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An examination of the digitalisation accomplishment and digital capabilities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), called information system (IS) maturity, has become a significant concern for the managers of SMEs. By drawing support from dynamics capabilities theory, this study explores the determinants of IS maturity and how IS maturity influences the business performance of Cameroonian SMEs. To investigate the gaps in the literature, we propose a structural research model. This model is analysed using partial least squares approach on 212 Cameroonian SMEs with functional IS. We highlight that dynamic capabilities are effective explainers of variance in IS maturity, underlining these assets' importance to a firm's business performance. The outcomes of this study serve as components for SME managers' two consecutive goals. First, the availability of effective dynamic capabilities to SMEs helps in the improvement of IS maturity. Second, a high IS maturity level allows SMEs to improve their business performance.

Multicenter study investigated whether trauma centers with catastrophic brain injury guidelines (CBIGs) have higher organ donation rates than those without such guidelines. While CBIGs were not associated with increased odds of organ donation, hormone resuscitation was.

Single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are crucial for Industry 4.0 advancements, especially in the design of LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) sensors. A compact model is needed to accurately describe their transient behavior. This article presents a lumped model approach that divides the device into different regions. The model accurately emulates the behavior of reach-through SPAD photodiodes by dividing them into high electric field multiplication and low electric field absorption regions. The absorption region can be further subdivided to create multiple possible photon impact points, resulting in precise jitter modeling. This approach enables adaptable and unified SPAD modeling for different avalanche diode architectures. Experimental data confirm the accuracy of the model, and the characterization technique developed highlights the stochastic nature of the device.

Les troubles mentaux sont la principale cause d’invalidité et peuvent présenter une durée d’absence deux fois plus longue, lorsque comparés à d’autres types de maladies. Plusieurs acteurs sont impliqués dans la gestion de l’invalidité dont les médecins de famille (MF) et les psychiatres ; deux acteurs du secteur de la santé incontournables lorsqu’il est question de santé mentale et de retour au travail (RAT). Cet article a comme principal objectif de documenter les tâches des MF et psychiatres liées à la gestion d’une invalidité en raison d’un trouble mental courant (TMC) ainsi que d’identifier les facilitateurs et les obstacles qu’ils perçoivent dans ce processus. De plus, il est question de dégager les besoins de formations qui pourront éventuellement aider ces cliniciens dans l’accomplissement de leurs tâches, permettant par le fait même un rétablissement durable du travailleur. Il s’agit d’une étude qualitative dont la collecte de données a été faite via des groupes de discussion (focus groups) totalisant 3 groupes de MF et 2 groupes de psychiatres (N= 28). Tous les enregistrements ont été retranscrits en verbatim et par la suite codifiés. Les réponses générées par les groupes de discussion ont fait émerger 180 unités thématiques réparties sur 4 grands thèmes, lesquels sont récurrents pour chaque objectif de recherche : (1) évaluer/documenter ; (2) prescrire/traiter ; (3) communiquer/collaborer/réseauter avec les autres acteurs ; et (4) arbitrer/défendre. Les unités thématiques montrent l’importance de la collaboration entre les acteurs et d’une communication efficace entre ces derniers. Il ressort de cela également que ces cliniciens aimeraient être mieux formés pour arrimer connaissances et pratique.

On 12 January 2010, the M7.0 Haiti earthquake caused infrastructure damage induced by extensive soil liquefaction and foundation failure in the Port-au-Prince International Seaport and Léogâne Plain. This study re-examines the soil liquefaction effects of the main shock and aftershock events by exploring the existing studies on calcareous sands, reviewing the phenomenon of liquefaction in the Caribbean Islands, and associating them within the seismic history of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Due to the geomorphology of the Islands, urban development has typically been concentrated along the coast, in locations vulnerable to soil liquefaction. This study demonstrates that the liquefaction that occurred at sites in the M7.0 Haiti event was triggered by the main shock even at low peak ground accelerations (PGAs), the first aftershock effects were significant, and soil liquefaction was not rare in the Antilles. It identifies the elements that characterize historical cases of soil liquefaction caused by earthquakes in the Caribbean Islands. In addition, it points out the characteristics and findings of paleoliquefaction and paleoseismicity investigations conducted in the Caribbean region. Investigations and studies on the calcareous sand liquefaction and paleoseismology are essential to improve the seismic hazard and risk assessment of the Caribbean Islands. The existence of a large number of studies making reference to this topic highlights its significance.

