The Impact of the Extent of Lymphadenectomy on Oncologic Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer : A Systematic Review

Copyright © 2014 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPostprin

Connaissance des émissions gazeuses dans les différentes filières de gestion des effluents porcins

Cet article résume les apports du programme "Porcherie verte" dans la connaissance et la maîtrise des émissions gazeuses intervenant lors des différentes phases de l'élevage porcin. Ces émissions comprennent des gaz à effet de serre, particulièrement le méthane (CH4) et le protoxyde d'azote (N2O), ainsi que l'ammoniac (NH3), nocif pour les animaux et pour l'Homme et qui a un impact sur l'environnement en termes d'acidification et d'eutrophisation. Les émissions de NH3 ont été modélisées pour le cas des bâtiments d'élevage sur caillebottis. Ces émissions peuvent être réduites en diminuant la teneur en protéines de l'aliment distribué aux animaux ou en renouvelant fréquemment le lisier dans les bâtiments. Le traitement biologique du lisier permet aussi de réduire ces émissions, surtout en l'absence de séparation de phases. Le brassage du lisier dans les fosses de stockage les favorise au contraire. Les émissions de NH3 varient fortement en fonction du substrat utilisé pour la litière et de son mode de conduite. Pendant le compostage, elles dépendent aussi fortement des caractéristiques initiales du substrat composté, mais aussi de la technique utilisée. Les émissions de N2O sont en général plus élevées avec de la litière que sur caillebotis, mais il y a de très fortes variations en fonction de son mode de conduite. Le compostage peut aussi conduire à des émissions de N2O, tout particulièrement s'il est pratiqué en couche mince. Lors du traitement biologique des lisiers, ces émissions sont assez faibles mais dépendent de la technique d'aération utilisée. Dans le sol, les émissions de N2O ne sont pas plus importantes après apports d'effluents animaux qu'après apports de fertilisants minéraux et restent difficiles à quantifier. Les émissions de CH4 sont plus faibles sur litière que sur caillebotis. Elles sont faibles également lors du compostage, sauf s'il est réalisé en couche mince. Le traitement biologique du lisier conduit à une forte réduction des émissions par rapport à un simple stockage. Les litières et le compostage ont une excellente image de marque auprès du grand public et sont souvent réputées avoir beaucoup moins d'impact sur l'environnement que le lisier. Nous avons pu montrer cependant qu'elles génèrent en général davantage de gaz à effet de serre, que ce soit de façon directe (émissions de N2O) ou indirecte (gaspillage de fertilisants azotés dont la synthèse est très "énergivore"), et ce d'autant plus que l'on cherche à rogner sur les coûts en augmentant la densité animale ou en diminuant la quantité de paille utilisée comme substrat de compostage. De même, le traitement biologique du lisier, qui semble à première vue avoir un impact favorable puisqu'il conduit à réduire les émissions de NH3 sans trop relarguer de N2O, a en fait un bilan environnemental très défavorable du fait qu'il est très "énergivore" aussi bien directement qu'indirectement (gaspillage de fertilisants). On a là un double transfert de pollution, du sol et de l'eau vers l'atmosphère d'une part, et de l'exploitation vers l'extérieur de l'exploitation d'autre part. (Résumé d'auteur

On the Dominance of Trivial Knots among SAPs on a Cubic Lattice

The knotting probability is defined by the probability with which an $N$-step self-avoiding polygon (SAP) with a fixed type of knot appears in the configuration space. We evaluate these probabilities for some knot types on a simple cubic lattice. For the trivial knot, we find that the knotting probability decays much slower for the SAP on the cubic lattice than for continuum models of the SAP as a function of $N$. In particular the characteristic length of the trivial knot that corresponds to a `half-life' of the knotting probability is estimated to be $2.5 \times 10^5$ on the cubic lattice.Comment: LaTeX2e, 21 pages, 8 figur

Effective interaction between helical bio-molecules

The effective interaction between two parallel strands of helical bio-molecules, such as deoxyribose nucleic acids (DNA), is calculated using computer simulations of the "primitive" model of electrolytes. In particular we study a simple model for B-DNA incorporating explicitly its charge pattern as a double-helix structure. The effective force and the effective torque exerted onto the molecules depend on the central distance and on the relative orientation. The contributions of nonlinear screening by monovalent counterions to these forces and torques are analyzed and calculated for different salt concentrations. As a result, we find that the sign of the force depends sensitively on the relative orientation. For intermolecular distances smaller than $6\AA$ it can be both attractive and repulsive. Furthermore we report a nonmonotonic behaviour of the effective force for increasing salt concentration. Both features cannot be described within linear screening theories. For large distances, on the other hand, the results agree with linear screening theories provided the charge of the bio-molecules is suitably renormalized.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures included in text, 100 bibliog

