High-frequency monitoring of surface water quality at the outlet of the Ibrahim River (Lebanon): A multivariate assessment

Surface water quality monitoring is essential to evaluate the quality of a water resource. The current study assesses the quality of the Ibrahim River, one of the main Lebanese rivers, exposed to considerable human activities. 285 samples were collected at the outlet of the river, between May 2016 and July 2017, covering one hydrological year. Twenty-three physico-chemical parameters (flow, pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand/biochemical oxygen demand, specific ultraviolet absorbance, dissolved cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+), total alkalinity, dissolved anions (Cl−, NO3 −, NO2 −, PO4 3− and SO4 2−)) and five microbiological tests were assessed (total germs, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied for data analysis. The first component showed high levels of anthropogenic characteristics mainly due to organic and bacteriological parameters, differentiating low and high river discharges (explaining around 35% of the total variance). The second component was mainly influenced by mineral variables showing a clear annual discrimination (explaining about 17% of the total variance). Moreover, this study led to variables reduction from twenty-eight to ten. The final shortlisted parameters are Q, pH, EC, NO3 −, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, BOD5, K+, TA and Cl−. A new PCA performed with the reduced matrix validated this selection. The water quality index (WQI) was then calculated in this study, using the shortlisted parameters characterizing the basin, excluding the flow since it cannot be considered as a quality indicator. Thus, the water was evaluated as « medium » to « good » with values ranging from 63.1 (August 2016) to 73.1 (November and December 2016) with an average of 69.0 ± 1.9. The proposed WQI should be further tested for monitoring practices in the Ibrahim River basin or other similar basins of the region

Treated municipal wastewater reuse for eggplant irrigation

In the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, the availability of freshwater is limited and therefore farmers must start using alternative water sources such as treated wastewater for irrigating crops. The present study is of great importance, since it provides evidence of some on-farm options that farmers can adopt when irrigating with treated effluent, in order to minimize the health risks. Eggplant was grown under two water quality regimes (Freshwater (FW) and treated wastewater (TW)) and two agronomic practices (no mulch (N_Mu) and use of plastic mulch (Mu)). Treatments were arranged in a split plot design with four replicates. Water quality regime was the main plot factor, while agronomic practices were the subplot factors. Water quality, soil, the marketable yield and other parameters were measured. Fruit samples were evaluated for bacterial contamination. The drip line performance was monitored. The study results revealed that the treatment with treated effluent gave more fruits.m-2, yield and mean fruit weight than the treatment using fresh water irrigation, with an increase of 3.98%, 10.74% and 5.63%, respectively. In addition, the use of mulch (Mu) resulted in an increase in yield (24.23%) and number of fruits (14.11%). Concerning the emitters' performance and sensitivity to clogging, discharge reduction rate (Rd = 6.75%) for drippers delivering TW was lower than the admissible value of 20% discharge variation, indicating that the quality of water has little effect on emitter performance. Concerning bacterial contamination of fruits, irrigation with treated wastewater showed no contamination in terms of fecal streptococci, salmonella or E. coli. However, the fruits were contaminated with fecal coliforms that were present at a concentration less than 200 CFU.100 g-1. Following the World Health Organization Guidelines, pathogens could be reduced through post treatment health-protection control measures such as drip irrigation, product washing, disinfection and produce peelin

Magnetic-field-induced charge-stripe order in the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy

Electronic charges introduced in copper-oxide planes generate high-transition temperature superconductivity but, under special circumstances, they can also order into filaments called stripes. Whether an underlying tendency of charges to order is present in all cuprates and whether this has any relationship with superconductivity are, however, two highly controversial issues. In order to uncover underlying electronic orders, magnetic fields strong enough to destabilise superconductivity can be used. Such experiments, including quantum oscillations in YBa2Cu3Oy (a notoriously clean cuprate where charge order is not observed) have suggested that superconductivity competes with spin, rather than charge, order. Here, using nuclear magnetic resonance, we demonstrate that high magnetic fields actually induce charge order, without spin order, in the CuO2 planes of YBa2Cu3Oy. The observed static, unidirectional, modulation of the charge density breaks translational symmetry, thus explaining quantum oscillation results, and we argue that it is most likely the same 4a-periodic modulation as in stripe-ordered cuprates. The discovery that it develops only when superconductivity fades away and near the same 1/8th hole doping as in La2-xBaxCuO4 suggests that charge order, although visibly pinned by CuO chains in YBa2Cu3Oy, is an intrinsic propensity of the superconducting planes of high Tc cuprates.Comment: For a final version, see http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7363/full/nature10345.htm

