COVID-19/Tuberculosis Co-Infection at the Epidemic Treatment Center (ETC) of Saint-Louis (Senegal): About 9 Cases

Introduction: COVID-19 is a global public health emergency that can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome. In countries where tuberculosis (TB) is endemic, coinfection of COVID-19 and TB is often encountered, which increases the risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of COVID-19/TB coinfection at the Epidemic treatment center (ETC) in Saint-Louis (Senegal) and to describe the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, and outcome profile of co-infected patients. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive cohort study based on the records of COVID-19/ TB co-infected patients who were hospitalized at the ETC in Saint-Louis (Senegal) over an 18-month period from March 2020 to September 2021. Results: Out of a total of 454 hospitalizations, we collected records of 9 patients co-infected with COVID-19/TB, resulting in a prevalence of 2%. The study included patients with a median age of 34 years (range: 10-86 years), with a male predominance (7 cases) and a sex ratio of 3.5. The majority of patients (88.9%) had severe forms of COVID-19. Dyspnea and cough were reported in all patients (100%). Pulmonary TB was the most frequent localization, with 9 cases. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by nasopharyngeal PCR in all patients (100%). Bacilloscopy was positive in 3 out of 5 cases. One patient tested positive for GeneXpert? MTB/RIF without rifampicin resistance. All patients were prescribed the hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin combination and anti-tuberculosis treatment. Out of the nine patients, four recovered (44.4%) and five died (55.5%). Conclusion: COVID-19/TB coinfection had a low prevalence in our cohort, but was associated with a high mortality due to the frequent occurrence of severe forms of the disease.

Profile of SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients Hospitalized at the Epidemic Treatment Center (ETC) in Saint-Louis, Senegal during the First Two Waves

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 infection is a major public health emergency. Several risk factors are involved in the occurrence of respiratory distress that can lead to death despite resuscitation measures. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic, and evolution profile of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized at the CTE of Saint-Louis (Senegal) during the first two waves. Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study that included all patients hospitalized at the ETC of Saint-Louis (Senegal) with SARS-CoV-2 infection from March 2020 to April 2021. Results: A total of 358 cases were collected, 256 (71.5%) during the first wave and 102 (28.5%) during the second wave. The mean age was 49.5 years (19.5). There was a male predominance (58.4%), with a sex ratio of 1.4. Hypertension was the main comorbidity, with 87 cases (24.3%). The most common functional signs were cough in 194 cases (54.2%), dyspnea in 143 cases (40%) and ageusia in 134 cases (37.4%). Thoracic CT scans were performed on 20 patients (5.6%), with severe involvement (50% - 75%) observed in 50% of cases. Hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin was prescribed to 351 patients (98%). Overall, 338 (94.4%) recovered and 17 (4.7%) died. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with death were male sex [OR = 2.645;95% CI: 1.530 - 4.785;p = 0.011], age 60 years [OR = 1.039;95% CI: 0.564 - 1.914;p = 0.002], the presence of comorbidities [OR = 2.171;95% CI: 0.564 - 3.429;p = 0.033], SpO2 (ambient air) 95% [OR = 2.061;95% CI: 0.616 - 3.827;p = 0.03], acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [OR = 0.635;95% CI: 0.316 - 1.275;p = 0.001], severe form [OR = 1.664;95% CI: 0.298 - 2.478;p = 0.016], occurrence of complications [OR = 0.521;95% CI: 0.287 - 0.944;p = 0.032], high creatinine levels [OR = 2.061;95% CI: 1.616 - 3.827;p = 0.026], and lymphopenia [OR = 0.485;95% CI: 0.370 - 0.636;p = 0.001]. Conclusion: In our series, infection with SARS-CoV-2 was associated with low lethality. Several risk factors were identified that need to be considered for successful management of patients.

Talking Justice,the Chinese Way

Western legal scholars learn from China’s approach to justice at a seminar held at Oxford University.Mediation can work better than prosecution and prison.

On the Proof of the Contradiction of Set Theory

The article is devoted to proving the inconsistency of set theory arising from the existence of strange trees. All steps of the proof rely on common informal set-theoretic reasoning, but they take into account the prohibitions that were introduced into axiomatic set theories in order to overcome the difficulties encountered by the naive Cantor set theory. Therefore, in fact, the article is about proving the inconsistency of existing axiomatic set theories, in particular, the ZFC theory.

