216 research outputs found
Hydro-political assessment of water governance from the top-down and review of literature on local level institutions and practices in the Volta Basin
Water resource management / Governance / River basin development / Water law / Colonialism / Institutions / Social participation / Women / Water use
SystĂšmes de production et pratiques Ă risque en agriculture urbaine: Cas du maraĂźchage dans la ville de Yamoussoukro en CĂŽte dâIvoire
La question de l’impact de l’agriculture urbaine sur l’environnement revient, fréquemment, au coeur des débats dans la gestion des villes africaines, comme Yamoussoukro. Les inquiétudes liées à la préservation de l’environnement urbain, eu égard à l’usage de pesticides et à la qualité des eaux utilisées, constituent une préoccupation prise en compte dans le cadre de cette étude. Celle-ci porte, aussi bien sur l’évaluation du risque sur l’environnement consécutif à de mauvaises pratiques agricoles que sur l’évaluation du risque sanitaire consécutif à l’usage des eaux usées. Pour atteindre cet objectif, la méthodologie utilisée a été d’une part, la collecte de données, à travers une enquête et d’autre part, des analyses au laboratoire. Il ressort que le maraîchage urbain à Yamoussoukro est une activité informelle. Les cultures pratiquées sont dominées par la laitue, l’oignon vert et la carotte. Le recours aux intrants, notamment les pesticides, est très répandu. Les dispositifs règlementaires sur la distribution des produits agrochimiques ne sont pas appliqués. Ainsi, 74% des pesticides recensés ne sont pas homologués pour les cultures maraîchères, 12% sont très toxiques (classe Ib) et 57% nocifs (classe II). Les risques encourus sont accentués par un traitement chimique qui n’est pas suffisamment maîtrisé. Les analyses physico-chimiques et microbiologiques ont mis en évidence, d’une part, des eaux d’irrigation aux caractéristiques très hétérogènes et d’autre part, une grande diversité microbienne et une contamination de ces eaux, suggérant des risques sanitaires avérés.Mots clés: cultures maraîchères, environnement, risque sanitaire, pesticides, eau
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KC 5.1: Traditional Systems and Methods of Rural LandsConservation in Mali and Africa // Systemes et Methodes Traditionnels de Preservations des Paysages Ruraux au Mali et en Afrique
Rural landscapes in Africa and elsewhere constitute a precious heritage for rural communities, which have since the onset of time been able to develop endogenous techniques, systems and practices for the development and preservation of natural and cultural landscapes. Within African territorial entities, culture and nature are harmoniously interconnected and their management and preservation are based on systems created and transmitted from generation to generation according to socio-cultural environments and contexts.
Based on ancestral social and religious practices, traditional systems and methods for preserving rural landscapes are more focused on a community-oriented approach.
Several traditional methods, systems, practices and approaches to the management and preservation of rural landscapes exist in Mali and other African countries. Among them we can mention:
- The sanctuarization of certain areas as places of initiation and sacred rituals: woods, forests and sacred ponds..... This practice, governed by numerous prohibitions, has proved to be very successful in the sustainable conservation of rural areas that contribute to the protection of rare animal and plant species.
- The sacralization of landscapes considered as havens of supernatural beings (including the souls of deceased ancestors), protective genies or evil spirits is a method that has proven its efficiency in the preservation of several African ecosystems and rural landscapes.
- The consecration of passages, places and spaces dedicated to the celebration of certain ritual ceremonies linked to the tradition of masks and other religious practices is in line with the same principle of respect and safeguarding of spaces by local communities.
- The development and implementation of certain local conventions governing pastoral, agricultural and forestry calendars (specific transhumance corridors, harvest and consumption periods for new cereals produced, etc.). This is the case of the tradition of pastoralism in the Niger River delta, developed and carried out under the theocratic empire of the Macina (1820 - 1862).
Beyond funeral and agrarian ritual ceremonies, some intangible cultural heritage elements play a cardinal role in the preservation of ecosystems and rural landscapes within territories.
Among the practical measures is the protection of vulnerable ecosystems within landscapes.