AbstractToday more than ever, banks are facing the race for innovation in mobile financial services. Several studies have focused on the factors driving the adoption of mobile money, but the aspect of deposit collection activity by banks, essential as a basis for granting an account and providing financial services to customers, has been neglected. This study aims to examine the effect of perceived cost, relative advantage and perceived ubiquity on the intention to adopt mobile money for bank deposits, as well as the effect of its use on financial inclusion in Cameroun. A quantitative approach based on the PLS-SEM algorithm is used on a sample of 310 Cameroonian respondents. Results show that these factors positively influence the intention to adopt Mobile Money for bank deposits and that its use has a significant positive effect on financial inclusion. The study will help bank managers to develop effective marketing approaches and to improve their offer with adapted products and services, more specifically to enhance customer proximity and produce effective channels to suck up potential bank deposits not yet captured by banks.

In arid countries like Tunisia, the need to find new sources of water for irrigation has become imminent. Desalination of seawater can be an alternative to irrigation. In this article, we take a look at the leading food companies specializing in desalination for irrigation around the world and the prospects for the solar energy desalination potential for irrigation in Tunisia. We have noticed that several companies invest money to desalinate water for agricultural purposes. However, the cost of a cubic meter of water sometimes remains high to go forward in this new technology.

L’ischémie digitale (ID) est une pathologie fréquente pouvant se compliquer de perte de substance et de fonction de la main malgré un traitement médical optimal. La sympathectomie thoracique est un traitement de 3eligne dont l’efficacité à court et moyen termes est peu documentée.

Infertility is a concern for couples, families and society. In almost half of the cases, it is due to male infertility. This infertility, in developing countries like Benin, often cured by the use of medicinal plants. This study aimed to enlist knowledge about medicinal plants used in the treatment of male infertility in southern Benin. An ethnomedicinal investigation has been conducted in southern Benin by questioning traditional healers and market herbalists using the method of semi-structured interview. Ethnopharmacological data has been analyzed by ethnobotanical indices such as informant consensus factor (ICF), frequency of citation for each plant species and contribution of each plant to drug recipes. 90 respondents including 36 market herbalists and 54 traditional healers participated in this study. Data collected allowed us to list 60 plant species belonging to 56 genera and 38 botanical families. Informants had a high degree of consensus (ICF = 0.58) on plants used for treatment of male infertility. The most plants cited by market herbalists were Garcinia kola(10.09%), Cissus populnea(10.09%), Carpolobia lutea(07.40%) and the parts of plants most used were roots and fruits. For traditional healers, Garcinia kola(10.15%), Cyperus esculentus(06.09%), Citrus aurantiifiola(06.09%) were the most plants cited and parts of plants the most used were leaves and roots. This study provided a list of medicinal plants used for the treatment of male infertility in southern Benin. Further pharmacological and toxicological studies will assess the therapeutic efficacy of these medicinal plants.

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Several areas are experiencing local water shortages and are now using desalination devices to mitigate its effect. In this study, an equation is proposed to estimate the production unit cost of reverse osmosis (RO) powered by a photovoltaic (PV) system based on current PV-RO module prices used to determine the economic feasibility of the system. PV-RO for agriculture in the coastal area of Dyiar-Al-Hujjej. This study area suffers from seawater intrusion and is also threatened by the salinization of the soil due to irrigation. The results show as expected that the price increases from 1.02 to 2.12 US $/m3for 3,000 and 9,000 ppm respectively, as the salinity of the feed water increases. For crop selection, high-value crops and crops with low water requirements are the two main criteria to consider. Strawberry is the best choice with a positive return on investment of 237%, 120%, and 60%, respectively, for 3,000, 6,000 and 9,000 ppm, unlike other crops that still have a negative return on investment. Increasing needs to meet the demand for water in agriculture harms the economy of the PV-RO system.

