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Abstract Background Hybrids between Schistosoma haematobium (Sh) and S. bovis (Sb) have been found in several African countries as well as in Europe. Since the consequences of this hybridization are still unknown, this study aims to verify the presence of such hybrids in Cameroonian humans, to describe the structure of S. haematobium populations on a large geographic scale, and to examine the impact of these hybrids on genetic diversity and structure of these populations. Methods From January to April 2019, urine from infected children was collected in ten geographically distinct populations. Miracidia were collected from eggs in this urine. To detect the presence of hybrids among these miracidia we genotyped both Cox1 (RD-PCR) and ITS2 gene (PCR-RFLP). Population genetic diversity and structure was assessed by genotyping each miracidium with a panel of 14 microsatellite markers. Gene diversity was measured using both heterozygosity and allelic richness indexes, and genetic structure was analyzed using paired Fst, PCA and Bayesian approaches. Results Of the 1327 miracidia studied, 88.7% were identified as pure genotypes of S. haematobium (Sh_Sh/Sh) while the remaining 11.3% were hybrids (7.0% with Sh_Sh/Sb, 3.7% with Sb_Sb/Sh and 0.4% with Sb_Sh/Sb). No miracidium has been identified as a pure genotype of S. bovis. Allelic richness ranged from 5.55 (Loum population) to 7.73 (Matta-Barrage) and differed significantly between populations. Mean heterozygosity ranged from 53.7% (Loum) to 59% (Matta Barrage) with no significant difference. The overall genetic differentiation inferred either by a principal component analysis or by the Bayesian approach shows a partial structure. Southern populations (Loum and Matta Barrage) were clearly separated from other localities but genetic differentiation between northern localities was limited, certainly due to the geographic proximity between these sites. Conclusions Hybrids between S. haematobium and S. bovis were identified in 11.3% of miracidia that hatched from eggs present in the urine of Cameroonian schoolchildren. The percentages of these hybrids are correlated with the genetic diversity of the parasite, indicating that hybridization increases genetic diversity in our sampling sites. Hybridization is therefore a major biological process that shapes the genetic diversity of S. haematobium. Graphical Abstract

Abstract NKTCL is a rare and destructive midline tumor that can be easily misdiagnosed as other more common inflammatory processes. The differential diagnosis of NKTCL should always be kept in mind for any lesion of the paranasal sinuses with atypical presentation and nonresponsive to conventional treatments.

(1) Background: Manihot esculenta, cassava, is an essential food crop for human consumption in many parts of the world. Besides the wide use of its roots, cassava leaves have been used locally as green vegetables and for medicinal purposes. However, nutritional health data regarding cassava leaves is limited, therefore we investigated its composition and associated potential bioactivity interest for human health. (2) Methods: Cassava leaf bioactivity investigations focused on antioxidant properties (free radical scavenging) in association with immunomodulatory activities on inflammatory murine macrophages to measure the impact of cassava extract on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha, Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1, Prostaglandin-E2 and mediators such as nitric oxide. (3) Results: Antioxidant and immunomodulatory bioactivities were significant, with a concentration-dependent inhibition of cytokines production by inflammatory macrophages; (4) Conclusions: Taken together, our results tend to suggest that Manihot esculenta leaves might be underrated regarding the potential nutrition-health interest of this vegetal matrix for both human nutrition and prophylaxis of metabolic disease with underlying low grade inflammation status.

Abstract Background Emergency start (ES) of dialysis has been associated with worse outcome, but remains poorly documented. This study aims to compare the profile and outcome of a large cohort of patients starting dialysis as an emergency or as a planned step in France. Methods Data on all patients aged 18 years or older who started dialysis in mainland France in 2012 or in 2006 were collected from the Renal Epidemiology and Information Network and compared, depending on the dialysis initiation condition: ES or Planned Start (PS). ES was defined as a first dialysis within 24 h after a nephrology visit due to a life-threatening event. Three-year survival were compared, and a multivariate model was performed after multiple imputation of missing data, to determine the parameters independently associated with three-year survival. Results In 2012, 30.3% of all included patients (n = 8839) had ES. Comorbidities were more frequent in the ES than PS group (≥ 2 cardiovascular diseases: 39.2% vs 28.8%, p < 0.001). ES was independently associated with worse three-year survival (57% vs. 68.2%, p = 0.029, HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.19) in multivariate analysis. Among ES group, a large part had a consistent previous follow-up: 36.4% of them had ≥3 nephrology consultations in the previous year. This subgroup of patients had a particularly high comorbidity burden. ES rate was stable between 2006 and 2012, but some proactive regions succeeded in reducing markedly the ES rate. Conclusion ES remains frequent and is independently associated with worse three-year survival, demonstrating that ES deleterious impact is never overcome. This study shows that a large part of patients with ES had a previous follow-up, but high comorbidity burden that could favor acute decompensation with life-threatening conditions before uremic symptoms appearance. This suggests the need of closer end-stage renal disease follow-up or early dialysis initiation in these high-risk patients.

Abnormal glucose metabolism, hyperlipidaemia profiles and high levels of radical oxygen species (ROS) are classic features of diabetes. This study evaluates the effect of the consumption of two different blackberry beverages at 25 and 12.5% given orally for 40 days to rats with streptozotocin induced diabetes. The lower dose of blackberry (12.5%) non-statistically decreased glycaemia (−10.4%), triacylglycerols (−4.6%) and cholesterol (−21.0%). These differences were not statistically significant. The higher dose of blackberry (25%) significantly decreased glucose (−48.6%), triacylglycerols (−43.5%) and cholesterol (−28.6%). The higher dose of blackberry (25%) improved plasma antioxidant capacity, reduced the levels of lipid peroxidation in plasma (−19%) and in kidney (−23%). Blackberry intake did not improve catalase, suggesting that attenuation of oxidative stress via scavenging activities rather than improving the activities of antioxidant enzymes. These results provide promising data for this blackberry as a dietary adjuvant to the pharmacological management of diabetes.