Safety and Immunogenicity of an AMA-1 Malaria Vaccine in Malian Adults: Results of a Phase 1 Randomized Controlled Trial

The objective was to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the AMA-1-based blood-stage malaria vaccine FMP2.1/AS02A in adults exposed to seasonal malaria.A phase 1 double blind randomized controlled dose escalation trial was conducted in Bandiagara, Mali, West Africa, a rural town with intense seasonal transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The malaria vaccine FMP2.1/AS02A is a recombinant protein (FMP2.1) based on apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) from the 3D7 clone of P. falciparum, adjuvanted with AS02A. The comparator vaccine was a cell-culture rabies virus vaccine (RabAvert). Sixty healthy, malaria-experienced adults aged 18-55 y were recruited into 2 cohorts and randomized to receive either a half dose or full dose of the malaria vaccine (FMP2.1 25 microg/AS02A 0.25 mL or FMP2.1 50 microg/AS02A 0.5 mL) or rabies vaccine given in 3 doses at 0, 1 and 2 mo, and were followed for 1 y. Solicited symptoms were assessed for 7 d and unsolicited symptoms for 30 d after each vaccination. Serious adverse events were assessed throughout the study. Titers of anti-AMA-1 antibodies were measured by ELISA and P. falciparum growth inhibition assays were performed on sera collected at pre- and post-vaccination time points. Transient local pain and swelling were common and more frequent in both malaria vaccine dosage groups than in the comparator group. Anti-AMA-1 antibodies increased significantly in both malaria vaccine groups, peaking at nearly 5-fold and more than 6-fold higher than baseline in the half-dose and full-dose groups, respectively.The FMP2.1/AS02A vaccine had a good safety profile, was well-tolerated, and was highly immunogenic in malaria-exposed adults. This malaria vaccine is being evaluated in Phase 1 and 2 trials in children at this site

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

ENVIRONNEMENT ET GESTION DURABLE DES ÉCOSYSTÈMES NATURELS AU MOYEN-ORIENT

International audienceLe développement des sociétés passe aujourd'hui par une maîtrise des questions environnementales qui sont aussi un enjeu des relations internationales de ce début du 21ème siècle. Les savoirs et connaissances dans ce domaine sont de créations très récentes ; ils mobilisent davantage diverses disciplines. L'Agence favorisera l'émergence et le développement d'une expertise de la communauté scientifique francophone sur l'environnement. Elle le fera notamment par le renforcement des capacités des enseignants-chercheurs et des décideurs (fonctionnaires des ministères concernés) des pays francophones en développement. Cela concerne la consolidation des compétences institutionnelles en matière de négociation internationale et la formation d'experts locaux pour la mise en place de stratégies nationales d'adaptation aux changements climatiques

Urban public policies of the infrastructure of the telematics services: concept, structures and legislation

