Varicella paediatric hospitalisations in Belgium : a 1-year national survey

Background: Varicella universal vaccination (UV) has been implemented in many countries for several years. Nevertheless, varicella UV remains debated in Europe and few data are available on the real burden of infection. We assessed the burden of varicella in Belgium through analysis of hospitalised cases during a 1-year period. Methods: Data on children admitted to hospital with varicella were collected through a national network from November 2011 to October 2012. Inclusion criteria were either acute varicella or related complications up to 3 weeks after the rash. Results: Participation of 101 hospitals was obtained, covering 97.7% of the total paediatric beds in Belgium. 552 children were included with a median age of 2.1 years. Incidence of paediatric varicella hospitalisations reached 29.5/105 person-years, with the highest impact among those 0-4 years old (global incidence and odds of hospitalisation: 79/105 person-years and 1.6/100 varicella cases, respectively). Only 14% (79/552) of the cohort had an underlying chronic condition. 65% (357/552) of children had >= 1 complication justifying their admission, 49% were bacterial superinfections and 10% neurological disorders. Only a quarter of children (141/ 552) received acyclovir. Incidence of complicated hospitalised cases was 19/10(5) person-years. Paediatric intensive care unit admission and surgery were required in 4% and 3% of hospitalised cases, respectively. Mortality among Belgian paediatric population was 0.5/106 and fatality ratio 0.2% among our cohort. Conclusions: Varicella demonstrated a substantial burden of disease in Belgian children, especially among the youngest. Our thorough nationwide study, run in a country without varicella UV, offers data to support varicella UV in Belgium

Accurate hadron spectroscopy on blocked configurations by tadpole-renormalized, clover-improved Wilson quark action

We compare the quenched hadron spectrum on blocked and unblocked lattices for the Wilson quark action, the clover action and the tadpole-improved clover action. The latter gives a spectrum markedly closer to the original one, even though the cutoff is 1/a ~ 500 Mev.Comment: 3 pages (4 included figures), contribution to Lattice 94 conference, uuencoded compressed postscript fil

Effect of mask discretization on performance of silicon arrayed waveguide gratings

We studied the impact of the lithography mask discretization on silicon arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) performance. When we decreased the mask grid from 5 to 1 nm, we observed an experimental improvement in crosstalk of 2.7-6 dB and cumulative crosstalk improvement of 1.2-5 dB, depending on the wavelength channel spacing and the number of output channels. We demonstrate the effect for the AWGs with 200-and 400-GHz channel spacing, with 4, 8, and 16 output wavelength channels. With 1-nm mask grid, the average crosstalk is -26 and -23 dB for 400- and 200-GHz devices, respectively. This is the lowest crosstalk for silicon AWGs reported to the best of our knowledge. A simulation study is performed by looking specifically at phase errors due to mask grid snapping (ignoring other phase error sources), which shows an expected improvement in crosstalk of 12 dB

Développement d'un outil d'évaluation de l'équilibre assis chez les individus ayant une lésion à la moelle épinière: Une étude exploratoire

Travail d'intégration réalisé dans le cadre du cours PHT-6113.Contexte : Les individus ayant une lésion de la moelle épinière (LMÉ) exécutent la majorité de leurs activités de la vie quotidienne en position assise. La stabilité posturale du tronc est donc une composante importante. Conséquemment, le manque de méthode d’évaluation de l’équilibre assis limite les résultats au niveau de la recherche d’interventions efficaces. Objectifs : Obtenir un portrait actuel de l’état des connaissances sur les outils d’évaluation et les traitements disponibles et suggérer des items clés pouvant être intégrés dans une première phase du développement d’un test standardisé de l’équilibre assis chez les individus ayant une LMÉ. Méthode : Une recension des tests d’équilibre assis existants pour d'autres populations a permis la création d’une banque d’items. Des items de cette banque ont été sélectionnés et d’autres ont été créés en fonction des composantes de l’équilibre assis et de la population ciblée. Les items ont ensuite été échelonnés par ordre de difficulté et les cotations ont été déterminées pour chaque item. Résultats : Un test standardisé de l’équilibre assis pour les individus ayant une LMÉ de 12 items a été proposé. Chaque item a une cote de 0 à 4 pour un score total de 56. Conclusion : Les retombés anticipées du test sont d’objectiver l’évaluation de l’équilibre assis, de connaître le risque de chute, de déterminer le niveau de supervision requis, d’évaluer l’efficacité des traitements et d’être sensible à la variabilité de la population des individus ayant une LMÉ

