Radio‐opaque fecal impaction and pseudo‐occlusion in a dialyzed patient taking lanthanum carbonate

Lanthanum therapy is an efficient therapy of hyperphosphoremia by chelating phosphore in the digestive tract. Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table. This drug is lightly absorbed and has low water solubility. It should be borne in mind that abdominal X‐rays of patients taking lanthanum carbonate may have a radio‐opaque appearance typical of imaging agents. This characteristic is suggested to confirm adherence of the patient by doing an abdominal X‐ray. We describe in our case a particular good compliant patient with slow digestive transit, which ends by pseudo‐occlusion.     

Noise estimation for speech enhancement algorithms with post-smoothness processor incorporating global posterior SNR

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Performances of speech enhancement algorithms depend greatly on the accuracy of the estimated noise. In this paper, we explain in details the relationship...     

Macropore formation in p-type silicon: toward the modeling of morphology

The formation of macropores in silicon during electrochemical etching processes has attracted much interest. Experimental evidences indicate that charge transport in silicon and in the electrolyte should realistically be taken into account in order to be able to describe the macropore morphology. However, up to now, none of the existing models has the requested degree of sophistication to reach such a goal. Therefore, we have undertaken the development of a mathematical model (phase-field model) to describe the motion and shape of the silicon/electrolyte interface during anodic dissolution. It is formulated in terms of the fundamental expression for the electrochemical potential and contains terms which describe the process of silicon dissolution during electrochemical attack in a hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution. It should allow us to explore the influence of the physical parameters on the etching process and to obtain the spatial profiles across the interface of various quantities of interest, such as the hole concentration, the current density, or the electrostatic potential. As a first step, we find that this model correctly describes the space charge region formed at the silicon side of the interface.     

Synergistic effect of organoclay fillers based on fluorinated surfmers for preparation of polystyrene nanocomposites

Novel fluorinated reactive surfactants were used for the organic modification of monmorillonite clays. These organoclays were used for the preparation of polystyrene?clay nanocomposites by in‐situ free radical polymerization. Reference systems based on hydrocarbon homologous surfmer and nonpolymerizable surfactants were also used to deduce the effect of the fluorine moiety and the polymerizable function on the morphology and thermal stability of the prepared nanocomposites. Different structural parameters of the surfactants were investigated and modulated for the clay modification including: the nature of surfactant (surfmer/classical surfactant, fluorinated, or hydrocarbonated), the length of the fluorinated chain as well as the length of the hydrocarbon spacers linking the ammonium head to the fluorine chain or the polymerizable acrylic function. Wide angle‐X‐ray scattering (WAXD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and electronic microcopies (TEM and SEM) were used to establish a structure‐morphology, thermal properties relationships, and to highlight the key parameters governing the exfoliation process. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42347.     

Estimation of the dynamics and yields of cereals in a semi-arid area using remote sensing and the SAFY growth model

In semi-arid areas, a strongly variable climate represents a major risk for food safety. An operational grain yield forecasting system, which could help decision-makers to make early assessments and plan annual imports, is thus needed. It can be challenging to monitor the crop canopy and production capacity of plants, especially cereals. In this context, the aim of the present study is to analyse the characteristics of two types of irrigated and non-irrigated cereals: barley and wheat. Through the use of a rich database, acquired over a period of two years for more than 30 test fields, and from 20 optical satellite SPOT/HRV images, two research approaches are considered. First, statistical analysis is used to characterize the vegetation’s dynamics and grain yield, based on remotely sensed (satellite) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) measurements. A relationship is established between the NDVI and LAI (leaf area index). Different robust relationships (exponential or linear) are established between the satellite NDVI index acquired from SPOT/HRV images, just before the time of maximum growth (April), and grain and straw, for barley and wheat vegetation covers. Following validation of the proposed empirical approaches, yield maps are produced for the studied site. The second approach is based on the application of a Simple Algorithm for Yield Estimation (SAFY) growth model, developed to simulate the dynamics of the LAI and the grain yield. An inter-comparison between ground yield measurements and SAFY model simulations reveals that yields are underestimated by this model. Finally, the combination of multi-temporal satellite measurements with the SAFY model estimations is also proposed for the purposes of yield mapping. Although the results produced by the SAFY model are found to be reasonably well correlated with those determined by satellite measurements (NDVI), the grain yields are nevertheless underestimated.     

