Influence de deux milieux séquentiels pour la culture d'embryons sur la production d'hormone gonadotrophine chorionique et de progestérone par des cellules JEG-3 et BeWo [Effects of different embryo development media on hCG and progesterone release by JEG-3 and BeWo cells]

Current in vitro fertilisation (IVF) practice requires synchronisation between the¦environment of cultured oocytes and embryos and the surroundings to what they would have¦been exposed to in vivo. Commercial, sequential media follow this requirement but their exact¦composition is not available. We have compared two widely used IVF culture media systems using¦the two choriocarcinoma cell lines JEG-3 and BeWo. The two hormones hCG and progesterone¦were determined in the culture supernatants as endpoints. In both cell lines, but in a more¦pronounced way in JEG-3, progesterone rather than hCG production was stimulated, and a¦higher hormone release was observed in the fertilisation than in the cleavage media. Differences¦between manufacturers were small and did not favour one system over the other. We conclude¦that both sequential media systems can be equally well used in current IVF laboratory practice.¦© 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The new role of the mass media in the construction of sport and Olympic values

This paper was presented in the International Symposium on Toward the Creation of New-Sport Cultures, undertaken in Osaka, Japan, in January 28, 1996. The main purpose is to make an interpretation of the cultural values of sport and Olympism in contemporary society, considering the enormous influence that the media have on them.

Strong solutions for stochastic porous media equations with jumps

We prove global well-posedness in the strong sense for stochastic generalized porous media equations driven by locally square integrable martingales with stationary independent increments.

Biological aspects of the DM28C clone of Trypanosoma cruzi after metacylogenesis in chemically defined media

The biological characterization of the Trypanosoma cruzi clone Dm 28c in terms of its growth in LIT medium, cell-cycle, infectivity to mice and interaction with professional and non-professional phagocytic cells shows that it behaves as a bona fide T. cruzi representant. The biological properties of this myotropic clone do not change according to the origin of the trypomastigote forms (i. e., from triatomines, infected mice, cell-culture or from the chemically defined TAUP and TAU3AAG media). In addition Dm 28c metacyclic trypomastigotes from TAU3AAG medium display a high infectivity level to fibroblasts and muscle cells. Experiments on binding of cationized ferritin to trypomastigotes surface show the existence of cap-like structures of ferritin in regions near the kinetoplast. However the nature and role of these anionic sites remain to be determined. The results indicate that metacyclic trypomastigotes from Dm 28c clone obtained under chemically defined conditions reproduce the biological behaviour of T. cruzi, rendering this system very suitable for the study of cell-parasite interactions and for the isolation of trypanosome relevant macromolecules.

Firms in Scottish High Technology Clusters: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics and digital media – preliminary evidence and analysis on firm size, growth and optimality

This paper reports on: (a) new primary source evidence on; and (b) statistical and econometric analysis of high technology clusters in Scotland. It focuses on the following sectors: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics, and digital media. Evidence on a postal and e-mailed questionnaire is presented and discussed under the headings of: performance, resources, collaboration & cooperation, embeddedness, and innovation. The sampled firms are characterised as being small (viz. micro-firms and SMEs), knowledge intensive (largely graduate staff), research intensive (mean spend on R&D GBP 842k), and internationalised (mainly selling to markets beyond Europe). Preliminary statistical evidence is presented on Gibrat’s Law (independence of growth and size) and the Schumpeterian Hypothesis (scale economies in R&D). Estimates suggest a short-run equilibrium size of just 100 employees, but a long-run equilibrium size of 1000 employees. Further, to achieve the Schumpeterian effect (of marked scale economies in R&D), estimates suggest that firms have to grow to very much larger sizes of beyond 3,000 employees. We argue that the principal way of achieving the latter scale may need to be by takeovers and mergers, rather than by internally driven growth.

International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Handling and Staging of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens. Working group 1: specimen handling.