Encuesta de datos demográficos y fenotípicos de razas locales de cerdos del proyecto TREASURE

The paper reports the results of a survey on the demographic and phenotypic characterization of 20 European local pig breeds involved in the H2020 TREASURE project including information on: demographic parameters, main morphological features, reproductive information, additional information collected at herd-level (i.e. temperament, holding, mating practices), origins and development of the breeds. Almost all the breeds (18 out of 20) possess a herd book even if the starting year is highly variable (from 1980 to 2006). Number of breeding females ranged from 24 (Moravka) to over 200,000 heads (Ibérico). Male/female ratio varied greatly with the highest values for the Italian breeds probably due to the different policy of animal recording. Almost all the breeds undergo a conservation program whereas really few are interested by other conservation techniques and for less than five breeds data related to effective number and inbreeding coefficient are easily available. Average values for teat number, litter size and weaned piglets are 12, 8 and 6 respectively with a great potential for their improvement. The depicted scenario is highly diversified and the data collected represent the starting point for the achievement of a collective trademark under the umbrella of the TREASURE project

Dealing with uncertainties in environmental burden of disease assessment

Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) combine the number of people affected by disease or mortality in a population and the duration and severity of their condition into one number. The environmental burden of disease is the number of DALYs that can be attributed to environmental factors. Environmental burden of disease estimates enable policy makers to evaluate, compare and prioritize dissimilar environmental health problems or interventions. These estimates often have various uncertainties and assumptions which are not always made explicit. Besides statistical uncertainty in input data and parameters – which is commonly addressed – a variety of other types of uncertainties may substantially influence the results of the assessment. We have reviewed how different types of uncertainties affect environmental burden of disease assessments, and we give suggestions as to how researchers could address these uncertainties. We propose the use of an uncertainty typology to identify and characterize uncertainties. Finally, we argue that uncertainties need to be identified, assessed, reported and interpreted in order for assessment results to adequately support decision making

Intratumoral macrophages contribute to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in solid tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several stromal cell subtypes including macrophages contribute to tumor progression by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) at the invasive front, a mechanism also linked to metastasis. Tumor associated macrophages (TAM) reside mainly at the invasive front but they also infiltrate tumors and in this process they mainly assume a tumor promoting phenotype. In this study, we asked if TAMs also regulate EMT intratumorally. We found that TAMs through TGF-β signaling and activation of the β-catenin pathway can induce EMT in intratumoral cancer cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We depleted macrophages in F9-teratocarcinoma bearing mice using clodronate-liposomes and analyzed the tumors for correlations between gene and protein expression of EMT-associated and macrophage markers. The functional relationship between TAMs and EMT was characterized <it>in vitro </it>in the murine F9 and mammary gland NMuMG cells, using a conditioned medium culture approach. The clinical relevance of our findings was evaluated on a tissue microarray cohort representing 491 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gene expression analysis of F9-teratocarcinomas revealed a positive correlation between TAM-densities and mesenchymal marker expression. Moreover, immunohistochemistry showed that TAMs cluster with EMT phenotype cells in the tumors. <it>In vitro</it>, long term exposure of F9-and NMuMG-cells to macrophage-conditioned medium led to decreased expression of the epithelial adhesion protein E-cadherin, activation of the EMT-mediating β-catenin pathway, increased expression of mesenchymal markers and an invasive phenotype. In a candidate based screen, macrophage-derived TGF-β was identified as the main inducer of this EMT-associated phenotype. Lastly, immunohistochemical analysis of NSCLC patient samples identified a positive correlation between intratumoral macrophage densities, EMT markers, intraepithelial TGF-β levels and tumor grade.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Data presented here identify a novel role for macrophages in EMT-promoted tumor progression. The observation that TAMs cluster with intra-epithelial fibroblastoid cells suggests that the role of macrophages in tumor-EMT extends beyond the invasive front. As macrophage infiltration and pronounced EMT tumor phenotype correlate with increased grade in NSCLC patients, we propose that TAMs also promote tumor progression by inducing EMT locally in tumors.</p