Effet de l’arbre Acacia senegal sur la fertilité des sols de gommeraies au Niger

Six gommeraies des trois bassins gommiers du Niger ont été étudiées : Kiki et Kokoiyé dans le bassin gommier occidental, Bader Goula et Azzaî dans le bassin gommier central et Malam Mainari et N’Guel Kolo dans le bassin gommier oriental. L’objectif de l’étude est d’évaluer l’effet d’Acacia senegal sur la fertilité des sols sous et hors houppiers dans ces gommeraies. Les résultats obtenus à travers les paramètres retenus (le pH, le carbone organique (C), l’azote (N), la capacité d’échange cationique (CEC), le phosphore assimilable (P) et la somme des bases échangeables (S) pour appréhender cet effet d’A. senegal sur le sol montrent une amélioration de la teneur en ces éléments dans le sol sous houppier comparativement aux témoins dans la plupart des cas.Mots clés : Acacia senegal, fertilité, sol, gommeraie, Nige

Knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice of blood products prescribers in Niamey.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The lack of traceability and monitoring of blood donors and transfused patients constitute a barrier to the most basic rules of haemovigilance and overall good transfusion practices. This study draws up an inventory of knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice of blood prescribers in Niamey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to 180 prescribers of blood products in Niamey in 2011. Questions were related to basic informations on blood transfusion and clinical use of blood. Analyses were performed using SAS 9.3 version. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 180 respondents from several professional categories: 51 physicians (28.33%), 10 medical students (5.56%), 84 nurses (46.67%), 15 anaesthesiologist assistant (8.33%) and 20 midwives (11.11%). Among these, 22.2% received training in blood transfusion safety. Half of the respondents (50.8%) got between 50 and 75% of correct answers, 45.8% got less than 50% correct while 3.35% scored more than 75% correct answers. The overall quality of responses was higher among physicians compared to other prescribers (P<0.0001); among respondents who received training in transfusion safety (P<0.0001); and among males (P=0.0306). For some items, subjects with more experience scored the best. CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge is still inadequate. More training in transfusion practices is necessary for prescribers of blood products. Accompanying measures to improve transfusion practice must be considered or strengthened through assessments, knowledge update/upgrade (regular, ongoing training) and establishment of active and motivated hospital transfusion committees

Productivité de la culture du sorgho (Sorghum bicolor) dans un système agroforestier à base d’Acacia senegal (L.) Willd. au Niger

Objectifs : Les sols sahéliens se caractérisent par un faible niveau de fertilité dont l'amélioration se fait par l'épandage de fumier organique ou d'engrais. Cependant, les contraintes économiques des ménages limitent leur adoption. Des options ne nécessitant aucune sortie monétaire notamment l'intégration à la culture de la végétation ligneuse naturelle constitueraient des alternatives plus en adéquation avec les conditions socio-économiques des paysans.Méthodologie et résultats : Le dispositif expérimental est en couronnes concentriques autour de l’arbre et d’une variété locale du sorgho. Les résultats de cette étude ont montré que la hauteur des plants du sorgho à maturité ne présente pas de différences significatives qu’ils soient hors houppier (223,68cm) que sous houppier (195,04 et 161,73cm). Quant à la productivité du sorgho, tant en panicules qu’en grains, a été statistiquement plus élevée sous houppier que hors houppier respectivement 5279 Kg.ha-1 contre 4857 kg.ha-1 et 4303,1 Kg.ha-1 contre 3402,0 Kg.ha-1.Conclusion et application : la présence de l'espèce A. senegal dans les champs de cultures a créé un environnement agro-écologique favorable à la production du sorgho. Les résultats obtenus présentent un intérêt pratique car l’association A. senegal-cultures pourrait être une alternative aux intrants chimiques de plus en plus inaccessibles aux paysans.Mots clés : Acacia senegal, sorgho, interaction, croissance, productivité, NigerObjectives: Sahelian soils are characterized by low level of fertility whose improvement is done by the spreading of organic manure or artificial fertilizers. However, the economic constraints of households limit their adoption. Options not requiring any monetary exit like integration culture and the natural woody vegetation would constitute alternatives that are in adequacy with the socio-economic conditions of farmers.Methodology and results: The experimentation design is concentric crowns around the tree and one local variety of the sorghum. These results showed that it hasn’t significant difference of sorghum height between plants in out crown (223.68 cm) than in the crown (195.04 and 161.73 cm). The sorghum productivity both panicles and grains was statistically higher one the crown than out crown respectively 5279 kg.ha-1 against 4857 kg.ha-1 and 4303.1 kg.ha-1 against 3402.0 Kg.ha-1.Conclusion and application: The presence of A.senegal species in the fields created an agro-ecological environment that supports the sorghum production. These results are of practical interest because A. senegal-cultures association could be an alternative to the chemical inputs increasingly inaccessible to farmers.Key words: Acacia senegal, sorghum, interaction, growth, productivity, Nige

Tests rapides et securite transfusionnelle a Niamey, Niger.

To evaluate the virological safety of blood components provided by the Niamey blood transfusion center after undergoing rapid tests. Samples found negative with rapid tests (n = 222) were screened by the Abbott Prism assay. Positive samples were confirmed by appropriate methods. Of 222 samples, nine (4.1%) were reactive for all markers. After confirmation, seven samples were positive (i.e., 3.2% false-negative results) : five (2.3%) for the surface antigen of hepatitis B (HBsAg) and two (0.9%) for the antibody directed against the hepatitis C virus (HCV-Ab). No false negative results were observed for HIV-Ab (antibody directed against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The performance of the rapid tests used in Niamey to screen for transfusion-transmissible infections is not satisfactory, especially for hepatitis B and C. The use of more sensitive tests should be considered to minimize the risk of contaminating patients receiving blood components

Biomechanical effects of unidirectional expansion using anisotropic expanders in horse skin tissue

The use of a self-inflating tissue expander is a technique to stretch cutaneous tissues for potential use in reconstructive skin surgeries. This study investigates the mechanical properties of horse skin stretched by the subcutaneous implantation of anisotropic tissue expanders at the forehead, right shoulder, and dorsomedial part of the cannon region of the right forelimb in six (n&#xA0;=&#xA0;6) horses. After 14 days of skin expansion, expanded and normal (control) skin samples were harvested and their mechanical properties of elastic modulus (EM), maximum force (MF), maximum stress (MSs) and maximum strain (MSr) were evaluated using uniaxial tension test. The expanded skin from shoulder area has higher EM, MSs, MSr and MF than the normal skin when compared to the forehead and lower forelimb. Statistically, there was a significant (P= .02) mean difference for MSs between the expanded shoulder and lower forelimb skin, but the pairwise comparison of EM, MSr and MF showed no significant difference between the locations. The overall effect of locations on EM and MSs was statistically significant (P &lt; .05), however, there was no overall effect of horse factor, treatment factor (normal and expanded skin) and location interaction on the EM, MSS, MF and MSr. In conclusion, the expanded skin from the frontal head and the distal limb are less elastic (stiffer) compared to that of the expanded skin of the shoulder, thus anatomical location of the skin has some degree of effect on EM and MSs