Effects of an early intervention on maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms and the quality of mother-infant interaction: The case of preterm birth

Preterm birth may represent a traumatic situation for both parents and a stressful situation for the infant, potentially leading to difficulties in mother-infant relationships. This study aimed to investigate the impact of an early intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms, and on the quality of mother-infant interactions, in a sample of very preterm infants and their mothers. Half of the very preterm infants involved in the study (n=26) were randomly assigned to a 3-step early intervention program (at 33 and 42 weeks after conception and at 4 months' corrected age). Both groups of preterm infants (with and without intervention) were compared to a group of full-term infants. The impact of the intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms was assessed 42 weeks after conception and when the infants were 4 and 12 months of age. The impact of the intervention on the quality of mother-infant interactions was assessed when the infants were 4 months old. Results showed a lowering of mothers' posttraumatic stress symptoms between 42 weeks and 12 months in the group of preterm infants who received the intervention. Moreover, an enhancement in maternal sensitivity and infant cooperation during interactions was found at 4 months in the group with intervention. In the case of a preterm birth, an early intervention aimed at enhancing the quality of the mother-infant relationship can help to alleviate maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms and may have a positive impact on the quality of mother-infant interactions.

Post-Nonlinear Mixtures and Beyond

Although sources in general nonlinear mixturm arc not separable iising only statistical independence, a special and realistic case of nonlinear mixtnres, the post nonlinear (PNL) mixture is separable choosing a suited separating system. Then, a natural approach is based on the estimation of tho separating Bystem parameters by minimizing an indcpendence criterion, like estimated mwce mutual information. This class of methods requires higher (than 2) order statistics, and cannot separate Gaarsian sources. However, use of [weak) prior, like source temporal correlation or nonstationarity, leads to other source separation Jgw rithms, which are able to separate Gaussian sourra, and can even, for a few of them, works with second-order statistics. Recently, modeling time correlated s011rces by Markov models, we propose vcry efficient algorithms hmed on minimization of the conditional mutual information. Currently, using the prior of temporally correlated sources, we investigate the fesihility of inverting PNL mixtures with non-bijectiw non-liacarities, like quadratic functions. In this paper, we review the main ICA and BSS results for riunlinear mixtures, present PNL models and algorithms, and finish with advanced resutts using temporally correlated snu~sm

Un billet de loterie, le numéro 9672 ; Suivi de Frritt-Flacc / par Jules Verne ; dessins par George Roux

Collection : Bibliothèque d'éducation et de récréation

Detection of hemorrhage source: the diagnostic value of post-mortem CT-angiography.

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of post-mortem computed tomography angiography (PMCTA) to conventional, ante-mortem computed tomography (CT)-scan, CT-angiography (CTA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the detection and localization of the source of bleeding in cases of acute hemorrhage with fatal outcomes. The medical records and imaging scans of nine individuals who underwent a conventional, ante-mortem CT-scan, CTA or DSA and later died in the hospital as a result of an acute hemorrhage were reviewed. Post-mortem computed tomography angiography, using multi-phase post-mortem CTA, as well as medico-legal autopsies were performed. Localization accuracy of the bleeding was assessed by comparing the diagnostic findings of the different techniques. The results revealed that data from ante-mortem and post-mortem radiological examinations were similar, though the PMCTA showed a higher sensitivity for detecting the hemorrhage source than did ante-mortem radiological investigations. By comparing the results of PMCTA and conventional autopsy, much higher sensitivity was noted in PMCTA in identifying the source of the bleeding. In fact, the vessels involved were identified in eight out of nine cases using PMCTA and only in three cases through conventional autopsy. Our study showed that PMCTA, similar to clinical radiological investigations, is able to precisely identify lesions of arterial and/or venous vessels and thus determine the source of bleeding in cases of acute hemorrhages with fatal outcomes.

Décès après interventions chirurgicales : investigation par l'angio-TDM post-mortem.

