The stability of three water-based slurries containing different loads of Al microparticles was measured by laser scattering. The slurries displayed a Newtonian behaviour and the evolution of viscosity over nine days ...The stability of three water-based slurries containing different loads of Al microparticles was measured by laser scattering. The slurries displayed a Newtonian behaviour and the evolution of viscosity over nine days was found to be constant. Ground surfaces of nickel were also wetted similarly irrespective of the Al content in the slurries (30, 40 or 50 wt%) thereby demonstrating that the 1/10 PVA/H2O water based slurries are adequate for spraying. After deposition and annealing of the as-sprayed coatings, a thermal barrier coating system was formed with a top coat of hollow alumina spheres, an intermediate thermally grown oxide and a bottom aluminized bond coat. The coating system is shown to display very low thermal conductivity and remarkable oxidation resistance at high temperatures.展开更多
We present a methodology for constructing a short-term event risk score in heart failure patients from an ensemble predictor, using bootstrap samples, two different classification rules, logistic regression and linear...We present a methodology for constructing a short-term event risk score in heart failure patients from an ensemble predictor, using bootstrap samples, two different classification rules, logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis for mixed data, continuous or categorical, and random selection of explanatory variables to build individual predictors. We define a measure of the importance of each variable in the score and an event risk measure by an odds-ratio. Moreover, we establish a property of linear discriminant analysis for mixed data. This methodology is applied to EPHESUS trial patients on whom biological, clinical and medical history variables were measured.展开更多
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by Cassava Mosaic Begomoviruses (CMBs) is one of the most devastating crop diseases and a major constraint for cassava production. In order to ensure surveillance for epidemic preve...Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by Cassava Mosaic Begomoviruses (CMBs) is one of the most devastating crop diseases and a major constraint for cassava production. In order to ensure surveillance for epidemic prevention, low-cost diagnostic tools are appropriate for large-scale testing of cassava viruses. Multiplex PCR diagnosis is one approach that can reduce diagnostic costs and delays. A multiplex PCR approach was developed for simultaneous detection of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV), East African Cassava Mosaic Virus and East African cassava mosaic Cameroon virus (EACMV/CM) in Togo CMD-infected cassava leaves. Three primers pairs were used to target their respective viruses in a single tube PCR. Multiplex PCR detected ACMV, EACMV and EACMV/CM in plant DNA extracts prepared from cassava leaves infected with CMB. The primers amplified 783 bp specific to ACMV, 650 bp specific to EACMV and 560 bp specific to EACMCV/CM in both uniplex and multiplex formats. Multiplex PCR is an excellent tool for the effective control of cassava diseases. .展开更多
Diabetes mellitus is a socially significant disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and metabolic disorders of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids due to reduced function of insulin. Medicinal plants, rich in b...Diabetes mellitus is a socially significant disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and metabolic disorders of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids due to reduced function of insulin. Medicinal plants, rich in bioactive components that promote prevention and treatment, are inexpensive and no side effects. <i>Apium graveolens</i>, <i>Cleome gynandra</i>, and <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> from Burkina Faso were investigated for their phytochemical profile and antioxidant activities. The high-performance thin-layer chromatography profile revealed flavonoids, tannins, and sterols in these herbaceous. The <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> methanolic extract exhibited the highest total phenolic (138.4 ± 0.5 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoid (52.8 ± 0.6 mg RuE/g DW) contents comparatively to <i>Cleome gynandra</i> and <i>Apium graveolens</i>. <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> methanolic extract also presented the highest antioxidant activity (IC<sub>50</sub> = 0.31 ± 0.002 mg/mL) using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity assay. A high correlation between flavonoid contents and hydrophilic antioxidant activities (r = 0.99) was observed, indicating that flavonoids contribute significatively to these herbaceous antioxidant properties. <i>Apium graveolens</i>, <i>Cleome gynandra, and <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> constitute a natural source of phenolic compounds that could be exploited in diabetes mellitus management.</i>展开更多
