High Awareness but Low Coverage of a Locally Produced Fortified Complementary Food in Abidjan,C?te d’Ivoire: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey

Poor complementary feeding practices among infants and young children in Côte d’Ivoire are major contributing factors to the country’s high burden of malnutrition. As part of a broad effort to address this issue, an affordable, nutritious, and locally produced fortified complementary food product was launched in the Côte d’Ivoire in 2011. The objective of the current research was to assess various levels of coverage of the program and to identify coverage barriers. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted among caregivers of children less than 2-years of age living in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Four measures of coverage were assessed: “message coverage” (i.e., has the caregiver ever heard of the product?), “contact coverage” (i.e., has the caregiver ever fed the child the product?), “partial coverage” (i.e., has the caregiver fed the child the product in the previous month?), and “effective coverage” (i.e., has the caregiver fed the child the product in the previous 7 days?). A total of 1,113 caregivers with children between 0 and 23 months of age were interviewed. Results showed high message coverage (85.0%), moderate contact coverage (37.8%), and poor partial and effective coverages (8.8% and 4.6%, respectively). Product awareness was lower among caregivers from poorer households, but partial and effective coverages were comparable in both poor and non-poor groups. Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices were generally poor and did not appear to have improved since previous assessments. In conclusion, the results from the present study indicate that availability on the market and high awareness among the target population is not sufficient to achieve high and effective coverage. With market-based delivery models, significant efforts are needed to improve demand. Moreover, given the high prevalence of malnutrition and poor IYCF practices, additional modes of delivering IYCF interventions and improving IYCF practices should be considered.     

Spatio‐temporal distribution of phytoplankton in four coastal rivers of southeastern of Ivory Coast (Soumié, Eholié, Ehania and Noé)

Spatio‐temporal dynamics of phytoplankton and their relation to abiotic environmental factors in four rivers of south‐eastern Ivory Coast (Soumié, Eholié, Ehania and Noé) was analysed from July 2003 to March 2005. The pelagic zone of each river was sampled upstream and downstream. Phytoplankton abundance was higher in Noé River (154.3 10⁴ cells l^?1) and lower in Eholié river (23.05 10⁴ cells l^?1). Dominant taxa were Microcystis aeruginosa (Kütz.) Lemmerm. and Aphanocapsa incerta (Lemmerm.) Cronberg & Komárek. In general, minimum densities of phytoplankton were observed during the rainy season, while maximum were observed in dry season in the whole stations of the rivers studied, such periods corresponding to low and high concentrations of nitrates. Among the rivers surveyed, Eholié river seems to be the least disturbed because of its higher species diversity. Seasonality fluctuations of algae abundance appear to be influenced by the flow of water and nitrate levels. This work is a useful starting point for future research on micro algae in Ivory Coast.     

Introgression of the low-gossypol seed & high-gossypol plant trait in upland cotton: Analysis of [(Gossypium hirsutum?×?G. raimondii)2?×?G. sturtianum] trispecific hybrid and selected derivatives using mapped SSRs

In order to select genotypes of Gossypium hirsutum genetically balanced and expressing the low-gossypol seed & high-gossypol plant trait introgressed from the Australian wild diploid species G. sturtianum, the [(G. hirsutum × G. raimondii)2 × G. sturtianum] triple hybrid was backcrossed to G. hirsutum and autopollinated to produce backcross and selfed progenies. Two hundred and six mapped SSR markers of G. hirsutum were used to monitor the introgression of SSR alleles specific to G. sturtianum and G. raimondii in the selected progenies. A high level of heterozygosity, varying from 25 to 100%, was observed for all G. sturtianum-specific SSR markers conserved in the most advanced progenies. These results indicate the existence of segregation distortion factors that are associated with the genes controlling the researched trait. This study represents a starting point to map the genes involved in the expression of the trait and better understand its genetic determinism.     

Design of microarray probes for virus identification and detection of emerging viruses at the genus level

Background  

Most virus detection methods are geared towards the detection of specific single viruses or just a few known targets, and lack the capability to uncover the novel viruses that cause emerging viral infections. To address this issue, we developed a computational method that identifies the conserved viral sequences at the genus level for all viral genomes available in GenBank, and established a virus probe library. The virus probes are used not only to identify known viruses but also for discerning the genera of emerging or uncharacterized ones.     

A multivariate prediction model for microarray cross-hybridization

Background  

Expression microarray analysis is one of the most popular molecular diagnostic techniques in the post-genomic era. However, this technique faces the fundamental problem of potential cross-hybridization. This is a pervasive problem for both oligonucleotide and cDNA microarrays; it is considered particularly problematic for the latter. No comprehensive multivariate predictive modeling has been performed to understand how multiple variables contribute to (cross-) hybridization.     

