Electrochemical Behavior of Copper in Post-Via-Etch Cleaning Solutions

International audienceThe actions of glycolic acid and BTA on copper have been investigated by electrochemical methods. Different concentrations in glycolic acid were investigated: 1%wt, 2%wt, 3%wt and 4%wt. Results show that the cleaning action of glycolic acid results from smooth corrosion of the metal. Copper dissolution increases with glycolic acid concentration due to the formation of a copper complex which precedes copper dissolution. In the presence of BTA, a corrosion inhibitor of copper, a [Cu(I)BTA] complex is formed on the surface which blocks copper dissolution. In a mixture of glycolic acid and BTA (1%wt/ 0.1%wt), an intermediary behavior is observed. A competitive action occurs between the film formation due to the interaction between BTA and copper and the superficial etching of the metal by glycolic acid which removes the inhibitor-copper film

Characteristics and care of chronic hepatitis C treated with direct-acting antivirals in migrants

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis C is poorly documented in migrants. The published studies mainly concern the screening in this population and are limited to some countries in Europe and North America. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and care of chronic hepatitis C in this population compared to the nonmigrant population, in the era of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). METHOD: We performed a retrospective analysis based on data presented at the multidisciplinary team meetings of our tertiary care center between 2015 and 2019. RESULTS: We included 277 migrant- and 1390 nonmigrant patients mono-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and treated with DAAs. The majority of the migrants were from Eastern European countries. In multivariable analysis, BMI classes associated with more obesity (OR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.37-2.49; P < 0.001) and therapeutic patient education (OR = 3.91; 95% CI, 2.38-6.49; P < 0.001) were positively associated with migrant status, whereas age (OR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.90-0.94; P < 0.001), female gender (OR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.28-0.74; P = 0.002), modes of contamination with less drug use, transfusion history or nosocomial risk, as well more unknown mode (OR = 0.70; 95% CI, 0.50-0.96; P = 0.031), alcohol consumption (OR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.29-0.73; P = 0.001), types of structures with less care in a general hospital or health network of general practitioners and more care in a university hospital or primary addictology center (OR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.60-0.99; P = 0.046) and opioid substitution therapy (OR = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.08-0.68; P = 0.008) were negatively associated with migrant status. The substained virologic response 12 was close to 97% in both groups. CONCLUSION: Despite multiple differences in characteristics and therapeutic care between the two populations, the chances of healing hepatitis C were the same among migrant- compared with nonmigrant patients

Psychiatric disorders and hepatitis C treated with direct-acting antivirals in a French reference center

HCV can cause psychiatric disorders. It is crucial to re-evaluate them with direct-acting antiviral treatment (DDAs), since the interferon-based treatments of the past were capable of causing identical psychiatric adverse effects. A system of multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings was implemented in France in December 2014 in regional reference centers with the aim of controlling the prescription and administration of these new treatments, along with optimizing how the patients undergoing these treatments are followed up. Our study sought to compare the characteristics and type of medical care received for chronic hepatitis C in patients with (PSY+ group) and without (PSY- group) psychiatric disorders using data from MDT meetings in the Alsace area of France collected from 2015 to 2019.All included patients were mono-infected and treated with DAAs in successive rounds between 2015 and 2019, as per recommendations from the French Hepatology Society. We compared the two groups (PSY+ and PSY-) based on 21 variables regarding the characteristics and medical care of hepatitis C.Psychiatric disorders were observed in 15% of patients. On multivariate analysis, a positive correlation was found between them and drug use (OR: 2.35; 95%CI: 1.40-3.98; p=0.001), excessive alcohol consumption (OR: 1.92; 95%CI: 0.98-3.69; p=0.05), smoking (OR: 1.81; 95%CI: 1.09-2.98; p=0.02), and incidence of drug interactions (OR: 3.94; 95%CI: 2.15-7.17; p <0.001). The only negative correlation found was with pangenotypic DAA administration (OR: 0.55; 95%CI: 0.32-0.92; p=0.02). SVR 12 was 98.05% in the PSY+ group, not significantly different from that of the PSY- group.All in all, the psychiatric disorders observed in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C are primarily associated with using psycho-active substances, with no impact on SVR 12 rates

Pediatr Nephrol

BACKGROUND: Pediatric ANCA vasculitis is a rare group of diseases with a scarcity of data in children. Annual incidence appeared to increase in the last several years, placing higher interest in the clinical and therapeutical outcomes of the disorder. Also, the growing use of rituximab questions the latest outcomes in these diseases. We therefore conducted a retrospective study to better understand the current characteristics, management, and the latest outcomes of the disorder. METHODS: We conducted a 9-year retrospective study of 46 children in 14 different centers across France to describe their clinical and laboratory presentations, therapeutic regimens, and kidney outcome. RESULTS: P-ANCA appeared to be a potential marker for higher relapse risk. Compared to adults, we found that ear-nose-throat presentations were frequent (45.7%) and more severe. Despite an evolution in the treatment management, kidney outcome remained poor with a substantial proportion of chronic kidney disease (54.8% at 1 year). Mortality stays low with 3 patients (6.5%) deceased at the end of our study. CONCLUSION: Clinical presentation was as previously described and time to diagnosis remains long. P-ANCA is a statistically significant marker for increased relapse risk. We observed a modification in the treatment regimens over the past several years with a growing use of rituximab and a decreasing use of cyclophosphamide. Despite these changes, kidney outcome remains poor and prospective studies should be conducted to assess the most appropriate therapeutic modality for each patient. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information