Reconnecter l’humain et la nature

Qu’est-ce qui n’a pas été fait pour la nature ? À partir de cette interrogation en forme de constat, les responsables de l’Espace pour la vie – qui rassemble les institutions muséales des sciences de la Nature de Montréal et la Grande Place qui les relie – multiplient les initiatives pour rétablir le contact entre l’homme et la nature et impliquer davantage les citoyens dans la protection de la biodiversité

Prevalence of malaria among febrile patients and assessment of efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine for uncomplicated malaria in Dolisie, Republic of the Congo

International audienceAbstract Background In the Republic of the Congo, malaria represents a major public health problem affecting all age groups. A regular surveillance of the current efficacy of first-line anti-malarial drugs is required in the face of possible emergence and spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria among febrile patients of all ages and assess the efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) in Congolese children. Methods Febrile patients of all ages were initially screened for malaria by both rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy. Patients less than 12 years of age, with parasitaemia ≥ 1000 asexual parasites of P. falciparum /µL of blood, without any signs of severity, were enrolled in a therapeutic efficacy study and treated after obtaining their parents' (or legal guardian’s) informed consent in two health centres in Dolisie. The patients were followed for 28 days in accordance with the 2009 World Health Organization standard protocol. If parasitaemia reappeared on or after day 7, the genetic profiles (genes expressing merozoite surface protein-1 [ msp1 ], merozoite surface protein-2 [ msp2 ], and glutamine-rich protein [ glurp ]) of pre-treatment and post-treatment isolates were compared by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by capillary electrophoresis to make a distinction between recrudescence and re-infection. The clinical and parasitological outcome was analysed by the per-protocol method and Kaplan–Meier survival curves. Results A total of 994 febrile patients of all ages were screened by RDT and microscopy. Of 994 patients, 323 (32.5%) presented a positive RDT, and 266 (26.8%) were microscopy-positive. Based on microscopy as the reference diagnostic method, the sensitivity and the specificity of the RDT were 98.9 and 91.8%, respectively. The Cohen’s kappa coefficient was 0.86. A total of 121 children aged less than 12 years (61 in AL treatment group and 60 in ASAQ treatment group) were included in therapeutic efficacy study. Before PCR correction, the proportions of adequate clinical and parasitological response were 96.6% for AL and 86.0% for ASAQ in the per-protocol population ( P  0.05). Both treatments were well tolerated. Conclusions AL and ASAQ remain highly effective for the first-line treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in Dolisie. Despite high efficacy of first- and second-line treatment, there is a continuing need to scale up effective malaria preventive interventions and vector control strategies in the country. Trial Registration Number: ACTRN12616001422415

Construction and Optimization of Cryogenic Undulators at SOLEIL

International audienceWith permanent magnets undulator operation at cryogenic temperature, the magnetic field and the coercivity can be enhanced, enabling shorter periods with high magnetic fields. The first full scale (2 m long, 18 mm period) hybrid cryogenic undulator [1] using PrFeB [2] magnets operating at 77 K was installed at SOLEIL in 2011. Photon spectra measurements, in good agreement with the ex-pectations from magnetic measurements, were used for precise alignment and taper optimization. The second and third 18 mm PrFeB cryogenic undulators, modified to a half-pole/magnet/half-pole structure, were optimized without any magnet or pole shimming after assembly but mechanical sortings and some geometrical corrections had been done before assembly. A systematic error on individual magnets on the third U18 was also compensated. In-situ measurement benches, including a Hall probe and a stretched wire to optimize the undulator field at room and cryogenic temperature are presented. An upgrade of these in-situ benches will be detailed with the fabrication of a 15 mm 3 m long PrFeB cryogenic undulator at SOLEIL

SOLEIL Status Report

International audienceSOLEIL is both a synchrotron light source and a research laboratory at the cutting edge of experimental techniques dedicated to matter analysis down to the atomic scale, as well as a service platform open to all scientific and industrial communities. This French 2.75 GeV third generation synchrotron light source provides today extremely stable photon beams to 29 beamlines (BLs) complementary to ESRF. We report facility performance, ongoing projects and recent major achievements. A significant work was performed in order to secure the operation of the two canted 5.5 mm in-vacuum cryogenic permanent magnet undulators (CPMUs). Major R&D areas will also be discussed, and progress towards a lattice baseline for making SOLEIL a diffraction limited storage ring