Retail Market Prices of Fonio Reveal The Demand For Quality Characteristics in Bamako, Mali

African consumers' expectations concerning the quality of food products are great. In spite of constrained budgets, we showed that market retail prices revealed quality preferences of the consumers and not just production costs. In very poor countries like Mali, food innovation is limited by the very low purchasing power of the population. However, technological food product or process innovations are possible and sometimes valuable. Demand driven innovation may lead to open new markets, opportunities for small and medium scale enterprises and to improve consumers' welfare. Based on this assumption, technical research was done to provide new food products. In this paper, we used both sensory tests and a hedonic price approach, to estimate the consumers' demand for different characteristics of fonio, a West African cereal, and showed that poor consumers have quality requirements and pay for them. We showed that the shadow price or hedonic price paid for quality characteristics is small but significant. A comparison between sensory tests and a market study showed a convergence between what people say they prefer and what they really pay for. Results were consistent and showed directions for technological improvement of the product and its production process. The partial least square method was used to estimate hedonic prices of the different modalities of fonio quality traits. This method was interesting since it solved the ordinary least square method's colinearity problems. ...French Abstract : Les attentes des consommateurs africains concernant la qualité de l'alimentation sont importantes malgré des budgets très contraints. Nous montrons ici que les prix de marchés révèlent des préférences qualitatives et non seulement des coûts de production. Dans des pays très pauvres comme le Mali, l'innovation technologique est limitée par le très faible pouvoir d'achat de la population. Cependant les innovations technologiques sont possibles et parfois payantes. L'innovation en réponse à une demande peut permettre d'ouvrir de nouveaux marchés, de donner des opportunités aux petites et moyennes entreprises et d'améliorer le bien-être des consommateurs. Sur la base de cette hypothèse, la recherche technologique s'applique à fournir de nouveaux produits. Dans cet article, en utilisant à la fois des tests de dégustation et une analyse des prix hédoniques, nous estimons la demande des consommateurs pour différentes caractéristiques du fonio, une céréale d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Nous montrons que des consommateurs pauvres ont des exigences de qualité et paient de fait pour les satisfaire. Nous montrons que les prix hédoniques ou shadow prices payés pour les caractéristiques qualitatives sont faibles mais significatifs. La comparaison des tests sensoriels et de l'étude de marché montre une convergence entre ce que les gens disent et ce pour quoi ils paient réellement. Les résultats sont cohérents et montrent des directions pour l'amélioration technologique des produits et des procédés de transformation. La méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires a été utilisée pour l'estimation des prix hédoniques des différentes modalités des attributs de qualité du fonio. Cette méthode est intéressante car elle résout les problèmes de colinéarité.FONIO; CEREAL; QUALITY; HEDONIC PRICES; PLS METHOD; EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Is the Screening Test of the French Version of the Dementia Quality of Life Questionnaire Indispensable?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the screening questions in the French version of the Dementia Quality of Life (DQoL) questionnaire. To assess the psychometric properties of the French DQoL, 155 patients with mild-to-moderate dementia were recruited. Here, we compared the psychometric properties of the instrument between patients who passed the screening test (n = 109) and the whole study population (n = 155). The French DQoL version showed a good test-retest reliability at a 2-week interval (0.95 ≤ intraclass correlation coefficients ≤ 1.0), and an average internal consistency (0.58 ≤ Cronbach's α ≤ 0.87) for the 2 study groups. Significant differences were observed in the 2 groups for 4 dimensions of the DQoL regarding dementia severity (Cornell scale), and for 3 dimensions evaluating depression (MMSE). Convergent validity with the Duke Health Profile revealed many significant correlations between dimensions not only in the 109 patients, but also in the whole study population. Our study demonstrated that patients who failed the screening procedure nonetheless seemed to be able to answer the DQoL questionnaire, the whole study group showing acceptable psychometric properties

Early markers of prolonged hospital stay in demented inpatients: A multicentre and prospective study