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo obter um panorama das políticas públicas urbanas em telemática ao longo da sua recente história visando sua melhor compreensão. Isto se deve principalmente à necessidade de compreender como tais políticas evoluíram ao longo do tempo e como estas vêm influenciando a sociedade como um todo e principalmente o conjunto de lugares, tais como residência, trabalho, locais de lazer e o próprio tecido urbano que esta mesma sociedade ocupa e convive. Para esse entendimento será necessário compreender a história das comunicações em sua evolução em direção às telecomunicações, à telemática e às novas tecnologias da Informação (TIC\'s) para em seguida conhecer os serviços telemáticos que são oferecidos ao usuário final. Mas, além do conhecimento da sua história e também conhecer quais são estes serviços temos que conhecer, devido à importância, à complexidade e à velocidade em que estes serviços evoluem, as políticas públicas, no nível das esferas federal e municipal, a fim de, pesquisando a evolução temporal das políticas públicas urbanas de telemática, no nosso caso dentro do município de São Paulo, perceber toda a complexidade de sua influência, já citada anteriormente, sobre a sociedade e sobre a própria cidade.This research is intended to obtain a general view of the urban public policies in telematic along their recent history and for a better comprehension of them. That is, mainly, due to the necessity of recognizing how such policies have developed through the time and how they have been influencing the society as a whole and, mostly, the set of places, such as residence, work, leisure areas and the urban net itself, which this same society inhabits and lives with. For this, recognition will be necessary to understand the history of communication in its evolution towards the telecommunications, telematic and the new technologies of information (TIC`s) to know, afterwards, the telematic services which are offered to the final user. But besides the knowledge of its history, and also know which these services are, we have gotten to learn, due to the importance, to the complexity and to the velocity in which these services develop, the public policies at the federal and municipal level in order to, researching the time evolution of the urban public policies of telematic, in our case, inside of the municipal area of São Paulo, to perceive in all the complexity of their influence, already mentioned formerly, over the society and over the city itself

Infraestruturas dos serviços de telecomunicação e informação como indutoras de instrumentos urbanísticos inovadores de regulamentação na criação das novas centralidades urbanas : caso de estudo o bairro de Itaquera da Cidade de São Paulo

Sendo as infraestruturas urbanas um dos aspectos fundamentais do desenvolvimento urbano, pode-se entender que são imprescindíveis para o desenvolvimento de novas centralidades urbanas e metropolitanas. O poder público municipal, usando suas prerrogativas de direcionamento e gestão do solo, subsolo e espaço aéreo público municipal, pode e deve fazer uso de instrumentos urbanísticos, como os induzidos pelas novas infraestruturas de informação e telecomunicação e assim direcionar os projetos das futuras expansões e reabilitações urbanas, elaborando vetores para a criação de um novo tipo de centralidades típicas de cidades inteligentes - “Smart Cities” no município e com isso induzir incremento de crescimento econômico local, gerando empregos. Para este estudo foi escolhido como recorte espacial a região de Itaquera no município de São Paulo, por ser recentemente uma área que foi impactada por grande número de obras públicas que visaram adequá-la para a implantação da Arena Itaquera, uma das sedes dos jogos da Copa do Mundo de futebol em 2014, além fato de estar incluída como ponto focal do Parque Tecnológico Leste, previsto na revisão aprovada em 30/06/2014, do Plano Diretor Estratégico de São Paulo. No primeiro capítulo, através de uma retrospectiva histórica procurou-se relacionar o avanço das cidades com os avanços das infraestruturas desde as mais tradicionais até as mais recentes, as Novas Tecnologias de Comunicação e Informação – TIC vitais para um novo tipo de cidade, a Smart Citie. No segundo capítulo se explorou o recorte espacial, Itaquera, caracterizando-o, reconhecendo a sua formação ao longo da linha temporal, desde a sua fundação até o momento atual, explorando os planos, legislações e projetos urbanísticos. No terceiro capítulo, se estudou os serviços de telecomunicações, reconhecendo a sua classificação e o seu funcionamento e legislação. Por fim, se realizou a discussão da relação da infraestrutura de telecomunicações e a cidade, procurando com isso reconhecer a possibilidade e os elementos necessários para a criação de um novo tipo de centralidade representativo da Smart Citie – a Cidade Inteligente.Since urban infrastructures are one of the fundamental aspects of urban development, it can be understood that they are essential for the development of new urban and metropolitan centralities. The public authorities, using its prerogatives for directing and managing the soil, subsoil and municipal public airspace, can and should make use of urbanistic instruments, such as those induced by the new infrastructures of information and telecommunication, and thus direct the projects of the future expansions and Urban regeneration, creating vectors for the creation of a new type of centralities typical of smart cities - "Smart Cities" in the municipality and with that to induce increment of local economic growth, generating jobs. For this study, the region of Itaquera was chosen as a spatial clipping in the city of São Paulo, because it was recently an area that was impacted by a large number of public works that aimed to adapt it to the implantation of Arena Itaquera, one of the headquarters of the Games of the Soccer World Cup in 2014, in addition to being included as focal point of the East Technological Park, foreseen in the revision approved on 06/30/2014, of the Strategic Master Plan of São Paulo. In the first chapter, through a historical retrospective, we tried to relate the advance of the cities with the advances of the infrastructures from the most traditional to the most recent ones, the New Technologies of Communication and Information - TIC vital for a new type of city, Smart City. In the second chapter we explored the spatial clipping, Itaquera, characterizing it, recognizing its formation along the time line, from its foundation to the present moment, exploring urban plans, legislations and projects. In the third chapter, we studied telecommunication services, recognizing their classification and functioning and legislation. Finally, the discussion of the relationship between the telecommunications infrastructure and the city was carried out, seeking to recognize the possibility and the necessary elements for the creation of a new type of centrality representative of Smart City - the Intelligent Cit

