Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire. Année 1759-1760,Numéro 3740-4281,Volume 8 / nouvelle édition... précédée de la Vie de Voltaire, par Condorcet et d'autres études biographiques

Comprend : Vie de Voltaire

La Jeune Angleterre, par B. Disraeli. Traduit de l'anglais par Mlle A. Sobry, précédé d'une notice par M. Philarète Chasles,... avec deux clefs explicatives des personnages. Volume 1

Comprend : Notice

La Jeune Angleterre, par B. Disraeli. Traduit de l'anglais par Mlle A. Sobry, précédé d'une notice par M. Philarète Chasles,... avec deux clefs explicatives des personnages. Volume 2

Comprend : Notice

Organ volume measurements: comparison between MRI and autopsy findings in infants following sudden unexpected death.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of a semiautomated 3D volume reconstruction method for organ volume measurement by postmortem MRI. METHODS: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board and the infants' parents gave their consent. Postmortem MRI was performed in 16 infants (1 month to 1 year of age) at 1.5 T within 48 h of their sudden death. Virtual organ volumes were estimated using the Myrian software. Real volumes were recorded at autopsy by water displacement. The agreement between virtual and real volumes was quantified following the Bland and Altman's method. RESULTS: There was a good agreement between virtual and real volumes for brain (mean difference: -0.03% (-13.6 to +7.1)), liver (+8.3% (-9.6 to +26.2)) and lungs (+5.5% (-26.6 to +37.6)). For kidneys, spleen and thymus, the MRI/autopsy volume ratio was close to 1 (kidney: 0.87±0.1; spleen: 0.99±0.17; thymus: 0.94±0.25), but with a less good agreement. For heart, the MRI/real volume ratio was 1.29±0.76, possibly due to the presence of residual blood within the heart. The virtual volumes of adrenal glands were significantly underestimated (p=0.04), possibly due to their very small size during the first year of life. The percentage of interobserver and intraobserver variation was lower or equal to 10%, but for thymus (15.9% and 12.6%, respectively) and adrenal glands (69% and 25.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual volumetry may provide significant information concerning the macroscopic features of the main organs and help pathologists in sampling organs that are more likely to yield histological findings.

Safety Analysis of Low-Volume Rural Roads in Iowa, 2010

Iowa features an extensive surface transportation system, with more than 110,000 miles of roadway, most of which is under the jurisdiction of local agencies. Given that Iowa is a lower-population state, most of this mileage is located in rural areas that exhibit low traffic volumes of less than 400 vehicles per day. However, these low-volume rural roads also account for about half of all recorded traffic crashes in Iowa, including a high percentage of fatal and major injury crashes. This study was undertaken to examine these crashes, identify major contributing causes, and develop low-cost strategies for reducing the incidence of these crashes. Iowa’s extensive crash and roadway system databases were utilized to obtain needed data. Using descriptive statistics, a test of proportions, and crash modeling, various classes of rural secondary roads were compared to similar state of Iowa controlled roads in crash frequency, severity, density, and rate for numerous selected factors that could contribute to crashes. The results of this study allowed the drawing of conclusions as to common contributing factors for crashes on low-volume rural roads, both paved and unpaved. Due to identified higher crash statistics, particular interest was drawn to unpaved rural roads with traffic volumes greater than 100 vehicles per day. Recommendations for addressing these crashes with low-cost mitigation are also included. Because of the isolated nature of traffic crashes on low-volume roads, a systemic or mass action approach to safety mitigation was recommended for an identified subset of the entire system. In addition, future development of a reliable crash prediction model is described.

Lung Function and Risk for Heart Failure Among Older Adults: The Health ABC Study.

