Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University

About: Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University is a education organization based out in Paris, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Raman spectroscopy. The organization has 34448 authors who have published 56139 publications receiving 2392398 citations.

The Architecture of Cognitive Control in the Human Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract: The prefrontal cortex (PFC) subserves cognitive control: the ability to coordinate thoughts or actions in relation with internal goals. Its functional architecture, however, remains poorly understood. Using brain imaging in humans, we showed that the lateral PFC is organized as a cascade of executive processes from premotor to anterior PFC regions that control behavior according to stimuli, the present perceptual context, and the temporal episode in which stimuli occur, respectively. The results support an unified modular model of cognitive control that describes the overall functional organization of the human lateral PFC and has basic methodological and theoretical implications.

Genotype-Phenotype Correlation in the Long-QT Syndrome Gene-Specific Triggers for Life-Threatening Arrhythmias

Abstract: Background The congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is caused by mutations on several genes, all of which encode cardiac ion channels. The progressive understanding of the electrophysiological consequences of these mutations opens unforeseen possibilities for genotype-phenotype correlation studies. Preliminary observations suggested that the conditions ("triggers") associated with cardiac events may in large part be gene specific. Methods and results We identified 670 LQTS patients of known genotype (LQT1, n=371; LQT2, n=234; LQT3, n=65) who had symptoms (syncope, cardiac arrest, sudden death) and examined whether 3 specific triggers (exercise, emotion, and sleep/rest without arousal) differed according to genotype. LQT1 patients experienced the majority of their events (62%) during exercise, and only 3% occurred during rest/sleep. These percentages were almost reversed among LQT2 and LQT3 patients, who were less likely to have events during exercise (13%) and more likely to have events during rest/sleep (29% and 39%). Lethal and nonlethal events followed the same pattern. Corrected QT interval did not differ among LQT1, LQT2, and LQT3 patients (498, 497, and 506 ms, respectively). The percent of patients who were free of recurrence with ss-blocker therapy was higher and the death rate was lower among LQT1 patients (81% and 4%, respectively) than among LQT2 (59% and 4%, respectively) and LQT3 (50% and 17%, respectively) patients. Conclusions Life-threatening arrhythmias in LQTS patients tend to occur under specific circumstances in a gene-specific manner. These data allow new insights into the mechanisms that relate the electrophysiological consequences of mutations on specific genes to clinical manifestations and offer the possibility of complementing traditional therapy with gene-specific approaches.

Estimating the population abundance of tissue-infiltrating immune and stromal cell populations using gene expression

Abstract: We introduce the Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter (MCP-counter) method, which allows the robust quantification of the absolute abundance of eight immune and two stromal cell populations in heterogeneous tissues from transcriptomic data. We present in vitro mRNA mixture and ex vivo immunohistochemical data that quantitatively support the validity of our method's estimates. Additionally, we demonstrate that MCP-counter overcomes several limitations or weaknesses of previously proposed computational approaches. MCP-counter is applied to draw a global picture of immune infiltrates across human healthy tissues and non-hematopoietic human tumors and recapitulates microenvironment-based patient stratifications associated with overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma and colorectal and breast cancer.

Climatological mean and decadal change in surface ocean pCO2, and net sea–air CO2 flux over the global oceans

Abstract: A climatological mean distribution for the surface water pCO2 over the global oceans in non-El Nino conditions has been constructed with spatial resolution of 4° (latitude) ×5° (longitude) for a reference year 2000 based upon about 3 million measurements of surface water pCO2 obtained from 1970 to 2007. The database used for this study is about 3 times larger than the 0.94 million used for our earlier paper [Takahashi et al., 2002. Global sea–air CO2 flux based on climatological surface ocean pCO2, and seasonal biological and temperature effects. Deep-Sea Res. II, 49, 1601–1622]. A time-trend analysis using deseasonalized surface water pCO2 data in portions of the North Atlantic, North and South Pacific and Southern Oceans (which cover about 27% of the global ocean areas) indicates that the surface water pCO2 over these oceanic areas has increased on average at a mean rate of 1.5 μatm y−1 with basin-specific rates varying between 1.2±0.5 and 2.1±0.4 μatm y−1. A global ocean database for a single reference year 2000 is assembled using this mean rate for correcting observations made in different years to the reference year. The observations made during El Nino periods in the equatorial Pacific and those made in coastal zones are excluded from the database. Seasonal changes in the surface water pCO2 and the sea-air pCO2 difference over four climatic zones in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans are presented. Over the Southern Ocean seasonal ice zone, the seasonality is complex. Although it cannot be thoroughly documented due to the limited extent of observations, seasonal changes in pCO2 are approximated by using the data for under-ice waters during austral winter and those for the marginal ice and ice-free zones. The net air–sea CO2 flux is estimated using the sea–air pCO2 difference and the air–sea gas transfer rate that is parameterized as a function of (wind speed)2 with a scaling factor of 0.26. This is estimated by inverting the bomb 14C data using Ocean General Circulation models and the 1979–2005 NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2) wind speed data. The equatorial Pacific (14°N–14°S) is the major source for atmospheric CO2, emitting about +0.48 Pg-C y−1, and the temperate oceans between 14° and 50° in the both hemispheres are the major sink zones with an uptake flux of −0.70 Pg-C y−1 for the northern and −1.05 Pg-C y−1 for the southern zone. The high-latitude North Atlantic, including the Nordic Seas and portion of the Arctic Sea, is the most intense CO2 sink area on the basis of per unit area, with a mean of −2.5 tons-C month−1 km−2. This is due to the combination of the low pCO2 in seawater and high gas exchange rates. In the ice-free zone of the Southern Ocean (50°–62°S), the mean annual flux is small (−0.06 Pg-C y−1) because of a cancellation of the summer uptake CO2 flux with the winter release of CO2 caused by deepwater upwelling. The annual mean for the contemporary net CO2 uptake flux over the global oceans is estimated to be −1.6±0.9 Pg-C y−1, which includes an undersampling correction to the direct estimate of −1.4±0.7 Pg-C y−1. Taking the pre-industrial steady-state ocean source of 0.4±0.2 Pg-C y−1 into account, the total ocean uptake flux including the anthropogenic CO2 is estimated to be −2.0±1.0 Pg-C y−1 in 2000.

Surgical resection of colorectal carcinoma metastases to the liver : A prognostic scoring system to improve case selection, based on 1568 patients

Abstract: BACKGROUND Five-year survival rates after resection of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma are close to 25%. Recurrences occur in two-thirds of the patients after surgery. Selection of patients likely to benefit from surgery remains controversial and subjective. METHODS Data from 1568 patients with resected liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma were collected. The prognostic value of different factors was studied through uni- and multivariate analyses. A scoring system was developed including the most relevant factors. RESULTS Two- and 5-year survival rates were 64% and 28%, respectively, and were affected by: age; size of largest metastasis or CEA level; stage of the primary tumor; disease free interval; number of liver nodules; and resection margin. Giving one point to each factor, the population was divided into three risk groups with different 2-year survival rates: 0–2 (79%), 3–4 (60%), 5–7 (43%). CONCLUSIONS A simple prognostic scoring system was proposed to evaluate the chances for cure of patients after resection of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma. The comparison between expected survival and estimated operative risk can help determine on an objective basis whether surgery is worthwhile. This system needs further prospective validation. Cancer 1996;77:1254-62.