Illicit use of high-dosage buprenorphine in Tunisia

In Tunisia, dependence to high-dosage buprenorphine (HDB) is expanding since the uprising of 2011, driving the epidemics of blood-borne infectons among people who inject drugs. Only one rehabilitaton center (Thyna center), run by the Tunisian Associaton for the Preventon of Drug Use is stll operatng in the country and acceptng to treat patents. The aim of this study is to provide evidence-based solutons for the mitgaton and preventon of HDB illicit use in Tunisia through the analysis and discussion of the results of a cross-sectonal survey conducted to describe the socio-economic, the medical characteristcs, the substance use paterns, and the treatment outcomes of patents seeking treatment at the Thyna  rehabilitaton center during the year 2013. The results of this survey showed that main demographic characteristcs of the patents using illegal HDB were single men, unemployed and from low-income urban areas. The intravenous use was privileged and incarceraton recurrences (p<0.05), alcoholism (p<0.01) and migraton (p<0.01) were associated with daily dosage of HDB. Most of the patents dropped out of treatment within the frst month at the center. The analysis reveals the unmet needs of the people who inject drugs in terms of preventon and treatment and identfes opioid maintenance therapy within a psychosocial rehabilitaton program framework as a good alternatve to the current available health services for people who use drugs in Tunisia. Future research areas will explore the social factors behind substance use and substance injecton in Tunisia among out-of reach groups of women and adolescents; as such data is needed to develop efcient policies. Keywords: Injectng drug use, opioid, maintenance therapy, drug polic

New methodologies for calculation of flight parameters on reduced scale wings models in wind tunnel

In order to improve the qualities of wind tunnel tests, and the tools used to perform aerodynamic tests on aircraft wings in the wind tunnel, new methodologies were developed and tested on rigid and flexible wings models. A flexible wing concept is consists in replacing a portion (lower and/or upper) of the skin with another flexible portion whose shape can be changed using an actuation system installed inside of the wing. The main purpose of this concept is to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft, and especially to reduce the fuel consumption of the airplane. Numerical and experimental analyses were conducted to develop and test the methodologies proposed in this thesis. To control the flow inside the test sections of the Price-Païdoussis wind tunnel of LARCASE, numerical and experimental analyses were performed. Computational fluid dynamics calculations have been made in order to obtain a database used to develop a new hybrid methodology for wind tunnel calibration. This approach allows controlling the flow in the test section of the Price-Païdoussis wind tunnel. For the fast determination of aerodynamic parameters, new hybrid methodologies were proposed. These methodologies were used to control flight parameters by the calculation of the drag, lift and pitching moment coefficients and by the calculation of the pressure distribution around an airfoil. These aerodynamic coefficients were calculated from the known airflow conditions such as angles of attack, the mach and the Reynolds numbers. In order to modify the shape of the wing skin, electric actuators were installed inside the wing to get the desired shape. These deformations provide optimal profiles according to different flight conditions in order to reduce the fuel consumption. A controller based on neural networks was implemented to obtain desired displacement actuators. A metaheuristic algorithm was used in hybridization with neural networks, and support vector machine approaches and their combination was optimized, and very good results were obtained in a reduced computing time. The validation of the obtained results has been made using numerical data obtained by the XFoil code, and also by the Fluent code. The results obtained using the méthodologies presented in this thesis have been validated with experimental data obtained using the subsonic Price-Païdoussis blow down wind tunnel

Optimisation de l'ordonnancement cellulaire avec métaheuristiques

Un système de production cellulaire est une structure basé sur le concept de technologie de groupe. Les avantages majeurs d’un système de production cellulaire sont les faibles coûts de manutention, le temps de mise en oeuvre et de production. Ce travail consiste à résoudre des problèmes d’ordonnancement cellulaire avec des éléments exceptionnels. Cependant, avant de traiter un problème d’ordonnancement cellulaire, nous devons d’abord résoudre le problème de sélection du routage de fabrication optimal ainsi que le problème de regroupement cellulaire. Le problème de sélection du routage optimal consiste à déterminer le meilleur routage tout en minimisant le coût de production en tenant en considération le volume de production, les alternatives associées au processus de mise en production, ainsi que la disponibilité et la capacité des machines. Le problème de regroupement cellulaire à base binaire est considéré comme l’un des problèmes d’optimisation combinatoire de classe NP-difficile. La formation des cellules de production est constituée à partir d’une matrice binaire appelée matrice binaire incidente initiale. Dans ce travail nous proposons deux algorithmes pour résoudre le problème de regroupement cellulaire, le premier algorithme est le recuit simulé, le deuxième est l’algorithme du grand déluge. Le problème d’ordonnancement cellulaire est également classé parmi les problèmes d’optimisation combinatoire de classe NP-difficile. En outre, en raison du temps limité disponible pour la prise des décisions, l'efficacité de calcul est plus critique. Pour cette fin, nous proposons une approche basée sur le grand déluge étendu pour résoudre le problème d’ordonnancement cellulaire en tenant compte des éléments exceptionnels. Par la suite, nous proposons une méthode pour améliorer les solutions trouvées

