Oran Research Articles

The king of martyrs

AbstractHow can people talk about the past in a deeply fractured society, wounded by two centuries of colonial and postcolonial violence? In Oran—Algeria's second‐largest city—people find creative ways to speak without speaking about unspeakable pasts. They do this by creating poetic parallelism between urban forms—from skeletons of buildings to martyr images—in everyday speech and image‐events. In poetics, parallelism deploys similar linguistic forms to suggest equivalence of meaning for certain effects. In everyday life, parallelism is emergent social action that brings new publics to life through its performance. This parallelism enables ordinary people to talk to each other across entrenched sociopolitical divides, especially in contexts of authoritarian censorship. Through poetic parallelism, Oranis revivify the martyrs of independence as agentive witnesses to their decaying city's housing crisis. In doing so, they reconfigure the relationship between the colonial past and postcolonial present.

Incidence of healthcare-associated infections in intensive care of the emergency department of Oran in Algeria

Introduction. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a serious problem of modern medicine. Patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) develop HAI significantly more often than patients in other hospital units. Materials and Methods. We carried out a retrospective study spread over 2 years from January 2019 to December 2021. Data were collected on a form established with the microbiology department of the the University Hospital center of Oran, sites of nosocomial infection, germs involved, antibiotic resistance. Results: 886 samples were collected during the study period, of which 660 were positive. 270 patients were admitted to hospital during this period. The average age of our patients was 39.4 years. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Klebsiella pneumoniae ,Acinetobacter baumannii ,Staphylococcus aureus ,and Escherichia coli . Conclusion Infection control based on incidence rate for each type of infection is necessary in ICU to assess the epidemiological situation.

Being outside inside Oran: Deconstruction, translation and architecture in Hélène Cixous’s ‘Promised cities’

ABSTRACT ‘I am from Oran. I translate: I am from Hors En [Out In]’ (Cixous 2006, 30). Throughout her autobiographical account entitled ‘Promised Cities’, Hélène Cixous talks about her cities and her many languages. She deconstructs the significant cities of her life, and in particular the city of Oran in Algeria, where she spent her early years at the onset of the Second World War. In this journey across former cities, exodus cities, cities of the past, reconstructed cities, imagined cities, she tells us how personal experience and historical political events have merged at specific locations. Through close reading of ‘Promised Cities’, this essay shows that Cixous’s writing is an embodied practice that extends beyond the French language and embraces cultural multiplicity. Being outside inside Oran, her experience does not follow the delineation of linguistic and national borders, instead Cixous lives in a permanent state of translation, where not only does every language contain the possibility of other languages but every city contains the possibility of other cities. This essay proposes to learn from Cixous’s embodied and situated writing, and her sense of ‘doubly open belonging’, in order to rethink post-colonial identities and architectures in conflicted cities.

Mental illness and destigmatization: the case of Sidi Chami psychiatric hospital of Oran, Algeria

The definition of mental illness, the description of the experience of the subject affected by this disorder, and the decision of what is necessary for the experience of the carrier of this illness are always established by the "healthy" subject, who himself has certainly not experienced living mental illness. In this regard, it is rare and unlikely to refer to the person having this disorder, even if he is completely stabilized and in remission. The patient suffering from mental disorders defines and expresses his disease, and social sufferings secondary to his malaise, in several forms ranging from words to carrying his voice, to destigmatizing himself. In this article, a qualitative study, based on the interpretation of speech and the observation of behavior, we illustrate some cases of subjects with mental disorders followed up at the Sidi Chami Psychiatric Hospital of Oran in Algeria. These patients, as a result of their resilience, have been able to open a new path toward destigmatization.

I AM WHAT I AM YA DA BİR HALK DÜŞMANI / I AM WHAT I AM OR AN ENEMY OF PEOPLE

I AM WHAT I AM YA DA BİR HALK DÜŞMANI / I AM WHAT I AM OR AN ENEMY OF PEOPLE

A novel Niallia nealsonii Bacteria Degrading Phenol Isolated From Oum Ghellaz Lake Shore Soil in Northern Algeria

A new indigenous soil phenol-degrading bacterium strain S2 was successfully isolated from Oum ghellaz lake shore soil in Oran in Algeria. Based on its morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, the strain S2 was characterized as a Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, forms endospores, and short rod-shaped bacterium that utilizes phenol as a sole carbon and energy source also other phenolic compounds. 16SrDNA sequence analysis revealed that this strain is belongs to

SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION: A BUREAUCRATIC OBLIGATION OR AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Since the 1980s, education policies in many European countries have aimed at decentralization by giving educational institutions greater autonomy and responsibility for overseeing the quality of the provided education, while introducing or intensifying accountability measures. During recent years, an effort was made in Greece to promote the institutionalization of school self-evaluation and to enable the continuous assessment of education quality. Nevertheless, evaluation remains inactive or is partially implemented. Self-evaluation can be described as a process that starts from the school itself, in which carefully selected participants make a systematic description and evaluation of its operation, in order to make decisions or take initiatives for overall school development. In self-evaluation the initiative lies primarily with the school itself which chooses the means to be used and the participants. Because self-evaluation is conducted for the purpose of school improvement, stakeholder involvement, open school climate development, and transparency become critical factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the attitudes of teachers working in a secondary education special school on the necessity and the prospects of self-evaluation in the Greek educational system and on how it should be designed and implemented to improve education quality. For this purpose, we conducted qualitative research using semi-structured interviews. Our research results show that if we want self-evaluation to be an essential tool, not just a bureaucratic obligation, it should focus on responsibility sharing and on promoting the collective character of all stakeholders involved in the educational process. Self-evaluation should help develop relationships of dialogue and cooperation, and a climate of trust among those involved, aiming not to control but to improve education. That is, to identify weaknesses and problems and to create the conditions for the improvement of educational practices by introducing innovative actions. At the same time, teachers should be given the opportunity for continuous feedback, which will enable improved planning and implementation of the related pedagogical interventions.

Influence of hepatic Graft-Versus-Host-Disease (GVHD) on the pharmacokinetics of ciclosporin in a case of acute myeloid leukemia treated at the EHU Oran

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant blood disease that affects hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow. The best treatment for AML is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSC). To prevent and treat the main complication of allogeneic marrow transplant, graft versus host disease (GVHD), it is necessary to combine immunosuppressive therapy which includes ciclosporin (CsA). The objective of our work is to study the influence of hepatic GVHD on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporin in an AMLcase. This is an allografted patient (CSH), presented to our Pharmacovigilance department at the EHU of Oran in Algeria, with the aim of carrying out therapeutic pharmacological monitoring (TPM) of ciclosporin. We proceeded to assay for residual ciclosporinaemia from D1 of the allogeneic transplant. The patient presented a fluctuation of the trough concentrations, the explanation of which was an onset of acute hepatic GVHD, confirmed by biopsy with an elevated hepatic function, which represents an incidence varying between 10 and 50% in patients receiving transplant from a genoidentical donor. Without forgetting the great inter-individual and intra-individual variability of the response to ciclosporin, the environmental and pathological factors and the numerous drug interactions which can be the cause of modification of the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics of this drug. In conclusion, the pharmacological monitoring of cyclosporin, which is the treatment of choice to prevent or treat GVHD, is mandatory due to its low therapeutic index and high inter- and intra-individual variability.

Trend detection of hydroclimatic parameters in central coastal basin of Oran in Algeria: is there any impact on water resources?

Trend detection of hydroclimatic parameters in central coastal basin of Oran in Algeria: is there any impact on water resources?

GEOMETRIC ENHANCEMENT OF THE OPENSTREETMAP ROAD NETWORK

Abstract. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project to create a free and editable map of the world. You can think of OSM as the 'Wikipedia' of cartography. An important geospatial component of this database is the road network quality, which is important for applications such as routing and navigation.The objective of this work is the geometric enhancement of the OSM road network using a standard national map as a reference. We use two transformation methods, the global transformation and the local transformation (Delaunay triangulation).This study aims to present a new approach to improve the OSM road network geometrically. To this end, we present a three-step approach based on two techniques that leads to the enhancement of the geometric accuracy of the OSM road network. The first step is the global transformation of the OSM road network. The second step consists of applying the local transformation (Delaunay triangulation) on the OSM road network. In the last step, a comparison between the two methods is examined by calculating the mean and the standard deviation of the checkpoints in order to justify which is the best technique for the geometric enhancement of the OSM road network. We will be particularly interested in the application of this approach in the geometric enhancement / correction where each node of the OSM network will have a newly calculated position. Both approaches have been tested in the region of Oran in Algeria as testing example. The reference data is a city map produced by the National Institute of Cartography and Remote Sensing (INCT) in 2006. The proposed techniques show a clear improvement in geometric accuracy.

Impact of Meteorological Parameters on the COVID-19 Incidence: The Case of the City of Oran, Algeria

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the major countries of the world has become a serious threat to the health of all human beings. A better understanding of the effective parameters in infection spreading can bring about a logical measurement toward COVID-19. Among these parameters, we find the climatic factors that can play an important role in the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. We have studied this phenomenon in the city of Oran in Algeria, which experienced its first case of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020. In this study, the main parameters, including the number of infected people with COVID-19, the average, minimum and maximum temperatures, the relative humidity rate and the wind intensity. A first analysis of the data with a Spearman rank correlation test did not yield significant results. Taking into account the average incubation period to adjust the data made it possible, during a second analysis, to show that the minimum temperature is significantly correlated with the new cases of COVID-19 in Oran city, but further studies over longer periods with additional parameters are needed to better understand this matter.

Highlighting the Crude Oil Bioremediation Potential of Marine Fungi Isolated from the Port of Oran (Algeria)

While over hundreds of terrestrial fungal genera have been shown to play important roles in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons, few studies have so far focused on the fungal bioremediation potential of petroleum in the marine environment. In this study, the culturable fungal communities occurring in the port of Oran in Algeria, considered here as a chronically-contaminated site, have been mainly analyzed in terms of species richness. A collection of 84 filamentous fungi has been established from seawater samples and then the fungi were screened for their ability to utilize and degrade crude oil. A total of 12 isolates were able to utilize crude oil as a unique carbon source, from which 4 were defined as the most promising biodegrading isolates based on a screening test using 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol as a proxy to highlight their ability to metabolize crude oil. The biosurfactant production capability was also tested and, interestingly, the oil spreading and drop-collapse tests highlighted that the 4 most promising isolates were also those able to produce the highest quantity of biosurfactants. The results generated in this study demonstrate that the most promising fungal isolates, namely Penicillium polonicum AMF16, P. chrysogenum AMF47 and 2 isolates (AMF40 and AMF74) affiliated to P. cyclopium, appear to be interesting candidates for bioremediation of crude oil pollution in the marine environment within the frame of bioaugmentation or biostimulation processes.

Where do you come from, stranger? A scientific-historical digression with discussion on nomenclature and taxonomy of Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758

It is shown that the location data for the terra typica restricta ofTestudo graecaand for the terra typica designata forTestudo graecaare based on an incorrectly assigned location. In fact, the original place corresponds to Santa Cruz, known today as Agadir (Morocco) and not the old Spanish fortress of Santa Cruz near Oran in Algeria. Accordingly, populations ofTestudo graecafrom the Agadir environment have to be namedTestudo graeca graecainstead ofTestudo graeca soussensis. For the populations ofTestudo graecafrom the vicinity of Algiers, “mauritanica” is the next available name for this subspecies ofgraeca. Therefore,Testudo graeca mauritanicahas to be used instead ofTestudo graeca graeca. ForTestudo graeca mauritanica, a lectotypus is designated.

Reproductive cycle and follicle cleaning process of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from a polluted coastal site in Algeria

ABSTRACTThis work focused on the reproductive cycle and cleaning process of follicles in Mytilus galloprovincialis and aimed to extend knowledge of the reproductive cycles of Mytilidae. Biometric and histological measurements were taken monthly over 12 months from mussels at a polluted site, the port of Oran in Algeria. Environmental parameters were monitored concomitantly. Mytilus galloprovincialis reproduced throughout the year, with a main spawning period between November and February and a second between March and June. Several follicle cleaning processes were observed throughout the reproductive cycle. They occurred under two circumstances. First, in the absence of reserve tissues, mature gametes were degraded. This happened when spawning was about to end and corresponded to the last stage of reproduction. Second, atresia, gamete degeneration and a cessation of spawning occurred whatever the stage of the gonad development and whatever the environmental parameter values. These disturbances of reproduction may have resulted from pollution in the port of Oran and increased when temperature exceeded critical thresholds for gametogenesis. To conclude, gamete degeneration and spawning cessation because of coastal pollution and global warming could threaten M. galloprovincialis recruitment, and ultimately the shellfish economy, and could distort biomonitoring strategies using mussels.

Comorbidity schizophrenia and diabetes mellitus in Algeria-A study of risk factors

The combination of schizophrenia and diabetes mellitus presents a public health problem in the world. Several studies have been carried out for the analysis of this comorbidity, including prognostic factors. The objective of our study is to determine the risk factors associated with the comorbidity schizophrenia and diabetes mellitus. From a sample of 200cases of schizophrenic patients hospitalized at the Sidi Chami psychiatric hospital of Oran in Algeria, we carried out a descriptive transversal and analytical study during the period of one year. Our results are consistent with those of the different studies carried out in neighboring countries. Among the risk factors recorded in our study, we mention the age of 40and over, divorce, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, overweight and severe and moderate obesity, the age of schizophrenia of 30to 40years, the first-generation neuroleptic treatment and family history related to diabetes. While the male sex, celibacy and second-generation neuroleptics were found in the study as protective factors against the onset of diabetes mellitus in schizophrenic patients. The factors associated with comorbidity schizophrenia and type 2diabetes are manifold. These factors must be taken into account when introducing preventive behaviors that must be multidisciplinary in order to ensure better patient care.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN ASSUMPTION OR AN INEVITABLE TOOL

