The effects of using P and G purifier of water during the treatment of severe acute malnutrition

Facilitated in Bandundu, D.R.C over a span of 4 months, this study evaluated the efficacy of P&G Purifier of Water, a point-of-use water treatment product produced and provided by Procter & Gamble. The evaluation was conducted by comparing the efficiency of using Ready-to-use-Food (RUTF) and treating domestic water with P&G Purifier of Water versus RUTF alone in the nutrition treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) children under the age of 5 years without medical complications. Two hypotheses were tested: 1.) SAM cases without medical complication benefiting from RUTF + P&G Purifier of Water have a lower prevalence of waterborne diseases during the course of their treatment 2.) SAM children benefiting from RUTF + P&G Purifier of Water have better outcomes in terms of treatment time (shorter) and weight gain (higher). Ultimately, the study determined the importance of promoting P&G Purifier of Water as part of the standard nutrition treatment of SAM children without medical complications, in areas with difficult or no access to clean drinking water

Interplay Between Membrane Permeability and Enzymatic Barrier Leads to Antibiotic-Dependent Resistance in Klebsiella Pneumoniae

The interplay between membrane permeability alterations and the enzymatic barrier contributes to Klebsiella pneumoniae multidrug resistance. We assessed the specific effect of the efflux levels of the main efflux pumps (AcrAB and OqxAB), alone and associated with the loss of the main porins (OmpK35 and OMPK36), on the activity of various antibiotics by constructing a set of K. pneumoniae isogenic strains, including strains with plasmid-mediated β-lactamases (DHA-1, CTX-M-15, and OXA-48). The two pumps contributed to intrinsic chloramphenicol resistance and AcrAB to that of nalidixic acid and cefoxitin, whereas they had no impact on the activity of the other 11 antibiotics tested. We confirmed the expulsion of these three antibiotics by the two overproduced pumps and that of tigecycline by overproduced AcrAB, and showed that overproduced AcrAB also expelled ertapenem, piperacillin, ceftolozane, and ceftazidime. The sole loss of porins did not significantly affect the activity of the tested antibiotics, except ertapenem. The effect of efflux increases and porin loss on β-lactam activity was the highest in plasmid-mediated β-lactamase-producing strains. Thus, DHA-1-producing strains became non-susceptible (NS) to (i) ertapenem when there was an increase in efflux or porin loss, (ii) imipenem and ceftazidime+avibactam when the two mechanisms were associated, and (iii) temocillin when AcrAB was overproduced. The CTX-M-15-producing strains became NS to (i) ertapenem when there was no porin, (ii) ceftolozane+tazobactam when there was either overproduced OqxAB or porin loss, and (iii) temocillin when AcrAB was overproduced. OXA-48-producing strains known to be NS to temocillin were also NS to ceftolozane and they became NS to imipenem when the two pumps were overproduced or there was porin loss. Overall, this study shows that the balance between influx and efflux differentially modulates the activity of the tested antibiotics, an important point for evaluating the activity of future antibiotics or new combinations

L’évaluation par indicateurs : un outil nécessaire d’aménagement urbain durable ?: Réflexions à partir de la démarche parisienne pour le géographe et l'aménageur

International audienceLes pratiques d'évaluation par indicateurs se multiplient dans les projets de durabilité urbaine, surtout en aménagement urbain durable. La Ville de Paris a notamment mis en place, depuis 2007, un tableau de bord d'indicateurs adossé au référentiel " Un aménagement durable pour Paris " pour évaluer les niveaux de performance des opérations d'aménagement au regard des objectifs de développement durable. Ce tableau de bord permet d'évaluer la prise en compte de ces objectifs dans les opérations d'aménagement, en identifiant les niveaux de performance atteints, leurs points forts et leurs points faibles en vue de les faire progresser le cas échéant. À partir de l'expérience parisienne, l'article pose la nécessité d'un débat sur la pertinence de l'évaluation par indicateurs dans l'aménagement urbain durable. Il y répond en posant des conditions d'une culture propre de l'évaluation de la durabilité et en mettant en évidence des questionnements sur l'emboîtement des modes de gouvernance, la mise en œuvre et le suivi des objectifs fixés et des temporalités, ainsi que sur l'intégration des différentes échelles territoriale

4f2 to 4f5d excited state absorption in Pr3+-doped crystals

We first report one photon classical spectroscopy of Pr3+-doped LiLuF4 single crystals which leads to the energy level diagram for Pr3+ levels in this host and to the 1D2 and 3P0 emitting level lifetimes. Then, excited state absorption (ESA) spectra from these metastable levels to 4f5d states are presented and the ESA cross-sections are in the order of 10-18 cm2. Subsequently, such upconversion excitation into the 4f5d states of Pr3+ is used to generate the broad band 4f5d to 4f2 UV fluorescence. Moreover, an energy transfer from Pr3+ 4f5d states to Ce3+ 5d states is clearly identified

The myofibroblast, multiple origins for major roles in normal and pathological tissue repair

Myofibroblasts differentiate, invade and repair injured tissues by secreting and organizing the extracellular matrix and by developing contractile forces. When tissues are damaged, tissue homeostasis must be re-established, and repair mechanisms have to rapidly provide harmonious mechanical tissue organization, a process essentially supported by (myo)fibroblasts. Under physiological conditions, the secretory and contractile activities of myofibroblasts are terminated when the repair is complete (scar formation) but the functionality of the tissue is only rarely perfectly restored. At the end of the normal repair process, myofibroblasts disappear by apoptosis but in pathological situations, myofibroblasts likely remain leading to excessive scarring. Myofibroblasts originate from different precursor cells, the major contribution being from local recruitment of connective tissue fibroblasts. However, local mesenchymal stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and cells derived from an epithelial-mesenchymal transition process, may represent alternative sources of myofibroblasts when local fibroblasts are not able to satisfy the requirement for these cells during repair. These diverse cell types probably contribute to the appearance of myofibroblast subpopulations which show specific biological properties and which are important to understand in order to develop new therapeutic strategies for treatment of fibrotic and scarring diseases

Potentiality of Pr3+- and Pr3+ + Ce3+ -doped crystals for tunable UV upconversion lasers

Gain experiments based on the interconfigurational 4f5d to 4f2 optical transitions in praseodymium-doped fluoride crystals were achieved. The measurements were performed under upconversion pumping of the 4f5d excited configuration via the 3PJ, 1I6 intermediate levels of the 4f2 configuration, using a pump-probe set-up with three synchronized Q-switched nanosecond pulsed lasers. In spite of this two-step excitation, optical losses, due excited state absorption (4f5d→conduction band transition) leading to Pr3+ ion photoionisation and color center formation, were too high to observe any amplification. However, these losses were found definitely weaker in fluoride crystals (Pr:LiYF4, Pr:LiLuF4) than in oxides (Pr:YAlO3) and, probing the 5d→4f emission of Ce3+ under two-step excitation pumping of the Pr3+ 4f5d states in co-doped Pr,Ce:LiLuF4 crystals, no losses were detected at all. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal