ELT instrumentation for seeing-limited and AO-corrected observations: A comparison

The next generation of large ground-based optical and infrared telescopes will provide new challenges for designers of astronomical instrumentation. The varied science cases for these extremely large telescopes (ELTs) require a large range of angular resolutions, from near diffraction-limited performance via correction of atmospheric turbulence using adaptive optics (AO), to seeing-limited observations. Moreover, the scientific output of the telescopes must also be optimized with the consideration that, with current technology, AO is relatively ineffective at visible wavelengths, and that atmospheric conditions will often preclude high-performance AO. This paper explores some of the issues that arise when designing ELT instrumentation that operates across a range of angular resolutions and wavelengths. We show that instruments designed for seeing-limited or seeing-enhanced observations have particular challenges in terms of size and mass, while diffraction-limited instruments are not as straightforward as might be imagined.Comment: 8 pages, to appear in the SPIE proceedings "ELTs: Which Wavelengths?", from the Lund Symposium on occasion of Arne Ardeberg's retiremen

Cost effectivenes of erlotinib versus chemotherapy for first-line treatment of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in fit elderly patients participating in a prospective phase 2 study (GFPC 0504)

BACKGROUND: The median age of newly diagnosed patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is 67 years, and one-third of patients are older than 75 years. Elderly patients are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of chemotherapy, and targeted therapy might thus be a relevant alternative. The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of erlotinib followed by chemotherapy after progression, compared to the reverse strategy, in fit elderly patients with advanced NSCLC participating in a prospective randomized phase 2 trial (GFPC0504). METHODS: Outcomes (PFS and overall survival) and costs (limited to direct medical costs, from the third-party payer perspective) were prospectively collected until second progression. Costs after progression and health utilities (based on disease states and grade 3–4 toxicities) were derived from the literature. RESULTS: Median overall survival, QALY and total costs for the erlotinib-first strategy were respectively 7.1 months, 0.51 and 27 734 €, compared to 9.4 months, 0.52 and 31 688 € for the chemotherapy-first strategy. The Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the two strategies do not differ statistically. CONCLUSION: In terms of cost effectiveness, in fit elderly patients with NSCLC, erlotinib followed by chemotherapy compares well with the reverse strategy

Gène cou nu et performances de croissance selon la température chez le poulet

La croissance de poulettes des génotypes Na Na (homozygote « cou nu »), Na na (« cou nu » hétérozygote) et na na (plumage « normal ») a été comparée en poussinière au sol, a une température ambiante d’environ 20 °C après l’âge de 4 semaines (lot témoin), ou à 31 °C jusqu’à 10 semaines (lot chauffé). Une comparaison similaire à 31 °C a été faite sur des coquelets des mêmes génotypes en cages individuelles. Le poids corporel individuel était mesuré toutes les deux semaines, ainsi que la consommation alimentaire, globalement par génotype pour les femelles ou individuellement pour les mâles. Chez ces derniers, la longueur des barbillons et des tarses, la température rectale et le poids des plumes étaient enregistrées à 10 semaines. Le plumage était pesé à des âges successifs chez un autre groupe de coquelets. Le poids du plumage, absolu ou ramené au poids corporel, diffère significativement pour les trois génotypes. Son accroissement relatif avec l’âge paraît moins marqué pour les poulets « cou nu ». La croissance corporelle jusqu’à 10 semaines ne diffère pas significativement chez les poulettes dans le lot témoin, mais la consommation alimentaire est plus élevée et l’indice de consommation moins bon pour le génotype Na Na. En lot chauffé, l’homozygote Na Na a sur le génotype na na un avantage de croissance à 10 semaines respectivement d’environ 11 et 10 p. 100 chez les femelles et les mâles, et, de même, l’hétérozygote a, dans les deux sexes, un avantage voisin de 9 p. 100. La consommation d’aliment est plus élevée pour les animaux « cou nu », et l’efficacité alimentaire est voisine pour les trois génotypes dans ces conditions. La température rectale à 10 semaines en lot « chauffé » est légèrement inférieure chez les poulets Na Na ou Na na que chez les na na. L’ensemble de ces résultats indique que la réduction de l’emplumement par le gène Na améliore la thermotolérance en période de croissance. Ceci, ajouté au rendement à l’abattage meilleur pour les poulets Na Na ou Na na comparés aux na na (respectivement d’environ 3 et 1,5 p. 100) du fait de la réduction du plumage, suggère que dans des conditions de température analogues à celles de notre lot chauffé, l’introduction du gène « cou nu » dans des populations destinées à la production du poulet de chair pourrait être avantageuse.Growth performance was compared for pullets of the genotypes Na Na (a naked neck » homozygotes), Na na (« naked neck » heterozygotes) and na na (normal plumage). They were reared in floor pens, at ambient temperature close to 20° C from 4 weeks of age (« control ») or 31° C till 1 0 weeks of age (« heated » group). A similar comparison at 31° C till 10 weeks was done on cockerels of the same genotypes in individual cages. Chicks were weighed every 2 weeks. Food consumed was measured for the same periods (total per genotype for females, individually for males). On males at 10 weeks, wattle length, shank length, rectal temperature and weight of plumage were recorded. Plumage was weighed at successive ages in another group of males. Absolute as well as relative plumage weight differs significantly for the three genotypes. Its relative increase with age seems less for "aked neck"; chicks. Body weight at 10 weeks is not significantly different for pullets of the three genotypes in the control group, but food intake is higher and food efficiency is inferior for the Na Na genotype. In the " heated " group, Na Na birds at io weeks have a growth advantage over no na na chicks of about 11 p. 100 for females and 10 p. 100 for males; similarly, heterozygotes have in both sexes an advantage of about 9 p. 100. Food consumed is higher for " naked neck " birds; food conversion shows little difference between genotypes in these conditions. Rectal temperature at 10 weeks in the heated group is slightly lower for Na Na or Na na than for na nca males. These results show that reduction of feathering by the Na gene improves heat tolerance in the growing period. This, in addition to the higher slaughter yield of Na Na and Na na chicks compared to those of na na genotype (resp. by 3 and 1.5 p. 100 )because of the plumage reduction, suggests that, at temperature regimens like that realized in our " heated " group, the introduction of the " naked neck " gene in broiler-type populations may be advantageous

