Arabic and Linguistic Authority: Studies in Programming

This article begins with Madkour saying that ancient linguists "could not shake off the constraints of the past, and did not dare record anything of the language of the 20th century. They could not have done it, and the question requires greater authority and a stronger linguistic argument." This article analyzes his dictum "the greatest authority and the strongest linguistic argument", assuming that linguists did not primarily aim to dominate the language, especially since their effort was limited to presenting a descriptive study of the Arabic and to extract normative rules from it

Cancer de la prostate au Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Aristidie Le Dantec de Dakar : aspects épidemiologiques sur les cinq dernières années: Prostate cancer in Aristide Le Dantec hospital of Dakar: epidemiological aspects over the last five years

Context and objective. Prostate cancer represents a major public health issue, but data from sub-Saharan Africa are scarce. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological aspects of prostate cancer during the last five years in Aristide Le Decantec hospital of Dakar. Methods. it’s a retrospective and descriptive study involving 5 last years including all patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer. The studied parameters were: prevalence, incidence, age, clinical stage, lethality and death rate. Results. Two hundred and thirty-three patients were enrolled. The prevalence of prostate cancer during the study period was 0.8%. Depending on the stage, metastatic cancer was the most common form with 45.9% of cases. The new cases were 199 with an average of 39.8 per year. The total incidence of prostate cancer over the study period was 0.7%. The mean age of the patients at the diagnosis time was 68.6 ± 9.2 years. The lethality was 0.5%. The global death rate was 0.9 ‰. The specific death rate was 0.9‰. The annual mortality rate was higher in 2017 (36.4%) compared to other years. Depending on the stage, the death rate was higher in metastatic stages patients. Conclusion. The incidence of prostate cancer is increasing in our medical center. Metastatic forms remain more common with higher death rate. Early detection campaigns for prostate cancer should be considered. Contexte et objectif. Le cancer de la prostate représente un enjeu majeur de santé publique et mais il reste très peu documenté en Afrique subsaharienne. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer les aspects épidémiologiques du cancer de la prostate sur les 5 dernières années dans notre centre. Méthodes. Il s’agissait d’une étude documentaire et descriptive sur 5 ans ayant colligé les dossiers de tous les patients avec cancer de la prostate histologiquement confirmé. Les paramètres étudiés étaient : la prévalence, l’incidence, l’âge, le stade clinique, la létalité et la mortalité. Résultats. Deux cent trente-trois patients ont été retenus. La prévalence du cancer de la prostate durant la période étudiée était de 0,8%. En fonction du stade, le stade de cancer métastatique était prépondérant (45,9%). Les nouveaux cas étaient de 199, soit une moyenne de 39,8 nouveaux cas par an. L’incidence totale du cancer de la prostate sur la période étudiée était de 0,7%. L’âge moyen des patients au moment du diagnostic était de 68,6 ± 9,2 ans. Le taux létalité était de 0,5%. La mortalité globale était de 0,9‰. Le taux de mortalité annuelle était plus important en 2017 (36,4%) en comparaison aux autres années étudiées. En fonction du stade, le taux de mortalité était plus important pour les stades métastatiques. Conclusion. L’incidence du cancer de la prostate est en augmentation dans notre centre. Les formes métastatiques restent prédominantes assombrissant le pronostic vital. Des campagnes de dépistage précoce du cancer de la prostate sont à envisager

Knowledge of obstetric fistula prevention amongst young women in urban and rural Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study

Obstetric fistula is a sequela of complicated labour, which, if untreated, leaves women handicapped and socially excluded. In Burkina Faso, incidence of obstetric fistula is 6/10,000 cases amongst gynaecological patients, with more patients affected in rural areas. This study aims to evaluate knowledge on obstetric fistula among young women in a health district of Burkina Faso, comparing rural and urban communities. This cross-sectional study employed multi-stage sampling to include 121 women aged 18-20 years residing in urban and rural communities of Boromo health district. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to compare differences between the groups and to identify predictors of observed knowledge levels. Rural women were more likely to be married (p<0.000) and had higher propensity to teenage pregnancy (p=0.006). The survey showed overall poor obstetric fistula awareness (36%). Rural residents were less likely to have adequate preventive knowledge than urban residents [OR=0.35 (95%-CI, 0.16–0.79)]. This effect was only slightly explained by lack of education [OR=0.41 (95%-CI, 0.18–0.93)] and only slightly underestimated due to previous pregnancy [OR=0.27 (95%-CI, 0.09–0.79)]. Media were the most popular source of awareness amongst urban young women in contrast to their rural counterparts (68% vs. 23%). Most rural young women became ‘aware’ through word-of-mouth (68% vs. 14%). All participants agreed that the hospital was safer for emergency obstetric care, but only 11.0% believed they could face pregnancy complications that would require emergency treatment. There is urgent need to increase emphasis on neglected health messages such as the risks of obstetric fistula. In this respect, obstetric fistula prevention programs need to be adapted to local contexts, whether urban or rural, and multi-sectoral efforts need to be exerted to maximise use of other sectoral resources and platforms, including existing routine health services and schools, to ensure sustainability of health literacy efforts

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Chapitre 12. Insécurités et rumeurs autour des ruées vers l’or

Depuis 2014, le Sahara nigérien connaît de véritables ruées vers l’or, si bien que l’orpaillage constitue aujourd’hui une ressource importante pour toute une population qui, sans cela, serait sans emploi. Mais l’insécurité qui règne dans cette zone rend les sites aurifères inaccessibles aux chercheurs qui doivent, pour les appréhender, adopter une méthodologie originale, fondée sur l’enquête à distance et l’analyse des rumeurs.Since 2014, in Niger the Sahara Desert has been experiencing gold rushes with the result that gold panning is now an essential resource for a population that would be otherwise unemployed. But the insecurity reigning in the region renders gold sites inaccessible to researchers who must, in order to study them, adopt an original methodology incorporating studies at a distance and rumor analysis

Insécurités et rumeurs autour des ruées vers l'or : les difficultés d'une enquête à distance dans le Sahara nigérien

International audienc

Un modèle à base d’agents sur la transmission et la diffusion de la fièvre de la Vallée du Rift à Barkédji (Ferlo, Sénégal)

La fièvre de la vallée du Rift (FVR) est une maladie vectorielle mais aussi une zoonose affectant les ruminants et l’homme, avec des conséquences importantes sur l’économie de l’élevage. Divers initiatives de recherche liées aux aspects entomologiques, climatiques, environnementales, économiques de cette maladie sont notées. Cependant, aucune étude préalable n’a eu une vue d’ensemble de tous ces facteurs pour mieux comprendre la propagation de cette maladie. Cela souligne la nécessité de faire l’usage d’un modèle agents dans l’étude de la transmission des maladies vectorielles. Dans ce papier, un modèle à base d’agents est utilisé pour étudier le cycle de transmission et l’impact des paramètres climatiques sur l’émergence de la fièvre de la vallée du Rift à Barkedji dans le Ferlo au Nord du Sénégal. Des scénarii de simulation combinant différents paramètres (qualité et espacement de la pluie, agressivité, mortalité et préférence écologique des vecteurs, dispersion des campements autour des mares etc.) ont été déroulés. Les résultats des premières simulations, réalisées avec des données de la maladie dans la zone de Barkedji, confirment ceux des études antérieures, à savoir que le déclenchement des épizooties de FVR est lié à de longues pauses pluviométriques suivies d’événements pluvieux de fortes intensités en fin de saison des pluies. Des cartes à risque de transmission combinant la qualité de la saison des pluies et la biologie des vecteurs sont proposées