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We present experimental and numerical lifetime investigations of evaporating water drops on solid surfaces depending on the shape and size of their liquid/gas interface. The simulations are based on an Allen–Cahn type phase-field model, where the liquid–gas phase transition is driven by a concentration gradient. The experiments are conducted under defined initial and constant conditions. Throughout the whole experiment, contact angle, temperature, relative air humidity and drop weight are tracked continuously. The numerical and experimental results are compared with analytical predictions. In our study, we confirm that the lifetime of a drop is directly linked to its surface size and shape. We compare lifetimes of evaporating drops on smooth solid surfaces with different contact angles and find an increase in lifetime by 50% as the contact angle increases from 20° to 90°, both in experiments and in simulations. Furthermore, drops placed in different geometric set-ups such as a wedge or a corner show a lifetime behavior that is in accordance with analytical predictions. The presented computational approach captures experimentally measured drop lifetimes, for various set-ups, very well. These findings are especially relevant for industrial questions such as how fast complex components dry after cleaning or how long it takes till lacquer layers are cured on structured surfaces.

Les mucormycoses sont des infections rares mais graves dues a des champignons filamenteux de la division des Mucorales, de la classe des Zygomycetes. Elles surviennent le plus souvent chez des patients immunodeprimes, diabetiques ou ayant une hemopathie maligne avec neutropenie prolongee, et representent chez ces patients la troisieme infection fongique invasive apres les candidoses et les aspergilloses [1], [2]. Nous rapportons cinq cas de mucormycose confirmee chez des patients hospitalises dans le service de Maladies Infectieuses de Sousse entre 2000 et 2013.

Due to its higher switching frequency current harmonics attenuation, the LCL filter is extensively adopted in Grid connected Converters (GcCs). To cope with its inherent resonance phenomena, the Capacitor Current Inner Loop Active Damping (CCIL-AD) is typically employed to actively damp the LCL filter resonant peak. However, the time delay ( t d ) related to digital controllers modifies the Active Damping (AD) characteristics, resulting in reduced phase margin as well as poor dynamic and steady-state performances of the system. Moreover, high variations in the grid inductance, mainly under weak grid conditions, may threaten the system stability. In view of this, this paper proposes a robust design approach for voltage oriented PI control associated to CCIL-AD for LCL -filter-based Grid-connected Converters ( LCL-GcCs ). The aim of the considered approach is to ensure robust stability margins, fast transient response and reduced steady-state error even under severe grid inductance changes, digital time delay and LCL filter parameters variations. The proposed approach has been validated by simulation and experimental tests based on a 4-kW three-phase converter laboratory prototype. The obtained simulation and experimental results indicate the efficiency and the robustness of the proposed design approach.

Mucormycoses are serious infections caused by filamentous fungi of the order Mucorales. They occur most often in immunocompromised patients. We report five cases of mucormycosis in patients hospitalized in the Infectious Diseases Department in Sousse – Tunisia between 2000 and 2013. They were 4 males and one female, mean age 60 years. Three patients were diabetic and one patient had acute leukemia. The locations of mucormycosis were rhinocerebral, rhino-orbital, auricular, pulmonary and cutaneous. The Mucorales isolated were Rhizopus arrhizus in 3 cases and Lichteimia in 2 cases. All patients were treated with amphotericin B and 2 patients had, in addition, surgical debridement. Two patients died and 2 kept peripheral facial paralysis.

International audience; During hospitalization, sepsis occurs in one of every five very-low-birthweight infants. The emergence of Staphylococcus capitis (SC)-related sepsis in preterm infants was observed recently. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical severity of SC-related sepsis in preterm infants. Of the 105 infants who presented with sepsis related to coagulase-negative staphylococci, 74 were SC. Severe morbidity was more common in the SC group (55.4%) than in the non-SC coagulase-negative staphylococci group (32.0%) (P=0.03). Multi-variate analysis identified SC-related sepsis as an independent risk factor for severe morbidity.