Extinction of Light in the Galactic Halo: First Observational Evidence of the Interaction of Light and Dark Matter

We study the distribution of quasars on the celestial sphere according to ground-based SDSS and space-based WISE and Gaia observations. All distributions as a function of galactic latitude, b, exhibit a decrease in quasar frequency well outside the dust in and near the galactic plane. We prove that the observed decrease in quasar frequency at high galactic latitudes is not accompanied by reddening, meaning that it can not be caused by dust. The scattering of light by the circumgalactic gas is negligible because the Thomson scattering cross section is very small. We conclude the observed scattering of light must be caused by dark matter in the galactic halo. We determine the mass and charge of dark matter particles. If the dark matter particle is a fermion its mass, mDMand charge eDM=δe, where e is the elementary charge are: mDM=3.2×10−2eV and δ=3.856×10−5. If however the dark matter particle is spinless then: mDM=0.511eV and δ=2.132×10−4. These values for the charge of a dark matter particle are orders of magnitude higher than the upper limit of the neutrino charge according to laboratory experiments. Consequently, dark matter particles are not charged neutrinos. Since dark matter particles are charged, they must emit and absorb electromagnetic radiation. However, PDM~δ2, or: PDM~1.487×10−9Pe, where Peis the power output of a single electron.

On Master Tanxu’s Thought of the Middle Way

This paper discusses Master Tanxu’s Thought of Middle Way from three aspects:interpreting the Middle Way with the Tiantai Sect’s thought of“Three Truths as a Unity”(三諦圓融),discussing“the Truth of the First Meaning of the Middle Way”(中道第一義諦)from the relationship between“the One Mind”and the Middle Way,and discussing gradations of practice of the Middle Way.

Research on Innovative Ways of Integrating Aesthetic Education with Ideological and Political Education in the New Era

Aesthetic education and ideological and political education undertake the educational responsibilities of educating people with beauty and cultivating people with morals,respectively.The innovation of aesthetic education and the reform of ideological and political education have common educational goals and target students.Integrating aesthetic education with ideological and political education can promote the overall healthy development of students,which has both historical and practical significance.In this paper,the importance and characteristics of integrating aesthetic education with ideological and political education in colleges and universities are analyzed from multiple dimensions,and four feasible ways of integrating aesthetic education with ideological and political education are proposed.The latter draws on extracurricular activities,emotional touch,a pleasant aesthetic atmosphere,and educational synergy to improve students’aesthetic literacy and cultivate correct ideological and political concepts among students.A survey of 1,047 students showed that the understanding and acceptance of ideological and political education were strengthened and improved after implementing these innovative integration ways.Taken together,the exploration and practice of these integration ways contribute to expanding the effect of ideological and political education in the new era and constitute important parts of the reform of college and university education in the new journey.

Numerical Simulation of Saint-Venant Equations with Thermal Energy Dependency: Applications on Global Warming

Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has been intensifying the burning of fossil fuels and as a consequence, the average temperature on Earth has been increasing. The 20th century was the warmest and future prospects are not favorable, that is, even higher temperatures are expected. This demonstrates the importance of studies on the subject, mainly to predict possible environmental, social and economic consequences. The objective of this work was to identify the interference of the increase in ambient temperature in the dynamics of fluids, such as ocean waves advancing over the continent. For this, thermal energy was considered in the Saint-Venant equations and computational implementations were performed via Lax-Friedrichs and Adams-Moulton methods. The results indicated that, in fact, depending on the amount of thermal energy transferred to the fluid, the advance of water towards the continent can occur, even in places where such a phenomenon has never been observed.

