Deficit Irrigation Using Saline Water of Fruit Trees under Water Scarcity Conditions of Southern Tunisia

Both water scarcity and salinity are major obstacles for crop production in arid parts of Tunisia and require adoption of strategies aimed at improving water-use efficiency. Field experiments on deficit irrigation (DI) of table olive, orange trees, and grapevines with saline water (2 dS m  1) were conducted in the arid region of M denine, Tunisia. Three irrigation treatments were compared with the farmer’s method (FM) over two years (2013–2014): deficit irrigation (DI75) and (DI50), which received 75% and 50% less water than full irrigation (FI), respectively, and full compensation of the crop evapotranspiration (FI). Measurements included seasonal changes in soil water content, soil salinity, yield, fruit quality, and economic return. Results showed that in-season water limitations, roughly between 700–250 mm, caused significant reductions in yield and fruit weight, but improved the total soluble solids of fruits. Under FI, DI75, DI50, and FM, average yields were 26.6, 20.1, 14.7, and 21.2 t ha  1 for orange, 4.5, 4.0, 3.1, and 3.5 t ha  1 for table olive, and 3.8, 3.4, 3.1, and 3.5 t ha  1 for grapevine, respectively. Soil salinity build up increased linearly with decreasing irrigation water. Irrigation water productivity (IWP), although lowest for FM, was relatively high (3.30–4.30 kg m  3 for orange, 0.65–1.20 kg m  3 for table olive, and 0.74–1.30 kg m  3 for grapevine). Economic evaluation showed that the FI strategy generated the greatest net income (1800–6630 USD ha  1), followed by DI75 (1350–3940 USD ha  1), FM (844–4340 USD ha  1), and DI50 (600–2400 USD ha  1). The results show an important potential for reasonably sustaining farmer’s income under increased water scarcity

Saline water use for vegetable crops production in smallholders farms

Field studies on saline water use (6 dS/m) for carrot, lettuce and pepper production in smallholder's farms were conducted in the arid region of Medenine-Tunisia. The irrigation regimes were full (FI) and deficit (DI-80, DI-60, FI-DI60) irrigated with levels of 100, 80 and 60% of ETc when 40% of total available water in the root zone in the FI treatment was depleted, and farmer method (Farmers). Results show that the greatest values of soil salinity were observed under farmer and DI-60 treatments. Relatively low ECe values were also recorded under FI-DI60 and DI-80 treatments. The highest mean yields of carrot (26.8-28.7-29.5 t/ha), lettuce (42.6-45.8 t/ha) and pepper (22.3-24.4 t/ha) were recorded for the FI treatment who is not significantly different with the FI-DI60 and DI-80 treatments. Compared with FI100, significant reductions in carrot, lettuce and pepper yields were observed under the DI60 and farmers treatments resulting from a reduction in yield components. The farmer’s method increased soil salinity and resulted in an increase of water use of 43-57% for carrot, 26-29% for lettuce and 11.5-16% for pepper. Water productivity (WP) values reflected the differences in yields and varied between 3.4 (Farmers) and 9.7 kg/m3 (DI-80) for carrot, 7.5 and 19.1 kg/m3 for lettuce and 2.4 and 5.5 kg/m3 for pepper across different years and treatments. The soil water balance-based irrigation method (FI) generated the greatest net income compared to the Farmers treatment in carrot, lettuce and pepper productions under arid environment and the lowest soil salinization. FI scheduling technique is suggested for optimizing saline water use for vegetable crops. Under water scarcity, the adoption of the FI-DI60 and DI-80 strategies results in 4.5 to 20% water savings as compared to FI with small impact on salinity in the root zone and yield and net income reductions

Infant acute myocarditis mimicking acute myocardial infarction

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with heterogeneous clinical manifestations and progression. In clinical practice, although there are many methods of diagnosis of acute myocarditis, the diagnosis remains an embarrassing dilemma for clinicians. The authors report the case of 9-month-old infant who was brought to the Pediatric Emergency Department with sudden onset dyspnea. Examination disclosed heart failure and resuscitation was undertaken. The electrocardiogram showed an ST segment elevation in the anterolateral leads with a mirror image. Cardiac enzyme tests revealed a significant elevation of troponin and creatine phosphokinase levels. A diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction was made, and heparin therapy was prescribed. The infant died on the third day after admission with cardiogenic shock. The autopsy showed dilatation of the ventricles and massive edema of the lungs. Histological examinations of myocardium samples revealed the presence of a marked lymphocytic infiltrate dissociating myocardiocytes. Death was attributed to acute myocarditis. The authors call attention to the difficulties of differential diagnosis between acute myocarditis and acute myocardial infarction especially in children, and to the important therapeutic implications of a correct diagnosi

