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In this study, the thermal behaviour of insulating building walls and energy savings were determined in Er-Rachidia, located in south-east Morocco. Specifically, the study evaluates the effectiveness of clay-based insulation materials reinforced with palm leaves pinnate (PLP) and clay and palm trunk (PT). The results indicate that a 4 cm thick clay insulation material reinforced with PLP increases the winter temperature by 1°C and decreases it by 0.9°C in summer compared to room temperature. Furthermore, it demonstrates a remarkable 33% reduction in heating consumption and a 44% reduction in air-conditioning consumption, leading to an overall 35% reduction in total energy consumption. In contrast, the clay and PT reinforced clay insulation materials exhibit a 16% and 21% reduction in energy consumption, respectively.

Bottom-up engineering is a very attractive field. However, the periodic organization of molecules on a solid substrate is challenging, particularly in the selection of the appropriate characterization technique which is suitable for both large area and accurate analysis at the nanoscale. Here, this study demonstrates the unambiguous identification of complex molecular layers by infrared absorption microscopy at the nanometric scale. This technique allowed for the direct observation of the presence of isolated polyoxometalate-based nanoclusters dispersed all over a substrate., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Clusters and oxo-clusters are drawing attention for their amazing physical properties, especially at the scale of the single molecule. However, chemical methods to organize them individually on a surface are still lacking. In this study we show that it is possible to periodically organize individual polyoxometalates thanks to their ordering by a new supramolecular assembly.

Sprouty2 (Spry2) is a prominent member of a protein family with crucial functions in the modulation of signal transduction. One of its main actions is the repression of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in response to growth factor-induced signalling. A common single nucleotide polymorphism within the Spry2 gene creates two protein variants where a proline adjacent to the serine rich domain is converted to an additional serine. Both protein variants perform similar functions although their efficiency in fulfilling these tasks varies. In this report, we used biochemical fractionation methods as well as confocal microscopy to analyse quantitative and qualitative differences in the distribution of Spry2 variants. We found that Spry2 proteins localize not solely to the plasma membrane, but also to other membrane engulfed compartments like for example the Golgi apparatus. In these less dense organelles, predominantly slower migrating forms reside indicating that posttranslational modification contributes to the distribution profile of Spry2. However there is no significant difference in the distribution of the two variants. Additionally, we found that Spry2 could be found exclusively in membrane fractions irrespective of the mitogen availability and the phosphorylation status. Considering the interference of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation in the cytoplasm, both Spry2 variants inhibited the levels of phosphorylated ERK (pERK) significantly to a similar extent. In contrast, the induction profiles of pERK levels were completely different in the nuclei. Again, both Spry2 variants diminished the levels of pERK. While the proline variant lowered the activation throughout the observation period, the serine variant failed to interfere with immediate accumulation of nuclear pERK levels, but the signal duration was shortened. Since the extent of the pERK inhibition in the nuclei was drastically more pronounced than in the cytoplasm, we conclude that Spry2 - in addition to its known functions as a repressor of general ERK phosphorylation - functions as a spatial repressor of nucleic ERK activation. Accordingly, a dominant negative version of Spry2 was only able to enhance the pERK levels of serum-deprived cells in the cytosol, while in the nucleus the intensity of the pERK signal in response to serum addition was significantly increased., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Dysregulation of receptor tyrosine kinase-induced pathways is a critical step driving the oncogenic potential of brain cancer. In this study, we investigated the role of two members of the Sprouty (Spry) family in brain cancer-derived cell lines. Using immunoblot analyses we found essential differences in the pattern of endogenous Spry3 and Spry4 expression. While Spry4 expression was mitogen-dependent and repressed in a number of cells from higher malignant brain cancers, Spry3 levels neither fluctuated in response to serum withdrawal nor were repressed in glioblastoma (GBM)-derived cell lines. In accordance to the well-known inhibitory role of Spry proteins in fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-mediated signaling, both Spry proteins were able to interfere with FGF-induced activation of the MAPK pathway although to a different extent. In response to serum solely, Spry4 exerts its role as a negative regulator of MAPK activation. Ectopic expression of Spry4 inhibited proliferation and migration of GBM-originated cells, positioning it as a tumor suppressor in brain cancer. In contrast, elevated Spry3 levels accelerated both proliferation and migration of these cell lines, while repression of Spry3 levels using shRNA caused a significant diminished growth and migration velocity rate of a GBM-derived cell line. This argues for a tumor-promoting function of Spry3 in GBMs. Based on these data we conclude that Spry3 and Spry4 fulfill different if not opposing roles within the cancerogenesis of brain malignancies.

Sprouty proteins are modulators of mitogen-induced signalling processes and are therefore hypothesized to affect malignant diseases. As a member of the Sprouty family, Sprouty4 has been previously shown to function as a tumour suppressor in lung and breast cancer. The present study analysed the expression of two known Sprouty4 splice variants in cells established from malignant and normal lung and breast tissues using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting. The results indicated that the expression of the two messenger RNA (mRNA) variants was reduced in the cells derived from malignant tissue in comparison to the normal counterparts. Although the expression of the two splice variants were associated in both tissue types, on average, the relative expression of the longer variant was slightly increased in malignant cells compared with normal tissues. Notably, the protein levels reflected the expression observed at the mRNA level only in breast-derived cells. Contrarily, with regards to the measured mRNA levels, Sprouty4 protein was disproportional augmented in lung cells known to harbour the mutated K-Ras gene.

In recent years research on the neuronal substrate for mental disorders has considerably developed thanks to new brain imaging methods. Functional brain imaging has attracted several workers in their investigations of psychiatric diseases. Some authors have addressed the position of imaging in the diagnosis and, above all, prognosis of acute psychotic disorders. In the following paper, the authors review the published results. Both structural and functional imaging confirm the hypothesis of a neurophysiological contribution to acute psychotic disorders, as shown by ventricular dilatation and functional abnormalities. Nonetheless, imaging does not seem to have a precise and absolute diagnostic and prognostic value, although of undeniable heuristic interest.

Study of depression in North-Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa has shown that, since the seventies, the clinical expression of depression is markedly different from that of depression in the West. Several authors have noted the rareness of guilt themes and the frequency of persecution themes and somatic complaints in depressed Africans, even those living in the West. More recent studies have shown an evolution in depressive symptoms in North-Africa with an increase in guilt and a decrease in persecution and somatic complaints. This shift in symptoms brings the expression of depression closer to that observed in the West. Our study addresses delusional depression: in 73 cases of delusional depression, delusions of guilt were present in 31% of cases, persecution in 48% and hallucinations in 31.5%. A comparison of the sub-groups consulting in 1991 and a second sub-group consulting in 1998 shows a marked increase in guilt (23.5 versus 39%).

The demolition-reconstruction sequence in patients suffering from breast cancer may, in selected cases, be reduced to two surgical steps alone without compromising the radical nature of the surgery or the aesthetic result. The technical details of a protocol realisable in a short time that proposes on the one hand classical radical mastectomy (according to Patey or Madden) and on the other reconstruction by tissue expansion are described.

In a series of 20 lipolysis procedures, there have been no serious major and few minor complications. Selection of patients is important and the best results can be acquired in the patients under 35 years of age. The postoperative circulation and diuresis control are very important particularly during the first 24 hours.