning classification. The results obtained with the proposed approach confirm the enhanced capabilities of discriminating built-up areas when using coherence information in comparison to two available global human settlement layers derived: (1) from Landsat optical data and (2) from Sentinel-1 ground range detected data and based on backscatter intensity σ° only. The experiment carried out in The Netherlands Randstad area is expected to be indicative of the results obtainable for urban areas having similar structures and types of built-up.     

Evaluation of biohazards in dehydrated biofilms on foodstuff packaging

Plastic materials used for food packaging are clean but not sterile when the food is just packaged. Accidental wet contamination may occur at every moment between packaging and opening by the consumer: on polyethylene (PET), bacteria may adhere strongly and constitute a biofilm in less than 24 h. By rolling on themselves, PET sheets may contaminate food. We tried to show that contact with salted foodstuffs favoured microbial recovery. Four strains were chosen to perform biofilms on PET: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Biofilms were dried up 24 h. Biofilm bacteria were stressed by adhesion, by starvation and by dehydration. However, they were capable of recovery in salted solutions or media, probably because one (or more) stress protected them against another stress. Stress was demonstrated by stress protein production, by mean of electrophoresis, and membrane lesions by mean of flow cytometry. Stress recovery was performed in aqueous salted solutions or salted brain-heart infusion with NaCl 9, 15, 20 and 30 g/l. Staphylococci were more sensitive to these stresses and recovery was a function of salt concentration. Gram-negative bacteria were little affected by stresses; salt effects were less important. If all these biofilms were capable of recovery from stresses in salted media, flexible PET could possibly lead to a health hazard when it is used for wet salt meats, e.g.     

Software transferability: A practical approach

Based on several experiments in transferring a large CAD system, an automated method of software transfer is defined. This method uses two general tools to describe the language translation programmes.     

p53 and K-ras status in duodenal adenomas in familial adenomatous polyposis

BACKGROUND: The genetic alterations in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and duodenal adenomas are poorly characterized when compared with data relating to colorectal tumorigenesis in the same patients. METHODS: Point mutation of the K-ras oncogene and point mutation and overexpression of the TP53 tumour suppressor gene were investigated in 32 duodenal polyps (seven without mucosal pathology, 23 with mildly dysplastic adenomas and two with moderately dysplastic adenomas) from 21 patients with FAP. RESULTS: K-ras mutation, TP53 mutation or positive p53 staining were not found in duodenal polyps without histological abnormality. Of 25 duodenal adenomas, K-ras mutation was found in three (two mildly dysplastic, one moderately dysplastic), 20 showed positive p53 immunostaining, and mutation of the TP53 gene was found in one moderately dysplastic adenoma. p53 protein overexpression in duodenal adenomas was significantly more frequent than mutation of either K-ras or TP53 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: p53 dysfunction is a hallmark of duodenal adenomas in patients with FAP. Overexpression may indicate DNA damage and thus an early step in tumorigenesis.