Evidence for the expression of native Mycobacterium tuberculosis phospholipase C: recognition by immune sera and detection of promoter activity

The genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv contains three contiguous genes (plc-a, plc-b and plc-c) which are similar to the Pseudomonas aeruginosa phospholipase C (PLC) genes. Expression of mycobacterial PLC-a and PLC-b in E. coli and M. smegmatis has been reported, whereas expression of the native proteins in M. tuberculosis H37Rv has not been demonstrated. The objective of the present study was to demonstrate that native PLC-a is expressed in M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Sera from mice immunized with recombinant PLC-a expressed in E. coli were used in immunoblots to evaluate PLC-a expression. The immune serum recognized a 49-kDa protein in immunoblots against M. tuberculosis extracts. No bands were visible in M. tuberculosis culture supernatants or extracts from M. avium, M. bovis and M. smegmatis. A 550-bp DNA fragment upstream of plc-a was cloned in the pJEM12 vector and the existence of a functional promoter was evaluated by detection of ß-galactosidase activity. ß-Galactosidase activity was detected in M. smegmatis transformed with recombinant pJEM12 grown in vitro and inside macrophages. The putative promoter was active both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that expression is constitutive. In conclusion, expression of non-secreted native PLC-a was demonstrated in M. tuberculosis.

Semantic and fuzzy modelling for human behaviour recognition in smart spaces : a case study on ambient assisted living.

Human activity recognition in everyday environments is a critical, but challenging task in Ambient Intelligence applications to achieve proper Ambient Assisted Living, and key challenges still remain to be dealt with to realize robust methods. One of the major limitations of the Ambient Intelligence systems today is the lack of semantic models of those activities on the environment, so that the system can recognize the speci c activity being performed by the user(s) and act accordingly. In this context, this thesis addresses the general problem of knowledge representation in Smart Spaces. The main objective is to develop knowledge-based models, equipped with semantics to learn, infer and monitor human behaviours in Smart Spaces. Moreover, it is easy to recognize that some aspects of this problem have a high degree of uncertainty, and therefore, the developed models must be equipped with mechanisms to manage this type of information. A fuzzy ontology and a semantic hybrid system are presented to allow modelling and recognition of a set of complex real-life scenarios where vagueness and uncertainty are inherent to the human nature of the users that perform it. The handling of uncertain, incomplete and vague data (i.e., missing sensor readings and activity execution variations, since human behaviour is non-deterministic) is approached for the rst time through a fuzzy ontology validated on real-time settings within a hybrid data-driven and knowledgebased architecture. The semantics of activities, sub-activities and real-time object interaction are taken into consideration. The proposed framework consists of two main modules: the low-level sub-activity recognizer and the high-level activity recognizer. The rst module detects sub-activities (i.e., actions or basic activities) that take input data directly from a depth sensor (Kinect). The main contribution of this thesis tackles the second component of the hybrid system, which lays on top of the previous one, in a superior level of abstraction, and acquires the input data from the rst module's output, and executes ontological inference to provide users, activities and their in uence in the environment, with semantics. This component is thus knowledge-based, and a fuzzy ontology was designed to model the high-level activities. Since activity recognition requires context-awareness and the ability to discriminate among activities in di erent environments, the semantic framework allows for modelling common-sense knowledge in the form of a rule-based system that supports expressions close to natural language in the form of fuzzy linguistic labels. The framework advantages have been evaluated with a challenging and new public dataset, CAD-120, achieving an accuracy of 90.1% and 91.1% respectively for low and high-level activities. This entails an improvement over both, entirely data-driven approaches, and merely ontology-based approaches. As an added value, for the system to be su ciently simple and exible to be managed by non-expert users, and thus, facilitate the transfer of research to industry, a development framework composed by a programming toolbox, a hybrid crisp and fuzzy architecture, and graphical models to represent and con gure human behaviour in Smart Spaces, were developed in order to provide the framework with more usability in the nal application. As a result, human behaviour recognition can help assisting people with special needs such as in healthcare, independent elderly living, in remote rehabilitation monitoring, industrial process guideline control, and many other cases. This thesis shows use cases in these areas.

