Owing to the comeback of small-scale models, this paper presents results of an experimental study based on the effect of underground circular voids on strip footing placed on the edge of a cohesionless slope and subjected to eccentric loads. The bearing capacity-settlement relationship of footing on the slope and impact of diverse variables are expressed using dimensionless parameters such as the top vertical distance of the void from the base of footing, horizontal space linking the void-footing centre, and load eccentricity. The results verified that the stability of strip footing is influenced by the underground void, as well as the critical depth between the soil and top layer of the void. The critical horizontal distance between the void and the centre was also affected by the underground void. Furthermore, the results also verified that the influence of the void appeared insignificant when it was positioned at a depth or eccentricity equal to twice the width of footing.    

Recently and due to the impressive growth in the amounts of transmitted data over the heterogeneous sensor networks and the emerged related technologies especially the Internet of Things in which the number of the connected devices and the data consumption are remarkably growing, big data has emerged as a widely recognized trend and is increasingly being talked about. The term big data is not only about the volume of data, but also refers to the high speed of transmission and the wide variety of information that is difficult to collect, store and process using the available classical technologies. Although the generated data by the individual sensors may not appear to be significant, all the data generated through the many sensors in the connected sensor networks are able to produce large volumes of data. Big data management imposes additional constraints on the wireless sensor networks and especially on the data aggregation process, which represents one of the essential paradigms in wireless sensor networks. Data aggregation process can represent a solution to the problem of big data by allowing data from different sources to be combined to eliminate the redundant ones and consequently reduce the amounts of data and the consumption of the available resources in the network. The main objective of this work is to propose a new approach for supporting big data in the data aggregation process in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. The proposed approach aims to reduce the data aggregation cost in terms of energy consumption by balancing the data loads on the heterogeneous nodes. The proposal is improved by integrating the feedback control closed loop to reinforce the balance of the data aggregation load on the nodes, maintaining therefore an optimal delay and aggregation time.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is a group of chronic heterogenous disorders that manifests as joint inflammation in patients aged <16 years. Globally, approximately 3 million children and young adults are suffering from JIA with prevalence rates consistently higher in girls. The region of Africa and Middle East constitute a diverse group of ethnicities, socioeconomic conditions, and climates which influence the prevalence of JIA. There are only a few studies published on epidemiology of JIA in the region. There is an evident paucity of adequate and latest data from the region. This review summarizes the available data on the prevalence of JIA and its subtypes in Africa and Middle East and discusses unmet needs for patients in this region. A total of 8 journal publications were identified concerning epidemiology and 42 articles describing JIA subtypes from Africa and Middle East were included. The prevalence of JIA in Africa and Middle East was observed to be towards the lower range of the global estimate. We observed that the most prevalent subtype in the region was oligoarticular arthritis. The incidence of uveitis and anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) positivity were found to be lower as compared to the incidence from other regions. There is a huge unmet medical need in the region for reliable epidemiological data, disease awareness, having regional and local treatment guidelines and timely diagnosis. Paucity of the pediatric rheumatologists and economic disparities also contribute to the challenges regarding the management of JIA.

Colistin is one of the last-line therapies against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, especially carbapenemase-producing isolates, making resistance to this compound a major global public-health crisis. Until recently, colistin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria was known to arise only by chromosomal mutations. However, a plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism was described in late 2015. This mechanism is encoded by different mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes that encode phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferases. These enzymes catalyse the addition of a pEtN moiety to lipid A in the bacterial outer membrane leading to colistin resistance. MCR-producing Gram-negative bacteria have been largely disseminated worldwide. However, their environmental dissemination has been underestimated. Indeed, water environments act as a connecting medium between different environments, allowing them to play a crucial role in the spread of antibiotic resistance between the natural environment and humans and other animals. For a better understanding of the role of such environments as reservoirs and/or dissemination routes of mcr genes, this review discusses primarily the various water habitats contributing to the spread of antibiotic resistance. Thereafter, we provide an overview of existing knowledge regarding the global epidemiology of mcr genes in water environments. This review confirms the global distribution of mcr genes in several water environments, including wastewater from different origins, surface water and tap water, making these environments reservoirs and dissemination routes of concern for this resistance mechanism.

