A review of six years use of a computerised case history in obstetrics (author's transl)

The University Centre for Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Toulouse have been using a computerised record system for obstetrics since 1974. This makes it possible for a review for a review to be undertaken each year of the work carried out in the Service and has made it possible to study over six years the evolution of the characteristics of the population who have been followed, as well as the changes in attitudes and techniques adopted during pregnancy and labour. A study has been carried out on the factors associated with perinatal mortality and prematurity. Computerisation of 13,500 records has made it possible to draw curves of birth weights, according to the duration of the pregnancy, and characterising the service given. Finally the adoption of a prospective record system used in common by several teams and checked by people specialised in this work has improved the quality and quantity of retrieval and has made it possible to foresee cooperative studies between different departments.     

A spherical aberration-corrected 200 kV TEM

A spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected 200 kV TEM was newly developed. The column of the microscope was extended by 25 cm and the inner yoke of the objective lens was modified to insert some parts of the corrector elements. The corrector has two hexapole elements that play a main role in Cs correction and they are placed at a position equivalent to the coma-free point of the objective lens by using two transfer doublet lenses. The Cs correction was successfully carried out by means of the third-order aberration that was generated in the two extended hexapoles. The Cs can be corrected to the desired value and also can be overcompensated in order to produce a negative Cs, as with the corrected Cs of -23 microm shown in this work. The optical system of the corrector does not produce second- and fourth-order aberrations, and can correct residual aberrations up to the third order. All of the corrector elements are computer-controlled and the third-order aberrations are quite stable after they are properly corrected. The resolution of 0.135 nm was experimentally confirmed by the Young's fringe method. Image simulations of a silicon [110] single crystal were made with various Cs and defocus values to demonstrate the effectiveness of arbitral control of Cs.     

Prion diseases: from molecular biology to intervention strategies

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative infectious disorders for which no therapeutic or prophylactic regimens exist. Understanding the molecular process of conformational conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrP(c)) into its pathological isoform (PrP(Sc)) will be necessary to devise effective antiprion strategies. In recent years, new findings in the cell biology of PrP(c), in the molecular pathogenesis of PrP(Sc), and in the cellular quality control mechanisms involved in these scenarios have accumulated. A function of the prion protein in signalling, the possible impact of the proteasome, and aggresomes as intracellular waste deposits have been described. Here, important pathogenetic similarities with the more frequent neurodegenerative disorders are evident. The need for therapeutic, postexposure, and prophylactic possibilities was drastically illustrated by the emergence of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a new human prion disease caused by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) derived prions. Although prion infectivity in humans is usually restricted to the central nervous system, in vCJD patients prions are present in the lympho-reticular system, posing a theoretical risk of accidental human-to-human transmission. A variety of chemical antiprion substances have been reported in in vitro and cell culture based assays or in animal studies. Occasionally, they have also made their way into the first human trials. In addition, various promising interference strategies have been devised in transgenic models, although they are usually hard to transfer into nontransgenic in vivo situations. New findings in the fields of peripheral prion pathogenesis and immune system involvement fuelled the search for antiprion strategies formerly considered to be entirely impossible. This opened the door towards classical immunological interference techniques. Remarkably, passive and even active vaccination approaches now seem to be realistic goals.     

Structural changes of cytochrome c(552) from Thermus thermophilus adsorbed on anionic and hydrophobic surfaces probed by FTIR and 2D-FTIR spectroscopy

The structural changes of cytochrome c(552) bound to anionic and hydrophobic clay surfaces have been investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Binding to the anionic surface of montmorillonite is controlled by electrostatic interactions since addition of electrolyte (0.5 mol L(-1) KCl) causes desorption of more than 2/3 of the protein molecules. Electrostatic binding occurs through the back side of the protein (i.e., remote from the heme site) and is associated only with subtle changes of the secondary structure. In contrast, adsorption to the hydrophobic surface of talc leads to a decrease in alpha-helical structure by ca. 5% and an increase in beta-sheet structure by ca. 6%. These structural changes are attributed to a hydrophobic region on the front surface of cytochrome c(552) close to the partially exposed heme edge. This part on the protein surface is identified as the interaction domain for talc and most likely also serves for binding to the natural reaction partner, a ba(3)-oxidase. Fourier transform infrared spectra of cytochrome c(552) and the clay-cytochrome c(552) complexes have been measured as a function of time following dissolution and suspension in deuterated buffer, respectively. A two-dimensional correlation analysis was applied to these spectra to investigate the dynamics of the structural changes in the protein. For both complexes, adsorption and subsequent unfolding processes in the binding domains are faster than the time resolution of the spectroscopic experiments. Thus, the processes that could be monitored are refolding of peptide segments and side chain rearrangements following the adsorption-induced perturbation of the protein structure and the solvation of the adsorbed protein. In each case, side chain alterations of solvent-exposed tyrosine, aspartate, and glutamate residues were observed. For the cytochrome c(552)-talc complex, these changes are followed by a slow refolding of the peptide chain in the binding domain and, subsequently, a further H/D exchange of amide group protons.     

Desire for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in palliative cancer care.

Objective: To investigate the attitudes of terminally ill individuals toward the legalization of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and to identify those who would personally desire such a death. Design: In the Canadian National Palliative Care Survey, semistructured interviews were administered to 379 patients who were receiving palliative care for cancer. Patients who expressed a desire for physician-hastened death were followed prospectively. Main Outcome Measures: Attitudes toward the legalization of euthanasia or PAS were determined, as was the personal interest in receiving a hastened death. Demographic and clinical characteristics were also recorded, including a 22-item structured interview of symptoms and concerns. Results: There were 238 participants (62.8%) who believed that euthanasia and/or PAS should be legalized, and 151 (39.8%) who would consider making a future request for a physician-hastened death. However, only 22 (5.8%) reported that, if legally permissible, they would initiate such a request right away, in their current situations. This desire for hastened death was associated with lower religiosity (p = .010), reduced functional status (p = .024), a diagnosis of major depression (p     

Inverse Synthetic Aperture Secondary Radar Concept for Precise Wireless Positioning

In this paper, the novel inverse synthetic aperture secondary radar wireless positioning technique is introduced. The proposed concept allows for a precise spatial localization of a backscatter transponder even in dense multipath environments. A novel secondary radar signal evaluation concept compensates for the unknown modulation phase of the returned signal and thus leads to radar signals comparable to common primary radar. With use of this concept, inverse synthetic aperture radar algorithms can be applied to the signals of backscatter transponder systems. In simulations and first experiments, we used a broadband holographic reconstruction principle to realize the inverse synthetic aperture approach. The movement of the transponder along a short arbitrary aperture path is determined with assisting relative sensors (dead reckoning or inertia sensors). A set of signals measured along the aperture is adaptively focused to the transponder position. By this focusing technique, multipath reflections can be suppressed impressively and a precise indoor positioning becomes feasible. With our technique, completely new and powerful options for integrated navigation and sensor fusion in RF identification systems and wireless local positioning systems are now possible.