Engaging development partners in Africa RISING research for better socioeconomic impacts in West Africa semi-arid countries

United States Agency for International Developmen

IFC2INDOORGML: an open-source tool for generating indoorgml from ifc

The interest in 3D indoor models has been continuously growing. Most such models are made available as point clouds or BIM (e.g., IFC), the former being generally provided as unstructured information while the latter comes highly structured and rich in semantic information. IFC models are consequently more suitable for direct use, but they can be very complex and contain too many details, which often raises privacy concerns. IndoorGML is one of the standards for describing 3D indoor space with the purpose of supporting Location Based Services (LBS). It relies on solid scientific concepts and offers a high flexibility with extension mechanisms. It provides a geometric, topological, and semantic description of the indoor which facilitates specifically applications like indoor navigation or facility management. Additionally, it can represent complex indoor environments without compromising privacy, thanks to its high level of abstraction. However, despite its solid conceptual basis, IndoorGML is suffering from a lack of practical tools and remains hard to produce, making it largely unavailable. In this project, we developed an open-source tool named ifc2indoorgml allowing to automatically generate IndoorGML models from IFC data. We discuss the workflow and the different development approaches. By making such tool available to the wider public, we expect more 3D IndoorGML models to be created and made freely available for research and development within the spatial community and beyond.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. RYC2020-029193-

Prevalence and awareness of diabetes in Guinea: findings from a WHO STEPS

Aims: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of diabetes, and to assess its awareness and related risk factors among adult Guineans.Methods: A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1 100  adults (46.6% women) aged 35–64 years from Lower Guinea, during September to December 2009, using the WHO STEPwise approach of surveillance of chronic  disease risk factors. Data were collected in three steps: demographic and  behavioural risk factors, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements, and fasting blood cholesterol and glucose testing. A multi-stage cluster sample design was applied to generate nationwide representative data.Results: The mean age of all participants was 47.3 years (SD 8.8), similarly in  Conakry, rural Lower Guinea and urban Lower Guinea. The prevalence of diabetes was 5.7% (95% CI 4.0–8.1). Among participants with diabetes, only 44.0% were aware of their status. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, determinants of diabetes prevalence were urban residency, male sex, age group 45–64 years, increased waist circumference, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Male sex, rural residency, age group 45–54 years, no formal education, waist circumference, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were independent predictors of screen-detected diabetes.Conclusion: The present study found a high prevalence and low awareness of  diabetes, suggesting the need for appropriate actions to strengthen primary  healthcare approaches towards non-communicable diseases in Guinea.Keywords: Diabetes, epidemiology, Guine

Further evidence supporting a role for gs signal transduction in severe malaria pathogenesis.

With the functional demonstration of a role in erythrocyte invasion by Plasmodium falciparum parasites, implications in the aetiology of common conditions that prevail in individuals of African origin, and a wealth of pharmacological knowledge, the stimulatory G protein (Gs) signal transduction pathway presents an exciting target for anti-malarial drug intervention. Having previously demonstrated a role for the G-alpha-s gene, GNAS, in severe malaria disease, we sought to identify other important components of the Gs pathway. Using meta-analysis across case-control and family trio (affected child and parental controls) studies of severe malaria from The Gambia and Malawi, we sought evidence of association in six Gs pathway candidate genes: adenosine receptor 2A (ADORA2A) and 2B (ADORA2B), beta-adrenergic receptor kinase 1 (ADRBK1), adenylyl cyclase 9 (ADCY9), G protein beta subunit 3 (GNB3), and regulator of G protein signalling 2 (RGS2). Our study amassed a total of 2278 cases and 2364 controls. Allele-based models of association were investigated in all genes, and genotype and haplotype-based models were investigated where significant allelic associations were identified. Although no significant associations were observed in the other genes, several were identified in ADORA2A. The most significant association was observed at the rs9624472 locus, where the G allele (approximately 20% frequency) appeared to confer enhanced risk to severe malaria [OR = 1.22 (1.09-1.37); P = 0.001]. Further investigation of the ADORA2A gene region is required to validate the associations identified here, and to identify and functionally characterize the responsible causal variant(s). Our results provide further evidence supporting a role of the Gs signal transduction pathway in the regulation of severe malaria, and request further exploration of this pathway in future studies

Epilepsie et permis de conduire au Mali : connaissances, attitudes et pratiques des moniteurs d’auto-école et des candidats au permis de conduire

