30 research outputs found
Measuring the effect of foreign exchange reserves on foreign direct investment in Algeria during the period 1990-2020 using the ARDL model
This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign exchange reserves on foreign direct investment in Algeria during the period 1990-2020 by applying the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL). The model showed that the current variables are co-integrated. Also, the results indicate that foreign exchange reserves have a positive impact on foreign direct investment in the long term only, at a rate of 44%
German-Algerian university exchange from the perspective of students and teachers results of an intercultural survey
Academic exchange programs provide students and teachers with the opportunity to study or work temporarily at educational institutions abroad. For exchange programs to be successful in promoting intercultural education, they must be designed with their participants in mind. The present study constitutes an investigation of attitudes and expectations of students and teachers with respect to a German–Algerian university exchange program. Germany and Algeria belong to separate cultural spheres—the Western/European and the Arabic/Islamic—and almost no academic exchange has taken place between them to date. The survey’s four participant groups were German (n = 270) and Algerian students (n = 214), and German (n = 24) and Algerian teachers (n = 43). The study revealed large differences in the hopes and fears that German and Algerian university students and teachers attach to reciprocal academic exchange. The study’s ramifications for the future planning of a German–Algerian university exchange program are discussed
Gemcitabine and treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in relapsed or refractory elderly patients: A prospective randomized trial in Algeria
Context: Support for non-Hodgkin\u2032s lymphoma (NHL) with large
cells that is refractory or relapsed after first-line chemotherapy
poses a greater therapeutic problem with bone marrow transplant therapy
or when old age is a contra-indication for high-dose chemotherapy,
especially among developing countries such as Algeria. Aim: To show
that the regimen, including gemcitabine, could be more effective in
treating elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in
relapse / refractory, without complete remission, when compared with
the ESHAP (etoposide, cisplatine, solumedrol, aracytine) regimen.
Materials and Methods: Ninety-six patients in the age group of 60-70
years were volunteers for a prospective randomized single-blind study,
carried out for three years. Patients were divided into two groups by
the drawing of lots. The first group (GA, n = 48, relapse; n = 27
[56.3%], refractory; n = 21 [43.7%]) received treatment with ESHAP
protocol and the second one (GB, n = 48, relapse; n = 28 [58%],
refractory; n = 20 [42%]) with GPD (gemcitabine, dexamethasone,
cisplatine) protocol. Results: The overall response rates and mean
survival at three years were significantly higher among patients
subjected to GPD treatment compared with those subjected to ESHAP
treatment (63% vs. 55%, P = 0.01 and 20.5% [95% CI 16.5-24.5] vs. 11.8%
[8.9-14.6], respectively). Additionally, three-year progression-free
and event-free survival rates were 20.5% (16.3-24) and 19.7%
(15.9-23.5), respectively, for the GPD regimen and 10.9% (8.2-13.7) and
11.1% (95% CI 8.5-13.7), respectively, for the ESHAP regimen. Moreover,
the GPD regimen was associated with improving overall survival
(RR=2.02, 95% CI 1.59-2.56; P = 0.000), event-free survival (2.03,
1.64-2.52; P < 0.001) and progression-free survival (1.86,
1.46-2.37; P < 0.001). Conclusion: In cases of contra-indication for
high-dose chemotherapy for elderly patients with DLBCL, without
complete remission, the Gemcitabine-based therapy protocol represents a
more effective and less toxic than that of ESHAP
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
Measuring the effect of Foreign Exchange Reserves on Foreign Direct Investment in Algeria during the period 1990-2020 using the ARDL model
This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign exchange reserves on foreign direct investment in Algeria during the period 1990-2020 by applying the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL). The model showed that the current variables are co-integrated. Also, the results indicate that foreign exchange reserves have a positive impact on foreign direct investment in the long term only, at a rate of 44%
Simple intra-cavity beam shaping for generating a shape-invariant flat-top laser beam
International audienceFor laser users, the usual Gaussian beam (GB) may not always be the best intensity profile. Often, a preferred option is a Flat-Top (FT) beam which is generally obtained by using diffractive optics in a reshaping operation. In this case, the resulting FT profile occurs only in the focal plane of the focusing lens, and its vicinity. We consider here the generation of a shape-invariant FT laser beam resulting from the incoherent weighted (50%-50% in power) mixing of LG00 (GB) and LG01 (doughnut) beams. For that we consider the insertion inside the laser cavity of a diaphragm and an absorbing ring, and optimising their sizes makes possible the simultaneous oscillation on LG00 and LG01 modes allowing the generation of a shape-invariant laser beam