372 research outputs found
Broken needle during spinal anesthesia: an avoidable complication
No full textRawéléguinbasba Armel Flavien Kabore,1 Ibrahim Alain Traore,2 Salah Idriss Séif Traore,3 Cheik Tidiane Hafi Wind-Pouiré Bougouma,1 Pascal Augustin,4 Aboudoul-Fataou Ouro-Bang’na Maman5 1Department of Anesthesia, University Hospital Blaise Comparoé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; 2Department of Anesthesia, Uiversity Hospital Sourou Sanou, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso; 3Department of Anesthesia, District Hospital of Bogodogo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; 4Department of Anesthesia, Intercommunity Hospital of Meulan, Les Mureaux, Meulan en Yvelines, France; 5Department of Anesthesia, Ales-en-Cévennes Hospital, Alès-en-Cévennes, France Abstract: The occurrence of a needle breaking is a very rare complication of spinal anesthesia (SA). We report a case of a broken spinal needle occurring in a morbid obese pregnant woman during SA indicated for an emergent cesarean section. Multiple puncture attempts due to difficult identification of lumbar spine, associated with an inadequate use of the introducer, contributed to this complication. The recognition of predictive factors for difficult neuraxial anesthesia, the use of ultrasound in obese patients, and a properly executed technique may have allowed avoiding this complication. Keywords: spinal anesthesia, needle breaking, cesarean section, obesit
Synthesis and Characterisation of Metallic Nanoparticles from Medicinal Plant Extracts and their Application in combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens
No full textM.Sc. (Microbiology)Department of Biochemistry and MicrobiologyBackground: The rise of antibiotic-resistant (ABR) bacterial pathogens is a major global
health concern, especially in the case of respiratory tract infections (RTIs), which can make
treatment more difficult. According to statistics, more than 2 million lives were lost due to
ABR bacterial infections in 2019, highlighting the seriousness of the situation. This study aims
to propose a novel approach to combating ABR bacteria by synthesising metallic nanoparticles
(MNPs) from medicinal plants. Integrating nanoparticle-based strategies with medicinal plants
demonstrates considerable promise in addressing RTIs.
Methodology: The present study investigated the extracts of Spirostachys africana (S.
africana), a medicinal plant traditionally used by healers to treat various infections. Extracts
were prepared using methanol, ethanol, acetone, and distilled water. A comprehensive
approach was employed to synthesise and characterise silver (SA-AgNPs) and gold (SAAuNPs)
nanoparticles from S. africana extracts. Methods of characterisation included
Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Dynamic light
scattering (DLS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared
spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). The
antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles and extracts was tested against the World Health
Organization (WHO) ABR priority pathogens using agar well diffusion and microdilution
assays. We further, assessed the cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities
using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), Griess assays,
and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, respectively.
Results: The UV-Vis analysis revealed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks at 480 nm and
541 nm, indicating the formation of SA-AgNPs and SA-AuNPs, respectively. XRD showed
face-centred cubic structures with crystalline sizes ranging from 9–19 nm for SA-AgNPs and
9–10 nm for SA-AuNPs. The DLS measurements displayed a polydisperse distribution for SAAgNPs,
while a monodisperse distribution was observed for SA-AuNPs. Most NPs aggregated
over time, except for bark-methanol conjugated SA-AgNPs, which exhibited more stability
with a zeta potential value of -27 mV. The TEM images showed particle core sizes of 5–49.5
nm for SA-AgNPs, predominantly spherical, and 6–32 nm for SA-AuNPs, mainly spheroidal.