Structural Study of Microporous Xerogels Prepared by Polycondensation of Pyrogallol with Formaldehyde

Microporous xerogels were prepared by polycondensation of pyrogallol with formaldehyde catalyzed by perchloric acid in aqueous medium. The samples were characterized by FTIR absorption spectra. The micro-porosity and the specific surface area are characterized by nitrogen adsorption - desorption isotherms. The obtained characteristics depend on the conditions of polycondensation

Hypoxia inducible factor-1α accumulation in steatotic liver preservation: Role of nitric oxide

Open-Acces journal.-- et al.[Aim]: To examine the relevance of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) and nitric oxide (NO) on the preservation of fatty liver against cold ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Methods]: We used an isolated perfused rat liver model and we evaluated HIF-1α in steatotic and non-steatotic livers preserved for 24 h at 4°C in University of Wisconsin and IGL-1 solutions, and then subjected to 2 h of normothermic reperfusion. After normoxic reperfusion, liver enzymes, bile production, bromosulfophthalein clearance, as well as HIF-1α and NO [endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) activity and nitrites/nitrates] were also measured. Other factors associated with the higher susceptibility of steatotic livers to IRI, such as mitochondrial damage and vascular resistance were evaluated. [Results]: A significant increase in HIF-1α was found in steatotic and non-steatotic livers preserved in IGL-1 after cold storage. Livers preserved in IGL-1 showed a significant attenuation of liver injury and improvement in liver function parameters. These benefits were enhanced by the addition of trimetazidine (an antiischemic drug), which induces NO and eNOS activation, to IGL-1 solution. In normoxic reperfusion, the presence of NO favors HIF-1α accumulation, promoting also the activation of other cytoprotective genes, such as hemeoxygenase- 1. [Concluison]: We found evidence for the role of the HIF-1α/NO system in fatty liver preservation, especially when IGL-1 solution is used. © 2010 Baishideng.Supported by The Ministerio de de Sanidad y Consumo (PI 081988), CIBER-EHD, Instituto Carlos III, Madrid and Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación Internacionales (A/020255/08 and A/02987/09), MadridPeer Reviewe

Whac-A-Mole: Smart Node Positioning in Clone Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are often deployed in unattended environments and, thus, an adversary can physically capture some of the sensors, build clones with the same identity as the captured sensors, and place these clones at strategic positions in the network for further malicious activities. Such attacks, called clone attacks, are a very serious threat against the usefulness of wireless networks. Researchers proposed different techniques to detect such attacks. The most promising detection techniques are the distributed ones that scale for large networks and distribute the task of detecting the presence of clones among all sensors, thus, making it hard for a smart attacker to position the clones in such a way as to disrupt the detection process. However, even when the distributed algorithms work normally, their ability to discover an attack may vary greatly with the position of the clones. We believe this aspect has been greatly underestimated in the literature. In this paper, we present a thorough and novel study of the relation between the position of clones and the probability that the clones are detected. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such study. In particular, we consider four algorithms that are representatives of the distributed approach. We evaluate for them whether their capability of detecting clone attacks is influenced by the positions of the clones. Since wireless sensor networks may be deployed in different situations, our study considers several possible scenarios: a uniform scenario in which the sensors are deployed uniformly, and also not uniform scenarios, in which there are one or more large areas with no sensor (we call such areas “holes”) that force communications to flow around these areas. We show that the different scenarios greatly influence the performance of the algorithms. For instance, we show that, when holes are present, there are some clone positions that make the attacks much harder to be detected. We believe that our work is key to better understand the actual security risk of the clone attack in the presence of a smart adversary and also with respect to different deployment scenarios. Moreover, our work suggests, for the different scenarios, effective clone detection solutions even when a smart adversary is part of the game

Gastric metaplasia of posterior urethral polyp: a case report

Congenital polyps of the posterior urethra are rare lesions, and have often been described in boys. The polyps are benign lesion usually lined by a transitional epithelium, but cases of squamous or intestinal metaplasia have been reported

