Solution to telegrapher's equation in the presence of reflecting and partly reflecting broundaries

We show that the reflecting boundary condition for a one-dimensional telegraphers equation is the same as that for the diffusion equation, in contrast to what is found for the absorbing boundary condition. The radiation boundary condition is found to have a quite complicated form. We also obtain exact solutions of the telegraphers equation in the presence of these boundaries.

Adsorption kinetics in the presence of external fields

In this article we present a detailed analysis of the kinetics of a class of sequential adsorption models that take into account the effect of externally applied fields (as an electric field, or a shear rate) on the adsorption. The excluded volume interactions related to the finite size of the adsorbing particles are modified by the external fields. As a result, new adsorption mechanisms appear with respect to the ones used to describe the kinetics in a quiescent fluid. In particular, if the adsorbing particles are allowed to roll over preadsorbed ones, adsorption becomes non local even in the simplest geometry. An exact analytic theory cannot be developed, but we introduce a self-consistent theory that turns out to agree with the simulation results over all the range of the parameters.

Reply to "Comment on 'Solutions of the telegrapher's equation in the presence of traps'"

This reply adds a number of details to remarks by Foong and Kanno [preceding Comment, Phys. Rev. A 46, 5296 (1992)] on our paper [Phys. Rev. A 45, 2222 (1992)] regarding the discontinuities observed in the curves generated in that paper.

Adsorption kinetics in the presence of external fields

In this article we present a detailed analysis of the kinetics of a class of sequential adsorption models that take into account the effect of externally applied fields (as an electric field, or a shear rate) on the adsorption. The excluded volume interactions related to the finite size of the adsorbing particles are modified by the external fields. As a result, new adsorption mechanisms appear with respect to the ones used to describe the kinetics in a quiescent fluid. In particular, if the adsorbing particles are allowed to roll over preadsorbed ones, adsorption becomes non local even in the simplest geometry. An exact analytic theory cannot be developed, but we introduce a self-consistent theory that turns out to agree with the simulation results over all the range of the parameters.

ASSESSMENT OF BIOAVAILABILITY OF HEAVY METALS AFTER VERMICOMPOSTING IN THE PRESENCE OF ELECTRONIC WASTE

ABSTRACT Heavy metals contained in electronic waste, if discarded improperly, can become bioavailable after vermicomposting, posing a risk to the environment. Small-scale vermicomposting experiments were carried out with printed circuit boards (PCBs) to investigate the migration of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Sn) to the final compost, as well as the mobility and bioavailability of these metals. High total levels of Pb, Sn and Cu in samples of manure with electronic waste (MEW) and vegetables with electronic waste (VEW) were detected. Based on the initial metal levels in the PCBs and their concentration in the resulting compost, the order of migration of these metals to the MEW and VEW samples was Sn (23.1 %)>Pb (18.4 %)>Ni (4.63 %)>Zn (0.46 %)>Cu (0.14 %) and Sn (24.3 %)>Pb (23.6 %)>Ni (11.33 %)>Zn (1.76 %)>Cu (0.60 %), respectively. Mobility and bioavailability of these metals in the compost were evaluated by three-stage sequential extraction, where F1 was the exchangeable fraction, F2 the organic fraction and F3 the residual fraction. The bioavailability factor (BF) was calculated by the ratio of the sum of fractions F1 and F2 divided by the total sum of the fractions (F1 + F2 + F3). The highest bioavailability factor (BF = 0.92) was found for Pb, the heavy metal considered the greatest environmental concern in this study, indicating the high mobility and the possibility of becoming bioavailable of this metal.

Online teaching of inflammatory skin pathology by a French-speaking international university network

Introduction: Developments in technology, webbased teaching and whole slide imaging have broadened the teaching horizon in anatomic pathology. Creating online learning material including many types of media like radiologic images, videos, clinical and macroscopic photographs and whole slides imaging is now accessible to almost every university. Unfortunately, a major limiting factor to maintain and update the learning material is the amount of work, time and resources needed. In this perspective, a French national university network was initiated in 2011 to build mutualised online teaching pathology modules with clinical cases and tests. This network has been extended to an international level in 2012-2014 (Quebec, Switzerland and Ivory Coast). Method: One of the first steps of the international project was to build a learning module on inflammatory skin pathology intended for interns and residents of pathology and dermatology. A pathology resident from Quebec spent 6 weeks in France and Switzerland to develop the contents and build the module on an e-learning Moodle platform (http: //moodle.sorbonne-paris-cite.fr) under the supervision of two dermatopathologists (BV, MB). The learning module contains text, interactive clinical cases, tests with feedback, whole slides images (WSI), images and clinical photographs. For that module, the virtual slides are decentralized in 2 universities (Bordeaux and Paris 7). Each university is responsible of its own slide scanning, image storage and online display with virtual slide viewers. Results: The module on inflammatory skin pathology includes more than 50 web pages with French original content, tests and clinical cases, links to over 45 WSI and more than 50 micro and clinical photographs. The whole learning module is currently being revised by four dermatopathologists and two senior pathologists. It will be accessible to interns and residents in spring 2014. The experience and knowledge gained from that work will be transferred to the next international fellowship intern whose work will be aimed at creating lung and breast pathology learning modules. Conclusion: The challenges of sustaining a project of this scope are numerous. The technical aspect of whole-slide imaging and storage needs to be developed by each university or group. The content needs to be regularly updated, completed and its use and existence needs to be promoted by the different actors in pathology. Of the great benefits of that kind of project are the international partnerships and connections that have been established between numerous Frenchspeaking universities and pathologists with the common goals of promoting education in pathology and the use of technology including whole slide imaging. * The Moodle website is hosted by PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, and financial supports for hardware have been obtained from UNF3S (http://www.unf3s.org/) and PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité. Financial support for international fellowships has been obtained from CFQCU (http://www.cfqcu.org/).