The initiation companies, associations and brigades play an essential role in the protection of landscapes and the environment, which is part of their priority mission.
Nowadays, it has to be said that the development of new information technologies and globalisation, climate change, are having a dangerous impact on traditional systems and methods for preserving rural landscapes and constitute obstacles to their sustainability.
Their revitalization and adaptation to the current context would certainly contribute to the sustainable conservation of the vital spaces that feed the local community, despite growing anthropic pressure.
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Les paysages ruraux en Afrique et ailleurs constituent un patrimoine prĂ©cieux pour les communautĂ©s rurales qui depuis la nuit des temps ont su dĂ©velopper des techniques, systĂšmes et pratiques endogĂšnes dâamĂ©nagement et de prĂ©servation des paysages naturels et culturels. Au sein des entitĂ©s territoriales africaines, culture et nature sâimbriquent harmonieusement et leur gestion et prĂ©servation reposent sur des systĂšmes crĂ©Ă©s et transmis de gĂ©nĂ©ration en gĂ©nĂ©ration suivant les milieux et les contextes socioculturels.
BasĂ©e sur les pratiques sociales et religieuses ancestrales les systĂšmes et mĂ©thodes traditionnels de prĂ©servation des paysages ruraux privilĂ©gient lâapproche communautaire.
Plusieurs mĂ©thodes, systĂšmes, pratiques et approches traditionnels de gestion et de prĂ©servation des paysages ruraux existent au Mali et dans dâautres pays africains. Parmi ceux-ci on peut citer: La sanctuarisation de certains espaces en lieux dâinitiation et de rites sacrĂ©s: bois, forĂȘts et mares sacrĂ©sâŠ. Cette pratique, rĂ©gie par des nombreux interdits, sâest avĂ©rĂ©e efficace pour la conservation durable dâespaces ruraux qui contribuent Ă la protection dâespĂšces animales et vĂ©gĂ©tales rares. La sacralisation de paysages considĂ©rĂ©s comme des repaires dâĂȘtres surnaturels (notamment les Ăąmes des ancĂȘtres dĂ©funts), de gĂ©nies protecteurs ou de mauvais esprits est une mĂ©thode qui a fait ses preuves dans la prĂ©servation de plusieurs Ă©cosystĂšmes et paysages ruraux africains. La consĂ©cration de passages, lieux et espaces dĂ©diĂ©s Ă la cĂ©lĂ©bration de certaines cĂ©rĂ©monies rituelles liĂ©es Ă la tradition des masques et dâautres pratiques cultuels, sâinscrit dans le mĂȘme principe de respect et de sauvegarde des espaces par les communautĂ©s locales. LâĂ©laboration et lâapplication de certaines conventions locales qui rĂ©gissent les calendriers pastoraux, agricoles et forestiers (couloirs dĂ©terminĂ©s de transhumance, pĂ©riodes de rĂ©coltes et de consommation des nouvelles cĂ©rĂ©ales produites, etc.). Câest le cas de la tradition du pastoralisme dans le delta du fleuve Niger, Ă©laborĂ©e et exĂ©cutĂ©e sous lâempire thĂ©ocratique du Macina (1820 â 1862).
Au-delà des cérémonies rituelles funéraires et agraires, certains éléments du patrimoine culturel immatériel jouent un rÎle cardinal dans la préservation des écosystÚmes et des paysages ruraux au sein des territoires.
Parmi les mesures pratiques figure la mise en défens des écosystÚmes fragiles au sein des paysages.
Les sociétés initiatiques, associations et brigades jouent un rÎle essentiel dans la protection des paysages et de l\u27environnement qui relÚve de leur mission prioritaire.
De nos jours, force est de constater que le développement des nouvelles technologies de l\u27information et de la globalisation, le changement climatique influent dangereusement sur les systÚmes et méthodes traditionnels de préservation des paysages ruraux et constituent des menaces pour leur pérennisation.
