Etude de la culture en couloirs de manioc (Manihot esculenta CRANTZ) à base de Gliricidia sepium en Côte d’Ivoire

L’objectif de l’étude est de recommander aux paysans un système de production de manioc à la fois rentable et préservatrice de l’environnement. Pour atteindre cet objectif, deux systèmes améliorés de culture en couloirs (manioc amélioré Yavo/soja vert (Mung bean)/Gliricidia sepium avec un apport de fumure de fond minérale_200 kg/ha de NPK_10-18-18 ou organique_10 t/ha de fiente de poule) ont été mis en compétition avec le système traditionnel (association manioc local/arachide). Les systèmes de culture en couloirs ont bien couvert le sol comparativement au système traditionnel. Les taux moyens de débourrage du manioc ont varié de 80,15 à 82,03% pour la variété locale et de 80,11 à 75,08% pour la variété Yavo. Ces taux ont montré des interactions site x variété significatives et des interactions année x site très hautement significatifs. La culture en couloirs a enregistré un rendement moyen général en racines tubéreuses fraîches de 40 t/ha contre 13 t/ha dans le système traditionnel. Elle a permis d’augmenter le rendement du manioc de 27 t/ha. La culture en couloirs pourrait constituer une solution intéressante de remplacement du système traditionnel. Il est donc possible d’obtenir des rendements élevés à l’unité de surface grâce à la culture en couloirs de manioc.Mots-clés : manioc, Yavo, gliricidia sepium, soja vert, culture en couloirs, Côte d’Ivoire

Integrating Data on Ethnicity, Geography, and Conflict: The Ethnic Power Relations Dataset Family.

ArticleThis article introduces the new Family of Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) data sets, version 2014, which is the latest in a series of data sets on ethnicity that have stimulated civil war research in the past decade. The EPR Family provides data on ethnic groups’ access to state power, their settlement patterns, links to rebel organizations, transborder ethnic kin relations, and intraethnic cleavages. The new 2014 version does not only extend the data set’s temporal coverage from 2009 to 2013, but it also offers several new features, such as a new measure of regional autonomy that is independent of national-level executive power and a new data set component coding intraethnic identities and cleavages. Moreover, for the first time, detailed documentation of the EPR data is provided through the EPR Atlas. This article presents these novelties in detail and compares the EPR Family 2014 to the most relevant alternative data sets on ethnicity.Swiss National Science FoundationSwiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC

Hepatitis C prevalences in the psychiatric setting: Cost-effectiveness of scaling-up screening and direct-acting antiviral therapy.

Patients hospitalised because of mental illness often have risk factors for contracting HCV. Scaling-up HCV screening for all psychiatric inpatients as a case-detection strategy for viral elimination is underexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of scaling-up HCV screening and treatment for psychiatry hospital admissions in Switzerland vs. the current standard-of-care risk-based approach, where only those with a history of substance misuse disorder are offered testing. HCV prevalence by history of substance misuse disorder was analysed in medical records from inpatient admissions to a Swiss psychiatry department. Cost-effectiveness was analysed from a healthcare provider perspective through a decision-tree screening model, using these HCV prevalence data. Model and parameter uncertainty were assessed using deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Prevalence of HCV in psychiatry inpatients with a history of substance misuse disorder (n = 1,013) was 25.7%, compared with 3.5% among the remaining inpatients (n = 3,535). Scaling up HCV screening and treatment for all psychiatry admissions was cost-effective vs. the risk-based approach, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of US$9,188 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio remained cost-effective considering a HCV prevalence as low as 0.07$435,156,348, with 917 additional patients per year detected and treated at a cost of US$3,294 per person (vs. US$2,122 under risk-based screening). Scaling up HCV screening and treatment at diagnosis with all-oral, interferon-free regimens as a generalised approach for psychiatric admissions was cost-effective and could support reaching World Health Organization targets for HCV elimination by 2030. Patients hospitalised because of mental illness often have risk factors for HCV. We found that testing all psychiatry patients in hospital for HCV was cost-effective compared with testing only patients who have a history of substance misuse. Scaling up HCV testing and treatment could help to wipe out HCV

Effects of cattle and poultry manures on organic matter content and adsorption complex of a sandy soil under cassava cultivation (Manihot esculenta, Crantz)

This study examined the A and B horizons of deep, developed and moderately unsaturated sandy ferrallitic soils amended with cattle and poultry manures under cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivation. Therefore, a plot experiment was carried out by using a randomized complete blocks design in 4 replications and fields treatments which included unfertilized (control) and one dose (10 t/ha) of both manures. The study of the different fractions of animal manures showed that the poultry had the greatest content of C (organic carbon), N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus), K (potassium), Ca (calcium) and C:N ratio (p < 0.01). However, the value of Mg (magnesium) in the studied manures was not significantly different (p < 0.01). The manure treatment significantly increased the soil organic matter contents from 0.46 to 2.8 and 1.1% respectively with poultry and cattle manures (p < 0.01). Organic fertilizer significantly increased the cation exchange capacity from 1.7 to 12.75 and 3.8 me:100 g and the bases saturation content from 47 to 80 and to 76% respectively with the poultry and cattle manures (p < 0.01). The organic fertilizer showed significant effect on earthworms populations Hyperiodrilus africanus (Oligochaeta, Eudrilidae) in the soil, with 128 and 85% respectively about the poultry and cattle manures compared to the control (p < 0.01).Key words: Cattle manure, poultry manure, cassava, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, basessaturation content

