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Biomedical subjects

M Joubert

Publications and source records attributed to M Joubert.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Prognostic and immunohistochemical validation of the capella classification of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: an analysis of 82 sporadic cases.

AIMS: To study the clinical outcome of 82 cases of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours classified according to the recent histological and prognostic classification of Capella. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty-two surgical cases of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours were examined histologically with immunohistochemical staining of paraffin sections using streptavidin-biotin complex and application of antibodies against chromogranin A and 10 hormonal peptides. Classification in four groups correlated with long follow-up and outcome of these cases. Histological examination showed 30 group I, four group II, 41 group III and seven group IV tumours. Twenty-one (70%) of group I tumours were insulinomas, whereas 25% of group III tumours were glucagonomas and 25% were unclassified. Most group IV tumours were unclassified, showing no immunohistochemical staining with any of the 10 hormonal peptides tested. Outcome was clearly correlated with tumour group. Among the 14 patients who died of the disease, four had group IV and 10 group III tumours. Thus, unclassified asymptomatic tumours without immunohistochemical staining had a poorer prognosis than asymptomatic tumours with staining. CONCLUSION: This study validates the Capella classification as easy to apply and useful in predicting clinical outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Epidemiologic surveillance of dengue fever: non specific alert system in the hospital milieu in Cayenne].

A retrospective study was carried out in the General Hospital of Cayenne, the main city in French Guiana, where malaria is endemic and dengue fever constitutes a permanent threat. The aim of this study was to test an alert system for epidemic outbreaks of dengue fever. Patients attending the emergency ward and for whom a search of Plasmodium was prescribed were included. In 90% of cases, patients were febrile, presenting clinical symptoms compatible with malaria or dengue fever-like syndrome. The period of survey covered 39 months (January 1996 to March 1999). Three indices were studied; two non specific: EMN (Emergency Malaria Negative--UPN in French): number of negative malaria blood tests for patients having consulted the emergency ward; EMNT (Emergency Malaria Negative Thrombopenia--UPNT in French): UPN with platelets < 150.000; and one more specific; number of hospitalised dengue fever cases according to data from a hospital programme on medical systems information. EMN weekly follow-ups led to three epidemic alerts, two of which turned out to be crucial for dengue. Accounting for thrombopenia (EMNT) reinforced the specificity. This simple and reactive alert system should incite increased serological and virological surveillance and contribute to precocious antivectorial control measures in districts where several dengue fever cases are suspected.

Dengue↗
PubMed2000

[Psychosocial distress and its moderating factors in patients living in precarious socioeconomic conditions consulting in a preventive health and social work center].

BACKGROUND: The effects of a precarious socioeconomic condition on mental health have already been widely described. Nevertheless, sociodemographic, biographical, and mainly psychological determinants of psychosocial distress in these populations are still incompletely known. METHODS: 2315 consecutive subjects, aged 16 to 59, consulting for a free work-up in a preventive health center supported by the National French Health Insurance system, were invited to fill out a series of questionnaires, mainly the GHQ-28 (psychosocial distress), the LOT (dispositional optimism) and the WCCL (coping mechanisms). Socioeconomic and administrative criteria were adopted to define populations living in precarious conditions. RESULTS: A total of 78.9% complete records could be analyzed: 55% of the studied population constituted the precarious condition group (44.5% males and 55.5% females; mean age 36.2+/-11). This group was characterized by higher psychosocial distress and higher sub-scores of anxiety, social dysfunction and depression, but not somatisation, as well as by increased emotion focused coping and impaired optimism. Globally, GHQ score was positively correlated with emotion focused coping (r=0.36) and negatively with problem focused coping (r=-0.17) and with optimism (r=-0.39). In a multivariate analysis a set of 9 independent variables explained 38% of GHQ-28 total variance: perceived stress, optimism, emotion focused coping, problem focused coping, age, educational degree, precariousness, money problems and parental quarrels during youth. Introducing precariousness in the model constituted of the set of the remaining variables could explain only 2% of additional variance. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the presence of higher levels of psychosocial distress in subjects living in precarious conditions and underline the moderating role of several psychological variables. They could guide support interventions aimed at helping subjects living in precarious conditions, focused on enhancing their coping resources.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Mediation services with health information sources.