First report on the presence of emerging Fusarium mycotoxins enniatins (A,A1, B,B1), beauvericin and fusaproliferin in rice on the Moroccan retail markets

Seventy samples of rice purchased from local markets in six cities from Morocco (Rabat, Casablanca, Kénitra, Mohammadia, Tanger and Errachidia) were analyzed for the presence of six emerging mycotoxins: four enniatins ENs (ENA, ENA₁, ENB and ENB₁), beauvericin (BEA) and fusaproliferin (FUS). Samples were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile/water (85/15, v/v) by using an ultra-turrax homogenizer. Mycotoxins were then identified and quantified with liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to diode array detector (DAD). Positive samples were confirmed with an LC-MS/MS. Analytical results showed that BEA was present in 75.7% of total analyzed samples. BEA levels varied between 3.8 and 26.3 mg/kg. The frequencies of contamination of samples with total ENs and FUS were 50% and 4.3%, respectively. Among the ENs, ENB was the mycotoxin much more found (30% of total samples), while ENB₁, ENA and ENA₁ were found in 24.6%, 22.8% and 5.7% of total samples, respectively. The high ENs value was registered in a rice sample from kénitra (448.7 mg/kg of ENA₁). This is the first study that describes the presence of emerging Fusarium mycotoxins in rice available in Morocco.     

NARP-HPLC/MS and silver cationization fingerprinting of triacylglycerols in wild and cultivar Tunisian peanut kernels

A simple strategy to identify triacylglycerols (TAGs) in wild and cultivar peanuts was performed using on line coupling of non-aqueous reversed phase chromatography-electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry (NARP-LC-ESI–MS) with silver nitrate (AgNO₃) as a post-column additive. The combination of the structural information given by MS with chromatographic retention laws led to the determination of the structure of TAGs in wild and cultivar peanut oil. In addition, by using the MS⁵ method, the regio-specificity of the TAGs was determined. It was also demonstrated that in Tunisian peanut oil, the saturates have a preference for the sn-1/sn-3 position for the arachidonic and behenic acids. In the wild variety fatty acids with odd numbers of carbons were found and more TAGs were identified in comparison to the cultivar peanut oil.     

A Theoretical Study of Indentation with an Oblate Spheroid Shape

In this study, firstly we introduced general mathematical concepts related to the geometrical form of ellipse and ellipsoid. Secondly, the hardness was calculated when we used an indenter having a geometrical shape of an oblate spheroid; the mathematical expressions of static hardness were determined as functions of the applied load, the radius or the depth of the imprint area. The general static hardness formula was expressed considering the projected and the real area imprint of the oblate spheroid indenter. Thirdly mathematical assumptions were introduced in order to simplify the mirohardness and nanohardness formulas when we used the real imprint area. Finally we did a comparative study between the oblate spheroid and the spherical indenters.     

Comprehensive evaluation of ITO thick films produced under optimum annealing conditions

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) is a transparent semiconductor that can be formed so that it exhibits a very low resistivity. The applications of this material include solar cells, photodetectors, and transparent contacts for devices such as flat panel displays, and touch sensitive cathode ray tube screens. The authors have investigated the role of both vacuum and reducing atmosphere (N₂ + H₂) annealing on the properties of thick film ITO. Both vacuum annealing and forming gas (N₂ + H₂) annealing result in films with significantly lower resistivity than unannealed films. Samples with sheet resistances of 150 Ω/square have been produced. These values are the lowest reported to date for ITO thick films. Optical characterization including transmission and reflectivity have been conducted, as well as examination of the conductivity as a function of temperature.     

Voice spoofing detection based on acoustic and glottal flow features using conventional machine learning techniques

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Automatic Speaker Verification (ASV) systems are vulnerable to spoofing attacks. Most existing spoofing detection systems rely on two main points; the feature...