Proposition of a method to design tailor-made knowledge management systems for small and medium enterprises

The aim of this paper is to propose a knowledge management system design method for small and medium enterprises that addresses the problems encountered on the existing ones. A literature review highlighted 5 main concepts that have a crucial role in knowledge management system design. To take these recommendations into account, a knowledge management system design method was designed. It uses the small and medium enterprises characteristics, needs and problems to select adapted knowledge management tools and practices, and offers a comprehensive and tailor-made knowledge management system. This method was used to design a knowledge management system for a high-tech small and medium enterprises from the navigation sector. It allowed to choose from the adapted knowledge management tools and practices and to write a set of requirements for the knowledge management system while taking the user into account, thus easing the knowledge management system implementation and ensuring its sustainability

Use of a Bayesian belief network to predict the impacts of commercializing non-timber forest products on livelihoods

Commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as a means of sustainably developing tropical forest resources, in a way that promotes forest conservation while supporting rural livelihoods. However, in practice, NTFP commercialization has often failed to deliver the expected benefits. Progress in analyzing the causes of such failure has been hindered by the lack of a suitable framework for the analysis of NTFP case studies, and by the lack of predictive theory. We address these needs by developing a probabilistic model based on a livelihood framework, enabling the impact of NTFP commercialization on livelihoods to be predicted. The framework considers five types of capital asset needed to support livelihoods: natural, human, social, physical, and financial. Commercialization of NTFPs is represented in the model as the conversion of one form of capital asset into another, which is influenced by a variety of socio-economic, environmental, and political factors. Impacts on livelihoods are determined by the availability of the five types of assets following commercialization. The model, implemented as a Bayesian Belief Network, was tested using data from participatory research into 19 NTFP case studies undertaken in Mexico and Bolivia. The model provides a novel tool for diagnosing the causes of success and failure in NTFP commercialization, and can be used to explore the potential impacts of policy options and other interventions on livelihoods. The potential value of this approach for the development of NTFP theory is discussed

L’Adoption De La Sarcleuse Mécanique En Milieu Paysan Rizicole De Yamoussoukro, En Côte d’Ivoire

RésuméEn vue de redynamiser la riziculture à Yamoussoukro (centre ivoirien), l’École Supérieure d’Agronomie (ESA) a mis au point la sarcleuse mécanique dont l’appropriation paysanne a été massive. La présente étude vise à analyser les facteurs d’adoption de ce matériel innovant. Pour ce faire, des investigations mixtes ont été menées sur les pesanteurs de la production rizicole, de même que sur la perception de la sarcleuse mécanique, auprès de 167 chefs d’exploitation agricole, aléatoirement ciblés. Les données collectées ont été analysées avec la théorie de l’innovation qui a permis de mettre en lumière la dynamique diffusionniste de l’objet innovant. Les résultats révèlent qu’en faisant l’économie de la pénibilité aratoire, la sarcleuse est perçue comme un facteur de changement qualitatif de l’habitus cultural des riziculteurs de Yamoussoukro. L’ancrage social de cet outil a par ailleurs été favorisé par des invariants entre son procédé opératoire et des internalités de la société baoulé. En définitive, en se désaffiliant du paradigme de la résistance à l’innovation, cette contribution montre que l’innovation technologique en milieu rural, n’est pas fatalement contrainte par une société présumée bloquée.Mots-clés : Sarcleuse mécanique, innovation, adoption, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’IvoireThe adoption of the mechanical weeder in the rice-growing environment of Yamoussoukro, Côte d'IvoireAbstractIn order to revitalize rice cultivation in Yamoussoukro (central Côte d'Ivoire), the Ecole Supérieure d'Agronomie (ESA) developed the mechanical weeder, which has been widely adopted by farmers. The current study aims to examine the factors of adoption of this innovative equipment. To this end, mixed investigations built with random and snowball samplings on the burdens of rice production, as well as on the perception of the mechanical weeder, were carried out among 167 farm managers, targeted by a snowball effect. The data were then analyzed using innovation theory to highlight the diffusionist dynamics of the innovative object. The results reveal that by eliminating the arduous task of cultivation, the weeder is perceived as contributing to qualitative changes in the cultural habitus of rice farmers in Yamoussoukro. The social anchoring of this tool was also favored by invariants between its operating procedure and the internalities of Baoule society. In short, by disassociating itself from the paradigm of resistance to innovation, this contribution shows that technological innovation in rural areas is not inevitably constrained by a presumed blocked society.  Keywords: Mechanical weeder, innovation, adoption, Yamoussoukro, Côte d'IvoireThe adoption of the mechanical weeder in the rice-growing environment of Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoir

Role of Beliefs in Predicting Smoking Behaviour: a Study of Comparative Optimism in Cameroonian Adolescents

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of comparative optimism on the intention to use tobacco among 244 Cameroonian adolescent students. The sample consisted of girls (n=110) and boys (n=134) aged between 14 and 25 in secondary school. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The study relied primarily on the theory of planned behaviour to highlight the mechanisms that link beliefs to behavioural intentions. Data were collected from a self-administered composite questionnaire consisting of the comparative optimism scale and the risk-taking scale measuring intention to use tobacco inspired by the theory of planned behaviour. The results obtained after correlation analysis and regression showed that the illusion of vulnerability elicits the intention to use tobacco through attitude (r= -.141, p<0.05), descriptive norms (r=.204, p<0.01), and injunctive norms (r=.132, p<0.05). In addition, the illusion of vulnerability also appears as a predictor of the intention to use tobacco. These results confirm the harmful nature of overly optimistic beliefs about protective behaviours. The implications of the optimism bias for perceived vulnerability are discussed in the light of reference theories and from previous work on the effect of optimistic beliefs on protective behaviour

Diversité floristique de la région de Foungbesso en zone de transition forêt – savane à l’ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire

L’analyse de la flore et de la végétation de la zone de transition forêt-savane, à l’ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire, dans la région de Foungbesso (départements de Touba et de Biankouma) a été réalisée. Des relevés de surfaces de 100 m2 et des relevés itinérants nous ont permis de recenser 8 différents biotopes, 349 espèces végétales reparties entre 259 genres et 76 familles botaniques. D’une façon générale, les milieux rencontrés sont floristiquement homogènes, en particulier les savanes herbeuses, les forêts claires, les forêts-galeries et les forêts denses semi-décidues. Cette étude a permis de dénombrer 09 espèces endémiques au bloc forestier ouest Africain (GCW), 03 espèces endémiques ivoiriennes (GCi) et 14 espèces identifiées comme rares et menacées selon l’UICN (2015). L’évaluation de la diversité floristique de la région de Foungbesso, à l’Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire nous a permis de remarquer la présence d’une diversité de biotopes comme signalé dans la littérature mais en des superficies variables avec une prédominance des savanes.Mots clés : Diversité floristique, Ouest Côte d’Ivoire, végétation, zone de transition forêt – savane

Pretransplant renal function according to CKD-EPI cystatin C equation is a prognostic factor of death after liver transplantation

International audienceBackground & aims - In patients with cirrhosis, cystatin C (CystC) based equations may be more accurate indicators of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) than creatinine (Pcr) based equations. Renal function before liver transplantation (LT) is thought to impact survival after LT. We aimed at assessing pretransplant creatinine and CystC based equations with respect to their predictive value on long-term survival after LT. Methods - From 2001 to 2011, CystC was determined at pre-LT evaluation in 682 patients together with GFR assessed using MDRD-4, MDRD-6, CKD-EPI-cystatin C, CKD-EPI-creatinine and CKD-EPI-creatinine-cystatin C equations. Patients were classified according to the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative classification (KDOQI). Results - Median age at LT was 55 [49-60] years with a median MELD score of 13.5 [8.3-19.2] and a median post-transplant follow-up of 60 [26-89] months. Using CKD-EPI Cystatin C and the KDOQI classification, 21.1% of patients were stage 1, 43.1% stage 2, 29.1% stage 3 and 6.5% stage 4. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were significantly different between KDOQI stages when determined using the CKD-EPI-CystatinC equation. This was not the case when using the other equations. At multivariate analysis, GFR and KDOQI estimated using the CKD-EPI-CystatinC equation were significantly associated with death (HR: 0.992; CI95%: 0.986-0.999 and 1.24; CI95%: 1.02-1.50 respectively). When assessed using the MDRD-4, MDRD-6, CKD-EPI-Creatinine-CystatinC and CKD-EPI-Creatinine equations GFR was not significantly associated with death. Conclusions - Estimated pre-LT renal function is predictive of post-LT survival only when assessed using the CKD-EPI cystatin C equation. This supports the use of Cystatine C and of its related equation for the assessment of renal function before liver transplantation