The FTIR analysis identified functional groups including hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine
groups in both plant extracts and SA-AgNPs/SA-AuNPs. These fuctional groups are involved
in the reduction and capping of Ag+ and Au+ ions to form SA-AgNPs and SA-AuNPs,
respectively. The LCMS technique identified 23 bioactive compounds from S. africana
extracts, with flavonoids being the most dominant. Antimicrobial assays using agar well
diffusion and microdilution methods showed SA-AgNPs were more effective than crude
extracts and SA-AuNPs against tested ABR bacteria. Acetone-conjugated SA-AgNPs having
the highest zone of inhibition (22 mm) against P. aeruginosa. In contrast, methanol/ethanolconjugated
SA-AgNPs displayed potent antimicrobial activity (MIC = 0.05 mg/mL) against E.
coli, P. aeruginosa, and A. baumannii, respectively. Additionally, Acetone extracts exhibited
selective toxicity against MCF-7 cancer cells, while stimulating MCF-10 cells and RAW 264.7
macrophage cells at concentrations of 0.078 mg/mL. Furthermore, ethanol extracts and
ethanol-conjugated SA-AgNPs/SA-AuNPs significantly decreased NO production, indicating
their potential as anti-inflammatory agents. Acetone extract exhibited excellent antioxidant
activity (IC50 = 0.000335 mg/mL).
Conclusions: The MNPs synthesised from S. africana extracts offer a promising solution to
combat ABR bacterial pathogens, particularly those causing RTIs. The S. africana extracts and
MNPs show significant cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities.NR
A well-conserved Plasmodium falciparum var gene shows an unusual stage-specific transcript pattern
No full textThe var multicopy gene family encodes Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) variant antigens, which, through their ability to adhere to a variety of host receptors, are thought to be important virulence factors. The predominant expression of a single cytoadherent PfEMP1 type on an infected red blood cell, and the switching between different PfEMP1 types to evade host protective antibody responses, are processes thought to be controlled at the transcriptional level. Contradictory data have been published on the timing of var gene transcription. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) data suggested that transcription of the predominant var gene occurs in the later (pigmented trophozoite) stages, whereas Northern blot data indicated such transcripts only in early (ring) stages. We investigated this discrepancy by Northern blot, with probes covering a diverse var gene repertoire. We confirm that almost all var transcript types were detected only in ring stages. However, one type, the well-conserved varCSA transcript, was present constitutively in different laboratory parasites and does not appear to undergo antigenic variation. Although varCSA has been shown to encode a chondroitin sulphate A (CSA)-binding PfEMP1, we find that the presence of full-length varCSA transcripts does not correlate with the CSA-binding phenotype
The role of Plasmodium falciparum var genes in malaria in pregnancy
No full textSequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes in the placenta is responsible for many of the harmful effects of malaria during pregnancy. Sequestration occurs as a result of parasite adhesion molecules expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes binding to host receptors in the placenta such as chondroitin sulphate A (CSA). Identification of the parasite ligand(s) responsible for placental adhesion could lead to the development of a vaccine to induce antibodies to prevent placental sequestration. Such a vaccine would reduce the maternal anaemia and infant deaths that are associated with malaria in pregnancy. Current research indicates that the parasite ligands mediating placental adhesion may be members of the P. falciparum variant surface antigen family PfEMP1, encoded by var genes. Two relatively well-conserved subfamilies of var genes have been implicated in placental adhesion, however, their role remains controversial. This review examines the evidence for and against the involvement of var genes in placental adhesion, and considers whether the most appropriate vaccine candidates have yet been identified
LE PROCESSUS DU BLANCHIMENT D’ARGENT, SA PREVENTION ET SA DETECTION : CAS DES BLANCHISSEURS AU MALI
No full textLe processus du blanchiment d’argent, sa prévention et sa détection : cas des blanchisseurs au mali. Pour mieux étayer notre travail, nous avons pris le cas des blanchisseurs maliens comme champ d’étude. La question centrale est de savoir : quel est le processus de détection de prévention et de blanchiment d’argents ? Afin de mener à bien notre recherche, nous avons adopté un positionnement interpretativiste accompagné de démarche qualitative, l’échantillonnage est non probabiliste. Nos outils de recueil de données sont : l’observation participante, l’entretien et la revue documentaire. Nous avons dégagé comme résultat que : les blanchisseurs passent par trois (3) Etapes pour blanchir leur fonds à savoir : Le Placement, l’Empilement et l’Intégration. Pour se prévenir, il faut donc trois lignes de défenses (Front Office, Responsable LAB-FT, et Auditeur interne)