Pistacia vera L. leaves as a renewable source of bioactive compounds via microwave assisted extraction

The production of pistachio in Tunisia generates a large amount of potentially valuable waste, such as leaves, that could be used as source of bioactive compounds. In this work, the extraction of phytochemicals from Pistacia vera L. leaves (male and female) by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has been investigated. A response surface methodology (RSM) was used for the optimization of bioactive compounds extraction, where the independent variables were temperature and extraction time, and the dependent variable was extraction yield. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP) and antimicrobial activity of the extracts obtained at optimal conditions for both leaves were evaluated and compared not only between them, but also with the extracts obtained by maceration. The optimum extraction conditions were 70 ? and 61 ?, and 5.6 and 12 min for male and female leaves respectivily. The best results were achieved for female leaves by MAE with 36% of extraction yield, TPC of 196.35 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight (DW), TFC of 83.34 mg catechin equivalents (CE)/g dry weight (DW), and high antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The evaluation of biological activity of the extracts showed that MAE provides extracts with better antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities then those obtained by maceration. More-over, UPLC-DAD-ESI-MS was performed to confirm the presence of some phenolic compounds in MAE extracts, such as quercetin, apigenin and myricetin derivatives. The results revealed that MAE is an efficient technique for the extraction of active components from Pistacia vera L. leaves.The authors greatly acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia. L.S. would like to thank to the Spanish Ministry of Universities for the Margarita Salas fellowship for the requalification of the Spanish university system financed by the European Union -Next GenerationEU

Évolution biosédimentaire du dépôt quaternaire de la lagune de l'Ariana, Tunisie (une zone humide du Maghreb Nord)

La sebkha de l’Ariana est une lagune fermée qui fait partie des zones humides du Maghreb. Elle a une superficie de 30 à 35 km2et est située sur la bordure nord-ouest du golfe de Tunis, au sud de l’oued Medjerda. Vers 190 000 ans BP, elle a été occupée par la mer Méditerranée. Actuellement, elle en est séparée par un cordon littoral. Ce dernier s’est mis en place lors du comblement d’un golfe peu profond sous l’impulsion d’importantes quantités d’alluvions déposées par le fleuve de la Medjerda sur sa plaine deltaïque dont elle fait partie. Cette étude de l’évolution et de la dynamique de la sebkha de l’Ariana, ainsi que des changements environnementaux récents qui gouvernent la sédimentation, est basée sur une approche sédimentologique, paléontologique et isotopique. Six carottes longues de 20 m à 50 m, prélevées dans les dépôts alluviaux de la sebkha, ont fait l’objet d’une étude détaillée qui a permis de suivre la répartition spatio-temporelle du stock sédimentaire – formé essentiellement de silts argileux vaseux à la base, surmontés de sables – et de mettre en évidence des associations faunistiques particulières traduisant des modifications environnementales : environnement marin (Pléistocène moyen), lagune ouverte (Holocène) et sebkha (Actuel). Cette évolution d’un milieu marin franc vers un environnement typiquement évaporitique (sebkha) pratiquement azoïque, est probablement en rapport avec le changement climatique quaternaire.The Sebkha of Ariana, covering 30 to 35 km2is a closed lagoon, located south of the Medjerda and considered to be part of the Maghreb humid zones. It belongs to the Mediterranean coast and is positioned on the N-W margin of the Gulf of Tunis. The Sebkha is situated on Quaternary lowland resulting from the filling-up of a shallow gulf by alluvial deposits sourced from the Medjerda delta. Historically at - 190 ka, the lagoon was related to the sea but at the present time, being bunged up from the seaside by a beach barrier, is shaped to the sediments of the Madjerda low valley. The study of the evolution and the dynamics of the Ariana Sebkha as well as the recent environmental changes which have governed sedimentation are based on a sedimentological, palaeontological and isotopic approach. For that, six cores (from 20 to 50 m) were realised from four sites of the Sebkha respectively. Furthermore, correlations between the different cores throughout the lagoon have allowed the reconstruction of the spatial‑temporal distribution of sediments. The granulometric analyses revealed an alluvial sedimentation mainly composed of argillaceous silts at the base, becoming sandy towards the top. On the other hand, the benthonic fauna determinations of the six cores show a distinct evolution from an open-marine environment to a typically lagoonal environment where fauna are rare to absent. Moreover, the palaeontological study yielded particular benthonic foraminifera associations suggesting important palaeonvironmental changes which in turn are related to Quaternary climatic changes