Food insecurity resilience measurement in north and south regions of Senegal

Les stratégies d’adaptation des populations à risque dépendent de la capacité des ménages et des moyens d’existence. L’objectif de cette étude était de mesurer la résilience à l’insécurité alimentaire dans deux Zones de Moyen d’Existence (ZME) SN06 (zone sylvo-pastorale) et SN11 (agroforestière-pêche et tourisme). En se basant sur les données de l’Enquête Nationale de Sécurité Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle (ENSAN) de 2013, des piliers de la résilience à l’insécurité alimentaire comme les Stratégies d’Adaptations, les Actifs Productifs, l’Accès à l’Alimentation, l’Accès aux Services Sociaux de Base ont été déterminés. Ainsi, grâce à la méthodologie d’Alinovi et al. 2010 et par une analyse factorielle basée sur l’Analyse des Composantes Principales, l’indice composite de résilience a été calculé. Les résultats ont montré que l’indicateur de l’Accès à l’Alimentation et celui des Stratégies d’Adaptation sont les plus influents sur la résilience à l’insécurité alimentaire. La résilience des ménages ruraux était influence par l’âge et le sexe du chef de ménage. La SN06 s’est avérée plus résiliente que la SN11. Les programmes qui contribuent à la sécurité alimentaire doivent tenir compte des piliers les plus déterminants pour l’efficacité des interventions visant à réduire l’insécurité alimentaire. Mots Clés : Insécurité Alimentaire, Résilience, Moyens d’Existence, Zone de Moyen d’ExistenceCountries localized in the South of Sahara, such as Senegal, exhibit the highest severity of food insecurity. People living in these countries develop adaptation strategies to survive. This capacity to resist and to recovery from food insecurity called resilience depends on the household capacity and livelihoods. The objective of this study was to measure the resilience to food insecurity in two areas: ZME SN06 (livestock and pastoral areas) and ZME SN 11 (agroforestry-fishing-tourism regions). Based on data from the 2013 National Food and Nutrition Security Survey (ENSAN), the dimensions of resilience to food insecurity such as Adaptation Strategies, Productive Assets, Access to Food and Access to Basic Social Services were determined. Using a methodology developed by Alinovi et al. 2010 a Resilience Index (RI) was calculated for the departments and the ZME. The results showed that the Food Access index and Adaptation Strategies indicators are the most influential factors on resilience to food insecurity. Rural households’ capacity and livelihoods were infleuenced by the age and the sex of the head of the household. The ZME SN 06 (RI: 0.558) was found more resilient than the ZME SN 11 (RI: 0.459). According to the specificity of the ZME, initiatives to improve resilience to food insecurity should be taken. These programs must take into account the dimensions that impact mostly the resilience for the effectiveness of the interventions. Keywords: Food Security, Resilience, Livelihoods, “Zone de Moyens d’Existence

Inflammatory breast cancer: features and outcomes in a breast unit in Dakar, Senegal

Background: The aim of this study was to determine clinical features and outcomes of patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) treated in our breast unit.Methods: This study was performed at Gynaecologic and Obstetric Clinic of Dakar Teaching Hospital, in which a breast unit was created since 2007. All women with diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer in our Breast Unit between January 2010 and December 2013 were included in this study. The diagnosis of IBC was made clinically using the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and confirmed histologically. The follow-up cut-off for this data set was December 31st, 2014. All analyses for this study were performed using SPSS software (version 20.0).Results: Between 2010 and 2013, 22 women with breast cancer who met eligibility criteria were included out of 161 patients followed for breast cancer leading to a frequency of 13.6%. The median age at diagnosis was 43.4 years (26-79 years). Mean time to diagnosis was 4 months. The mean time to recurrence was 11.2 months. This recurrence was observed in 45.5% of cases. The median overall survival was 13.3 months (CI 95% 8.576-18.526), the survival rate was 31.8%.Conclusions: This series shows a high frequency of inflammatory breast cancer. These tumours are very aggressive with a very poor prognosis

