Première approche par l'analyse anthracologique de la végétation de Tin Ouaffadene (gisement archéologique de l'holocène ancien, Niger nord-oriental)

Dans le site archéologique de Tin Ouaffadene (Niger nord-oriental), dont l'étude de la faune a fait l'objet d'une publication antérieure, un paléolac daté d'environ 9000 ans a recouvert une zone d'occupation humaine riche en fragments de charbons de bois. L'analyse anthracologique a révélé la présence de Calotropis procera et Leptadenia pyrotechnica. Ces deux espèces, rarement utilisées comme bois de chauffage, servent essentiellement à des constructions légères. Ces charbons correspondraient donc aux restes d'un abri. Ces données montrent bien l'intérêt des déterminations anthracologiques en archéologie. (Résumé d'auteur

'Ga gewoon weg':Protestleuzen in het Soedan van 2019

Waar Soedanese protestleuzen in de vorige eeuw in het gedragen Standaardarabisch waren geformuleerd, zijn ze nu ‘Soedanezer’ dan ooit. Volgens Mohammed Abdulrahman en Caroline Roset, die de ontwikkelingen in Soedan op de voet volgen, heeft de lokale, Soedanees-Arabische aard van de leuzen bijgedragen aan de aantrekkingskracht van de protesten dit jaar

Eliciting health state utilities for Dupuytren's contracture using a discrete choice experiment

Background and purpose An internet-based discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted to elicit preferences for a wide range of Dupuytren’s contracture (DC)-related health states. An algorithm was subsequently developed to convert these preferences into health state utilities that can be used to assess DC’s impact on quality of life and the value of its treatments. Methods Health state preferences for varying levels of DC hand severity were elicited via an internet survey from a sample of the UK adult population. Severity levels were deined using a combination of contractures (0, 45, or 90 degrees) in 8 proximal interphalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints of the index, middle, ring, and little ingers. Right-handed, left-handed, and ambidextrous respondents indicated which hand was preferable in each of the 10 randomly-selected hand-pairings comparing different DC severity levels. For consistency across comparisons, anatomically precise digital hand drawings were used. To anchor preferences onto the traditional 0–1 utility scale used in health economic evaluations, unaffected hands were assigned a utility of 1.0 whereas the utility for a maximally affected hand (i.e., all 8 joints set at 90 degrees of contracture) was derived by asking respondents to indicate what combination of attributes and levels of the EQ-5D-5L proile most accurately relects the impact of living with such hand. Conditional logistic models were used to estimate indirect utilities, then rescaled to the anchor points on the EQ-5D-5L. Results Estimated utilities based on the responses of 1,745 qualiied respondents were 0.49, 0.57, and 0.63 for completely affected dominant hands, non-dominant hands, or ambidextrous hands, respectively. Utility for a dominant hand with 90-degree contracture in t h e metacarpophalangeal joints of the ring and little ingers was estimated to be 0.89. Separately, reducing the contracture of metacarpophalangeal joint for a little inger from 50 to 12 degrees would improve utility by 0.02. Interpretation DC is associated with substantial utility decrements. The algorithms presented herein provide a robust and lexible framework to assess utility for varying degrees of DC severity

Conceptual Graphs Based Information Retrieval in HealthAgents

This paper focuses on the problem of representing, in a meaningful way, the knowledge involved in the HealthAgents project. Our work is motivated by the complexity of representing Electronic Health-care Records in a consistent manner. We present HADOM (HealthAgents Domain Ontology) which conceptualises the required HealthAgents information and propose describing the sources knowledge by the means of Conceptual Graphs (CGs). This allows to build upon the existing ontology permitting for modularity and °exibility. The novelty of our approach lies in the ease with which CGs can be placed above other formalisms and their potential for optimised querying and retrieval

Longitudinal estimation of Plasmodium falciparum prevalence in relation to malaria prevention measures in six sub-Saharan African countries.

