Comparaison des performances de cinq tests rapides pour le diagnostic de l’angine à streptocoque du groupe A

Objet. Etude comparative des performances analytiques de tests immunochromatographiques pour la détection du streptocoque A dans les frottis de gorge : Quickvue (Quidel), bioNexia (bioMérieux), Clearview (Inverness medical), Dipromed et All-Diag. Méthodes. Les prélèvements utilisés ont été réalisés avec les E-Swab de chez Copan. Un total de 106 échantillons a été testé, dont 58 positifs et 48 négatifs. Environ la moitié des échantillons a été testée avec le format cassette et l’autre moitié avec le format dipstick pour les kits bioNexia et Clearview. Par ailleurs, les kits Dipromed et All-Diag (tous deux au format dipstick) ont été groupés dans cette étude car ils sont identiques (information confirmée par les fournisseurs). Les résultats des tests rapides ont été comparés à ceux de la culture prolongée. Les échantillons ont été ensemencés sur milieu CNA, avec disque de bacitracine pour l’identification présomptive du streptocoque A. Un groupage à l’aide de tests d’agglutination (Oxoid) et/ou une identification de la souche sur l’automate Vitek 2 (bioMérieux) ont été réalisés pour identification formelle. Sur base des résultats de l’étude, nous avons calculé la sensibilité et la spécificité de chaque kit. Ces valeurs ont ensuite été appliquées à la prévalence de cultures positives pour le streptocoque A observée au CHR Citadelle, en 2012. Nous avons ainsi pu calculer les valeurs prédictives positives (VPP) et négatives (VPN) sur notre population réelle. Résultats. La sensibilité est excellente pour tous les kits, comprise entre 93,1% (Clearview) et 96,6% (Quickvue). La spécificité est de 95,8% pour le Quickvue, tandis qu’elle est de 97,9% pour tous les autres kits. Sur la population du CHR Citadelle (2012), les VPP sont de 77,6% pour le Quickvue, et se situent aux alentours de 87% pour les autres kits. Les VPN sont excellentes et vont de 99 à 99,5%. Conclusion. Les valeurs de sensibilité et spécificité obtenues dans cette étude sont conformes à celles attendues pour ce genre de kit selon la littérature, c’est-à-dire respectivement supérieures à 90% et 95%. Les VPP observées avec le test Quickvue sont péjorées par l’existence d’un faux positif de plus. Les autres kits présentent une quasi-équivalence analytique dans notre série

Prenatal Determination of Fetal Rhd in Maternal Plasma: Two-Years Experience of Routine Clinical Use

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the predictive value of RHD fetal genotype in maternal plasma of Rh D negative mothers after 10 weeks of gestation in a clinical use. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Prospective, comparative study between fetal RHD genotyping in maternal plasma, with amplification of exons 4,5,10 of the RHD gene, by real-time multiplex PCR, and Rh D serology at birth, in 218 pregnancy and their 223 babies, between November 2002 and 2004. RESULTS: Combining the amplification of three exons, the concordance rate of fetal Rh D genotyping in maternal plasma and baby phenotyping at delivery was 100%. Four women whose the babies were Rh D negative were positive for RHD exon 10 during pregnancy. This positivity was, in three cases, correlated with the presence of RHDpsi pseudogene and in last case, with a haplotype Cdes (r's). RHD genotyping was performed for five twin pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Multiplex PCR using maternal plasma provides perfect prenatal prediction of fetal RHD gene. These results confirm that this non invasive procedure is the preferred method for assessing Rh D fetal status in Rh negative mothers. Using this method for two years in routine practice has led us to modify our management scheme for sensitized Rh D-negative pregnant women

Open access. Regards croisés

Nul n’ignore les débats en cours sur l’open access, alimentés par diverses prises de position professionnelles. L\u27enssib proposait lors de cette rencontre d\u27 interroger les conditions économiques d’un système éditorial qui permettrait (ou pas) de trouver un équilibre entre archives ouvertes, revues en libre accès et publications traditionnelles tout en préservant la qualité scientifique de ces productions. En croisant des points du vue et des données, ces échanges ont été l’occasion de mettre en perspective un état de la question

