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Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic infection induced by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. The disease spectrum ranges from skin lesions to visceral leishmaniasis, which is fatal if untreated. The cutaneous leishmaniasis is characterized by a clinical polymorphism of lesions with a broad range of severity ranging from a self-limited lesion to multiple disfiguring lesions stigmatizing the patient for life. Although iron is required for several process of Leishmania infection including survival, growth and virulence, the number of studies on host iron metabolism during this infection remains limited. Iron homeostasis in the body is finely regulated by hepcidin, a hyposideremic peptide highly expressed in the liver. In infectious contexts, hepcidin plays additionally an antimicrobial role, acting through various mechanisms such as retaining iron in tissues, modulating the immune response, and operating as a defensin against gram-negative bacteria. This review mainly summarizes the most important interconnections between iron metabolism, hepcidin and leishmaniasis. A deeper understanding of iron metabolism in this context could help in developing innovative treatment strategies that target the parasite while simultaneously reinforcing host defenses.

Introduction Biochemical exploration of effusion fluids plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of underlying pathologies. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of biochemical ratios and the albumin gradients in the diagnostic process of ascitic fluids. Methods The study was prospective, involving 56 samples from ascitic patients. For each patient, five biochemical parameters (glucose, protein, albumin, LDH, and total amylase) were performed in ascites and plasma samples. The ascites/plasma protein, LDH ratios, and serum-ascites albumin gradients (SAAG), were calculated to evaluate their diagnostic relevance. Results Twenty-eight adult patients presenting ascites were included in this study,18 women (64.28%) and 10 men (35.71%) with an M/F sex ratio of 0.55. The most efficient parameters to distinguish the transudate/exudate concept were: Ascitic proteins (p =0.01), ascitic/plasma proteins (p =0.004), ascitic LDH (p =0.011), ascitic/plasma LDH ratio (p =0.013), ascitic albumin (p = 0.012), ascitic albumin/plasma ratio (p = 0.002) and ascitic glucose/plasma ratio (p = 0.02). A threshold of 14 g/L of Albumine had a better positive predictive value than a threshold set at 20 g/L (73 vs 46%). The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic efficiency, and positive and negative predictive values for SAAG were 100%, 64%, 78%, 64%, and 100% respectively, and for the modified Light’s criteria 78%, 86%, 82%, 80%, and 82% which had better diagnostic efficiency and specificity than the classic Light’s criteria with the respective comparative value 82 vs 78% and 86 vs 57% but less sensitivity (78 vs 100%). The criteria H20-30, H25, and TAL had good diagnostic efficiency with 75%, 75%, and 78% respectively. Conclusion The integration of biochemical ratios and the albumin’s gradient significantly improves the differential diagnosis of ascites. It is essential to promote the use of these parameters in clinical practice to improve the treatment of patients with ascites

Background-The high mortality of cirrhosis is a global public health problem. For predicting the outcome of patients with cirrhosis, many prognostic models were proposed.The new Model for End-Stage Liver Disease including serum sodium (MELD-Na) has been proposed as an alternative to the original MELD, to increase the accuracy of the score in predicting short-term mortality. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of MELD-Na scoring system to predict three-month mortality among cirrhotic patients, and comparing it to the MELD score. Methods-An observational study was carried out, at the Hepato-Gastro-Enterology De­partment of the University Hospital Center of Oran. A retrospective review of the medical records of all patients with cirrhosis, between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2021, was performed. Among 103 patients, 47 were selected after excluding the patients who were lost to follow-up after three months or with missing data. The information collected included demographic data, clinical characteristics and laboratory values of: bilirubin, creatinine, international normalized ratio (INR) of prothrombin and sodium. The MELD-Na and MELD scores were calculated using online calculators, then the ability of the mo­dels to predict the risk of mortality at three months was assessed, using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results - : Eight (17%) patients died at three months. The MELD-Na and MELD both had significantly high area under the curve (AUC): MELD-Na: 0.952, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.885–1.00, MELD: 0.931, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.834–1.000. The MELD-Na score was slightly better than the MELD, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 87.5% and 87.2%, respectively, for a cut-off value = 21. Conclusion -The MELD-Na score seems to be a good predictor of mortality at three mon­ths among patients with cirrhosis..

