Prévalence de la brucellose, chlamydiose et toxoplasmose chez les petits ruminants au Mali : résultats d’une enquête séro-épidemiologique

Au Mali, l’élevage des espèces à cycle court en général et celui des petits ruminants en particulier constitue une source précieuse de revenus et de protéines pour les populations. Cependant, au nombre des contraintes à l’amélioration de la productivité de cet élevage, figurent les pertes en reproduction, dont les causes demeurent mal connues. Les données relatives au rôle de certaines infections microbiennes comme la brucellose à Brucella ovis, chlamydiose et la toxoplasmose sont quasi inexistantes. L’objet de la présente étude a été d’évaluer la prévalence sérologique de ces pathologies, susceptibles de causer des pertes en reproduction chez ces espèces animales. Elle a couvert quatre sites dont Kéniébougou (Cercle de Ségou), Nioro (Cercle de Nioro), Bougouni (Cercle de Bougouni) et Briga (Cercle de Koro), choisis en collaboration étroite avec les services techniques d’encadrement et éleveurs de petits ruminants desdites localités. Au total 872 sérums (368 ovins et 504 caprins) issus des sujets présentant des signes de perte en reproduction ont été testés par la méthode Elisa indirecte. Parmi ceux-ci, 81 (9,28 %) se sont révélés positifs (1,26 % en brucellose à Brucella ovis, 3,55 % en chlamydiose à Chlamydia abortus et 4,47 % en toxoplasmose à Toxoplasma gondii). Les anticorps mis en évidence sont considérés comme d’origine infectieuse, les animaux n’ayant jamais été vaccinés contre les maladies investiguées, ce qui confirme la circulation des agents étiologiques des trois infections abortives parmi les populations de petits ruminants au Mali

Potential of Malian Landraces in Hybrid Combination

The first possibility of economic hybrid seed production in sorghum has been discussed since the discovery of the genetic-cytoplasmic male-sterility. The greater advantage of hybrids to yields, compared to cultivars, has been demonstrated throughout the world. Hybrids made with local cultivars of Mali used as the male parents and were compared to their parents. Heterosis was observed in all stages of plant growth. Seedling vigour and seedling drought tolerance were emphatically better than the Malian parents. The frequency of landraces with fertility reactions was more frequent than those with maintainer reactions. Significant and positive heterotic effects were recorded for grain yield per panicle and the panicle yield components, seed number and seed weight. However, there was no scope for direct exploitation of the hybrids involving the ATx623 and Malian landrace parents. The typical Caudatum “turtle-back” seed shape was dominant in hybrid combinations with all Malian races. This seed shape renders the grain more difficult to dehull than local cultivars. The grain of hybrids made with guinea parents had a thick brown sub coat with astringent tannins, which was undesirable for food uses

Post-Partum Pituitary Insufficiency and Livedo Reticularis Presenting a Diagnostic Challenge in a Resource Limited Setting in Tanzania: A Case Report, Clinical Discussion and Brief Review of Existing Literature.

Pituitary disorders following pregnancy are an important yet under reported clinical entity in the developing world. Conversely, post partum panhypopituitarism has a more devastating impact on women in such settings due to high fertility rates, poor obstetric care and scarcity of diagnostic and therapeutic resources available. A 37 year old African female presented ten years post partum with features of multiple endocrine deficiencies including hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, lactation failure and secondary amenorrhea. In addition she had clinical features of an underlying autoimmune condition. These included a history of post-partum thyroiditis, alopecia areata, livedo reticularis and deranged coagulation indices. A remarkable clinical response followed appropriate hormone replacement therapy including steroids. This constellation has never been reported before; we therefore present an interesting clinical discussion including a brief review of existing literature. Post partum pituitary insufficiency is an under-reported condition of immense clinical importance especially in the developing world. A high clinical index of suspicion is vital to ensure an early and correct diagnosis which will have a direct bearing on management and patient outcome

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Sorghum and Millet Research in Mali

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum] are very impor tant to the economy and people of Mali. But, their productivity is low given the reliance on traditional, low-input production practices. The Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) was started soon after the country's independence to find ways of improving the productivity of food crops in collaboration with regional and international agricultural research institutes (e.g., IRAT, ICRISAT, CIRAD-CA) . A numbe r of improved seed-based sorghum and millet technologies have since been developed and diffused. They were developed from two approaches: (1) selection within local germplasm, which consisted of collecting, testing, purifying, and supplying farmers with readily available materials. These are identified as Generation 1 materials; and (2) plant breeding, which consisted of crossing with exotic germplasm, and pedigree selection. Outputs of this second approach are identified as Generation 2 materials. This study evaluates the returns to sorghum and pearl millet research investments in Mali by combining farm-level survey information from 1990 to 1995 with that from research and extension in an economic surplus framework. The results indicate that by 1995, 30% of the sorghum and 3 7% of the millet areas were sown to improved varieties. Th e estimated benefits from research and extension efforts range from US$16 million (for sorghum) to US$ 25 million (for pearl millet). These represent internal rates of returns of 69% and 50%, respectively. A disaggregated analysis indicates higher yield gains and higher returns to Generation 2 materials than to Generation 1 materials for bot h sorghum and pearl millet. Unit costs were also much lower for Generation 2 materials. The major constraints cited by farmers as limiting their ability to adopt improved materials include lack of information, lack of improved seeds, and low soil fertility. The study concludes that the breeding philosophy should be diversified to respond to the need of the changing socioeconomic environment with the recent devaluation of the CFA. It also recommends that efforts be made to improve the economic farming environment to enable farmers to adopt mor e productive agricultural technologies which are necessary for rural poverty alleviation and improvement in national food security

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

DBnorm as an R package for the comparison and selection of appropriate statistical methods for batch effect correction in metabolomic studies.

As a powerful phenotyping technology, metabolomics provides new opportunities in biomarker discovery through metabolome-wide association studies (MWAS) and the identification of metabolites having a regulatory effect in various biological processes. While mass spectrometry-based (MS) metabolomics assays are endowed with high throughput and sensitivity, MWAS are doomed to long-term data acquisition generating an overtime-analytical signal drift that can hinder the uncovering of real biologically relevant changes. We developed "dbnorm", a package in the R environment, which allows for an easy comparison of the model performance of advanced statistical tools commonly used in metabolomics to remove batch effects from large metabolomics datasets. "dbnorm" integrates advanced statistical tools to inspect the dataset structure not only at the macroscopic (sample batches) scale, but also at the microscopic (metabolic features) level. To compare the model performance on data correction, "dbnorm" assigns a score that help users identify the best fitting model for each dataset. In this study, we applied "dbnorm" to two large-scale metabolomics datasets as a proof of concept. We demonstrate that "dbnorm" allows for the accurate selection of the most appropriate statistical tool to efficiently remove the overtime signal drift and to focus on the relevant biological components of complex datasets