Camel breeding development project in Tunisia

Camel breeding is of great socio-economic importance in southern Tunisia. Although, the size of the national camel herd has decreased over the years from 120000 to 56000 heads in 2014. Illegal export, low breeding efficiency, social modernization and lack of investment are the major causes of this decline. To remedy this situation, the Tunisian government has established a national program for development and research on camel production. This program is based on grants to farmers to encourage rearing of replacement females and fattening camels; improvement of pastures and water infrastructure, promotion of applied research in specialized centers. Research eff orts are centered on health, nutrition and improvement of rangelands, development of reproductive biotechnologies and genetic improvement. An attempt was carried out to genotype the local breeds of camels. Development of semen preservation and artificial insemination has met several challenges inherent to the peculiarities of reproduction in this species

Détection moléculaire du Coronavirus du Syndrome Respiratoire du Moyen-Orient (MERS-CoV) chez les dromadaires tunisiens (Camelus dromedarius)

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified in humans in 2012. Dromedary camels were considered as the major reservoir of the virus throw several studies. Tunisian dromedary camels were implicated in a serological survey and a seropositivity reaching 100% was observed among some of them. Therefore, more investigations are necessary to look for the current infection situation. In this study, we aimed to detect the MERS-CoV virus in our camels by molecular technics. Blood and nasal swabs samples from 64 dromedary camels from 4 Tunisian provinces were collected during June 2014 and April 2015. All the animals tested negative by real time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR). These findings could not confirm the absence of MERS-CoV active shading among the Tunisian camel population and more researches should be carried on to survey dromedary camels in Tunisia and its neighboring countries. Keywords: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Camels, Tunisia, RT-PCR, animal surveillance, Coronavirus (CoVs), molecular detection.Le Coronavirus du syndrome respiratoire du Moyen-Orient (MERS-CoV) a été identifié chez l’Homme pour la première fois en 2012. A travers plusieurs études, les dromadaires ont été alors considérés comme étant le réservoir majeur du virus. Une enquête sérologique chez les dromadaires en Tunisie a permis de démontrer une séropositivité allant jusqu’à 100% chez certains sujets étudiés. Ainsi, des recherches supplémentaires semblent être nécessaires pour évaluer l’état d’infection actuel du pays. A travers cette étude, nous visons, par le biais de techniques moléculaires, la détection du virus (MERS-CoV) chez nos dromadaires tunisiens. Durant la période s’étalant entre juin 2014 et avril 2015, des échantillons de sang et des écouvillonnages nasaux ont été prélevés à partir de 64 individus prévenant de 4 gouvernorats. L’essai de la détection moléculaire, en utilisant la technique d’amplification génomique en chaîne de polymérase avec transcriptase inverse (RT-PCR), a démontré que tous les sujets étudiés ont donné un réponse négative. Cependant, ces résultats ne peuvent pas confirmer l’absence d’une excrétion active du virus chez la population cameline tunisienne, raison pour laquelle d’autres investigations doivent être enchaînées pour surveiller l’état d’infection cameline par le MERS-CoV non seulement en Tunisie mais également dans les pays voisins. Mots-clés: Le Syndrome Respiratoire du Moyen-Orient (SRMO), dromadaires, Tunisie, RT-PCR, surveillance animale, Coronavirus (CoVs), détection moléculair

Molecular detection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Tunisian dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified in humans in 2012. Dromedary camels were considered as the major reservoir of the virus throw several studies. Tunisian dromedary camels were implicated in a serological survey and a seropositivity reaching 100% was observed among some of them. Therefore, more investigations are necessary to look for the current infection situation. In this study, we aimed to detect the MERS-CoV virus in our camels by molecular technics. Blood and nasal swabs samples from 64 dromedary camels from 4 Tunisian provinces were collected during June 2014 and April 2015. All the animals tested negative by real time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR). These findings could not confirm the absence of MERS-CoV active shading among the Tunisian camel population and more researches should be carried on to survey dromedary camels in Tunisia and its neighboring countries

Review on the influence of process parameters in incremental sheet forming

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a relatively new flexible forming process. ISF has excellent adaptability to conventional milling machines and requires minimum use of complex tooling, dies and forming press, which makes the process cost-effective and easy to automate for various applications. In the past two decades, extensive research on ISF has resulted in significant advances being made in fundamental understanding and development of new processing and tooling solutions. However, ISF has yet to be fully implemented to mainstream high-value manufacturing industries due to a number of technical challenges, all of which are directly related to ISF process parameters. This paper aims to provide a detailed review of the current state-of-the-art of ISF processes in terms of its technological capabilities and specific limitations with discussions on the ISF process parameters and their effects on ISF processes. Particular attention is given to the ISF process parameters on the formability, deformation and failure mechanics, springback and accuracy and surface roughness. This leads to a number of recommendations that are considered essential for future research effort