The Biocheck.UGent scoring system was developed to measure and quantify the level of biosecurity in animal husbandry. This tool is composed of all the relevant elements of biosecurity in poultry farms (broilers and laying hens) and is subdivided into external and internal biosecurity. The peculiarity of this scoring system is that it takes into account the relative importance of the different aspects of biosecurity, resulting in a risk-weighted score. The biosecurity scores obtained are provided immediately after completing the questionnaire and the scores for each sub-category can be compared to global averages to allow the poultry farmer to compare the results obtained and correct any anomalies that are on their farm. In Algeria, preliminary results from a survey in poultry houses of 30.000 laying hens show a wide range of biosecurity levels on that farm, with internal biosecurity scores ranging from 6 to 72% and external biosecurity scores ranging from 28 to 92% in the subgroups. The overall scores were 50% and 54%, respectively. These early results show that despite the well-known importance of biosecurity, there is a lack of implementation of many biosecurity measures.

The Mio-Plio-Quaternary groundwater of Mchira-Teleghma suffers from an increasing rate of salinity especially in the northwestern part. To identify the reason for the water’s salinity and its aptitude for irrigation, physico-chemical analyses of 20 water samples, which were based on the different physical and chemical parameters (electric conductivity EC, pH, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, HCO₃⁻, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻ and Sr²⁺), were carried out during the period of October 2015. This study showed disquieting anomalies of electric conductivity that reached the value of 4376.14 µS cm⁻¹. The statistical analyses, the multivariate statistics: the principal component analysis, Q-mode cluster analyses, Sr²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio and water type showed that the hydrochemistry of Mchira-Teleghma groundwater is controlled by the dissolution of carbonate rocks and the leaching of evaporite processes, which proved that these anomalies of the MPQ groundwater’s salinity of Mchira-Teleghma are mainly determined by the leaching of Triassic gypsum formations process. This hydrogeochemical process generates an unsuitable quality of water based on Wilcox’s and Water Quality Index’s methods, whereas Richard’s method classifies all water samples to C3S1 and C4S1 classes as they are recommended to be used with salt-tolerant species in well-drained and leached soils.

Purpose: To determine the anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer properties of the aerial parts of Centaurea tougourensis Boiss. & Reut.

 

Methods: The effects of n-butanol (n-BuOH) extract of the aerial part of Centaurea tougourensis on carrageenan-induced paw edema and ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage were determined at 2 doses (200 and 400 mg/kg, po) in a mouse model. For each test, the animals were randomly divided into negative and positive control groups, as well as extract-treated groups. The mice were observed for any sign of inflammation for a period of 24h.

 

Results: Reduction of paw edema by C. tougourensis extract was highly significant (p < 0.001) at a dose of 400 mg/kg 24 h after carrageenan injection, with 55.26 % inhibition, followed very closely by 53.15 % inhibition at the dose of 200 mg/kg; indomethacin group showed an inhibition of 60 %. Histological examination supported the inhibition results. A significant reduction in inflammation by the extract at a dose of 400 mg/kg was also observed. No sign of ulcer was observed with C. tougourensis at the two doses (200 and 400 mg/kg). The total polyphenol content of the n-BuOH extract was 85.44 цg gallic acid equivalent/mg of extract. Tannins were the most abundant fraction (51.87 цg tannic acid equivalent/mg of extract), followed by flavonoids (25.55 цg quercetin equivalent/mg of extract).

 

Conclusion: The results indicate that C. tougourensis may have potential beneficial effects in the treatment of diseases associated with inflammation and pain, besides its protective effect on the gastrointestinal tract.

In this article, we consider a coupled system of two nonlinear hyperbolic equations, where the exponents in the damping and source terms are variables. First, we prove a theorem of existence and uniqueness of weak solution, by using the Faedo Galerkin approximations and the Banach fixed point theorem. Then, using the energy method, we show that certain solutions with positive initial energy blow up in finite time. We also give some numerical applications to illustrate our theoretical results.

This paper provides a new proof of the existence and uniqueness of the solution for a nonlinear boundary value problem

which describes the study of two-phase Stefan problems on the semi-infinite line [0, ∞). This result considerably extends the analysis of a recent work. A highly accurate analytic approximate solution of this problem is also provided via the Adomian decomposition method.

