Estimating the burden of rubella virus infection and congenital rubella syndrome through a rubella immunity assessment among pregnant women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Potential impact on vaccination policy.

BACKGROUND: Rubella-containing vaccines (RCV) are not yet part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) vaccination program; however RCV introduction is planned before 2020. Because documentation of DRC's historical burden of rubella virus infection and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) has been minimal, estimates of the burden of rubella virus infection and of CRS would help inform the country's strategy for RCV introduction. METHODS: A rubella antibody seroprevalence assessment was conducted using serum collected during 2008-2009 from 1605 pregnant women aged 15-46years attending 7 antenatal care sites in 3 of DRC's provinces. Estimates of age- and site-specific rubella antibody seroprevalence, population, and fertility rates were used in catalytic models to estimate the incidence of CRS per 100,000 live births and the number of CRS cases born in 2013 in DRC. RESULTS: Overall 84% (95% CI 82, 86) of the women tested were estimated to be rubella antibody seropositive. The association between age and estimated antibody seroprevalence, adjusting for study site, was not significant (p=0.10). Differences in overall estimated seroprevalence by study site were observed indicating variation by geographical area (p⩽0.03 for all). Estimated seroprevalence was similar for women declaring residence in urban (84%) versus rural (83%) settings (p=0.67). In 2013 for DRC nationally, the estimated incidence of CRS was 69/100,000 live births (95% CI 0, 186), corresponding to 2886 infants (95% CI 342, 6395) born with CRS. CONCLUSIONS: In the 3 provinces, rubella virus transmission is endemic, and most viral exposure and seroconversion occurs before age 15years. However, approximately 10-20% of the women were susceptible to rubella virus infection and thus at risk for having an infant with CRS. This analysis can guide plans for introduction of RCV in DRC. Per World Health Organization recommendations, introduction of RCV should be accompanied by a campaign targeting all children 9months to 14years of age as well as vaccination of women of child bearing age through routine services

PLASTIC DEFORMATION OF SLIGHTLY REDUCED RUTILE

Des monocristaux de rutile ont été réduits à la température de 1323 K sous faible pression partielle d'oxygène à différentes compositions dans l'intervalle TiO2,0000 - TiO1,9965 puis déformés plastiquement en compression uniaxiale à la même température, tout en maintenant la composition. La variation de la limite élastique en fonction de l'écart à la stoechiométrie montre qu'il existe deux régimes dans le comportement mécanique de TiO2-x en fonction de la valeur de x. Dans le premier régime c'est à dire pour de faibles degrés de réduction (O/Ti > 1,9985), la limite élastique diminue quand l'écart à la stoechiométrie augmente. Pour des degrés de réduction plus important (O/Ti ≤ 1,9985), on observe un fort effet de durcissement : la limite élastique augmente quand l'écart à la stoechiométrie augmente. Des mesures du volume d'activation dans ces deux régimes suggèrent que le comportement mécanique du rutile réduit à 1323 K peut être analysé en termes d'interaction entre dislocations et défauts ponctuels : défauts ponctuels intrinsèques (titane interstitiel) aux forts degrés de réduction et impuretés extrinsèques pour des compositions se rapprochant de TiO2.Rutile single crystals were reduced at the temperature of 1323 K under low oxygen pressure to different compositions in the range TiO2.0000 - TiO1.9965 and plastically deformed under uniaxial compression at the same temperature while maintaining the composition. The dependence of the flow stress on the departure from stoichiometry suggests that two regimes of mechanical behavior exist for TiO2-x depending on the value of x. In the first regime, i.e. for slight degrees of reduction (O/Ti > 1.9985), the flow stress decreases when O/Ti decreases. For larger degrees of reduction (O/Ti ≤ 1.9985) a marked hardening effect is observed and the flow stress increases as the departure from stoichiometry increases. Measurements of the activation volume in these two regimes suggest that the plastic behavior of rutile reduced at 1323 K could be explained in terms of interaction between dislocations and point defects, i.e. intrinsic point defects (titanium interstitials) at the largest departures from stoichiometry and extrinsic impurities for compositions close to TiO2

Use of competitive kinetics for the understanding of deep hydrodesulfurization and sulfide catalysts behavior

RAFFINAGE+CGE:DLA:MVRNon

Alkylation of thiophenic compounds in gasoline followed by 2D GC

International @ RAFFINAGE+DLA:CGE:MVRInternational audienceNon