Abstract Background-Diabetes is a real health public problem because of its many potential complications, particularly the cardiovascular ones.The aim of this work was to describe the clinical and biological profile in type 2 diabetic population, then to study the relationship between glycemic control and lipid abnormalities with micro and macro vascular complications. Methods - It was about a retrospective study of 341 type 2 diabetes patients’ with an average age of 60.1 ± 11.71 years.The IBM® SPSS statistics 20.0 software was used for analyzing data. Only significant associations (p ≤ 5%) were retained. Results -An HbA1c level ≥7% was observed in 82,5% of patients, More than 60% have dyslipidemia. 52,8% of them have an LDLc level ≤ 1 g/l, and 64,4% have a Non-HDLc level >1g/l. Sixty-six percent of patients have high blood pressure. The macrovascular disorders were observed on 30,9% of patients and microvascular ones on 66,8% of them (p = 0.0001).The logistic regression analysis showed that HbA1c was the most significant biological parameter (p=0,008).while for micro-vascular complications, high blood pressure was the only associated factor (p = 0.03). For ischemic heart disease, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure were the most associated factors. Conclusion - this study showed a high frequency of micro and macrovascular complications, lipid abnormalities and a very poor glycemic control. The elevation of HbA1c level, the high blood pressure and dyslipidemia are the most associated factors with a high cardiovascular risk. Résumé Introduction-Le diabète est un véritable problème de santé publique du fait de ses nombreuses complications potentielles, notamment cardiovasculaires. Notre objectif était de décrire le profil clinico-biologique chez une population de diabétique type 2 et d’étudier la relation entre l’équilibre glycémique et les anomalies lipidiques avec les complications micro et macroangiopathiques. Matériels et méthodes -Nous avons mené une étude rétrospective portant sur 341 patients diabétiques type 2.Les données ont été analysées par le logiciel IBM® SPSS statistics 20.0. Seules, les associations significatives (p ≤ 5%) étaient retenues. Résultats - quatre-vingt deux pourcent et demi des patients ont un taux d’HbA1c ≥7 %. Plus de 60 % ont une dyslipidémie. Cinquante deux pourcent des patients ont un taux du LDLc ≤ 1 g/l, et 64,4 % ont un taux du Non-HDLc >1g/l. Environ 66 % des patients ont une hypertension artérielle. quarante pourcent des patients ont présenté une macroangiopathie et 66,8 % une microangiopathie (p=0,0001). L’analyse par régression logistique, a montré que l’HbA1c est le paramètre biologique le plus associé aux complications macroangiopathiques (p=0,008), alors que pour les complications micro-angiopathiques, l’HTA était le seul facteur associé (p = 0,03). Pour la cardiopathie ischémique, la dyslipidémie et l’HTA étaient les facteurs les plus associés. Conclusion -Notre étude a montré une fréquence élevée des complications micro et macroangiopathiques et des anomalies lipidiques, ainsi qu’un très mauvais équilibre glycémique. L’HbA1c, la dyslipidémie et l’HTA sont les facteurs les plus associés au risque cardiovasculaire.

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic infection induced by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. The disease spectrum ranges from skin lesions to visceral leishmaniasis, which is fatal if untreated. The cutaneous leishmaniasis is characterized by a clinical polymorphism of lesions with a broad range of severity ranging from a self-limited lesion to multiple disfiguring lesions stigmatizing the patient for life. Although iron is required for several process of Leishmania infection including survival, growth and virulence, the number of studies on host iron metabolism during this infection remains limited. Iron homeostasis in the body is finely regulated by hepcidin, a hyposideremic peptide highly expressed in the liver. In infectious contexts, hepcidin plays additionally an antimicrobial role, acting through various mechanisms such as retaining iron in tissues, modulating the immune response, and operating as a defensin against gram-negative bacteria. This review mainly summarizes the most important interconnections between iron metabolism, hepcidin and leishmaniasis. A deeper understanding of iron metabolism in this context could help in developing innovative treatment strategies that target the parasite while simultaneously reinforcing host defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An investigation into the biodiversity of Cynipidae galls (Hymenoptera) residing within the oak forests of the Edough massif in Annaba (northeast Algeria) spanned from October 2016 to September 2019, aimed to update the faunal list of galls, assess their specialization and organ preferences, and evaluate the impact of seasonal fluctuations on their abundance. A total of 19783 galls were collected, belonging to 13 different species on both Q. faginea and Q. suber. All the oak Cynipidae galls collected belonged to eight genera: Andricus, Synophrus, Callirhytis, Cynips, Cerroneuroterus, Neuroterus, Plagiotrochus and Pseudoneuroterus. Abundance peaked during winter, contrasting with significantly lower levels in summer. The gall population exhibited a diverse and balanced distribution during spring (H=2.35; E=0.74). However, it was very low in summer (H=0.51; E=0.26). The results obtained thus are added to the available data concerning Cynipidae galls on oak trees (Q. suber and Q. faginea) in Algeria. This emphasizes the need for further research aimed at enhancing our comprehension of this specific population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document delves into evaluating wind power potential within Morocco's Oriental region, encompassing an extensive study of 23 locations over 43 years. The analysis was conducted using the advanced MERRA2 data reanalysis system coupled with MATLAB software. Our comprehensive study aims to map the wind energy capabilities across these sites. We employed eight distinct algorithms to adapt the Weibull distribution for the wind speed data. Additionally, the research includes an analysis of the wind rose and assesses the Capacity Factor (CF) to determine the most efficient periods for wind energy production. Our findings highlight that sites S4, S7, and S11 create an ideal geographic formation for wind farm placement. Within this formation, site S8, boasting a (CF) of 36.97%, emerges as a critical location, especially when paired with the EWT DW54 500 wind turbine model. This investigation opens new avenues for advancing wind energy in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ferrimagnetic hexagonal Ising nanotube with spin-1/2 core and spin-5/2 shell is investigated using the mean field approximation (MFA) and the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). More exactly, we have examined the effects of the exchange interactions and crystal field on the magnetic properties of the system. Our phase diagrams show the appearance of critical and compensation behaviors, as well as first-order phase transitions terminating at isolated critical end-points in the ferrimagnetic phase region at low temperatures. Furthermore, we have made a comparison with other studies of similar nanosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]