Development of three types of flat flexible conductors Final report, Aug. 1963 - Feb. 1964

Material properties, shielding, and coatings examined in development of flat flexible conductor cable

Management of neuropathic pain in Senegal: Expertise of National Center of Orthopedic Equipment, Dakar

IntroductionNeuropathic pain is serious and its treatment difficult. Treatment is efficient, when quality of life is increased [1].ObjectiveTo determine the frequency of neuropathic pain at the National Centre of Orthopaedic Equipment, Dakar, Senegal and to study the difficulties of management of neuropathic pain according to international guidelines.MethodologyA prospective study was undergone in the National Centre of Orthopaedic Equipment in Dakar, Senegal. Study took place from October 2014 to January 2015. Patients with pain over one month answered the neuropathic pain questionnaire and those with over 4 points were enrolled. Pain intensity was evaluated with Visual Analogic Scale, motor function with Medical Research Council Test. Major function (prehension, work, daily activity, professional activity and sleep) were appreciated. We verified the conformity of complementary exams. Evaluation was done before treatment, three weeks and two months after. Treatment was based on international guidelines.ResultsForty-three patients suffered neuropathic pain. The sex-ratio was 0.96. The mean age was 52.22. The mean score of Visual Analogic Scale was 5.75. Working was difficult (33.96%), impossible (4 cases), and up and down stair climbing impossible (18.83%). Among the patients 18.86% could not walk more than 1000 meters and 13.20% of patients could not pick something up. Professional activity was stopped in 2 cases. Sleep disorders were noted in 33.96%. Complementary exams were done in 54.71% and 9.43% were not compliant with international guidelines. Most of the patients received Amitryptiline (54. 71%) and adverse effects were noted only in 3 cases. With a two months follow-up, dimensions of quality of life were improved in 94.53% of cases.Discussion and ConclusionTreatment of neuropathic pain improved quality of life. In African country, the choice of molecule must take into account its efficacy and its accessibility. Rehabilitation is important in management of neuropathic pain. It increases function and improves quality of life. The unnecessary complementary exams increase the cost, and general practitioners need a specific piece of information about the neuropathic pain and its treatment

Staphylococcus aureus nasal and pharyngeal carriage in Senegal

AbstractNasal and pharyngeal swabs were collected from 132 patients admitted to the Principal Hospital in Dakar (Senegal), in January and February 2012. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus carriage was 56.1% (n = 74): 40.2% for pharyngeal samples and 36.4% for nasal samples. None of the isolates was methicillin-resistant. Carriage was independently associated with being female (p <0.01) and large households (≥15 members) (p 0.04). The luk-PV genes encoding Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) were present in 26.2% of the isolates. These data highlight the importance of the oropharynx as a site of colonization, and the high prevalence of PVL-positive isolates in Senegal as compared with industrialized countries

Aggravation de l’anémie et polymorphisme de l’haptoglobine au cours de la drépanocytose au Sénégal

La drépanocytose homozygote s’accompagne d’une augmentation de l’hémoglobine (Hb) plasmatique, susceptible d’exposer les hématies à un stress oxydant. L’haptoglobine présente trois phénotypes majeurs (Hp1-1, Hp 2-1 et Hp 2-2) susceptibles de fixer l’hémoglobine extracellulaire avec une efficacité différente. L’objectif de ce travail est de voir si la connaissance du phénotype d’Hp pouvait constituer un élément prédictifde l’anémie sévère. Pour cela, il a été recruté 68 drépanocytaires  homozygotes, âgés de 5 à 31 ans. Pour chaque patient, un témoin de même sexe et de même âge ± 2 ans a été recruté. Le phénotypage de l’Hp a été réalisé par électrophorèse sur gel de polyacrylamide. Les résultats du dosage de l’Hb font ressortir que les taux d’Hb sont significativement différentes chez les patients comparées à celles des témoins (p = 0,001). Lorsque la répartition a été faite en fonction du phénotype d’Hp, une différence statistiquement significative a étéretrouvée entre le phénotype Hp1-1 et le phénotype Hp2-2 (p &lt; 0,001) chez les patients et non chez les témoins. Les résultats de cette étude préliminaire suggéreraient que la connaissance du phénotype d’Hp seraitun facteur prédictif de l’anémie sévère au cours de la drépanocytose.Mots clés : Drépanocytose, anémie, phénotypes d’haptoglobine