Association between the Way of Being Scolded and Self-Esteem in University Students

Self-esteem is an important factor in the rise of depression cases among children and adolescents. In order to build self-esteem, it is important for parents to respect their children, acknowledge their value, and always encourage them, as well as for teachers to acknowledge their character and ability, in addition to allowing them to experience success. At the same time, voices calling for parents and teachers to rediscover their willingness and responsibility to scold children when necessary have also been growing. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the association between self-esteem and the way of scolding. With 311 university students as the study subjects, self-esteem and the relevant factors thereof were evaluated. As a result, no association was observed between the way of being scolded and self-esteem. Moreover, the reasons for being scolded were also not associated with self-esteem. However, regarding the association between the degree of acceptance (convinced by the way of being scolded) and self-esteem, it was revealed that student groups with higher self-esteem had a higher degree of acceptance. This suggested that self-esteem is associated with whether or not the people being scolded are convinced, as opposed to the way of being scolded or the reason for being scolded. Therefore, it was suggested that building a good relationship with those you scold is more important than the way of scolding.

线性阻尼Boussinesq方程解的Phragmén-Lindelof二择一性

研究一类含有双调和算子的双曲方程解的空间性态.利用能量方法,构造一个能量表达式,推导出该能量表达式所满足的二阶微分不等式,通过求解该不等式,得到解的Phragmén-Lindelof型的二择一结果.该结果表明,Saint-Venant原则对于线性阻尼Boussinesq方程同样适用.

A Dialectical Way between Literal and Free Translation:Taking the Translation of English Similes as an Exemplar

Simile,as an important figure of speech,is widely used in various texts.And it has its own feature and different subtypes,which require that the translation methods-literal translation and free translation should be adopted dialectically in accordance with the content or form of the similes.Actually,free translation based on literal translation is much better even though adding some extensions or footnotes is employed,too.

Cosmic Contributions to the Deposition of Petroleum Source Rocks: Review and Analysis

The development of globally distributed Phanerozoic petroleum source rocks is concentrated on time intervals, which correlate convincingly with climatic driven glaciation epochs of Earth’s history, repeated every 150 million years, and during sea level high stands and maxima of global magmatism with a period of 300 million years. The 150 million year periodicity appears to be related to the path of the solar system through the spiral arms of the Milky Way and the 300 million year periodicity to changes of the spiral system. The spiral arms are preferred birth places of new stars, of which the larger ones have only smaller lifespans. Their preliminary deaths ended with explosions and selectively with the development of so-called white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes. The times of the explosions of intermediate (sun-like) stars can be determined by measuring the present brightness of the dwarfs. Not surprisingly the last two maxima of recordable near solar system star explosions took place during the presumably spiral arms driven glacial epochs in Eocene to present and Upper Jurassic times. Such near solar system star explosions may have been the source of intense neutrino showers, cosmic rays and star dust. This dust contained all kinds of chemical elements, including phosphorus and uranium. Such cosmic phosphorus may have supported, through fertilizing, the distribution of life on Earth additionally to local phosphorus resources via bloom of biota in lakes and oceans and the enhanced growth of plants on land across all climatic zones. Subsequently it maintained the development of petroleum source rocks of all organic matter types within black shales and coals. Via the distribution of remnants of exploding stars—mainly white dwarfs, but neutron stars and black holes have to be counted as well—a cosmic contribution can therefore casually linked to the deposition of petroleum source rocks on Earth, not only purely correlatively by their contemporaneous appearances.

About the Strange Tree Paradox and Possible Inconsistency of Set Theory

The existence of “strange trees” is proven and their paradoxical nature is discussed, due to which set theory is suspected of being contradictory. All proofs rely on informal set-theoretic reasoning, but without using elements that were prohibited in axiomatic set theories in order to overcome the difficulties encountered by Cantor’s naive set theory. Therefore, in fact, the article deals with the possible inconsistency of existing axiomatic set theories, in particular, the ZFC theory. Strange trees appear when uncountable cardinals appear.

Research on the construction path of the megacity from the perspective of Nudge Theory:Empirical evidence of the“Park City”construction in Chengdu Tianfu New Area

