Diagnostique des pratiques de fumage de la viande de poulet (Gallus gallus) dans la ville de Lome au Togo

Le fumage traditionnel du poulet est une pratique moins répandue au Togo comparativement au fumage du poisson. De plus en plus, cette pratique devient une activité économique qui occupe bon nombre de femmes et satisfait une frange de consommateurs. Cette étude visait à décrire et à caractériser l’activité de fumage de la viande de poulet à travers ses composantes telles que les acteurs, les procédés et les conditions de production dans la ville de Lomé au Togo. Pour ce faire, une enquête exploratoire par ratissage systématique des acteurs (processors de fumage) et un suivi des étapes technologiques ont été réalisés. L’étude a révélé que la  production du poulet fumé à Lomé est une activité menée uniquement par des femmes. Près de 53,3% de ces femmes ont été alphabétisées dont 6,7% ont eu à franchir le niveau primaire. Elles transformaient exclusivement les poulets importés sous forme entière ou de découpes en poulets fumés qu’elles commercialisaient elles-mêmes. Le fumage du poulet passait par la décongélation, le lavage, l’assaisonnement et/ou la pré-cuisson et le fumage proprement dit. Il existait une variation dans la conduite de ces opérations unitaires d’une productrice à une autre mais la différence essentielle observée se situait au niveau du traitement appliqué au poulet avant le fumage. La conduite du fumage était empirique utilisant comme combustibles le bois combiné à différents matériaux  végétaux principalement la sciure de bois, les coques de noix de coco, les enveloppes de maïs séché et les cartons de récupération. L’équipement utilisé, ékpo ou ado en langue locale Ewé est une sorte de four traditionnel couramment utilisé dans les pratiques culinaires au Togo. La durée moyenne du fumage était environ de 60,33 ± 10,6 min et la température moyenne atteinte à cœur du poulet est de 82,51 ± 5,8 °C. Le poulet fumé, essentiellement transformé pour les besoins de goût, a une durée de conservation assez limitée (<24 heures) à température ambiante. Malgré les conditions de travail précaires et des règles d’hygiène peu observées sur les sites de production, le poulet fumé semble satisfaire les consommateurs. De ce fait, des études complémentaires de caractérisation sensorielle, physicochimique et microbiologique seraient nécessaires pour évaluer la qualité de ces poulets fumés. Mots clés : poulet fumé, fumage traditionnel, procédé, fumoir traditionnel, Lom

Coexistence of collapsed-snaking-related dark and bright Kerr localized states

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ECRASEMENTS DE MEMBRES DE L’ENFANT MEMBER’S CRUSH INJURIES IN CHILDREN

Objective: To describe the epidemiology, mechanisms of occurrence and therapeutic management of the crushing member’s injuries in children. Materials and methods: It was a retrospective study of the records of patients less than 15 years treated in the Pediatric Surgery Department of the Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital (Lomé) for crushing members from January 2008 to December 2011. Results: We recorded 15 cases of crushing member’s injuries in children representing 1.7% of hospitalizations for trauma in the pediatric surgery department. The annual incidence was 3.7 cases. There were 7 males and 8 females. The average age of the patients was 8.8 years. Older children accounted for 10 cases (66.7%). Occurrences of accidents were the mechanisms of the public highway with 53.3% (8 cases) and 46.7% (7 cases) for domestic accidents. Five (5) patients had hemodynamic shock at admission. Treatment was radical in 10 patients (66.7%). It was an amputation. Conservative treatment consisted to the cast immobilization in three patients and intra focal osteosynthesis in two (2) patients. A suppuration of amputation stumps was recorded. The average length of hospital stay was 23.17 days (extremes: 1 and 60 days). Conclusion: Members’ crush injuries are relatively uncommon in pediatric units in Togo

Physico-chemical properties of crude oil of Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss according to bioclimatic zones in Chad