Artificialisation des sols et érosion hydrique dans la ville de Daloa, centre-ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire
No full textRésumé : L’artificialisation des sols induite par l’étalement de la tache urbaine de Daloa pose le problème de l’exposition des sols au risque d’érosion hydrique. L’objectif de cette étude est de contribuer à une meilleure connaissance de ce risque hydroclimatique par une cartographie des niveaux de ses degrés d’occurrence. La démarche intègre, d’une part, les techniques de la télédétection et d’autre part, l’équation universelle révisée de la perte en sols (RUSLE). Les techniques de la télédétection à travers l’algorithme Random Forest dans la plateforme Google Earth Engine a permis de déterminer le rythme d’artificialisation des sols induite par l’urbanisation. L’équation RUSLE a permis d’évaluer la susceptibilité d’occurrence de l’érosion hydrique à travers la quantité annuelle de perte en sols par unité spatiale. A la lumière de ces traitements, il ressort que la ville de Daloa est encline à une artificialisation rapide des sols emmenée par un étalement urbain de l’ordre de 13% par an. Les implications de cette artificialisation est le dénudement des sols et leur exposition à l’énergie cinétique des gouttes d’eau lors des précipitations. Les valeurs de l’érosion hydriques subséquentes varient entre 0 et 38 t/ha/an. La perte en sols jugée « Modérées » à « Sévère » correspondant à un risque d’érosion « Moyen » à « Très élevé » ne concerne que 6% du territoire urbain. En dépit de cette marginalisation spatiale, l’érosion hydrique dans sa manifestation apparait comme un risque majeur du fait de ses impacts négatifs sur les enjeux urbains comme la voirie, le bâtie et les réseaux enterrés.
Mots-clés : Daloa, Urbanisation, Artificialisation des sols, Erosion hydrique, Vulnérabilités urbaine
Continuous Authentication using Stylometry
No full textStatic authentication, where user identity is checked once at login time, can be circumvented no matter how strong the authentication mechanism is. Through attacks such as man-in-the-middle and its variants, an authenticated session can be hijacked later after the initial login process has been completed. In the last decade, continuous authentication (CA) using biometrics has emerged as a possible remedy against session hijacking. CA consists of testing the authenticity of the user repeatedly throughout the authenticated session as data becomes available. CA is expected to be carried out unobtrusively, due to its repetitive nature, which means that the authentication information must be collectible without any active involvement of the user and without using any special purpose hardware devices (e.g. biometric readers). Stylometry analysis, which consists of checking whether a target document was written or not by a specific individual, could potentially be used for CA. Although stylometric techniques can achieve high accuracy rates for long documents, it is still challenging to identify an author for short documents, in particular when dealing with large author populations.
In this dissertation, we propose a new framework for continuous authentication using authorship verification based on the writing style. Authorship verification can be checked using stylometric techniques through the analysis of linguistic styles and writing characteristics of the authors. Different from traditional authorship verification that focuses on long texts, we tackle the use of short messages. Shorter authentication delay (i.e. smaller data sample) is essential to reduce the window size of the re-authentication period in CA. We validate our method using different block sizes, including 140, 280, and 500 characters, and investigate shallow and deep learning architectures for machine learning classification. Experimental evaluation of the proposed authorship verification approach based on the Enron emails dataset with 76 authors yields an Equal Error Rate (EER) of 8.21% and Twitter dataset with 100 authors yields an EER of 10.08%. The evaluation of the approach using relatively smaller forgery samples with 10 authors yields an EER of 5.48%.Graduat
Audit des rémunérations au sein d’un établissement hospitalier :Cas du CHU NEDIR Mohamed de Tizi-Ouzou
No full text153 p.:ill;30cm.(+cd)L’hôpital est une organisation qui se compose d’un ensemble de fonction et chacune d’elles a ses propres missions et ses propres rôles. Et parmi cet ensemble de fonction s celle des ressources humaines qui permet de mettre à sa disposition les moyens humains dont elle a besoin et pour le bon fonctionnement de son activité par l’intégration des principales pratiques de la GRH.
L’objectif de notre travail est de présenter et évaluer la pratique de la rémunération au sein du secteur de santé public (CHU NEDIR Mohamed) à travers un audit pour montrer sa conformité à la loi et aux règlementations algériennes relatives aux relations de travail.
