University of Lorraine

About: University of Lorraine is a education organization based out in Nancy, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 11942 authors who have published 25010 publications receiving 425227 citations. The organization is also known as: Lorraine University.

Electronic health records to facilitate clinical research.

Abstract: Electronic health records (EHRs) provide opportunities to enhance patient care, embed performance measures in clinical practice, and facilitate clinical research. Concerns have been raised about the increasing recruitment challenges in trials, burdensome and obtrusive data collection, and uncertain generalizability of the results. Leveraging electronic health records to counterbalance these trends is an area of intense interest. The initial applications of electronic health records, as the primary data source is envisioned for observational studies, embedded pragmatic or post-marketing registry-based randomized studies, or comparative effectiveness studies. Advancing this approach to randomized clinical trials, electronic health records may potentially be used to assess study feasibility, to facilitate patient recruitment, and streamline data collection at baseline and follow-up. Ensuring data security and privacy, overcoming the challenges associated with linking diverse systems and maintaining infrastructure for repeat use of high quality data, are some of the challenges associated with using electronic health records in clinical research. Collaboration between academia, industry, regulatory bodies, policy makers, patients, and electronic health record vendors is critical for the greater use of electronic health records in clinical research. This manuscript identifies the key steps required to advance the role of electronic health records in cardiovascular clinical research.

ZnO rods/reduced graphene oxide composites prepared via a solvothermal reaction for efficient sunlight-driven photocatalysis

Abstract: Small-sized ZnO rods with an average length of ca. 180 nm and a diameter of ca. 16 nm were successfully associated to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) via a solvothermal reaction conducted in ethanol. A set of characterization including TEM, SEM, XRD, BET, Raman spectroscopy and UV–vis absorption confirm that the ZnO/rGO composite is composed of highly dispersed ZnO rods bound to rGO nanosheets. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO/rGO composite was investigated under solar light and under visible light irradiation using the Orange II dye in aqueous solution. Results indicate that the ZnO/rGO composite containing 10 wt% rGO used under solar light irradiation exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity and that the kinetic of reduction is of pseudo-fist-order. The photocatalyst is only weakly sensitive to pH changes and to the presence of inorganic salts or to glucose in the reaction medium. In addition, the reusability of the ZnO/rGO composite was studied and the results demonstrate that the photocatalyst can be reused up to fifteen times with nearly negligible loss of activity. The high photocatalytic performances can be attributed to the high specific surface of ZnO rods, to the enhanced visible light absorption of the ZnO/rGO composite and to the strong decrease of charge carrier recombinations originating from the association of ZnO rods with rGO.

Membrane Electroporation and Electropermeabilization: Mechanisms and Models

Abstract: Exposure of biological cells to high-voltage, short-duration electric pulses causes a transient increase in their plasma membrane permeability, allowing transmembrane transport of otherwise impermeant molecules. In recent years, large steps were made in the understanding of underlying events. Formation of aqueous pores in the lipid bilayer is now a widely recognized mechanism, but evidence is growing that changes to individual membrane lipids and proteins also contribute, substantiating the need for terminological distinction between electroporation and electropermeabilization. We first revisit experimental evidence for electrically induced membrane permeability, its correlation with transmembrane voltage, and continuum models of electropermeabilization that disregard the molecular-level structure and events. We then present insights from molecular-level modeling, particularly atomistic simulations that enhance understanding of pore formation, and evidence of chemical modifications of membrane lipids and functional modulation of membrane proteins affecting membrane permeability. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges to our full understanding of electroporation and electropermeabilization.

Asian monsoons in a late Eocene greenhouse world

Abstract: The strong present-day Asian monsoons are thought to have originated between 25 and 22 million years (Myr) ago, driven by Tibetan-Himalayan uplift. However, the existence of older Asian monsoons and their response to enhanced greenhouse conditions such as those in theEocene period (55-34Myrago) are unknownbecause of the paucity of well-dated records. Here we show late Eocene climate records revealing marked monsoon-like patterns in rainfall and wind south and north of the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen. This is indicated by low oxygen isotope values with strong seasonality in gastropod shells and mammal teeth from Myanmar, and by aeolian dust deposition in northwest China. Our climate simulations support modern-like Eocene monsoonal rainfall and show that a reinforced hydrological cycle responding to enhancedgreenhouse conditions counterbalanced the negative effect of lowerTibetanrelief onprecipitation. These strong monsoons later weakened with the global shift to icehouse conditions 34Myr ago.

Cardiac myosin activation with omecamtiv mecarbil in systolic heart failure

Abstract: Background The selective cardiac myosin activator omecamtiv mecarbil has been shown to improve cardiac function in patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction. Its effect ...