Glucose transporters in the regulation of intestinal, renal, and liver glucose fluxes.

Five functional mammalian facilitated hexose carriers (GLUTs) have been characterized by molecular cloning. By functional expression in heterologous systems, their specificity and affinity for different hexoses have been defined. There are three high-affinity transporters (GLUT-1, GLUT-3 and GLUT-4) and one low-affinity transporter (GLUT-2), and GLUT-5 is primarily a fructose carrier. Because their Michaelis constants (Km) are below the normal blood glucose concentration, the high-affinity transporters function at rates close to maximal velocity. Thus their level of cell surface expression greatly influences the rate of glucose uptake into the cells. In contrast, the rate of glucose uptake by GLUT-2 (Km = 17 mM) increases in parallel with the rise in blood glucose over the physiological concentration range. High-affinity transporters are found in almost every tissue, but their expression is higher in cells with high glycolytic activity. Glut-2, however, is found in tissues carrying large glucose fluxes, such as intestine, kidney, and liver. As an adaptive response to variations in metabolic conditions, the expression of these transporters is regulated by glucose and different hormones. Thus, because of their specific characteristics and regulated expression, the facilitated glucose transporters control fundamental aspects of glucose homeostasis. I review data pertaining to the structure and regulated expression of the glucose carriers present in intestine, kidney, and liver and discuss their role in the control of glucose flux into or out of these different tissues.

Recueil de lettres, en grande partie originales, adressées à divers membres des familles Gouffier-Boissy et Lorraine-Guise. (XVe-XVIe siècles).

Lettres signées : « Guiot Pot (fol. 1) ; Charles [VIII] (fol. 2) ; Artus Gouffier [-Boissy, plus tard duc de Roannois] (fol. 3, 50, 54) ; Loysde Graville (fol. 4) ; J., prothonotaire de Montmorency (fol. 5) ; A. de Montmorency [à sa soeur Mme de Boissy] (fol. 6) ; Pierre [IIe du nom, duc de Bourbon] (?) (fol. 8, 13) ; Charles [de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme] (fol. 9, 11,12) ; Estyene de Vesc (fol. 14, 25, 29) ; Dragut, capitano del' armata del Gran Signore, avec des pièces diverses en turc provenant de la chancellerie de Soliman II et adressées à Henri II (fol. 15) ; de La Trimoille, Loys de Halewin, Estyene de Vesc, Myolans (fol. 24 et suiv.) ; Guillaume Briçonnet (fol. 30) ; Charles de Lorraine, [duc de Lorraine] (fol. 36) ; Susanne de Bourbon, [épouse de Claude de Rieux. sgr. de Rochefort] (fol. 38) ; Charles de Croy, [comte de Porcean et de Seneghen] (fol. 42) ; Ymbert de Batarnay (fol. 45, 46) ; A. (?) de Bueil (fol. 47) ; G. Gouffier(fol. 48) ; Loys Gouffier (fol. 52) ; Guillaume Bertrand (fol. 58) ; de La Trémoille (fol 66) ; [le maréchal de] Sainct-André (fol. 68) ; La Roche-de-Pozay, Poton, de Raissé et Babou (fol. 70) ; Françoys de Clèves, [duc de Nevers] (fol. 71, 72) ; » etc.