Background: Dementia is a serious, chronic, and costly public health problem. Prior studies have described dementia as increasing length of hospital stay, but so far no explanations have been proposed. Methods: To identify early markers for prolonged hospital stay in demented elderly inpatients, 178 community-dwelling or institutionalized subjects aged 75+, hospitalized through an emergency department in 9 teaching hospitals in France, were analyzed. Prolonged hospital stays were defined according a limit adjusted for Diagnosis Related Group. All patients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment at admission. Logistic regression multifactorial mixed model was performed. Center effect was considered as a random effect. Results: Of the 178 stays, 52 were prolonged. Most concerned community-dwelling patients (86%). Multifactor analysis demonstrated that demographic variables had no influence on the length of stay, while diagnosis of delirium (OR 2.31; 95% CI 1.77-2.91), walking difficulties (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.62-2.43) and report by the informal caregiver of moderate or severe burden (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.19-1.86) or low social quality-of-life score (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.03-1.40), according to the Zarit's Burden Inventory short scale (12 items) and the Duke's Health Profile respectively, were identified as early markers for prolonged hospital stays. Conclusion: At the time of the rising incidence of cognitive disorders, these results suggest that preventive approaches might be possible. In a hospital setting as well as in a community-dwelling population, more specific, specialized and coordinated care, using the expertise of multiple disciplines appears as a probable effective measure to limit prolonged hospital stay. Such approaches require (i) clear patient-oriented goal definition, (ii) understanding and appreciation of roles among various health care and social disciplines and, (iii) cooperation between partners in patient's management. However, the cost- and health-effectiveness of such approaches should be evaluate

Rapid cognitive decline, one-year institutional admission and one-year mortality: Analysis of the ability to predict and inter-tool agreement of four validated clinical frailty indexes in the safes cohort

Objectives: To evaluate the predictive ability of four clinical frailty indexes as regards one-year rapid cognitive decline (RCD — defined as the loss of at least 3 points on the MMSE score), and one-year institutional admission (IA) and mortality respectively; and to measure their agreement for identifying groups at risk of these severe outcomes. Design: One-year follow-up and multicentre study of old patients participating in the SAFEs cohort study. Setting: Nine university hospitals in France. Participants: 1,306 patients aged 75 or older (mean age 85±6 years; 65% female) hospitalized in medical divisions through an Emergency department. Measurements: Four frailty indexes (Winograd; Rockwood; Donini; and Schoevaerdts) reflecting the multidimensionality of the frailty concept, using an ordinal scoring system able to discriminate different grades of frailty, and constructed based on the accumulation of identified deficits after comprehensive geriatric assessment conducted during the first week of hospital stay, were used to categorize participants into three different grades of frailty: Gl — not frail; G2 — moderately frail; and G3 — severely frail. Comparisons between groups were performed using Fisher's exact test. Agreement between indexes was evaluated using Cohen's Kappa coefficient. Results: All patients were classified as frail by at least one of the four indexes. The Winograd and Rockwood indexes mainly classified subjects as G2 (85% and 96%), and the Donini and Schoevaerdts indexes mainly as G3 (71% and 67%). Among the SAFEs cohort population, 250, 1047 and 1,306 subjects were eligible for analyses of predictability for RCD, 1-year IA and 1-year mortality respectively. At 1 year, 84 subjects (34%) experienced RCD, 377 (36%) were admitted into an institutional setting, and 445 (34%) had died With the Rockwood index, all subjects who expenenced RCD were classified in G2; and in G2 and G3 when the Donini and Schoevaerdts indexes were used No significant difference was found between frailty grade and RCD, whereas frailty grade was significantly associated with an increased risk of IA and death, whatever the frailty index considered. Agreement between the different indexes of frailty was poor with Kappa coefficients ranging from −0.02 to 0.15. Conclusion: These findings confirm the poor clinimetric properties of these current indexes to measure frailty, underlining the fact that further work is needed to develop a better and more widely-accepted definition of frailty and therefore a better understanding of its pathophysiolog

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) oil as a protectant against field insect pests of cowpea in Sudano-Sahelian cropping systems