A five-phase Patient Advisor Programme created by the Partnership Co-Design Lab led to higher rates of adherence to rehabilitation interventions for patients followed at the main rehabilitation centre compared to patients transferred to other, more remote, rehabilitation facilities.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported that all of the authors’ names were processed incorrectly so that their given and family names were interchanged.

The health benefits attributed to berries are largely dependent on their bioavailability. This study evaluated the antioxidant activity for different samples of blackberry juice submitted to an in vitro digestion. The HPLC analysis demonstrated that gastric conditions had only a slight impact on the phenolic composition, but the digestion simulating intestine conditions caused marked changes. The dialyzed fraction, which represents the serum available material, showed 33% and 35% less activity against nitrogen-derived radicals and a significant reduction of 46% in the inhibitory capacity against intracellular ROS. Other models used to evaluate the capacity to inhibit lipid peroxidation did not show significant differences in any of the digestion samples. Our results suggest that blackberry polyphenols could exert their antioxidant capacity after passage through the GIT. However, the dialyzed fraction suffers a partial depletion of its antioxidant ability, this could be attributed to the absence of ellagitannins.

Steel monopiles, jackets requiring four steel pinpiles, and gravity-based foundations were applied in offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea. This paper compares the underwater noise generated during the piling activities of steel monopiles at the Belwind wind farm (Blighbank) with that of jacket pinpiles at the C-Power project (Thorntonbank). Underwater noise was measured at various distances from the pile driving location. The underwater noise was quantified by its zero to peak sound pressure level (), unweighted sound exposure level (SEL), cumulative SEL, and 1/3 octave spectra. No significant differences in could be demonstrated (monopile : 179–194 dB re 1 μPa, jacket : 172–189 dB re 1 μPa). SEL showed no statistical difference between monopile and jacket and varied between 145 and 168 dB re 1 μPa2s. Furthermore, near identical spectra were measured for both types of piling. Piling of the jacket pinpiles took, however, about 2.5 times the time of the monopile. When standardised to megawatt installed per foundation both types of piling scored near equally. As an illustration, the radius of major behavioural disturbance ( dB re 1 μPa) in the harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena was estimated by a model at 16 km for monopiles and at 8 km for jacket.

Hablar de conducción de un sistema educativo complejo puede resultar hoy en día algo natural o un abandono a los azares de los efectos de la moda del «prêt-à-penser» en el reducido ámbito de las ciencias sociales. Resultaría vano negar las influencias de las tendencias del momento en el uso del vocabulario y en el enfoque de los grandes temas relativos a la educación. Pero también es necesario precisar el empleo de términos que pueden ser simples nociones que confieren un brillo deslumbrante a un viejo discurso, o conceptos operativos susceptibles de proporcionar más rigor al análisis de los fenómenos que se intenta explicar. Tratándose del devenir de nuestros dispositivos educativos y de su adaptación a la evolución de su entorno y, con ello, de las modalidades que permiten conducir un cambio inevitable -incluso aunque la escuela pueda permanecer como un islote de inestabilidad mínima en un mundo turbulento2 -, conviene demostrar que el uso de los términos «conducción» y «sistema complejo» no es gratuito y puede clarificar la problemática de dirigir el cambio en la Educación Nacional.

In this paper we present a control system based on robust control, which was developed for the regulation of the pressure gradient at the output of a die. In addition, to model the dynamics of the process, we have chosen a second order model with dead time and the identification of dynamical parameters is performed by using the Marquard-Levenberg optimization method. However, to cover the entire range of operation, we were forced to consider two models. The results of the simulation obtained with the robust control are satisfactory.

A model to determine the residence time distribution (RTD) in a co-rotating twin screw extruder is proposed. The method couples a thermomechanical approach with a chemical engineering approach and allows us to obtain the RTD without a fitting parameter. The global residence time is obtained using Ludovic© twin screw modelling software and simple chemical reactors are chosen to depict the screw profile. Experiments were carried out to validate the model. The effects of feed rate and screw speed on the residence time distribution were studied. Results are in good agreement with the predictions of the model.

We investigated the mechanisms underlying the effects of the antidepressant fluoxetine on behavior and adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). After confirming our earlier report that the signaling molecule β‐arrestin‐2 (β‐Arr2) is required for the antidepressant‐like effects of fluoxetine, we found that the effects of fluoxetine on proliferation of neural progenitors and survival of adult‐born granule cells are absent in the β‐Arr2 knockout (KO) mice. To our surprise, fluoxetine induced a dramatic upregulation of the number of doublecortin (DCX)‐expressing cells in the β‐Arr2 KO mice, indicating that this marker can be increased even though AHN is not. We discovered two other conditions where a complex relationship occurs between the number of DCX‐expressing cells compared to levels of AHN: a chronic antidepressant model where DCX is upregulated and an inflammation model where DCX is downregulated. We concluded that assessing the number of DCX‐expressing cells alone to quantify levels of AHN can be complex and that caution should be applied when label retention techniques are unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examined gender differences in depressive symptoms during adolescence related to gender-typed characteristics, problem solving abilities, and stressful life events in Canada. Surveys of high school students indicated that girls reported more depressive symptoms and scored higher on expressivity, whereas boys reported more instrumental attributes. Instrumentality was negatively correlated with depression. Results suggest that subjective problem-solving abilities act as a mediating variable between instrumentality and depression. (SM)