La rémunération contribue au développement des performances, conditionne l’équilibre social interne et attire les compétences. Elle est un outil important pour atteindre les objectifs organisationnels. C’est l’un des outils de communication les plus puissants parmi ceux dont disposent les entreprises pour les aider à attirer, retenir et motiver les employés dont elle a besoin pour avoir du succès
MALI (2009): Mutilations genitales feminines, Etude TRaC Evaluation de l'intention de ne pas exciser sa fille chez les personnes agees de 15 a 49 ans a Bamako Deuxieme Passage
No full textCette enquete est le deuxieme passage de la serie d'etudes TRaC sur l'evaluation de l'intention de ne pas exciser sa fille chez les personnes agees de 15-49 ans ayant au moins une fille non excisee. Ce rapport presente les resultat entre 2007 et 2009. Les objectifs de ces etudes sont de determiner les tendances et les niveaux de l'intention de ne pas exciser sa fille, celui des facteurs d'opportunite, de capacite, et de motivation et l'impact des activites de communication du programme. Cette etude a ete realisee aupres d'un echantillon representatif de 1541 personnes. Un questionnaire standardise de PSI a ete utilise pour collecter les donnees par la methode d'entrevue face a face
Combined Supra-Inguinal Fascia Iliaca, Sciatic Nerve, and Posterior Femoral Cutaneous Nerve Blocks in Austere Settings for Hemodynamically Unstable Patients with Vascular Injuries from Weapon Wounds: A Case Series
No full textMajaliwa Shabani,1,* Seydina Alioune Beye,2,* Abdoulaye Traore,3,* Xavier Raingeval,4,* Daouda Coulibaly,5,* Sophie Crespo6,* 1Health_Unit, International Committee of the Red Cross, Bamako, Mali; 2Anesthesia Department, Clinique Périnatale Mohamed VI, Bamako, Mali; 3Anesthesia Department, Hôpital Somine Dolo de Mopti, Mopti, Mali; 4Association de Développement et de Recherche en Anesthésie Locorégionale Echoguidée, Paris, France; 5Surgery Department, Centre de Santé de Référence de Kidal, Kidal, Mali; 6Health Unit, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Majaliwa Shabani, Health Unit, International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), Rue 239, Hamdallaye /ACI2000 – B.P. 58, Bamako, Mali, Email [email protected]: The management of unstable patients with weapon-wounded lower limb vascular injuries presents significant anesthetic challenges. Regional anesthesia blocks, which combine lumbar and sacral plexus blocks, or their respective branches, minimize systemic effects and are deemed appropriate for high-risk patients requiring lower limb surgery. This case series aims to share our preliminary experiences with a combined anesthetic technique—sciatic nerve (SN), posterior femoral cutaneous nerve (PFCN), and supra-inguinal fascia iliaca (SIFI) blocks —in patients sustaining weapon wounds and undergoing lower limb vascular injury repair in austere environments.Patients and Methods: Seven patients with lower limb vascular injuries resulting from weapons who required surgery at district hospitals supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross were included in this study. Included patients underwent surgery for vascular repair and debridement using a combined nerve block technique involving the SN, PFCN, and SIFI blocks between May and December 2023. The blocks were administered using a 1:1 mixture of 1% lidocaine and 0.5% levobupivacaine.Results: The combined block technique for the Sciatic Nerve (SN), Posterior Femoral Cutaneous Nerve (PFCN), and the Supra-Inguinal Fascia Iliaca (SIFI) were performed without complications in all patients. Three of the patients received light sedation prior to the initiation of the block procedure. All surgeries were completed successfully without the need for additional analgesics or conversion to general anesthesia.Conclusion: The combined block technique for the Sciatic Nerve (SN), Posterior Femoral Cutaneous Nerve (PFCN), and the Supra-Inguinal Fascia Iliaca (SIFI) appears to be a safe anesthetic option for unstable or high-risk patients requiring lower limb surgery. Further research with a larger cohort is necessary to validate our findings and to potentially standardize this approach.Keywords: war surgery, posterior femoral cutaneous nerve block, anesthesia in austere environment
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