Estimation de la fonction rénale par l'equation MDRD: intérêt et limites pour l'adaptation des doses de médicaments [Renal function estimation by MDRD equation: interest and limitations for drug dosing].

The MDRD (Modification of diet in renal disease) equation enables glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation from serum creatinine only. Thus, the laboratory can report an estimated GFR (eGFR) with each serum creatinine assessment, increasing therefore the recognition of renal failure. Predictive performance of MDRD equation is better for GFR < 60 ml/min/1,73 m2. A normal or near-normal renal function is often underestimated by this equation. Overall, MDRD provides more reliable estimations of renal function than the Cockcroft-Gault (C-G) formula, but both lack precision. MDRD is not superior to C-G for drug dosing. Being adjusted to 1,73 m2, MDRD eGFR has to be back adjusted to the patient's body surface area for drug dosing. Besides, C-G has the advantage of a greater simplicity and a longer use.

Post-collisional Neogene magmatism of the Mediterranean Maghreb margin: a consequence of slab breakoff

A 1 200 km-long linear magmatic belt extends along the Mediterranean coast the Maghreb from Eastern Tunisia to Morocco. This belt is mainly composed of Langan calc-alkaline metaluminous to peraluminous granitoids and associated andesites/cites Central and Eastern Algeria. In Tunisia and Oranie/Western Morocco, calc alkaline activity started later (during the Serravallian) and was followed by the placement of alkali basalts and basanites since the Tortonian to the Pliocene and, in me places, the Pleistocene. Available data on the tectonic setting, petrology, age and biochemistry of this belt show that most of its striking features, e.g. (1) very low magma production rate, subduction-related geochemical imprint, extensive crustal contamination the calc-alkaline magmatism and (2) progressive magmatic change from calc-alkaline alkaline, are consistent with magma generation during a slab breakoff process as proposed Carminati et al, in 1998. The magmatism associated with this breakoff started in Central Eastern Algeria at 16 Ma, then propagated eastwards and westwards, The upward of asthenospheric enriched plume-type mantle through the tear in the downgoing first triggered melting of the overlying lithospheric mantle which had been metasomatised during a previous subduction period. Heat supply from this uprising asthenosphere may have warmed up the continental crust and made its involvement in assimilation processes easier. As the asthenosphere ascended through the `window' in the slab, partial melting occurred at the uprising boundary between asthenosphere and lithosphere, generating basalts with transitional characteristics between those of calc-alkaline and alkaline basalts. As the asthhenospheric upwelling proceeded partial:melting then occurred in the sole asthenospheric mantle, producing alkali basalts. (C) 2000 Academie des sciences Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.

Application of the european customer satisfaction index to postal services. Structural equation models versus partial least squars

Customer satisfaction and retention are key issues for organizations in today’s competitive market place. As such, much research and revenue has been invested in developing accurate ways of assessing consumer satisfaction at both the macro (national) and micro (organizational) level, facilitating comparisons in performance both within and between industries. Since the instigation of the national customer satisfaction indices (CSI), partial least squares (PLS) has been used to estimate the CSI models in preference to structural equation models (SEM) because they do not rely on strict assumptions about the data. However, this choice was based upon some misconceptions about the use of SEM’s and does not take into consideration more recent advances in SEM, including estimation methods that are robust to non-normality and missing data. In this paper, both SEM and PLS approaches were compared by evaluating perceptions of the Isle of Man Post Office Products and Customer service using a CSI format. The new robust SEM procedures were found to be advantageous over PLS. Product quality was found to be the only driver of customer satisfaction, while image and satisfaction were the only predictors of loyalty, thus arguing for the specificity of postal services

Information-theoretical derivation of an extended thermodynamical description of radiative systems

A radiative equation of the Cattaneo–Vernotte type is derived from information theory and the radiative transfer equation. The equation thus derived is a radiative analog of the equation that is used for the description of hyperbolic heat conduction. It is shown, without recourse to any phenomenological assumption, that radiative transfer may be included in a natural way in the framework of extendedirreversible thermodynamics

Historia antiqua, hoc est : Myrsili Lesbii liber de Origine Italiae et Tyrrhenorum. M. Porcii Catonis Fragmenta ex libris Originum. Archilochi liber de Temporibus. Berosi Babylonii Antiquitatum lib. V. Manethonis Aegyptii liber de Regibus Aegyptiorum. Metasthenes Persa, de Judicio temporum. Xenophon, de Aequivocis. Q. Fabius Pictor, de Aureo saeculo et de origine urbis Romae, ejusque descriptione. C. Sempronius, de Divisione Italiae. Philonis Judaei Antiquitatum biblicarum liber. Accessit censura Gasperis Varrerii in Berosum...

Comprend : Censura in quendam auctorem, qui sub falsa inscripsione Berosi Chaldaei circumfertur, Gaspare Varrerio auctore

On the Properties and Cosmology of Q-balls

The properties and cosmological importance of a class of non-topological solitons, Q-balls, are studied. Aspects of Q-ball solutions and Q-ball cosmology discussed in the literature are reviewed. Q-balls are particularly considered in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with supersymmetry broken by a hidden sector mechanism mediated by either gravity or gauge interactions. Q-ball profiles, charge-energy relations and evaporation rates for realistic Q-ball profiles are calculated for general polynomial potentials and for the gravity mediated scenario. In all of the cases, the evaporation rates are found to increase with decreasing charge. Q-ball collisions are studied by numerical means in the two supersymmetry breaking scenarios. It is noted that the collision processes can be divided into three types: fusion, charge transfer and elastic scattering. Cross-sections are calculated for the different types of processes in the different scenarios. The formation of Q-balls from the fragmentation of the Aflieck-Dine -condensate is studied by numerical and analytical means. The charge distribution is found to depend strongly on the initial energy-charge ratio of the condensate. The final state is typically noted to consist of Q- and anti-Q-balls in a state of maximum entropy. By studying the relaxation of excited Q-balls the rate at which excess energy can be emitted is calculated in the gravity mediated scenario. The Q-ball is also found to withstand excess energy well without significant charge loss. The possible cosmological consequences of these Q-ball properties are discussed.

Q. Horatius Flaccus, Carmina (1-48v), Epodon liber (48v-58v), Carmen saeculare (58v-59v), De arte poetica epistula ad Pisones (60-67), Epistulae (60-90), Sermones (90-122v), cum glossis.

Ce ms. a été donné en 1734 au chapitre de Notre-Dame de Paris par le chanoine Gagne de Périgny: "Ex dono Domini Gagne de Perigny canonici Parisiensis anno 1734" (f. 1). L'ex-libris "A l'église de Paris" (XIXe s.) figure au f. 1, suivi de la cote M9. Notre-Dame.

Identification of a key lysine residue in heat shock protein 90 required for azole and echinocandin resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is an essential chaperone involved in the fungal stress response that can be harnessed as a novel antifungal target for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis. We previously showed that genetic repression of Hsp90 reduced Aspergillus fumigatus virulence and potentiated the effect of the echinocandin caspofungin. In this study, we sought to identify sites of posttranslational modifications (phosphorylation or acetylation) that are important for Hsp90 function in A. fumigatus. Phosphopeptide enrichment and tandem mass spectrometry revealed phosphorylation of three residues in Hsp90 (S49, S288, and T681), but their mutation did not compromise Hsp90 function. Acetylation of lysine residues of Hsp90 was recovered after treatment with deacetylase inhibitors, and acetylation-mimetic mutations (K27A and K271A) resulted in reduced virulence in a murine model of invasive aspergillosis, supporting their role in Hsp90 function. A single deletion of lysine K27 or an acetylation-mimetic mutation (K27A) resulted in increased susceptibility to voriconazole and caspofungin. This effect was attenuated following a deacetylation-mimetic mutation (K27R), suggesting that this site is crucial and should be deacetylated for proper Hsp90 function in antifungal resistance pathways. In contrast to previous reports in Candida albicans, the lysine deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) was active alone against A. fumigatus and potentiated the effect of caspofungin against both the wild type and an echinocandin-resistant strain. Our results indicate that the Hsp90 K27 residue is required for azole and echinocandin resistance in A. fumigatus and that deacetylase inhibition may represent an adjunctive anti-Aspergillus strategy.