Effect of a legume cover crop (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis) on soil carbon in an ultisol under maize cultivation in southern Benin

Long term fallow is no longer possible in densely populated tropical areas, but legume cover crops can help maintain soil fertility. Our work aimed to study changes in soil carbon in a sandy loam Ultisol in Benin, which involved a 12-year experiment on three maize cropping systems under manual tillage: traditional no-input cultivation (T), mineral fertilized cultivation (NPK), and association with Mucuna pruriens (M). The origin of soil carbon was also determined through the natural abundance of soil and biomass C-13. In T, NPK and M changes in soil carbon at 0-40 cm were -0.2, +0.2 and +1.3 t C ha(-1) yr(-1), with residue carbon amounting to 3.5, 6.4 and 10.0 t C ha(-1) yr(-1), respectively. After 12 years of experimentation, carbon originating from maize in litter-plus-soil (0-40 cm) represented less than 4% of both total carbon and overall maize residue carbon. In contrast, carbon originating from mucuna in litter-plus-soil represented more than 50% of both total carbon and overall mucuna residue carbon in M, possibly due to accelerated mineralization of native soil carbon (priming effect) and slow mulch decomposition. Carbon originating from weeds in litter-plus-soil represented c. 10% of both total carbon and overall weed residue carbon in T and NPK. Thus mucuna mulch was very effective in promoting carbon sequestration in the soil studied

Four cases of audio-vestibular disorders related to immunisation with SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.

To gain medical insight into the clinical course and safety of otolaryngologic disorders following immunisation with severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA-based vaccines. Case description. We report four cases of transient audio-vestibular symptoms, which occurred shortly after inoculation of two BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech <sup>®</sup> ) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna®) vaccines. Hearing loss was unilateral in all cases and recovered at least partially: it was associated with persistent gait instability in two cases, after 1 and 7 months. Trigger mechanisms underpinning audio-vestibular impairment remain uncertain. Immune tolerance mechanisms with off-target innate activation of T-lymphocytes may be involved in vestibulocochlear nerve disorders, as for other cranial nerves involvement. The occurrence of audio-vestibular manifestations following mRNA-based vaccines needs ENT monitoring to support their causality in such rare vaccine-related adverse events. Audio-vestibular disorders appeared of transitory nature, including hearing loss, and should not deter further efforts in large-scale vaccination campaigns against SARS-CoV-2

Cutting tool tracking and recognition based on infrared and visual imaging systems using principal component analysis (PCA) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) combined with neural networks

The implementation of computerised condition monitoring systems for the detection cutting tools’ correct installation and fault diagnosis is of a high importance in modern manufacturing industries. The primary function of a condition monitoring system is to check the existence of the tool before starting any machining process and ensure its health during operation. The aim of this study is to assess the detection of the existence of the tool in the spindle and its health (i.e. normal or broken) using infrared and vision systems as a non-contact methodology. The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated using both types of data in order to establish an effective and reliable novel software program for tool tracking and health recognition. Infrared and visual cameras are used to locate and track the cutting tool during the machining process using a suitable analysis and image processing algorithms. The capabilities of PCA and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated in recognising the tool’s condition by comparing the characteristics of the tool to those of known conditions in the training set. The experimental results have shown high performance when using the infrared data in comparison to visual images for the selected image and signal processing algorithms

Connected Health User Willingness to Share Personal Health Data: Questionnaire Study

Abstract Background: Connected health has created opportunities for leveraging health data to deliver preventive and personalized health care services. The increasing number of personal devices and advances in measurement technologies contribute to an exponential growth in digital health data. The practices for sharing data across the health ecosystem are evolving as there are more opportunities for using such data to deliver responsive health services. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore user attitudes toward sharing personal health data (PHD). The study was executed within the first year after the implementation of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legal framework. Methods: The authors analyzed the results of an online questionnaire survey to explore the willingness of 8004 people using connected health services across four European countries to share their PHD and the conditions under which they would be willing to do so. Results: Our findings indicate that the majority of users are willing to share their personal PHD for scientific research (1811/8004, 22.63%). Age, education level, and occupation of the participants, in addition to the level of digitalization in their country were found to be associated with data sharing attitudes. Conclusions: Positive attitudes toward data sharing for scientific research can be perceived as an indication of trust established between users and academia. Nevertheless, the interpretation of data sharing attitudes is a complex process, related to and influenced by various factors