Drug treatment, snail control, cercariae control, improved sanitation and health education are the effective strategies which are used to control the schistosomiasis. In this paper, we consider a deterministic model f...Drug treatment, snail control, cercariae control, improved sanitation and health education are the effective strategies which are used to control the schistosomiasis. In this paper, we consider a deterministic model for schistosomiasis transmission dynamics in order to explore the role of the several control strategies. The global stability of a schistosomiasis infection model that involves mating structure including male schistosomes, female schistosomes, paired schistosomes and snails is studied by constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions. We derive the basic reproduction number R0 for the deterministic model, and establish that the global dynamics are completely determined by the values of R0. We show that the disease can be eradicated when R0?≤1;otherwise, the system is persistent. In the case where ?R0?>1, we prove the existence, uniqueness and global asymptotic stability of an endemic steady state. Sensitivity analysis and simulations are carried out in order to determine the relative importance of different control strategies for disease transmission and prevalence. Next, optimal control theory is applied to investigate the control strategies for eliminating schistosomiasis using time dependent controls. The characterization of the optimal control is carried out via the Pontryagins Maximum Principle. The simulation results demonstrate that the insecticide is important in the control of schistosomiasis.展开更多
Because the elderly account for 80% of deaths from COVID-19 and they may be more vulnerable to air pollution, in this retrospective study we aimed to explore individual and environmental risk factors for COVID-19 mort...Because the elderly account for 80% of deaths from COVID-19 and they may be more vulnerable to air pollution, in this retrospective study we aimed to explore individual and environmental risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in the geriatric departments of seven European University hospitals, between February and May 2020. Long-term exposure to air pollution was estimated through annual pollutant concentrations at the residential address over the last two years. Short-term variations in air pollutants and weather parameters were also examined through a 20-day period before the confirmed PCR diagnostic of COVID-19. We found positive associations for diabetes and COVID-19 mortality (OR 2.2 CI 95%: 1.1, 4.4). Regarding environmental factors, we found no association between COVID-19 mortality and air pollutants and weather parameters;however, our study suffers from strong disparities—such as patient characteristics—between fairly polluted and less polluted cities. In order to overcome those disparities between cities, we aimed to explore the relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality within each city, but even with the high-efficiency modelisation systems, differences in air pollutants were too small to estimate the effect of air pollution at the city level. Thus, this study highlights the need to improve the estimation of individual exposure to air pollution. To address this issue, solutions exist such as the increase of the number of fixed air monitors, or even better, through the use of individual markers of air pollution exposure such as urinary black carbon or passive individual samplers. Furthermore, we underline that outdoor air pollutant concentrations may not be representative of individual exposure, especially in the elderly, thus, we suggest that further studies focus on indoor air pollution. Regarding meteorological conditions, we found no association between UV, temperature, wind speed and COVID-19 mortality. We found a positive association between an increase in relative humidity (RH) and COVID-19 mortality, however, the influence of RH on COVID-19 mortality remains unclear, and additional studies are needed to confirm this potential link.展开更多
In this paper, a routing protocol for wireless sensor network, baptized energy based protocol (EBP) is proposed. Wireless sensor network presents many challenges and constraints, and one of the major constraints is th...In this paper, a routing protocol for wireless sensor network, baptized energy based protocol (EBP) is proposed. Wireless sensor network presents many challenges and constraints, and one of the major constraints is the routing problem. Due to the limited energy of sensor nodes, routing in this type of network shall perform efficiently to maximize the network lifetime. One of the proposed algorithms is the directional source aware routing protocol (DSAP) which, after simulation, showed a lot of limitations and drawbacks. The modified directional source aware routing protocol (MDSAP) was proposed by the authors of this paper to address some of the DSAP’s limitations but remains limited to a fixed topology, fixed source and stationary nodes. So EBP is proposed and operated under different scenarios and showed, after its simulation using TinyOS, many advantages in terms of load balancing, free looping, minimizing packet error rate and maximizing network lifetime.展开更多