Resume Les fongemies sont classiquement dues a une seule espece fongique et la detection de plus d’une espece dans les hemocultures est rare. Nous rapportons quatre cas de fongemies mixtes (FM) diagnostiques au laboratoire de parasitologie-mycologie de l’hopital Farhat-Hached de Sousse, Tunisie. Les episodes des FM sont survenus chez deux nouveau-nes et deux adultes atteints d’une leucemie aigue myeloide. Deux especes fongiques ont ete detectees de facon concomitante dans la meme hemoculture dans tous les cas. Les associations d’especes ont ete detectees suite au repiquage des hemocultures sur le milieu chromogene Candida ID® dans trois cas et sur le milieu Sabouraud dans un cas. Les facteurs de risque etaient : les catheters vasculaires (4/4), l’antibiotherapie a large spectre (3/4), la neutropenie (2/4), la nutrition parenterale exclusive (2/4) et la colonisation candidosique (1/4). Les patients ont presente un tableau de sepsis febrile ne repondant pas a une antibiotherapie a large spectre dans tous les cas. L’evolution sous traitement antifongique a ete favorable dans deux cas et les deux autres patients sont decedes. Conclusion Les FM paraissent similaires aux fongemies monomicrobiennes beaucoup plus frequentes. L’utilisation des milieux chromogenes en routine permet d’ameliorer la detection des FM et d’adapter le traitement antifongique.

Resume But Les teignes du cuir chevelu (TCC) posent encore un probleme de sante publique en Tunisie. Le but de notre travail etait d’etudier l’evolution de l’incidence et des aspects mycologiques et epidemiologiques des TCC dans la region de Sousse (Centre tunisien). Methodes Nous avons mene une etude retrospective qui porte sur la totalite des prelevements du cuir chevelu realises au laboratoire de parasitologie de l’hopital Farhat Hached de Sousse, Tunisie, durant une periode de 26 ans (1983–2008). Resultats Un total de 10 505 prelevements du cuir chevelu ont ete realises, dont 5593 etaient positifs avec un examen direct ou une culture positive, soit une incidence moyenne de 215 cas par an. Les patients etaient âges de moins de 12 ans dans 89,3 % des cas. Nous avons collige 175 cas de TCC chez des adultes. Dix especes de dermatophytes ont ete isolees : Trichophyton ( T .) violaceum (66,7 %), Microsporum ( M .) canis (29,3 %), T. schoenleinii (1,6 %), T. mentagrophytes (1,1 %), T. verrucosum (0,6 %), T. tonsurans (0,2 %), T. rubrum (0,2 %), M. gypseum (0,1 %), M. audouinii (0,03 %) et M. nanum (0,01 %). Conclusion Ces resultats montrent une diminution de l’incidence annuelle des TCC pendant la periode d’etude avec une diminution nette des teignes trichophytiques et une disparition du favus au profit des teignes microsporiques et inflammatoires.

Resume Introduction L’etude retrospective dont nous rapportons les resultats a pour objectif d’evaluer l’importance reelle de cette pathologie parmi les consultants en dermatologie du centre tunisien et de preciser les especes de dermatophytes responsables et leur place respective ainsi que leur dynamique au cours des annees. Patients et methodes De 1990 a 2005, 1137 patients âges d’un a 75 ans (moyenne de 8,63 ans) ont ete adresses par les consultations du service de dermatologie de l’EPS Farhat Hached de Sousse (centre tunisien), pour suspicion de teigne du cuir chevelu. Tous les patients ont fait l’objet d’un examen direct des cheveux, complete par une culture sur milieu de Sabouraud. Resultats L’examen direct et la culture ont permis de conclure a une teigne du cuir chevelu chez 1137 patients ; sur les 1048 pour qui l’âge est precise, 801 (76,4 %) ont moins de dix ans. Soixante sont des adultes avec un âge moyen de 34,5 ans et dont 42 (70 %) sont des femmes. Les dermatophytes isoles sont : Trichophyton violaceum dans 565 cas (53,4 %), Microsporum canis dans 395 cas (37,3 %), T. mentagrophytes dans 37 cas (3,5 %), T. schoenleinii dans 26 cas (2,5 %), T. ochraceum dans 24 cas (2,3 %), T. rubrum dans quatre cas (0,37 %), M. gypseum dans quatre cas (0,37 %), M. langeronii dans deux cas (0,17 %) et T. tonsurans dans un cas (0,09 %). T. violaceum est plus frequent chez les filles alors que M. canis est plus frequent chez les garcons. L’analyse de la frequence des differentes especes isolees au cours des annees montre une regression tres nette du favus, une tendance a la baisse de T. violaceum et une augmentation significative de M. canis . La quasi-totalite des patients a ete traitee par griseofulvine. La guerison a ete obtenue chez 1123 patients dans un delai de six a 12 semaines ; 14 ont garde une alopecie definitive. Conclusion T. violaceum continue a occuper la premiere place dans les teignes du cuir chevelu du centre tunisien, malgre une augmentation sensible de M. canis. Le favus est quasiment eradique. T. ochraceum et T. mentagrophytes sont isoles dans les teignes inflammatoires avec une legere predominance de T. ochraceum .