The switch from conventional to atypical antipsychotic treatment should not be based exclusively on the presence of cognitive deficits. A pilot study in individuals with schizophrenia.

Background: Atypical antipsychotics provide better control of the negative and affective symptoms of schizophrenia when compared with conventional neuroleptics; nevertheless, their heightened ability to improve cognitive dysfunction remains a matter of debate. This study aimed to examine the changes in cognition associated with long-term antipsychotic treatment and to evaluate the effect of the type of antipsychotic (conventional versus novel antipsychotic drugs) on cognitive performance over time. Methods: In this naturalistic study, we used a comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests to assess a sample of schizophrenia patients taking either conventional (n = 13) or novel antipsychotics (n = 26) at baseline and at two years after. Results: Continuous antipsychotic treatment regardless of class was associated with improvement on verbal fluency, executive functions, and visual and verbal memory. Patients taking atypical antipsychotics did not show greater cognitive enhancement over two years than patients taking conventional antipsychotics. Conclusions Although long-term antipsychotic treatment slightly improved cognitive function, the switch from conventional to atypical antipsychotic treatment should not be based exclusively on the presence of these cognitive deficits.

Monitoring of aglycons of yew glycosides (3,5-dimethoxyphenol, myrtenol and 1-octen-3-ol) as first indicator of yew presence.

The toxicity of yew (Taxus spp) is well known from ancient times and is mainly due to taxins acting as inhibitors of calcium and sodium transport across the cell membrane of cardiac myocytes. The confirmation of yew taxins in body fluids can be carried out by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). However, before selecting this precise but expensive technique, an orientation test should be done to ascertain yew presence as toxic agent in the organism. As the 3,5-dimethoxyphenol (3,5-DMP), myrtenol and 1-octen-3-ol appear as glycosidically bound volatile compounds and are very yew specific, the detection of 3,5-DMP and the measurement of 1-octen-3-ol / myrtenol concentration ratio constitute reliable indicators of yew presence in forensic cases. The detection of these compounds is easily performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (SIM) after an enzymatic hydrolysis (β-glucosidase) allowing the release of volatile compounds from yew glycosides. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Plastinated Ethmoidal Region : I. Preparation and Applications in Clinical Teaching.

Ethmoidal regions weer prepared and dissected to demonstrate regional sinus anatomy and endoscopic surgery approaches from six human heads. After perparation, the specimens were plastinated using the standard S10 technique. A CT-scan of each ethmoidal block was performed before and after preparation of the block to access shrinkage. The plastinated specimens were successfully introduced into clinical teaching of sinus anatomy and surgery. One advantage of using these specimens is their long-lasting preservation without deterioration of the tissue. The specimens were well suited for comparative radiographic and ondoscopic studies, and the CT-scans allowed an exact measurement of tissue shrinkage due to plastination. Increaseed tissue rigidity and shrionkage due to plastination has to be taken into account for subsequent endoscopic observation.

Immersion communautaire à Lausanne : une autre façon d'enseigner la santé publique [Community immersion in Lausanne: a different approach to teaching public health?].

Teaching community medicine represents a significant challenge for medical schools, which tend to struggle to promote interest in the issue among students. In 2009, the Lausanne medical school introduced a "community immersion" module specifically designed to address the issue. The new module requires students working in small groups under the supervision of a tutor to investigate a health question of their choice. The investigation involves conducting interviews with stakeholders (health professionals, patients, politicians, etc.), carrying out a survey, and presenting the results of the investigation in a "congress". An external evaluation showed that the objectives of the initiative had been largely achieved, with an increase of interest in community medicine for over 50% of students (based on a total cohort of 150 students) and a high level of satisfaction for over 90% of students and tutors. This paper presents the results of the initiative and its use for promoting community-oriented medicine.