Routine Fetal Rhd Genotyping with Maternal Plasma: A Four-Year Experience in Belgium

peer reviewedBACKGROUND: The objective was to evaluate the diagnostic value of RHD fetal genotyping from the plasma of D- mothers as soon as 10 weeks' gestation in a routine clinical practice in Belgium. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A prospective study was conducted between November 2002 and December 2006. DNA extraction was performed in an automated closed tube system. Fetal RHD/SRY genotypes were detected in the plasma of 563 pregnant mothers by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting multiple exons 4, 5, and 10 of the RHD gene and targeting an SRY gene sequence. These were compared to the D phenotypes determined in the 581 babies they delivered. RESULTS: By combining amplification of three exons, the concordance rate of fetal RHD genotypes in maternal plasma and newborn D phenotypes at delivery was 100 percent (99.8% including one unusual false-positive). The presence of nonfunctional RHD genes and the absence of a universal fetal marker, irrespective of fetal sex, did not influence the accuracy of fetal RhD status prediction. The RHD genotyping from 18 twin pregnancies was also assessed. Five weak D women were excluded from the RHD fetal genotyping prediction. Three discrepant results (0.5%) between predicted fetal genotype and cord blood phenotype were not confirmed by the baby phenotypes from venipuncture blood. CONCLUSION: Prenatal prediction of fetal RHD by targeting multiple exons from the maternal plasma with real-time PCR is highly sensitive and accurate. Over 4 years, this experience has highly modified our management of D- pregnant women

Forage Production of Irrigated Lecerne- Grass Mixtures Grazed by Sheep

The forage production and botanical changes of lucerne cultivars in pure stands and in grass mixtures were studied in a split-plot experiment with irrigation and sheep grazing. The non dormant lucerne cultivars (Medicago sativa) CUF 101, Monarca SPINTA, P 30 and common were the main plots, and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), canarygrass (Phalaris aquatica), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), tall wheatgrass (Thynopirum ponticum) and prairie grass (Bromus catharticus) were the subplots. The experiment was grazed 3, 6 and 4 times during 3 years. Total yield was similar for all lucerne cultivars except P 30. Grass production and non sown species incidence did not differ between main plots. Lucerne yield was lower in tall fescue subplots than in other mixtures and pure stands (P\u3c0.05). Grass production was higher in tall fescue mixtures than in tall wheatgrass, canarygrass and prairie grass, and all were superior to cocksfoot (P\u3c0.05). Tall fescue severely suppressed lucerne and non sown species. All lucerne-grass mixtures were superior to pure lucerne, so it emphasized the grass contribution to forage production and to non sown species control

Dialectologie du grec ancien

Programme de l’année 2016-2017 : I. Inscriptions dialectales du Péloponnèse et de Grèce septentrionale. Nouveautés dialectologiques. — II. Prose administrative, prose scientifique et prose d’art, de l’attique classique aux koinai de l’époque hellénistique et impériale : langue et style. — III. Noms de personnes et histoire des mots : analyse linguistique des anthroponymes grecs antiques en ligne, projet LGPN-Ling, en préparation du nouveau Bechtel (Die historischen Personennamen des Griechischen bis zur Kaiserzeit, 1917)

Etude exploratoire de l'homophobie au sein du football masculin amateur en FWB

peer reviewedDespite the implementation of some campaigns to fight against the phenomenon, in professional football stadiums, manifestations of homophobia are still regularly making headlines. Moreover, several French and Anglo-Saxon studies conducted within grassroots football report greater hostility towards homosexuality in this context than in other contexts of everyday life. Unfortunately, however, there is still very little information about this topic in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (WBF). The aim of this study was to find out how homophobia expresses itself in WBF men's amateur football; to question different stakeholders in grassroots football about the role they might play regarding this problematic, and; analyze the actions that are currently being taken to tackle it. A total of 511 male amateur football stakeholders completed an online questionnaire. Based on their experiences or feelings, they answered questions regarding manhood, insults related to homosexuality, the role of each person in dealing with homophobia, and the positions taken by the football federation and the football clubs in relation to this issue. Afterwards, nine other people were interviewed in order to discuss the results of the questionnaire and to provide more details. Data underline that although acceptance of homosexuality is almost unanimous, the use of insults referring to homosexuality is common, and the belief that a homosexual person would not be masculine enough to play football is still widespread. The various stakeholders in grassroots football are poorly informed about the federation's anti-discrimination policy, while clubs rarely have a clear policy on discrimination. At both federation and club levels, it is important to give visibility to the efforts made in tackling homophobia. All actors of the WBF football should be made aware of the importance of showing their acceptance of homosexuality in order to promote a general atmosphere of inclusion in football.5. Gender equalit

Implementation of a Large-Scale Platform for Cyber-Physical System Real-Time Monitoring

