Abdoulaye Berthe

This paper describes a detailed performance evaluation of distributed Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks based on Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) Physical layer (PHY). Two main classes of Medium Access Control protocol have been considered: Slotted and UnSlotted with reliability. The reliability is based on Automatic Repeat ReQuest (ARQ). The performance evaluation is performed using a complete Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) simulator built on the Global Mobile Information System Simulator (GloMoSim). The optimal operating parameters are first discussed for IR-UWB in terms of slot size, retransmission delay and the number of retransmission, then a comparison between IR-UWB and other transmission techniques in terms of reliability latency and power efficiency.

Carriers of Neisseria meningitidis are a key source of transmission. In the African meningitis belt, where risk of meningococcal disease is highest, a greater understanding of meningococcal carriage dynamics is needed. We randomly selected an age-stratified sample of 400 residents from 116 households in Bamako, Mali, and collected pharyngeal swabs in May 2010. A month later, we enrolled all 202 residents of 20 of these households (6 with known carriers) and collected swabs monthly for 6 months prior to MenAfriVac vaccine introduction and returned 10 months later to collect swabs monthly for 3 months. We used standard bacteriological methods to identify N. meningitidis carriers and fit hidden Markov models to assess acquisition and clearance overall and by sex and age. During the cross-sectional study 5.0% of individuals (20/400) were carriers. During the longitudinal study, 73 carriage events were identified from 1422 swabs analyzed and 16.3% of individuals (33/202) were identified ...

This paper presents a performance evaluation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) based on Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) over a new simulation platform developed for this purpose. The simulation platform is built on an existing network simulator: Global Mobile Information System Simulator (GloMoSim). It mainly focuses on the accurately modeling of IR-UWB PHYsical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer.

In 2010, mass vaccination with a then-new meningococcal A polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid protein conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT, or MenAfriVac) was undertaken in 1- to 29-year-olds in Bamako, Mali. Whether vaccination with PsA-TT effectively boosts tetanus immunity in a population with heterogeneous baseline tetanus immunity is not known. We assessed the impact of PsA-TT on tetanus toxoid (TT) immunity by quantifying age- and sex-specific immunity prior to and 2 years after introduction. Using a household-based, age-stratified design, we randomly selected participants for a prevaccination serological survey in 2010 and a postvaccination survey in 2012. TT immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were quantified and geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) pre- and postvaccination among all age groups targeted for vaccination were compared. The probability of TT IgG levels ≥0.1 IU/mL (indicating short-term protection) and ≥1.0 IU/mL (indicating long-term protection) by age and sex was determined usin...

Le traitement conservateur pour le syndrome de la traversee cervico-thoracobrachiale propose par Peet en 1956 est reste longtemps et reste encore pour de nombreux praticiens la technique de reference. Toutefois durant ces vingt dernieres annees, d'autres auteurs ont publie des ameliorations pour cette technique. Le protocole de Walsh publie en 1996 a pour avantage d'une part de prendre en compte toutes les donnees de l'evaluation et, d'autre part, de separer les composantes compressives des composantes entravantes, ces dernieres limitant la mobilite du plexus par fibrose extra-et/ou intraneurale. Son programme de traitement comprend trois phases. La premiere a pour but le controle de la symptomatologie et l'obtention du confort. La seconde s'adresse plus directement aux structures pathologiques, environnement musculosquelettique pour les composantes compressives, mobilisations du systeme nerveux peripherique selon Butler, Totten et Hunter, pour les composantes entravantes. La troisieme phase vise au reconditionnement et au renforcement des muscles posturaux. Un programme de reeducation a domicile est egalement prescrit. La capacite du patient a tolerer les activites de la vie quotidienne et professionnelle depend de la poursuite de ce programme a domicile selon l'evolution.

Résumé/Abstract Small-scale automatic weather monitoring stations were placed on fields of 14 farmers in a semi-arid zone village (Niessoumana) and 15 farmers in a semi-humid zone village (Diou) in Mali, West Africa. Data on the farmers' cropping practices were ...

Objective To assess the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value positive of the WHO threshold strategy for detecting meningococcal disease epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa and to estimate the impact of the strategy on an epidemic at district level. Methods Data on meningitis ...

Yellow fever (YF) is a mosquito-borne vaccine-preventable disease with high mortality. In West Africa, low population immunity increases the risk of epidemic transmission. A cluster survey was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a mass immunization campaign using ...

Historically, single port valveless pneumatic blood pumps have had a high incidence of thrombus formation due to areas of blood stagnation and hemolysis due to areas of high shear stress. To ensure minimal hemolysis and favorable blood washing characteristics, particle image velocimetry (PIV) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used to evaluate the design of a new single port, valveless counterpulsation device (Symphony). The Symphony design was tested in 6-h acute (n=8), 5-day (n=8) and 30-day (n=2) chronic experiments in a calf model (Jersey, 76 kg). Venous blood samples were collected during acute (hourly) and chronic (weekly) time courses to analyze for temporal changes in biochemical markers and quantify plasma free hemoglobin. At the end of the study, animals were euthanized and the Symphony and end-organs (brain, liver, kidney, lungs, heart, and spleen) were examined for thrombus formations. Both the PIV and the CFD showed the development of a strong moving vortex during filling phase and that blood exited the Symphony uniformly from all areas during ejection phase. The laminar shear stresses estimated by CFD remained well below the hemolysis threshold of 400 Pa inside the Symphony throughout filling and ejection phases. No areas of persistent blood stagnation or flow separation were observed. The maximum plasma free hemoglobin (<10mg/dl), average platelet count (pre-implant = 473 ± 56 K/μl and post-implant = 331 ± 62 K/μl), and average hematocrit (pre-implant = 31 ± 2% and post-implant = 29 ± 2%) were normal at all measured time-points for each test animal in acute and chronic experiments. There were no changes in measures of hepatic function (ALP, ALT) or renal function (creatinine) from pre-Symphony implantation values. The necropsy examination showed no signs of thrombus formation in the Symphony or end organs. These data suggest that the designed Symphony has good washing characteristics without persistent areas of blood stagnation sites during the entire pump cycle, and has a low risk of hemolysis and thrombus formations.

This paper introduces the notion of a secure data capsule, which refers to an encapsulation of sensitive user information (such as a credit card number) along with code that implements an interface suitable for the use of such information (such as charging for purchases) by a ...