HUMAN PARAGONIMIASIS IN AFRICA

An up-to-date review on human paragonimiasis in Africa was carried out to determine the current geographical distribution of human cases and analyze the animal reservoir, snails and crustaceans which intervene in the local life cycle of Paragonimus species. Two countries, i.e., Cameroon and Nigeria, were mainly affected by this disease, while the distribution of human cases in the other eight states of the intertropical zone was scattered. Infected patients were currently few in number and two Paragonimus species: P. africanus and P. uterobilateralis, were found. The animal reservoir is mainly constituted by crab-eating mammals. The identity of the host snail remains doubtful and was either a prosobranch, or a land snail. Seven crab species belonging to Callinectes, Liberonautes and Sudanonautes genera are able to harbour paragonimid metacercariae. Due to the current low prevalence of human paragonimiasis recorded in Africa and the high cost of wide-scale screenings for this disease, training of technicians in anti-tuberculosis centers would be the most realistic attitude to detect mycobacteria and/or Paragonimus eggs during the same sputum examinatio

Multivariate statistical analysis of groundwater mineralization in Daloa and Zoukougbeu, central west, Côte d'Ivoire

This study aims to determine the mechanisms of groundwater mineralization in the departments of Daloa and Zoukougbeu (Central West, Côte d’Ivoire). In order to achieve this, a hydrochemical study was carried out from seventeen (17) water samples (wells and sources) collected in March 2018. It was based on the multivariate statistical analysis techniques: The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied to physicochemical parameters. Thus, the average values of temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Turbidity measured in situ in source waters are respectively 27.63°C; 4.81; 84.6 μS / cm; 38.45 mg. L-1 and 40.78 NTU and in well water 27.90°C; 4.78; 81.85μS/cm; 36.61 mg. L-1 and 27.22 NTU. The average concentrations of the major cations Ca2+, Mg2, Na+ and K+ of well water are respectively 2.26; 1.01; 4.58; 1.41 mg. L-1 and those of spring waters 2.18; 1.03; 5.50 and 2.07 mg.L-1. The major anions HCO3-, Cl-, SO42- and NO3- respectively amount to 8.81; 8.28; 5.33 and 7.67 mg.L-1 for well water and 11.77; 8.5; 5.27 and 8.25 mg.L-1 for spring waters. The PCA results show that three phenomena govern the mineralization of these waters. These are the phenomena of mineralization-residence time of water which is acquired by acid hydrolysis of the host rocks, spatial origin of lower quality of water and the grounds throughfall. These phenomena are confirmed by the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). This work is therefore a tool for supporting groundwater management.Keywords: Groundwater, Mineralization, PCA, HCA, Central West, Côte d'Ivoir

The collaborative process of sustainable innovations under the lens of actor–network theory

The development of sustainable innovation (SI) is complex and risky due to the characteristics and diversity of actors involved in its process. Little is known about the collaborative process underlying this development. The objective of the paper is to explore the collaborative mechanisms and dynamics that influence the process and characteristics of sustainable innovations. The translation approach of the actor–network theory is applied to shed light on the collaborative process of two cases of sustainable innovations within small-and medium-sized enterprises. The sociotechnical graph method is used as a methodology to track the mechanisms and compare the dynamics of their processes. The results reveal that the governance characteristic of sustainable innovations and the moment of mobilization are essential aspects of the collaborative processes. They show that, depending on the intensity and systemic impacts of SI, attraction and retention are important mechanisms in the construction of the governance characteristics of SI. A manager who uses these mechanisms during the mobilization of actors, having resources related to the governance characteristics, succeeds in sustainable innovation development. The paper contributes to the literature on sustainability management by linking the ‘becoming’ of sustainable innovations to their collaborative processes. It also informs managers on how to manage the collaborative process of sustainable innovations by relying on a translation approach. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Comparison Between Different Algorithms for Maximum PPT in Photovoltaic Systems and its Implementation on Microcontroller

This paper presents the practical implementation of fuzzy logic control algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in photovoltaic (PV) systems. A prototyping PV system is implemented with a boost DC-DC converter using Microchip® PIC18F452 microcontroller to execute the MPPT algorithms. The common algorithms like perturbation and observation (P&O) and incremental conductance (IncCon.) as well as the proposed fuzzy logic control algorithm are implemented and tested under different conditions, and the test results are analyzed and compared. The results show that the proposed fuzzy logic control algorithm can give better performance than perturbation and observation and incremental conductance algorithms. Keywords: Photovoltaic, Maximum power point tracking, Fuzzy logic control, Microcontrollers

