Where Is the Smartphone Leading the Health of Children?

Smartphones allow users to carry a mobile phone, games console, music player, camera, calendar, and Internet browser all in one small handheld device, with their limitations governed only by the types of applications downloaded onto them. They have become an indispensable part of the daily life. While smartphones have made life more convenient with their advantages, they have also brought many side effects especially on the health. This chapter crosses literature data on the side effects of smartphone in terms of health, especially in children. Nonetheless, it may affect people’s psychology, behavior, and health especially those of children. A mobile phone battery when heated explodes as a bomb. Awareness should be raised on the dangers of smartphones for children as telephone has become a real life partner in everything. Telephony companies as well as parents should join their effort, and measures should be taken to protect children and teenagers to ensure their welfare as they use smartphones. It is not enough to say that the humanity is in permanent danger. It is necessary to prioritize the protection of health while we rejoice in these technological advances

Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used Against Fungal Infections in Prefecture of Sotouboua Central Region, Togo

Plants are a major source of active ingredients and are for that fact used to treat many diseases such as fungal infections. The objective of this study was to identify the plants used in traditional medicine to treat fungal diseases in the prefecture of Sotouboua. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted among healers, elderly and knowledgeable villagers. A semi structured questionnaire and pictures showing common and easily recognizable fungal infection symptoms were used to support a live interview. During this study, 37 plant species belonging to 20 families have been identified. Fabaceae were the most represented family (7 species). The most used parts were leaves (43, 24%) followed by the roots (18, 91%). The decoction is the preferred method of preparation while the oral route is the main route of administration. Sotouboua prefecture in Togo has significant plant biodiversity that is used by dwellers in the management of fungal diseases

Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of crude extracts of three Togolese medicinal plants against ESBL Klebsiella pneumoniae strains

Background: Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth., Securidaca longepedunculata Fresn and Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlt are three plants widely used in the Togolese traditional medicine to treat microbial infections. Some studies reported their antibacterial activity alone but until know there no data concerning their possible interaction with conventional antibiotics. The main objective of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of the association of the crude extracts of the three plants with some conventional antibiotics. We further evaluate the antioxidant and the anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts on rat’s model.Materials and methods:The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the broth microdilution assay and the Fractional inhibitory concentrations (FIC) determined by the checkerboard method. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the Carrageenan- induced rat paw edema model. The antioxidant activities and the phenol contents were determined by spectrophotometry.Results: The MICs of hydroethanolic extract of plants ranged from 3.125 to 100 mg/mL on Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. Synergistic action was observed only with the combination of Imipenem/P. dulce, imipenem/C. sanguinolenta, amikacin/P. dulce and amikacin/C. sanguinolenta against the ESBL negative Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. Of the 21 associations, 15 were antagonistic on the ESBL-producing strains. The indifference effect was observed with the combination of the extract of Securidaca longepedunculata and the following antibiotics imipenem, amikacin, tetracyclin, ciprofloxacin, Cefotaxim; and Sulfametoxazol+Trimethoprim. The in vitro anti-inflammatory with Lipoxygenase inhibition activity was best with C. sanguinolenta extract while the in vivo paw edema model revealed that S. longepedunculata was the highest reducer of paw edema. In addition white blood cells count and biochemical parameters such as total proteins and immunoglobulins were significantly affected by the administration of plant extracts.Conclusion: This study revealed that the three plants although they may inhibit the bacterial growth by themselves, but there is also a possible synergistic action with the commercial antibiotics. Further investigations are needed to identify the active compounds and their mechanism of action.Keywords: antibiotics, extended-spectrum beta lactamase, plant extract, bacteria, Tog