Cowpea is a profitable food and fodder crop in the Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa. Unfortunately, it is extensively damaged in the field by a range of insect pests. The use of locally available insecticidal plant extracts is a promising alternative to chemical crop protection, which is the most popular management strategy but shows many drawbacks. In this respect, oil extracted from seed of the physic nut shrub (Jatropha curcas) showed promise. The insecticidal properties of J. curcas oil were thus assessed against cowpea insect pests at the ICRISAT research station, Sadoré, Niger. In 2002, four concentrations of physic nut oil extract, formulated as an emulsifiable concentrate (EC) (namely 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%), were evaluated as field sprays along with an untreated control (water spraying) and a conventional insecticide (Deltamethrin Decis® EC) treatment. In 2009, these latter two checks were evaluated alongside four concentrations of a “blank” formulation consisting of only the adjuvants of the 2002 EC formulation (namely 1.25%, 2.5%, 3.75% and 5%). In 2002, application of Deltamethrin and physic nut oil at 7.5% gave the highest seed yields, with more than 1000 kg ha-1. Both treatments, alongside the one with 10% oil, sustained significantly lower thrips (Megalurothrips sjostedti) infestation than the water-sprayed control. All oil extract treatments and the Deltamethrin treatment sustained significantly lower infestation by Clavigralla tomentosicollis bugs than the untreated control, with the lowest infestation occurring with 7.5% oil. Furthermore, correlations between oil concentration and thrips and bug infestation were negative and significant, while correlation between oil concentration and seed yield was not significant, due to a phytotoxic effect of oil at high concentrations. The follow-up studies in 2009 confirmed that effects of Jatropha oil on cowpea insect infestation and seed yield observed in 2002 could be ascribed to the physic nut oil fraction alone

Sensory diversity of fonio landraces from West Africa

This study aims to establish if there is some sensory variability among fonio landraces. Fonio, the oldest indigenous and very tasty cereal growing in West Africa, is usually consumed as a couscous. Group interviews of consumers were conducted in Bamako, Mali to identify the main quality criteria of a cooked grain. Fonio grain must be swollen, not sticky with a soft consistency, pale and containing low impurities. Sensory properties of 20 fonio landraces from Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso were established using a descriptive sensory analysis. Five sensory descriptors were chosen among the quality criteria. Each landrace was tasted and scored in triplicate by a group of 18 trained panellists. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used. The 20 landraces clustered into four sensory classes. Sensory criteria of variability were first visual characteristics (colour and impurities) and then the consistency of cooked grains. Landraces from Guinea and Mali were variable for both visual and textural characteristics; those from Burkina Faso appeared to be more homo-genous. The sensory variability of fonio offers to processors, who intend to promote this tiny cereal both in the sub-region and beyond, the possibility to choose adapted landraces to develop new products

Heterologous prime-boost vaccination using an ASO3B-adjuvanted influenza A(H5N1) vaccine in infants and children <3 years of age

Presented in part: Options for the Control of Influenza VIII Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, 5–10 September 2013BACKGROUND: Protecting young children from pandemic influenza should also reduce transmission to susceptible adults, including pregnant women. METHODS: An open study assessed immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a heterologous booster dose of A/turkey/Turkey/1/2005(H5N1)-AS03B (AS03B is an Adjuvant System containing α-tocopherol and squalene in an oil-in-water emulsion [5.93 mg tocopherol]) in infants and children aged 6 to <36 months that was given 6 months following 2-dose primary vaccination with A/Indonesia/05/2005(H5N1)-AS03B. Vaccines contained 1.9 µg of hemagglutinin antigen and AS03B. Hemagglutinin inhibition (HI) responses, microneutralization titers, and antineuraminidase antibody levels were assessed for 6 months following the booster vaccination. RESULTS: For each age stratum (defined on the basis of the subject's age at first vaccination as 6 to <12 months, 12 to <24 months, and 24 to <36 months) and overall (n=113), European influenza vaccine licensure criteria were fulfilled for responses to A/turkey/Turkey/1/2005(H5N1) 10 days following the booster vaccination. Local pain and fever increased with consecutive doses. Anamnestic immune responses were demonstrated for HI, neutralizing, and antineuraminidase antibodies against vaccine-homologous/heterologous strains. Antibody responses to vaccine-homologous/heterologous strains persisted in all children 6 months following the booster vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Prevaccination of young children with a clade 2 strain influenza A(H5N1) AS03-adjuvanted vaccine followed by heterologous booster vaccination boosted immune responses to the homologous strain and a related clade, with persistence for at least 6 months. The results support a prime-boost vaccination approach in young children for pandemic influenza preparedness. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT01323946.Terry Nolan, Patricia Izurieta, Bee-Wah Lee, Poh Chong Chan, Helen Marshall, Robert Booy, Mamadou Drame, and David W. Vaugh