Leur revitalisation et adaptation au contexte actuel contribueraient à coup sûr à la conservation durable des espaces vitaux qui nourrissent la communauté locale, malgré la pression anthropique grandissante
Contamination du lait caillĂ© et de lâoeuf consommĂ© en CĂŽte dâIvoire par des pesticides organochlorĂ©s
La prĂ©sente Ă©tude vise Ă Ă©valuer lâaspect sanitaire de lâalimentation humaine Ă travers deux produits Ă forte consommation en CĂŽte dâIvoire : le lait caillĂ© et lâoeuf. Ainsi, 30 Ă©chantillons de lait caillĂ© ont Ă©tĂ© achetĂ©s et 30 Ă©chantillons dâoeufs de poulet ont Ă©tĂ© collectĂ©s dans trois fermes dans la ville dâAbidjan. Ces Ă©chantillons ont Ă©tĂ© traitĂ©s dans le but de dĂ©terminer les rĂ©sidus de 12 POC (Pesticides OrganoChlorĂ©s). Les analyses ont Ă©tĂ© rĂ©alisĂ©es au CG sur colonne capillaire avec un dĂ©tecteur Ă capture d'Ă©lectrons. Les rĂ©sultats observĂ©s rĂ©vĂšlent une contamination du lait caillĂ© et de lâoeuf par 5 POC. Ainsi, des charges moyennes en ÎŒg/kg des isomĂšres hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) allant de 0,125 Ă 0,997 et de 1,870 Ă 35,907, de lâendosulfan allant de 0,045 Ă 0,563 et non dĂ©tectĂ©, de la dieldrine allant de 0,025 Ă 0,263 et de 5,727 Ă 69,710 et du Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) et mĂ©tabolites allant de 0,133 Ă 0,813 et de 21,105 Ă 75,22, ont Ă©tĂ© respectivement dĂ©terminĂ©es dans le lait caillĂ© et dans lâoeuf. La teneur rĂ©siduelle moyenne des isomĂšres HCH, des cyclodiĂšnes (dieldrine, et endosulfane) et du DDT et ses mĂ©tabolites constituent respectivement 40%, 40% et 20% de la moyenne du total des POC mesurĂ©s dans le lait caillĂ© et respectivement 20%, 20% et 60% de celle mesurĂ©e dans lâoeuf.Mots-clĂ©s: pesticides organochlorĂ©s, lait caillĂ©, oeuf, CĂŽte dâIvoire. Contamination of the curdled milk and the egg consumed in Ivory Coast by organochlorinated pesticides This study aims to determine the levels of organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) in the curdled milk and egg. Thus, 30 samples of curdled milk were purchased and 30 egg samples were collected from three farms in the area of the lagoons. These samples were processed in order to determine the residues 12 OCPs. Analyses were performed by GC capillary column with electron capture detector. The observed results indicate contamination of curdled milk and egg by 5 OCPs. Thus, average loads in ÎŒg/kg of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers ranging from 0.125 to 0.997 and 1.870 to 35.907, endosulfan ranging from 0.045 to 0.563 and undetected, dieldrin ranging from 0.025 to 0.263 and 5.727 to 69.710 and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and metabolites ranging from 0.133 to 0.813 and 21, 105 to 75.22, respectively, were determined in the curdled milk and egg. The average residual HCH isomers, cyclodiene (dieldrin and endosulfan) and DDT and its metabolites is respectively 40%, 40% and 20% of the average total OCPs measured in curdled milk and respectively 20%, 20 % and 60% of that measured in the bud.Keywords: organochlorinated pesticides, curdled milk, egg, Ivory Coast
SMART: Unique splitting-while-merging framework for gene clustering
Copyright @ 2014 Fa et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Successful clustering algorithms are highly dependent on parameter settings. The clustering performance degrades significantly unless parameters are properly set, and yet, it is difficult to set these parameters a priori. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a unique splitting-while-merging clustering framework, named âsplitting merging awareness tacticsâ (SMART), which does not require any a priori knowledge of either the number of clusters or even the possible range of this number. Unlike existing self-splitting algorithms, which over-cluster the dataset to a large number of clusters and then merge some similar clusters, our framework has the ability to split and merge clusters automatically during the process and produces the the most reliable clustering results, by intrinsically integrating many clustering techniques and tasks. The SMART framework is implemented with two distinct clustering paradigms in two algorithms: competitive learning