Introduction: L’un des sujets les plus controversés dans le domaine de l’épilepsie est la problématique de la conduite chez l’épileptique.Objectif: Nous avons initié une étude, en collaboration avec l’Agence Nationale de la Sécurité Routière au Mali (ANASER), ayant pour but de faire l’état des lieux sur les connaissances, attitudes et pratiques des conducteurs, moniteurs et inspecteurs d’auto-écoles en matière d’épilepsie.Methode: Il s’agissait d’une étude longitudinale, prospective, descriptive et analytique qui s’est déroulée de juin 2009 à juin 2010. Elle a porté sur 31 auto-écoles du district de Bamako. 568 personnes ont été interrogées (488 candidats au permis de conduire, 70 moniteurs d’auto-école et 10 inspecteurs).Resultats: Près de 60 % des personnes interrogées accordaient une origine surnaturelle à l’épilepsie ; plus de 85 % indiquaient que l’épilepsie était incompatible avec la conduite automobile. Plus de la moitié ignorait l’existence d’une réglementation. Près de 70 % pensaient que l’épilepsie était pourvoyeuse d’accident de la voie publique.Conclusion: A l’instar de nos précédentes études communautaires au Mali, ce travail a permis de mettre l’accent, d’une part, sur l’importance des connaissances erronées sur l’épilepsie et, d’autre part, sur la nécessité d’actualiser la réglementation en matière de conduite de véhicules motorisés pour ces patients.Mots clés: Attitudes, Épilepsie, Mali, Permis de conduire, Conduite automobileEnglish Title: Epilepsy and driving licence in Mali : knowledge, attitudes and practices of driving schools monitors and the candidates for the licenceEnglish AbstractBackground: One of the most controversial topics in the field of epilepsy remains the issue of driving license for epileptic patients.Purpose: We initiated a study in collaboration with ANASER (National Agency for Road Safety in Mali) with the goal, on one hand, of assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices of drivers and driving school authorities on epilepsy and, on the other hand, to analyze the current regulations on issuance of license to epileptic patients.Methods: Il s’agissait d’une étude longitudinale, prospective, descriptive et analytique qui s’est déroulée de juin 2009 à juin 2010. We interviewed 568 sujects, including 488 candidates for driver’s license, 70 driving school monitors and 10 inspectors.Results: About 60% gave a supernatural origin of the disease, and more than 85% believed that epilepsy was incompatible with driving. More than half were unaware of regulations. Approximately, 70% of respondents believed that epilepsy was a contributory factor to road accident.Conclusion: As in our previous community studies in Mali, this study emphasizes the importance of misconceptions about epilepsy, and has shown the need to update the regulations regarding the driving of motorized vehicles for these patients.Keywords: Epilepsy, Attitudes, Driving , Driving License, Mal

Interrupting seasonal transmission of Schistosoma haematobium and control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in northern and central Côte d’Ivoire: a SCORE study protocol

© The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The attached file is the published version of the article

L’epilepsie en milieu scolaire : enquete chez les enseignants de la ville de Kati au Mali et revue de la litterature

Introduction La prévalence de l’épilepsie en Afrique subsaharienne est élevée. Nous avons mené une étude transversale et descriptive dans l’ensemble des écoles primaires de la ville de Kati (200 000 habitants). Les enseignants furent interviewés de manière exhaustive à l’aide de questionnaires portant, d’une part, sur les connaissances, attitudes et pratiques des enseignants en matière d’épilepsie et, d’autre part, sur leurs avis sur les conséquences psychologiques, sociales pour l’enfant épileptique et les incidences sur sa scolarité.Résultats Nous avons interrogé 92 enseignants (60 hommes et 32 femmes). L’âge moyen des enseignants était de 30 ans. La majorité d’entre eux avait une expérience professionnelle de plus de 5 ans. Environ 38% des enseignants attribuaient la maladie à une cause surnaturelle. Plus de 39% des enseignants pensaient que l’épilepsie était contagieuse et 61% pensaient que l’épilepsie était incurable. 79% interdisaient systématiquement la pratique du sport à l’enfant épileptique. Environ 55% pensaient que l’enfant épileptique avait des capacités cognitives inférieures à celles de l’enfant non épileptique et 88% affirmaient que l’enfant épileptique était incapable d’avoir une scolarité normale. 59% trouvaient que l’élève épileptique était victime de stigmatisation et de marginalisation. Devant une crise, 68% renvoyaient l’enfant au domicile.Conclusion Ce travail fait apparaître un besoin de formation des enseignants en matière d’épilepsie. Les données actuelles sur la fréquence de l’épilepsie en milieu scolaire justifient une attention particulière des services de santé et de ceux de l’éducation nationale sur la scolarisation de l’enfant épileptique.Mots clés : Epilepsie, Ecole, Enseignants, Mali, Pratiques