Thermal dileptons as QCD matter probes at SIS

Electromagnetic radiation is emitted during the whole course of a heavy-ion collision and can escape from the collision zone without further interactions. This makes it an ideal tool to study the properties of hot and dense QCD matter. To model the space-time evolution of the collision at SIS energies a coarse-graining approach is used to convert transport simulations into meaningful temperatures and densities. These parameters serve as input for the determination of the pertinent radiation of thermal dileptons based on an in-medium ρ spectral function that describes available spectra at ultrarelativistic collision energies. The resulting excitation function of the thermal excess radiation provides a baseline for future measurements by the HADES and CBM experiments at GSI/FAIR, and experiments proposed at NICA and J-PARC

Severe pre-eclampsia: epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic aspects at Hospital Principal Dakar from January 2019 to December 2020

Background: Preeclampsia, major public health problem, is one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality. It is increasingly frequent in our referral health centers, especially in its severe form. Methods: Retrospective descriptive and analytical study about severe preeclampsia at the Maternity of Hospital Principal Dakar, from 01 January 2019 to 31 December 2020. Results: Frequency of severe preeclampsia was 3.09%. Medical evacuation (70.59%) was the most frequent mode of admission. Patients were in average 29.8 years and primipare. Personal medical history was dominated by high blood pressure (16.29%). The average gestational age was 34+2 days, but pregnancy was carried to term by the majority of patients. Functional signs were dominated by headache (40.65%). Blood pressure was greater than or equal to 160/90 mmHg (90.32%). Hyperuricemia was the most frequent biological anomaly after proteinuria (45.1%). Complications were dominated by retroplacental hematoma (4.49%) and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) (28.48%). Calcium channel blockers (81.88%) were the main antihypertensive agents administered. Caesarean section was the most common delivery method (80.46%). The maternal prognosis was good, with no maternal deaths recorded. Perinatal mortality was 173.9%. Conclusions: Preeclampsia remains a fearsome pregnancy’s pathology. Raising awareness of pregnant women during ANC on the risks of pre-eclampsia, retraining of health personnel, close and early monitoring of women at risk and management in a multidisciplinary setting help to improve the maternal-fetal prognosis.

Spectral properties of reversible one-dimensional cellular automata

Reversible cellular automata are invertible dynamical systems characterized by discreteness, determinism and local interaction. This article studies the local behavior of reversible one-dimensional cellular automata by means of the spectral properties of their connectivity matrices. We use the transformation of every one-dimensional cellular automaton to another of neighborhood size 2 to generalize the results exposed in this paper. In particular we prove that the connectivity matrices have a single positive eigenvalue equal to 1; based on this result we also prove the idempotent behavior of these matrices. The significance of this property lies in the implementation of a matrix technique for detecting whether a one-dimensional cellular automaton is reversible or not. In particular, we present a procedure using the eigenvectors of these matrices to find the inverse rule of a given reversible one-dimensional cellular automaton. Finally illustrative examples are provided

Cancer de la prostate localisé à haut risque de récidive:résultats de la prise charge

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Blood pressure and metabolic effects of acetyl-L-carnitine in type 2 diabetes: DIABASI randomized controlled trial

Context: Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), a mitochondrial carrier involved in lipid oxidation and glucose metabolism, decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), and ameliorated insulin sensitivity in hypertensive nondiabetic subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Objective: To assess the effects of ALC on SBP and glycemic and lipid control in patients with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and dyslipidemia on background statin therapy. Design: After 4-week run-in period and stratification according to previous statin therapy, patients were randomized to 6-month, double-blind treatment with ALC or placebo added-on simvastatin. Setting: Five diabetology units and one clinical research center in Italy. Patients: Two hundred twenty-nine patients with hypertension and dyslipidemic T2D &gt; 40 years with stable background antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, and statin therapy and serum creatinine &lt; 1.5 mg/ dL. Interventions: Oral ALC 1000 mg or placebo twice daily on top of stable simvastatin therapy. Outcome and Measures: Primary outcome was SBP. Secondary outcomes included lipid and glycemic profiles. Total-body glucose disposal rate and glomerular filtration rate were measured in subgroups by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and iohexol plasma clearance, respectively. Results: SBP did not significantly change after 6-month treatment with ALC compared with placebo (-2.09mmHg vs-3.57mmHg, P = 0.9539). Serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a), as well as blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, fasting insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index, glucose disposal rate, and glomerular filtration rate did not significantly differ between treatments. Adverse events were comparable between groups. Conclusions: Six-month oral ALC supplementation did not affect blood pressure, lipid and glycemic control, insulin sensitivity and kidney function in hypertensive normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric T2D patients on background statin therapy