and finite mixture model. Nevertheless, within the proposed SMART framework, many other algorithms can be derived for different clustering paradigms. The minimum message length algorithm is integrated into the framework as the clustering selection criterion. The usefulness of the SMART framework and its algorithms is tested in demonstration datasets and simulated gene expression datasets. Moreover, two real microarray gene expression datasets are studied using this approach. Based on the performance of many metrics, all numerical results show that SMART is superior to compared existing self-splitting algorithms and traditional algorithms. Three main properties of the proposed SMART framework are summarized as: (1) needing no parameters dependent on the respective dataset or a priori knowledge about the datasets, (2) extendible to many different applications, (3) offering superior performance compared with counterpart algorithms.National Institute for Health Researc
Seasonality and shift in age-specific malaria prevalence and incidence in Binko and CarriÚre villages close to the lake in Selingué, Mali
BACKGROUND: Malaria transmission in Mali is seasonal and peaks at the end of the rainy season in October. This study assessed the seasonal variations in the epidemiology of malaria among children under 10 years of age living in two villages in SelinguĂ©: CarriĂšre, located along the Sankarani River but distant from the hydroelectric dam, and Binko, near irrigated rice fields, close to the dam. The aim of this study was to provide baseline data, seasonal pattern and age distribution of malaria incidence in two sites situated close to a lake in SelinguĂ©. METHODS: Geographically, SelinguĂ© area is located in the basin of Sakanrani and belongs to the district of Yanfolila in the third administrative region of Mali, Sikasso. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in October 2010 (end of transmission season) and in July 2011 (beginning of transmission season) to determine the point prevalence of asymptomatic parasitaemia, and anaemia among the children. Cumulative incidence of malaria per month was determined in a cohort of 549 children through active and passive case detection from November 2010 through October 2011. The number of clinical episodes per year was determined among the children in the cohort. Logistic regression was used to determine risk factors for malaria. RESULTS: The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia varied significantly between villages with a strong seasonality in CarriĂšre (52.0â18.9 % in October 2010 and July 2011, respectively) compared with Binko (29.8â23.8 % in October 2010 and July 2011, respectively). Children 6â9 years old were at least twice more likely to carry parasites than children up to 5 years old. For malaria incidence, 64.8â71.9 % of all children experienced at least one episode of clinical malaria in Binko and CarriĂšre, respectively. The peak incidence was observed between August and October (end of the rainy season), but the incidence remained high until December. Surprisingly, the risk of clinical malaria was two- to nine-fold higher among children 5â9 years old compared to younger children. CONCLUSIONS: A shift in the peak of clinical episodes from children under 5â9 years of age calls for expanding control interventions, such as seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis targeting the peak transmission months
Utilisation des facteurs climatiques pour la surveillance de la fréquence des occurrences de méningite/ paludisme à Bamako
Objectif : Notre travail consiste Ă :
Déterminer les périodes de risque pour la méningite et le paludisme à Bamako;
Etablir une corrélation entre :
- dâune part les paramĂštres mĂ©tĂ©orologiques (tempĂ©rature de lâair, humiditĂ© relative de lâair, pluviomĂ©trie, insolation et vitesse du vent) et la frĂ©quence des occurrences de paludisme ;
- dâautre part les mĂȘmes paramĂštres pour la mĂ©ningite.
MĂ©thode : Nous avons fait une Ă©tude rĂ©trospective de lâĂ©volution du paludisme et de la mĂ©ningite en fonction de la variation des paramĂštres mĂ©tĂ©orologiques (tempĂ©rature de lâair, humiditĂ© relative de lâair, pluviomĂ©trie, insolation et vitesse du vent) Ă Bamako.