Revue sur l’Ail et ses Composés Bioactifs

Introduction: Dans les pays en voie de développement, les problèmes du médicament se posent en termes d'insuffisance quantitative, qualitative et d'inaccessibilité économique. Pour pallier à ce problème, près de 80% de la population ont recours à la médecine traditionnelle. Cependant, la question n'est plus de démontrer l'efficacité de la médecine traditionnelle mais de s'en convaincre et convaincre les acteurs de la santé publique et des groupes de promotion de la santé. D’où notre objectif de vulgariser l’utilisation de l’ail par la population en montrant les composés bioactifs et les differentes formes d’ail et leur usage thérapeutique. Méthodologie: la recherche Littérature a été effectuée dans les bases de donnée de Medline, Google scholar, Research Gate, HINARI, Cochrane et livres en utilisant des mots clés tels que : Problématique des médicaments en Afrique, l’étude ethnobotanique, ethnomédecine, ethnopharmacologie, les composés bioactifs de l’ail. Cette recherche documentaire s’est faite sur la période du 08 juin 2018 au 23 Novembre 2018. La recherche a été étendue sur les formes d’ail, les données cliniques de l’utilisation de l’ail. Synthèse: L’ail est utilisé depuis des millénaires tant pour ses talents culinaires que ses propriétés thérapeutiques. Les principaux composés responsables des vertus thérapeutiques sont les composés organosulfureux dont leur présence et concentration dépend de la forme d’ail utilisé. Conclusion: L’ail, permet de lutter contre certains germes infectieux de la peau et contre les parasites. Il est aussi utilisé dans le traitement de l’hypertension artérielle, de la coagulation du sang et l’hypercholestérolémie. Ainsi, il est recommandé de consommer des préparations conditionnées et standardisées de l’ail pour bénéficier de ses vertus.Introduction: The availability and accessibility of medicines remains a real concern in developing countries. In the context of low economic income, most of the population (80%) uses traditional medicine. The effectiveness of traditional medicine has been well established. This study suggests that public health actors and health promotion groups in developing countries use herbal medicine as an alternative to the problem of the effectiveness of chemical synthesis drugs. This paper focuses on evaluating the use of different forms of garlic by the population and the bioactive compounds of this plant. Methodology: A literature review was conducted in the Medline, Google Scholar, Research Gate, HINARI, and Cochrane databases using keywords such as Drugs in Africa, Ethnobotany, Ethnomedicine, Ethnopharmacology, Garlic Forms, and Compounds bioactives of garlic. Results: The use of garlic is as old as humanity especially in cooking and disease therapy. The main compounds responsible for the therapeutic virtues are the organosulfur compounds, and its concentration of which depends on the shape of the garlic. Conclusion: Garlic can fight against skin infections, blood pressure drop, prevent blood clotting and hypercholesterolemia. Based on this study, it is recommended to consume conditioned and standardized garlic preparations in order to benefit from its virtues

Herbal remedies and their adverse effects in tem tribe traditional medicine in Togo

Abstract In Africa, up to 80% of the population relies on herbal concoctions for their primarily health care. In Togo, western Africa, Tem tribe is a population with old knowledge of medicinal plants, however, still very little is known about their medical practices. The present study was conducted to access for the apprehension of adverse effects of traditional remedies by Tem traditional healers (TH). Enquiry was performed by interviews with healers from August to October 2007 in Tchaoudjo prefecture (Togo). The study allowed us to interview 54 TH including 41(75.93%) males and 13(24.07%) females, who cited 102 recipes assumed to have adverse effects. The recipes were used alone to cure several diseases including haemorrhoids (22.55%), female sexual disorders and infertility (21.57%), gastrointestinal disorders (18.63%), and malaria (6.86%). A total of 34 plants belonging to 21 families were cited to be components of the recipes. Euphorbiaceae and Mimosaceae families were the most represented, however, Nauclea latifolia, Khaya senegalensis, Pseudocedrela kotschyi and Xeroderris stuhlmannii were the main components of recipes linked to adverse effects. A total of 20 adverse effects were linked to the administration of theses drugs, and among them; diarrhoea, abdominal pains, polyuria, general weakness and vomiting were the most frequently encountered. These findings were in accordance with several reports of the literature concerning medicinal plants, although they were based on empirical observations. Laboratory screenings are needed to access for the effectiveness as well as the possible toxic effects of the recipes

ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF PLANTS USED TO TREAT ASTHMA IN THE MARITIME REGION IN TOGO

Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in modern society and it is evident that its incidence and severity are increasing, however very little is known about the plants used in the management of the disease. This study therefore aimed to document the plants usage in the Togolese traditional medicine to treat asthma. Methodology: From January to June 2015, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire with traditional healers (THs) in the southern region of Togo. The importance of the plants species was assessed by the calculated use values. Results: In Total, 121 THs (92 males and 29 females) were interviewed and 98 plants species belonging to 54 families were identified as curing asthma. The most represented families were: Leguminosae with 7 species followed by Euphorbiaceae and Rutaceae contributing with 6 and 5 species respectively. Based on the calculated use values the most important species were Carcica papaya L., Cataranthus roseus L., Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., Piper guineense Thonn., Eucalyptus citriodora Hook., Eucalyptus globules Labill. and Euphorbia hirta L. The leaves and the root were the parts predominantly used to prepare the formulations, mainly decoctions, administrated by oral route. Clinical manifestations such as wheezing (91.74%), difficulty as speaking or coughing (73.55%), dyspnea (66.94%), dry cough (52.89%), sweating and increased heart rate (52.07%) were used by TH to diagnose the disease. Conclusion: This study showed initial evidence of the use of plant materials by Togolese TH to heal asthma. These results could be a starting point for laboratory screenings

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITIES OF CRUDE EXTRACTS OF THREE TOGOLESE MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST ESBL KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE STRAINS

Background: Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth., Securidaca longepedunculata Fresn and Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlt are three plants widely used in the Togolese traditional medicine to treat microbial infections. Some studies reported their antibacterial activity alone but until know there no data concerning their possible interaction with conventional antibiotics. The main objective of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of the association of the crude extracts of the three plants with some conventional antibiotics. We further evaluate the antioxidant and the anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts on rat’s model. Materials and methods:The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the broth microdilution assay and the Fractional inhibitory concentrations (FIC) determined by the checkerboard method. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the Carrageenan- induced rat paw edema model. The antioxidant activities and the phenol contents were determined by spectrophotometry. Results: The MICs of hydroethanolic extract of plants ranged from 3.125 to 100 mg/mL on Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. Synergistic action was observed only with the combination of Imipenem/P. dulce, imipenem/C. sanguinolenta, amikacin/P. dulce and amikacin/C. sanguinolenta against the ESBL negative Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. Of the 21 associations, 15 were antagonistic on the ESBL-producing strains. The indifference effect was observed with the combination of the extract of Securidaca longepedunculata and the following antibiotics imipenem, amikacin, tetracyclin, ciprofloxacin, Cefotaxim; and Sulfametoxazol+Trimethoprim. The in vitro anti-inflammatory with Lipoxygenase inhibition activity was best with C. sanguinolenta extract while the in vivo paw edema model revealed that S. longepedunculata was the highest reducer of paw edema. In addition white blood cells count and biochemical parameters such as total proteins and immunoglobulins were significantly affected by the administration of plant extracts. Conclusion: This study revealed that the three plants although they may inhibit the bacterial growth by themselves, but there is also a possible synergistic action with the commercial antibiotics. Further investigations are needed to identify the active compounds and their mechanism of action

Finite-time estimation of nonlinear and delay systems with application to networked systems

Cette thèse étudie le problème d'identification de la topologie d'un réseau de systèmes complexes dynamiques, dont les sous-systèmes sont décrits par des équations différentielles ordinaires (EDO) et/ou par des équations différentielles à retard (EDR). La première partie de ce travail porte sur l’identification des paramètres du réseau de systèmes linéaires. Ainsi, différentes classes de systèmes linéaires ont été traitées, à savoir les systèmes sans retard, les systèmes à retard commensurable et les systèmes à entrées inconnues. Un observateur impulsif est proposé afin d'identifier à la fois les états et les paramètres inconnus de la classe de système dynamique considérée en temps fini. Afin de garantir l'existence de l'observateur impulsif proposé, des conditions suffisantes sont déduites. Des exemples illustratifs sont donnés afin de montrer l'efficacité de l'observateur en temps fini proposé.La deuxième partie de ce travail traite le problème de l'identification de la topologie d'un réseau de systèmes dynamiques non linéaires. Dans nos considérations, les coefficients interconnexions de la topologie du réseau sont considérés comme des paramètres constants. Par conséquent, l'identification de la topologie est équivalente à l'identification des paramètres inconnus. Tout d’abord, nous avons déduit des conditions suffisantes sur l’identifiabilité des paramètres, puis nous avons proposé un différenciateur uniforme avec convergence en temps fini pour estimer les paramètres inconnusThis thesis investigates the topology identification problem for network of dynamical complex systems, whose subsystems are described by ordinary differential equations (ODE) and/or delay differential equations (DDE). The first part of this work focuses on the parameters identification of the network of linear systems. Thus, different classes of linear systems have been treated namely systems without delay, systems with commensurable delay and systems with unknown inputs. An impulsive observer is proposed in order to identify both the states and the unknown parameters of the considered class of dynamic system in finite time. In order to guarantee the existence of the proposed impulsive observer, sufficient conditions are deduced. An illustrative example is given in order to show the efficiency of the proposed finite-time observer.The second part of this work treats the topology identification of the network of nonlinear dynamic systems. In our considerations, the topology connections are represented as constant parameters, therefore the topology identification is equivalent to identify the unknown parameters. A sufficient condition on parameter identifiability is firstly deduced, and then a uniform differentiator with finite-time convergence is proposed to estimate the unknown parameter

