Estocada: Stockage Hybride et Ré-écriture sous Contraintes d'Intégrité

National audienceLa production croissante de données numériques a conduit a l'´ emergence d'une grande variété de systemes de gestion de données (Data Management Systems, ou DMS). Dans ce contexte, les applications a usage intensif de données ont besoin (i) d' accéder a des données hétérogenes de grande taille (" Big Data "), ayant une structure potentiellement complexe, et (ii) de manipuler des données de façon efficace afin de garantir une bonne performance de l'application. Comme ces différents systemes sont spécialisés sur certaines opérations mais sont moins performants sur d'autres, il peut s' avérer essentiel pour une application d'utiliser plusieurs DMS en même temps. Dans ce contexte nous présentons Estocada, une application donnant la possibilité de tirer profit simultanément de plusieurs DMSs et permettant une manipulation efficace et automatique de données de grande taille et hétérogenes, offrant ainsi un meilleur support aux applications a usage intensif de données. Dans Estocada, les données sont reparties dans plusieurs fragments qui sont stockés dans différents DMSs. Pour répondrè a une requêtè a partir de ces fragments , Estocada est basé sur la reecriture de requêtes sous contraintes; cesdernìeres sont utilisées pour représenter les différents modeles de données et la répartition des fragments entre les differents DMSs

Tuberculosis during the Hajj religious mass gathering: occurrence, prevention, and management

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health issue with significant morbidity and mortality. The Hajj religious mass gathering represents many of the risk factors for TB transmission and the disease has been reported among hospitalised pilgrims during the event. However, little data is available on the true burden of TB in Hajj or the management of TB cases in hospitals at the event including healthcare worker’s (HCWs) knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding TB. Accordingly, the thesis consists of three separate, but integrated studies, each with own objectives, literature review, methodology, result and discussion sections. Thesis studies are as follows: 1. Active PTB among hospitalised and non-hospitalised pilgrims during the Hajj mass gathering 2. Management of hospitalised Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) patients during the Hajj mass gathering 3. TB knowledge, attitude and practice among HCWs during the Hajj mass gathering Aim The overall aim of this research project is to provide evidence-base for improvement of TB prevention, management and control during the Hajj mass gathering. The outcomes could be beneficial to other mass gatherings worldwide and will enrich knowledge in the new scientific discipline of “mass gatherings medicine”. Method The study was conducted in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the location of the Hajj over 2 Hajj seasons (2016-2017). Structured questionnaires and forms were used to collect information related to the study population (non-hospitalised and hospitalized pilgrims with productive cough, TB cases admitted to hospitals during Hajj and Hajj healthcare workers). Information was also collected in relation to the management of TB cases in Hajj and the knowledge attitude and practice of healthcare workers delivering services during the event regarding TB and its management. Sputum samples were also collected from the hospitalised and non-hospitalised pilgrims and tested for TB using the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Results 1. Active PTB among hospitalised and non-hospitalised pilgrims during the Hajj mass gathering For non-hospitalised pilgrims, out of the 1,510 pilgrims tested, 10 (0.66%) had undiagnosed active PTB. Underlying health conditions and cough in the household were independent risk factors for TB among this population. For hospitalised pilgrims, among the 304 patients investigated, 9 (2.9%) had active PTB and most (77.7%) of these were missed by the hospitals including multidrug-resistant TB cases. Previous TB treatment was an independent risk factor for TB among this population after adjusting for other variables 2. Management of hospitalized PTB patients during the Hajj mass gathering The study also documented the management of 32 confirmed TB patients during Hajj and explored the compliance of healthcare providers with the KSA TB management guidelines in hospitals during the mass gathering. Out of a maximum score of 10 for the selected TB management themes, the guideline compliance score was highest for infection prevention and control and surveillance (9.6) and identifying TB suspects (7.2). The least scores were obtained for treating TB (5.0) and diagnosing TB (3.0). 3. TB knowledge, attitude and practice among HCWs during the Hajj mass gathering Finally, the study conducted a KAP survey among 540 HCWs from 13 hospitals serving pilgrims in Hajj. In general, HCWs had average knowledge (mean knowledge score of 52%), above average attitude (mean attitude score of 73%) and good practice (mean practice score of 81%) regarding TB, based on the scoring system and cut-off points developed in the current study. Conclusions The results of the current study suggest that there are a number of key challenges in relation to TB at the Hajj. These include undiagnosed and missed TB cases at the event, inadequacy of current national and international TB management guidelines in the context of Hajj and important knowledge gaps, negative attitudes and wrong practices among HCWs in relation to TB. As such, TB during the Hajj mass gathering needs more attention from the scientific community and Hajj stakeholders. A raft of recommendations are proposed to optimize awareness, screening, management and treatment, prevention, and control measures for TB during Hajj as well as other mass gatherings both within Saudi Arabia and worldwide