Biological and clinical abnormalities leading to cardiovascular disease during antiretroviral treatment in a university hospital in Abidjan

Antiretroviral drugs are involved in the occurrence of adverse effects. In Côte d'Ivoire, HIV1 treatment protocols are non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors based. No study has been undertaken in the country about cardiovascular risk. Thus, the objective of our study was to assess the prevalence of biological abnormalities and clinical markers of cardiovascular risk during antiretroviral therapy. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study with 238 patients who were on antiretroviral treatment including nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors for at least 6 months in the Pneumophtisiology department of the university hospital of Cocody (Abidjan). Metabolic syndrome was determined according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. Biological parameters investigated were: triglyceride, HDL cholesterol and LDL, glucose and clinical parameters: blood pressure and waist circumference. Eleven patients (4.62%) have a metabolic syndrome, 17.6% had hypertriglyceridemia. An increase in LDL cholesterol and lower HDL-cholesterol were found in both cases in 13.9% of patients and an atherogenic index greater than 4.5 in 5% of patients. Hyperglycemia occurred during antiretroviral therapy in 28% of the study population. Patients who developed hypertension and increased waist circumference during antiretroviral therapy were 9.75% and 15.5% respectively. Our results testify to the potential existence of a cardiovascular risk during the non-nucleoside inhibitor used.© 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Antiretrovirals, biological, clinical abnormalities, cardiovascular risk

Analysis of the performance of a newly designed fermenter built in local materials for improvement of cocoa fermentation, in Ivory Coast

Objective: Cocoa beans fermentation is a spontaneous chemical process, traditionally done in box or in a heap. Equipment is also important in achieving the final chocolate aroma. This study analyzes the performances of a new-designed cocoa bean fermenter. Methodology and results: In this study, a new type of fermenter, a rotating cylindrical fermenter (RCF) has been designed in order to improve the fermentation of cocoa that remains difficult to control, because of the spontaneous nature of the microbiota. The performances of this fermenter was analyzed and compared to those of the traditional wooden box (TWB) fermenter that is commonly used on farm. During the 6 days of fermentation in both fermenters, the growth of microorganisms such as yeasts, lactic bacteria, acetic bacteria, bacillus and moulds as well as chemical and physical changes of the fermenting cocoa were monitored. The results showed that in the fermenter (RCF) a rapid temperature increase was observed in the course of the fermentation process with a temperature reaching 51°C within 73 h comparatively to the traditional fermenter (48°C within 118 h). This leads to a higher proportion of brown beans, indicator of a good fermentation from RCF fermenter as assessed by the cut test. This proportion was 94.44% for RCF and 85.88% for TWB. Moreover the optimization of heat generated in the RCF fermenter, allowed a normal browning (final gray level was 77 in both fermenters) despite modification of microbiota growth order (early growth of acetic bacteria and stunted growth of yeast in RCF, but not for TWB). Conclusion and application of results: The high proportions of brown beans in RCF suggest that this equipment is liable to contribute to the improvement of standard quality of cocoa beans

Femtosecond Yb:YCOB laser pumped by narrow-stripe laser diode and passively modelocked using ion implanted saturable-absorber mirror

The authors present, what they believe to be, the first femtosecond Yb:YCOB laser, pumped by a low-power, narrow-stripe laser diode. To facilitate modelocking, high-energy oxygen ion implantation of the saturable absorber is employed. 210 fs pulse generation at 16 mW average output power for 140 mW incident pump power is reporte

Design of an Integrated Cotton Picking System for Small-Scale Indian Agriculture

India, the world's largest producer of cotton, contains more than 4 million cotton farms that are less than 5 acres. These farms are incapable of large-scale mechanization due to small farm size and irregular farm shape. A previous team developed a handheld, roller-based picking device that demonstrated increased performance over similar products. However, a significant improvement in productivity requires increasing picking speed through mechanization as well as increasing worker cotton carrying capacity. We present a system that utilizes the roller-based picking device in tandem with a compressive storage bag and an efficient carrier. Through modeling and initial testing, the system demonstrates a two times (2X) improvement in worker productivity over current methods. This paper characterizes the cotton picking process, details the modules of the integrated system, and suggests further procedural improvements for greater increases in worker productivity