Objectives: To evaluate the long-term outcome of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and attempt to define prognostic factors for outcome. Methods: Transversal, descriptive epidemiological study with a strict methodolog...Objectives: To evaluate the long-term outcome of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and attempt to define prognostic factors for outcome. Methods: Transversal, descriptive epidemiological study with a strict methodology: minimum interval of 4 years since first admission, evaluation using clearly defined diagnostic criteria (EAT-40 self-evaluation, HSCL, global patient-driven self-evaluation and hetero evaluation: clinical interview and LECE). The 198 subjects are former adolescent anorexics treated at the Hôpital d’Enfants (Children’s Hospital) in Nancy (France). Results: Clinical evaluation of the 144 subjects traced showed positive outcome for 68.1%, intermediate outcome for 23.2% and poor outcome for 8.7%. 5 factors for a good prognosis were found (middle socioeconomic class of parents, no prior treatment, hospitalization > 1 month,展开更多
Background: Since the identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene in 1989, many polymorphisms have been identified in cystic fibrosis (CF) or CFTR-related disorders (CFTR-RDs) patients an...Background: Since the identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene in 1989, many polymorphisms have been identified in cystic fibrosis (CF) or CFTR-related disorders (CFTR-RDs) patients and still remain to be characterized at the molecular level. These polymorphisms are difficult to classify as pathogenic or non-disease causing because the polymorphisms are either located in the coding region, but are synonymous, or are found in the intronic regions. Here we investigated the potential impact of the c.743 + 40A > G polymorphism within CFTR intron 6 on the alternative splicing. Indeed, this variant has been observed frequently in our examined patients. Moreover, a family carrying this variant exhibited CFTR-RD phenotype. Methods: By denaturing high pressure liquid phase chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing, thirty of 293 subjects French origin carried the c.743 + 40A > G variant. Of these, 16 patients were affected by CF or CFTR-RD. Wild-type sequences and mutant CFTR intron 6 and its boundaries were inserted into the pTBNdeI hybride minigene and expressed in three different cell lines. After RT-PCR analysis of mRNA using specific primers, sequences of the minigene transcripts were obtained. Results: No aberrant splicing was detected with minigene carrying c.743 + 40A > G variant in all transfected cell lines. However, an alternative splicing in the positive control was detected with a minigene carrying the c.1392G > T + 1G > T mutation: 5 nucleotides were deleted from mRNA sequences, indicating that used cell lines are appropriate for studying the splicing. Conclusion: Transient transfections of a minigene containing the c.743 + 40A > G polymorphism showed no splicing errors, and thus this intronic alteration was finally classified as non-pathogenic. As it is always associated with c.2562T > G and c.4389G > A, or TG12-7T poly-morphisms, further experiments are needed to determine the role of these complex alleles in disease pathogenesis.展开更多
文摘The stability of three water-based slurries containing different loads of Al microparticles was measured by laser scattering. The slurries displayed a Newtonian behaviour and the evolution of viscosity over nine days was found to be constant. Ground surfaces of nickel were also wetted similarly irrespective of the Al content in the slurries (30, 40 or 50 wt%) thereby demonstrating that the 1/10 PVA/H2O water based slurries are adequate for spraying. After deposition and annealing of the as-sprayed coatings, a thermal barrier coating system was formed with a top coat of hollow alumina spheres, an intermediate thermally grown oxide and a bottom aluminized bond coat. The coating system is shown to display very low thermal conductivity and remarkable oxidation resistance at high temperatures.
文摘We present a methodology for constructing a short-term event risk score in heart failure patients from an ensemble predictor, using bootstrap samples, two different classification rules, logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis for mixed data, continuous or categorical, and random selection of explanatory variables to build individual predictors. We define a measure of the importance of each variable in the score and an event risk measure by an odds-ratio. Moreover, we establish a property of linear discriminant analysis for mixed data. This methodology is applied to EPHESUS trial patients on whom biological, clinical and medical history variables were measured.