The conventional face-to-face lectures was effective decades ago in Higher Education. However, its efficacy is being questioned, nowadays, for the Generation Z and Millenials. The latter are technology-savvy and ‘always connected.’ It is becoming more and more challenging to retain students’ attention using traditional lectures as they are ‘known’ to be multi-tasking. Often, when one would be delivering a lecture, one can notice students getting bored, or diverted by their smartphones. This paper addresses a potential way of increasing students’ engagement in class by introducing Flipped classroom in Higher Education, particularly for the BA (Hons) Advertising, Public Relations and Media at the Middlesex University. Flipped classroom was chosen as recent studies (Steen-Utheim and Foldness, 2018; Gilboy et al, 2015; Pierce and Fox, 2002) had proved beneficial. A simple model of Action Research methodology (Dan, 1996), that consisted of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, was used. Video lectures were sent to students, for them to watch outside the classroom setting. During the actual face-to-face time, they were given practical exercises so that they had more hands-on experience. An observation of the practical session followed by a reflection on the feedback from the student lead to some critical findings. Most of them enjoyed the flipped classroom as they were able to watch the videos ‘several times’ and they learnt ‘innovatively’. Nevertheless, the major drawback was that there were some students who were not watching the video lectures at home. These led to future scope of research in the field.

AN UNCOMMON PRESENTATION, AN UNUSUAL ASSOCIATION: A STROKE, DEMYELINATING DISORDER, OR AN INFECTION?

SESSION TITLE: Critical Care 1 SESSION TYPE: Med Student/Res Case Rep Postr PRESENTED ON: 10/09/2018 01:15 PM - 02:15 PM INTRODUCTION: Rhombencephalitis, a rare manifestation of listeria is seen in immunocompetent young adults. Reverse takotsubo(r-TTC) is an unusual association described with listeria rhombencephalitis (LRE). CASE PRESENTATION: A 42-year-old Brazilian female with medical history of migraine presented with headache, nausea, vomiting, photophobia, left facial numbness and fevers for four days. Physical findings remarkable for bilateral horizontal nystagmus, left facial numbness and left upper extremity dysdiadochokinesia. Multiple lower cranial nerves were involved subsequently leading to compromised airway, hypoxia, orotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. She was treated with ceftriaxone, vancomycin and acyclovir initially. Later ampicillin and double strength trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (DS-TMP/SMZ) were added based on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain results. MRI revealed a ring-enhancing central T1 hypointense lesion in the left cerebral peduncle with extension to posterolateral pons and medulla suspicious for LRE. Chest computerized tomography (CT) was suggestive of pulmonary edema. Echocardiography revealed left ventricular global hypokinesis sparing the apex suggestive of r-TTC. Given her worsening hemiparesis and altered mentation, dexamethasone was initiated on day 4 and continued for seven days. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid culture (CSF) were negative. However, CSF polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed the diagnosis of listeria. Subsequently all antimicrobials were discontinued except ampicillin and DS-TMP/SMZ. A gradual recovery of mentation and hemiparesis was evident. Echocardiography on day 9 showed improvement in the ejection fraction (50-55%). She underwent tracheostomy and subsequently weaned from mechanical ventilation. She was then discharged to acute rehabilitation where she completed 6 weeks of DS-TMP/SMZ and ampicillin. DISCUSSION: Mortality with LRE is high and approaches 51%. CSF culture is the gold standard for diagnosis. Real time PCR, a reliable diagnostic modality is relatively new but not widely available. MRI brain is the preferred radiological investigation. Prognosis depends on timely diagnosis and therapy. rTTC, a form of stress-induced myocardial injury is reversible with recovery from the inciting illness. The role of dexamethasone is controversial and lacks supporting evidence except as reported in case series. In retrospect, corticosteroid was probably beneficial in our patient. Increased penetration into the meninges and bactericidal properties of the ampicillin plus DS-TMP/SMZ combination is an effective therapy for LRE. CONCLUSIONS: LRE is a life-threatening illness and warrants early diagnosis and management in order prevent adverse outcomes and minimize morbidity. Stress related cardiomyopathy, a well-known entity needs prompt identification and supportive therapy. Reference #1: Armstrong RW, Fung PC. Brainstem encephalitis (rhombencephalitis) due to Listeria monocytogenes: case report and review. Clinical Infectious Diseases. The University of Chicago Press; 1993;16(5):689–702. Reference #2: Ruggieri F, Cerri M, Beretta L. Infective rhomboencephalitis and inverted Takotsubo: neurogenic-stunned myocardium or myocarditis? The American journal of emergency medicine. Elsevier; 2014;32(2):191–e1. Reference #3: Merle-Melet M, Dossou-Gbete L, Maurer P, Meyer P, Lozniewski A, Kuntzburger O, et al. Is amoxicillin-cotrimoxazole the most appropriate antibiotic regimen for listeria meningoencephalitis? Review of 22 cases and the literature. Journal of Infection. Elsevier; 1996;33(2):79–85. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Ricardo de la Villa, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Alejandro Diaz Chavez, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Raymonde Jean, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Sathish Pondaiah, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Christine Stavropoulos, source=Web Response