To evaluate the performance of concrete load bearing walls in a structure under horizontal loads after being exposed to real fire, two steps were followed. In the first step, an experimental study was performed on the thermo-mechanical properties of concrete after heating to temperatures of 200-1000oC with the purpose of determining the residual mechanical properties after cooling. The temperature was increased in line with natural fire curve in an electric furnace. The peak temperature was maintained for a period of 1.5 hour and then allowed to cool gradually in air at room temperature. All specimens were made from calcareous aggregate to be used for determining the residual properties: compressive strength, static and dynamic elasticity modulus by means of UPV test, including the mass loss. The concrete residual compressive strength and elastic modulus values were compared with those calculated from Eurocode and other analytical models from other studies, and were found to be satisfactory. In the second step, experimental analysis results were then implemented into structural numerical analysis to predict the post-fire load-bearing capacity response of the walls under vertical and horizontal loads. The parameters considered in this analysis were the effective height, the thickness of the wall, various support conditions and the residual strength of concrete. The results indicate that fire damage does not significantly affect the lateral capacity and stiffness of reinforced walls for temperature fires up to 400oC.

In the present study, both experimental and numerical were conducted on a free surface flow over an obstacle. Numerical simulations were performed using the Renormalization Group (RNG-k-ɛ) based Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence model coupled with the Volume OF Fluid (VOF) method in FLUENT Software to investigate the effect of the channel slope on the flow pattern upstream, above and downstream the obstacle. Respectively, 5%, 7%, 8%, 10%, 20% and 50% channel slopes were considered. Numerical simulation has showed a good agreement compared against experimental results. Effect of the slope on the flow is observed particularly upstream of the obstacle where the flow takes the vertical direction after hitting the upstream wall. The more the slope becomes steeper, the higher the level of the water is. Recirculation zones in the case of a horizontal channel are elongated downstream the weir, whereas in the case of a sloped channel, they are localized just at the foot of the downstream wall.

The present study focuses on the investigation of the behaviour of a reduced model of a reinforced soil massif by a sand column tested in the laboratory. These tests involved the installation of sand columns in clay specimens (kaolin) by different methods. The specimens thus obtained are subjected to the same oedometric loading program. The first part of this work aims to study the effect of the intensity of the compaction stress of the sand columns on the surrounding soil and the effect on the behaviour of the soil-column massif. The sand columns were installed with the soil replacement method and with compacting of the columns (WR_WC). Three different compaction stresses were used to install the columns. In the second part, a sand column 20 mm in diameter was installed by two methods: one with replacement of the soil (WR) and without compaction and the other with displacement of the soil (WD). A comparison between the two methods has been established. By determining the equivalent characteristics for the soil-column massif, this study made it possible to characterize the effect of the installation method of the columns on the settlements, the void ratioe of kaolin, the equivalent void ratio e_eq of the massif soil-column and on the compressibility parameters of the massif (equivalent compression index C_ceq and swelling index C_seq), by comparing the results obtained with those of the unreinforced soils that constitute the reference case. The results obtained showed that the techniques used for the installation of columns have significant effects on the behaviour of reinforced massifs.

In this paper, the exact solutions to the AB nonlinear system are investigated. This system is reduced via two different transformations to a sine-Gordon equation and a quasilinear equation for a new dependent variable ϕ. Solutions to a sineGordon equation and a quasilinear equation are found. Hence, the original system can well be solved for such ϕ. Also, a similar approach is proposed to solve analytically an eventual extension system for the case of variable coefficients.