Modelling and optimising of crude oil desalting process

The history of crude oil desalting/dehydration plant (DDP) has been marked in progressive phases-the simple gravity settling phase, the chemical treatment phase, the electrical enhancement phase and the dilution water phase. In recent times, the proper cachet would be the control-optimisation phase marked by terms such as "DDP process control", "desalter optimisation control" or "DDP automating technology". Another less perceptible aspect, but nonetheless important, has been both a punch listing of traditional plant boundaries and a grouping of factors that play the essential roles in a desalting/dehydration plant (DDP). Nowadays, modelling and optimising of a DDP performance has become more apparent in petroleum and chemical engineering, which has been traditionally concerned with production and refinery processing industries. Today's desalting/dehydration technology finds itself as an important factor in such diverse areas as petroleum engineering, environmental concerns, and advanced technology materials. The movement into these areas has created a need not only for sources useful for professionals but also for gathering relevant information essential in improving product quality and its impact on health, safety and environmental (HSE) aspects. All of the foregoing, clearly establishes the need for a comprehensive knowledge of DDP and emulsion theories, process modelling and optimisation techniques. The main objective of this work is to model and qualitatively optimise a desalting/dehydration plant. In due course, the contents of this thesis will cover in depth both the basic areas of emulsion treatment fundamentals, modelling desalting/dehydration processes and optimising the performance of desalting plants. In addition, emphasis is also placed on more advanced topics such as optimisation technology and process modifications. At the results and recommendation stage, the theme of this work-optimising desalting/dehydration plant will practically be furnished in an applicable scheme. Finally, a significant compendium of figures and experimental data are presented. This thesis, therefore, essentially presents the research and important principles of desalting/dehydration systems. It also gives the oil industry a wide breadth of important information presented in a concise and focused manner. In search of data quality and product on-line-improvement, this combination will be a powerful tool for operators and professionals in a decision support environment.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Using Orthogonal Locality Preserving Projections to Find Dominant Features for Classifying Retinal Blood Vessels

Automatically classifying retinal blood vessels appearing in fundus camera imaging into arterioles and venules can be problematic due to variations between people as well as in image quality, contrast and brightness. Using the most dominant features for retinal vessel types in each image rather than predefining the set of characteristic features prior to classification may achieve better performance. In this paper, we present a novel approach to classifying retinal vessels extracted from fundus camera images which combines an Orthogonal Locality Preserving Projections for feature extraction and a Gaussian Mixture Model with Expectation-Maximization unsupervised classifier. The classification rate with 47 features (the largest dimension tested) using OLPP on our own ORCADES dataset and the publicly available DRIVE dataset was 90.56% and 86.7% respectively

Stuttered swallowing: Electric stimulation of the right insula interferes with water swallowing. A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Various functional resonance imaging, magnetoencephalographic and lesion studies suggest the involvement of the insular cortex in the control of swallowing. However, the exact location of insular activation during swallowing and its functional significance remain unclear.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Invasive electroencephalographic monitoring was performed in a 24-year-old man with medically intractable stereotyped nocturnal hypermotor seizures due to a ganglioglioma. During stimulation of the right inferior posterior insular cortex with depth electrodes the patient spontaneously reported a perception of a "stutter in swallowing". Stimulation of the inferior posterior insular cortex at highest intensity (4 mA) was also associated with irregular and delayed swallows. Swallowing was not impaired during stimulation of the superior posterior insular cortex, regardless of stimulation intensity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that the right inferior posterior insular cortex is involved in the neural circuitry underlying the control of swallowing.</p

Synthesis of a New Chelating Iminophosphorane Derivative (Phosphazene) for U(VI) Recovery