Urban Road Network Extraction from Remote Sensing Images Using an Improved F* Algorithm

A city mapping is essential to various applications such as planning, transport management, vehicle navigation, intervention in natural disasters, etc…. For convenience and efficiency, such applications are integrated in a Geographical Information System (GIS) (Bendouda and Berrached, in Etude et realisation d’UREGIS un SIG pour la gestion du reseau routier urbain, Magister Thesis, University of Sciences and Technology of Oran Algeria 2009). GIS Map needs real time automatic updating and revisions of the road network databases. However, due to the extreme complexity of the urban environment, there are currently many methods involving the extraction of roads by means of automatic or semi-automatic approaches in rural and sub-urban areas; but in urban environment the majority of these methods failed, due to the complexity of this environment and the complex appearance of the road in the remotely sensed image. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to extract road network in urban area from low resolution satellite images. The proposed method is a modified version of the dynamic programming method for semi-automatic extraction of road network, based on the F* algorithm. The preliminary step is the seeding of points belonging to roads. F* detects the segments that may belong to a road by optimizing certain criteria. Given the complexity of urban areas and the existence of different road categories, we propose an improved version of the classical algorithm F* called PR-F*(Parallel Research-F*). It detects the road segments automatically in many directions. The obtained results are evaluated in terms of quality with respect to completeness and correctness.

Congenital heart disease management problems in the hospitalo-university center of Oran Algeria

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is extremely diverse, ranging from the simple abnormality allowing the growth of the child without any problem until the serious malformation, incompatible with the survival of the newborn. Their incidences and frequencies are clearly increasing in our country. To have data on the frequency of CHD and the care of children hospitalized in our unit with CHD. Retrospective study of 164 files, hospitalized during the period from January 2014 to December 2015, the diagnosis was done by echocardiography coupled with Doppler. Frequency of hospitalization of CHD was 80%, with extremes 2 days to 15 years, sex-ratio = 0.9. Left-to-right shunts are the most frequent 99 cases, (60 ventricular septal defect, 17 atrioventricular canal, 5 cases of patent ductus arteriosus, 8 atrial septal defect). The most frequent cyanogenic congenital heart (18 tetralogy of Fallop, 7 transposition of the great arteries). The obstacles on the aorta (5 coarctation), obstacles on the pulmonary artery (5 pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect, 3 pulmonary atresia with intact septum) and 27 cases of complex heart disease. Only 31 patients were operated, 27 died, 20 complicated by Eisenmenger syndrom due to a lack of technical platform and to a diagnostic delay, due to lack of cardio-pediatrician training associated with surgery delay. Congenital heart disease presents a problem of diagnostic and therapeutic management in particular surgical. This study gives a reflection on the congenital cardiopathy in Algeria should help to attract the attention of the country's public authorities on the need to set up a national program for the management of this type of heart disease.

Inégalités et discrimination à l’embauche sur le marché du travail algérien

Nous présentons les résultats d’un test de correspondance destiné à mesurer l’effet du genre sur la probabilité de convocation à un entretien d’embauche dans la région d’Oran en Algérie. Le protocole expérimental consiste à répondre à des offres d’emploi dans le domaine de la comptabilité par 300 candidatures fictives de profil identique que seul le genre distingue. Contrairement à ce qui est souvent admis, la discrimination brute et conditionnelle révèle un net favoritisme à l’égard des candidatures féminines pour les différents postes considérés de la profession comptable, laquelle s’avère en tension. Au-delà de ce paradoxe de discrimination positive en faveur des femmes, l’explication peut résider dans l’acceptation présumée de salaires inférieurs par les femmes, conduisant à un cantonnement dans des emplois peu qualifiés.