Candida albicans has become an important cause of nosocomial infections in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The aim of the present study was to compare C. albicans strains isolated from neonates (NN) suffering from systemic candidosis and from nurses in order to determine the relatedness between NN and health workers' strains. Thirty-one C. albicans strains were isolated from 18 NN admitted to the NICU of the neonatology service of Farhat Hached Hospital of Sousse, Tunisia and suffering from systemic candidosis, together with five strains recovered from nurses suffering from C. albicans onychomycosis. Two additional strains were tested, one from an adult patient who developed a systemic candidosis and the second from an adult with inguinal intertrigo. All strains were karyotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with a CHEF-DR II system. Analysis of PFGE patterns yielded by the 38 strains tested led to the identification of three pulsotypes that were designated I, II and III, and consisted of six chromosomal bands with a size ranging from 700 to >2500 kbp. The most widespread was the pulsotype I, which was shared by 17 NN and the five nurses' strains. The identity between NN and nurses' strains is very suggestive of a nosocomial acquisition from health-workers.

Geotrichum capitatum septicemias are rare, occurring exclusively in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of a 55-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia who developed a G. capitatum septicemia with lung and skin lesions in the post chemotherapy aplasic phase. Treatment with amphotericin B (cumulative dose of 2 g) and maintenance with itraconazole resolved the clinical and radiological manifestations and controlled reactivation of the infection during the subsequent courses of cytotoxic chemotherapy. The emerging role of G. capitatum as an opportunistic agent in immunocompromised patient is stressed.

Resume Objectif Preciser la place de la leucoconcentration dans le diagnostic de la leishmaniose viscerale de l'enfant immunocompetent. Materiels et methodes Etude analysant les resultats de la leucoconcentration de prelevements sanguins de 84 enfants immunocompetents atteints de leishmaniose viscerale, hospitalises dans les services de pediatrie de Sousse et de Kairouan (region centrale de la Tunisie) entre avril 1996 et mars 2005. Resultats Les prelevements etudies appartiennent a 34 filles et 50 garcons (sex-ratio a 1,47) âges de six mois a dix ans. Parmi ces patients, 47 (56 %) ont une leucoconcentration positive. Le nombre de leishmanie detectee est de 1 a 64 par lame, un parasitisme des polynucleaires a ete note dans pres de la moitie des cas. Conclusion La parasitemie est frequente dans le Kala-azar mediterraneen ; la cytocentrifugation du sang peripherique peut etre donc proposee comme un examen de premiere intention dans le diagnostic de la leishmaniose viscerale de l'enfant immunocompetent.

This paper proposes a new control method for three-phase Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) boost rectifier using only one dc-link current sensor instead of two line current sensors. Single dc-link current sensor methods have critical problems with regard to the time spent for active voltage vectors application, which must be long enough to measure reliably the dc-link current during every switching interval. It is possible to solve this problem by the use of the proposed Direct Power Control (DPC) technique synthesized via sliding mode theory. The considered DPC control method computes the three phase grid line currents using the measured current from a single dc-link current sensor. The most important features of this method are simplicity and reliability. Also, it reduces the number of current sensors, weight and volume requirements. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method.