OBJECTIVES: To design and implement mediators dedicated to access various kinds of information sources in the framework of the project ARIANE. METHOD: Mediators are dynamically built thanks to three components: pieces of knowledge issued from the UMLS knowledge sources and from a catalog of information sources, processes that translate a query into the syntax of a target source, and communication services provided by operating systems. RESULTS: A scenario details the complete mediation process with an indexed web site. CONCLUSION: This approach mixes knowledge and software engineering. It benefits from services provided by operating systems and allows scalability and reusability of software components.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2000

Integration of health care process analysis in the design of a clinical information system: applying to the blood transfusion process.

Hospital information systems have to support quality improvement objectives. The requirements of the system have to meet users' needs in relation to both the quality (efficacy, conformity, safety) and the monitoring of all health care activities (traceability). Information analysts need complementary methods to conceptualize clinical information systems that provide actors with immediate individual benefits and guide collective behavioral changes. A methodology is proposed to elicit users' needs using a process-oriented analysis, and it is applied to the field of blood transfusion. We defined a process data model, the main components of which are: activities, resources, constrains, guidelines and indicators. Although some aspects of activity, such as "where", "what else", and "why" are poorly represented by the data model alone, this method of requirement elicitation fits the dynamic of data input for the process to be traced. A hierarchical representation of hospital activities has to be found for this approach to be generalised within the organisation, for the processes to be interrelated, and for their characteristics to be assessed.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed2000

Modelling health care processes for eliciting user requirements: a way to link a quality paradigm and clinical information system design.

Hospital information systems have to support quality improvement objectives. The design issues of health care information system can be classified into three categories: 1) time-oriented and event-labelled storage of patient data; 2) contextual support of decision-making; 3) capabilities for modular upgrading. The elicitation of the requirements has to meet users' needs in relation to both the quality (efficacy, safety) and the monitoring of all health care activities (traceability). Information analysts need methods to conceptualize clinical information systems that provide actors with individual benefits and guide behavioural changes. A methodology is proposed to elicit and structure users' requirements using a process-oriented analysis, and it is applied to the field of blood transfusion. An object-oriented data model of a process has been defined in order to identify its main components: activity, sub-process, resources, constrains, guidelines, parameters and indicators. Although some aspects of activity, such as "where", "what else", and "why" are poorly represented by the data model alone, this method of requirement elicitation fits the dynamic of data input for the process to be traced. A hierarchical representation of hospital activities has to be found for this approach to be generalised within the organisation, for the processes to be interrelated, and for their characteristics to be shared.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1999

Genetic alterations in early-onset invasive breast carcinomas: correlation of c-erbB-2 amplification detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization with p53 accumulation and tumor phenotype.

p53 tumor-suppressor gene mutation and p53 protein over-expression have been reported with higher frequency in early-onset breast carcinomas (EOBC). Given the role attributed to normal p53 protein in DNA-repair mechanisms, other somatic genomic alterations would be expected to be associated with this abnormality. Amplification of the c-erbB-2 (HER-2/neu) oncogene and over-expression of the corresponding p185erbB-2 protein have been linked to prognosis and response to therapy in breast cancer. In a retrospective study of 62 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded invasive EOBC (diagnosed at 35 years or less), the amplification status of the c-erbB-2 gene detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a unique sequence probe was compared with p53 protein accumulation measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and phenotypic features. p185erbB2-protein expression was also detected by immunohistochemistry, together with estrogen-receptor (ER) and progesterone-receptor (PR) expression. The data for a sub-set of 33 node-negative EOBC cases were compared with 70 node-negative tumors diagnosed in women above 36 years of age. Compared with node-negative BC in older women, node-negative EOBC was significantly more likely to feature high grade, high proliferation rate, negative ER and/or PR and p53 over-expression (p < 0.05). A trend toward a higher incidence of c-erbB-2 amplification in EOBC (21% vs. 9%) reached near-significance (p = 0.07). In EOBC, c-erbB-2 amplification and p53 over-expression were not associated with high tumor grade or high cell-proliferation rate, in contrast to the significant associations of these markers in tumors in older women. Abnormalities in tumor markers, including c-erbB-2 gene amplification and p53-protein over-expression, occur at different rates in women with EOBC as compared with BC developing in older women. This finding may reflect a different pathogenesis for EOBC, and warrants further investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Mother-to-child transmission of human T-cell-leukemia/lymphoma virus type I: implication of high antiviral antibody titer and high proviral load in carrier mothers.

In order to gain new insights into the risk factors influencing human-T-cell-leukemia/lymphoma-virus-type-I (HTLV-I) mother-to-child transmission, a retrospective study of HTLV-I infection among children born to HTLV-I-seropositive women was carried out in a highly HTLV-I-endemic population of African origin living in French Guyana. The study covered 81 HTLV-I-seropositive mothers and their 216 children aged between 18 months old and 12 years old. All plasma samples were tested for the presence of HTLV-I antibodies by ELISA, immunofluorescence assay and Western blot. HTLV-I provirus was detected, in the DNA extracted from peripheral-blood mononuclear cells, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers specific for 3 different HTLV-I genomic regions (LTR, gag and pX) and quantified by a competitive PCR assay. Out of the 216 children, 21 were found to be HTLV-I-seropositive, giving a crude HTLV-I transmission rate of 9.7%, while among the 180 breast-fed children 10.6% were HTLV-I-seropositive. Perfect concordance between serological and PCR results was observed, and none of the 195 HTLV-I-negative children was found HTLV-I-positive by PCR. In conditional (by family) logistic-regression models, HTLV-I seropositivity in children was associated with an elevated maternal anti-HTLV-I-antibody titer (OR 2.2, p = 0.0013), a high maternal HTLV-I proviral load (OR 2.6, p = 0.033) and child's gender, girls being more frequently HTLV-I-infected than boys: OR 3.6, p = 0.0077 in the model including maternal anti-HTLV-I-antibody titer and OR 4.1, p = 0.002 in the model including the maternal HTLV-I proviral load.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1999

Predictive factors for node involvement in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Univariate and multivariate analyses.

For patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, lymph node involvement is a common complication, resulting in node dissection and its resulting morbidity. To determine means of limiting lymph node dissections, we attempted to define intra-operative criteria predictive of node metastasis and so identify the patients likely to benefit from this procedure. This retrospective study concerned 158 patients (118 female) treated between 1974 and 1996 for papillary thyroid carcinoma by total thyroidectomy associated with bilateral (central and lateral) (n = 119) or unilateral (n = 39) dissection. The following criteria were used to study the predictive value of node involvement: age, sex, tumour size, tumour site, uni- or multifocality, existence or not of a tumour capsule, existence or not of perithyroid involvement and presence or not of vascular invasion. 99 patients (63%) had node involvement. Four factors showed predictive value for node involvement in univariate analysis: vascular invasion (P = 0.02), male sex (P = 0.008), absence of a tumour capsule (P < 0.0001) and perithyroid involvement (P < 0.0001). Two factors were predictive in multivariate analysis: absence of a tumour capsule and perithyroid involvement. Our results enabled us to calculate the risk of node involvement for each patient as a function of the existence of a peritumoral capsule and/or perithyroid involvement and to determine the indication for dissection. When neither of these factors was present, the risk of node involvement was 38.3% and dissection was not considered essential. If both risk factors were found, the risk was 87.1% and dissection was considered necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

History of Joubert syndrome and a 30-year follow-up of the original proband.

The 1960s were a period of great flowering in the recognition of neurologic disorders in children. The so-called ataxic cerebral palsies were an especially fertile field waiting for clarification. Congenital ataxia coupled with hyperpnea-apnea, abnormal eye movements, and retardation was identified as an autosomal-recessive syndrome eponimically associated with the senior author, Marie Joubert. The disorder, though rare, is increasingly recognized and a lay society dedicated to family support and research has been formed. In preparation for a recent symposium the original proband was re-examined 30 years later and the manifestations in adults clarified. Severe dysarthria was the most striking feature in this man, the hyperpnea-apnea had diminished, and the abnormal eye movements were less striking. Ataxia was still present but not severe. Poor judgment and borderline intelligence rounded out the clinical picture. Modern imaging has clarified, in part, the anatomic basis of this syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Quality criteria and access characteristics of Web sites: proposal for the design of a health Internet directory.

The increasing volume of information available on the Internet today is a problem for health care professionals who want to access rapidly data of high quality. Usual search engines and directories are not sufficient to satisfy their needs. Moreover, the information published by Web sites is not always guaranteed. Some institutions around the word deal with the definition of a set of criteria for the evaluation of medical Web sites. We base our current work on the technologies we developed previously in order to integrate sources of information of various kinds using the "Unified Medical Language System" knowledge bases. This paper focuses on quality criteria and access characteristics Web sites should satisfy to be registered in a "Health Internet Directory". The design of such a system is proposed and discussed.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1999

Confidentiality issues within a clinical information system: moving from data-driven to event-driven design.

