VEGETATION potentialities in food early warning systems in the Sahelian region.

peer reviewe

PROSPECTION, COLLECTE ET CARACTERISATION AGROMORPHOLOGIQUE DES MORPHOTYPES DE VOANDZOU [VIGNA SUBTERRANEA (L.) VERDC. (FABACEAE)] DE LA ZONE SAVANICOLE EN COTE D’IVOIRE

In Africa, Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is the third most important grain-legume after groundnut (Arachis hypogaea ) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). An extended mission of exploration and collection has been achieved in the savannah area of Côte d’Ivoire to acquire knowledge on the plant management by farmers. Agromorphological performances of 15 collected landraces have been evaluated in experimental plots established in Korhogo. Sixty six (66) villages were visited and 156 accessions of Bambara groundnut were collected. The results showed that Bambara groundnut is mainly cultivated by women (90 %). The landraces Ci2, Ci5, Ci6 and Ci1 have been identified as the mostly grown and consumed in savannah area. Chemical products ( cypermetrin and profenofos) and ash were often used for seeds storage. Moreover, Ocimum canum , Hyptis spicigera , Azadirachta indica and Khaya senegalensis are also used in seeds stock. Multifactorial analysis indicated three distinctive groups of landrace: Early maturing landraces with low vegetative development and low seed yield; late maturing landraces with high vegetative development and high seed yield; late maturing landraces with medium vegetative development and high value of seed yield components

Effect of premature rupture of membranes on the maternal and fetal prognosis during childbirth at the gynecology-obstetrics department of the Matam Communal Medical Center, Conakry, Guinea

Background: Premature rupture of membranes (RPM) is defined by rupture of the amnion and chorion before entering labor within 24 hours leading to vaginal discharge of amniotic fluid without uterine contractions. Objective of this study was to improving the management of premature Ruptures of the membranes received in the service.Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical prospective study lasting six months from January 1 to June 30 2016.Results: During the study period, we collected 108 cases of RPM out of 1543 deliveries, representing a hospital frequency of 7%. RPM had more frequently concerned pregnant women aged 25-29 (37.04%), housewife (37.03%), primiparous (45.37%) and referral (52.78%). 95.37% were single pregnancies with cephalic presentation (80%) received between 37-42 weeks (84.26%). Management mainly consisted of antibiotic prophylaxis (100%), fetal pulmonary maturation and childbirth. The vagina was the main mode of delivery (62.04%). The maternal prognosis was dominated by chorioamnionitis (12.96%). The fetal one was made up of respiratory distress (40.71%) and prematurity (12.39%).Conclusions: RPM is frequent at the Matam municipal medical center. It is essential for its prevention to ensure health education of the population in general and genital hygiene in particular, to make a coherent prenatal follow-up while putting a particular accent on the detection and the treatment of genital infections

Ascite fébrile chez la femme, ne pas méconnaitre une tumeur de Krukenberg

Les tumeurs de Krukenberg (TK) se définissent comme des métastases ovariennes d'un cancer, le plus souvent digestif. Elles représentent 5 à 15% des tumeurs malignes ovariennes. Notre objectif était de décrire les caractéristiques épidémiologiques, diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et évolutives.Nous  rapportons deux observations de tumeur de Krukenberg découvertes à l'occasion de l'exploration d'une ascite fébrile.Il s'agit de deux patientes multipares âgées respectivement de 32 ans et 50 ans. Les signes d'appel étaient essentiellement digestifs. La découverte de ces métastases ovariennes était survenue à distance des foyers primitifs. L'atteinte des ovaires était bilatérale dans le premier cas et unilatérale  droite dans le second cas. Le diagnostic est apporté par la tomodensitométrie abdominopelvienne dans les deux cas. La fibroscopie oesogastroduodénale avait permis de retrouver le foyer primitif  respectivement sous forme d'un processus bourgeonnant et d'un ulcère en position antrale avec des stigmates d'hémorragies. L'examen anatomopathologique des biopsies réalisées mettait en évidence un adénocarcinome tubuleux moyennement différencié de l'estomac avec composante mucineuse dans la première observation et un adénocarcinome de type intestinal moyennement différencié dans la seconde. Le traitement chirurgical confirme le diagnostic histologique. Dans notre série, le traitement n'a pu être que symptomatique en raison de l'existence constante d'une carcinose péritonéale et de l'altération profonde de l'état général. Les deux patientes ont été confiées à l'institut de cancérologie pour une chimiothérapie palliative. La première est décédée 1 mois après. La tumeur de Krukenberg est une  maladie rare. Le diagnostic est facilité par la radiologie et confirmé par l'histologie. Son pronostic  demeure encore très sombre. Le seul espoir réside dans les mesures préventives.Key words: Métastases ovariennes, tumeur de Krukenberg, pronostic sombre

