Reforma en el mundo árabe

Texto de la conferencia pronunciada por Amre Moussa, Secretario General de la Liga Árabe, el 10 de noviembre de 2004 en el Casino de Madrid, organizada por el Real Instituto Elcano

Monitoring of camel milk quality in intensive dairy farm

The implementation of intensive camel dairy farm aiming to put milk and milk products (pasteurized or fermented milk, cheese) on the national market is not possible without a control of the high hygienic quality of the raw matter. In consequence, the daily routine microbiological control is an important step of the milking and milk processing. The present communication is focused on the results after one-year monitoring of milk quality in intensive camel dairy farm, including the control of each milking (morning and afternoon), of mixed milk before and after pasteurization, whey after cheese making and leben. Coliforms and total flora are checked. By applying Good Milking Practices (GMP), the milk quality was improved, the mean coliforms in raw milk decreasing by 3 logs (106 UFC/ml to less than 103 UFC/ml) and the total flora passing from 3.5 x 105 UFC/ml to 1.8 x 104 UFC/ml. Similar trends were observed for processed milk with a significant improvement of the quality. (Résumé d'auteur

Effect of Intravenous Phenobarbital on Left Ventricular Myocardial Contractility Determined by Echocardiography in Children

Introduction. Animal studies and rare human studies have suggesteda negative effect of barbiturates on cardiac function. Althoughintravenous (IV) phenobarbital is used routinely in children in theclinical setting, studies in children are lacking. We performed a studyto evaluate effect of IV phenobarbital loading on myocardial systolicfunction of children.Methods.xIn a prospective pilot study in children without congenitalheart defects, the effect of IV phenobarbital was evaluated on theleft ventricular systolic function measured by ejection fraction (EF)by Simpson’s method via an echocardiogram. Any child less than 18years of age who received IV loading dose of at least 20 mg/kg ofphenobarbital given as an infusion over 20 - 30 minutes for variousmedical indications was eligible to take part in the study. Three measurementsof EF by an echocardiogram were made: before loadingdose, 30 minutes after completion of the loading dose, and prior tothe first maintenance dose. Relevant clinical data were recorded,including vital signs, immediately prior to each echocardiogram.Change of function as measured by EF over time was analyzed usinglinear mixed modeling methods. For this study, significant change inblood pressure was defined as a drop of at least 20 mmHg in systolicblood pressure.Results. Ten children (70% female, age range two days to 8.2 years)were enrolled. Three had hypotension with a drop of systolic bloodpressure greater than 20 mmHg from baseline. On examining thetrajectory of EF on each individual graphically, the left ventricularEF tended to fall immediately following phenobarbital therapy andreturn to baseline on re-evaluation. These trajectories were statisticallysignificant for EF.Conclusions. Phenobarbital had a direct and transient depressanteffect on systolic function of the myocardium in one third of the cases.The depression in EF appeared to be transient with return to baseline in less than 24 hours. We recommend close monitoring with anticipationof decreased function in children when using IV phenobarbital.Kans J Med 2019;12(2):40-44

Predictive powers of tests of risk and loss Aversion in a principal-agent context: an Experiment

The goal of this experimental study is to demonstrate that the test of loss-aversion has a superior predictive power than the standard test of risk-aversion over behavior in risky situations that involve potential losses, e.g. agent's decision in a principal-agent context. Since participant's loss-aversion and risk-aversion affect the results of the loss-aversion test in one direction, the results of that test contains combined information on agent's preferences regarding risks and losses. On the other hand, test of risk- aversion only reflects the attitude towards risks and becomes redundant for prediction of agent's behavior in principal-agent setting when test of loss-aversion is conducted. A three-stage experiment consisted of eliciting a proxy for the curvature of agent's utility curve over wealth, eliciting a proxy for the loss-aversion of an agent, and eliciting the willingness of an agent to take a costly action for an uncertain reward

IS THE MAGIC IN THE HANDS OR EYES? STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF DRIVER MONITORING STRATEGIES ON SITUATION AWARENESS, MIND WANDERING, AND CHANGE DETECTION BEHAVIOR IN LOW AND MEDIUM FIDELITY SEMI-AUTOMATED DRIVING ENVIRONMENTS

Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) are SAE level 2 features that require active driver control while engaged. Although drivers can have their feet off the pedals and hands off the steering wheel, they must maintain supervisory control of the vehicle. However, when these features are in use, drivers may become less aware of their surroundings, increasing the risk of accidents. To counter this problem, vehicle manufacturers use driver monitoring strategies to ensure drivers remain attentive while ADAS features are active. These monitoring strategies employ instructions to ensure drivers are engaged in the driving task. These instructions are broadly classified into hands-on-the-wheel and hands-free (eyes-on-the-road). The hands-on-the-wheel strategy measures driver engagement by examining steering wheel torque, while the hands-free strategy tracks the driver\u27s eyes to ensure they remain on the road. Although both strategies are commonly used in vehicles with SAE level 2 automation, there is a lack of publicly available data on their effectiveness and impact on takeover performance. In this dissertation, three studies were conducted to measure the effects of the hands-on-the-wheel and eyes-on-the-road driver monitoring strategies on situation awareness, change detection, mind-wandering, and gaze behavior. Study 1 was exploratory and utilized a low-fidelity semi-automated driving task to examine the effects of the two engagement strategies on driver attention during level 2 ADAS driving. Study 2 was an extension of Study 1 and moved to more naturalistic automation-related change detection in addition to a SAGAT freeze-probe protocol and comfort, fatigue, engagement, and takeover readiness measures in addition to the ones measured in Study 1. Study 3 extended Study 2 in a medium-fidelity driving simulator to investigate the effects of the two driver engagement strategies on driving performance variables and driver attention. Study 1 found that the hands-on-the-wheel strategy promoted less mind wandering during level 2 automated driving. Study 2 found that while the hands-on-the-wheel strategy also promoted less mind wandering, it promoted higher situation awareness, more perceived engagement with automated driving, less self-reported fatigue, and faster response to takeover requests. On the contrary, Study 3 found that the eyes-on-the-road strategy exhibited higher SA, faster responses to takeover requests, and less steering wheel variability but closer following distances post-takeover. Although the three studies have mixed findings, the hands-on-the-wheel strategy appears more promising because it engages drivers physically with the driving task, potentially leading to safer driving behaviors. This work has broader implications for SAE level 2 and 3 ADAS features, reinforcing the need for an engagement strategy with driver monitoring systems. Even as level 3 and higher technologies are developed, the results here inform strategies for automation-level step-downs as the drivers are brought back into actively controlling the vehicle

Influence of roaming on real-time traffic in wireless networks

This paper briefly presents an ongoing work on the roaming techniques used in wireless LANs and their impact on real-time services. Both 802.11 and Bluetooth are considered but only 802.11 offers a standardized support of mobility, which can be implemented in different ways. In the future, we want to design and implement a software layer above the existing Medium Access Control, which would allow real-time traffic to be guaranteed over standard wireless network adapters. This study will help in identifying and evaluating the implications of roaming and its impact on the quality of real time services

Sous le pont

Je suis arrivé en France en 2015 en tant que réfugié en provenance de Syrie pour rejoindre mon vieil ami, l’auteur et le metteur en scène Abdulrahman Khallouf. Nous avions étudié ensemble à l’Institut supérieur d’art dramatique de Damas. Nos retrouvailles ont fait ressurgir de nombreux rêves et projets sur l’art et le théâtre en particulier. Ces rêves fleurissaient de nouveau et une nouvelle collaboration artistique est née : il a démarré la direction de ma pièce Secret de famille alors qu’il..

Carbohydrate Intake in the Etiology of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Background: Diet may have a role in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease. In previous studies, the associations between increased intakes of carbohydrates, sugar, starch, and inflammatory bowel disease are inconsistent. However, few prospective studies have investigated the associations between these macronutrients and incident Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: A total of 401,326 men and women were recruited between 1991 and 1998. At recruitment, dietary intakes of carbohydrate, sugar, and starch were measured using validated food frequency questionnaires. The cohort was monitored identifying participants who developed incident CD or UC. Cases were matched with 4 controls, and odds ratios were calculated for quintiles of total carbohydrate, sugar, and starch intakes adjusted for total energy intake, body mass index, and smoking. Results: One hundred ten participants developed CD, and 244 participants developed UC during follow-up. The adjusted odds ratio for the highest versus the lowest quintiles of total carbohydrate intake for CD was 0.87, 95% CI = 0.24 to 3.12 and for UC 1.46, 95% CI = 0.62 to 3.46, with no significant trends across quintiles for either (CD, Ptrend = 0.70; UC, Ptrend = 0.41). Similarly, no associations were observed with intakes of total sugar (CD, Ptrend = 0.50; UC, Ptrend = 0.71) or starch (CD, Ptrend = 0.69; UC, Ptrend = 0.17). Conclusions: The lack of associations with these nutrients is in agreement with many case–control studies that have not identified associations with CD or UC. As there is biological plausibility for how specific carbohydrates could have an etiological role in inflammatory bowel disease, future epidemiological work should assess individual carbohydrates, although there does not seem to be a macronutrient effect