Objectifs: Des décès suite à une intervention chirurgicale sont autopsiés dans le but de déterminer le cause de la mort et investiguer une éventuelle erreur médicale . Le butde l'étude est d'évaluer l'utilité de l'angio-TDM post mortem pour ce type d'investigations médico-légales délicates. Matériels et méthodes: 145 cas médico-légaux ont été investigués. De ce collectif, huit cas impliquaient une intervention chirurgicale pour laquelle le décès pouvait être éventuellementimputé. Les résultats des examens radiologiques ont été comparés avec ceux obtenus par l'autopsie conventionnelle. Résultats: La cause du décès était soit un choc hémorragique ou septique, soit la combinaison d'une hémorragie et d'une aspiration de sang. Le diagnostic a pu être posélors de l'autopsie conventionnelle de même que lors de l'examen radiologique. Cependant, l'examen par angio-TDM a permis de détecter la source exacte deshémorragies dans cinq des six cas, alors que l'autopsie n'a permis de localiser le site hémorragique approximativement que dans trois cas . Conclusion: L'angio-TDM post-mortem est recommandée dans les cas de décès post-interventionnels. Elle permet de documenter les constatations et de réexaminer les casultérieurement. De plus, la source exacte des hémorragies peut être localisée ce qui est d'une grande importance dans ce genre de cas.

Carbon and nitrogen partitioning during post-anthesis is conditioned by N fertilization and sink strength in three cereals

Further knowledge of the processes conditioning nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is of great relevance to crop productivity. The aim of this paper was characterise C and N partitioning during grain filling and their implications for NUE. Cereals such as bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Califa sur), triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack cv. Imperioso) and tritordeum (× Tritordeum Asch. & Graebn line HT 621) were grown under low (LN, 5 mm NH4NO3) and high (HN, 15 mm NH4NO3) N conditions. We conducted simultaneous double labelling (12CO2 and 15NH415NO3) in order to characterise C and N partitioning during grain filling. Although triticale plants showed the largest total and ear dry matter values in HN conditions, the large investment in shoot and root biomass negatively affected ear NUE. Tritordeum was the only genotype that increased NUE in both N treatments (NUEtotal), whereas in wheat, no significant effect was detected. N labelling revealed that N fertilisation during post-anthesis was more relevant for wheat and tritordeum grain filling than for triticale. The study also revealed that the investments of C and N in flag leaves and shoots, together with the"waste" of photoassimilates in respiration, conditioned the NUE of plants, and especially under LN. These results suggest that C and N use by these plants needs to be improved in order to increase ear C and N sinks, especially under LN. It is also remarkable that even though tritordeum shows the largest increase in NUE, the low yield of this cereal limits its agronomic value.

Le Pastoral de saint Grégoire, suivi du traité de Helpéric sur le comput.

Venu de la bibliothèque du chapitre de Saint-Omer.

Evidence for a new post-translational modification in Staphylococcus aureus: Hydroxymethylation of asparagine and glutamine.

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen whose infectious capacity depends on surface proteins, which enable bacteria to colonize and invade host tissues and cells. We analyzed "trypsin-shaved" surface proteins of S. aureus cultures by high resolution LC-MS/MS at different growth stages and culture conditions. Some modified peptides were identified, with a mass shift corresponding to the addition of a CH(2)O group (+30.0106u). We present evidence that this shift corresponds to a hyxdroxymethylation of asparagine and glutamine residues. This known but poorly documented post-translational modification was only found in a few proteins of S. aureus grown under specific conditions. This specificity seemed to exclude the hypothesis of an artifact due to sample preparation. Altogether hydroxymethylation was observed in 35 peptides from 15 proteins in our dataset, which corresponded to 41 modified sites, 35 of them being univocally localized. While no function can currently be assigned to this post-translational modification, we hypothesize that it could be linked to modulation of virulence factors, since it was mostly found on some surface proteins of S. aureus.