Sodium manganates with nominal composition Na2/3MnO2 were prepared by solid state reaction between Na2CO3 and MnCO3 at 1000 °C. The composition and structure of NaxMnO2 were controlled by the rate of ...cooling from the temperature of preparation. This is a consequence of the capability of Na2/3MnO2 to accommodate over-stoichiometric Mn4+ ions up to 12.5%. Structural characterization was carried out by XRD powder diffractions, TEM analysis and Raman spectroscopy. The composition and oxidation state of manganese were determined by chemical analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The manganese distribution in the layers was analysed using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. By quenching from 1000 °C, the orthorhombic distorted modification is stabilized. A phase separation into orthorhombic and hexagonal modifications takes place when Na2/3MnO2 is slow cooled. The structure changes are concomitant with an increase in the oxidation state of Mn. The over-stoichiometric Mn4+ ions are accommodated in the hexagonal modification by creation of vacancies in the MnO2-layers.
Infection of sheep by gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in pastoral systems such as those found in the South Western area of France, the Pyrénées Atlantiques, is one of the main reasons for economic ...loss and degradation of their welfare. In the present study, the efficacy of eprinomectin (EPN) was monitored on farms from this area following suspicion of lack of anthelmintic efficacy. Suspicions were raised by veterinarians, based on clinical signs ranging from milk and body condition loss, to anaemia, and mortality. Resistance was evaluated according to the World Association for the Advancement for Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) guidelines using fecal egg count reduction tests reinforced by individual analysis of drug concentration in the serum of all treated ewes by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). EPN was administered by subcutaneous (SC) and topical (T) route according to manufacturer's requirements, as well as by the oral route (O) with the topical solution according to off-labelled practices in the field. For the first time in France, the presence of resistant isolates of Haemonchus contortus to EPN was observed in 5 dairy sheep farms. The HPLC dosages showed exposure of worms to concentrations compatible with anthelmintic activity for animals treated by the SC and O routes. By contrast, they showed under exposure to the drug of most individuals treated by the T route. EPN is the only null milk withdrawal anthelmintic molecule currently available. The presence of resistant isolates of the pathogenic H. contortus to EPN in this important dairy region requires an urgent change in grazing, and sometimes production, systems.
The aim of this prospective observational study was to assess the performance of ultrasonographic gastric antral area (GAA) to predict gastric fluid volumes of >0.4, >0.8 and >1.5 ml kg−1, in fasted ...women in established labour.
A first ultrasound examination of the antrum was performed, in order to confirm gastric vacuity by using a qualitative score. Baselines GAA measurements were obtained in both supine and right lateral decubitus positions. Thereafter, parturients were allowed to drink clear fluids only. Measurement of GAA was repeated 15 min after last fluid intake, in both supine and right lateral positions. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed to determine the accuracy of GAA to diagnose ingested volumes of >0.4, >0.8 and >1.5 ml kg−1.
Data from forty parturients were analysed. The areas under the ROC curves ranged from 80% to 86%. The cut-off value for antral area measured in supine position, to detect a volume >0.4 ml kg−1, was 387 mm2, with a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 70% and a negative predictive value of 85%. A cut-off value of 608 mm2 predicted a fluid volume >1.5 ml kg−1, with a specificity of 94%, a sensitivity of 75% and a negative predictive value of 92%.
This study provides cut-off values for GAA that could be used in addition to the qualitative assessment of the antrum to define a full stomach in labouring patients.
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We hypothesized that pazopanib is an inhibitor of cisplatin renal transporters OCT2, MATE1 and MATE2-K based on previous studies demonstrating an interaction between tyrosine kinase ...inhibitors and these transporters. Because several combinations of targeted therapies and cytotoxics are currently in development for cancer treatment, such an interaction is worth investigating. Experiments on HEK293 cells stably transfected to express OCT2, MATE1, MATE2-K or an empty vector (EV) were conducted. The inhibitory effect of pazopanib on these transporters was measured using the uptake of fluorescent substrate ASP+ and cisplatin in the different cell lines. The effect of pazopanib on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity was also evaluated. A decrease of ASP+ uptake was observed in OCT2-HEK, MATE1-HEK and MATE2K-HEK cell lines after addition of pazopanib at increasing concentrations. Pazopanib inhibited cisplatin specific uptake in OCT2-HEK, MATE1-HEK and MATE2K-HEK lines. Cytotoxicity experiments showed that co-incubation of cisplatin with pazopanib multiplied up to 2.7, 2.4 and 1.6 times the EC50 values of cisplatin in OCT2-HEK, MATE1-HEK and MATE2K-HEK cell lines respectively, reaching about the same values as in EV-HEK cells. To conclude, pazopanib inhibits OCT2, MATE1 and MATE2-K, which are involved in cisplatin secretion into urine. The combination of these two drugs may lead to an interaction and increase the cisplatin-induced systemic toxicity. Given the wide variability of plasma pazopanib concentrations observed in vivo, the interaction may occur in a clinical setting, particularly in overexposed patients. The existence of a drug–drug interaction should be investigated when pazopanib is associated with a substrate of these transporters.