A new synthetic chelating N–hydroxy–N–trioctyl iminophosphorane (HTIP) was prepared through the reaction of trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) with N–hydroxylamine hydrochloride in the presence of a Lewis acid (AlCl3 ). Specifications for the HTIP chelating ligand were successfully determined using many analytical techniques,13C–NMR,1H–NMR, FTIR, EDX, and GC–MS analyses, which assured a reasonable synthesis of the HTIP ligand. The ability of HTIP to retain U(VI) ions was investigated. The optimum experimental factors, pH value, experimental time, initial U(VI) ion concentration, HTIP dosage, ambient temperature, and eluents, were attained with solvent extraction techniques. The utmost retention capacity of HTIP/CHCl3 was 247.5 mg/g; it was achieved at pH = 3.0, 25◦C, with 30 min of shaking and 0.99 × 10−3 mol/L. From the stoichiometric calculations, approximately 1.5 hydrogen atoms are released during the extraction at pH 3.0, and 4.0 moles of HTIP ligand were responsible for chelation of one mole of uranyl ions. According to kinetic studies, the pseudo–first order model accurately predicted the kinetics of U(VI) extraction by HTIP ligand with a retention power of 245.47 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters ∆S◦, ∆H◦, and ∆G◦ were also calculated; the extraction process was predicted as an exothermic, spontaneous, and advantageous extraction at low temperatures. As the temperature increased, the value of ∆G◦ increased. The elution of uranium ions from the loaded HTIP/CHCl3 was achieved using 2.0 mol of H2SO4 with a 99.0% efficiency rate. Finally, the extended variables were used to obtain a uranium concentrate (Na2U2O7, Y.C) with a uranium grade of 69.93% and purity of 93.24%. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, PNU: PNURSP2022R13The authors express their gratitude for the support from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R13), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Benzyl Isothiocyanate, a Major Component from the Roots of Salvadora Persica Is Highly Active against Gram-Negative Bacteria

Plants produce a number of antimicrobial substances and the roots of the shrub Salvadora persica have been demonstrated to possess antimicrobial activity. Sticks from the roots of S. persica, Miswak sticks, have been used for centuries as a traditional method of cleaning teeth. Diverging reports on the chemical nature and antimicrobial repertoire of the chewing sticks from S. persica led us to explore its antibacterial properties against a panel of pathogenic or commensal bacteria and to identify the antibacterial component/s by methodical chemical characterization. S. persica root essential oil was prepared by steam distillation and solid-phase microextraction was used to sample volatiles released from fresh root. The active compound was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and antibacterial assays. The antibacterial compound was isolated using medium-pressure liquid chromatography. Transmission electron microscopy was used to visualize the effect on bacterial cells. The main antibacterial component of both S. persica root extracts and volatiles was benzyl isothiocyanate. Root extracts as well as commercial synthetic benzyl isothiocyanate exhibited rapid and strong bactericidal effect against oral pathogens involved in periodontal disease as well as against other Gram-negative bacteria, while Gram-positive bacteria mainly displayed growth inhibition or remained unaffected. The short exposure needed to obtain bactericidal effect implies that the chewing sticks and the essential oil may have a specific role in treatment of periodontal disease in reducing Gram-negative periodontal pathogens. Our results indicate the need for further investigation into the mechanism of the specific killing of Gram-negative bacteria by S. persica root stick extracts and its active component benzyl isothiocyanate

Efficient Recovery of Rare Earth Elements and Zinc from Spent Ni–Metal Hydride Batteries: Statistical Studies

Considering how important rare earth elements (REEs) are for many different industries, it is important to separate them from other elements. An extractant that binds to REEs inexpensively and selectively even in the presence of interfering ions can be used to develop a useful separation method. This work was designed to recover REEs from spent nickel–metal hydride batteries using ammonium sulfate. The chemical composition of the Ni–MH batteries was examined. The operating leaching conditions of REE extraction from black powder were experimentally optimized. The optimal conditions for the dissolution of approximately 99.98% of REEs and almost all zinc were attained through use of a 300 g/L (NH4)2 SO4 concentration after 180 min of leaching time and a 1:3 solid/liquid phase ratio at 120◦ C. The kinetic data fit the chemical control model. The separation of total REEs and zinc was conducted under traditional conditions to produce both metal values in marketable forms. The work then shifted to separate cerium as an individual REE through acid baking with HCl, thus leaving pure cerium behind. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, PNU: PNURSP2022R13Funding: The authors express their gratitude for the support from the Princess Nourah bint Abdul-rahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R13), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Acknowledgments: The authors express their gratitude for the support from the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R13), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia