Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer Dose and Application Timing on Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Irrigated Hybrid Rice under Semi-Arid Conditions

Nitrogen fertilizer is the major input in rice production and the optimum rate and application timing management assure profitability and sustainability of the production system. This study aims to investigate hybrid rice response to different nitrogen fertilizer levels and the timing of application and quantify hybrid rice nitrogen use efficiency. Field experiments were conducted during the dry and the wet seasons 2016 at the research station of Africa Rice at Ndiaye in Senegal. Six nitrogen rates (0, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 kg N/ha) and three hybrid rice varieties (AR031H, AR032H, AR033H) and one inbred variety (Sahel108) and two nitrogen fertilizer application timings (three split and four split) were combined within a split-split plot design. The results showed significant effect of nitrogen rate and timing on rice grain yield that varied from 4.10 to 11.58 tons/ha and most the yield components. Rice grain yield exhibited curvilinear relationship with the applied nitrogen rates during the dry season under both nitrogen application timings and a linear relationship during the wet season under three splits. Nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha was revealed optimum with best performance achieved by the Hybrid rice AR033H. Hybrid rice genotypes achieved greater nitrogen use efficiency compared to the inbred rice Sahel108. Hence, hybrid rice genotypes, and nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha applied in four splits could be recommended to improve rice production and food security for achieving self-sufficiency in rice as targeted by Senegal and the neighboring countries

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Global, regional, national, and selected subnational levels of stillbirths, neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality, 1980�2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Established in 2000, Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) catalysed extraordinary political, financial, and social commitments to reduce under-5 mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. At the country level, the pace of progress in improving child survival has varied markedly, highlighting a crucial need to further examine potential drivers of accelerated or slowed decreases in child mortality. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides an analytical framework to comprehensively assess these trends for under-5 mortality, age-specific and cause-specific mortality among children under 5 years, and stillbirths by geography over time. Methods Drawing from analytical approaches developed and refined in previous iterations of the GBD study, we generated updated estimates of child mortality by age group (neonatal, post-neonatal, ages 1�4 years, and under 5) for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational geographies, from 1980�2015. We also estimated numbers and rates of stillbirths for these geographies and years. Gaussian process regression with data source adjustments for sampling and non-sampling bias was applied to synthesise input data for under-5 mortality for each geography. Age-specific mortality estimates were generated through a two-stage age�sex splitting process, and stillbirth estimates were produced with a mixed-effects model, which accounted for variable stillbirth definitions and data source-specific biases. For GBD 2015, we did a series of novel analyses to systematically quantify the drivers of trends in child mortality across geographies. First, we assessed observed and expected levels and annualised rates of decrease for under-5 mortality and stillbirths as they related to the Soci-demographic Index (SDI). Second, we examined the ratio of recorded and expected levels of child mortality, on the basis of SDI, across geographies, as well as differences in recorded and expected annualised rates of change for under-5 mortality. Third, we analysed levels and cause compositions of under-5 mortality, across time and geographies, as they related to rising SDI. Finally, we decomposed the changes in under-5 mortality to changes in SDI at the global level, as well as changes in leading causes of under-5 deaths for countries and territories. We documented each step of the GBD 2015 child mortality estimation process, as well as data sources, in accordance with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER). Findings Globally, 5·8 million (95 uncertainty interval UI 5·7�6·0) children younger than 5 years died in 2015, representing a 52·0% (95% UI 50·7�53·3) decrease in the number of under-5 deaths since 1990. Neonatal deaths and stillbirths fell at a slower pace since 1990, decreasing by 42·4% (41·3�43·6) to 2·6 million (2·6�2·7) neonatal deaths and 47·0% (35·1�57·0) to 2·1 million (1·8-2·5) stillbirths in 2015. Between 1990 and 2015, global under-5 mortality decreased at an annualised rate of decrease of 3·0% (2·6�3·3), falling short of the 4·4% annualised rate of decrease required to achieve MDG4. During this time, 58 countries met or exceeded the pace of progress required to meet MDG4. Between 2000, the year MDG4 was formally enacted, and 2015, 28 additional countries that did not achieve the 4·4% rate of decrease from 1990 met the MDG4 pace of decrease. However, absolute levels of under-5 mortality remained high in many countries, with 11 countries still recording rates exceeding 100 per 1000 livebirths in 2015. Marked decreases in under-5 deaths due to a number of communicable diseases, including lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, measles, and malaria, accounted for much of the progress in lowering overall under-5 mortality in low-income countries. Compared with gains achieved for infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies, the persisting toll of neonatal conditions and congenital anomalies on child survival became evident, especially in low-income and low-middle-income countries. We found sizeable heterogeneities in comparing observed and expected rates of under-5 mortality, as well as differences in observed and expected rates of change for under-5 mortality. At the global level, we recorded a divergence in observed and expected levels of under-5 mortality starting in 2000, with the observed trend falling much faster than what was expected based on SDI through 2015. Between 2000 and 2015, the world recorded 10·3 million fewer under-5 deaths than expected on the basis of improving SDI alone. Interpretation Gains in child survival have been large, widespread, and in many places in the world, faster than what was anticipated based on improving levels of development. Yet some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, still had high rates of under-5 mortality in 2015. Unless these countries are able to accelerate reductions in child deaths at an extraordinary pace, their achievement of proposed SDG targets is unlikely. Improving the evidence base on drivers that might hasten the pace of progress for child survival, ranging from cost-effective intervention packages to innovative financing mechanisms, is vital to charting the pathways for ultimately ending preventable child deaths by 2030. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY license

La varicocèle de l’adulte: aspects anatomo-cliniques et resultats therapeutiques au service d’urologie-andrologie du CHU de Conakry, Guinee

Objectif: Décrire les aspects anatomo-cliniques et évaluer les résultats thérapeutiques de la varicocèle au service d’urologie-andrologie du CHU de Conakry. Patients et Méthode: Il s’agit d’une étude prospective de type descriptif portant sur un échantillonnage exhaustif de 119 cas colligés dans le service d’Urologie-Andrologie du CHU de Conakry durant une période d’un an. Sur le plan clinique les varicocèles ont été classées en 4 grades selon Dubin et Amelar. Tous les patients avaient bénéficié d’au moins un spermogramme en pré et post opératoire. Résultats: L’âge moyen des patients était de 38 ans avec des extrêmes de 22 et 53 ans. La varicocèle était découverte dans 80,7% (n = 96) des cas au cours d’une consultation pour infertilité conjugale. La varicocèle était gauche dans 84,9% (n = 101) des cas et bilatérale dans 15,1% (n= 18) des cas. Le spermogramme préopératoire était normal dans 5% des cas et l’oligo-asthéno-tératozoospermie avec 46,2% (n = 55) des cas était l’anomalie la plus retrouvée. Tous les patients ont bénéficié d’une cure chirurgicale selon la technique d’Ivanissevitch. Après un suivi moyen de 17 mois pour 113 patients, une amélioration notable de la qualité du sperme a été notée chez 67 patients avec une normalization du spermogramme chez 33 d’entre eux. Par contre aucune amélioration n’a été notée chez 6 des 8 patients azoospermes. Quarante-deux grossesses spontanées soit 35.3% ont été enregistrées chez les conjointes des patients durant le suivi. Conclusion: La varicocèle est une pathologie fréquente dans notre pratique quotidienne; l’infertilité du couple en est la forme de découverte la plus fréquente. Le profil spermatique est celui d’une oligoasthénotératozoospermie. La cure chirurgicale améliore de façon significative la fertilité des patients hypofertiles

Cas Clinique:Emasculation totale : à propos d’un cas

L’automutilation génitale est un phénomène rare en pratique urologique. L’objectif de ce travail était de rapporter un cas clinique d’autoamputation totale des organes génitaux externes (OGE) chez un patient âgé de 32 ans, célibataire dans un contexte de  délire psychiatrique. Avec une revue de la littérature, nous avons rappelé les circonstances dans lesquelles surviennent les  automutilations génitales et les principes de prise en charge des malades.Mots-clés: automutilation, génitale, prise en charge

Effet du compost à base de Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T. Aiton sur la productivité de l’arachide (Arachis hypogaea L.) en zone marginale du Tchad

Objectifs: Une étude à base de compost de Calotropis procera a été menée afin de mesurer l’effet sur la production de l’arachide sur de sols pauvres.Méthodologie et résultats: L’essai a été conduit sur le site de Doyaba au niveau des zones marginales du Tchad avec la variété fleur 11 d’arachide (Arachis hypogaea L.) selon un dispositif expérimental en blocs de Fisher à quatre traitements (T0, T1, T2, T3), avec quatre répétitions. Les traitements T0, T1, T2 et T3 correspondent respectivement au témoin sans engrais et sans compost (T0), à la dose NPK (T1), à la dose SA (T2) et à la dose compost (T3). Les résultats ont montré que le traitement T0 a enregistré les plus faibles rendements en fanes (0,491 t ha-1), en coques (0,828 t ha-1) et des poids de graines (0,271 kg) suivi des traitements T2 (0,612 t ha-1 de fanes, 1,0829 t ha-1 en coques et 0,34 kg de graines) et T1 (0,681 t ha-1 de fanes, 1,0873 t ha-1 en coques et 0,36 kg de graines). Les meilleurs rendements ont été obtenus sur le traitement T3 (1,1714 t ha-1 en coques et 0,428 kg de graines) excepté le rendement en fanes (0,654 t ha-1).Conclusion et application de la recherche: L’étude a montré que la dose de 5 t ha-1 de compost à base de Calotropis procera correspondant au traitement T3 a permis d’accroître la production d’arachide dans les conditions de cet essai. Le compost à base de Calotropis procera a pu fournir la quantité des éléments nutritifs nécessaires à la culture d’arachide en zone marginale du Tchad.Mots-clés: Arachis hypogaea, engrais organique, Calotropis procera, sols appauvris, TchadEnglish Title: Effect of compost from Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton on the productivity of the peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) on marginal zone of ChadEnglish AbstractObjective: A study on compost from Calotropis procera was realized in order to measure its effect on the productivity of groundnut on poor soils.Methodology and results: The test was conducted on the site of Doyaba in marginal areas of Chad with the flower variety 11 (Arachis hypogaea L.) as an experimental randomized complete block with four treatments (T0, T1, T2, T3), with four repetitions. Treatment T0, T1, T2 and T3 correspond to the control without fertilizer and compost (T0), the NPK dose (T1), the SA dose (T2) and to the compost dose (T3). The results showed that the T0 treatment recorded the lowest yields in vines (0.491 t ha-1), in shell (0.828 t ha-1) and seed weight (0.271 kg) followed by T2 treatments (0.612 t ha -1 tops, 1.0829 t ha-1 shells and 0.34 kg of seeds) and T1 (0.681 t ha-1 tops, 1.0873 t ha-1 shells and 0.36 kg of seeds). The best yields were obtained on the T3 treatment (1.1714 t ha-1 in hulls and seeds 0.428 kg) except the yield tops (0.654 t ha-1).Conclusion and application of results: The study has shown that a compost dose from Calotropis procera of 5 t ha-1 corresponding to T3 treatment allowed an increase in groundnut production considering the conditions of this experiment. The Calotropis procera based compost has provided the necessary quantity of nutrients for the groundnut cultivation in the marginal zone of Chad.Keywords: Arachis hypogaea, Organic fertilizers, Calotropis procera, Depleted soils, Cha

ETUDE COMPARATIVE DE LA SALINITE DE L\u2019EAU ET DES SOLS DANS LA ZONE NORD DES NIAYES (SENEGAL)

The objective of this study is to assess the acidity and salinity of irrigation water and soils in the northern Niayes zone. Seven soil profiles were described and their texture measured. Soils were sampled from the 0 - 20 and 20 - 40 cm horizons and water was taken from horitcultural watering wells. Our results show that most of the seven profiles are represented by strongly sandy soils. Soil pH varies among sites but there was no significant difference between shallow (0-20) and deeper (20 - 40) fractions. Soil salinity, however, does vary according do both site and sampling depth, with more saline soils at the surface. Factorial correspondence analysis results show a gradient of both acidity and salinity and discriminate two main groups of soil and water. The first group is constituted by alkaline and saline soils and water. The second group is composed of acidic and non-saline soils and water. This study facilitated the identification of two key zones : an inland area subject to high acidity and a littoral area subject to high salinity. These two factors considerably limit agricultural production.L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude est d\u2019\ue9valuer l\u2019acidit\ue9 et la salinit\ue9 de l\u2019eau d\u2019irrigation et du sol dans la zone nord des Niayes. Sept profils p\ue9dologiques ont \ue9t\ue9 d\ue9crits et leur granulom\ue9trie d\ue9termin\ue9e. La salinit\ue9 et l\u2019acidit\ue9 de sols, pr\ue9lev\ue9s dans les horizons \ue0 20 et 40 cm de profondeur et de l\u2019eau des puits d\u2019arrosage ont \ue9t\ue9 analys\ue9s. Les r\ue9sultats ont montr\ue9 que la fraction sableuse est la plus repr\ue9sentative pour l\u2019ensemble des profils d\ue9crits. Le pH du sol varie selon les sites mais il n\u2019y a pas de diff\ue9rence significative entre la surface (0 - 20 cm) et la profondeur (20 \u2013 40 cm) alors que la salinit\ue9 varie par contre selon les sites et la profondeur avec des valeurs plus \ue9lev\ue9es en surface qu\u2019en profondeur. L\u2019analyse factorielle des correspondances (AFC) a permis de mettre en \ue9vidence un gradient d\u2019acidit\ue9 et/ou d\u2019alcalinit\ue9 et de discriminer deux groupes de sols et d\u2019eaux. Le groupe 1 est constitu\ue9 des sols et eaux alcalins et salins et le groupe 2 est compos\ue9 des sols et eaux acide et non salins. Cette \ue9tude a permis de distinguer deux sous zones : une partie continentale soumise \ue0 une acidit\ue9 plus \ue9lev\ue9e et une partie littorale soumise \ue0 une salinisation \ue9lev\ue9e. Ces deux facteurs limitent consid\ue9rablement la production agricole