Characterization of pandemic influenza immune memory signature after vaccination or infection

International audienceThe magnitude, quality, and maintenance of immunological memory after infection or vaccination must be considered for future design of effective influenza vaccines. In 2009, the influenza pandemic produced disease that ranged from mild to severe, even fatal, illness in infected healthy adults and led to vaccination of a portion of the population with the adjuvanted, inactivated influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine. Here, we have proposed a multi-parameter quantitative and qualitative approach to comparing adaptive immune memory to influenza 1 year after mild or severe infection or vaccination. One year after antigen encounter, severely ill subjects maintained high levels of humoral and polyfunctional effector/memory CD4$^+$ T cells responses, while mildly ill and vaccinated subjects retained strong cellular immunity, as indicated by high levels of mucosal homing and degranulation markers on IFN-$\gamma^+$ antigen-specific T cells. A principal component analysis distinguished 3 distinct clusters of individuals. The first group comprised vaccinated and mildly ill subjects, while clusters 2 and 3 included mainly infected individuals. Each cluster had immune memory profiles that differed in magnitude and quality. These data provide evidence that there are substantial similarities between the antiinfluenza response that mildly ill and vaccinated individuals develop and that this immune memory signature is different from that seen in severely ill individuals

Self-processing in coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally conscious state

IntroductionBehavioral and cerebral dissociation has been now clearly established in some patients with acquired disorders of consciousness (DoC). Altogether, these studies mainly focused on the preservation of high-level cognitive markers in prolonged DoC, but did not specifically investigate lower but key-cognitive functions to consciousness emergence, such as the ability to take a first-person perspective, notably at the acute stage of coma. We made the hypothesis that the preservation of self-recognition (i) is independent of the behavioral impairment of consciousness, and (ii) can reflect the ability to recover consciousness.MethodsHence, using bedside Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, we acquired, in a large cohort of 129 severely brain damaged patients, the brain response to the passive listening of the subject’s own name (SON) and unfamiliar other first names (OFN). One hundred and twelve of them (mean age ± SD = 46 ± 18.3 years, sex ratio M/F: 71/41) could be analyzed for the detection of an individual and significant discriminative P3 event-related brain response to the SON as compared to OFN (‘SON effect’, primary endpoint assessed by temporal clustering permutation tests).ResultsPatients were either coma (n = 38), unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS, n = 30) or minimally conscious state (MCS, n = 44), according to the revised version of the Coma Recovery Scale (CRS-R). Overall, 33 DoC patients (29%) evoked a ‘SON effect’. This electrophysiological index was similar between coma (29%), MCS (23%) and UWS (34%) patients (p = 0.61). MCS patients at the time of enrolment were more likely to emerged from MCS (EMCS) at 6 months than coma and UWS patients (p = 0.013 for comparison between groups). Among the 72 survivors’ patients with event-related responses recorded within 3 months after brain injury, 75% of the 16 patients with a SON effect were EMCS at 6 months, while 59% of the 56 patients without a SON effect evolved to this favorable behavioral outcome.DiscussionAbout 30% of severely brain-damaged patients suffering from DoC are capable to process salient self-referential auditory stimuli, even in case of absence of behavioral detection of self-conscious processing. We suggest that self-recognition covert brain ability could be an index of consciousness recovery, and thus could help to predict good outcome

Beta-blocker management in patients admitted for acute heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: a review and expert consensus opinion

The role of the beta-adrenergic signaling pathway in heart failure (HF) is pivotal. Early blockade of this pathway with beta-blocker (BB) therapy is recommended as the first-line medication for patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Conversely, in patients with severe acute HF (AHF), including those with resolved cardiogenic shock (CS), BB initiation can be hazardous. There are very few data on the management of BB in these situations. The present expert consensus aims to review all published data on the use of BB in patients with severe decompensated AHF, with or without hemodynamic compromise, and proposes an expert-recommended practical algorithm for the prescription and monitoring of BB therapy in critical settings