文摘Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by Cassava Mosaic Begomoviruses (CMBs) is one of the most devastating crop diseases and a major constraint for cassava production. In order to ensure surveillance for epidemic prevention, low-cost diagnostic tools are appropriate for large-scale testing of cassava viruses. Multiplex PCR diagnosis is one approach that can reduce diagnostic costs and delays. A multiplex PCR approach was developed for simultaneous detection of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV), East African Cassava Mosaic Virus and East African cassava mosaic Cameroon virus (EACMV/CM) in Togo CMD-infected cassava leaves. Three primers pairs were used to target their respective viruses in a single tube PCR. Multiplex PCR detected ACMV, EACMV and EACMV/CM in plant DNA extracts prepared from cassava leaves infected with CMB. The primers amplified 783 bp specific to ACMV, 650 bp specific to EACMV and 560 bp specific to EACMCV/CM in both uniplex and multiplex formats. Multiplex PCR is an excellent tool for the effective control of cassava diseases. .
文摘Diabetes mellitus is a socially significant disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and metabolic disorders of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids due to reduced function of insulin. Medicinal plants, rich in bioactive components that promote prevention and treatment, are inexpensive and no side effects. <i>Apium graveolens</i>, <i>Cleome gynandra</i>, and <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> from Burkina Faso were investigated for their phytochemical profile and antioxidant activities. The high-performance thin-layer chromatography profile revealed flavonoids, tannins, and sterols in these herbaceous. The <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> methanolic extract exhibited the highest total phenolic (138.4 ± 0.5 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoid (52.8 ± 0.6 mg RuE/g DW) contents comparatively to <i>Cleome gynandra</i> and <i>Apium graveolens</i>. <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> methanolic extract also presented the highest antioxidant activity (IC<sub>50</sub> = 0.31 ± 0.002 mg/mL) using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity assay. A high correlation between flavonoid contents and hydrophilic antioxidant activities (r = 0.99) was observed, indicating that flavonoids contribute significatively to these herbaceous antioxidant properties. <i>Apium graveolens</i>, <i>Cleome gynandra, and <i>Hibiscus sabdariffa</i> constitute a natural source of phenolic compounds that could be exploited in diabetes mellitus management.</i>
文摘Drug treatment, snail control, cercariae control, improved sanitation and health education are the effective strategies which are used to control the schistosomiasis. In this paper, we consider a deterministic model for schistosomiasis transmission dynamics in order to explore the role of the several control strategies. The global stability of a schistosomiasis infection model that involves mating structure including male schistosomes, female schistosomes, paired schistosomes and snails is studied by constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions. We derive the basic reproduction number R0 for the deterministic model, and establish that the global dynamics are completely determined by the values of R0. We show that the disease can be eradicated when R0?≤1;otherwise, the system is persistent. In the case where ?R0?>1, we prove the existence, uniqueness and global asymptotic stability of an endemic steady state. Sensitivity analysis and simulations are carried out in order to determine the relative importance of different control strategies for disease transmission and prevalence. Next, optimal control theory is applied to investigate the control strategies for eliminating schistosomiasis using time dependent controls. The characterization of the optimal control is carried out via the Pontryagins Maximum Principle. The simulation results demonstrate that the insecticide is important in the control of schistosomiasis.
文摘Because the elderly account for 80% of deaths from COVID-19 and they may be more vulnerable to air pollution, in this retrospective study we aimed to explore individual and environmental risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in the geriatric departments of seven European University hospitals, between February and May 2020. Long-term exposure to air pollution was estimated through annual pollutant concentrations at the residential address over the last two years. Short-term variations in air pollutants and weather parameters were also examined through a 20-day period before the confirmed PCR diagnostic of COVID-19. We found positive associations for diabetes and COVID-19 mortality (OR 2.2 CI 95%: 1.1, 4.4). Regarding environmental factors, we found no association between COVID-19 mortality and air pollutants and weather parameters;however, our study suffers from strong disparities—such as patient characteristics—between fairly polluted and less polluted cities. In order to overcome those disparities between cities, we aimed to explore the relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality within each city, but even with the high-efficiency modelisation systems, differences in air pollutants were too small to estimate the effect of air pollution at the city level. Thus, this study highlights the need to improve the estimation of individual exposure to air pollution. To address this issue, solutions exist such as the increase of the number of fixed air monitors, or even better, through the use of individual markers of air pollution exposure such as urinary black carbon or passive individual samplers. Furthermore, we underline that outdoor air pollutant concentrations may not be representative of individual exposure, especially in the elderly, thus, we suggest that further studies focus on indoor air pollution. Regarding meteorological conditions, we found no association between UV, temperature, wind speed and COVID-19 mortality. We found a positive association between an increase in relative humidity (RH) and COVID-19 mortality, however, the influence of RH on COVID-19 mortality remains unclear, and additional studies are needed to confirm this potential link.
