Background and Objectives: Between November 2007 and March 2008, 18 children died from a rapidly progressive central nervous system disease of unexplained origin in a community involved in the ...recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULAB) in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal. We investigated the cause of these deaths. Methods: Because autopsies were not possible, the investigation centered on clinical and laboratory assessments performed on 32 siblings of deceased children and 23 mothers and on 18 children and 8 adults living in the same area, complemented by environmental health investigations. Results: All 81 individuals investigated were poisoned with lead, some of them severely. The blood lead level of the 50 children tested ranged from 39.8 to 613.9 µg/dL with a mean of 129.5 µg/dL. Seventeen children showed severe neurologic features of toxicity. Homes and soil in surrounding areas were heavily contaminated with lead (indoors, up to 14,000 mg/kg; outdoors, up to 302,000 mg/kg) as a result of informal ULAB recycling. Conclusions: Our investigations revealed a mass lead intoxication that occurred through inhalation and ingestion of soil and dust heavily contaminated with lead as a result of informal and unsafe ULAB recycling. Circumstantial evidence suggested that most or all of the 18 deaths were due to encephalopathy resulting from severe lead intoxication. Findings also suggest that most habitants of the contaminated area, estimated at 950, are also likely to be poisoned. This highlights the severe health risks posed by informal ULAB recycling, in particular in developing countries, and emphasizes the need to strengthen national and international efforts to address this global public health problem.
•Three nonlinear regressions techniques are applied to NIR spectra of paracetamol samples.•The data preprocessing for reducing noise have also been applied to the original spectra.•Gaussian process ...regression applied to a smoothing correction is a powerful tool.•Nonlinear regression techniques are better than the usual partial least square regression.•MSC correction followed by First Derivative yield useful information in a regression.
In this article, we analyze the near-infrared (NIR) spectra of fifty-eight (58) commercial tablets of 500 mg of paracetamol from different origins (that is, with different batch numbers) in the local markets in Bamako. The NIR spectra were recorded in the spectral range 930 nm-1700 nm. The samples are divided into forty-eight (48) samples forming the set of calibration (training set) and ten (10) samples used as the validation or test set. To perform multivariate calibration, we apply-three nonlinear regression techniques (Gaussian processes regression (GPR), Random Forest (RF), Support vector machine (KSVM)), along with the traditional linear partial least-squares regression (PLSR) to several data pretreatments of the 58 samples. The results show that the three nonlinear regression calibrations have better prediction performance than PLS as far as RMSE is concerned. To decide the best regression model, we avoid R2 since this quantity is not a good parameter for this purpose. We will instead consider RMSE when comparing the different multivariate models. Additionally, to assess the impact of data preprocessing, we apply the above regression techniques to the original data, Multi-scattering correction (MSC), standard variate normalization (SNV) correction, smoothing correction, first derivative (FD), and second derivative correction (SD). The overall results reveal that Gaussian Processes Regression (GPR) applied to smooth correction gives the lowest RMSEP = 2.303053e-06 for validation (prediction) and RMSEC = 2.112316e-06 for calibration. In our investigation, one also notices that the developed GPR model is more accurate and exhibits enhanced behavior no matter which data preprocessing is used. All in all, GPR can be seen as an alternative powerful regression tool for NIR spectra of paracetamol samples. The statistical parameters of the proposed model are compared to the results of some other models reported in the literature.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an infectious disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Sporadic cases are observed in nonendemic areas and often associated with limited foci; therefore, the ...disease is easily overlooked. In addition, other diseases have similar clinical symptoms, which make it difficult for clinicians to make an accurate diagnosis and to provide effective treatment. We identified visceral leishmaniasis in a 4-year-old child in Pikine, Senegal. The patient was admitted to the Pikine National Teaching Hospital for haemorrhagic, tumoral, and infectious syndromes. At admission, the patient presented with epistaxis and gingivorrhagia, a severe anaemic syndrome poorly tolerated, a systemic inflammatory response syndrome with fever at 39.5°C, a tumoral syndrome with 11 cm of hepatomegaly and 12 cm of type IV splenomegaly, and noninflammatory macropoly adenopathies. A spinal cord puncture was performed, and direct microscopy examination of the sample after GIEMSA staining revealed amastigote forms of Leishmania. The PCR amplification of extracted DNA from the bone marrow aspiration using specific primers for VL (forward and reverse) confirmed that VL was responsible for the infection. A treatment with meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime) was given and it gave a successful outcome with remission of clinical symptoms and favourable evolution with 3 months hindsight. Conclusion. This visceral leishmaniasis case diagnosis in Senegal has shown that, apart from haematological malignancies, this disease must be considered in combination with a tumor syndrome, haemorrhagic syndrome, and infectious syndrome.
This open access book examines the transition to sustainable energy systems in emerging cities. Experts from around the world present case studies from different countries and discuss efforts were ...needed for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors look into the issue of environment vs. economics and discuss the question of whether the energy transition goal can conflict with other development goals such as decent work and economic growth. Furthermore, innovation in energy transition is introduced, both in technology and citizens’ engagement. The book presents the latest developments on energy access and transition to sustainability throughout the overall value chain: from basic research in universities to documentation of lessons learned in the field. The empirical evidence presented makes this book appealing to scholars in the field of energy sustainability as well as to policy-makers and energy service companies.
Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2008.
Bibliogr.: f. 67-71. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.
L'aide au développement qui de prime abord semble avoir des visées philanthropiques est controversée en ce qu'elle est motivée par une mixité de motifs humanistes, politiques et économiques et que la ...littérature scientifique appuie l'idée selon laquelle les intérêts des donateurs prévalent sur les besoins des bénéficiaires. Ce mémoire a pour objet d'étude renonciation de la politique d'aide de l'ACDI, étudiée dans une perspective de dialectique de besoins des bénéficiaires et d'intérêts du donateur. Pour ce faire, l'énoncé de politique de 1987 a été comparé à celui de 2002, grâce à une analyse de contenu et à l'observation de rapports statistiques. Nos hypothèses qui prévoyaient que l'énoncé de 2002 présenterait davantage d'intérêts du Canada que celui de 1987 et que la dichotomie entre le discours et la pratique s'amenuiserait en 2002, ont été infirmées. C'est l'inverse qui s'est produit dans les deux cas de figure.
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