The transformation of Chengdu Tianfu New Area,a state-level new district,from the first site of constructing the“Park City”to the representative of the“Park City”,contains a unique path of“Chinese Style Governance”.To expand the diverse paths of constructing megacities,the current research references the nudge theory of behavioral science,adopts the extended case method,and takes Chengdu Tianfu New Area as a typical case to summarize the“nudge”path of“Party City”construction.The study found that the government achieves the lock-in effect by the priming mechanism and uses the nudge strategy of improving environment and guiding public opinion,thereby helping the people make free choices.It realizes the framework effect by the salience mechanism and uses the strategies of highlighting key information and optimizing information delivery methods,which directly affects the behavior of the public.It achieves the commitment effect by the comparison mechanism,including the horizontal comparison and vertical comparison strategies,and gradually realizes the policy goals.It realizes the social norm effect by the imitation mechanism and uses the strategies of creating peer pressure and playing celebrity effect,which in turn influence people’s choices.With the help of the“nudging”mechanism,the construction of the park city has realized the interactive cycle of“government output-citizen feedback”and achieved the goal of“making great change through small actions”.As a new behavioral intervention tool,“nudging”provides an alternative explanation for the construction of the park city in Tianfu New Area and opens up new ideas for the construction of megacities.This study concludes that the construction of megacities can achieve the goal of“common return”through different ways and provides practical inspiration for future urban construction.

Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Misoprostol and Oxytocin Im in the Prevention of Post-Partum haemorrhage in a Low-Resource Setting

Background: In developing countries, postpartum hemorrhage is responsible for 30% of maternal deaths. Although the World Health Organization recommends the use of oxytocin for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, the use of misoprostol is increasingly common. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of postpartum hemorrhage in parturients delivering at Saint-Vincent Hospital and to compare the effectiveness of misoprostol use versus oxytocin in preventing postpartum hemorrhage. Material and Methods: We conducted a comparative longitudinal study at the Saint Vincent Hospital comparing 10 units of intramuscular oxytocin with 600 micrograms of sublingual misoprostol. The study was conducted from 01 January 2017 to 31 December 2019, a period of 3 years. The study population consisted of 2161 consenting women. Of these, 1289 received 10 IU of intramuscular oxytocin and 872 received 600 micrograms of misoprostol. The collected data were entered using Microsoft Excel 2013 and analysed using SPSS version 21 software. Results: The frequency of administration of Misoprostol and oxytocin in parturients was 40.4% and 59.6% respectively in this study. One hundred and fourteen cases of postpartum hemorrhage (114/2161 or 5.3%) were noted among the parturients. The average age of parturients who received oxytocin was 24.36 ± 4.45 years vs 24.63 ± 5.11 years among parturients who received Misoprostol;(p = 0.190). The mean parity was 2.52 ± 1.46 vs 2.66 ± 1.44;(p = 0.020). We noted a high proportion (78.3%) of postpartum hemorrhage from the oxytocin group vs. 21.7% from the Misoprostol group (OR 2.5-fold), with a statistically significant difference (p 0.001). We noted high proportions of uterine atony (92.3%) from the oxytocin group vs 7.7% from the Misoprostol group (p = 0.004). Uterine atony was the actual factor associated with postpartum hemorrhage (OR = 10.0895% CI: 1.78 - 57.10;p = 0.009). Conclusion: Misoprostol 600 Microgram administered sublingually immediately after neonatal expulsion and before delivery was 2.5 times more effective than oxytocin 10 IU/IM. Misoprostol is therefore a good alternative to oxytocin and offers more advantages in management, use and outcome than oxytocin.

The Prevalence of Female Genital Bilharziasis (FGB) in the Northern Region of Senegal

Introduction: Female Genital Bilharzia (FGB) is a pathology secondary to infection by Schistosoma haematobium. It is one of the neglected tropical diseases, capable of causing infertility, difficulties in childbirth and even cervical cancer. It represents a real public health problem. We therefore conducted a study in the maternity ward of the Saint-Louis regional hospital, with the overall aim of determining the prevalence of FBG in patients undergoing colposcopy. The specific objectives were to define the patient profile, and to compare colposcopic images with the World Health Organization (WHO) atlas. Methodology: We conducted a descriptive, analytical cross-sectional study of all colposcopic images taken at the maternity ward of the Saint-Louis regional hospital from August 1, 2018, to September 30, 2020, i.e. 25 months. The images were compared with the BGF images described in the WHO atlas. Results: We collected 178 colposcopy images. FBG images numbered 50, or 28%. The mean age of the patients was 44.5 years ±11.4 at the extremes of 18 and 78 years. Mean gestational age was 4.69 ± 2.72. Among patients with a bilharzian lesion on the cervix, visual acid inspection (VIA) was negative in 60% of cases (p = 0.007, Odd Ratio = 3.6 (1.49 - 9.07)). Conclusion: the results of our study show that FBG is a reality in our daily practice. It occurs in adult, multigestating, non-occupational women whose examination reveals a negative visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Healthcare providers therefore need to be trained in the recognition of lesions associated with genital bilharziasis, and public awareness needs to be raised.