文摘In this paper, a routing protocol for wireless sensor network, baptized energy based protocol (EBP) is proposed. Wireless sensor network presents many challenges and constraints, and one of the major constraints is the routing problem. Due to the limited energy of sensor nodes, routing in this type of network shall perform efficiently to maximize the network lifetime. One of the proposed algorithms is the directional source aware routing protocol (DSAP) which, after simulation, showed a lot of limitations and drawbacks. The modified directional source aware routing protocol (MDSAP) was proposed by the authors of this paper to address some of the DSAP’s limitations but remains limited to a fixed topology, fixed source and stationary nodes. So EBP is proposed and operated under different scenarios and showed, after its simulation using TinyOS, many advantages in terms of load balancing, free looping, minimizing packet error rate and maximizing network lifetime.
文摘Objectives: To evaluate the long-term outcome of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and attempt to define prognostic factors for outcome. Methods: Transversal, descriptive epidemiological study with a strict methodology: minimum interval of 4 years since first admission, evaluation using clearly defined diagnostic criteria (EAT-40 self-evaluation, HSCL, global patient-driven self-evaluation and hetero evaluation: clinical interview and LECE). The 198 subjects are former adolescent anorexics treated at the Hôpital d’Enfants (Children’s Hospital) in Nancy (France). Results: Clinical evaluation of the 144 subjects traced showed positive outcome for 68.1%, intermediate outcome for 23.2% and poor outcome for 8.7%. 5 factors for a good prognosis were found (middle socioeconomic class of parents, no prior treatment, hospitalization > 1 month,
文摘Background: Since the identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene in 1989, many polymorphisms have been identified in cystic fibrosis (CF) or CFTR-related disorders (CFTR-RDs) patients and still remain to be characterized at the molecular level. These polymorphisms are difficult to classify as pathogenic or non-disease causing because the polymorphisms are either located in the coding region, but are synonymous, or are found in the intronic regions. Here we investigated the potential impact of the c.743 + 40A > G polymorphism within CFTR intron 6 on the alternative splicing. Indeed, this variant has been observed frequently in our examined patients. Moreover, a family carrying this variant exhibited CFTR-RD phenotype. Methods: By denaturing high pressure liquid phase chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing, thirty of 293 subjects French origin carried the c.743 + 40A > G variant. Of these, 16 patients were affected by CF or CFTR-RD. Wild-type sequences and mutant CFTR intron 6 and its boundaries were inserted into the pTBNdeI hybride minigene and expressed in three different cell lines. After RT-PCR analysis of mRNA using specific primers, sequences of the minigene transcripts were obtained. Results: No aberrant splicing was detected with minigene carrying c.743 + 40A > G variant in all transfected cell lines. However, an alternative splicing in the positive control was detected with a minigene carrying the c.1392G > T + 1G > T mutation: 5 nucleotides were deleted from mRNA sequences, indicating that used cell lines are appropriate for studying the splicing. Conclusion: Transient transfections of a minigene containing the c.743 + 40A > G polymorphism showed no splicing errors, and thus this intronic alteration was finally classified as non-pathogenic. As it is always associated with c.2562T > G and c.4389G > A, or TG12-7T poly-morphisms, further experiments are needed to determine the role of these complex alleles in disease pathogenesis.
