An insight of combustibility induced safety issues pertaining to ionic liquids

International audienceThis study is a consolidated overview on explosion and fire safety issues pertaining to ionic liquids. Indeed safety performance of ionic liquids relating to physico-chemical hazards is very rarely investigated as it is often perceived as a non-existing issue due to the lack of traditional flashpoint for these liquids. It focuses on the experimental evaluation of the fire hazard of imidazolium, phosphonium and pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids by use of the Fire Propagation Apparatus. It provides experimental data that can quantify the flammability of ionic liquids in all its aspects (ease of ignition, mass burning rate, heat release rate, fire-induced toxicity data...). A case study featuring a major failure in a process unit leading to a given fire scenario is also illustrated. This case study is examined in terms of fire induced toxicity by use of CFD modeling of fire product releases dispersion and using the concept of fractional effective concentration

Importance of screening for urinary tract infection in African Black diabetics

Urinary tract infections are common and often latent in diabetic patients. The objective of this study was to determinethe frequency of urinary tract infections and the organisms responsible.This is a descriptive type prospective study conducted in the Endocrinology and Diabetology ward of Donka UniversityHospital. All diabetic patients hospitalised from January 3rd to April 4th 2013 were included in the study.Two hundred and sixty-two diabetics had been screened, 64 (24.42%) had a urinary tract infection 41 women (64%)and 23 men (36%). The average age was 56.48 16.3 years with a range of 20-90 years. Urinary tract infections weremore frequent between the ages of 45 and 74 (67.20%). Sixty patients were married, four were single. Fifty-six patientswere type 2 diabetes against eight type I diabetes. Urine test strips showed 60 cases of pyuria, 36 cases of nitruria, 21cases of proteinuria and three cases of hematuria. Organisms identified were: Escherichia coli in 31 cases (48.43%): 25women and six men; Klebsiella pneumoniae in 14 cases (21.87%): nine women and five men; Staphylococcus aureusin 11 cases (17.18%): six women and five men; and Proteus mirabilis in eight cases (12.51%): two women and six men.The clinical manifestations were: asymptomatic bacteriuria in 57 cases (89.06%); acute cystitis in five cases (7.81%); andacute urethritis in two cases (3.13%).Urinary infection in African diabetics is very common. It requires a systematic screening with urine test strips becauseasymptomatic types are by far the most common. This would allow early treatment and avoid serious complications

Developing dedicated methods and tools for safe use and processing of key chemicals in biorefining

International audienceThe emergence of biorefining, as the key concept of the future biobased economy is announced as the ultimate concept in many concerned industrial R&D roadmaps. Therefore, this paper proposes an insight of some safety related issues, as often underscored part of sustainability evaluation. From recent and still on-going research performed by the authors focusing on the appraisal of materials and process hazards in the context of biorefining, a brief review of recent achievements obtained by the authors in terms of the development of appropriate methods and tools aiming at promoting safety management in the related facilities are given. Both material and process driven safety issues are dealt with in the examples reported. Perspective on future related work in relation with the topic is brought in conclusion

Targeting adequate thermal stability and fire safety in selecting ionic liquid-based electrolytes for energy storage

CAPLUS AN 2014:16740(Journal; Online Computer File)International audienceThe energy storage market relating to lithium based systems regularly grows in size and expands in terms of a portfolio of energy and power demanding applications. Thus safety focused research must more than ever accompany related technological breakthroughs regarding performance of cells, resulting in intensive research on the chemistry and materials science to design more reliable batteries. Formulating electrolyte solutions with nonvolatile and hardly flammable ionic liquids instead of actual carbonate mixtures could be safer. However, few definitions of thermal stability of electrolytes based on ionic liquids have been reported in the case of abuse conditions (fire, shortcut, overcharge or overdischarge). This work investigates thermal stability up to combustion of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C1C4Im][NTf2]) and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([PYR14][NTf2]) ionic liquids, and their corresponding electrolytes containing lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide LiNTf2. Their possible routes of degradation during thermal abuse testings were investigated by thermodynamic studies under several experimental conditions. Their behaviours under fire were also tested, including the analysis of emitted compounds

Mixed methods study evaluating the implementation of the WHO hand hygiene strategy focusing on alcohol based handrub and training among health care workers in Faranah, Guinea