Engineering cavity-field states by projection synthesis

We propose a reliable scheme for engineering a general cavity-field state. This is different from recently presented strategies,where the cavity is supposed to be initially empty and the field is built up photon by photon through resonant atom-field interactions. Here, a coherent state is previously injected into the cavity. So, the Wigner distribution function of the desired state is constructed from that of the initially coherent state. Such an engineering process is achieved through an adaptation of the recently proposed technique of projection synthesis to cavity QED phenomena.Comment: 5 ps pages plus 3 included figure

Insuffisance Rénale Aigue Obstétricale : Expérience De La Maternité Issaka GAZOBY De Niamey (Niger)

Introduction Acute renal failure (ARF) is a serious obstetric complication of pregnancy, a real health problem in developing countries. It is more related to the pathologies of pregnancy affecting the mother rather than the fetus. The purpose of our study was to assess sociodemographic, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary features in obstetric acute renal failure. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study of 6 months (August 2015- January 2016) was conducted. The study involved pregnant women over 20- week amenorrhea including the immediate postpartum admitted for acute renal failure. Results: Thirty-two patients were involved. The mean age was 25.21 ± 5.14 years. Most of them were first-time mothers (53.1%). Surrounding hospital exits account for 71.9% of the admissions. 31.25% (N = 10) of the patients did not receive any antenatal care. The main clinical signs at admission were hypertension (86.6%), oliguria (40.5%) and edema syndrome (37.5%). Eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia represented the causes of the ARF in 68.75% cases. Considering 8 patients (25%) who were supposed to undergo dialysis therapy, only one took the treatment. The average hospital stay was 15.20 ± 7.45 days. Renal function resolved in 68.75% of patients and 15.62% developed chronic renal sequelae. At the end of the study, we recorded 5 cases of maternal deaths and 10 cases of fetal death in utero. Conclusion: Obstetric ARF remains a serious complication of pregnancy for mother and child. It should be noted that hemodialysis was not accessible to all patients who were entitled to it due to lack of financial means. Therefore, regular monitoring of pregnancies should be prioritized, and, if possible, ensure that hemodialysis sessions are funded

A hospital based case control study of female breast cancer risk factors in a Sub-Saharan African country

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women worldwide with over 1.3 million new cases per year. There is a wide variation in the geographical burden of the disease with the highest incidences seen in the developed regions of the world and the lowest incidences observed in the least developed regions. The objective of this study was to understand further the risks for breast cancer in Senegalese population which can then inform public health strategies to try and reduce the burden of breast cancer.Methods: This matched case control study was conducted in 2015 in Aristide Le Dantec Teaching Hospital in Dakar. All women with pathologically confirmed primary breast cancer were considered as cases. For each case, 2 age-matched women were recruited. We collected and compared demographic factors, family history of breast cancer, socioeconomic variables, reproductive variables (age at menarche, age at first pregnancy and first live birth, parity, menopausal status, duration of breastfeeding), and exogenous hormone use up to 6 months. Odds ratios from univariate logistic regression were used to estimate the relative risk of breast cancer associated with the various factors, and their predictive effects.Results: In all, 212 women with breast cancer who were diagnosed as having breast cancer and 424 control women were involved in the study. The mean±SD age of cases and controls was 43.37±11.94 years (range 18-83 years) and 42.04±11.08 years (range 18-84 years), respectively. There were no significant differences between cases and controls with regards to marital status, parity, age at menarche, past oral contraceptive use, age at first last full-term pregnancy and history of breastfeeding. Breast cancer risk was significantly greater in women with a family history of the disease (OR 2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35-3.31). A significant increase in breast cancer was observed among illiterate women compared to educated women (OR 1.27, CI 1.02-1.58), in premenopausal women and those without occupation.Conclusions: In this study, reproductive factors as early menarche or menopausal status were not associative to the risk of breast cancer and the early age at diagnosis and the positive history of breast cancer suggest a genetic pattern of this disease in Senegalese woman. But this fact is difficult to confirm for financial reasons