Co-integration of Ge detectors and Si modulators in an advanced Si photonics platform

A Si photonics platform is described, co-integrating advanced passive components with Si modulators and Ge detectors. This platform is developed on a 200mm CMOS toolset, compatible with a 130nm CMOS baseline. The paper describes the process flow, and describes the performance of selected electro-optical devices to demonstrate the viability of the flow

Eff ect of pentavalent rotavirus vaccine introduction on hospital admissions for diarrhoea and rotavirus in children in Rwanda: a time-series analysis

Background In May, 2012, Rwanda became the fi rst low-income African country to introduce pentavalent rotavirus vaccine into its routine national immunisation programme. Although the potential health benefi ts of rotavirus vaccination are huge in low-income African countries that account for more than half the global deaths from rotavirus, concerns remain about the performance of oral rotavirus vaccines in these challenging settings. Methods We conducted a time-series analysis to examine trends in admissions to hospital for non-bloody diarrhoea in children younger than 5 years in Rwanda between Jan 1, 2009, and Dec 31, 2014, using monthly discharge data from the Health Management Information System. Additionally, we reviewed the registries in the paediatric wards at six hospitals from 2009 to 2014 and abstracted the number of total admissions and admissions for diarrhoea in children younger than 5 years by admission month and age group. We studied trends in admissions specifi c to rotavirus at one hospital that had undertaken active rotavirus surveillance from 2011 to 2014. We assessed changes in rotavirus epidemiology by use of data from eight active surveillance hospitals. Findings Compared with the 2009–11 prevaccine baseline, hospital admissions for non-bloody diarrhoea captured by the Health Management Information System fell by 17–29% from a pre-vaccine median of 4051 to 2881 in 2013 and 3371 in 2014, admissions for acute gastroenteritis captured in paediatric ward registries decreased by 48–49%, and admissions specifi c to rotavirus captured by active surveillance fell by 61–70%. The greatest eff ect was recorded in children age-eligible to be vaccinated, but we noted a decrease in the proportion of children with diarrhoea testing positive for rotavirus in almost every age group. Interpretation The number of admissions to hospital for diarrhoea and rotavirus in Rwanda fell substantially after rotavirus vaccine implementation, including among older children age-ineligible for vaccination, suggesting indirect protection through reduced transmission of rotavirus. These data highlight the benefi ts of routine vaccination against rotavirus in low-income settings

Integrated optical frequency shifter on a silicon platform

An integrated optical frequency shifter on a standard silicon photonics platform completely fabricated in a CMOS pilot line and showing MHz frequency shifts with a sideband suppression ratio up to 36 dB is demonstrated

La démarche de développement d’indicateurs basés sur l’ichtyofaune pour évaluer la qualité écologique des eaux de transition françaises dans le cadre de la DCE : une marche forcée pour des résultats positifs

Cet article se propose d’expliquer, sur l’exemple de l’ichtyofaune des masses d’eau de transition, la démarche adoptée par la France pour répondre aux objectifs de la DCE et les défis qu’elle présentait dans des délais contraints. Nous présentons le vide de connaissances et de données qui régnait au début des années 2000 et les actions mises en œuvre au pas de charge pour répondre aux objectifs ambitieux de la DCE, disposer d’un réseau de surveillance en 2007, puis d’indicateurs normés décrivant l’état écologique afin de présenter un bilan six ans plus tard, en 2013, à l’issue du premier plan de gestion. Il reste désormais à poursuivre la démarche en milieu marin dans le cadre de la DCSMM.In this paper, we propose to study fish in transition waters to illustrate the challenge of meeting the goals of the European Union Water Framework Directive (EWFD) in France in restricted delays. We present the lack of knowledge and data in early 2000s and the actions led then to achieve the ambitious objectives of the EWFD: the creation of a standardized monitoring network in 2007 and the definition of ecological indicators based on the fish community. In 2013, at the end of the first management plan, an assessment of the ecological status was presented. These actions have now to be continued towards marine waters in relation with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive