[Supply of sterile medical devices to an interventional technical platform via mobile RFID technology]. / Approvisionnement d'un plateau technique interventionnel en dispositifs médicaux stériles via la technologie RFID mobile.

This work presents the eight-month assessment of the mobile RFID (radio frequency identification) technology implementation for the management of sterile medical devices in an interventional cardiology department. Several indicators dedicated to stock management, organizational impact (within the pharmacy and the department) and economic impact were collected. The scope of MDS tracked by RFID was defined as well as the new supply circuit. In total, 297 (83%) references were managed by RFID. At eight months, the number of MDS units in stock has decreased by 35% and the number of overstocked references by more than 50%. The value of the inventory decreased by €30,196 (17%) in three months from an initial amount of €17,995. This decrease has been maintained at eight months. The average time spent by the pharmacy technician (PPH) was 66min/d. The paramedical team gained 180min/week. By integrating the cost of the equipment, the annual subscription and the PPH cost, the benefit is estimated at €9555 the first year (then €17,155 the following years). To conclude, RFID has allowed a significant reduction of the stock and its control over time while securing the supply circuit adjusted to the activity. The limits are the absence of interface between the dedicated software and the ordering software as well as the consequent time dedicated by the PPH to this new management mode.

Sexual dimorphism in white campion: complex control of carpel number is revealed by y chromosome deletions.

Sexual dimorphism in the dioecious plant white campion (Silene latifolia = Melandrium album) is under the control of two main regions on the Y chromosome. One such region, encoding the gynoecium-suppressing function (GSF), is responsible for the arrest of carpel initiation in male flowers. To generate chromosomal deletions, we used pollen irradiation in male plants to produce hermaphroditic mutants (bsx mutants) in which carpel development was restored. The mutants resulted from alterations in at least two GSF chromosomal regions, one autosomal and one located on the distal half of the (p)-arm of the Y chromosome. The two mutations affected carpel development independently, each mutation showing incomplete penetrance and variegation, albeit at significantly different levels. During successive meiotic generations, a progressive increase in penetrance and a reduction in variegation levels were observed and quantified at the level of the Y-linked GSF (GSF-Y). Possible mechanisms are proposed to explain the behavior of the bsx mutations: epigenetic regulation or/and second-site mutation of modifier genes. In addition, studies on the inheritance of the hermaphroditic trait showed that, unlike wild-type Y chromosomes, deleted Y chromosomes can be transmitted through both the male and the female lines. Altogether, these findings bring experimental support, on the one hand, to the existence on the Y chromosome of genic meiotic drive function(s) and, on the other hand, to models that consider that dioecy evolved through multiple mutation events. As such, the GSF is actually a system containing more than one locus and whose primary component is located on the Y chromosome.

Isolation of early genes expressed in reproductive organs of the dioecious white campion (Silene latifolia) by subtraction cloning using an asexual mutant.

The dioecious white campion (Silene latifolia) has been chosen as a working model for sexual development. In this species, sexual dimorphism is achieved through two distinct developmental blocks: inhibition of carpel development in male flowers, and early arrest of anther differentiation in female flowers. The combined advantages of the dioecious system and the availability of a sexual mutant lacking both male and female reproductive organs have been exploited in a molecular subtraction approach using male and asexual flower buds. This resulted in the cloning of 22 cDNA clones expressed in stamens at distinct stages of development. Fourteen of these clones corresponded to genes whose expression was detected in pre-meiotic stamens, a stage of development for which very little information is presently available. Furthermore, the absence of similarities with database sequences for ten clones suggests that they represent novel genes. Functional analysis of each clone will enable their positioning within the reproductive organ developmental pathway(s). In parallel, these clones are being exploited as developmental markers of early differentiation within the flower.

A floral third whorl-specific marker gene in the dioecious species white campion is differentially expressed in mutants defective in stamen development.

The CCLS4 gene of white campion is specifically expressed in anther epidermis and endothecium from pre- to post-meiotic stages. We report on a detailed in situ analysis of the gene's expression and show that it is a marker of the floral third whorl. The gene is expressed (1) in the anther (epidermis, parietal cells and the derived endothecium) in normally developing stamens and (2) in distinct sub-domains of third-whorl epidermis in mutants exhibiting aberrant states of parietal differentiation. Our results suggest that CCLS4 may fulfil different functions during pre- and post-meiotic anther development and reveal the complex role parietal cells may play during early stamen formation.