Concomitant chemoradiotherapy versus acceleration of radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy in locally advanced head and neck carcinoma (GORTEC 99-02): an open-label phase 3 randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Concomitant chemoradiotherapy and accelerated radiotherapy independently improve outcomes for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of a combination of these approaches. METHODS: In our open-label phase 3 randomised trial, we enrolled patients with locally advanced, stage III and IV (non-metastatic) HNSCC and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-2. We randomly allocated patients centrally with a computer program (with centre, T stage, N stage, and localisation as minimisation factors) in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive conventional chemoradiotherapy (70 Gy in 7 weeks plus three cycles of 4 days' concomitant carboplatin-fluorouracil), accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy (70 Gy in 6 weeks plus two cycles of 5 days' concomitant carboplatin-fluorouracil), or very accelerated radiotherapy alone (64·8 Gy [1·8 Gy twice daily] in 3·5 weeks). The primary endpoint, progression-free survival (PFS), was assessed in all enrolled patients. This trial is completed. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00828386. FINDINGS: Between Feb 29, 2000, and May 9, 2007, we randomly allocated 279 patients to receive conventional chemoradiotherapy, 280 to accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy, and 281 to very accelerated radiotherapy. Median follow-up was 5·2 years (IQR 4·9-6·2); rates of chemotherapy and radiotherapy compliance were good in all groups. Accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy offered no PFS benefit compared with conventional chemoradiotherapy (HR 1·02, 95% CI 0·84-1·23; p=0·88) or very accelerated radiotherapy (0·83, 0·69-1·01; p=0·060); conventional chemoradiotherapy improved PFS compared with very accelerated radiotherapy (0·82, 0·67-0·99; p=0·041). 3-year PFS was 37·6% (95% CI 32·1-43·4) after conventional chemoradiotherapy, 34·1% (28·7-39·8) after accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy, and 32·2% (27·0-37·9) after very accelerated radiotherapy. More patients in the very accelerated radiotherapy group had RTOG grade 3-4 acute mucosal toxicity (226 [84%] of 268 patients) compared with accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy (205 [76%] of 271 patients) or conventional chemoradiotherapy (180 [69%] of 262; p=0·0001). 158 (60%) of 265 patients in the conventional chemoradiotherapy group, 176 (64%) of 276 patients in the accelerated radiotherapy-chemotherapy group, and 190 (70%) of 272 patients in the very accelerated radiotherapy group were intubated with feeding tubes during treatment (p=0·045). INTERPRETATION: Chemotherapy has a substantial treatment effect given concomitantly with radiotherapy and acceleration of radiotherapy cannot compensate for the absence of chemotherapy. We noted the most favourable outcomes for conventional chemoradiotherapy, suggesting that acceleration of radiotherapy is probably not beneficial in concomitant chemoradiotherapy schedules. FUNDING: French Ministry of Health.

Caracterización de redes de cerco artesanal para anchoveta destinada al consumo humano directo

Las características principales de las redes de cerco artesanales anchoveteras para CHD (PS 01.1.0 “ISSCFG”), utilizan tamaños de malla en el copo y cuerpo de ½” ~ 13 mm de material nylon Poliamida (PA). Se encontró una diferencia en las dimensiones, el material y diámetro del hilo del paño usado, entre las redes de las ANC-CHD tradicionales (Paita, Chimbote, Callao e Ilo) que utilizan paños anchoveteros de R310tex, R381tex R462tex, con longitud de relinga superior (LRS) de 183-366 m (100 a 200 bz), altura de paño estirado (AHE) de 27 a 64 m (15 a 35 bz); y las redes de cerco ANC-Pisco que utilizan paños anchoveteros de R155tex y R230tex, con LRS de 270 a 396 m (145 a 215 bz) y AHE de 30 m (16 bz). Del análisis regresional experimental, las principales características de la red (LRS, AHE), y la embarcación–capacidad de bodega-(CBOD) presentaron correlaciones significativas para la flota ANC-Tradicional (r = 0,86 y 0,91), mientras que en la flota ANC-Pisco las correlación de la función CBODLRS fue de 0,30 y la AHE fue constante (30 m) para todo el rango de LRS (270 - 396 m).

Incremental neural networks for function approximation

A new strategy for incremental building of multilayer feedforward neural networks is proposed in the context of approximation of functions from R-p to R-q using noisy data. A stopping criterion based on the properties of the noise is also proposed. Experimental results for both artificial and real data are performed and two alternatives of the proposed construction strategy are compared.

Monitoring inflammatory bowel disease activity: clinical activity is judged to be more relevant than endoscopic severity or biomarkers.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence for the clinical relevance of mucosal healing (MH) as therapeutic treatment goal in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to investigate by which method gastroenterologists monitor IBD activity in daily practice. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to all board-certified gastroenterologists in Switzerland to specifically address their strategy to monitor IBD between May 2009 and April 2010. RESULTS: The response rate was 57% (153/270). Fifty-two percent of gastroenterologists worked in private practice and 48% worked in hospitals. Seventy-eight percent judged clinical activity to be the most relevant criterion for monitoring IBD activity, 15% chose endoscopic severity, and 7% chose biomarkers. Seventy percent of gastroenterologists based their therapeutic decisions on clinical activity, 24% on endoscopic severity, and 6% on biomarkers. The following biomarkers were used for IBD activity monitoring: CRP, 94%; differential blood count, 78%; fecal calprotectin (FC), 74%; iron status, 63%; blood sedimentation rate, 3%; protein electrophoresis, 0.7%; fecal neutrophils, 0.7%; and vitamin B12, 0.7%. Gastroenterologists in hospitals and those with ≤ 10 years of professional experience used FC more frequently compared with colleagues in private practice (P=0.035) and those with > 10 years of experience (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical activity is judged to be more relevant for monitoring IBD activity and guiding therapeutic decisions than endoscopic severity and biomarkers. As such, the accumulating scientific evidence on the clinical impact of mucosal healing does not yet seem to influence the management of IBD in daily gastroenterologic practice.

Application of real-time PCR for total airborne bacterial assessment : comparison with epifluorescence microscopy and culture-dependent methods

Traditional culture-dependent methods to quantify and identify airborne microorganisms are limited by factors such as short-duration sampling times and inability to count nonculturableor non-viable bacteria. Consequently, the quantitative assessment of bioaerosols is often underestimated. Use of the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) to quantify bacteria in environmental samples presents an alternative method, which should overcome this problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a real-time Q-PCR assay as a simple and reliable way to quantify the airborne bacterial load within poultry houses and sewage treatment plants, in comparison with epifluorescencemicroscopy and culture-dependent methods. The estimates of bacterial load that we obtained from real-time PCR and epifluorescence methods, are comparable, however, our analysis of sewage treatment plants indicate these methods give values 270-290 fold greater than those obtained by the ''impaction on nutrient agar'' method. The culture-dependent method of air impaction on nutrient agar was also inadequate in poultry houses, as was the impinger-culture method, which gave a bacterial load estimate 32-fold lower than obtained by Q-PCR. Real-time quantitative PCR thus proves to be a reliable, discerning, and simple method that could be used to estimate airborne bacterial load in a broad variety of other environments expected to carry high numbers of airborne bacteria. [Authors]

Pièces relatives à l'histoire de la ville de TULLE. IV

Contient : Extrait de l'inventaire des archives de l'église de Tulle ; Extrait du cartulaire de l'église de Tulle ; Extrait du cartulaire de Saint-Martin de Tulle ; « Libellus apologetico-supplex » pour les Recollets de Tulle, par le P. Victorin Tarneau ; Extrait d'un cartulaire de Saint-Martin de Tulle ; Accord entre les chanoines de Tulle et ceux de Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, pour le règlement des droits de ces derniers (15 mars 1423) ; Extrait des statuts de l'église de Tulle ; Extraits de l'obituaire de l'église de Tulle (Molinier, Obituaires, n° 503 bis) ; Note sur diverses pièces conservées aux archives de l'évêché de Tulle ; Extrait des Decisiones Burdegalenses, de Nicolas Bohier (Lyon, 1579, in-fol.) ; Extrait des registres du Parlement de Bordeaux concernant la ville de Tulle (1555-1581) ; Rôle des noms des présidents et conseillers du Parlement de Bordeaux (décembre 1564) ; original ; Extrait des registres du Parlement de Bordeaux (1555-1563) ; Procès-verbal d'une assemblée du chapitre de Tulle, autorisant l'engagement d'une cloche pour le soulagement des pauvres (23 mai 1691) ; Mandement de Humbert [Ancelin], évêque de Tulle, pour l'usage de la viande et des oeufs durant le carême (16 février 1691) ; Autobiographie de Mascaron ; Lettres de provision de l'évêché de Tulle en faveur de Jules Mascaron (5 janvier 1671) ; Billet mortuaire du même (5 décembre 1703) ; Deux lettres du même, évêque d'Agen (19 février et 10 mars, s. d.) ; Lettre anonyme écrite de Tulle, le 19 avril 1666 ; Lettre de Louis de Guron, évêque de Comminges (8 juin 1688) à A. de Fes ; Lettre de M. de Fes à Baluze (Daux, 16 juin 1688) ; Deux lettres de [Louis de] Guron, évêque-nommé de Tulle, à Mazarin (10 décembre et 23 septembre 1652) ; Lettre de M. de Fes à Baluze (Toulouse, 5 novembre 1681) ; Notes sur les familles Guron et de Rechignevoisin ; Lettre de M. de Fes à Baluze (Toulouse, 18 mars 1688) ; Lettres de Louis de Guron, évêque de Tulle, puis de Comminges ; « Bref de N. S. Père le pape Innocent X, » envoyé à l'évêque de Tulle touchant la question du Jansénisme (21 mars 1654) ; imprimé ; Lettre de Richelieu au cardinal Antoine Barberini (25 juin 1634) ; Liste des événements notables de l'histoire de Tulle de 1545 à 1685 ; « Catalogus abbatum et episcoporum Tutellensium, » par Baluze ; placard imprimé avec nombreuses corrections de la main de l'auteur ; Diplômes de Raoul et de Louis IV pour le monastère de Tulle ; Fragments d'un traité, en latin, sur la vision en Dieu ; Lettres d'Harduin [de Péréfixe], archevêque de Paris, authentiquant des reliques rapportées par Baluze (s. d.) ; Certificat d'authenticité de ces mêmes reliques, délivré par Gaspard, cardinal prêtre du titre de San Silvestro in capite (8 novembre 1681) ; placard imprimé ; Lettres adressées à Baluze ; Copies par Baluze de diverses pièces relatives aux reliques rapportées par lui de Rome (1683-1685) ; Extrait d'un rouleau des morts du monastère d'Obazine ; « Ex epigrammatis Joannis Vulteii Remensis » (Lyon, 1537, in-8°), et extraits divers concernant Pierre du Chastel, évêque de Tulle ; Notes relatives aux Privilegia regularium, du P. Bruno Chassaing (Paris, 1648, in-fol.)

Use of long-term suppressive acyclovir after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: impact on herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease and drug-resistant HSV disease.

The effect that long-term use of suppressive acyclovir (ACV) has on both overall herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease and ACV-resistant HSV disease was examined in 3 consecutive cohorts of hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HCT) recipients (n=2049); cohort 1 received ACV for 30 days after HCT, cohort 2 received it for 1 year after HCT, and cohort 3 received it for an extended period (i.e., >1 year) if the patient's immunosuppression continued after 1 year. The 2-year probability of HSV disease was 31.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 28.0%-35%) in cohort 1, 3.9% (95% CI, 2.7%-5.2%) in cohort 2, and 0% in cohort 3 (P<.001). ACV-resistant HSV disease developed in 10 patients in cohort 1 (2-year probability, 1.3% [95% CI, 0.8%-2.7%]), in 2 patients in cohort 2 (2-year probability, 0.2% [95% CI, 0%-0.8%]; P=.006), and in 0 patients in cohort 3 (cohort 2 vs. cohort 3, P=.3). Long-term use of suppressive prophylactic ACV appears to prevent the emergence of drug-resistant HSV disease in HCT.

La protection des investissements suisses à l'étranger dans le cadre des accords de promotion et de protection des investissements

Dotée d'une économie traditionnellement ouverte vers l'extérieur, la Suisse dispose de l'un des plus vastes réseaux au monde d'accords bilatéraux de promotion et de protection des investissements (APPI). Instrument dont la faible notoriété est inversement proportionnelle au nombre élevé d'accords concernés et aux montants en jeu, les APPI visent à conférer aux entreprises suisses établies à l'étranger - et vice-versa - une large protection contre les risques non commerciaux. Le présent ouvrage s'attache à l'analyse du développement et du contenu des APPI conclus par la Suisse avec ses partenaires, essentiellement des pays en développement. S'appuyant sur la doctrine et la jurisprudence internationales, il traite de manière détaillée des droits matériels et procéduraux parfois contestés que ce type d'accords offrent aux investisseurs et met en évidence les particularités des APPI du réseau suisse.