he thermal degradation mechanism of LixNi0.70Co0.15Al0.15O2 and LixNi0.90Mn0.10O2 (x = 0.50 and 0.30) was studied by thermal gravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry. Correlation with in ...situ X-ray diffraction experiments was then achieved to determine the degradation mechanism and to explain the differences in thermal stability observed depending on the material composition. The degradation occurs in two steps: ...
When immunocompetent people become infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the disease is generally asymptomatic. However, transplacental transmission of T. gondii may lead to severe congenital ...infection including in utero abortion, foetal death, or neurological or ocular damage of the foetus. France has had a national programme to prevent congenital toxoplasmosis since 1978. However, although estimated seroprevalence in pregnant women has fallen from 84% in the 1960s to 44% in 2003, no reliable data have been available on the annual number of cases of congenital toxoplasmosis or the severity of infection. In 2006, the French National Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire) and the National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis recommended that a national laboratory-based surveillance system be used for the surveillance of the disease. In 2007, 31 laboratories reported at least one congenital case through the surveillance system, giving a total of 272 cases. A total of 11 terminations of pregnancy were reported (six abortions and five foetal deaths). Of the live-born cases, 206 were asymptomatic, 28 were symptomatic and seven had a severe form of the disease. As there were 818,700 births in France and French overseas departments in 2007, the overall prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis observed that year was 3.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.9 to 3.7) per 10,000 live births and the incidence rate of the disease at birth was 2.9 (95% CI: 2.5 to 3.2) per 10,000 live births; the estimated incidence rate of symptomatic congenital toxoplasmosis was 0.34 (95% CI: 0.2 to 0.5) cases per 10,000 live births.
Fragmentation of natural vegetation creates one of the largest threats to plant-pollinator interactions. Although fragmentation impacts on plant populations have been explored in many, mainly ...herbaceous, species, the response of wild mass-flowering species is poorly known. Here, we studied 28 heathland patches dominated by the mass-flowering shrub Rhododendron ferrugineum, each presenting different R. ferrugineum floral display sizes (total inflorescence number per patch) and patch isolation (median distance to the three nearest patches). We assessed the impacts of these two factors on (i) heathland patch visitor assemblage (considering R. ferrugineum versus surrounding community) and (ii) R. ferrugineum flower visitation rate and pollen transfer limitation (comparing seed set from emasculated to pollen-supplemented flowers). We found that diversity and abundance of bees visiting R. ferrugineum in heathland patches significantly decreased with decreasing R. ferrugineum floral display, while overall visitor density per patch and flower visitation rate increased. Moreover, a decrease in massive floral display and increase in patch isolation resulted in reduced visitor density in the surrounding community. Even in patches with few individuals, we found disproportionate visitor abundance in R. ferrugineum compared to the surrounding community. Finally, pollen transfer limitation in R. ferrugineum was neither affected by visitation rate nor by patch attributes. By disproportionally attracting pollinators from co-flowering species, and probably promoting geitonogamous pollen transfer, the mass-flowering trait appears adequate to compensate, in terms of conspecific pollen transfer, for the decrease in visitor diversity and abundance and in mate availability, which usually result from population fragmentation.
Despite the growing evidence that dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency (DPD, encoded by the DPYD gene) confers a higher risk of developing severe toxicity, most patients are not screened for ...DPD deficiency before fluoropyrimidine treatment. We report here the genetic and phenotypic analyses of DPD in a family related to a patient who died after a first cycle of 5‐fluorouracil and in 15 additional retrospective patients having a partial DPD deficiency (as measured by plasma dihydrouracil/uracil ratio). The patient with lethal toxicity was found to be a compound heterozygote for two DPYD mutations: a novel 8‐bp duplication (c.168_175dupGAATAATT, p.Phe59Ter) and c.1679T>G (Ile560Ser). The patient's dihydrouracil/uracil ratio indicates complete DPD deficiency. The novel mutation was found in two members of the patient's family. Deleterious DPYD mutations were identified in 9 out of the 15 patients. The relationship between genotype and dihydrouracil/uracil values in the 22 patients of the present study was significant (P = 0.01).