Urban public policies of the infrastructure of the telematics services: concept, structures and legislation

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo obter um panorama das políticas públicas urbanas em telemática ao longo da sua recente história visando sua melhor compreensão. Isto se deve principalmente à necessidade de compreender como tais políticas evoluíram ao longo do tempo e como estas vêm influenciando a sociedade como um todo e principalmente o conjunto de lugares, tais como residência, trabalho, locais de lazer e o próprio tecido urbano que esta mesma sociedade ocupa e convive. Para esse entendimento será necessário compreender a história das comunicações em sua evolução em direção às telecomunicações, à telemática e às novas tecnologias da Informação (TIC\'s) para em seguida conhecer os serviços telemáticos que são oferecidos ao usuário final. Mas, além do conhecimento da sua história e também conhecer quais são estes serviços temos que conhecer, devido à importância, à complexidade e à velocidade em que estes serviços evoluem, as políticas públicas, no nível das esferas federal e municipal, a fim de, pesquisando a evolução temporal das políticas públicas urbanas de telemática, no nosso caso dentro do município de São Paulo, perceber toda a complexidade de sua influência, já citada anteriormente, sobre a sociedade e sobre a própria cidade.This research is intended to obtain a general view of the urban public policies in telematic along their recent history and for a better comprehension of them. That is, mainly, due to the necessity of recognizing how such policies have developed through the time and how they have been influencing the society as a whole and, mostly, the set of places, such as residence, work, leisure areas and the urban net itself, which this same society inhabits and lives with. For this, recognition will be necessary to understand the history of communication in its evolution towards the telecommunications, telematic and the new technologies of information (TIC`s) to know, afterwards, the telematic services which are offered to the final user. But besides the knowledge of its history, and also know which these services are, we have gotten to learn, due to the importance, to the complexity and to the velocity in which these services develop, the public policies at the federal and municipal level in order to, researching the time evolution of the urban public policies of telematic, in our case, inside of the municipal area of São Paulo, to perceive in all the complexity of their influence, already mentioned formerly, over the society and over the city itself

Une approche biométrique pour la modélisation et la commande d'un quadrupède

Les recherches présentées dans ce mémoire portent sur l amélioration de la création d un modèle virtuel d un quadrupède bio-mimétiquement inspiré des mammifères. Ce travail s inscrit dans la suite d une collaboration entre l équipe "diversité fonctionnelle et adaptation" de l UMR 7179 et le Laboratoire de Robotique de Paris devenu l Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique. Plusieurs études ont été faites ces dix dernières années sur la locomotion des mammifères. Deux animaux ont été étudiés : le hérisson et la tortue terrestre de Herman et deux modèles virtuels ont été créés sous le logiciel de simulation dynamique ADAMS-View. Ce travail s inscrit dans la suite de ces travaux ; dans cette étude nous visons à modéliser et à commander un nouveau modèle virtuel de la tortue Geochelone graeca et à comparer sa locomotion à celle de la tortue réelle par l intermédiaire des interactions pattes/sol et de l avancée du centre de masse durant un cycle de locomotion. L objectif de cette étude est de répondre à une double question : en quoi l étude de la locomotion animale peut-elle apporter une réponse pour la locomotion des robots, et les méthodes d analyse propres au roboticien sont-elles utiles pour décrire et comprendre les fondements de la locomotion animale ?PARIS-BIUSJ-Physique recherche (751052113) / SudocSudocFranceF