Improving fetal dystocia management using simulation in Senegal: midterm results

Background: Maternal mortality, which constitutes the extreme point of the existing inequality between women in poor and rich countries, remains very high in Africa south of the Sahara. The objective of this study was to introduce a new training approach in Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) entered in Senegal to strengthen the skills of healthcare providers.Methods: The approach was based on the skills training using the so-called "humanist" method and "lifesaving skills". Simulated practice took place in the classroom through thirteen clinical stations summarizing the clinical skills on EmONC. The evaluation was done in all phases and the results were recorded in a database to document the progress of each learner.Results: With this approach, 432 providers were trained in 10 months. The increase in technical achievements of each participant was documented through the database. The combination of training based on the model “learning by doing” has ensured learning and mastering all EmONC skills and reduced missed learning opportunities as observed in former EmONC trainings.Conclusions: The impact of training on EmONC indicators and the introduction of this learning modality in basic training are the two major challenges in terms of prospects

Décentralisation De La Dialyse Au Sénégal : Expérience D’1 An Du Centre De Tambacounda A l’Est Du Pays

Hemodialysis has made numerous and significant progress in recent decades resulting in life expectancy increase (thirty or forty years). The aim of our study was to assess the treatment of acute and chronic hemodialysis in the reference center of Tambacounda. Patients and methods: This was a prospective study over a one-year period (April 2013 to March 2014) in the hemodialysis center of the regional hospital of Tambacounda, 450km away from Dakar. The study focused on epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical and scalable data. Results: Fifty-nine patients were involved in the study. The sex ratio was 0.85 (32F/ 27M). The mean age was 41.3 years [12-72 years old]. Nineteen patients were on dialysis treatment for acute renal failure (ARF) (32.2%) and 40 were chronic hemodialysis patients (67.79%). Fifty patients were under emergency dialysis (84.7%) including 17 in intensive care (28.8%). Most chronic hemodialysis patients had 3 sessions per week (98.3%). Only 9 patients were monitored in nephrology prior to dialysis (22%). Thirty-two patients had a femoral double-lumen catheter (54.23%), 6 patients used ordinary double- lumen jugular catheters (10.17%) and 3 received tunneled jugular catheters (5.09%). Eighteen patients had functional arteriovenous (AV) fistula (18.51%). The mean hemoglobin was 7 g/dl. Only 11 patients had erythropoietin-based therapy. In acute renal impairment there were 8 deaths (42.10%), whereas in chronic renal failure the fatality rate was 18.8% (n = 9). Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated the benefits of decentralizing dialysis treatment in the provinces. However there is a need to implement the accompanying measures, such as the availability of some essential medicines for all hemodialysis patients, and equipment of intensive care units

Decoherence in trapped ions due to polarization of the residual background gas

We investigate the mechanism of damping and heating of trapped ions associated with the polarization of the residual background gas induced by the oscillating ions themselves. Reasoning by analogy with the physics of surface electrons in liquid helium, we demonstrate that the decay of Rabi oscillations observed in experiments on 9Be+ can be attributed to the polarization phenomena investigated here. The measured sensitivity of the damping of Rabi oscillations with respect to the vibrational quantum number of a trapped ion is also predicted in our polarization model.Comment: 26 pdf pages with 5 figures, http://www.df.ufscar.br/~quantum

Preparation and control of a cavity-field state through atom-driven field interaction: towards long-lived mesoscopic states

The preparation of mesoscopic states of the radiation and matter fields through atom-field interactions has been achieved in recent years and employed for a range of striking applications in quantum optics. Here we present a technique for the preparation and control of a cavity mode which, besides interacting with a two-level atom, is simultaneously submitted to linear and parametric amplification processes. The role of the amplification-controlling fields in the achievement of real mesoscopic states, is to produce highly-squeezed field states and, consequently, to increase both: i) the distance in phase space between the components of the prepared superpositions and ii) the mean photon number of such superpositions. When submitting the squeezed superposition states to the action of similarly squeezed reservoirs, we demonstrate that under specific conditions the decoherence time of the states becomes independent of both the distance in phase space between their components and their mean photon number. An explanation is presented to support this remarkable result, together with a discussion on the experimental implementation of our proposal. We also show how to produce number states with fidelities higher than those derived as circular states