Dialectologie du grec ancien

Programme de l’année 2016-2017 : I. Inscriptions dialectales du Péloponnèse et de Grèce septentrionale. Nouveautés dialectologiques. — II. Prose administrative, prose scientifique et prose d’art, de l’attique classique aux koinai de l’époque hellénistique et impériale : langue et style. — III. Noms de personnes et histoire des mots : analyse linguistique des anthroponymes grecs antiques en ligne, projet LGPN-Ling, en préparation du nouveau Bechtel (Die historischen Personennamen des Griechischen bis zur Kaiserzeit, 1917)

Comparaison des performances de cinq tests rapides pour le diagnostic de l’angine à streptocoque du groupe A

Objet. Etude comparative des performances analytiques de tests immunochromatographiques pour la détection du streptocoque A dans les frottis de gorge : Quickvue (Quidel), bioNexia (bioMérieux), Clearview (Inverness medical), Dipromed et All-Diag. Méthodes. Les prélèvements utilisés ont été réalisés avec les E-Swab de chez Copan. Un total de 106 échantillons a été testé, dont 58 positifs et 48 négatifs. Environ la moitié des échantillons a été testée avec le format cassette et l’autre moitié avec le format dipstick pour les kits bioNexia et Clearview. Par ailleurs, les kits Dipromed et All-Diag (tous deux au format dipstick) ont été groupés dans cette étude car ils sont identiques (information confirmée par les fournisseurs). Les résultats des tests rapides ont été comparés à ceux de la culture prolongée. Les échantillons ont été ensemencés sur milieu CNA, avec disque de bacitracine pour l’identification présomptive du streptocoque A. Un groupage à l’aide de tests d’agglutination (Oxoid) et/ou une identification de la souche sur l’automate Vitek 2 (bioMérieux) ont été réalisés pour identification formelle. Sur base des résultats de l’étude, nous avons calculé la sensibilité et la spécificité de chaque kit. Ces valeurs ont ensuite été appliquées à la prévalence de cultures positives pour le streptocoque A observée au CHR Citadelle, en 2012. Nous avons ainsi pu calculer les valeurs prédictives positives (VPP) et négatives (VPN) sur notre population réelle. Résultats. La sensibilité est excellente pour tous les kits, comprise entre 93,1% (Clearview) et 96,6% (Quickvue). La spécificité est de 95,8% pour le Quickvue, tandis qu’elle est de 97,9% pour tous les autres kits. Sur la population du CHR Citadelle (2012), les VPP sont de 77,6% pour le Quickvue, et se situent aux alentours de 87% pour les autres kits. Les VPN sont excellentes et vont de 99 à 99,5%. Conclusion. Les valeurs de sensibilité et spécificité obtenues dans cette étude sont conformes à celles attendues pour ce genre de kit selon la littérature, c’est-à-dire respectivement supérieures à 90% et 95%. Les VPP observées avec le test Quickvue sont péjorées par l’existence d’un faux positif de plus. Les autres kits présentent une quasi-équivalence analytique dans notre série

Implementation of a Large-Scale Platform for Cyber-Physical System Real-Time Monitoring

The emergence of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) has meant that the manufacturing industry has evolved from embedded systems to cyber-physical systems (CPSs). This transformation has provided manufacturers with the ability to measure the performance of industrial equipment by means of data gathered from on-board sensors. This allows the status of industrial systems to be monitored and can detect anomalies. However, the increased amount of measured data has prompted many companies to investigate innovative ways to manage these volumes of data. In recent years, cloud computing and big data technologies have emerged among the scientific communities as key enabling technologies to address the current needs of CPSs. This paper presents a large-scale platform for CPS real-time monitoring based on big data technologies, which aims to perform real-time analysis that targets the monitoring of industrial machines in a real work environment. This paper is validated by implementing the proposed solution on a real industrial use case that includes several industrial press machines. The formal experiments in a real scenario are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of this solution and also its adequacy and scalability for future demand requirements. As a result of the implantation of this solution, the overall equipment effectiveness has been improved.The authors are grateful to Goizper and Fagor Arrasate for providing the industrial case study, and specifically Jon Rodriguez and David Chico (Fagor Arrasate) for their help and support. Any opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies

Prenatal Determination of Fetal Rhd in Maternal Plasma: Two-Years Experience of Routine Clinical Use

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the predictive value of RHD fetal genotype in maternal plasma of Rh D negative mothers after 10 weeks of gestation in a clinical use. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Prospective, comparative study between fetal RHD genotyping in maternal plasma, with amplification of exons 4,5,10 of the RHD gene, by real-time multiplex PCR, and Rh D serology at birth, in 218 pregnancy and their 223 babies, between November 2002 and 2004. RESULTS: Combining the amplification of three exons, the concordance rate of fetal Rh D genotyping in maternal plasma and baby phenotyping at delivery was 100%. Four women whose the babies were Rh D negative were positive for RHD exon 10 during pregnancy. This positivity was, in three cases, correlated with the presence of RHDpsi pseudogene and in last case, with a haplotype Cdes (r's). RHD genotyping was performed for five twin pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Multiplex PCR using maternal plasma provides perfect prenatal prediction of fetal RHD gene. These results confirm that this non invasive procedure is the preferred method for assessing Rh D fetal status in Rh negative mothers. Using this method for two years in routine practice has led us to modify our management scheme for sensitized Rh D-negative pregnant women