Within a hospital, the moving of medical information systems from retrospective data-gathering methods to prospective clinical information systems raises the question of the confidentiality of patient data. A method of improving the traditional matrix model usually used to achieve access controls is described. The event-driven model refers to the way a security system ensures that a given user has a valid "need-to" relationship to a given patient. Events are defined as the occurrence of specific data that trigger the creation or the updating of the relationship between the identity of a user and the identity of a patient (e.g., admission, discharge, transfer, prescription, and report). The creation and the deletion of the relationships between users and patients are based on numerous repositories and working lists of patients. This implementation requires an organization of the hospital activities which is able to manage, in a real-time manner, those repositories as closely as possible to the steps occurring during the patient's care process. Although this approach seems to reasonably fit the dynamic of the care process, it adds significant organizational constraints.

Computer Security↗
PubMed1998

Demographic and familial characteristics of HTLV-1 infection among an isolated, highly endemic population of African origin in French Guiana.

To determine the epidemiological characteristics of human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) infection in the endemic village of Maripasoula, French Guiana, 1,614 persons (83.2% of the population) aged 2 to 91 years (mean age 21) were studied from November 1994 through April 1995. Plasma samples were screened by an HTLV-I ELISA and an IFA test (on MT2 cells), and positive samples were tested by an HTLV-I and -II type-specific Western blot. Overall seropositivity in the village was 6.7%, but HTLV-I infection was restricted to 3 of 6 ethnic groups, including the Noir-Marron (descendants of escaped African slaves, 8%), the Creoles (4.1%) and those of mixed Noir Marron/other ethnicity (3.6%). In the Noir-Marron population of 1,222 persons, including 606 men and 616 women and representing 76% of those tested, HTLV-I seroprevalence increased significantly with age in both sexes, reaching 40% in women older than 50 years. Univariate risk factors for HTLV-I seropositivity in women included older age, more pregnancies, more live births and a history of hospitalization. A cross-sectional analysis of sexual partners demonstrated an excess of discordant female HTLV-I+/male HTLV-I- couples, indicating preferential male-to-female sexual transmission. The demonstration of II HTLV-I-seropositive children aged less than 15 years, of whom 9 had a seropositive mother, suggested maternal-child HTLV-I transmission. Our results demonstrate a very high seroprevalence of HTLV-I in this South American population descended from African slaves, probably due to high rates of mother-to-child and sexual transmission within this rather isolated group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Approach to automation in immunohistochemistry.

The introduction of immunochemical techniques into the routine pathology laboratory has significantly expanded the capabilities of the pathologist in diagnostic procedures. Immunostaining represents a powerful diagnostic tool in the identification and localization of cellular antigens, in paraffin sections, frozen tissues and cell preparations. The labeled-streptavidin-biotin method provides excellent sensitivity and performance. This multistep procedure includes: incubation of the slide with primary antibody, reaction with the biotinylated secondary antibody, binding with an enzyme conjugated streptavidin and revelation with chromogen substrate. Evaluation of the finished product is directly dependent on the quality of the technique. The main critical steps of this manual method are reagents application, incubation times and rinsing. These steps could be accessible to automation. Automation in immunohistochemistry could guarantee a continuous quality of labelling in improving standardisation, optimization and traceability of operations. The required qualifications are analytical flexibility, low cost, walkaway operation, user-friendly interface and biosafety.

Automation↗
PubMed1998

Modeling and implementing a database on drugs into a hospital intranet.

Our objective was to develop a drug information service, implementing a database on drugs in our university hospitals information system. Thériaque is a database, maintained by a group of pharmacists and physicians, on all the drugs available in France. Before its implementation we modeled its content (chemical classes, active components, excipients, indications, contra-indications, side effects, and so on) according to an object-oriented method. Then we designed HTML pages whose appearance translates the structure of classes of objects of the model. Fields in pages are dynamically fulfilled by the results of queries to a relational database in which information on drugs is stored. This allowed a fast implementation and did not imply to port a client application on the thousands of workstations over the network. The interface provides end-users with an easy-to-use and natural way to access information related to drugs in an internet environment.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