The Egéré terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria) includes mafic eclogite lenses boudinaged in metapelitic rocks with high-pressure relicts. These metapelites show textural records of partial melting, mainly primary melt inclusions enclosed in garnet crystals and later crystallized as “nanogranitoids.” Garnet porphyroblasts also contain inclusions of quartz, kyanite, phengite, biotite, staurolite, and rutile and show a smoothed prograde zoning with a Mn bell-shaped profile. The peak high-pressure metamorphic assemblage consists of garnet, kyanite, phengite (Si up to 6.36), quartz, rutile, ±ilmenite, ±feldspars, and melt. Phengite has partially transformed into fine-grained aggregates of biotite, plagioclase, and K-feldspar, a microstructure interpreted as resulting from a dehydration melting during exhumation. Phengite breakdown, along with other retrograde reactions, produced a late paragenesis with biotite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, almandine-rich garnet, ±sillimanite, ±staurolite, ±muscovite, and ilmenite. The thermodynamic modeling of P-Tpseudosections allows us to constrain various steps of the metamorphic history: beginning of the garnet growth at 4.0 kbar and ~600 °C during prograde metamorphism; pressure peak at 14–20 kbar; temperature peak at 800–820 °C; formation of the last assemblage at 6.0–5.5 kbar and 725–685 °C. Partial melting likely started during the prograde path when crossing the H2O-saturated solidus, at T≥ 650–670 °C and P≥ 10 kbar, continued upon heating, up to the peak conditions, as well as during decompression. This evolution is interpreted in terms of subduction of the continental crust to mantle depths, followed by an exhumation through a clockwise P-Tpath during the Pan-African orogeny. The Egéré metapelites are relatively well-preserved eclogite-facies rocks, contain inclusions of “nanogranitoids” hitherto very little known in eclogite-facies metamorphic rocks, and represent an unusual trace of subduction within a Neoproterozoic orogen.

AbstractWomen’s entrepreneurship is of key importance to the development of countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Thus, several measures have been implemented to support women in developing their enterprises, including viainformation technology (IT). The purpose of this research is to identify the factors leading to the adoption of IT by women entrepreneurs in Cameroon. We extended the technology–organization–environment (TOE) theoretical framework to include a fourth category, the characteristics of the female managers. Both partial least squares (PLS) and partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) approaches are applied to a sample of 85 small, woman-managed Cameroonian firms located in several cities. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire. Our results indicate that the adoption of IT by woman-managed enterprises is mainly influenced by the innovativeness spirit of the manager. Surprisingly, none of the TOE variables were found to be significant. Small firms in SSA may believe they are too small to benefit from costly IT investments. Further, the relative advantage and the perceived cost of technology are not significant factors. Because small firms primarily rely on subsidies for their technological equipment, they may be less concerned about the cost–benefit dimensions of IT. Training programs and an increase in networking are advisable.

La surexploitation des nappes génère un coût économique et environnemental qui se traduit par la diminution de la disponibilité de l’eau et l’augmentation de son coût de pompage. Les études portant sur la distribution de ces coûts à travers les types d’exploitations et leur impact sur l’équité d’accès aux eaux souterraines demeurent limitées en Tunisie. À travers l’élaboration d’indicateurs par le modèle de programmation mathématique appliqué à des exploitations types, ce travail a montré que les coûts résultant de la surexploitation des nappes sont inégalement répartis. Les petites exploitations, disposant de moins de 3 ha, sont les plus affectées. Elles encourent des coûts de pompage de 1,25 à 1,5 fois plus élevés que les exploitations disposant d’une superficie beaucoup plus large. Le ratio bénéfice-coût de l’irrigation est également le plus faible dans cette catégorie, suggérant la non-rentabilité de l’irrigation dans un futur proche. Ce travail a révélé que l’accès économique à l’eau souterraine est désormais tributaire de la dotation de deux facteurs clés : le capital foncier et le capital financier. Les exploitations disposant de moyens fonciers et financiers vont continuer à profiter des eaux souterraines, tandis que les petites exploitations risquent d’en perdre rapidement l’accès, se trouvant ainsi exclues de leur part de cette ressource collective. Afin de préserver l’égalité d’accès pour toutes les catégories d’exploitations, et de prévenir une accentuation de la dégradation de la nappe, une politique robuste de gouvernance devrait être mise en place, avec une implication plus forte des usagers locaux et de l’administration agricole régionale.