Enseignement de la médecine de famille: nouvelles évolutions à Lausanne [Teaching family medicine in Lausanne].

The Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne has integrated education of family medicine all along its new undergraduate medical curriculum. The Institute of general medicine is in charge to implement those offers among which two are presented hereafter. In the new module "Generalism" several courses cover the specificities of the discipline as for example medical decision in the practice. A mandatory one-month internship in the medical practice offers an experiential immersion into family medicine for all students. In a meeting at the end of their internship, students discuss in group with their peers their individual experiences and are asked to identify, based on their personal experience, the general concepts of the specialty of family medicine and general practice.

Evolution of the P-type II ATPase gene family in the fungi and presence of structural genomic changes among isolates of Glomus intraradices.

BACKGROUND: The P-type II ATPase gene family encodes proteins with an important role in adaptation of the cell to variation in external K+, Ca2+ and Na2+ concentrations. The presence of P-type II gene subfamilies that are specific for certain kingdoms has been reported but was sometimes contradicted by discovery of previously unknown homologous sequences in newly sequenced genomes. Members of this gene family have been sampled in all of the fungal phyla except the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF; phylum Glomeromycota), which are known to play a key-role in terrestrial ecosystems and to be genetically highly variable within populations. Here we used highly degenerate primers on AMF genomic DNA to increase the sampling of fungal P-Type II ATPases and to test previous predictions about their evolution. In parallel, homologous sequences of the P-type II ATPases have been used to determine the nature and amount of polymorphism that is present at these loci among isolates of Glomus intraradices harvested from the same field. RESULTS: In this study, four P-type II ATPase sub-families have been isolated from three AMF species. We show that, contrary to previous predictions, P-type IIC ATPases are present in all basal fungal taxa. Additionally, P-Type IIE ATPases should no longer be considered as exclusive to the Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota, since we also demonstrate their presence in the Zygomycota. Finally, a comparison of homologous sequences encoding P-type IID ATPases showed unexpectedly that indel mutations among coding regions, as well as specific gene duplications occur among AMF individuals within the same field. CONCLUSION: On the basis of these results we suggest that the diversification of P-Type IIC and E ATPases followed the diversification of the extant fungal phyla with independent events of gene gains and losses. Consistent with recent findings on the human genome, but at a much smaller geographic scale, we provided evidence that structural genomic changes, such as exonic indel mutations and gene duplications are less rare than previously thought and that these also occur within fungal populations.

Cross-cultural clinical competence and post-graduate teaching: any impact(s) on doctors?

Context: Cross-cultural clinical competence (CCC) requires a mixtureof "knowledge" (K), "attitude" (A) and "skills" (S), in order to develop theability to give quality care to patients of different cultures. Theseattributes allow, while providing medical care, consideration of thepatient's medical, social, cultural and language needs. The LausanneUniversity Medical Policlinic (PMU) provides approximately 30000consultations per year to migrant patients and over the past five yearshas implemented a training course on CCC that focuses on trialogue,stereotypes and administrative procedures for the healthcare ofmigrants.Method: A quantitative survey of 18 new residents, was carried outusing a validated questionnaire, the "Multicultural AssessmentQuestionnaire" (the MAQ, 16 questions on K, A and S) to evaluate theimpact of CCC training. The questionnaire was distributed before theCCC course (J-1), three days after (J+3) and three months later (J+90).A descriptive univariate analysis of the difference in MAQ scoresbetween the times J-1 - J+3 and J-1 - J+90 was made. Three FocusGroups were conducted, at three months, to explore residents' thoughtsabout the course.Results: A significant increase was observed in global performancedeclared by residents. Following the intervention, the score of the MAQincreased from 31.4 points to 38.0 points at three days (p = 0.004) andto 37.7 points at three months (p = 0.003). This increase was mostnoticeable in the field of acquiring K: total score J-1: 118, J+3: 189,J+90: 190 (difference J-1 - J+3 and J-1 - J+90: p <0.005). There was nosignificant difference in acquiring A (J-1: 222, J+3: 228, J+90: 229), andS increases in a significant way at first (J-1: 222, J+3: 265, J-1 - J+3:p = 0.035), then comes back to the start value (J+90: 217). The residentswere interested by the course which they felt provides useful informationfor clinical practice. They had a great number of expectations in varyingfields (medical anthropology, cultural differences, epidemiology, etc.),hoping a "ready-made" solution for the approach of migrant patients.Conclusions: A unique training of CCC at the post-graduate level,upgraded K, and to a lesser extent A and S, for these 18 residents. Theywere interest and they had many expectations. Subsequent coursesshould consolidate these acquisitions. Future study should demonstratethe impact on patients' clinical outcome.