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Abstract Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) remains a challenging diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Cepheid, USA) for rapid diagnosis of EPTB in Tunisia. Eight hundred and forty-seven extrapulmonary samples collected from 2017 to 2021, were subjected to Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra. Microscopy and culture were performed for all the specimens. The accuracy of Xpert Ultra was evaluated in comparison to the culture. Xpert Ultra diagnosed EPTB with a global sensitivity of 80.66% (74.3–85.75) and specificity of 70.87% (67.31–74.20). The molecular test was most accurate when performed in cerebrospinal fluids, bones and joints and cutaneous specimens showing a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity ranging from 70.60 to 91.11%. In lymph node samples comprising aspirates and biopsies, the sensitivity of Xpert Ultra was high 87.50% (77.23–93.53), however, the specificity was 51.08% (44.67–57.46). For pleural samples, the Xpert Ultra sensitivity was 77.50% (68.34–84.68) ranging from 71.43 to 80% in pleural biopsies and fluids respectively. The specificity in all pleural specimens was 79.56% (74.40–83.91). Xpert Ultra showed promise in the diagnosis of EPTB. The performances varied according to the site of the disease. The test may be more valuable if used in combination with other diagnostic modalities.

Pollution and contamination pose a permanent risk of limiting water resources. Urbanization and economic development contribute to the degradation of water quality. The preservation of this natural resource is a major necessity, especially in arid and semi-arid areas where surface water is very scarce. This work constitutes part of this environmental concern. It aims at mapping the vulnerability to contamination of the surface water of the Kharroub River dam (Morocco) and protecting its water resources. The method applied is the SW (Surface Water) method, which consists in elaborating thematic maps of three parameters: the hydric functioning of soils, the density of the hydrographic network and the importance of agricultural drainage. The realization and superposition of these maps allowed us to obtain the vulnerability map to surface water contamination of the Kharroub river watershed. The results obtained show that the low and medium vulnerability classes, representing 41.91% and 32.49% respectively, occupy most of the study area and are distributed throughout the basin. The areas presenting a high and a very high degree of vulnerability occupy respectively 24.65% and 0.95% of the surface of the watershed; they are located principally in the northern and the southern parts of the basin.

Studying urban outdoor comfort has become a necessary approach to achieving sustainability at multiple levels. Today, many urban projects incorporate new mitigation strategies such as green and blue patterns when it is difficult to modify urban configuration and density. This study aims to investigate urban outdoor comfort variation in a northwestern Moroccan city, where urban planning is rapidly evolving due to local socio-economic dynamics. Various urban areas were analyzed during summer conditions from two perspectives. The first one focused on studying the air quality and involved the use of Google Earth Engine platform to extract data on air pollutants (NO2, CO, formaldehyde and aerosols). Second, in-situ monitoring was carried out using four main parameters (temperature, humidity, solar illuminance and sound levels). Other factors such as urban density, urban greening and water components were also assessed. Air quality findings revealed that the main sources of air pollution were concentrated in the industrial zone and the backwater. This led to a significant impact on the air quality of the city center. The results also indicated minor effect of vegetation on the density of the pollutants studied. Based on the in-situ monitoring, results highlighted variations between different sites, which can be attributed to differences in urban morphology and the use of various plant species for urban vegetation and the water proximity. We have identified four main species on the site: Populus nigra and Platanus orientalis are deciduous trees that provide significant shade and contribute to outdoor urban comfort, resulting in a decrease of temperature by 0.8 degrees Celsius compared to open bare lands where palm trees provide minimal shading. Furthermore, areas with deciduous trees experience a noise reduction of 4.6 decibels compared to open bare lands. Grass and linear bushes only produce evapotranspiration benefits. In addition, we have found that proximity to water sources can reduce outdoor temperature. Green and blue strategies play an essential role in optimizing urban comfort. However, their urban implementation is not entirely effective, focusing more on aesthetic aspects than functional factors to optimize outdoor comfort. Results from the present study can be used to better influence future mitigation strategies and implement new sustainable tools.