Relevance of cycle threshold values in mass screening by reverse-transcription-PCR during COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium: a decision-making support?

peer reviewedAim: The Belgium’s strategy against COVID-19 was partly based on mass screening. Here, we reported the results observed in a Belgian mass screening center. Materials & methods: Between October 2020 and February 2021, 32,089 samples were collected analyzed with reverse-transcription PCR (Thermo Fisher Scientific kits and apparatus). Patients were categorized according to their contagiousness (extrapolated from the cycle threshold [Ct] values and the recommendation of Sciensano). Results: We observed association between Ct values and age, with higher Ct observed in extreme age groups (75 years). Conclusion: The analysis of the evolution of the contagiousness of these patients tested twice within a 7-day period showed the relevancy of the recommendation edited by Sciensano

Restoring testosterone levels by adding dehydroepiandrosterone to a drospirenone containing combined oral contraceptive: II Clinical effects

Objectives: Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) decrease androgen levels, including testosterone (T), which may be associated with sexual dysfunction and mood complaints in some women. We have shown that co-administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to a drospirenone (DRSP) containing COC restored total T levels to baseline and free T levels by 47%. Here we describe the effects on sexual function, mood and quality of life of such an intervention. Study design: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 99 healthy COC starters. A COC containing 30 μg ethinylestradiol (EE) and 3 mg DRSP was used for 3 cycles, followed by 6 cycles of the same COC combined with 50 mg/day DHEA or placebo. Subjects completed the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ), the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ) and the short form of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q). Safety and tolerability, including effects on skin were evaluated. Results: The addition of DHEA induced small, but significant improvements compared to placebo in the MDQ score for: Autonomic reactions during the menstrual (- 2.0 vs 0.71; P = 0.05) and the pre-menstrual phase (- 3.1 vs 2.9; P = 0.01); and for Behavior during the inter-menstrual phase (- 1.4 vs 3.6; P = 0.02). A significant difference was found in the MDQ score for arousal during the pre-menstrual phase in favor of placebo (- 5.0 vs 1.0; P = 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between groups for the MSFQ and Q-LES-Q scores. DHEA co-administration resulted in an acceptable safety profile. DHEA negated the beneficial effect of the COC on acne according to the subjects' self-assessment. Conclusions: Co-administration with DHEA did not result in consistent improvements in sexual function, mood and quality of life indicators in women taking EE/DRSP. Retrospectively, the 50 mg dose of DHEA may be too low for this COC. Implications: A well-balanced judgment of the clinical consequences of normalizing androgens during COC use may require complete normalization of free T

Restoring testosterone levels by adding dehydroepiandrosterone to a drospirenone containing combined oral contraceptive: I Endocrine effects

Objectives: Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) decrease testosterone (T) levels. This study investigated restoration of T and other androgen concentrations during COC use by co-administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Study design: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 99 new COC starters (18-35 years old with BMI range 18-34 kg/m2), a COC containing 30 μg ethinylestradiol (EE) and 3 mg drospirenone (DRSP) was used for 3 cycles, followed by 6 cycles of the same COC combined with either 50 mg/day DHEA or placebo. Total T, albumin, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), DHEA-sulfate (DHEA-S), Δ4-androstenedione (AD), 3α-androstanediol glucuronide (ADG) and estradiol (E2) were measured, whereas free T and the free T index (FTI) were calculated. Assessments took place at baseline (no COC use), after the run-in period (COC use alone) and during the treatment period (DHEA or placebo). Results: During COC use alone androgen levels decreased, especially total T by 62% and free T by 86%, and SHBG increased by 243%. Total T increased with DHEA compared to placebo (change from end of run-in period to end of treatment period: 1.3 ± 1.2 nmol/L vs 0.0 ± 0.4 nmol/L; P < 0.0001), and was restored to baseline levels. Free T and the FTI increased significantly (P < 0.0001), but the free T level was still 53% below baseline levels. DHEA-S, AD and ADG increased significantly to levels above baseline (P < 0.0001 for each). DHEA had no effect on SHBG, albumin and E2. Conclusions: An EE/DRSP containing COC strongly suppressed endogenous androgen concentrations in all users. The addition of 50 mg DHEA to a COC regimen containing EE/DRSP restored total T to baseline levels, but free T levels were restored by only 47% as most of the T remains bound to SHBG. Implications: When using a COC that increases SHBG considerably, a daily dose of 50 mg DHEA is insufficient to normalize free T levels completely

Belgian clinical guidance on anticoagulation management in hospitalised and ambulatory patients with COVID-19

Objectives COVID-19 predisposes patients to thrombotic disease. The aim of this guidance document is to provide Belgian health-care workers with recommendations on anticoagulation management in COVID-19 positive patients. Methods These recommendations were based on current knowledge and a limited level of evidence. Results We formulated recommendations for the prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-related venous thromboembolism in ambulatory and hospitalised patients, as well as recommendations for the use of antithrombotic drugs in patients with prior indication for anticoagulation who develop COVID-19. Conclusions These recommendations represent an easy-to-use practical guidance that can be implemented in every Belgian hospital and be used by primary care physicians and gynaecologists. Of note, they are likely to evolve with increased knowledge of the disease and availability of data from ongoing clinical trials