Introduction The most frequent adverse health events in healthcare worldwide are healthcare-associated infection. Despite ongoing implementation of the WHO multimodal Hand Hygiene (HH) Improvement Strategy, healthcare-associated infection rate continues to be twofold higher in low- than in high-income countries. This study focused on continued evaluation of HH compliance and knowledge. The mixed method approach, with inclusion of patients and care-givers, provided insight into challenges and facilitators of the WHO HH Improvement Strategy, and highlighted improvement points. Methods An uncontrolled, before-and–after intervention, mixed methods study in Faranah Regional Hospital was conducted from December 2017 to August 2019. The intervention implemented the WHO HH Strategy including HH training for healthcare workers (HCWs), and the relaunch of the local production of alcohol-based handrub (ABHR). A baseline assessment of HH knowledge, perception and compliance of HCWs was done prior to the intervention and compared to two follow-up assessments. The second follow-up assessment was complemented by a qualitative component. Results Overall compliance six months post-intervention was 45.1% and significantly higher than baseline but significantly lower than in first follow-up. Knowledge showed similar patterns of improvement and waning. The perception survey demonstrated high appreciation of the intervention, such as local production of ABHR. HCW’s were concerned about overconsuming of ABHR, however simultaneous quantitative measurements showed that consumption in fact was 36% of the estimated amount needed for sufficient HH compliance. Potential fields for improvement identified by HCWs to enhance sustainability were permanent ABHR availability, having a dedicated person with ownership over continuous simulation HH trainings including simulations to improve technique. Conclusion The study shows that the WHO multimodal HH strategy has a positive effect on HCW compliance and knowledge. Improvement points identified by local staff like sensitization on appropriate ABHR amount per HH action should be considered for sustainable HH improvement.Peer Reviewe

Use of Viremia to Evaluate the Baseline Case Fatality Ratio of Ebola Virus Disease and Inform Treatment Studies: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The case fatality ratio (CFR) of Ebola virus disease (EVD) can vary over time and space for reasons that are not fully understood. This makes it difficult to define the baseline CFRs needed to evaluate treatments in the absence of randomized controls. Here, we investigate whether viremia in EVD patients may be used to evaluate baseline EVD CFRs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We analyzed the laboratory and epidemiological records of patients with EVD confirmed by reverse transcription PCR hospitalized in the Conakry area, Guinea, between 1 March 2014 and 28 February 2015. We used viremia and other variables to model the CFR. Data for 699 EVD patients were analyzed. In the week following symptom onset, mean viremia remained stable, and the CFR increased with viremia, V, from 21% (95% CI 16%-27%) for low viremia (V < 104.4 copies/ml) to 53% (95% CI 44%-61%) for intermediate viremia (104.4 ≤ V < 105.2 copies/ml) and 81% (95% CI 75%-87%) for high viremia (V ≥ 105.2 copies/ml). Compared to adults (15-44 y old [y.o.]), the CFR was larger in young children (0-4 y.o.) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.44; 95% CI 1.02-5.86) and older adults (≥ 45 y.o.) (OR: 2.84; 95% CI 1.81-4.46) but lower in children (5-14 y.o.) (OR: 0.46; 95% CI 0.24-0.86). An order of magnitude increase in mean viremia in cases after July 2014 compared to those before coincided with a 14% increase in the CFR. Our findings come from a large hospital-based study in Conakry and may not be generalizable to settings with different case profiles, such as with individuals who never sought care. CONCLUSIONS: Viremia in EVD patients was a strong predictor of death that partly explained variations in CFR in the study population. This study provides baseline CFRs by viremia group, which allow appropriate adjustment when estimating efficacy in treatment studies. In randomized controlled trials, stratifying analysis on viremia groups could reduce sample size requirements by 25%. We hypothesize that monitoring the viremia of hospitalized patients may inform the ability of surveillance systems to detect EVD patients from the different severity strata

Changes in the Transmission Dynamic of Chikungunya Virus in Southeastern Senegal.

In Senegal, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is maintained in a sylvatic cycle and causes sporadic cases or small outbreaks in rural areas. However, little is known about the influence of the environment on its transmission. To address the question, 120 villages were randomly selected in the Kedougou region of southeastern Senegal. In each selected village, 10 persons by randomly selected household were sampled and tested for specific anti-CHIKV IgG antibodies by ELISA. We investigated the association of CHIKV seroprevalence with environmental variables using logistic regression analysis and the spatial correlation of village seroprevalence based on semivariogram analysis. Fifty-four percent (51%-57%) of individuals sampled during the survey tested positive for CHIKV-specific IgG. CHIKV seroprevalence was significantly higher in populations living close to forested areas (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.90 (1.42-2.57)), and was negatively associated with population density (OR = 0.76 (0.69-0.84)). In contrast, in gold mining sites where population density was >400 people per km2, seroprevalence peaked significantly among adults (46% (27%-67%)) compared to all other individuals (20% (12%-31%)). However, traditional gold mining activities significantly modify the transmission dynamic of CHIKV, leading to a potential increase of the risk of human exposition in the region

Questioning a South African hypertension threshold of 150 mm Hg – Authors' reply

We are grateful for the opportunity to respond to Schutte and colleagues. We agree with Schutte and colleagues that the systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurements presented in our study could contain error. However, of the potential sources of measurement error they note (whitecoat effects [+2·5 mm Hg], averaging measurements from two different waves [+3·8 mm Hg], and supine measurements [+3–10 mm Hg]), only the white-coat effects potentially applies to our study. Although we average measurements from 2 different years, we assign the resulting SBP to the last year of data. Therefore, any bias would result in SBP measurements that are conservative, rather than inflated by 3.5 mm Hg. SBP in the National Income Dynamics Survey is also measured in a sitting, not supine, position; however, Schutte and colleagues correctly identified our reporting error, and we have requested a formal correction. On balance, any measurement error is likely to be much smaller than Schutte and colleagues assert and would not change our main study conclusions