En 2004–2005, dans le cadre du programme « Nutrition, prévention et santé des enfants et des adolescents en Aquitaine », déclinaison régionale du Programme national nutrition santé (PNNS), une ...enquête « état des lieux » sur la pratique de la collation matinale a été menée auprès d’un échantillon représentatif d’écoles maternelles. Cette enquête montrait que plus de 2/3 des enseignants de la région organisaient une collation au sein de leur classe et proposaient majoritairement des gâteaux, biscuits ou bonbons. Suite à cette enquête et dans l’optique d’être cohérent avec les recommandations du PNNS, des actions visant à supprimer cette collation ou à aménager sa composition ont été mises en place depuis septembre 2005. La reconduite de l’enquête au cours de l’année scolaire 2007–2008 a alors permis d’analyser l’évolution des pratiques entre 2004–2005 et 2007–2008. Les résultats montrent que 57,9 % des enseignants organisaient une collation au sein de leur classe en 2007–2008, versus 68,7 % en 2004–2005. En 2004–2005, 22 % des enseignants considéraient la collation comme « non justifiée » versus 44 % en 2007–2008. La composition de cette collation s’était améliorée depuis 2004–2005 puisqu’elle était passée de 8,5 % de fruits ou de lait à 17,7 % en 2007–2008. Les résultats de ces 2 enquêtes sont encourageants, montrant une amélioration des perceptions et des pratiques des enseignants d’école maternelle vis-à-vis de la collation matinale. Ces résultats confortent les partenaires et les acteurs du programme à poursuivre les actions engagées en Aquitaine.
The Nutrition, Prevention and Health for Children and Teenagers in Aquitaine program is a regional implementation of the French National Program of Nutrition and Health (PNNS). The first of two surveys of a representative sample of Aquitaine preschools was conducted in 2004–2005. This survey showed that more than 2/3 of teachers offered a morning snack to their pupils at around 10 o’clock in the morning, mainly composed of sweet cakes, cookies, or candies. Following this initial survey, actions were implemented starting in September 2005, aiming to stop systematic morning snacks or improve their composition. The same survey was repeated during 2007–2008 in order to analyze the changes in morning snack practices in preschools between 2004–2005 and 2007–2008. Data were collected from teachers of Aquitaine's preschools who filled out questionnaires. Schools were randomly chosen according to their size and whether or not they belonged to a priority education zone (ZEP). The results show that 57.9% of teachers organized a morning snack in 2007–2008, versus 68.7% in 2004–2005. In 2004–2005, 22% of teachers considered the morning snack as “unjustified” compared to 44% in 2007–2008. The composition of morning snacks improved: 17.7% of teachers offered fruit and/or milk in 2007–2008 versus 8.5% in 2004–2005. Morning snacks composed of other foods (such as sweets, chocolate pieces, cookies, pastries, bread, fruit juice) decreased from 60.2% in 2004–2005 to 40.2% in 2007–2008. In 2007–2008, 19% of the teachers reported that children had snacks in their schoolbag versus 34% in 2004–2005. The proportion of teachers reporting children having snacks in their schoolbag decreased from 34% in 2004–2005 to 19% in 2007–2008. Comparison between these two surveys is encouraging as it shows an improvement of the perception and practices of teachers regarding morning snacks. These results encourage the partners of this program to continue the fieldwork actions.
Plant mating systems are driven by several pre-pollination factors, including pollinator availability, mate availability and reproductive traits. We investigated the relative contributions of these ...factors to pollination and to realized outcrossing rates in the patchily distributed mass-flowering shrub Rhododendron ferrugineum. We jointly monitored pollen limitation (comparing seed set from intact and pollen-supplemented flowers), reproductive traits (herkogamy, flower size and autofertility) and mating patterns (progeny array analysis) in 28 natural patches varying in the level of pollinator availability (flower visitation rates) and of mate availability (patch floral display estimated as the total number of inflorescences per patch). Our results showed that patch floral display was the strongest determinant of pollination and of the realized outcrossing rates in this mass-flowering species. We found an increase in pollen limitation and in outcrossing rates with increasing patch floral display. Reproductive traits were not significantly related to patch floral display, while autofertility was negatively correlated to outcrossing rates. These findings suggest that mate limitation, arising from high flower visitation rates in small plant patches, resulted in low pollen limitation and high selfing rates, while pollinator limitation, arising from low flower visitation rates in large plant patches, resulted in higher pollen limitation and outcrossing rates. Pollinator-mediated selfing and geitonogamy likely alleviates pollen limitation in the case of reduced mate availability, while reduced pollinator availability (intraspecific competition for pollinator services) may result in the maintenance of high outcrossing rates despite reduced seed production.
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