Literature review on Water Productivity of date palm trees in Tunisian agro systems

The sustainability of agricultural productivity is closely related to the optimal exploitation of natural resources, namely the efficient water resources management.  The evaluation of the effectiveness of the adopted strategies and the applied practices and systems relies on a number of criteria and parameters of which water productivity indices represent the most relevant criteria. In this context, the present study aims to assess the water productivity for date palm cultivation in Tunisia based on an accurate literature review of the previously published scientific papers and reports related to the different studies carried out in these agro-oases regions of the country for the evaluation of the different indices of water productivity. This review represents the main baseline document highlighting in an exhaustive way the challenging features related to water productivity for date palm agro-systems. The outcome of this review indicates that (i) the cultivated date surface is  expanding, covering more than 58.000 ha with a total production of 355.000 tons in 2021(ii) the distribution of irrigation water is variable and irregular. iii) The reported water supply  for date palm range from 20,000 to 30,000 m3/ha while a number of scientific-based calculations estimate the crop water requirements for regular date palm production is  between 10,000 and 18,000 m3/ha (iv) the efficiency of water conservation techniques is related to numerous in farm factors related to the old traditional surface irrigation systems, to the soil salinization, alkalization and  permeability  loss and to the overexploitation issues of water resources that reaching is growing and may impact the productivity of date palms and sustainability of the production system (v) the estimation of the biophysical water productivity based on the reported data reaching barely  0.66kg/m3. This overview highlights the need for an accurate evaluation of the ecological efficiency of the used management measures to a clear appreciation of the  new strategies and policies to face the current constraints with regard to all different driving forces influencing water productivity both at the macro and micro scale

Infant acute myocarditis mimicking acute myocardial infarction

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with heterogeneous clinical manifestations and progression. In clinical practice, although there are many methods of diagnosis of acute myocarditis, the diagnosis remains an embarrassing dilemma for clinicians. The authors report the case of 9-month-old infant who was brought to the Pediatric Emergency Department with sudden onset dyspnea. Examination disclosed heart failure and resuscitation was undertaken. The electrocardiogram showed an ST segment elevation in the anterolateral leads with a mirror image. Cardiac enzyme tests revealed a significant elevation of troponin and creatine phosphokinase levels. A diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction was made, and heparin therapy was prescribed. The infant died on the third day after admission with cardiogenic shock. The autopsy showed dilatation of the ventricles and massive edema of the lungs. Histological examinations of myocardium samples revealed the presence of a marked lymphocytic infiltrate dissociating myocardiocytes. Death was attributed to acute myocarditis. The authors call attention to the difficulties of differential diagnosis between acute myocarditis and acute myocardial infarction especially in children, and to the important therapeutic implications of a correct diagnosi

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

MENINGO-ENCEPHALITE COMPLIQUANT LA MALADIE DES GRIFFES DU CHAT (A PROPOS D'UN CAS ET REVUE DE LA LITTERATURE)

AMIENS-BU Santé (800212102) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Le botulisme (formes neurologiques de la maladie)

Le botulisme est une maladie rare potentiellement mortelle, due à l action paralysante d une neurotoxine sécrétée par le Clostridium botulinum. Cette maladie mérite un regain d intérêt du fait d une part, du risque d utilisation de la toxine botulique à des fins de bioterrorisme, d autre part en raison des applications thérapeutiques liées à cette toxine. Dans cette thèse, à partir de trois cas cliniques (deux femmes et un homme avec des atteintes neurologiques diverses) et des données de la littérature, nous étudions la physiopathologie et l expression clinique de la maladie, après des rappels bactériologiques et épidémiologiques en France. Il existe sept sérotypes de la toxine botulique désignés de A à G. les sérotypes A, B et E sont principalement retrouvés dans le botulisme humain, la toxine B étant prépondérante en France. Le botulisme d origine alimentaire, le botulisme par colonisation et le botulisme par blessure sont les trois principales formes épidémiologiques de la maladie. Une autre forme, le botulisme par inhalation doit faire penser à une origine malveillante. En effet, les propriétés et l extrême létalité potentielle de la toxine font d elle une arme de choix dans le bioterrosrisme. C est pourquoi plusieurs pays se préparent activement à faire face à cette menace, d où la mise en place du plan BIOTOX en France. Mais cet aspect négatif ne doit pas faire oublier l essor considérable de l utilisation de la toxine botulique dans les traitements d affections neuromusculaire et en cosmétologie.AMIENS-BU Santé (800212102) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF