Simple models for containment of a pandemic.

Stochastic simulations of network models have become the standard approach to studying epidemics. We show that many of the predictions of these models can also be obtained from simple classical deterministic compartmental models. We suggest that simple models may be a better way to plan for a threatening pandemic with location and parameters as yet unknown, reserving more detailed network models for disease outbreaks already underway in localities where the social networks are well identified.We formulate compartmental models to describe outbreaks of influenza and attempt to manage a disease outbreak by vaccination or antiviral treatment. The models give an important prediction that may not have been noticed in other models, namely that the number of doses of antiviral treatment required is extremely sensitive to the number of initial infectives. This suggests that the actual number of doses needed cannot be estimated with any degree of reliability. The model is applicable to pre-epidemic vaccination, such as annual vaccination programs in anticipation of an 'ordinary' influenza outbreak with limited drift, and as a combination of treatment both before and during an epidemic.     

GGM: efficient navigation and mining in distributed genomedical data

The integration of genomics and patient related data is considered as one of the most promising investigation topic in health care research. Started in 2004, the Grid for Geno Medicine (GGM) project aims at providing a comprehensive grid software infrastructure designed to allow biologists to mine and analyze relationships between medical, genetic, and genomic data stored in distributed datawarehouses. The proposed layered service oriented architecture offers a number of independent but compliant services that can be deployed in a grid environment. This paper presents these services insisting on their integration into a common software platform, the use case that is carried out. It also presents the current state of the developments and of the performance evaluations.     

Full-field birefringence imaging by thermal-light polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. II. Instrument and results

We describe an instrument for measuring the magnitude of birefringence of tomographic images and the principal directions of axes that use thermal-light polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. The instrument permits full-field measurements with an axial resolution of 1.5 microm and a transverse resolution limited by diffraction. We obtained a sensitivity of 84 dB, limited by shot noise, when we integrated the signal for 1 s. We verified the validity of the measurement by measuring the birefringence of a variable phase shifter. We present typical results obtained with optical samples.     

Directed three-dimensional patterning of self-assembled peptide fibrils

Molecular self-assembly is emerging as a viable "bottom-up" approach for fabricating nanostructures. Self-assembled biomolecular structures are particularly attractive, due to their versatile chemistry, molecular recognition properties, and biocompatibility. Among them, amyloid protein and peptide fibrils are self-assembled nanostructures with unique physical and chemical stability, formed from quite simple building blocks; their ability to work as a template for the fabrication of low resistance, conducting nanowires has already been demonstrated. The precise positioning of peptide-based nanostructures is an essential part of their use in technological applications, and their controlled assembly, positioning, and integration into microsystems is a problem of considerable current interest. To date, their positioning has been limited to their placement on flat surfaces or to the fabrication of peptide arrays. Here, we propose a new method for the precise, three-dimensional patterning of amyloid fibrils. The technique, which combines femtosecond laser technology and biotin-avidin mediated assembly on a polymeric matrix, can be applied in a wide variety of fields, from molecular electronics to tissue engineering.     

Compact microelectrode array system: tool for in situ monitoring of drug effects on neurotransmitter release from neural cells

This paper presents a compact microelectrode array (MEA) system, to study potassium ion-induced dopamine release from PC12 neural cells, without relying on a micromanipulator and a microscope. The MEA chip was integrated with a custom-made "test jig", which provides a robust electrical interfacing tool between the microchip and the macroenvironment, together with a potentiostat and a microfluidic syringe pump. This integrated system significantly simplifies the operation procedures, enhances sensing performance, and reduces fabrication costs. The achieved detection limit for dopamine is 3.8 x 10-2 muM (signal/noise, S/N = 3) and the dopamine linear calibration range is up to 7.39 +/- 0.06 muM (mean +/- SE). The effects of the extracelluar matrix collagen coating of the microelectrodes on dopamine sensing behaviors, as well as the influences of K+ and l-3,4-digydroxyphenylalanine concentrations and incubation times on dopamine release, were extensively studied. The results show that our system is well suited for biologists to study chemical release from living cells as well as drug effects on secreting cells. The current system also shows a potential for further improvements toward a multichip array system for drug screening applications.     