BACKGROUND: The impact of abnormal spirometric findings on risk for incident heart failure among older adults without clinically apparent lung disease is not well elucidated.METHODS: We evaluated the association of baseline lung function with incident heart failure, defined as first hospitalization for heart failure, in 2125 participants of the community-based Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study (age, 73.6 +/- 2.9 years; 50.5% men; 62.3% white; 37.7% black) without prevalent lung disease or heart failure. Abnormal lung function was defined either as forced vital capacity (FVC) or forced expiratory volume in 1(st) second (FEV1) to FVC ratio below lower limit of normal. Percent predicted FVC and FEV1 also were assessed as continuous variables.RESULTS: During follow-up (median, 9.4 years), heart failure developed in 68 of 350 (19.4%) participants with abnormal baseline lung function, as compared with 172 of 1775 (9.7%) participants with normal lung function (hazard ratio [HR] 2.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.74-3.07; P <.001). This increased risk persisted after adjusting for previously identified heart failure risk factors in the Health ABC Study, body mass index, incident coronary heart disease, and inflammatory markers (HR 1.83; 95% CI, 1.33-2.50; P <.001). Percent predicted (%) FVC and FEV 1 had a linear association with heart failure risk (HR 1.21; 95% CI, 1.11-1.32 and 1.18; 95% CI, 1.10-1.26, per 10% lower % FVC and % FEV1, respectively; both P <.001 in fully adjusted models). Findings were consistent in sex and race subgroups and for heart failure with preserved or reduced ejection fraction.CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal spirometric findings in older adults without clinical lung disease are associated with increased heart failure risk. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The American Journal of Medicine (2011) 124, 334-341

Abnormal meiotic behavior in three species of Crotalaria

The objective of this work was to compare the meiotic behavior and pollen grain viability of three species of Crotalaria. Slides for meiotic analysis were prepared by the air-drying technique. Pollen grain viability was measured by three staining procedures (Alexander's solution, tetrazolium chloride and fluorescein diacetate) and in vitro germination in a sucrose solution. Eight bivalents were observed, confirming previous reports on populations from other regions of Brazil, as well as from other countries. All species showed abnormal meiotic behavior as follows: in Crotalaria micans, cytomixis and abnormal chromosome pairing in diakinesis; in C. spectabilis, abnormal chromosome pairing in diplotene; in C. zanzibarica, shrunk nuclei in leptotene and zygotene. Pollen grains of all three species show low viability, which may be associated with the irregularities of the meiotic behavior.

Temporal evolution of MR perfusion in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

PURPOSE: To illustrate the evolution of brain perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (PWI-MRI) in severe neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy, and its possible relation to further neurodevelopmental outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two term neonates with HI encephalopathy underwent an early and a late MRI, including PWI. They were followed until eight months of age. A total of three "normal controls" were also included. Perfusion maps were obtained, and relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cerebral blood volume (rCBV) values were measured. RESULTS: Compared to normal neonates, a hyperperfusion (increased rCBF and rCBV) was present on early scans in the whole brain. On late scans, hyperperfusion persisted in cortical gray matter (normalization of rCBF and rCBV ratios in white matter and basal ganglia, but not in cortical gray matter). Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was normalized, and extensive lesions became visible on T2-weighted images. Both patients displayed very abnormal outcome: Patient 2 with the more abnormal early and late hyperperfusion being the worst. CONCLUSION: PWI in HI encephalopathy did not have the same temporal evolution as DWI, and remained abnormal for more than one week after injury. This could be a marker of an ongoing mechanism underlying severe neonatal HI encephalopathy. Evolution of PWI might help to predict further neurodevelopmental outcome.

Assessment of Channelizing Device Effectiveness on High Speed/High Volume Roadways, 2007

Part 6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) describes several types of channelizing devices that can be used to warn road users and guide them through work zones; these devices include cones, tubular markers, vertical panels, drums, barricades, and temporary raised islands. On higher speed/volume roadways, drums and/or vertical panels have been popular choices in many states, due to their formidable appearance and the enhanced visibility they provide when compared to standard cones. However, due to their larger size, drums also require more effort and storage space to transport, deploy and retrieve. Recent editions of the MUTCD have introduced new devices for channelizing; specifically of interest for this study is a taller (>36 inches) but thinner cone. While this new device does not offer a comparable target value to that of drums, the new devices are significantly larger than standard cones and they offer improved stability as well. In addition, these devices are more easily deployed and stored than drums and they cost less. Further, for applications previously using both drums and tall cones, the use of tall cones only provides the ability for delivery and setup by a single vehicle. An investigation of the effectiveness of the new channelizing devices provides a reference for states to use in selecting appropriate traffic control for high speed, high volume applications, especially for short term or limited duration exposures. This study includes a synthesis of common practices by state DOTs, as well as daytime and nighttime field observations of driver reactions using video detection equipment. The results of this study are promising for the day and night performance of the new tall cones, comparing favorably to the performance of drums when used for channelizing in tapers. The evaluation showed no statistical difference in merge distance and location, shy distance, or operating speed in either daytime or nighttime conditions. The study should provide a valuable resource for state DOTs to utilize in selecting the most effective channelizing device for use on high speed/high volume roadways where timely merging by drivers is critical to safety and mobility.

Role of endothelin receptor subtypes in volume-stimulated ANF secretion.

The role of endothelin (ET) receptors was tested in volume-stimulated atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) secretion in conscious rats. Mean ANF responses to slow infusions (3 x 3.3 ml/8 min) were dose dependently reduced (P < 0.05) by bosentan (nonselective ET-receptor antagonist) from 64.1 +/- 18.1 (SE) pg/ml (control) to 52.6 +/- 16.1 (0.033 mg bosentan/rat), 16.1 +/- 7.6 (0. 33 mg/rat), and 11.6 +/- 6.5 pg/ml (3.3 mg/rat). The ET-A-receptor antagonist BQ-123 (1 mg/rat) had no effect relative to DMSO controls, whereas the putative ET-B antagonist IRL-1038 (0.1 mg/rat) abolished the response. In a second protocol, BQ-123 (>/=0.5 mg/rat) nonsignificantly reduced the peak ANF response (106.1 +/- 23.0 pg/ml) to 74.0 +/- 20.5 pg/ml for slow infusions (3.5 ml/8.5 min) but reduced the peak response (425.3 +/- 58.1 pg/ml) for fast infusions (6.6 ml/1 min) by 49.9% (P < 0.001) and for 340 pmoles ET-1 (328.8 +/- 69.5 pg/ml) by 83.5% (P < 0.0001). BQ-123 abolished the ET-1-induced increase in arterial pressure (21.8 +/- 5.2 mmHg at 1 min). Changes in central venous pressure were similar for DMSO and BQ-123 (slow: 0.91 and 1.14 mmHg; fast: 4.50 and 4.13 mmHg). The results suggest 1) ET-B receptors mainly mediate the ANF secretion to slow volume expansions of <1.6%/min; and 2) ET-A receptors mainly mediate the ANF response to acute volume overloads.

Total and segmental liver volume variations: implications for liver surgery.

BACKGROUND: Liver remnant volumes after major hepatic resection and graft volumes for liver transplantation correlate with surgical outcome. The relative contributions of the hepatic segments to total liver volume (TLV) are not well established. METHODS: TLV and hepatic segment volumes were measured with computed tomography (CT) in 102 patients without liver disease who underwent CT for conditions unrelated to the liver or biliary tree. RESULTS: TLV ranged from 911 to 2729 cm(3). On average, the right liver (segments V, VI, VII, and VIII) contributed approximately two thirds of TLV (997+/-279 cm(3)), and the left liver (segments II, III and IV) contributed approximately one third of TLV (493+/-127 cm(3)). Bisegment II+III (left lateral section) contributed about half the volume of the left liver (242+/-79 cm(3)), or 16% of TLV. Liver volumes varied significantly between patients--the right liver varied from 49% to 82% of TLV, the left liver, 17% to 49% of TLV, and bisegment II+III (left lateral section) 5% to 27% of TLV. Bisegment II+III contributed less than 20% of TLV in more than 75% of patients and the left liver contributed 25% or less of TLV in more than 10% of patients. DISCUSSION: There is clinically significant interpatient variation in hepatic volumes. Therefore, in the absence of appreciable hypertrophy, we recommend routine measurement of the future liver remnant before extended right hepatectomy (right trisectionectomy) and in selected patients before right hepatectomy if a small left liver is anticipated.