La prédiction de l’érosion par surverse des digues de protection contre les crues et des barrages en remblai constitue l’une des difficultés majeures dans l’analyse de la sûreté de ces ouvrages. Bien qu’identifié comme étant le mécanisme de rupture dominant de près de la moitié des ruptures de digues fluviales, les méthodes et outils dont disposent les ingénieurs pour le caractériser, de manière déterministe, restent encore très limités. Notamment, la caractérisation du processus d’érosion, en termes géométriques et temporels, prenant en compte le comportement des matériaux constitutifs du remblai et de sa fondation et les spécificités des sollicitations hydrauliques sur les digues, n’est encore à la portée d’aucun outil de modélisation numérique validé au niveau requis. Les ingénieurs doivent donc, pour l’instant, se contenter d’approches recourant largement à l’empirisme : critères dits « de jugement d’expert » ou formules empiriques. Ces approches très simplifiées sont connues pour présenter de fortes incertitudes et ne pas garantir des résultats systématiquement du côté de la sécurité. C’est dans le but final d’améliorer significativement la robustesse et la précision des outils de prédiction de l’érosion par surverse pour les ingénieurs, qu’EDF et CNR ont décidé de lancer le projet de recherche Overcome. L’objectif de ce projet est d’inclure au sein de la plateforme numérique open source TELEMAC-2D des modules représentant différents types de processus physiques en lien avec les ruptures par surverse de digues, basés sur une approche expérimentale multi-échelles très poussée. Cette communication présente les tous premiers résultats de l’un des premiers sujets investigués par ce projet : la description des mécanismes physiques d’érosion par surverse des remblais constitués de sol grossiers à granulométrie étalés. Ces sols sont présents dans une grande partie des digues situées en zones montagneuses ou dans les vallées situées juste en aval. Une première série d’essais de surverse à petite échelle a été menée au laboratoire de l’Université Polytechnique de Madrid, en réalisant des remblais homogènes de 55 cm de hauteur à partir de trois matériaux différents : un sable assez uniforme, un gravier de granite et un sol alluvionnaire à granulométrie étalée, issu du site CNR de Montfaucon. Si les essais avec le remblai en sable ont confirmé le mécanisme attendu d’érosion de surface, il a été assez surprenant de voir des différences significatives de mécanisme d’érosion entre les matériaux de Montfaucon et graviers de granite. Dans le matériau de Montfaucon, le mécanisme s’apparente à de l’érosion de surface, tandis qu’avec le gravier de granite, le mécanisme d’érosion débute avec du « Headcut migration » puis évolue à la fin en érosion de surface. Par ailleurs, le sol de Montfaucon s’est avéré quatre fois moins érodable que le gravier de granite. Ces premiers résultats appellent à être confirmés par des essais de répétabilité à petite échelle et des essais à plus grande échelle.

La bonne caractérisation des ensembles lithologiques des digues en terre constitue un enjeu majeur dans un contexte de prévention de rupture d’ouvrage. En effet, les conséquences d’un tel événement peuvent s’avérer potentiellement catastrophiques (pertes humaines, graves impacts environnementaux et économiques). Les méthodologies reconnues pour caractériser les digues en terre comprennent classiquement des méthodes de reconnaissance géophysiques et géotechniques de natures complémentaires. Ce travail de recherche présente une méthodologie de fusion permettant la combinaison de données issues de ces deux types de sources d’information. Ici, les données utilisées proviennent d’une campagne de reconnaissance menée sur une digue de canal EDF. Les résultats obtenus ont été préalablement publiés et présentés sous forme d’un article de revue internationale à comité de lecture. Cette campagne de terrain regroupe trois types d’informations : résistivités électriques, vitesses d’ondes de cisaillement et analyses granulométriques d’échantillons. La méthodologie de fusion introduite repose sur le cadre théorique des masses de croyance. Tout en tenant compte des spécificités de chaque méthode (répartition spatiale, imprécisions et incertitudes des données), cette approche de fusion permet de quantifier le niveau de conflit entre les sources d’information ainsi que d’associer un indice de confiance aux caractérisations proposées. Les résultats de la fusion obtenus, dans le cadre du cas d’étude présenté, mettent en évidence la capacité de cette méthodologie à discriminer les unités lithologiques (remblais fins ou grossiers avec brèches calcaires, socle marneux ou calcaire) ainsi qu’à localiser les positions d’interfaces entre unités et les niveaux de confiance associés. Ces résultats sont en cohérence avec les connaissances déjà disponibles sur le contexte géologique du site et mettent en évidence l’intérêt de combiner des informations issues de sources de nature différente afin de tirer profit de leur complémentarité. Ces travaux ont montré un potentiel prometteur pour cette méthode, tant sur une digue de canal que sur une levée. Ils seront poursuivis par une étude comparative de différentes méthodes de fusion et par la mise en application sur de nouveaux cas réels d’études.