This paper presents the implementation of a Direct Power Control (DPC) for three-phase PWM boost rectifier using the SmartFusion digital solution from Actel/Microsemi Company. This digital solution is today the only device that includes an FPGA, an embedded hard-core processor “Cortex M3” from ARM and a programmable analog part that includes several analog functions such as Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) and Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs). Compared to traditional digital solutions, it offers full customization and more flexibility without the excessive cost of soft processor cores on traditional FPGAs. Indeed, it allows full System on Programmable Chip (SoPC) implementation of control algorithms in order to realize more reliable and compact controllers. Experimental results carried out on a prototyping platform are presented in order to illustrate the benefits and effectiveness of the used fully SoPC solution.

This paper presents a comparison between a standard Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based controller and a customizable System on Programmable Chip (cSoC) digital solution. This comparison is performed through the implementation of a Direct Power Control (DPC) for three-phase Pulse Width Modulation. It concerns principally the design methodology, time performances and the quality of the system control. Experimental results are also presented for both solutions.

Introduction Invasive aspergillosis is a life-threatening infectious complication in hematological patients undergoing immunosuppressive chemotherapy. Patients and methods We report 29 cases of invasive aspergillosis diagnosed in the Sousse Farhat Hached hospital Hematology unit, Tunisia, between 2002 and 2010. Results The most frequent disease (65.5%) was acute myeloid leukemia. All patients were severely neutropenic ( 3 , mean duration = 27 days). Pulmonary invasive aspergillosis was suggested in 28 (96.5%) cases. The most frequent respiratory signs were cough (64.3%), chest pain (53.6%), and hemoptysis (50%). The chest X-ray showed suggestive lesions in 60.7% of cases. CT scans revealed nodules with cavitation in 65% of cases, a halo sign in 20% of cases, and nodules in 15% of cases. Galactomannan antigenemia was positive in 88%, mycological examination positive in 51.6%, and seroconversion was noted in 35.7% of the cases. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis was classified, according to EORTC/MSG criteria, as probable in 26 cases, possible in one case, and proven in one case. Aspergillus flavus was the dominant species in pulmonary invasive aspergillosis accounting for 73.7% of isolates. Extrapulmonary involvement was suggested in 39.3% of cases, the most frequent were sinusitis and brain abscess. Primary cutaneous aspergillosis was observed in one case. The overall mortality rate was 64.2%; the 12-week survival rate was 71.4%. Conclusion Our results are correlated to published data. A. flavus was the most frequent species in our region.

The Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) components offer effective solutions and provide real-time computation performances for control algorithms of electrical systems. The aim of this paper is to present the FPGA implementation of an Automatic Tracking Observer (ATO) for the synchronization of the grid voltage vector. This application is particularly useful for the control of a three-phase Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) boost rectifier. The used FPGA for the digital implementation of the ATO is the Fusion AFS600 from Actel, which integrates analog functions such as ADC for a fully System on programmable Chip (SopC) solution. So, the implemented ATO allowed computing the phase of the grid voltage vector in a reliable environment, while ensuring very fast computation time of only few microseconds. Experimental results are presented in order to illustrate the efficiency and benefits of the proposed Fusion FPGA-based solution.

In this paper, we evaluate the throughput performance of ARQ and HARQ I schemes over a two-states Markov channel model. The derived results are compared to those obtained for a block fading channel where the channel is constant over each transmitted packet and independent during the different transmissions.

Most countries face today a growing burden of chronical diseases. In France the multi-source information system MSIS/spl I.bar/REIN has been built to collect and analyse epidemiological data about end-stage renal diseases, dialysis and kidney transplant. It enables a better knowledge of the demand and of the needs for care. This system is patient-centred and based on a regional organization. With the support of the European Commission, the actors of the French experiment are setting up a similar system in Shanghai, albeit fully adapted to Chinese medical needs and administrative context. The design and the implementation of the system, named Gennere, have put emphasis on its genericity in order to enable the system to be easily adapted to other chronic diseases and/or other countries. The first experiment deals with two fields: nephrology and rheumatology.

