Morphological variability of Mauritanian date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars as revealed by vegetative traits

The aim of this study was to use morphological markers to characterize twelve Mauritanian date-palm ecotypes currently grown by farmers. Eighteen phenotypic traits describing the vegetative systems were measured in the field in Atar Oasis. The data set was analyzed by principal components analysis (PCA) and UPGMA clustering. PCA revealed a great variability among the cultivars. Fourteen out of the 18 characters studied showed a high discriminating power suggesting their possible uses in the establishment of a Mauritanian date-palm catalogue. UPGMA Clustering revealed association between cultivars with similar fruit characteristics indicating that these ecotypes are morphologically related. Results also showed that individuals belonging to the Ahmar cultivar were morphologically distinct, suggesting it is likely a polyclonal variety

The Sirenomelia Sequence: A Case History

We report a case of sirenomelia sequence observed in an incident of preterm labor during the 29th gestational week. According to some authors, this syndrome should be classified separately from caudal regression syndrome and is likely to be the result of an abnormality taking place during the fourth gestational week, causing developmental abnormalities in the lower extremities, pelvis, genitalia, urinary tract and digestive organs. Despite recent progress in pathology, the etiopathogenesis of sirenomelia is still debated

Epidemiology and Laboratory Investigations in Children with Chronic Liver Diseases in Sohag University Hospital

Background: Chronic liver diseases encompasse metabolic, genetic, drug-induced and inflammatory diseases. The causes of liver disease in children vary with age. In countries where HBV is endemic, perinatal transmission remains the most important cause of chronic infection. The prevalence of hepatitis C infection was much higher in individuals receiving blood products for conditions such as thalassemia or haemophilia. Glycogen storage disorders may present with chronic liver disease.Objectives: To study epidemiological features and laboratory investigations that may affect the incidence in children with chronic liver disease.Patients and methods: Our study included 30 treatment-naïve patients with chronic liver disease of different aetiologies referred to the Department of Pediatrics, Sohag University Hospital. All patients were subjected to history taking, general and local examinations, laboratory investigations and measurement of serum ceruloplasmin.Results: The mean age of children was 10.23 years in case group and 10.75 years in control group, ranging between 5.5 to 15 years. The majority of patients were females (53.3%) and the remained patients were males (46.7%). There was significant difference between patient and control groups as regard total leucocytic count. Also, there were significant differences between the two groups regarding ALT, AST, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and concentration and high significant differences regarding serum albumin and prothrombin time.Conclusion: Total leucocytic count, AST, ALT, bilirubin, and serum albumin concentration, and prothrombin time are significant investigations to rule out diagnosis and anticipate complications in patients with chronic liver diseases. ALT and PT are early sensitive markers that anticipate liver decompensation

The Heterotopic Ranch: A Foucauldian Reading of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Abstract: This paper explores John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1937) from the perspective of Michel Foucault’s heterotopia (1967). Foucault defined a heterotopia as a space which is separated from ordinary places, yet it reflects the realities these places belong to.Therefore, this study illustrates how the ranch in Steinbeck’s novella constitutes a heterotopic space to mirror the American society. First, the gathered people in the ranch are different from the norms of society, a mentally-disabled Lennie or a maimed Candy, which makes it a “heterotopia of deviation”. Secondly, Foucault said that heterotopias might “change their function over time”; the function of the ranch, which is a place for farming and agriculture, change over time to serve new purposes such as a home or a refuge. The third principle of heterotopia shown in the ranch is the existence of “incompatible spaces” within its space. Moreover, the principle of the relationship between heterotopia and time is reflected in the temporary existence of the ranch in the journey of workers like George and Lennie. Next, the ranch has its own “system of opening and closing” as it is exclusive to certain people only such as George and Lennie who needed a work permit to get there. Finally, the ranch is what Foucault called a “heterotopia of compensation” as its role is to portray an organized safe place in contrast with the messy dangerous reality of American society during the Depressio

Role of Ultrasonic Elastography in the Evaluation of Fibrosis in Children with Chronic Liver Disease in Comparison to Liver Biopsy

Background: Chronic liver illnesses can be caused by a variety of factors, including metabolic, genetic, drug-induced, inflammatory, structural, dietary, and immunological factors. Even with Computed Tomography (CT) scans or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), liver fibrosis makes diagnostic imaging difficult in chronic liver injury. Percutaneous liver biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing, grading, and monitoring liver fibrosis in children, but it is painful, invasive, requires heavy sedation, and has numerous complications such as bleeding. Objectives: The aim of the current work was to assess and measure liver stiffness in children with chronic liver disease using real-time elastography (RTE), compare the results to histopathological findings obtained after performing a percutaneous liver biopsy, and investigate the availability of noninvasive safe liver elastography as a future replacement for this invasive tool in the evaluation and grading of liver fibrosis.Patients and methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional comparative study included a total of 30 individuals with chronic liver disease of various etiologies with age ranged from 4-16 years, attending at Department of Pediatric, Sohag University Hospitals. This study was conducted between January 2017 to December 2019. A control group of ten healthy people was also included in the investigation.Results: The degree of liver stiffness measured by the last ultrasonic elastography was greater in the patient group than in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Except for F0-F1 and F3-F4, there was a substantial relationship between fibrosis stage and liver stiffness assessment by sonoelastography, where the difference was significant between every two individual groups. There was a strong link between biopsy diagnosis and liver stiffness measurement.Conclusion: It could be concluded that in adults, ultrasonic elastography is a well-established approach for assessing liver fibrosis. The utility of elastography in the follow-up of children with chronic liver disease might be increased

