Is "translational research" reshaping health policy ?

Conference (2012, July 08)

Biomedical research is an area of fast evolving development. Although biomedical research occurs in internationally nested research laboratories, application development occurs in local settings, such as ... [more ▼]

Biomedical research is an area of fast evolving development. Although biomedical research occurs in internationally nested research laboratories, application development occurs in local settings, such as hospitals, which are central instruments for health policies. Much translation work occurs to build new forms of cooperation between biomedical researchers and medical doctors. The first group works in an international competitive environment, acting as research entrepreneurs with connection to the pharmaceutical industry in the logics of "open innovation". Members of the second group are embedded in hospital systems, within a web of constrains, being accountable as well to their patients as to their managers, and to their professional constrains which are most of the time defined within specific institutions at national level, in close relation to public health authorities. These links at micro-meso-macro levels between medics and their environment are put under constrains by biomedical innovations (as was shown in Europe during the controversy around the breast cancer products from Myriad Genetics). In order to organise new forms of cooperation and to dismantle frontiers between the "bench world" and the "bed world", a new concept was put at the fore : "translational research" which is supporting new forms of cooperation "from bench to bed" with all associated partners, ensuring enrolment of the individual patient and the policy makers. Starting with the presentation of the new science production regime in French speaking Belgium, the paper proposes to deconstruct the conditions of emergence of the new instruments of science production in biomedical research to understand institutional reorganisation and new power balances. [less ▲]

Is a low-mass top quark ruled out?

in Physics Letters B (1987), 196

Is a zero P-input compatible with a sustainable agriculture? Long-term field experiments in loamy soils.

Poster (2012, July)

Is Alzheimer's disease a disconnection syndrome? Evidence from a crossmodal audio-visual illusory experiment

in Neuropsychologia (2007), 45(14), 3315-3323

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), loss of connectivity in the patient's brain has been evidenced by a range of electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies. However, few neuropsychological research projects ... [more ▼]

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), loss of connectivity in the patient's brain has been evidenced by a range of electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies. However, few neuropsychological research projects have sought to interpret the cognitive modifications following the appearance of AD in terms of a disconnection syndrome. In this paper, we sought to investigate brain connectivity in AD via the study of a crossmodal effect. More precisely, we examined the integration of auditory and visual speech information (the McGurk effect) in AD patients and matched control subjects. Our results revealed impaired crossmodal integration during speech perception in AD, which was not associated with disturbances in the separate processing of auditory and visual speech stimuli. In conclusion, our data suggest the occurrence of a specific, audio-visual integration deficit in AD, which might be the consequence of a connectivity breakdown and corroborate the observation from other studies of crossmodal deficits between the auditory and visual modalities in this population. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Is an evidence-based approach unrealistic in NSCLC?

in Belgian Journal of Medical Oncology [=BJMO] (2008), volume 2(6), 326-333

Summary Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous tumour. A wide variety of treatment options is currently available. Surgery remains the mainstay of curative treatment and an operative ... [more ▼]

Summary Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous tumour. A wide variety of treatment options is currently available. Surgery remains the mainstay of curative treatment and an operative approach will be selected in function of disease stage, tumour resectability and performance status of the patient. Adjuvant chemotherapy is considered standard at least for stage II and III disease. In stage III disease, resectability should be decided in function of the cytological/histological confirmation of N2 disease. If N2-disease cannot be highlighted at work-up, the patients are submitted to surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. If patients are staged pN0-pN1 after surgery, ostoperative radiotherapy should not be given. However, if pN2 is discovered at surgery, there might be a place for postoperative radiotherapy but this still needs confirmation. In case of cytological/histological confirmation of pN2 disease prior to surgery, patients should not be operated but treated with a combination of oncomitant chemoradiotherapy. This treatment algorithm will be evaluated by reviewing the published evidence issued from randomized controlled trials. [less ▲]

Is aprotinin worth the risk in total hip replacement?

in Anesthesiology (1994), 81(2), 518-519

Is behavior still a relevant variable ?

in Psychiatry, the state of the art. Vol.1. clinical psychopathology : nomenclature and classification (1985)

Is brain activity during a Stroop inhibitory task modulated by the kind of cognitive control required?

Conference (2011)

Performance on the Stroop task is associated to a large antero-posterior cerebral network involving notably the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In this study, we used a mixed-BOLD ... [more ▼]

Performance on the Stroop task is associated to a large antero-posterior cerebral network involving notably the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In this study, we used a mixed-BOLD-fMRI design (N=25) to determine the neural substrates of inhibitory functioning in a Stroop task according to contextual information. Consequently, two task-contexts were created: (1) congruent context with a majority of facilitator items, (2) non-congruent context with mainly interfering items. Based on the dual cognitive control model, we postulated that the non-congruent blocks will involve proactive control, which is anticipatory, sustained, and involved when a large number of interfering items are successively presented. On the contrary, congruent blocks were assumed to involve reactive control, which occurs when few interfering items are presented, and just after the presentation of these items only. On this basis, we hypothesized that the kind of cognitive control modulates cerebral activity associated to inhibitory functioning. For behavioral data, we obtained faster response times for interfering items in the non-congruent vs. congruent condition, indicating proactive control specific to the congruent condition only. Functional neuro-imaging data showed an increased transient activity for interfering vs neutral items in a fronto-parietal network more important in the congruent than in the neutral condition. A similar contrast in the non-congruent condition showed no significant brain activity at the statistical threshold used. These data indicate the existence of a modulation of the cerebral areas associated to inhibitory functioning according to the kind of cognitive control necessary to perform the task. [less ▲]

Is brain activity during a Stroop inhibitory task modulated by the kind of cognitive control required?

Poster (2009, May 11)

Is brain activity during a Stroop inhibitory task modulated by the kind of cognitive control required?

Conference (2009, June 11)