Ball-end milling has been more used in the machining of free form surfaces such as those encountered on dies, moulds and aeronautical sectors. The knowledge of the cutting forces is an important step in selecting appropriate cutting conditions to reduce excessive tool wear and tool deflection in order to increase the part accuracy and the tool life. On the other hand, various parameters influence the cutting forces in ball end milling, such as the cutting geometry, the chip geometry, the cutting temperature and the tool wear. In this paper, a bibliographic synthesis of the different cutting force modelling approaches in ball end milling process is introduced to conveniently calculate the cutting geometry, the chip geometry, the cutting temperature, the tool wear, the stresses and the cutting forces. Several empirical and analytical available methods are discussed in this paper.

The objective of the HELIOS European project is to create a Software Engineering Environment (SEE) to alleviate the development of medical applications. The resulting system can be viewed as a layer above an operating system providing services to the application designer, and finally to the application end-user. HELIOS is constituted of a set of Software Elements communicating through an abstract channel called Software Bus. The SEE kernel is made of three main software elements, the Information System, the Documentation Facilities and a component which provides the application user with a convenient user support interface, the Interface Manager. The Services consist of a collection of tools providing the necessary services to the medical application designers including an image processing toolbox.

Les résultats d’une enquête épidémiologique et clinique, et d’examen bactériologique relative à la maladie des abcès chez le dromadaire dans la région de Nefzaoua (sud-ouest de la Tunisie) sont présentés. L’étude épidémiologique a concerné 33 élevages en extensif ainsi que des dromadaires exploités dans le secteur touristique. Les études clinique et bactériologique ont porté sur 38 animaux issus de ces élevages. Cliniquement, la maladie n’a pas affecté l’état général de l’animal et a souvent touché les noeuds lymphatiques cervicaux inférieurs et préscapulaires en un nombre d’un ou deux abcès par animal atteint. La forme interne de la maladie n’a pas été observée sur les soixante-douze carcasses abattues dans l’abattoir de la région. La morbidité de la maladie dans la région a été de 9 p. 100. Cette maladie a souvent touché les jeunes dont l’âge était inférieur à un an. Les facteurs favorisants les plus incriminés dans l’apparition de la maladie ont été : le tatouage, le regroupement des animaux provenant de différents élevages et l’infestation par les tiques. Différents germes ont été isolés, notamment les staphylocoques (53 p. 100 des cas), Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (18 p. 100) et Actinomyces pyogenes (26 p. 100).

In the present study, sera of 56 children suffering from visceral Mediterranean leishmaniasis were analysed. The incidence of circulating immune complexes (CIC) by ELISA technique using the conglutinin binding assay was 39% before treatment, 28% after the first treatment, and nil at the end of the second one. The C4 levels remain low even after treatment. The anti-leishmania antibodies (AAL) account for 95% of the cases before treatment and 84% after treatment. The rheumatoid factor (FR) also remains with more or less the same frequency (74%) before and after treatment. The search for a correlation between the presence of CIC and the other immunological factors show that the average titre of AAL is higher in the group of patients that have CIC than in the group that does not. The C4 levels are significantly reduced in the CIC positive group of patients, whereas the rate of IgG is significantly increased in the same group. The study of the evolution of CIC under treatment in nine patients shows that they disappear at the end of the treatment, and that the FR reduces but does not disappear.

Visceral (VL) and cutaneous (CL) leishmaniasis both occur in Tunisia. the first CL cases have been reported in Gafsa by Deperet and Boinet 1, 2 in 1884 and the first infantile CL case was detected by Laveran 3 in 1903, in a suburb of Tunis. Since then, records on leishmaniasis were regularly reported by several workers 4–14. the recent occurrence of severe outbreaks of zoonotic Cl in the centre of the country 15 has modified the epidemiological picture and has made it necessary to give an up-to-date outline of the leishmaniasis situation in Tunisia.