The mature seeds of Khaya senegalensis are from 2 to 2.5 cm long and weigh 289 g per 1000 seeds. These seeds contain about 67% oil by weight. This oil, which is fairly rich in oleic acid (66%), is used in West Africa for cooking, for cosmetics, as an insecticide and in traditional medicine. Prospecting to enhance the development of this oil in Chad, the present study aims to determine the physico-chemical properties of this oil according to bioclimatic zones. The density, acidity, peroxide value, moisture content and percentage of impurities were the parameters studied. The results showed that the crude oil of the seeds of K. senegalensis has the qualities close to those of other edible oils. The study also revealed that climate has influenced the physico-chemical parameters of this oil. Further and more research investigations are necessary to guide decisions on the valorisation and large-scale production of this oil. Keywords: Khaya senegalensis, seed crude oil, physico-chemical parameters, valorisation, bioclimatic zone, Cha

Evaluating the effects of storage conditions on dry matter loss and nutritional quality of grain legume fodders in West Africa

Feed scarcity is a major challenge for livestock production in West Africa, especially during the dry season when grass quality and quantity on grazing lands are inadequate. In the dry season, crop residues are a key source of livestock feed. The residues of grain legumes, also known as grain legume fodders (GLFs), are stored and traded for feeding in the dry season. The objectives of our experiment were to evaluate the effects of storage conditions and duration on dry matter (DM) and nutritional quality of GLFs, and to assess the risk of aflatoxin in stored groundnut fodder. The experiment was designed as a factorial trial with 18 treatment combinations with four replicates (4 farms). The treatments included: 3 types of GLFs (cowpea, groundnut and soybean fodder), 3 types of storage locations (rooftop, room and tree-fork) and 2 types of packaging (packed in polythene sacks and unpacked but tied with rope). Over a 120 day storage period, DM quantity reduced by an average of 24 % across all storage conditions, showing a range from 14 % in the best condition (sacks and rooms) to 35 % in the worst condition (bundles tied with rope and stored on rooftops or tree-forks). Soybean fodder had no leaves, the lowest crude protein content (CP) and organic matter digestibility (OMD), and the highest content of cell wall components compared to cowpea and groundnut fodder. These nutritional quality parameters in soybean fodder hardly changed during storage. Cowpea and groundnut fodder showed a decrease in leaf-to-stem ratio (LSR), CP and OMD, and an increase in the content of cell wall components during storage, but their nutritional value remained better than that of soybean fodder. Storage in sacks resulted in less DM loss, in less reduction of LSR and in a smaller increase of the content of cell wall components than storage of bundles tied with rope. Our study shows that the DM loss, the decrease in LSR, and the increase in the content of cell wall components can be prevented partly by storing GLFs in sacks instead of tying bundles with rope, and to a minor extent by storing in rooms instead of in the open air. Aflatoxin was not detectable in the groundnut fodder samples. Our results highlight that attention to storage conditions can improve the feeding value of GLFs which are key for livestock nutrition during the dry season.</p

Traitement Chirurgical Des Fractures Du Fémur De L’enfant

Objective To describe indications, different modalities and results of surgical treatment of femur fractures in children. Patients and methods This is a retrospective study from January 2004 to December 2013 in the pediatric surgery department of Lomé Sylvanius Olympio teaching hospital, from the records of patients aged 0-15 years with femur fractured treated surgically. Results There were 66.1% (39 cases) of shaft fractures of which 53.57% localized in the middle third. Of the 33.9% (20 cases) of the lower extremity fracture, epiphyseal growth fractures accounted for 13 cases including seven (7) for type II among Salter-Harris classification. The indications were: femoral fracture occurred in the context of multiple trauma (4 cases), patients over 11 years (40 cases), failure of conservative treatment (2 patients), epiphyseal growth fractures of the distal femur after failure of conservative treatment (12 patients) and an epiphyseal growth fracture type 4 of Salter and Harris where surgery was indicated immediately (1 case). The average time of surgical treatment was 32 days. The elastic stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN) was made in 66.1% of patients, the plate in 18.6%, the pinning in 11.9% and screwing in 3.4%. The average duration of hospital stay was 45.16 days. Removal of osteosynthesis material was performed in 38 patients or 64.4% of cases. The average time of this removal was 8 months.Conclusion The methods of the most widely used surgical treatment are open ESIN because of the long waiting patients associated with very limited financial resources. This method has real advantages and should be encouraged in our communities by improving the technical facilities and living conditions of the population

Syndrome Keratitis-Ichtyosis-Deafness (KID) chez un enfant togolais issu d’un mariage consanguin