Estimation en temps fini de systèmes non linéaires et à retards avec application aux systèmes en réseau

This thesis investigates the topology identification problem for network of dynamical complex systems, whose subsystems are described by ordinary differential equations (ODE) and/or delay differential equations (DDE). The first part of this work focuses on the parameters identification of the network of linear systems. Thus, different classes of linear systems have been treated namely systems without delay, systems with commensurable delay and systems with unknown inputs. An impulsive observer is proposed in order to identify both the states and the unknown parameters of the considered class of dynamic system in finite time. In order to guarantee the existence of the proposed impulsive observer, sufficient conditions are deduced. An illustrative example is given in order to show the efficiency of the proposed finite-time observer.The second part of this work treats the topology identification of the network of nonlinear dynamic systems. In our considerations, the topology connections are represented as constant parameters, therefore the topology identification is equivalent to identify the unknown parameters. A sufficient condition on parameter identifiability is firstly deduced, and then a uniform differentiator with finite-time convergence is proposed to estimate the unknown parametersCette thèse étudie le problème d'identification de la topologie d'un réseau de systèmes complexes dynamiques, dont les sous-systèmes sont décrits par des équations différentielles ordinaires (EDO) et/ou par des équations différentielles à retard (EDR). La première partie de ce travail porte sur l’identification des paramètres du réseau de systèmes linéaires. Ainsi, différentes classes de systèmes linéaires ont été traitées, à savoir les systèmes sans retard, les systèmes à retard commensurable et les systèmes à entrées inconnues. Un observateur impulsif est proposé afin d'identifier à la fois les états et les paramètres inconnus de la classe de système dynamique considérée en temps fini. Afin de garantir l'existence de l'observateur impulsif proposé, des conditions suffisantes sont déduites. Des exemples illustratifs sont donnés afin de montrer l'efficacité de l'observateur en temps fini proposé.La deuxième partie de ce travail traite le problème de l'identification de la topologie d'un réseau de systèmes dynamiques non linéaires. Dans nos considérations, les coefficients interconnexions de la topologie du réseau sont considérés comme des paramètres constants. Par conséquent, l'identification de la topologie est équivalente à l'identification des paramètres inconnus. Tout d’abord, nous avons déduit des conditions suffisantes sur l’identifiabilité des paramètres, puis nous avons proposé un différenciateur uniforme avec convergence en temps fini pour estimer les paramètres inconnu

Robust Observer synthesis for Bilinear Parameter Varying system

In the present paper, sufficient conditions for the synthesis of robust Unknown Input Observers (UIOs) are proposed for a class of nonlinear systems, both in continuous and discrete time. The considered class is general enough to contain bilinear systems as well as Linear Parameter-Varying (LPV) systems with no parameter variation on the output matrix. The proposed conditions are numerically tractable, and are expressed in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) or Linear Matrix Equalities (LMEs). Furthermore, the gain synthesis problem is shown to be formulated as a convex optimisation one, directly enabling the minimization of the influence of noisy measurements and model uncertainty. Simulations on energy systems are provided to illustrate the proposed methodologies