Nodule de Soeur Marie-Josèphe révélateur de carcinomes digestif et ovarien: à propos de 4 cas

Le nodule de Soeur Marie-Josèphe est une métastase ombilicale d'une tumeur le plus souvent intra-abdominale. C'est un signe clinique rare dont l'incidence est de 1-3% de toutes les néoplasies abdomino-pelviennes, avec un pronostic péjoratif du fait de son retard diagnostique. Nous rapportons quatre observations d'une métastase cutanée ombilicale révélatrice d'un adénocarcinome dont deux pancréatiques, un gastrique et un d'origine ovarienne. Le but de notre travail est de montrer à travers ces quatre cas cliniques, l'intérêt de l'imagerie (tomodensitométrie, échographie) et de la biopsie dans la démarche diagnostique. A travers ces quatre observations nous insistons aussi sur les difficultés diagnostiques et thérapeutiques que pose cette tumeur dans nos pays à ressources limitées.Pan African Medical Journal 2015; 2

Management of pre-eclampsia and its complications in the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Donka national hospital Conakry, Guinea

Background: Vascular-renal syndrome, also known as pre-eclampsia, is a condition specific to pregnancy, usually occurring in the last trimester of pregnancy. Pregnant women are sometimes at risk of unpredictable obstetrical complications such as: hemorrhage, kidney failure, HELLP syndrome, sometimes even brain damage requiring prompt care and multidisciplinary collaboration. Vascular-renal syndromes are the third leading cause of maternal death and also the world's leading cause of perinatal death. Objectives of this study were to analyse the management of vascular-renal syndromes. Calculate their frequency, describe the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, describe the clinical and biological signs of patients, evaluate the maternal-fetal prognosis.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of Donka National Hospital. It was a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, 6-month study from March 1st to August 31st, 2015, of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia.Results: The study included 217 cases of pre-eclampsia out of a total of 3054 patients, i.e. a proportion of 7.10%. The proportion of pre-eclampsia was high in patients aged between 15 and 19 years, housewife, married, primary. The predisposing factors were primigestitis, obesity and twinkling. The clinic was dominated by headaches and visual disturbances. Severe preeclampsia in 78.49%, eclampsia in 21.65% or simple hypertension in 1.75%. Maternal and fetal complications were dominated by eclampsia 26.26%, PPH (2.63%), eclamptic coma (0.46%), acute fetal distress 27.19%, and fetal death in utero (11.40%). In order to improve maternal and fetal prognosis it is necessary to provide multidisciplinary care, which unfortunately is not always available in our context.Conclusions: Obstetric emergency is a frequent situation for which a better management would improve the maternal-fetal prognosis

Evaluation of the pulse wave velocity in African rheumatoid arthritis subjects

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease with often fatal vascular events. In addition to traditional cardiovascular risk factors, disease-specific elements contribute to this cardiovascular mortality. The aim of this study was to assess arterial stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis and to determine the factors involved.Methods: We have recruited the black African patients followed in rheumatology and had rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Only patients between 18 and 60 years and meeting the American College of Rheumatology criteria were included. All controls were healthy. We evaluated the propagation velocity of the pulse wave finger-toe (PWVft) measured by the pOpmètre®.Results: Present study shows that the PWVft was significantly elevated in over half of patients (55.10%). Besides, the mean patients PWVft was significantly higher than that of the control (respectively 9.40±0.51 and 7.22±0.33 p=0.001). In the patients, no factor was significantly involved in the arterial stiffness, but cons in the control group, the PWVft was significantly correlated with age (p=0.023 and r=0.55).Conclusions: Rheumatoid arthritis patients had higher PWVft compared to controls. Due to the importance of its cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, arthritis requires a regular monitoring element as arterial stiffness, which is currently a major vascular parameter monitoring

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Airborne hyperspectral measurements and superficial soil organic matter

peer reviewedData acquired from field campaign and hyperspectral airborne sensors were processed to determine the surface soil organic matter of an agricultural area located in Southern Belgium. The method adopted was based on a forward stepwise multiple linear regression analysis linking soil organic matter and hyperspectral data from the CASI-2 (Compact Spectrographic Imager-2) airborne sensor working in the visible and near infrared domain. The results were validated successfully from an independent set of sampling points. However, disturbing factors effects are shown on the relationship between soil organic matter and spectral reflectance. It is concluded that the hyperspectral remote sensing approach is promising for soil organic matter prediction but it will require more study to better take account on the disturbing factors affecting the relationship