André H. Caron

Active Users and Active Objects The Mutual Construction of Families and Communication Technologies

The purpose of this study was to focus on the subjective construction of the meaning people give to technologies and their uses within the family. The adoption and use of new communication technologies are interpreted as series of social actions undertaken by its members, under precise conditions, for specific motives. For this reason this research took us inside the homes of nine families (with and without children and teenagers), in a natural, everyday-life context of uses of communication technologies. We looked closely at the cumulating effects of household technologies in a contextualist-interactionist theoretical perspective and concentrated on analysing the synergy between three families of technology: telephone, television and the computer-internet.

Comparison of digital image analysis and visual scoring of KI-67 in prostate cancer prognosis after prostatectomy.

BackgroundThe tumor proliferative index marker Ki-67 was shown to be associated with clinically significant outcomes in prostate cancer, but its clinical application has limitations due to lack of uniformity and consistency in quantification. Our objective was to compare the measurements obtained with digital image analysis (DIA) versus virtual microscopy (visual scoring (VS)).MethodsTo do so, we compared the measurement distributions of each technique and their ability to predict clinically useful endpoints. A tissue microarray series from a cohort of 225 men who underwent radical prostatectomy was immunostained for Ki-67. The percentage of Ki-67 positive nuclei in malignant cells was assessed both by VS and DIA, and a H–score was calculated. The distribution and predictive ability of these scoring methods to predict biochemical recurrence (BCR) and death from prostate cancer (DPCa) were compared using Mann–Whitney test and C-index.ResultsThe measurements obtained with VS were similar to the DIA measurements (p = 0.73) but dissimilar to the H-score (p < 0.001). Cox regression models showed that Ki-67 was associated with BCR (HR 1.46, 95 % CI 1.10-1.94) and DPCa (HR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.06-1.50). C-indexes revealed that Ki-67 was a better predictor of DPCa (0.803, 0.8059 and 0.789; VS, DIA and H-score, respectively) than of BCR (0.625, 0.632 and 0.604; VS, DIA and H-score, respectively).ConclusionThe measurement distributions and the predictive abilities of VS and DIA were similar and presented the same predictive behaviour in our cohort, supporting the role of Ki-67 proliferative index as an important prognostic factor of BCR and DPCa in prostate cancer post RP.Virtual SlidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/6656878501536663

Prognostic value of urinary prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) during active surveillance of patients with low-risk prostate cancer receiving 5α-reductase inhibitors

To determine the clinical performance of the urinary prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) test to predict the risk of Gleason grade re‐classification amongst men receiving a 5α‐reductase inhibitor (5ARI) during active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer.

Indoor airborne fungi as risk factors in IgE-mediated respiratory allergy

The purpose of this epidemiological study was to assess respiratory allergy in relation to the presence of indoor airborne fungi. The relationship between IgE-mediated respiratory allergy (skin test positivity) and the presence of fungi (CFU/m3) in the indoor environments of 104 subjects was assessed in a cross-sectional study by controlling for extraneous variables (age, gender, predisposition, asthma, rhinitis, skin positivity to ragweed and mite, and smoking). The qualitative and quantitative measurements of airborne seasonal fungi (Alternaria spp. andCladosporium spp.) and non-seasonal airborne fungi (Penicillium spp. andAspergillus spp.) were taken in the subjects’ indoor environments twice in a 2-year period by volumetric methods (Burkard Personal Sampler). There was a significant association between skin test positivity to seasonal fungi and to ragweed (Adj. OR=3.42, CI=1.76–6.66). There was no association between skin test positivity to seasonal fungi and asthma (Adj. OR=0.52, CI=0.28–0.98), but a significant association was found between skin test positivity to seasonal fungi and rhinitis (Adj. OR=5, CI=2.03–12.32). In a logistic regression analysis (maximum likelihood estimates—model A), no statistical association was found indoors between skin prick test positivity to seasonal fungi (Alternaria and/orCladosporium) and airborneAlternaria and/orCladosporium concentrations (Adj. OR=1.18, CI=0.66–2.07). There was a significant association between skin prick test positivity to seasonal fungi and to non-seasonal fungi (Adj. OR=12.81, CI=1.67–98.34). There was no association between asthma and airbornePenicillium concentrations (Adj. OR=1.86, CI=0.47–7.33) nor between rhinitis and airbornePenicillium concentrations (Adj. OR=0.18, CI=0.03–1.19). In another logistic regression analysis (maximum likelihood estimates — model B) using non-seasonal fungi (Aspergillus andPenicillium), no statistical association was found indoors between skin prick test positivity to non-seasonal fungi and airbornePenicillium concentrations (Adj. OR=0.33, CI=0.07–1.69). These findings suggest an association between rhinitis and seasonal fungi. In the rhinitis stratum, subjects who had skin test positivity to ragweed had a higher risk of being sensitive to seasonal airborne fungal allergens. Subjects with non-seasonal fungal allergy had a high relative risk if they were also allergic to seasonal fungi. There was no association between asthma and airborne fungi, as the epidemiological study (cross-sectional design), by definition, does not allow an etiological evaluation of chronic disease. This would require a longitudinal study, i.e. the measurement of repeated exposure as an independent variable (allergen) and repeated measurement as a function of the disease as outcome in humans as a dependent variable.