Le syndrome KID est une affection génétique rare associant kératite, ichtyose et surdité. Nous rapportons un cas dont la surdité s'est compliquée de mutisme chez un enfant togolais issu d'un mariage consanguin.Il s'agissait d'une fillette de 9 ans admise en dermatologie pour une peau sèche et une kératodermie palmoplantaire évoluant depuis l'enfance, une surdité sévère et un mutisme total évoluant depuis la naissance. Il n'y avait pas d'histoire familiale connue de syndrome KID. Les parents de cet enfant sont des cousins germains. A l'examen, on notait une kératodermie palmoplantaire typique en cuir grossier, une peau sèche ichtyosiforme finement squameuse avec un aspect pachydermique aux genoux et un aspect arlequin aux jambes. L'examen ophtalmologique avait noté une blépharo-conjonctivite, une xérophtalmie, une photophobie et une absence de sourcils. L'examen ORL avait objectivé une hypotrophie des pavillons des oreilles, une surdité sévère et un mutisme total. La particularité de cette observation réside dans la sévérité de l'atteinte auditive qui s'est compliquée de mutisme. Notre enfant étant née de parents consanguins sains, sans histoire familiale de KID, nous pensons que le mode de transmission est probablement sporadique. Une étude moléculaire du cas index et de ses parents, non réalisée à cause de notre plateau technique limité aurait pu le confirmer

Second T = 3/2 state in 9^9B and the isobaric multiplet mass equation

Recent high-precision mass measurements and shell model calculations~[Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 108}, 212501 (2012)] have challenged a longstanding explanation for the requirement of a cubic isobaric multiplet mass equation for the lowest $A = 9$ isospin quartet. The conclusions relied upon the choice of the excitation energy for the second $T = 3/2$ state in $^9$B, which had two conflicting measurements prior to this work. We remeasured the energy of the state using the $^9{\rm Be}(^3{\rm He},t)$ reaction and significantly disagree with the most recent measurement. Our result supports the contention that continuum coupling in the most proton-rich member of the quartet is not the predominant reason for the large cubic term required for $A = 9$ nuclei

ECRASEMENTS DE MEMBRES DE L’ENFANT MEMBER’S CRUSH INJURIES IN CHILDREN

Objective: To describe the epidemiology, mechanisms of occurrence and therapeutic management of the crushing member’s injuries in children. Materials and methods: It was a retrospective study of the records of patients less than 15 years treated in the Pediatric Surgery Department of the Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital (Lomé) for crushing members from January 2008 to December 2011. Results: We recorded 15 cases of crushing member’s injuries in children representing 1.7% of hospitalizations for trauma in the pediatric surgery department. The annual incidence was 3.7 cases. There were 7 males and 8 females. The average age of the patients was 8.8 years. Older children accounted for 10 cases (66.7%). Occurrences of accidents were the mechanisms of the public highway with 53.3% (8 cases) and 46.7% (7 cases) for domestic accidents. Five (5) patients had hemodynamic shock at admission. Treatment was radical in 10 patients (66.7%). It was an amputation. Conservative treatment consisted to the cast immobilization in three patients and intra focal osteosynthesis in two (2) patients. A suppuration of amputation stumps was recorded. The average length of hospital stay was 23.17 days (extremes: 1 and 60 days). Conclusion: Members’ crush injuries are relatively uncommon in pediatric units in Togo

Modern African nuclear detector laboratory: Development of state-of-the-art in-house detector facility at the University of the Western Cape

The upcoming detector facility aims at developing new state-of-the-art particle detectors as well as providing hands-on training to postgraduate students using both analog and digital signal processing from nuclear radiation detectors. The project is two-fold and aims at developing: 1) ancillary detectors to be coupled with the new GAMKA array at iThemba LABS. Of particular interest to our group is the determination of nuclear shapes, which depend on the hyperfine splitting of magnetic substates; 2) PET scanners for cancer imaging using a cheaper technology. Performance of NaI(Tl) inorganic scintillator detectors has been evaluated using PIXIE-16 modules from XIA digital electronics. Gamma-ray energy spectra were acquired from 60Co and 137Cs radioactive sources to calculate the detector resolution as well as to optimize the digital parameters. The present study focuses on improving and optimizing the slow and fast filter parameters for NaI(Tl) detectors which can eventually be used in the list mode of data aquisition