Diversité et évaluation participative des cultivars du manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) au Centre Bénin

Le manioc est une plante alimentaire qui contribue fortement à la sécurité alimentaire au Bénin. Pour évaluer sa diversité variétale, les performances  agronomiques, technologiques et culinaires de ses cultivars dans la région centrale du Bénin, 41 villages ont été prospectés. Sous réserve de  synonymie, 107  cultivars de manioc ont été recensés dont 59 élites. L’indice de diversité de Shannon est de 3,78 et traduit une importante diversité variétale. Le nombre de  cultivars recensés varie de 3 à 26 par village (10 en moyenne). Dans les villages où une perte de diversité variétale est notée, son taux a varié de 6,25 à 80% avec  un taux moyen de 42,22% par village. Les cultivars à produire sont choisis sur la base de 21 critères dont les plus importants sont la forte productivité (16,37% de reponses), la qualité et le rendement en gari (15,52% de reponses) et la précocité (13,27% de reponses). Les contraintes de production (9 au total) perçues par les producteurs peuvent etre levées par l’utilisation des  cultivars performants. L’évaluation participative a révélé l’existence de très peu de cultivars performants par  rapport aux paramètres biotiques et abiotiques. La mise en place d’un programme d’amélioration et de création variétale est fortement recommandée pour la relance de la production du manioc au Bénin.Mots clés : Bénin, critère de préférence, cultivar élite, diversité variétale, évaluation participative, manioc

Microbiological characterization of the millet-based (Pennisetum glaucum) Ablo and sorghum-based (Sorghum bicolor) Ablo produced in Benin

Ablo is wet bread, slightly salty and sweet, steamed and sold in the form of pellets. The objective of the study was to assess the microbiological quality of millet-based Ablo and sorghum-based Ablo. The methodology adopted was to perform production tests followed by analyses in the laboratory. The results showed that the lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and moulds were the dominant micro flora of the millet- based Ablo and sorghum-based Ablo. Furthermore, analysis showed that the millet-based Ablo and the sorghum-based Ablo doesn’t contain either total coli forms, coli forms thermo tolerant or consequently Escherichia coli. Published by the International journal of Microbiology and Mycology (IJMM

La maladie de von-hippel lindau dans une famille togolaise

La maladie de Von Hippel Lindau(VHL) est une affection héréditaire autosomique dominante dont l’expression phénotypique est variable et multiviscérale. Le diagnostic nécessite des arguments cliniques et un plateau technique de pointe. nous rapportons les résultats d’une enquête au sein d’une famille togolaise à partir de deux observations cliniques. Ces observations mettent en exergue les difficultés de la pratique médicale en Afrique subsaharienne liées à un plateau technique inexistant

Uvajanje duševnega zdravja v pravo duševnega zdravja

Članek obsega kritiko tradicionalne doktrinarne obravnave prava duševnega zdravja (angl. mental health law) ter primerja tradicionalni pristop z novim, interdisciplinarnim pristopom, poimenovanim terapevtska jurisprudenca (angl. therapeutic jurisprudence). Terapevtska jurisprudenca pojmuje pravo kot mogoč terapevtski dejavnik. Predstavljeni so primeri, kako pravna pravila, postopki in vloge pravnih akterjev povzročajo terapevtske ali protiterapevtske izide ter kako lahko pravo pripomore k terapevtskemu izidu, ne da bi žrtvovalo interese pravičnosti.This article criticizes the traditional doctrinal approach to mental health law (dependence on constitutional law and especially on constitutional criminal procedure). Therefore, the author suggests "to put some mental health into mental health law" meaning to adopt a new approach. He compares the traditional approach with a new, interdisciplinary one known as a therapeutic jurisprudence. The therapeutic jurisprudence views the law itself as a potential therapeutic agent. It looks at the law as a social force that may lead to therapeutic or antitherapeutic consequences. Its task is to identify relationships between legal arrangements and therapeutic outcomes. Examples are given of how legal rules, procedures and the roles of legal actors may give therapeutic or antitherapeutic results and how the law may improve the therapeutic outcomes without sacrificing the interests of the justice. Consequently, the therapeutic jurisprudence introduces a new creative/analytical process - relating a therapeutically relevant psychology to law and exploring the fit between the two. The research task is a cooperative and thoroughly interdisciplinary one (potentially involving law, philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, social work, criminal justice, public health, etc.). As such, it is not dependent on ideological concerns and the precise composition of the U.S. Supreme Court as in the traditional doctrinal/constitutional approach to the mental health law but is also not ideologically grounded in paternalism and coercion

Socioeconomic determinants of organic cotton adoption in Benin, West Africa

Organic cotton relies on ecological processes and the use of natural resources to sustain the production system, unlike conventional cotton, mainly characterized by massive utilization of synthesis chemicals. In West Africa, where rural livelihoods are particularly vulnerable, organic cotton is expected to contribute not only to poverty reduction but also to strengthen households’ resilience. The objective of this study was to assess institutional and socioeconomic factors determining farmers’ decisions to adopt organic cotton. For this purpose, we applied a probit model on empirical data collected from producers of the Centre and the Northern parts of Benin. Overall, we found that organic cotton adoption is mainly determined by farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics, the physical distance between farm and house, and contact with extension and advisory services. Organic farming is more attractive to women compared to conventional farming. This because such type of cotton farming enables women to hold a separate cotton farm and thus increase their economic independence, whereas with the conventional system they depend mainly on the farm of the (male) head of the household. Older, less educated and low-income farmers who express environmental concern are more likely to adopt organic cotton. Subsequently, organic cotton should be considered as a prospective policy option to reach the poor and strengthen their livelihoods conditions while contributing to preserve the environment and natural resources. Furthermore, farmers who have their farm near home are more likely to adopt organic farming than those who have the farm far from their home. It also came out that organic farmers have more contacts with advisory and extension services. Finally, the study noted that there is still a need to enhance the extension system by: (1) exploring, designing, and upgrading innovative pedagogic tools such as videos and mobile phone technology to foster learning; and (2) strengthening organic farmer’s organizations and the linkage with agricultural research organizations for technology development

Development of vegetable farming: a cause of the emergence of insecticide resistance in populations of Anopheles gambiae in urban areas of Benin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A fast development of urban agriculture has recently taken place in many areas in the Republic of Benin. This study aims to assess the rapid expansion of urban agriculture especially, its contribution to the emergence of insecticide resistance in populations of <it>Anopheles gambiae</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The protocol was based on the collection of sociological data by interviewing vegetable farmers regarding various agricultural practices and the types of pesticides used. Bioassay tests were performed to assess the susceptibility of malaria vectors to various agricultural insecticides and biochemical analysis were done to characterize molecular status of population of <it>An. gambiae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This research showed that:</p> <p>(1) The rapid development of urban agriculture is related to unemployment observed in cities, rural exodus and the search for a balanced diet by urban populations;</p> <p>(2) Urban agriculture increases the farmers' household income and their living standard;</p> <p>(3) At a molecular level, PCR revealed the presence of three sub-species of <it>An. gambiae </it>(<it>An. gambiae s.s., Anopheles melas and Anopheles arabiensis</it>) and two molecular forms (M and S). The <it>kdr </it>west mutation recorded in samples from the three sites and more specifically on the M forms seems to be one of the major resistance mechanisms found in <it>An. gambiae </it>from agricultural areas. Insecticide susceptibility tests conducted during this research revealed a clear pattern of resistance to permethrin (76% mortality rate at Parakou; 23.5% at Porto-Novo and 17% at Cotonou).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study confirmed an increase activity of the vegetable farming in urban areas of Benin. This has led to the use of insecticide in an improper manner to control vegetable pests, thus exerting a huge selection pressure on mosquito larval population, which resulted to the emergence of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors.</p

Prior mucosal exposure to heterologous cells alters the pathogenesis of cell-associated mucosal feline immunodeficiency virus challenge

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several lines of research suggest that exposure to cellular material can alter the susceptibility to infection by HIV-1. Because sexual contact often includes exposure to cellular material, we hypothesized that repeated mucosal exposure to heterologous cells would induce an immune response that would alter the susceptibility to mucosal infection. Using the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) model of HIV-1 mucosal transmission, the cervicovaginal mucosa was exposed once weekly for 12 weeks to 5,000 heterologous cells or media (control) and then cats were vaginally challenged with cell-associated or cell-free FIV.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Exposure to heterologous cells decreased the percentage of lymphocytes in the mucosal and systemic lymph nodes (LN) expressing L-selectin as well as the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T cells. These shifts were associated with enhanced ex-vivo proliferative responses to heterologous cells. Following mucosal challenge with cell-associated, but not cell-free, FIV, proviral burden was reduced by 64% in cats previously exposed to heterologous cells as compared to media exposed controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The pathogenesis and/or the threshold for mucosal infection by infected cells (but not cell-free virus) can be modulated by mucosal exposure to uninfected heterologous cells.</p

Traditional knowledge and cultural importance of Borassus aethiopum Mart. in Benin: interacting effects of socio-demographic attributes and multi-scale abundance

ResearchBackground: Eliciting factors affecting distribution of traditional knowledge (TK) and cultural importance of plant resources is central in ethnobiology. Socio-demographic attributes and ecological apparency hypothesis (EAH) have been widely documented as drivers of TK distribution, but their synergistic effect is poorly documented. Here, we focused on Borassus aethiopum, a socio-economic important agroforestry palm in Africa, analyzing relationships between the number of use-reports and cultural importance on one hand, and informant socio-demographic attributes (age category and gender) on the other hand, considering the EAH at multi-scale contexts. Our hypothesis is that effects of socio-demographic attributes on use-reports and cultural importance are shaped by both local (village level) and regional (chorological region level) apparency of study species. We expected so because distribution of knowledge on a resource in a community correlates to the versatility in the resource utilization but also connections among communities within a region. Methods: Nine hundred ninety-two face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in six villages of low versus high local abundance of B. aethiopum spanning three chorological regions (humid, sub-humid and semiarid) also underlying a gradient of increasing distribution and abundance of B. aethiopum. Number of use-reports and score of importance of uses of B. aethiopum were recorded in six use-categories including medicine, food, handcraft, construction, firewood, and ceremonies and rituals. Data were analyzed using Poisson and ordered logistic modelsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio