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Background A blue LED photocoagulator, named EMOLED, has been designed. The device emits in the blue-violet region of the light spectrum. When irradiating a bleeding wound, the light is absorbed by the haemoglobin and converted in a temperature enhancement, thus inducing coagulation. In this work we present a study on the healing process in superficial wounds treated with EMOLED. Methods The compact device was tested on superficial skin wounds in animal model. Four mechanical abrasions were produced on the back of 10 Sprague Dawley rats: two were treated with the blue-LED device, while the other two were left to naturally recover. During irradiation, the device was kept in a slow motion above the bleeding site, in a non-contact configuration. Temperature control was performed during treatment. The 30s treatment was performed once and then the animals underwent an 8 days follow up study. Samples from treated and untreated sites and from a healthy control underwent non-linear microscopy analyses, histology, immunofluorescence analysis. Results Temperature monitoring during treatment evidenced a maximum value of about 48°C. Visual observations, non-linear microscopic imaging, as well as histology and himmuno-fluorescence analyses demonstrated no adverse reactions neither thermal damages in both abraded areas and surrounding tissue. A reduced fibroblast and myofibroblast density was observed in the treated wounds. In treated wounds the collagen fiber bundles show typical dermal collagen architecture; the collagen organization was more isotropic; collagen fiber bundle size is in average smaller in the untreated with respect to the treated wounds. Conclusions These preliminary results evidenced a faster healing process and a better-recovered skin morphology: the treated wounds show a reduced inflammatory response and a higher, isotropic, collagen content.

The definition of "ecosystem engineers" has deeply influenced our assessment of the role of organisms in ecosystem functioning (Jones et al. 1994). Ecosystem engineers are organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species, by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials (Jones et al., 1994, 1997). They are primarily physical engineers, building resistant soil aggregates and pores. In that way, ecosystem engineers plays a key role in the formation of soil structure, providing an important contribution to the soil physical quality. In fact soil structure affects the soil ability to sustain animal and plant life necessary to maintaining agricultural productivity and environmental quality. Lavelle (2002) deduced that in soil the relative importance of regulation imposed by ecosystem engineering is likely to be greater than regulation by trophic relationships, because of the specific ecological constraints observed in this environment when compared to above-ground conditions. Some organisms are no longer considered to play a role only as elements of a food web, but they are studied from the viewpoint of being responsible for altering ecosystem dynamics through the modification, maintenance and/or creation of habitats for other organisms in the ecosystem. Earthworms are well known ecosystem engineers, however other species of macrofauna contribute to change the soil pore system by means of their burrowing activities. The X-ray tomography is a technique increasingly used to obtain non-destructive analysis of the pore netwoks produced by earthworms (Pagenkemper et al., 2015; Whalen et al., 2015; Capowiez et al., 2014, 2015; Auclerc et al., 2013). In this work it was developed an experimental approach based on the use of repacked soil mesocosms prepared in order to identify and quantify the contribution of different taxa of macrofauna to soil structure changes. At the end of the incubation period in the field or in the laboratory mesocosms were subjected to X-ray tomography. The resulting images were processed in order to obtain three-dimensional reconstructions and analysis of the identified biopores. Here are shown preliminary results about 5 mesocosms regarding 6 different species, both adult and larvae individuals.

In the context of the LHCb SciFi Tracker project, an experimental set up was designed and built to provide reliable and reproducible measurements of the light yield of scintillating fibres. This document describes the principle and technical realisation of the set-up. A few examples illustrate the operation and data analysis. In the first implementation of the set-up a photomultiplier tube with bialkali photocathode was used for the reading of the light from the fibres under test. In order to measure also green emitting fibres, the photomultiplier was replaced in January 2016 by a SiPM with higher sensitivity and larger spectral coverage1.

The optical attenuation length of a scintillating fibre characterizes the quality of light transport through the fibre. It relates directly to the quantity of detectable light at the readout end of the fibre. An optical bench has been constructed, which allows excitation of the fibre at various distances from the photodetector. Depending on the choice of the photodetector – Si-PIN photodiode or grating spectrometer – the attenuation length is measured as weighted average over the sensitivity of the photodetector or as a spectral distribution. A few examples illustrate its operation and performance. The set-up serves for fibre optimisation in the R&D phase and is expected to be used for systematic checks during the series production phase of the LHCb SciFi tracker project.

Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) is the most common inherited blood disorder and is associated with severe morbidity and decreased survival. Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative approach. Nevertheless the decision to perform a bone marrow transplant includes the risk of major complications and transplant-related mortality. Infections represent the leading cause of death in SCA patients undergoing HSCT. Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA) is a devastating opportunistic infection and remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in HSCT recipients. Data regarding IPA in the setting of SCA are lacking. In the present report, we describe a patient with SCA, who developed IPA after allogeneic bone marrow transplant. The fungal infection was treated by systemic antifungal therapy in addition to surgery, despite mild chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD) and continuing immunosuppressive therapy. This case shows that IPA occurring in bone marrow recipients with SCA can be successfully treated.

Full Title: L’annonce du statut VIH de l’enfant : expé riences des mè res et interpré tations des soignants au Burkina Faso(Disclosure of infant HIV status: mothers’ experiences and health workers’interpretations in Burkina Faso)L’annonce du statut sérologique d’un enfant constitue une situation particulière qui ne peut pas obéir aux recommandations générales pour le counseling définies pour des adultes; elle est très peu normée. Alors que les programmes de Prévention de la Transmission Mère-Enfant (PTME) devraient induire environ 700 000 annonces du statut d’enfants nés de mères séropositives chaque année en Afrique, les effectifs des enfants qui ont été testés sont beaucoup plus faibles et les conditions de réalisation de cette annonce et ses aspects sociaux sur le terrain sont très peu connus. L’article a pour objectifs de décrire et d’analyser l’expérience de l’annonce du statut sérologique des nourrissons et enfants à partir d’entretiens réalisés avec des mères et des équipes de services de PTME au Burkina Faso. La méthode a reposé sur des entretiens répétés auprés de 37 mères et auprès de professionnels de santé. Leurs propos révèlent toute la complexité de l’annonce dans un contexte marqué par l’incertitude. Ils montrent d’abord les retards liés aux difficultés des prélèvements veineux et aux écueils des méthodes de diagnostic et de gestion de l’information dans les services de soins. Les acteurs de l’annonce ne se limitent pas au médecin du programme PTME, mais relèvent également d’autres fonctions professionnelles ou institutions. La mère joue un rôle clé, y compris pour solliciter l’annonce; le père n’est généralement informé que secondairement, malgré sa responsabilité légale concernant l’enfant. L’analyse des interactions révèle certaines ambiguïtés de l’annonce, à propos des informations que les médecins gardent secrétes, des attentes réciproques entre médecins et femmes en matiére de communication, des interprétations que font les mères d’indices concernant la santé de leur enfant, et des situations de transmission d’informations incertaines. Le sens de l’information transmise est souvent chargé d’une dimension culpabilisante pour les mères; l’évocation du suivi ultérieur ne tempére pas cet effet. Ces observations conduisent à solliciter l’élaboration d’un modèle de conseil (counseling) spécifique, qui permette d’apporter aux mères les éléments d’information générale, d’interaction personnalisée et de soutien dont elles ont besoin pour gérer l’annonce du statut VIH de leur enfant.Mots clés: partage, enfant, Afrique, femmes, conseil, test, VIH

Natural killer (NK) cells constitute an important area of research for hematologic malignancies. The anti-leukemic activity of NK cells against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts has been described, but very few data are available for acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL). The present study was designed to investigate whether: (i) NK effectors could be expanded from adult and pediatric ALL patients in complete remission; (ii) the signal transduction machinery of these cells was preserved; (iii) NK cells showed cytotoxic activity against autologous blasts; (iv) interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12 and IL-15 were able to increase lytic activity in our in vitro model; (v) any differences in cytotoxic activity could be found between expanded effectors from adult and pediatric patients.We co-cultured patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with the feeder cell line RPMI 8866 and analyzed the NK cells' expansion capacity by cell count and cytofluorimetric analyses. Signal transduction of expanded effector cells was evaluated by Western blot. 51Cr release assays, before and after stimulation with activating cytokines, were performed to analyze the cytotoxic potential of effector cells against tumor cell lines and autologous blast cells. Data were analyzed with t-tests for paired data.We obtained an average 40-fold increase in NK cells. Signal transduction through the CD16 receptor was preserved. Patients' expanded cells showed cytotoxic activity against target cell lines comparable to that of normal donors. More significantly, these cells also exerted a lytic effect against autologous blasts. In addition, incubating these effectors for 24 hours with IL-2 + IL-15 significantly increased this cytotoxic function. No differences in expansion and cytotoxic activity were found between pediatric and adult patients.These findings document for the first time the possibility of expanding ex vivo cytotoxic effectors with autologous killing capacity from ALL patients in remission, and suggest a new potential immunotherapeutic strategy for the management of early disease recurrence or of residual disease.