We investigate and generalize quantum determinants to semisimple spherical and pivotal categories. It is well known that traces are preserved by strong tensor functors; we show on one hand that in fact, weaker conditions on a functor are sufficient to continue preserving traces. On the other hand, we prove that these determinants are well-behaved under strong tensor functors. Further, we introduce a notion of domination rank for objects of a semisimple pivotal category and prove similar properties of the ordinary case. Furthermore, we expand the determinantal and McCoy ranks to introduce a morphism quantum rank function on a semisimple pivotal category.

In this work, a laminar steady-state investigation of free convection in a square cavity with differential heated side walls is examined. The cavity is immersed with a viscoplastic liquid the Bingham prototype. The horizontal walls are assumed as adiabatic and the vertical wall has two spatial differing sinusoidal temperature profiles with diverse phases and amplitudes. The hydro-thermal features are systematically analyzed via a broad choice of Rayleigh numbers Ra (103-106), Bingham numbers Bn, Prandtl numbers Pr (0.1, 1, 10), amplitude ratio ε (0–––1), phase difference ϕ (0-π) and flow index n (0.3–2). The governing equations are treated computationally utilizing a commercial computational simulation code CFD: FLUENT. It has been observed that average Nusselt numbers grow with growing Rayleigh numbers and drop with increasing Bingham quantity Bn, since heat transition occurs primarily due to thermic conductivity. In general, a higher Rayleigh number promotes convection and increases heat transfer efficiency, leading to a higher Nusselt number, whereas a higher Bingham number, indicating a higher degree of viscous or yield-stress behavior, may inhibit convection and decrease heat transfer efficiency, which ended in a lower Nusselt number. These connections frequently appear in heat transport and fluid dynamics simulations. The rise in the phase difference suggests an upsurge in heat transference, as the impact of the phase shift on the Nusselt is perpetually enhanced due to the amount of Rayleigh boosts for all phase differences. Heat transition rate for ϕ=π is boosted because of the values. Moreover, when the amplitude ratio goes up, so does heat transfer. The gap between average Nusselt and Rayleigh amounts rose as the Rayleigh rose. The thermal flow rate is bigger in ε=1 than in the other cases. The rise in phase difference suggests a rise in heat transference, as this effect of phase shift on Nusselt continues to be enhanced due to the amount of Rayleigh boosts for all phase differences. Heat transition rate is enhanced for ϕ=π based on the values. Plus, when the amplitude ratio grows, so does heat transmission. The rate of heat transport for ε=1 is larger than in the other cases.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a major neuropsychological condition that occursas a result of impaired liver function. It is frequently observed in patients with advanced liver disease or cirrhosis. Memory impairment is among the symptoms of HE; the pathophysiologic mechanism for this enervating condition remains unclear. However, it is possible that neuroinflammation may be involved, as recent studies have emphasized such phenomena. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to assess short working memory (SWM) and examine the involvement of microglia in a chronic model of HE. The study was carried out with male Wistar rats that were induced by repeated thioacetamide (TAA) administration (100 mg/kg i.p injection for 10 days). SWM function was assessed through Y-maze, T-Maze, and novel object recognition (NOR) tests, together with an immunofluorescence study of microglia activation within the hippocampal areas. Our data showed impaired SWM in TAA-treated rats that was associated with microglial activation in the three hippocampal regions, and which contributed to cognitive impairment.

In this study, we synthesized two coordination complexes based on pyrazole-based ligands, namely 1,5-dimethyl-N-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (L1) and 1,5-dimethyl-N-propyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (L2), with the aim to investigate bio-inorganic properties. Their crystal structures revealed a mononuclear complex [Ni(L1)2](ClO4)2 (C1) and a dinuclear complex [Cd2(L2)2]Cl4 (C2). Very competitive antifungal and anti-Fusarium activities were found compared to the reference standard cycloheximide. Additionally, L1 and L2 present very weak genotoxicity in contrast to the observed increase in genotoxicity for the coordination complexes C1 and C2.