New Way of Predicting Production State by Carbon Isotope Fractionation in the Fuling Shale Gas Field,Southeast Sichuan Basin

Objective With the discovery of the Fuling shale gas field and the realization of commercial exploitation, the prediction of shale gas well production state has attracted wide attention of scholars at home and abroad.

Impact of Urban Anthropogenic Pressures on the Mangrove Forest of Sainte Marie (East Madagascar)

This article demonstrates the urban anthropogenic threats and their impacts on Sainte Marie (Eastern Madagascar) mangrove ecosystem. In addition to conducting interview with 158 residents, floristic inventories were carried out in order to compare the mangrove structure between a control site and another one that was impacted by Belle Vue dyke (south of the District downtown) rehabilitation. From 2003 to 2014, the island of Sainte Marie lost 0.47% per year of its mangrove area. 87% of the harvested resources from this ecosystem are fish products and are related to human nutrition. The mangrove is used as a dumping ground for liquid and solid waste in the lots of Saint Joseph and La Pointe. Defecation in the open air is topical under the island’s mangrove forest. A very weak resilience of the mangrove impacted by the rehabilitation of Belle Vue dyke was noted. Indeed, regenerations of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Ceriops tagal have struggled to rebuild. The total height and diameter of impacted trees decreased by 37.2% and 44.3%, respectively. The development of an updated urban master plan, including mangroves in the related zoning process is an imperative measurement for the conservation and/or valuation of existing lots.

Periodic Signals of the Milky Way Concealed in Terrestrial Sedimentary Basin Fills and in Planetary Magmatism?

Long periodic geodynamic processes with durations between 150 and 600 Million years appear to be in phase with similar galactic cycles, caused by the path of the solar system through the spiral arms of the Milky Way. This path is assumed by some authors to cause climate change due to cosmic ray fluctuations, affecting the cloud formation and the related albedo of the Earth, which periodically lead to glaciations every 150 Ma. With the glaciations, the sea level fluctuates accordingly. Subsequently, the varying sizes of shallow seas are causing periodic changes of the Moon’s?tidal dissipation, which affects presumably other geodynamic processes on the Earth. The Moon?may therefore synchronize directly or indirectly long periodic Phanerozoic cycles (sea level, orogeny, magmatism, sedimentation, etc.) with the Milky Way. As sea level fluctuations, orogeny, sedimentation and magmatism can be described as members of a geodynamic feedback system;no apparent reasons appear to be required to assign a cause of the cyclicity to agents outside of the?galactic-climatically synchronized Earth-Moon system. However, recent observations of young?volcanism on the near Earth terrestrial planets may require a new understanding. Magmatic/volcanic episodes on Venus, Mars and Mercury as well as on the Earth’s Moon are apparently contemporaneous thermal events accompanying increased magmatic/volcanic activities on the?Earth,?following a 300 myr cycle. Therefore, a collateral galactic thermal source within the Milky Way?appears to be needed that only affects the interior of the planets without any recognizable direct?effect on life and geology on the Earth. The search for such a source may lead to astrophysical?questions, related to a spiral arm affected distribution of dark energy, dark matter or even specific?neutrino sources. However, all possible astrophysical answers are outside of the author’s competence.

Study on the Effect of Two-Dimensional Helicopter V-buoy’s Way of Water Entry on Water Impact

To analyze the effect of the way of water entry on water impact, the FLUENT software was adopted to simulate a two-dimensional (2D) helicopter V-buoy’s free fall and forced fall at a constant velocity.Combining with the UDF program and the dynamic mesh model, the standard k-ε turbulence model was used and the VOF technique was adopted to capture free surface.The physical parameters such as velocity and force were calculated and compared with those results of boundary element method with good agreement obtained.It was found that the force of 2D V-buoy at a constant velocity was much greater than that in free fall motion.Meanwhile, the maximum pressure coefficients C p max in both cases were almost equal and the dimensionless water-entry depths y' corresponding to C p max were also similar.