Safety and Efficacy of Mini-Invasive Left Atrial Appendage Closure: A Propensity-Score Analysis.

Background: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) for prevention of stroke is validated in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) contraindicated to oral anticoagulation. General anaesthesia (GA) is often used for procedural guidance by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE); however, its use may be challenging in some patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and the midterm efficacy of a mini-invasive LAAC strategy using micro-TEE under procedural sedation.

Contribution of omics to biopreservation: Toward food microbiome engineering.

Biopreservation is a sustainable approach to improve food safety and maintain or extend food shelf life by using beneficial microorganisms or their metabolites. Over the past 20 years, omics techniques have revolutionised food microbiology including biopreservation. A range of methods including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and meta-omics derivatives have highlighted the potential of biopreservation to improve the microbial safety of various foods.

Analysis of viromes and microbiomes from pig fecal samples reveals that phages and prophages rarely carry antibiotic resistance genes.

Understanding the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is critical for human health. For this, it is necessary to identify which type of mobile genetic elements is able to spread them from animal reservoirs into human pathogens. Previous research suggests that in pig feces, ARGs may be encoded by bacteriophages.

Treatment with disinfectants may induce an increase in viable but non culturable populations of Listeria monocytogenes in biofilms formed in smoked salmon processing environments.

The objectives of this study were 1) to evaluate the impact of two industrial disinfectants on the viability of Listeria monocytogenes populations in biofilm and 2) to investigate the viability state of L. monocytogenes cells present on contact surfaces in the smoked salmon processing environment. In the first step, we cultured mono species and mixed species biofilms containing L.

Age-related deficits in speech production: From phonological planning to motor implementation.

Speaking is one of the most complex motor actions that humans can perform, requiring the coordination between linguistic, cognitive, affective and sensorimotor systems. Perhaps counter-intuitively, it is also one of the easiest acts that humans perform, on a daily basis, from a very early age till the end of life, without even thinking about it. With age, however, spoken language production undergoes significant changes, with potential impacts on interpersonal communication and social participation.

Phylogenetic network analysis applied to pig gut microbiota identifies an ecosystem structure linked with growth traits.

The ecological interactions within the gut microbial communities are complex and far from being fully understood. Here we report the first study that aims at defining the interaction network of the gut microbiota in pigs and comparing it with the enterotype-like clustering analysis. Fecal microbiota of 518 healthy piglets was characterized by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing.

Comparison of Objective and Subjective Life Balance Between Women With and Without a Personality Disorder.

Life balance is associated to health, well-being and quality of life and is a target of psychiatric rehabilitation interventions. However, little is known about this life dimension in women living with personality disorders. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to compare and explore relationships between subjective life balance, objective time use, quality of life and perceived stress in women without a mental health disorder (n = 43) and women with a personality disorder (clusters B and C) (n = 30), aged between 18 and 50 years old.

Early-life establishment of the swine gut microbiome and impact on host phenotypes.

Early bacterial colonization and succession within the gastrointestinal tract has been suggested to be crucial in the establishment of specific microbiota composition and the shaping of host phenotype. Here, the composition and dynamics of faecal microbiomes were studied for 31 healthy piglets across five age strata (days 14, 36, 48, 60 and 70 after birth) together with their mothers. Faecal microbiome composition was assessed by 16S rRNA gene 454-pyrosequencing.

Origin and ecological selection of core and food-specific bacterial communities associated with meat and seafood spoilage.

The microbial spoilage of meat and seafood products with short shelf lives is responsible for a significant amount of food waste. Food spoilage is a very heterogeneous process, involving the growth of various, poorly characterized bacterial communities. In this study, we conducted 16S ribosomal RNA gene pyrosequencing on 160 samples of fresh and spoiled foods to comparatively explore the bacterial communities associated with four meat products and four seafood products that are among the most consumed food items in Europe.

The potential of carboxypeptidase M as a therapeutic target in cancer.

Introduction: In the recent literature, carboxypeptidase M (CPM) emerged as a potential cancer biomarker. CPM modulates receptor signaling of kinins, anaphylatoxins, and chemokines. These CPM substrates affect proliferation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis of cancer cells.

Carboxypeptidase M in apoptosis, adipogenesis and cancer.

This review covers carboxypeptidase M (CPM) research that appeared in the literature since 2009. The focus is on aspects that are new or interesting from a clinical perspective. Available research tools are discussed as well as their pitfalls and limitations.

Mapping of carboxypeptidase m in normal human kidney and renal cell carcinoma: expression in tumor-associated neovasculature and macrophages.

Although the kidney generally has been regarded as an excellent source of carboxypeptidase M (CPM), little is known about its renal-specific expression level and distribution. This study provides a detailed localization of CPM in healthy and diseased human kidneys. The results indicate a broad distribution of CPM along the renal tubular structures in the healthy kidney.

[Which indications and access routes for transcatheter aortic valve implantation? Health technology assessment from HAS].

The transcatheter aortic valve implantation should be restricted to patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis with a contraindication for a surgical replacement (taking into account surgical risk scores, comorbidities, anatomical conditions, life expectancy and frailty). Patient eligibility should be performed by a heart team with the involvement of a cardiac surgeon, an interventional cardiologist, a clinical cardiologist and an anaesthetist/resuscitation specialist. The advice of a geriatrician is strongly recommended.

C-terminal clipping of chemokine CCL1/I-309 enhances CCR8-mediated intracellular calcium release and anti-apoptotic activity.

Carboxypeptidase M (CPM) targets the basic amino acids arginine and lysine present at the C-terminus of peptides or proteins. CPM is thought to be involved in inflammatory processes. This is corroborated by CPM-mediated trimming and modulation of inflammatory factors, and expression of the protease in inflammatory environments.

Design of challenge testing experiments to assess the variability of Listeria monocytogenes growth in foods.

The assessment of the evolution of micro-organisms naturally contaminating food must take into account the variability of biological factors, food characteristics and storage conditions. A research project involving eight French laboratories was conducted to quantify the variability of growth parameters of Listeria monocytogenes obtained by challenge testing in five food products. The residual variability corresponded to a coefficient of variation (CV) of approximately 20% for the growth rate (μ(max)) and 130% for the parameter K = μ(max) × lag.

Drug-eluting stents in patients at high risk of restenosis: assessment for France.

Background: In unselected patients, the incidence of restenosis is lower after placement of drug-eluting stents (DES) than bare-metal stents (BMS) without difference in safety at a time horizon of 4 years. However, DES appears less effective in "off label" patients.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess available evidence of DES efficacy and safety by patient category to establish when DES placement may be recommended for reimbursement by the French national health insurance.

Validation of a stochastic modelling approach for Listeria monocytogenes growth in refrigerated foods.

A stochastic modelling approach was developed to describe the distribution of Listeria monocytogenes contamination in foods throughout their shelf life. This model was designed to include the main sources of variability leading to a scattering of natural contaminations observed in food portions: the variability of the initial contamination, the variability of the biological parameters such as cardinal values and growth parameters, the variability of individual cell behaviours, the variability of pH and water activity of food as well as portion size, and the variability of storage temperatures. Simulated distributions of contamination were compared to observed distributions obtained on 5 day-old and 11 day-old cheese curd surfaces artificially contaminated with between 10 and 80 stressed cells and stored at 14°C, to a distribution observed in cold smoked salmon artificially contaminated with approximately 13 stressed cells and stored at 8°C, and to contaminations observed in naturally contaminated batches of smoked salmon processed by 10 manufacturers and stored for 10 days a 4°C and then for 20 days at 8°C.

The bovine dilated cardiomyopathy locus maps to a 1.0-Mb interval on chromosome 18.

Cardiomyopathies are myocardial diseases that lead to cardiac dysfunction, heart failure, arrhythmia, and sudden death. In human medicine, cardiomyopathies frequently warrant heart transplantation in children and adults. Bovine dilated cardiomyopathy (BDCMP) is a heart muscle disorder that has been observed during the last 30 years in cattle of Holstein-Friesian origin.

Evaluation of an enumeration method for Listeria monocytogenes at low contamination levels in cold-smoked salmon.

For the enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in cold-smoked salmon, a sensitive enumeration method, based on membrane filtration followed by transfer of the filter on a selective medium has been recently developed (Gnanou Besse et al., 2004, A contribution to the improvement of L. monocytogenes enumeration in cold-smoked salmon.

Dressings for acute and chronic wounds: a systematic review.

Objective: To critically review the literature on the efficacy of modern dressings in healing chronic and acute wounds by secondary intention.

Data Sources: Search of 3 databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials Register) from January 1990 to June 2006, completed by manual research, for articles in English and in French.

Study Selection: The end points for selecting studies were the rate of complete healing, time to complete healing, rate of change in wound area, and general performance criteria (eg, pain, ease of use, avoidance of wound trauma on dressing removal, ability to absorb and contain exudates).

Safety assessment of dairy microorganisms: aerobic coryneform bacteria isolated from the surface of smear-ripened cheeses.

The group of "coryneform bacteria" belongs to the class of Actinobacteria including a diverse and heterogeneous collection of bacteria of various genera. Most of them are known as environmental residents and/or commensal flora of humans and they are isolated frequently in clinical studies. Actinobacteria include also several aerobic species, present at the surface of smear-ripened cheeses for decades and used as ripening culture in the dairy industry.