Cloud computing based unsupervised fault diagnosis system in the context of Industry 4.0

ABSTRACT: New online fault monitoring and alarm systems, with the aid of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Cloud Technology (CT), are examined in this article within the context of Industry 4.0. The data collected from machines is used to implement maintenance strategies based on the diagnosis and prognosis of the machines' performance. As such, the purpose of this paper is to propose a Cloud Computing Platform containing three layers of technologies forming a Cyber-Physical System which receives unlabelled data to generate an interpreted online decision for the local team, as well as collecting historical data to improve the analyzer. The proposed troubleshooter is tested using unlabelled experimental data sets of rolling element bearing. Finally, the current and future Fault Diagnosis Systems and Cloud Technologies applications in the maintenance field are discussed

Mycorrhizae: Diversity and roles in plant ecosystems

Mycorrhizae are fungi that live in association with the roots of plants, thus constituting an essential symbiosis in terrestrial ecosystems. Arbuscular endomycorrhizae, phylum Glomeromycota, are the most widely distributed in all ecosystems. They colonize the roots of the majority of terrestrial plants and provide several ecoservices. They are involved in plant growth, absorption of water and specific mineral elements (phosphorus, nitrogen, copper, zinc, and some vitamins), structural stability of soils, and participate in the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The interaction between phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) positively influences soil fertility and plant productivity.This review provideS information on previous research carried out in Morocco on mycorrhizal fungi, particularly the endomycorrhizae. Moreover, this review analyzes the positive role that mycorrhizal fungi can play as growth biostimulators and bioprotectors of plant species. Keywords: Morocco, mycorrhizae, diversity, systematic, importanc

Diagnostic et prise en charge des cystites à éosinophiles

La cystite à éosinophiles est une pathologie inflammatoire de la paroi vésicale. Elle est rare, il n'existe pas des recommandations établies concernant sa prise en charge. Il s'agit d'une étude rétrospective ayant concerné dix observations de cystites à éosinophiles diagnostiquées et prises en charge dans notre service entre 2006 et 2017. L'âge moyen des patients était de 46 ans. On a noté une prédominance masculine. Un terrain atopique était noté dans 3 cas. Le mode de présentation le plus fréquent était des signes urinaires irritatifs dans 9 cas, une hématurie macroscopique dans 8 cas et des algies pelviennes dans 6 cas. Une hyper-éosinophilie sanguine était présente dans 4 cas. La cystoscopie avait montré des pétéchies dans 5 cas, un aspect pseudo-tumoral dans 4 cas et était normal dans un cas. Pour les formes pseudo-tumorales une résection endoscopique a été pratiquée. Quatre patients ont été traités par les anti-inflammatoires non stéroïdien, avec amélioration des symptômes. Six malades ont été surveillés. Après un recul moyen de 50 mois, aucune récidive n'a été rapportée. La cystite à éosinophiles est une pathologie rare. La présentation clinique est non spécifique. La prise en charge repose sur des moyens médicaux non invasifs dans les formes peu symptomatiques

Primary Mesenteric Sertoli-Leydig Cell Tumor: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

The occurrence of primary sex cord-stromal tumors at extraovarian sites is exceedingly rare. We report a new case of Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in the mesentery of a 78-year-old woman who presented with occlusive syndrome and reviewed the previously reported cases of extraovarian sex cord-stromal tumors in the English literature

Using isolation forest in anomaly detection: The case of credit card transactions

With the evolution of new technology especially in the domain of e-commerce and online banking, the payment by credit card has seen a significant increase. The credit card has become the most used tool for online shopping. This high rate in use brings about fraud and a considerable damage. It is very important to stop fraudulent transactions because they cause huge financial losses over time. The detection of fraudulent transactions is an important application in anomaly detection. There are different approaches to detecting anomalies namely SVM, logistic regression, decision tree and so on. However, they remain limited since they are supervised algorithms that require to be trained by labels in order to know whether the transactions are fraudulent or not. The goal of this paper is to have a credit card fraud detection system which is able to detect the highest number of new transactions in real time with high accuracy. We will also compare, in this paper, different unsupervised techniques for credit card fraud detection namely LOF, one class SVM, K-means and Isolation Forest so as to single out the best approach