Les Aeromonas mobiles : quelle évolution spatiale et temporelle dans un effluent urbain et en milieu marin côtier ?

L'analyse bactériologique des eaux de surface dans un effluent urbain et en milieu marin côtier montre une contamination saisonnière mais fréquente de ces eaux par les Aeromonas mobiles. L'évolution spatiale et temporelle des abondances de ces bactéries, en relation avec certains facteurs environnementaux, a été étudiée pendant un an dans le rejet final épuré et dans les eaux marines réceptacles de l'effluent. Ces bactéries présentent, dans les eaux lagunaires, des évolutions saisonnières identiques à celles des coliformes fécaux avec des densités élevées en période froide (moyenne : 29·106 UFC/100 mL) et faibles en période chaude (moyenne : 6·106 UFC/100 mL). L'abattement des abondances d'Aeromonas se trouve corrélé à une forte irradiation et à une faible turbidité.Le déversement des eaux de la station d'épuration dans les eaux marines côtières de la région n'induit pas globalement de modifications de la forme de comportement des bactéries témoins de contamination fécale. À l'opposé, l'évolution des abondances des Aeromonas spp. mobiles s'inverse pour devenir maximale en période chaude (moyenne : 56 CFU/100 mL pour S3) et minimale en période froide (moyenne : 5 CFU/100 mL pour S3). La salinité paraît responsable de la déstabilisation des séquences saisonnières des Aeromonas et de leur réduction à des concentrations non détectables dans les volumes d'eaux analysés.La présence de ces bactéries dans les effluents épurés, parfois à des concentrations supérieures à celles des coliformes fécaux, pose un problème d'intérêt sanitaire et montre clairement que les bactéries témoins de contamination fécale ne peuvent pas être prédictives de la présence ou de l'absence d'Aeromonas et, par conséquent, ne peuvent pas être considérées comme un bon indicateur de pollution.Bacteriological analyse of surface water in an urban effluent and in coastal marine environment showed a seasonal contamination of this water by motile Aeromonas. Spatial and seasonal changes of Aeromonas abundances were studied, in relation to several environmental factors, in the purified effluent and in seawater.The motile Aeromonas spp. and the fecal coliform distributions in the sewage treatment effluent showed the same seasonal cycles with a maximum occuring in winter (mean: 29·106 UFC/100 ml) and a minimum in summer (mean of 6·106 UFC/100 mL). The abatement of Aeromonas abundances was correlated with a strong irradiation and a low turbidity.In the coastal marine water, there was an inversion of the motile Aeromonas spp. cycle in comparison with that of fecal coliforms, with high levels in hot periods (mean: 56 CFU/100 mL for S3) and low levels in cold periods (mean of 5 CFU/100 mL for S3). Salinity appeared responsible for the destabilisation of the seasonal sequences of Aeromonas and their reduction with non detectable concentrations in water analysed volumes.The presence of these bacteria in the purified effluent, sometimes with concentrations higher than those of the fecal coliforms, poses a problem of health hazard and clearly show that fecal contamination bacteria cannot be predictive for the presence or the absence of Aeromonas and, consequently, cannot be considered as good indicators of pollution

In vitro vegetative growth and flowering of olive tree in response to GA3 treatment

The phytohormone gibberellin is involved in the regulation of many physiological process including flower induction and shoot growth. In this study, gibberellic acid (GA3) was used in order to induce thereversion of olive tree vegetative buds towards a floral ones in vitro. For this, six varieties (Marsaline, Chemchali, Picholine, Chemlali, Zalmati and Oueslati ) was tested and explants, consisting of a singlenode segments, were grown in media containing three concentrations of GA3 (1, 2 and 10 mg/l). Results show that Marsaline seems to be the most able variety in regenerating floral structures. For this variety,5 cases of reversion were observed mainly on the medium containing 10 mg/l GA3. This same medium was also favorable for this transformation for the other varieties (3 cases on Picholine, one each on Chemchali , Zalmati and Oueslati). The examination of the histological sections confirmed this transformation. In addition, this experiment showed that GA3 can be at the origin of an interestinggrowth rate of vegetative buds, which elongation depend on variety as well as GA3 concentration

The Unfulfilled Potential of Data-Driven Decision Making in Agile Software Development

With the general trend towards data-driven decision making (DDDM), organizations are looking for ways to use DDDM to improve their decisions. However, few studies have looked into the practitioners view of DDDM, in particular for agile organizations. In this paper we investigated the experiences of using DDDM, and how data can improve decision making. An emailed questionnaire was sent out to 124 industry practitioners in agile software developing companies, of which 84 answered. The results show that few practitioners indicated a widespread use of DDDM in their current decision making practices. The practitioners were more positive to its future use for higher-level and more general decision making, fairly positive to its use for requirements elicitation and prioritization decisions, while being less positive to its future use at the team level. The practitioners do see a lot of potential for DDDM in an agile context; however, currently unfulfilled

Experimental assessment of Textile Reinforced Sprayed Mortar strengthening system for brickwork wallettes