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum prevalence (PfPR) is a widely used metric for assessing malaria transmission intensity. This study was carried out concurrently with the RTS,S/AS01 candidate malaria vaccine Phase III trial and estimated PfPR over ≤ 4 standardized cross-sectional surveys. METHODS: This epidemiology study (NCT01190202) was conducted in 8 sites from 6 countries (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania), between March 2011 and December 2013. Participants were enrolled in a 2:1:1 ratio according to age category: 6 months-4 years, 5-19 years, and ≥ 20 years, respectively, per year and per centre. All sites carried out surveys 1-3 while survey 4 was conducted only in 3 sites. Surveys were usually performed during the peak malaria parasite transmission season, in one home visit, when medical history and malaria risk factors/prevention measures were collected, and a blood sample taken for rapid diagnostic test, microscopy, and haemoglobin measurement. PfPR was estimated by site and age category. RESULTS: Overall, 6401 (survey 1), 6411 (survey 2), 6400 (survey 3), and 2399 (survey 4) individuals were included in the analyses. In the 6 months-4 years age group, the lowest prevalence (assessed using microscopy) was observed in 2 Tanzanian centres (4.6% for Korogwe and 9.95% for Bagamoyo) and Lambaréné, Gabon (6.0%), while the highest PfPR was recorded for Nanoro, Burkina Faso (52.5%). PfPR significantly decreased over the 3 years in Agogo (Ghana), Kombewa (Kenya), Lilongwe (Malawi), and Bagamoyo (Tanzania), and a trend for increased PfPR was observed over the 4 surveys for Kintampo, Ghana. Over the 4 surveys, for all sites, PfPR was predominantly higher in the 5-19 years group than in the other age categories. Occurrence of fever and anaemia was associated with high P. falciparum parasitaemia. Univariate analyses showed a significant association of anti-malarial treatment in 4 surveys (odds ratios [ORs]: 0.52, 0.52, 0.68, 0.41) and bed net use in 2 surveys (ORs: 0.63, 0.68, 1.03, 1.78) with lower risk of malaria infection. CONCLUSION: Local PfPR differed substantially between sites and age groups. In children 6 months-4 years old, a significant decrease in prevalence over the 3 years was observed in 4 out of the 8 study sites. Trial registration Clinical Trials.gov identifier: NCT01190202:NCT. GSK Study ID numbers: 114001

Novel European free-living, non-diazotrophic Bradyrhizobium isolates from contrasting soils that lack nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes - a genome comparison

The slow-growing genus Bradyrhizobium is biologically important in soils, with different representatives found to perform a range of biochemical functions including photosynthesis, induction of root nodules and symbiotic nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Consequently, the role of the genus in soil ecology and biogeochemical transformations is of agricultural and environmental significance. Some isolates of Bradyrhizobium have been shown to be non-symbiotic and do not possess the ability to form nodules. Here we present the genome and gene annotations of two such free-living Bradyrhizobium isolates, named G22 and BF49, from soils with differing long-term management regimes (grassland and bare fallow respectively) in addition to carbon metabolism analysis. These Bradyrhizobium isolates are the first to be isolated and sequenced from European soil and are the first free-living Bradyrhizobium isolates, lacking both nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes, to have their genomes sequenced and assembled from cultured samples. The G22 and BF49 genomes are distinctly different with respect to size and number of genes; the grassland isolate also contains a plasmid. There are also a number of functional differences between these isolates and other published genomes, suggesting that this ubiquitous genus is extremely heterogeneous and has roles within the community not including symbiotic nitrogen fixation

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of non-specific acute low back pain: a randomised controlled multicentre trial protocol [ISRCTN65814467]

BACKGROUND: Low back pain and its associated incapacitating effects constitute an important healthcare and socioeconomic problem, as well as being one of the main causes of disability among adults of working age. The prevalence of non-specific low back pain is very high among the general population, and 60–70% of adults are believed to have suffered this problem at some time. Nevertheless, few randomised clinical trials have been made of the efficacy and efficiency of acupuncture with respect to acute low back pain. The present study is intended to assess the efficacy of acupuncture for acute low back pain in terms of the improvement reported on the Roland Morris Questionnaire (RMQ) on low back pain incapacity, to estimate the specific and non-specific effects produced by the technique, and to carry out a cost-effectiveness analysis. METHODS/DESIGN: Randomised four-branch controlled multicentre prospective study made to compare semi-standardised real acupuncture, sham acupuncture (acupuncture at non-specific points), placebo acupuncture and conventional treatment. The patients are blinded to the real, sham and placebo acupuncture treatments. Patients in the sample present symptoms of non specific acute low back pain, with a case history of 2 weeks or less, and will be selected from working-age patients, whether in paid employment or not, referred by General Practitioners from Primary Healthcare Clinics to the four clinics participating in this study. In order to assess the primary and secondary result measures, the patients will be requested to fill in a questionnaire before the randomisation and again at 3, 12 and 48 weeks after starting the treatment. The primary result measure will be the clinical relevant improvement (CRI) at 3 weeks after randomisation. We define CRI as a reduction of 35% or more in the RMQ results. DISCUSSION: This study is intended to obtain further evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture on acute low back pain and to isolate the specific and non-specific effects of the treatment