L’aspergillome sphenoïdal : a propos d’un cas sphenoidalaspergilloma : a case report

Introduction : L’aspergillose sphénoïdale isolée est une pathologie rare potentiellement grave vu le risque d’extension neuro-méningée et orbitaire. malgré qu’elle est plus fréquente chez les immuno-déprimés, l’atteinte de l’immunocompétent a été décrite. a travers une observation, nous rapportons les caractéristiques clinico-radiologiques, thérapeutiques et évolutives de l’aspergillome sphénoïdal.Observutin : Homme de 35 ans a consulté pour des céphalées rétro-orbitaires évoluant depuis 3 mois. L’examen était normal à part une rhinorrhée purulente postérieure. Le scanner a montré un processus hétérogène comblant le sinus sphénoïdal associé à une lyse osseuse. Une sphénoïdotomiepar voie endonasale a permis de confirmer le diagnostic et de nettoyer les lésions aspergillaires. Un traitement par voriconazol a été associé avec évolution favorable après un recul de 18 mois.Conclusion : L’aspergillome sphénoïdale est l’un des diagnostics différentiel des tumeurs sphénoïdales chez l’immunocompétent. Le traitement est essentiellement chirurgical avec de très bons résultats. L’adjonction d’un antifongique systémique est controversée chez l’immunocompétent.Mots- clefs : aspergillome, sphénoïde, imagerie, Tumeur, chirurgieObjective : Isolated sphenoidalaspergillosis is rare but potentially grave because of the risk of neuro-meningeal and orbitalextension. althoughitis more common in immuno-compromised, the achievement of immunocompetent has been described. Through an observation, we report the clinic-radiological, therapeutic and evolutionary featuresof sphenoidalaspergilloma.Case-report : male 35 years consulted for retro-orbital headache lasting for 3 months. The exam was normal except a purulent rhinorrhea. The CT scan showed a heterogeneous process filling the sphenoid sinus associated with bone loss. Sphenoidotomy by an endonasal approach confirmed the diagnosis of aspergillosis lesions. Treatment with voriconazole was associated with favorable outcome after 18 months.Conclusion : Sphenoidal as pergilloma is a differential diagnosis of tumors in the immuno-competent. Treatment is mainly surgical with good results. The addition of a systemic antifungal agent is controversial in the immunocompetent.Keywords : aspergilloma, sphenoïd, imagery, tumor, surger

The Effects of Eccentric and Plyometric Training Programs and Their Combination on Stability and the Functional Performance in the Post-ACL-Surgical Rehabilitation Period of Elite Female Athletes

BackgroundThe standard method to treat physically active patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is ligament reconstruction surgery. The rehabilitation training program is very important to improve functional performance in recreational athletes following ACL reconstruction.ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to compare the effects of three different training programs, eccentric training (ECC), plyometric training (PLYO), or combined eccentric and plyometric training (COMB), on dynamic balance (Y-BAL), the Lysholm Knee Scale (LKS), the return to sport index (RSI), and the leg symmetry index (LSI) for the single leg hop test for distance in elite female athletes after ACL surgery.Materials and MethodsFourteen weeks after rehabilitation from surgery, 40 elite female athletes (20.3 ± 3.2 years), who had undergone an ACL reconstruction, participated in a short-term (6 weeks; two times a week) training study. All participants received the same rehabilitation protocol prior to the training study. Athletes were randomly assigned to three experimental groups, ECC (n = 10), PLYO (n = 10), and COMB (n = 10), and to a control group (CON: n = 10). Testing was conducted before and after the 6-week training programs and included the Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI. LSI was assessed after the 6-week training programs only.ResultsAdherence rate was 100% across all groups and no training or test-related injuries were reported. No significant between-group baseline differences (pre-6-week training) were observed for any of the parameters. Significant group-by-time interactions were found for Y-BAL (p < 0.001, ES = 1.73), LKS (p < 0.001, ES = 0.76), and RSI (p < 0.001, ES = 1.39). Contrast analysis demonstrated that COMB yielded significantly greater improvements in Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI (all p < 0.001), in addition to significantly better performances in LSI (all p < 0.001), than CON, PLYO, and ECC, respectively.ConclusionIn conclusion, combined (eccentric/plyometric) training seems to represent the most effective training method as it exerts positive effects on both stability and functional performance in the post-ACL-surgical rehabilitation period of elite female athletes

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

Towards a Distributed Architecture for Adaptive E-Learning System

Technology is advancing rapidly and the demand and expectation is getting higher, that current monolithic client-server and peer-to-peer e-learning systems can no longer tolerate. Distributed e-learning systems, on the other hand, have the potential to address many shortcomings of current e-learning systems. Distributed systems are mainly based on Web-services or alternatively the Grid. The purpose of this paper is to define a novel distributed e-learning architecture based on multi-agents and intelligent distributed blackboards. The proposed architecture employs the Web-services approach of distributed e-learning systems in a scalable and flexible manner, utilizing a wealth of e-learning content and services in existing on-line learning repositories and intelligently personalizing it to the particular needs of the learners, through the use of multi-agents. Distributed intelligent blackboards, on the other hand, allows the efficient and seamless communication and collaboration among the various distributed agents

Hexakis(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)zinc mer-aquatris(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)(ethanol-κO)[octadecatungstodiphosphato(V)-κO]zincate(II)–dimethyl sulfoxide–ethanol–water (2/4/2/3)

In the title compound, [Zn(C2H6OS)6]2[Zn(α-P2W18O62)(C2H5OH)(C2H6OS)3(H2O)]·2C2H6OS·C2H5OH·1.5H2O, there are two types of ZnII complex ions. In the [Zn(α-P2W18O62)(C2H5OH)(C2H6OS)3(H2O)]4− anion, the ZnII cation is coordinated by a Wells–Dawson polyanion [α-P2W18O62]6− (POM) via a terminal O atom, three dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) ligands, one ethanol ligand and one water ligand in a distorted octahedral geometry. The two independent [Zn(C2H6OS)6]2+ cations exhibit similar distorted octahedral coordination spheres, and both ZnII cations are coordinated by six DMSO ligands. The crystal packing is governed by extensive O—H...O hydrogen bonds and weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supramolecular structure. The S atoms of some DMSO molecules are disordered over two positions with different site-occupancy ratios

Structural investigations of N-methylformamide-water mixtures at various concentrations

Structural investigations of N-methylformamide-water mixtures (NMF-water) are performed at room temperature and atmospheric pressure for two water molar fractions x w = 0.66 and x w = 0.75 . This paper extends our recent study on the equimolar system. H-bond networks are preferentially formed between NMF and water molecules. Among a large variety of DFT optimized models, X-ray scattering data shows that the local order of each mixture is better described by a tetramer where one NMF molecule is connected to three water molecules. No self-association is observed in the considered systems. The effect of hydration is compared to the temperature and pressure effects in some hydrogen-bonded liquids