The non-palindromic adaptor-PCR method for the identification of the T-cell receptor genes of an interferon-gamma-secreting T-cell hybridomaspecific for trans-sialidase, an immunodominant Trypanosoma cruzi antigen

Cloning of the T-cell receptor genes is a critical step when generating T-cell receptor transgenic mice. Because T-cell receptor molecules are clonotypical, isolation of their genes requires reverse transcriptase-assisted PCR using primers specific for each different Valpha or Vß genes or by the screening of cDNA libraries generated from RNA obtained from each individual T-cell clone. Although feasible, these approaches are laborious and costly. The aim of the present study was to test the application of the non-palindromic adaptor-PCR method as an alternative to isolate the genes encoding the T-cell receptor of an antigen-specific T-cell hybridoma. For this purpose, we established hybridomas specific for trans-sialidase, an immunodominant Trypanosoma cruzi antigen. These T-cell hybridomas were characterized with regard to their ability to secrete interferon-gamma, IL-4, and IL-10 after stimulation with the antigen. A CD3+, CD4+, CD8- interferon-gamma-producing hybridoma was selected for the identification of the variable regions of the T-cell receptor by the non-palindromic adaptor-PCR method. Using this methodology, we were able to rapidly and efficiently determine the variable regions of both T-cell receptor chains. The results obtained by the non-palindromic adaptor-PCR method were confirmed by the isolation and sequencing of the complete cDNA genes and by the recognition with a specific antibody against the T-cell receptor variable ß chain. We conclude that the non-palindromic adaptor-PCR method can be a valuable tool for the identification of the T-cell receptor transcripts of T-cell hybridomas and may facilitate the generation of T-cell receptor transgenic mice.

Rigid body dynamics and Kalman filtering

X-ray computed log tomography has always been applied for qualitative reconstructions. In most cases, a series of consecutive slices of the timber are scanned to estimate the 3D image reconstruction of the entire log. However, the unexpected movement of the timber under study influences the quality of image reconstruction since the position and orientation of some scanned slices can be incorrectly estimated. In addition, the reconstruction time remains a significant challenge for practical applications. The present study investigates the possibility to employ modern physics engines for the problem of estimating the position of a moving rigid body and its scanned slices which are subject to X-ray computed tomography. The current work includes implementations of the extended Kalman filter and an algebraic reconstruction method for fan-bean computer tomography. In addition, modern techniques such as NVidia PhysX and CUDA are used in current study. As the result, it is numerically shown that it is possible to apply the extended Kalman filter together with a real-time physics engine, known as PhysX, in order to determine the position of a moving object. It is shown that the position of the rigid body can be determined based only on reconstructions of its slices. However, the simulation of the body movement sometimes is subject to an error during Kalman filter employment as PhysX is not always able to continue simulating the movement properly because of incorrect state estimation.

[Réunion de personnes non identifiées] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

Référence bibliographique : Rol, 58824

[Joueuse de golf non identifiée] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

Référence bibliographique : Rol, 59840

[Illustrations de Mémoires et instructions pour l'establissement des meuriers et art de faire la soye en France] / [Non identifié] ; Jean-Baptiste Le Tellier, aut. du texte

Comprend : [Page de titre : branches de murier avec vers à soie. XVIIè siècle.] [cote : microfilm m 1902/R 49699] ; [Fig. p.14 : claies permettant de faire sècher les feuilles de murier pour nourrir les vers à soie. XVIIè siècle.] [cote : microfilm m 1902/R 49699] ; [Fig. p.21 : moment où les vers à soie commencent à tisser leurs cocons. Quatrième et dernière mue. Rameaux de murier. XVIIè siècle. ] [cote : microfilm m 1902/R 49699] ; [Fig. p.24 : manière de tirer le fil de soie des cocons. XVIIè siècle.] [cote : microfilm m 1902/R 49699] ; [Fig. p.26 : manière d'obtenir la semance des vers à soie. XVIIè siècle.] [cote : microfilm m 1902/R 49699]

Recueil de traités de médecine et Image du monde.

Contient : Recueil de recettes médicales, de Jean Picart, Jean de Chalon, Jean d'Aunoy, etc., précédé d'un prologue, qui débute : « Tres noble et poissant prince mons. Charle, conte de Valoys, de Chartres, d'Alenchon et d'Anjou, fist faire cest livret, qui est bon et profitable pour gairir toutes manieres de plaies vielles et nouvelles, et pour aucunes autres maladies aussi » ; « Livre de Clergie en romans, qui est appelée l'Image du monde, » par GAUTIER DE METZ. — Rédaction non interpolée ; ALEBRAND de Florence, Régime du corps ; divisé en quatre livres, incomplet du premier feuillet, qui contenait la préface ; « Traictié que les maistres de medicine et les astronomiens de Paris firent de la pestilence, que fisique apelle epydimie, en l'an de l'incarnation Nostre Seignieur MCCCXLVIII, au mandement de tres noble et trespoissant prince le roi de France, pour cause de la tres grant et tres merveilleuse epydimie, qui lors couroit par son royaume. — Veus et considérés les effets merveilleus desquels la cause est tapie... » (Traduction de la Consultation latine, publiée par M. J. Michon en 1860 et par M. É. Rébouis en 1888)

GAUTIER DE METZ, Image du monde.

Contient : Mappemonde peinte ; « Bestiaires, » poème de GUILLAUME LE CLERG ; « Lapidaires » de MARBODE, traduction en vers par GUILLAUME LE CLERC (ms. A de L. Pannier)