The 2009 International Society of Urological Pathology Consensus Conference in Boston made recommendations regarding the standardization of pathology reporting of radical prostatectomy specimens. Issues relating to the handling and processing of radical prostatectomy specimens were coordinated by working group 1. Most uropathologists followed similar procedures for fixation of radical prostatectomy specimens, with 51% of respondents transporting tissue in formalin. There was also consensus that the prostate weight without the seminal vesicles should be recorded. There was consensus that the surface of the prostate should be painted. It was agreed that both the prostate apex and base should be examined by the cone method with sagittal sectioning of the tissue sample. There was consensus that the gland should be fully fixed before sectioning. Both partial and complete embedding of prostates was considered to be acceptable as long as the method of partial embedding is stated. No consensus was determined regarding the necessity of weighing and measuring the length of the seminal vesicles, the preparation of whole mounts rather than standardized blocks and the methodology for sampling of fresh tissue for research purposes, and it was agreed that these should be left to the discretion of the working pathologist.

"How I Do It"-Radical Right Colectomy with Side-to-Side Stapled Ileo-Colonic Anastomosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Standardization of surgical technique helps to reproduce excellent clinical outcomes, especially in teaching institutions. We aim to describe in detail our established approach for oncological right colectomy. TECHNIQUE: The right colon is mobilized in a five-step latero-inferior approach starting off with (1) the terminal ileum, visualizing the duodenum and the head of pancreas. (2) The ascending colon is dissected from the retroperitoneum, and takedown of the hepatic flexure is completed coming retrograde from the transverse colon (3). (4) Transection of the remaining retroperitoneal attachments completes exposure of the duodenum and mobilization of the right colon. (5) Ileocolic vessels are dissected out and divided close to their origin, and the mesocolon is divided. We then establish intestinal continuity by use of a side-to-side stapled technique. (1) The arms of a linear cutting stapler are inserted via transverse incisions at the anti-mesenteric sides of the terminal ileum and the transverse colon (tenia) and fired. (2) The enterotomy site is closed by removal of the specimen using a second transverse firing of the linear cutting stapler. An important final step is the (3) reinforcement of the anastomotic ends and the crossing of the staple lines; an omental patch and closure of the mesenteric window are optional. CONCLUSION: The suggested standardized five-step lateral-to-medial dissection of the right colon and the three-step side-to-side stapled technique for ileo-colonic anastomosis are easy to learn and to reproduce. Careful adherence to pivotal technical details will help to obtain an optimal oncological outcome and a consistently low leak rate around 2 %.

Politicians in the Media: Determinants of Legislators' Presence and Prominence in Swiss Newspapers

In times of increasing "mediatization" of politics, when voters and their elected representatives primarily communicate through the media, the question of who gets into the news and why becomes of the utmost importance. This article examines the determinants of Swiss legislators' presence and prominence in the print media by focusing on three competing approaches drawn from communication studies. The first approach regards the media as a "mirror" of political reality and argues that the media focus on the most active deputies in parliament. Second, news values theory predicts that "authoritative" politicians in leadership positions get the most media coverage. Third, theories of "news bias" hold that the media privilege legislators who are in line with their own editorial interests. Overall, the statistical analyses show an important leadership effect and provide strong support for the second explanation. While deputies in official functions get the most extensive news coverage, media access can also be won by parliamentary activity. The least support is shown for the news bias theory, although some newspapers try to localize parliamentary news coverage by focusing on deputies from their own media market.

