Three COVID-19 cases with a long-term viral shedding period in Tunisia.

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a public health emergency of international concern. This was first emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and then has become widespread all over the world. We report 3 cases (2 imported cases and 1 local case) with documented viral shedding (based on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing) of SARS-CoV-2 for 55, 59 and 63 days. Viral shedding duration was defined as the date of return from the COVID-19 pandemic countries for imported cases and from the first positive RT-PCR test for local cases, up to the second negative nasopharyngeal RT-PCR swab. These cases demonstrate that viral shedding after COVID-19 diagnosis can be prolonged.

ATIP3 deficiency facilitates intracellular accumulation of paclitaxel to reduce cancer cell migration and lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients.

Taxane-based chemotherapy is frequently used in neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients to reduce tumor growth and lymph node metastasis. However, few patients benefit from chemotherapy and predictive biomarkers of chemoresistance are needed. The microtubule-associated protein ATIP3 has recently been identified as a predictive biomarker whose low levels in breast tumors are associated with increased sensitivity to chemotherapy. In this study, we investigated whether ATIP3 deficiency may impact the effects of paclitaxel on cancer cell migration and lymph node metastasis. Expression levels of ATIP3 were analyzed in a cohort of 133 breast cancer patients and classified according to lymph node positivity following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Results showed that low ATIP3 levels are associated with reduced axillary lymph node metastasis. At the functional level, ATIP3 depletion increases cell migration, front-rear polarity and microtubule dynamics at the plus ends, but paradoxically sensitizes cancer cells to the inhibitory effects of paclitaxel on these processes. ATIP3 silencing concomitantly increases the incorporation of fluorescent derivative of Taxol along the microtubule lattice. Together our results support a model in which alterations of microtubule plus ends dynamics in ATIP3-deficient cells may favor intracellular accumulation of paclitaxel, thereby accounting for increased breast tumor sensitivity to chemotherapy.

Prediction of cardiovascular events in primary Health care: a cross sectional study (Monastir-Tunisia).

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to determine the prediction of cardiovascular events in patients with hypertension and diabetes using the 10-year Framingham score. METHODS: We conducted a cross sectional study in two primary health care centers in Monastir. We included patients with at least one conventional cardiovascular factors. Prediction of cardiovascular event were expressed by median and inter quartile range. RESULTS: We included 409 patients. Age mean was 64 years (SD: 12.3), the sex ratio was 0.44. Patients with type 2 Diabetes were 278 (68%) and 295 had hypertension (72.1%). The global risk prediction at 10 years for cardiovascular diseases was 26.3%, It was 36.6% (26.4-46.8) for tobacco users, 29.7% (18.2-42.5) for patients with hypertension and 29.1 % (18.8-43.3) for those with diabetes. It increased significantly with the number of cardiovascular risk factors. The risk prediction for cardiovascular events, were significantly higher in men than in women (p < 0.01) and in non-controlled patients than in controlled patients (p <0.001). The risk prediction for cardiovascular diseases death was 3.6% (1.3-8.6). CONCLUSION: Thirty percent of patients with hypertension or diabetes will develop cardiovascular diseases in 10 years. We suggest renforcing preventive actions to balance cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension and diabetes.

Estimation of soil air permeability components at a laboratory-scale pilot.

Soil air permeability is a key parameter in the design of soil vapour extraction. The purpose of this study is to verify the applicability of different analytical solutions, developed to determine soil characteristics in field conditions, to estimate soil air permeability in a small-scale pilot, since field testing may be expensive. A laboratory tridirectional pilot and a unidirectional column were designed in order to achieve the objectives of this work. Use of a steady-state unconfined analytical solution was found to be an appropriate method to determine soil air permeability components for the pilot conditions. Using pressure data collected under open, steady-state conditions, the average values of radial and vertical permeability were found to be, respectively, 9.97 x 10(-7) and 8.74 x 10(-7) cm2. The use of semi-confined analytical solutions may not be suitable to estimate soil parameters since a significant difference was observed between simulated and observed vacuums. Air permeability was underestimated when transient solutions were used, in comparison with methods based on steady-state solutions. The air radial and vertical permeability was found to be, respectively, 7.06 x 10(-7) and 4.93 x 10(-7) cm2, in the open scenario, and 2.30 x 10(-7) and 1.51 x 10(-7) cm2 in the semi-confined scenario. However, a good estimate of soil porosity was achieved using the two transient methods. The average values were predicted to be 0.482, in the open scenario, and 0.451 in the semi-confined scenario, which was in good agreement with the real value.