The emergence of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) has meant that the manufacturing industry has evolved from embedded systems to cyber-physical systems (CPSs). This transformation has provided manufacturers with the ability to measure the performance of industrial equipment by means of data gathered from on-board sensors. This allows the status of industrial systems to be monitored and can detect anomalies. However, the increased amount of measured data has prompted many companies to investigate innovative ways to manage these volumes of data. In recent years, cloud computing and big data technologies have emerged among the scientific communities as key enabling technologies to address the current needs of CPSs. This paper presents a large-scale platform for CPS real-time monitoring based on big data technologies, which aims to perform real-time analysis that targets the monitoring of industrial machines in a real work environment. This paper is validated by implementing the proposed solution on a real industrial use case that includes several industrial press machines. The formal experiments in a real scenario are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of this solution and also its adequacy and scalability for future demand requirements. As a result of the implantation of this solution, the overall equipment effectiveness has been improved.The authors are grateful to Goizper and Fagor Arrasate for providing the industrial case study, and specifically Jon Rodriguez and David Chico (Fagor Arrasate) for their help and support. Any opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies

Heat Exchanger Anchors for Thermo-active Tunnels

Shallow geothermal power represents an important energy resource for the heating and cooling of the buildings. Due to relatively low temperature levels encountered at shallow depths in the soil, between 10°C and 20°C, heat pumps are required to process the extracted heat, forming the so called ground source heat pump system. Different types of heat exchangers with the ground were developed in order to optimize the heat exchanges, from simple geothermal loops grouted in boreholes reaching depths up to a couple of hundreds of meters to complex energy geostructures. Indeed, embedding geothermal loops within concrete foundation structures increases the heat exchange efficiency as well as it saves the cost of additional drillings. Recent developments suggested that applying the concept of energy geostructures to tunnel structures that are in contact with the ground should also be efficient. The present study investigates the potential of using tunnel anchors and nails as heat exchangers with the surrounding soil. Two main structures of urban tunnels were investigated. A cut and cover tunnel, whose diaphragm walls are maintained with long anchors, was modelled first. Thermal influence of the soil surface and unsaturated conditions were taken into account because of the shallow depth of the tunnel body. Nevertheless, mechanical implications of the heat extraction on the cut and cover tunnel were neglected because of the low mechanical confinement observed on the structure. Then, an urban bored tunnel was investigated. Soil conditions encountered at this depth were assumed always saturated and the thermal influence of the surface was neglected. Mechanical implications of the heat exploitation were assessed because of the high confinement of the bored tunnel body induced by the soil weight. Different types of heat exploitation cycles were tested for the different configurations. The heat extraction is based on the external air temperature in order to meet a simplified building heat demand. Cycles with and without heat injection were also investigated. All the exploitation cycles were optimized in order to reach a temperature threshold in the ground to prevent freezing it. Next, comparisons between extracted and injected heat of the different cycles allow drawing an optimum exploitation method. It is found that injecting heat during the hot period is necessary for the cut and cover tunnel as the natural heat reload isn’t high enough to ensure the sustainability of the heat storage. Conversely, the bored tunnel beneficiates from an increased natural heat reload, turning the heat injection into a more expensive solution. Furthermore, mechanical implications of the heat exploitation on the bored tunnel are found to be more significant when injecting heat. This shows the importance of a thermo-mechanical design of such a system. Finally, considering heat injection or not, it is estimated that heat extraction ranges from 0.6 to 1.2 MWh per year and per meter of cut and cover tunnel, and from 2.8 to 4.0 MWh per year and per meter of bored tunnel

Utilisation des structures géotechniques pour l’extraction d’énergie dans les routes

Les géostructures énergétiques ont vu un important développement depuis leurs premières réalisations au début des années 1980. Elles permettent par la circulation d’un fluide caloporteur dans des parois enterrées ou des pieux une forte récupération d’énergie géothermique de surface pour un coût modique (pompe à chaleur). Une des pistes de développement les plus récentes consiste à étendre leur usage à de nouveaux ouvrages enterrés, que l’on rencontre dans le cas des tunnels, ou à de nouveaux usages tels le contrôle thermique des chaussées. Le LMS travaille sur ces deux aspects ; Une étude concerne le réchauffement de chaussées verglacées par les géostructures énergétiques, par exemple des pieux de culée. Une revue d’ouvrages significatifs tels le pont de Saiwae (Japon) est présentée. Une autre étude concerne le comportement d’ancrages énergétiques dans les cas d’une tranchée couverte ou d’un tunnel urbain a été effectuée. L’objectif d’un tel ouvrage est le chauffage d’un bâtiment proche. L’efficacité et le potentiel thermique est évalué, ainsi que les effets mécaniques. Complétée par une autre étude économique et technologique, ces travaux permettent d’identifier les pistes les plus prometteuses et les risques techniques pour le développement de l’extraction d’énergie dans les routes