Background: Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common form of aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) accounting for approximately 40 % of all NHL cases. The aim of our study is to carry out an epidemiologic description and to compute the incidence of DLBCL in 2North African countries, Algeria and Tunisia. Patients and methods: This is a multicenter retrospective and descriptive study, covering a period of 5 years (January 2010 - December 2014), carried out in 17 centers in Algeria and 5 centers in Tunisia. Patients aged less than 15 years were excluded. We used the classification of World Health Organization. We used Epi info 6 software to analyze the data. Results: 1432 cases were identified, 1175 in Algeria and 257 in Tunisia. The sex distribution of DLBCL was as follows: males 837 (58.4 %), females 591 (41.6 %), male-to-female ratio 1.40. The age of patients ranged from 16 to 96 years (median 52 years) and 64.2 % of the patients are less than 60. The incidence estimates for the years 2012 and 2013 are respectively 0.86 and 0.87 for 100,000 inhabitants. The most frequent occupation of the cases is farmworker (11.5%). The average time between the date of diagnosis and clinical examination is 31 days. The average delay between the first clinical sign and the date of diagnosis is 133 days. A familial history of cancer is found in 10% of the cases. The lymph node biopsy was undertaken in 30.7% of the cases in the cervical area and in 15% of cases in the mediastinal area. A reexamination of the slides was undertaken in 20% of cases while 61.6% of them were found to be advanced clinical stages (III + IV). Splenomegaly was found in 16% of the cases and hepatomegaly in 7%. ORL damage was found in 16% of the cases and marrow infiltration in 10.2%. A Prognostic Score IPI >= 2 is found in 38% of the patients. Comments: On a previous Algerian study concerning all lymphomas diagnosed over a period of 6 years (2007-2012) (Journal of Hematology No. 10-11, 2015), 485 new cases of lymphoma were diagnosed on average per year. In the present study, the average number of new cases of DLBCL was 235 and the average proportion was 48% of all lymphomas. It should be emphasized that all cases underwent an immunohistochemical study and that lymphatic cases were excluded (digestive, bone, skin). The national incidence rate is low compared to that of international studies, a fact that is probably due to difficulties in the diagnosis including lack of implementation of immunohistochemistry techniques in our region. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Purpose – Ballast water of merchant ship is a source of introduction of invasive species around the globe. The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative risk assessment applied to a model port, the Port of Arzew in Algeria, and based on an analysis of this port’s shipping traffic. Design/methodology/approach – The risk assessment for introduction of invasive species is interpreted in the form of a probabilistic process, with a combination of two probabilities. The first probability is related to the ability of a species to arrive to the destination (recipient port), depending on the quantity of water ballast discharged and the duration of voyage. The second one is based on the species ability to survive in their new environment, which depends on the environmental similarity between donor port and Arzew port. Findings – This assessment’s outcome consists on a classification of scenarios regarding their acceptability. Consequently, it helped to classify donor ports according to a risk scale, from low risk to high-risk donor ports. Research limitations/implications – The phenomenon of invasion of aquatic species is a complex process. Factors such as adaptation and tolerance of species, the attendance or absence of predators, were not taken into account in this study. Practical implications – This study could be used by the maritime administration as a decision-making tool regarding the issue of exemptions under the IMO International Convention on the Management of Ballast Water and Sediments 2004. Originality/value – This is one of the first known studies in Algeria and dealing with ballast water management. The results of this assessment provide useful information to policy makers, in order to develop a national strategy to reduce the impact of shipping pollution on the marine environment.

In this paper, new sensors based on a double-gate (DG) graphene nanoribbon field-effect transistor (GNRFET), for high-performance DNA and gas detection, are proposed through a simulation-based study. The proposed sensors are simulated by solving the Schrödinger equation using the mode space non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism coupled self-consistently with a 2D Poisson equation under the ballistic limits. The dielectric and work function modulation techniques are used for the electrical detection of DNA and gas molecules, respectively. The behaviors of both the sensors have been investigated, and the impacts of variation in geometrical and electrical parameters on the sensitivity of sensors have also been studied. In comparison to other FET-based sensors, the proposed sensors provide not only higher sensitivity but also better electrical and scaling performances. The obtained results make the proposed DG-GNRFET-based sensors as promising candidates for ultra-sensitive, small-size, low-power and reliable CMOS-based DNA, and gas sensors.

An improved dynamic hysteresis model is proposed for the prediction of hysteresis loop of electrical steel up to mean frequencies, taking into account the skin effect. In previous works, the analytical solution of the diffusion equation for low frequency (DELF) was coupled with the inverse static Jiles-Atherton (JA) model in order to represent the hysteresis behavior for a lamination. In the present paper, this approach is improved to ensure the reproducibility of measured hysteresis loops at mean frequency. The results of simulation are compared with the experimental ones. The selected results for frequencies 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 200 Hz and 400 Hz are presented and discussed.

Clinical heterogeneity is often due to genetic heterogeneity. One mechanism by which different mutations can produce a phenotypic variation). Beta-thalassemia is mainly caused by a large number of mutations of the gene for beta-globin. The objective of this study is to correlate molecular lesions and clinical signs in children with beta-thalassemia homozygous. We carried out the molecular genetics of beta globin gene by the method of mini sequencing using Snapshot ™ kit (Applied Biosystems) in search of the mutation codon 39 (C>T) (HBB: c.118C>T) and we studied haematological parameters by statistical method using the test “t” of Student for comparing the means of the samples. The peripheral blood smear examination was done from the slides stained in Wright stains. The results obtained have shown that beta-thalassemia homozygous children with severe anemia over 30 ± 0.9 g/L of total Hb with microcytosis of 60,80 ± 2.014 fl, hypochromia 18.47 ± 0.6023 pg and the number of red blood cells is 3.220 ± 0.2778 (10¹²/L). In addition, a significantly secondary thrombocytosis and leukocytosis were reported in patients. Thus the electrophoresis of hemoglobin exhibits a high Hb F (55 to 82%). The peripheral smear examination revealed many red cell abnormalities in the blood. In this study, we used the mini sequencing assay as a rapid screening procedure to identify the severe codon 39 (C>T) mutation in the HBB gene. Phenotype of beta thalassemia major is characterized with various hematological parameters.

In this paper, a simulation study of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a photovoltaic system using an artificial neural network is presented. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) plays an important role in photovoltaic systems because it maximizes the power output from a PV solar system for all temperature and irradiation conditions, and therefore maximizes the power efficiency. Since the maximum power point (MPP) varies, based on the PV irradiation and temperature, appropriate algorithms must be utilized to track it in order maintain the optimal operation of the system. The software Matlab/Simulink is used to develop the model of PV solar system MPPT controller. The system simulation is elaborated by combining the models established of solar PV module and a DC/DC Boost converter. The system is studied using various irradiance shading conditions. Simulation results show that the photovoltaic simulation system tracks optimally the maximum power point even under severe disturbances conditions.

The paper proposes a new reliable fault-tolerant scheduling algorithm for real-time embedded systems. The proposed scheduling algorithm takes into consideration only one bus fault in multi-bus heterogeneous architectures, caused by hardware faults and compensated by software redundancy solutions. The proposed algorithm is based on both active and passive backup copies, to minimize the scheduling length of data on buses. In the experiments, this paper evaluates the proposed methods in terms of data scheduling length for a set of DAG benchmarks. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our technique.