RĂ©sultats : Le paludisme, rare au 1er et 2Ăšm trimestres, est trĂšs frĂ©quent au 3Ăš trimestre et au 4Ăš trimestre. Quant Ă la mĂ©ningite elle est frĂ©quente au premier semestre et rare pendant le reste de lâannĂ©e. La frĂ©quence du paludisme est liĂ©e Ă la tempĂ©rature moyenne de lâair, Ă la grande humiditĂ© de lâair, Ă la pluviomĂ©trie abondante, Ă la faible insolation et Ă la faible vitesse du vent. La frĂ©quente de la mĂ©ningite est liĂ©e Ă la haute tempĂ©rature de lâair, Ă la faible humiditĂ© de lâair, Ă la faible pluviomĂ©trie, Ă la forte insolation et Ă la grande vitesse du vent.
Conclusion : La fréquence du paludisme est liée à la grande humidité, et à la faible insolation. Quant à la méningite, sa fréquence est liée à la haute température, à la grande vitesse du vent et à la forte insolation
A repurposing strategy for Hsp90 inhibitors demonstrates their potency against filarial nematodes
Novel drugs are required for the elimination of infections caused by filarial worms, as most commonly used drugs largely target the microfilariae or first stage larvae of these infections. Previous studies, conducted in vitro, have shown that inhibition of Hsp90 kills adult Brugia pahangi. As numerous small molecule inhibitors of Hsp90 have been developed for use in cancer chemotherapy, we tested the activity of several novel Hsp90 inhibitors in a fluorescence polarization assay and against microfilariae and adult worms of Brugia in vitro. The results from all three assays correlated reasonably well and one particular compound, NVP-AUY922, was shown to be particularly active, inhibiting Mf output from female worms at concentrations as low as 5.0 nanomolar after 6 days exposure to drug. NVP-AUY922 was also active on adult worms after a short 24 h exposure to drug. Based on these in vitro data, NVP-AUY922 was tested in vivo in a mouse model and was shown to significantly reduce the recovery of both adult worms and microfilariae. These studies provide proof of principle that the repurposing of currently available Hsp90 inhibitors may have potential for the development of novel agents with macrofilaricidal properties
The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI): rationale, development and implementation from 2002-2008
Schistosomiasis remains one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in developing countries. After malaria, schistosomiasis is the most important tropical disease in terms of human morbidity with significant economic and public health consequences. Although schistosomiasis has recently attracted increased focus and funding for control, it has been estimated that less than 20% of the funding needed to control the disease in Africa is currently available. In this article the following issues are discussed: the rationale, development and objectives of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)-supported programmes; the management approaches followed to achieve implementation by each country; mapping, monitoring and evaluation activities with quantifiable impact of control programmes; monitoring for any potential drug resistance; and finally exit strategies within each country. The results have demonstrated that morbidity due to schistosomiasis has been reduced by the control programmes. While challenges remain, the case for the control of schistosomiasis has been strengthened by research by SCI teams and the principle that a national programme using âpreventive chemotherapy' can be successfully implemented in sub-Saharan Africa, whenever the resources are available. SCI and partners are now actively striving to raise further funds to expand the coverage of integrated control of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in sub-Saharan Afric
Mof-associated complexes have overlapping and unique roles in regulating pluripotency in embryonic stem cells and during differentiation
The histone acetyltransferase (HAT) Mof is essential for mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) pluripotency and early development. Mof is the enzymatic subunit of two different HAT complexes, MSL and NSL. The individual contribution of MSL and NSL to transcription regulation in mESCs is not well understood. Our genome-wide analysis show that i) MSL and NSL bind to specific and common sets of expressed genes, ii) NSL binds exclusively at promoters, iii) while MSL binds in gene bodies. Nsl1 regulates proliferation and cellular homeostasis of mESCs. MSL is the main HAT acetylating H4K16 in mESCs, is enriched at many mESC-specific and bivalent genes. MSL is important to keep a subset of bivalent genes silent in mESCs, while developmental genes require MSL for expression during differentiation. Thus, NSL and MSL HAT complexes differentially regulate specific sets of expressed genes in mESCs and during differentiation
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