Contrairement à l’abstention-surveillance, la surveillance active est une modalité de prise en charge curative. Elle vise à retarder le traitement d’une tumeur peu agressive jusqu’au moment où elle le deviendra tout en restant dans la fenêtre de curabilité de la maladie. À travers une lecture de littératures, nous allons essayer de maitre la lumière sur la place et les modalités de la surveillance active, dans les groupes favorables des cancers de la prostate et de répondre aux questions suivantes : Pourquoi la surveillance active ? Pour qui ? Comment l’instauré ? et quand doit-on l’arrêter ? La majorité des essais, cliniques publiés s’accordent à dire, que la surveillance active est une attitude parfaitement adaptée aux patients du groupe favorable d’AMICO, voire même une partie du groupe intermédiaire bas risque. Les résultats en matière de survie globale et d’évènement métastatiques, sont similaires à ceux des patients traités d’emblée par chirurgie et ou radiothérapie, avec en plus moins de toxicité. La surveillance est basée essentiellement sur le dosage périodique du PSA, rebiopsie selon des protocoles propres à chaque équipe. La décision du passage aux traitements invasifs, sera conditionnée par la progression du score Gleason, selon des algorithmes dont certains, sont déjà validés à l’international. La surveillance active, doit faire partie intégrante des décisions de prise en charge des adénocarcinomes prostatiques localisés favorables. Cette attitude nous permet, d’éviter de surtraiter un grand nombre, de petites lésions non évolutives, tout en ayant la possibilité et les moyens, de rattraper les lésions qui progressent.

The novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents the actual greatest global public health crisis. The lack of efficacious drugs and vaccines against this viral infection created a challenge for scientific researchers in order to find effective solutions. One of the promising therapeutic approaches is the search for bioactive molecules with few side effects that display antiviral properties in natural sources like medicinal plants and vegetables. Several computational and experimental studies indicated that flavonoids especially flavonols and their derivatives constitute effective viral enzyme inhibitors and possess interesting antiviral activities. In this context, the present study reviews the efficacy of many dietary flavonols as potential antiviral drugs targeting the SARS-CoV-2 enzymes and proteins including Chymotrypsin-Like Protease (3CL^pro), Papain Like protease (PL^pro), Spike protein (S protein) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and also their ability to interact with the angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) receptor. The relationship between flavonol structures and their SARS-CoV-2 antiviral effects were discussed. On the other hand, the immunomodulatory, the anti-inflammatory and the antiviral effects of secondary metabolites from this class of flavonoids were reported. Also, their bioavailability limitations and toxicity were predicted.

Floods become major concerns in most gobe regions due to socio-economic and environmental consequences caused by these phenomena in recent decades. Most Algerian cities are exposed to flood risks and suffered from its consequences. The purpose of this paper is the spatialization of flood hazard in the city of Chemora (Algeria) by hydraulic modelling in a GIS environment whose objective is prevention, which requires a set of hydrological and hydraulic informations in order to achieve a comprehensive and effective management.

Today’s, and near future, communication networks rely heavily on capacity expansion to keep pace with the massive number of mobile devices and ever-increasing mobile traffic. This expansion can be achieved through three major ingredients, namely, adding more wireless-spectrum, efficient usage of this spectrum, and adequate networks’ architectures. In this paper, a proposition for integrating these three ingredients in a cognitive-radio-inspired framework is presented. The focus is on the integration of the idle spectrum resources of different wireless networks into a single mobile heterogeneous wireless network. This framework is based on a conceptual network-architecture articulated with a generic and cooperative spectrum-harvesting scheme. The former brings the necessary agility for such heterogeneous environments, the latter keeps the network supplied with the vital spectrum resources. In our proposal, we make use of cross-correlated sequences (CCSs) for context-aware events’ signaling purposes. This choice is motivated by the particularly interesting characteristics of CCSs, namely, duration shortness, robustness to bad radio conditions, detection rather than decoding, and low probability of collision. As an illustration, we propose a reporting and detection scheme, in the context of OFDMA systems, and provide performance results from simulations to validate our proposal.

This paper proposes the fundamental aspects of hybrid nonlinear control which is composed of the super twisting algorithm (STA) based second order sliding mode control applying fuzzy logic method (FSOSMC), with pertinent simulation results for a doubly fed induction machine (DFIM) drive. To minimize chattering effect phenomenon due to Signum function employed in sliding mode algorithm, a new method is proposed. This technique consists in replacing the signum function by fuzzy switching function in the SOSMC to minimize flux and torque ripples. This FSOSMC is associated to the double direct torque control DDTC of the doubly fed induction machine (DFIM) by combining the advantages of fuzzy logic (FL) and the advantages of super-twisting sliding mode. The FSOSMC-DDTC strategy is compared with a PI-DDTC and SOSMC-DDTC. Simulation results demonstrate good efficiency and excellent robustness of the hybrid nonlinear controller.