Modulation of Hepatitis C Virus Genome Encapsidation by Nonstructural Protein 4B

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) NS4B protein has many roles in HCV genome replication. Recently, our laboratory (Q. Han, J. Aligo, D. Manna, K. Belton, S. V. Chintapalli, Y. Hong, R. L. Patterson, D. B. van Rossum, and K. V. Konan, J. Virol. 85:6464–6479, 2011) and others (D. M. Jones, A. H. Patel, P. Targett-Adams, and J. McLauchlan, J. Virol. 83:2163–2177, 2009; D. Paul, I. Romero-Brey, J. Gouttenoire, S. Stoitsova, J. Krijnse-Locker, D. Moradpour, and R. Bartenschlager, J. Virol. 85:6963–6976, 2011) have also reported NS4B''s function in postreplication steps. Indeed, replacement of the NS4B C-terminal domain (CTD) in the HCV JFH1 (genotype 2a [G2a]) genome with sequences from Con1 (G1b) or H77 (G1a) had a negligible impact on JFH1 genome replication but attenuated virus production. Since NS4B interacts weakly with the HCV genome, we postulated that NS4B regulates the function of host or virus proteins directly involved in HCV production. In this study, we demonstrate that the integrity of the JFH1 NS4B CTD is crucial for efficient JFH1 genome encapsidation. Further, two adaptive mutations (NS4B N216S and NS5A C465S) were identified, and introduction of these mutations into the chimera rescued virus production to various levels, suggesting a genetic interaction between the NS4B and NS5A proteins. Interestingly, cells infected with chimeric viruses displayed a markedly decreased NS5A hyperphosphorylation state (NS5A p58) relative to JFH1, and the adaptive mutations differentially rescued NS5A p58 formation. However, immunofluorescence staining indicated that the decrease in NS5A p58 did not alter NS5A colocalization with the core around lipid droplets (LDs), the site of JFH1 assembly, suggesting that NS5A fails to facilitate the transfer of HCV RNA to the capsid protein on LDs. Alternatively, NS4B''s function in HCV genome encapsidation may entail more than its regulation of the NS5A phosphorylation state.     

L’échographie Doppler dans le diagnostic des duplications gastriques chez l’enfant

Gastric duplication is a rare congenital gastrointestinal malformation responsible for abdominal pain and digestive disorders in children. When it is not discovered prenatally, it raises the problem of diagnosis of abdominal cystic mass leading to surgical excision with histological confirmation. We report 4 cases of gastric duplication diagnosed in children aged 11 days, 4 months, 6 years and 13 years of the pediatric imaging unit of the southern Teaching hospital of Rennes (France). Our goal is to emphasize on the role of medical imaging in particular the color Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis and the monitoring of this uncommon disease of the child.     

L’échographie doppler dans la prévention des amputations des membres inférieurs du diabétique en Côte d’Ivoire

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of the Doppler ultrasound examination in the management of diabetic feet and particularly in the prevention of the diabetic's amputation.Patients and methodIt is about a retrospective study carried out over a 4-year period at Yopougon University Hospital (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire). It consisted in the analysis of the records of 78 patients hospitalized for diabetic foot and in whom was performed a Doppler ultrasound examination of the lower limbs vessels. The analysis of patients’ records helped to bring out the epidemiological, clinical, radiographic, biologic, therapeutic and evolutional elements.ResultsPatients’ mean age was 57.6 years. The sex ratio was 1.05. Adult diabetes accounted for 93.5% of cases and had been developing for 11.49 years on average. On the Doppler ultrasound scan of the lower limbs arterial anomalies of these limbs were found in 70 cases. They were associated with a venous anomaly in four cases. Arterial anomalies were represented by stenosis (34 cases), occlusions (10 cases), medialarterosclerosis (four cases), small arteries (six cases) and the associations of several elementary lesions (nine cases). In three cases, the arterial abnormality was not indicated. A medical treatment was instituted for all the patients. The outcome was favorable for 61 patients, 13 were amputated and four deaths were recorded.ConclusionColor Doppler ultrasound examination of lower limbs vessels helped to bring out a vascular anomaly in 89.7% of patients with diabetic foot whose treatment helped to keep the lower limb in 78.2%. We recommend the systematic request of this examination in the African diabetic with adult diabetes which has been developing for more than 10 years before the onset of diabetic foot.     

Phenological growth stages of shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. paradoxa) according to the BBCH scale

The shea tree is among the socio-economically and environmentally most important plants in the Sudano-Sahelian region of Africa. Shea butter is internationally valued for use in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and confectionary industries. Scaling and describing phenological growth stages is of great importance in crops management. However, such phenological scale is still lacking for shea tree. To fill this gap, we documented the different growth stages of shea tree by referencing to the Biologische Bundesantalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie (BBCH) scale. Eight of the ten principal growth stages (0–9) and 43 secondary growth stages (0–9) were described in shea tree. Among the eight principal stages, four were related to reproductive phenophases: inflorescence emergence stage (5), flowering stage (6), fruit development stage (7), and fruit maturity stage (8). The remaining four principal stages concerned vegetative phenophases and contained: bud development stage (0), leaf development stage (1), shoot development stage (3), and senescence stage (9). Observations of shea tree phenophases depicted asynchronous growth patterns with overlapping secondary growth stages of different principal stages within an individual tree canopy at the same time. The proposed phenological growth scale specific to shea tree but compatible with other crops is a valuable contribution for the implementation of crops management protocols and the standardisation of research between different laboratories.     

Variability according to the individual of the efficacy of repellents with a base of vegetable oils in the individual protection against Simulium damnosum s. l. bites

In Ivory Coast, treatments against black flies larva are interrupted since December 1998 and these flies are back everywhere in abundance. They are now a severe source of discomfort, so it is therefore very important to propose to rural populations a personal protection method against their bites. This article is about the individual attraction of fly boys on the efficiency of lotions and creams of the different repellents (coconut, palm nut, gobi). Our works were carried out in savanna zone (Niakaramandougou) and in forest zone (Soubré) in Ivory Coast. The methodology consisted in capturing black flies on volunteers whose legs were rubbed with repellent. Coconut, palm nut and gobi formulas (lotions and creams) were tested on Simulium damnosum s.l. During each session, which lasted from 07:00 am to 12:00 and from 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm, one person without repellent was used as a control person. The results show that the least efficient repellent (gobi) ensures nonetheless a reduction of 90% of the number of bites that an individual would have received if he was not protected by the repellent. Experimentations allows to say that for a given repellent and formulas (lotion and cream), there is no significant difference between the number of Simulium damnosum s. l. bites received by fly boys.