Sexual differences in exploration behavior in Xenopus tropicalis?

The two sexes of a species often differ in many ways. How sexes differ depends on the selective context, with females often investing more in reproductive output and males in territory defense and resource acquisition. This also implies that behavioral strategies may differ between the two sexes, allowing them to optimize their fitness in a given ecological context. Here, we investigated whether males and females differ in their exploration behavior in an aquatic frog (Xenopus tropicalis). Moreover, we explored whether females show different behavioral strategies in the exploration of a novel environment as has been demonstrated previously for males of the same species. Our results show significant sex differences, with males exploring their environment more than females. Yet, similar to males, female exploratory behavior varied significantly among individuals and broadly fell into three categories: shy, intermediate and bold. Moreover, like in males, behavioral strategies are decoupled from morphology and performance. Our results suggest that females are more sedentary than males, with males engaging in greater risk taking by exploring novel environments more. Male and female behaviors could, however, be classified into similar groups, with some individuals being bolder than others and displaying more exploration behavior. The decoupling of morphology and performance from behavior appears to be a general feature in the species and may allow selection to act on both types of traits independently

Gène Cou nu, performances de ponte et efficacité alimentaire selon la température chez la poule

International audienc

Gene. cou nu, poids corporel et paramètres anatomiques et physiologiques des poulettes et poules adultes selon la température

International audienc

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Snow accumulation and ablation measurements in a midlatitude mountain coniferous forest (Col de Porte, France, 1325 m altitude): the Snow Under Forest (SnoUF) field campaign data set

Forests strongly modify the accumulation, metamorphism and melting of snow in midlatitude and high-latitude regions. Recently, snow routines in hydrological and land surface models were improved to incorporate more accurate representations of forest snow processes, but model intercomparison projects have identified deficiencies, partly due to incomplete knowledge of the processes controlling snow cover in forests. The Snow Under Forest (SnoUF) project was initiated to enhance knowledge of the complex interactions between snow and vegetation. Two field campaigns, during the winters 2016–2017 and 2017–2018, were conducted in a coniferous forest bordering the snow study at Col de Porte (1325 m a.s.l., French Alps) to document the snow accumulation and ablation processes. This paper presents the field site, the instrumentation and the collection and postprocessing methods. The observations include distributed forest characteristics (tree inventory, lidar measurements of forest structure, subcanopy hemispherical photographs), meteorology (automatic weather station and an array of radiometers), snow cover and depth (snow pole transect and laser scan) and snow interception by the canopy during precipitation events. The weather station installed under dense canopy during the first campaign has been maintained since then and has provided continuous measurements throughout the year since 2018. Data are publicly available from the repository of the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG) data center at https://doi.org/10.17178/SNOUF.2022 (Sicart et al., 2022).</p

Phase II study of gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin as first-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

This phase II study evaluated the response rate and tolerability of gemcitabine–oxaliplatin chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Chemonaive patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC received gemcitabine 1000 mg m−2 on days 1 and 8, followed by oxaliplatin 130 mg m−2 on day 1. Cycles were repeated every 21 days for up to six cycles. From February 2002 to May 2004, 60 patients were enrolled into the study in seven Italian institutions. We observed one complete response (1.7%) and 14 partial responses (23.3%), for an overall response rate of 25.0% (95% confidence interval, 14.7–37.9%). The median duration of response was 5.9 months (range 1.5–17.1 months). With a median follow-up of 6.7 months, median time to progressive disease and overall survival were 2.7 (range 1.9–3.4 months) and 7.3 months (range 7.2–8.6 months), respectively. The main grade 3–4 haematological toxicities were transient neutropenia in 11.7% and thrombocytopenia in 8.3% of the patients. Nausea/vomiting was the main grade 3–4 nonhaematological toxicity, occurring in 10.0% of the patients. Two (3.3%) patients developed grade 3 neurotoxicity. Our results show that gemcitabine–oxaliplatin chemotherapy is active and well tolerated in patients with advanced NSCLC, deserving further study, especially for patients not eligible to receive cisplatin

CRIA – Centre de recherches interdisciplinaires sur l’Allemagne

Christophe Duhamelle, Michael Werner, Pierre Monnet, directeurs d’étudesFalk Bretschneider, maître de conférencesBernd Klesmann, chercheur de l’Institut historique allemand, ParisChristine Lebeau, professeure à l’Université Paris-I/Panthéon-SorbonnePatrice Veit, directeur de recherche au CNRS Les mots de l’histoire : historiens allemands et français face à leurs concepts et à leurs outils Ce séminaire, organisé en partenariat avec l’Institut historique allemand de Paris et soutenu depuis 2008..