Creació d'un media center amb software lliure

Treball de recerca realitzat per un alumne d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l'any 2009. L’objectiu d’aquest treball de recerca és la creació d’un dispositiu encarregat de centralitzar totes les necessitats multimèdia de casa nostra i distribuir aquest contingut a tots els terminals de la xarxa local d’una manera senzilla i automatitzada. Aquest dispositiu s’ha dissenyat per estar connectat a una televisió d’alta definició, que permetrà la reproducció i l’organització de tot el nostre multimèdia d’una manera còmoda i fàcil. El media center s’encarrega de gestionar la nostra filmoteca, fototeca, biblioteca musical i sèries de TV de manera transparent i automàtica. A més a més, l’usuari pot accedir a tot el multimèdia emmagatzemat al media center des de qualsevol dispositiu de la xarxa local a través de protocols com CIFS o UPnP, en un intent de replicar el cloud computing a escala local. El dispositiu ha estat dissenyat per a suportar tot tipus de formats i subtítols, assegurant la compatibilitat total amb arxius lliures de DRM. El seu disseny minimalista i silenciós el fa perfecte per a substituir el reproductor de DVD de la sala. Tot això sense oblidar el seu baix consum, de l’ordre d’un 75% inferior al d’un PC convencional.

International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Handling and Staging of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens. Working group 5: surgical margins.

The 2009 International Society of Urological Pathology Consensus Conference in Boston, made recommendations regarding the standardization of pathology reporting of radical prostatectomy specimens. Issues relating to surgical margin assessment were coordinated by working group 5. Pathologists agreed that tumor extending close to the 'capsular' margin, yet not to it, should be reported as a negative margin, and that locations of positive margins should be indicated as either posterior, posterolateral, lateral, anterior at the prostatic apex, mid-prostate or base. Other items of consensus included specifying the extent of any positive margin as millimeters of involvement; tumor in skeletal muscle at the apical perpendicular margin section, in the absence of accompanying benign glands, to be considered organ confined; and that proximal and distal margins be uniformly referred to as bladder neck and prostatic apex, respectively. Grading of tumor at positive margins was to be left to the discretion of the reporting pathologists. There was no consensus as to how the surgical margin should be regarded when tumor is present at the inked edge of the tissue, in the absence of transected benign glands at the apical margin. Pathologists also did not achieve agreement on the reporting approach to benign prostatic glands at an inked surgical margin in which no carcinoma is present.

International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Handling and Staging of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens. Working group 3: extraprostatic extension, lymphovascular invasion and locally advanced disease.

The International Society of Urological Pathology Consensus Conference on Handling and Staging of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens in Boston made recommendations regarding the standardization of pathology reporting of radical prostatectomy specimens. Issues relating to extraprostatic extension (pT3a disease), bladder neck invasion, lymphovascular invasion and the definition of pT4 were coordinated by working group 3. It was agreed that prostate cancer can be categorized as pT3a in the absence of adipose tissue involvement when cancer bulges beyond the contour of the gland or beyond the condensed smooth muscle of the prostate at posterior and posterolateral sites. Extraprostatic extension can also be identified anteriorly. It was agreed that the location of extraprostatic extension should be reported. Although there was consensus that the amount of extraprostatic extension should be quantitated, there was no agreement as to which method of quantitation should be employed. There was overwhelming consensus that microscopic urinary bladder neck invasion by carcinoma should be reported as stage pT3a and that lymphovascular invasion by carcinoma should be reported. It is recommended that these elements are considered in the development of practice guidelines and in the daily practice of urological surgical pathology.

Parents, television and cultural change

This paper develops a model of cultural transmission where television plays a central role for socialization. Parents split their free time between educating their children which is costly and watching TV which though entertaining might socialize the children to the wrong trait. The free to air television industry maximizes advertisement revenue. We show that TV watching is increasing in cultural coverage, cost of education, TV's entertainment value and decreasing in the perceived cultural distance between the two traits. A monopolistic television industry captures all TV watching by both groups if the perceived cultural distance between groups is small relative to the TV's entertainment value. Otherwise, more coverage will be given to the most profitable group where profitability increases in group size, advertisement sensitivity and perceived cultural distance. This leads to two possible steady states where one group is larger but both groups survive in the long run. Competition in the media industry might lead to cultural extinction but only if one group is very insensitive to advertisement and not radical enough not to watch TV. We briefly discuss the existing evidence for the empirical predictions of the model.