Sensitivity analysis in presence of model uncertainty and correlated inputs

The first motivation of this work is to take into account model uncertainty in sensitivity analysis (SA). We present with some examples, a methodology to treat uncertainty due to a mutation of the studied model. Development of this methodology has highlighted an important problem, frequently encountered in SA: how to interpret sensitivity indices when random inputs are non-independent? This paper suggests a strategy for the problem of SA of models with non-independent random inputs. We propose a new application of the multidimensional generalization of classical sensitivity indices, resulting from group sensitivities (sensitivity of the output of the model to a group of inputs), and describe an estimation method based on Monte-Carlo simulations. Practical and theoretical applications illustrate the interest of this method.     

The role of the Bézier extraction operator for T‐splines of arbitrary degree: linear dependencies,partition of unity property,nesting behaviour and local refinement

We determine linear dependencies and the partition of unity property of T‐spline meshes of arbitrary degree using the Bézier extraction operator. Local refinement strategies for standard, semi‐standard and non‐standard T‐splines – also by making use of the Bézier extraction operator – are presented for meshes of even and odd polynomial degrees. A technique is presented to determine the nesting between two T‐spline meshes, again exploiting the Bézier extraction operator. Finally, the hierarchical refinement of standard, semi‐standard and non‐standard T‐spline meshes is discussed. This technique utilises the reconstruction operator, which is the inverse of the Bézier extraction operator. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protein encapsulation in functionalized sol–gel silica: influence of organosilanes and main silica precursors

Journal of Materials Science - Over the last few years, bone repair has increasingly gained in importance. In recent years, considerable attention has been given to the administration of...     

From a two-dimensional chemical pattern to a three-dimensional topology through selective inversion of a liquid-liquid bilayer

Soft organic surfaces with more and more complex topologies are required daily to engineer appropriate microstructures for many different applications such as DNA array technology, biological optics for advanced photonic systems and microfluidics. Complementarily to conventional lithographic processes, several pioneering methods have been developed recently, by controlling phase separation of polymer blends, spinodal decomposition of homopolymers or by using the action of additional external forces driving diverse instabilities. Here we present a method that not only provides original concepts towards the three-dimensional (3D) structuring of liquids, on the basis of the synergistic effects of molecular diffusion and confined nucleation, but also suggests original solutions for the transport, mixing and filtering of small volumes of liquid. Through the intrinsic destabilization of a liquid-liquid bilayer, the 2D pattern of a chemically structured surface with 'hydrophilic' and 'hydrophobic' domains is transferred to a solid/liquid interface as a 3D topography with either 'positive' or 'negative' replication. This easy-to-use process has potential applications in various technological realms requiring a specific topography at interfaces such as microfluidics or biosensors.     

Influence of chemical vapour infiltration conditions of acetylene on the structural and textural properties of EMT-type zeolite nanocasted carbon replica

Ordered microporous carbons were synthesized by the nanocasting process using EMC-2 zeolite (EMT structure type) and acetylene as a mould and a carbon precursor, respectively. In this study, the conditions of the synthesis methods for preparing the ordered microporous carbons were examined. Temperature and duration parameters for the chemical vapour infiltration were optimized to yield an ordered carbon replica that displays up the three XRD diffraction peaks. This faithful replica exhibits also a high micropore volume (1.3–1.4 cm³/g) with mainly supermicroporosity, a high specific surface area (>2900 m²/g) and nearly no mesoporosity. The pore size distribution calculated with NLDFT method from nitrogen physisorption data shows three maxima at 0.6, 1.0 and 1.8 nm diameters. The second is due to the zeolite wall dissolution. The first and the third are attributed to different types of default. Compared to the classical two-step procedure, the direct infiltration with acetylene appears an interesting route for the preparation of ordered microporous carbon replicas with high micropore volume.