Driven by successful achievements in recovering high-resolution ice records of climate and atmospheric composition through the Late Quaternary, new ice–tephra sequences from various sites of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) have been studied in the last two decades spanning an age range of a few centuries to 800 kyr. The tephrostratigraphic framework for the inner EAIS, based on ash occurrence in three multi-kilometre-deep ice cores, shows that the South Sandwich Islands represent a major source for tephra, highlighting the major role in the ash dispersal played by clockwise circum-Antarctic atmospheric circulation penetrating the Antarctic continent. Tephra records from the eastern periphery of the EAIS, however, are obviously influenced by explosive activity sourced in nearby Antarctic rift provinces. These tephra inventories have provided a fundamental complement to the near-vent volcanic record, in terms of both frequency/chronology of explosive volcanism and of magma chemical evolution through time. Despite recent progress, current data are still sparse. There is a need for further tephra studies to collect data from unexplored EAIS sectors, along with extending the tephra inventory back in time. Ongoing international palaeoclimatic initiatives of ice-core drilling could represent a significant motivation for the tephra community and for Quaternary Antarctic volcanologists.

In arid countries like Tunisia, the need to find new sources of water for irrigation has become imminent. Desalination of seawater can be an alternative to irrigation. In this article, we take a look at the leading food companies specializing in desalination for irrigation around the world and the prospects for the solar energy desalination potential for irrigation in Tunisia. We have noticed that several companies invest money to desalinate water for agricultural purposes. However, the cost of a cubic meter of water sometimes remains high to go forward in this new technology.

Savings are an indispensable resource for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). They must mobilise sufficient savings to meet their commitments and become independent from grants providers. They must therefore convince customers, which in this paper include the public in general and micro and small-sized enterprises, to entrust their savings. This requires an understanding of these customers’ characteristics, as well as their needs and expectations. This leads us to the following research question: what are the factors affecting customers’ decision to save with a MFI? The analyses conducted with Advans Cameroon customers show that the Customer life cycle, the MFI characteristics and the MFI–Customer relationship have a direct influence on the decision to save. Specifically, age and revenue have a positive influence on savings. Conversely, the number of person in charge negatively affects savings. An increase in the number of branches leads to an increase in savings, while services quality are very important.

AbstractSavings are an indispensable resource for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). They must mobilise sufficient savings to meet their commitments and become independent from grants providers. They must therefore convince customers, which in this paper include the public in general and micro and small-sized enterprises, to entrust their savings. This requires an understanding of these customers’ characteristics, as well as their needs and expectations. This leads us to the following research question: what are the factors affecting customers’ decision to save with a MFI? The analyses conducted with Advans Cameroon customers show that the Customer life cycle, the MFI characteristics and the MFI–Customer relationship have a direct influence on the decision to save. Specifically, age and revenue have a positive influence on savings. Conversely, the number of person in charge negatively affects savings. An increase in the number of branches leads to an increase in savings, while services quality are very important.

Background Operative rib fixation (ORF) of traumatic rib fractures has been shown to decrease hospital length of stay (LOS), ventilator days, and mortality. ORF performed within 1 day of admission has been shown to have favorable outcomes compared to later ORF. This report examines the ORF experience over 10 years at a level I trauma center.Methods ORF patients from January 2007-January 2018 were matched to nonoperative controls in a 1:2 ratio based on age, injury severity score (ISS), chest Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS), and head AIS. Patient demographic, injury, and outcome data were collected from the trauma registry and medical records. Hospital day of ORF was identified for each ORF patient. Hospital LOS, ICU LOS, ventilator days, and mortality were compared against matched nonoperative controls.Results Ninety-five ORF patients were matched to 190 nonoperative patients. ORF patients had a higher number of rib fractures (9.6 vs 6.4, P< .001). ORF patients with short time to operation (0-2 days) had a shorter average hospital stay than those with delayed operations (11.8 vs 12.6 vs 13.4 vs 19.6 days, P= .003). ORF patients with operations performed 3-4 days and >6 days after admission also had statistically significant longer ICU LOS and ventilator days. Patient mortality was higher when ORF was performed after 6 days.Discussion Early ORF may improve pulmonary function, patient outcomes, and decrease LOS. Shifting practice toward early fixation may help further solidify the benefits of this procedure in the treatment of blunt chest trauma.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory condition. Primary HLH occurs early in life as a result of monogenic biallelic mutations affecting lymphocyte cytotoxicity. Secondary HLH occurs mostly in adults secondary to infection, lymphoma, or rheumatic disease. In this latter setting, lymphocyte cytotoxicity status is not known. We conducted a systematic evaluation of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in adult patients with secondary HLH. Adult patients with secondary HLH were prospectively studied ex vivo for total lymphocyte count and subtype, NK cell phenotype, perforin expression and degranulation, and natural or antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity, in comparison with patients affected by the same underlying disease without HLH (disease controls [DCs]) and with healthy controls (HCs). Screening for variants of cytotoxity genes was systematically performed. 68 patients were included in the HLH group and 34 each in the DC and HC groups. In HLH patients, severe and transient lymphopenia, activated NK cell phenotype (eg, increased CD69, ICAM-1, HLADR, and CCR5 expression), and decreased capacity of interferon γ production were observed; mean perforin expression was normal; and degranulation tests and NK cell cytotoxicity were not different from those in DCs. A monoallelic variant of uncertain significance affecting a lymphocyte cytotoxicity gene or the perforin variant A91V was observed in almost 50% of the patients. We detected no major intrinsic cytotoxicity dysfunction in secondary HLH patients compared with DCs and no predicted pathogenic gene variant. The activated NK phenotype profile associated with decreased interferon γ production seems similar to those of other hyperinflammatory diseases such as sepsis or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory condition. Primary HLH occurs early in life as a result of monogenic biallelic mutations affecting lymphocyte cytotoxicity. Secondary HLH occurs mostly in adults secondary to infection, lymphoma, or rheumatic disease. In this latter setting, lymphocyte cytotoxicity status is not known. We conducted a systematic evaluation of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in adult patients with secondary HLH. Adult patients with secondary HLH were prospectively studied ex vivo for total lymphocyte count and subtype, NK cell phenotype, perforin expression and degranulation, and natural or antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity, in comparison with patients affected by the same underlying disease without HLH (disease controls [DCs]) and with healthy controls (HCs). Screening for variants of cytotoxity genes was systematically performed. 68 patients were included in the HLH group and 34 each in the DC and HC groups. In HLH patients, severe and transient lymphopenia, activated NK cell phenotype (eg, increased CD69, ICAM-1, HLADR, and CCR5 expression), and decreased capacity of interferon γ production were observed; mean perforin expression was normal; and degranulation tests and NK cell cytotoxicity were not different from those in DCs. A monoallelic variant of uncertain significance affecting a lymphocyte cytotoxicity gene or the perforin variant A91V was observed in almost 50% of the patients. We detected no major intrinsic cytotoxicity dysfunction in secondary HLH patients compared with DCs and no predicted pathogenic gene variant. The activated NK phenotype profile associated with decreased interferon γ production seems similar to those of other hyperinflammatory diseases such as sepsis or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.