Analysis of the Editorial Process of the Multidisciplinary Rural Development Journal Tropicultura

Tropicultura is a multidisciplinary journal which aims mainly at releasing research results relevant to rural development in developing countries and at improving the investigation capacities of the researchers who submit manuscripts to its editorial board. The operating process of the journal and its consequences on its output during the period 2002- 2009 were analysed by considering mainly the factors influencing the duration of the editorial work and the final acceptance of the manuscripts. The factors taken in consideration were: the field of research, the geographic origin of the data analysed, the language of writing and the country of origin of the authors. The available data were analysed using descriptive statistic methods. They were also subjected to parametric and non parametric comparisons. A total of 1,034 papers have been submitted during the investigated period to Tropicultura in different fields of rural development research, with a large proportion of papers in agronomy sensu lato (60%), and livestock production (19%). Most of the papers submitted (85.1%) came from Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by North Africa (11.2%), Asia (1.6%), Latin America (0.6%) and Europe (0.3%). The rate of acceptance (27.4%) was very low compared to other journals, mainly because of a poor design of the works or inappropriate research topics. The average time for final decision was 355 days. The non parametric classification analysis retained as major determinants for the acceptance of papers for publication in decreasing order of influence: (i) time before final decision, (ii) language, (iii) continent, (iv) Belgian cooperation priority countries, (v) Belgian cooperation partner countries, and (vi) the field of research. The data obtained are discussed in the light of the literature related to the editorial process of other scientific journals, taking into account the peculiarities of Tropicultura related to its history and to the history of the rural development actions of the Belgian cooperation. This analysis highlighted a series of possible improvements at the level of the operating process of the journal which should enable it to better achieve its goals

Why latrines are not used : communities' perceptions and practices regarding latrines in a Taenia solium endemic rural area in Eastern Zambia

Taenia solium cysticercosis is a neglected parasitic zoonosis occurring in many developing countries. Socio-cultural determinants related to its control remain unclear. Studies in Africa have shown that the underuse of sanitary facilities and the widespread occurrence of free-roaming pigs are the major risk factors for porcine cysticercosis. The study objective was to assess the communities' perceptions, practices and knowledge regarding latrines in a T. solium endemic rural area in Eastern Zambia inhabited by the Nsenga ethno-linguistic group, and to identify possible barriers to their construction and use. A total of 21 focus group discussions on latrine use were organized separately with men, women and children, in seven villages of the Petauke district. The themes covered were related to perceived latrine availability (absence-presence, building obstacles) and perceived latrine use (defecation practices, latrine management, socio-cultural constraints). The findings reveal that latrines were not constructed in every household because of the convenient use of existing latrines in the neighborhood. Latrines were perceived to contribute to good hygiene mainly because they prevent pigs from eating human feces. Men expressed reluctance to abandon the open-air defecation practice mainly because of toilet-associated taboos with in-laws and grown-up children of the opposite gender. When reviewing conceptual frameworks of people's approach to sanitation, we found that seeking privacy and taboos hindering latrine use and construction were mainly explained in our study area by the fact that the Nsenga observe a traditionally matrilineal descent. These findings indicate that in this local context latrine promotion messages should not only focus on health benefits in general. Since only men were responsible for building latrines and mostly men preferred open defecation, sanitation programs should also be directed to men and address related sanitary taboos in order to be effective

The information system for LHC parameters and layouts

The construction of the Large Hadron Collider, LHC, at CERN implies both the handling of a huge amount of information and the control of the coherence of this information. The LHC machine parameters have to be maintained coherent as the design evolves from the conceptual stage to the actual, installed, machine and have to be made available to all concerned. Design data is provided in many different formats from the machine builders, drawings, technical documents, meeting notes, lattice simulation input files, etc. The World Wide Web is being used to make the information accessible both at CERN and at the external collaborating laboratories. In this paper we describe the implementation of an Oracle database as the central common repository for machine parameters and of information for the automatic generation of CAD layout drawings and WWW pages. This system is integrated in a larger context, the EDMS system for the LHC project, which encompasses both the accelerator and the experiments

WISE: A Simulation of the LHC Optics including Magnet Geometrical Data

The beam dynamics in the LHC require a tight control of the field quality and geometry of its magnets. At the EPAC06 we presented the simulation tool WISE which generates magnetic field errors to be used as input to the MAD-X program. This paper describes the evolution in the WISE software since EPAC06. The allocation of magnets to lattice positions is completed, and therefore there is no more need for simulated allocations. Geometric axis measurements are now available for all cryostats. Furthermore, survey data is available to estimate the precision of the magnet installation (alignment). This paper discusses how the new data is used in connection with MAD-X simulations to give the most recent figures for beta-beating at injection (450 GeV) and collision energy (7 TeV)

First report of Verbena latent virus infecting giant goldenrod in Belgium

peer reviewedGiant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea) was initially introduced from North America as an ornamental plant and is now considered highly invasive in Europe, negatively impacting native plant species. In summer 2023, a virome survey in Belgium collected asymptomatic goldenrod samples from 10 sites and detected Verbena latent virus (VeLV, Carlavirus, Betaflexiviridae) through high-throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques. VeLV was already detected in other plant species but its genome was not sequenced until the present work. The study also identified two novel plant-associated virus-like sequences and sequences of unknown mycoviruses in the samples. Further confirmation of VeLV infection was achieved through RT-PCR and Sanger analysis, with subsequent comparison to known VeLV sequences and the identification of one site infected in Belgium. This discovery underscores the importance of understanding VeLV biology and symptomatology, as VeLV presents a wide host range from in at least three plant families, the broad transmission profile of carlaviruses and their potential pathogenicity in single infection or mixed infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of VeLV infecting S. gigantea worldwide. As giant goldenrod is widespread in Europe, it may serve as a significant asymptomatic reservoir for VeLV

Pig-farming systems and porcine cysticercosis in the north of Cameroon

A survey was conducted in 150 households owning 1756 pigs in the rural areas of Mayo-Danay division in the north of Cameroon. A questionnaire survey was carried out to collect information on the pig-farming system and to identify potential risk factors for Taenia solium cysticercosis infection in pigs. Blood samples were collected from 398 pigs with the aim of estimating the seroprevalence of T. solium cysticercosis. The results showed that 90.7% of the pigs are free roaming during the dry season and that 42.7% of households keeping pigs in the rural areas have no latrine facility. Seventy-six per cent of the interviewed pig owners confirmed that members of the household used open-field defecation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antigen and antibody detection showed an apparent prevalence of cysticercosis of 24.6% and 32.2%, respectively. A Bayesian approach, using the conditional dependence between the two diagnostic tests, indicated that the true seroprevalence of cysticercosis in Mayo-Danay was 26.6%. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that a lack of knowledge of the taeniasis–cysticercosis complex and the absence of a pig pen in the household were associated with pig cysticercosis