This work explores the feasibility of strengthening masonry with Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) by projecting it to save application time. Nineteen tests on masonry samples strengthened with TRM have been carried out to assess this new application method. Different mortars and fibre grids were considered for studying their influence and applicability with this new technique. Three points bending tests have been performed on the specimens to compare the flexural strength between cases with manually applied mortar (TRM) and sprayed application (TRSM) of the mortar layer. It was noticed that the strengthening mortar has a significant influence on the failure mode. Results show a remarkable (between 2 and 6 times more) productivity increase when using TRSM and a load-bearing capacity rise for the cases with larger grid spacing and projectable mortar when using TRSM instead of TRM. Greater ductility values were also observed for the TRSM cases in comparison with the analogue TRM cases (same grid and mortar). (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Prise en charge de l’atresie choanale

Introduction: L’atrésie choanale est une malformation congénitale rare mais non exceptionnelle. Le but de notre travail est d’étudier les caractéristiques épidémiologiques, cliniques et radiologiques de cette pathologie, et de discuter les différentes modalités thérapeutiques et leurs résultats respectifs.Matériel et méthodes: Notre étude rétrospective porte sur une série de 12 cas d’atrésie choanale opérés dans notre service entre 2002 et 2010. Tous les patients ont bénéficié d’un examen ORL et d’une tomodensitométrie du massif facial. Tous les patients ont été opérés sous anesthésie générale.Résultats: L’âge moyen était de 10,7 ans (3 jours - 31 ans) et le sex-ratio était de 2. L’atteinte était unilatérale dans 66,6% et bilatérale dans 33,3% des cas. Dans 16% des cas, l’atrésie rentrait dans le cadre d’un syndrome polymalformatif. La technique opératoire utilisée était la voie  endoscopique dans 10 cas et la voie transpalatine dans 2 cas. Le taux de succès global était de 75%. Trois cas de récidive ont été notés. Ils ont été réopérés par voie endonasale.Conclusion: L’endoscopie nasale et la TDM permettent le diagnostic positif de l’atrésie choanale. Le traitement de référence actuellement est la chirurgie par voie endonasale.Mots-clés: atrésie choanale, malformation, obstruction nasale, endoscopie, tomodensitométrie, chirurgie endonasal

Analysis of skewed X-chromosome inactivation in females with rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroid diseases

Introduction: The majority of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) are characterized by a striking female predominance superimposed on a predisposing genetic background. The role of extremely skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) has been questioned in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases. Methods: We examined XCI profiles of females affected with RA (n = 106), AITDs (n = 145) and age-matched healthy women (n = 257). XCI analysis was performed by enzymatic digestion of DNA with a methylation sensitive enzyme (HpaII) followed by PCR of a polymorphic CAG repeat in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. The XCI pattern was classified as skewed when 80% or more of the cells preferentially inactivated the same X-chromosome. Results: Skewed XCI was observed in 26 of the 76 informative RA patients (34.2%), 26 of the 100 informative AITDs patients (26%), and 19 of the 170 informative controls (11.2%) (P 90% inactivation of one allele, was present in 17 RA patients (22.4%), 14 AITDs patients (14.0%), and in only seven controls (4.1%, P 0.05). Conclusions: These results suggest a possible role for XCI mosaicism in the pathogenesis of RA and AITDs and may in part explain the female preponderance of these diseases. © 2009 Chabchoub et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

The study of metaphor as part of Critical Discourse Analysis

This article discusses how the study of metaphoric and more generally, figurative language use contributes to critical discourse analysis (CDA). It shows how cognitive linguists’ recognition of metaphor as a fundamental means of concept- and argument-building can add to CDA's account of meaning constitution in the social context. It then discusses discrepancies between the early model of conceptual metaphor theory and empirical data and argues that discursive-pragmatic factors as well as sociolinguistic variation have to be taken into account in order to make cognitive analyses more empirically and socially relevant. In conclusion, we sketch a modified cognitive approach informed by Relevance Theory within CDA

The unfulfilled potential of data-driven decision making in agile software development

With the general trend towards data-driven decision making (DDDM), organizations are looking for ways to use DDDM to improve their decisions. However, few studies have looked into the practitioners view of DDDM, in particular for agile organizations. In this paper we investigated the experiences of using DDDM, and how data can improve decision making. An emailed questionnaire was sent out to 124 industry practitioners in agile software developing companies, of which 84 answered. The results show that few practitioners indicated a wide-spread use of DDDM in their current decision making practices. The practitioners were more positive to its future use for higher-level and more general decision making, fairly positive to its use for requirements elicitation and prioritization decisions, while being less positive to its future use at the team level. The practitioners do see a lot of potential for DDDM in an agile context; however, currently unfulfilled

Studies on Pr3+–Yb3+ codoped ZBLA as rare earth down convertor glasses for solar cells encapsulation

The non-absorption of photons with energies below the bandgap (Eg) and the thermalization of photons with energies higher than Eg are the dominant loss processes of single-junction solar cells. Rare earth doped glasses give the opportunity to convert the incident photons wavelength and hence to increase or decrease their energies. The conversion of photons energies by “up or down conversion” leads to the possibility to increase the efficiencies of all classes of single-junction solar cells. Depending on the nature of doping materials, two low energy photons can be converted into one high-energy photon (up-conversion), or one high energy photon, can be converted into two low energy photons (down-conversion). In this paper, Pr3+–Yb3+ down-conversion co-doped ZBLA glasses were tested as encapsulation materials for silicon solar cells. The J–V characterizations were done under solar simulator irradiation. The influence of Yb3+ concentration on the solar cells performances was investigated, showing that an optimum value between 0.5 and 2 mol% conducts to an increase of the device efficiency comparing to mono-doped ZBLA material