Les insectes impliqués dans les pertes post-récolte des céréales au Cameroun : méthodes actuelles de lutte et perspectives offertes par la transgénèse

Les céréales sont à la base de l’alimentation camerounaise et sont les produits alimentaires les plus importés. Ces importations sont indispensables pour pallier aux déficits alimentaires en céréales et aux famines périodiques. Ce déficit en céréales s’explique entre autres par des pertes post-récolte dues aux insectes ravageurs dont Sitophilus et Tribolium sont les genres majeurs. Les céréaliculteurs Camerounais utilisent majoritairement des plantes insectifuges/insecticides et des insecticides chimiques pour lutter contre les insectes ravageurs des stocks. Plusieurs plantes utilisées sont méconnues et par conséquent il n’y a pas de données sur leur toxicité. Certains insecticides entraînent des pollutions de l’environnement et des empoisonnements; de plus, la plupart des ravageurs majeurs ont développé des résistances aux insecticides utilisés contre eux. Face à ces difficultés, des insectes transgéniques et mutants pourraient être des outils supplémentaires pour lutter contre les insectes ravageurs des céréales stockées en préservant l’environnement et la santé. La compréhension de la biologie de ces insectes permettra de mieux les combattre. Cet article de synthèse fait le point sur les insectes impliqués dans la destruction des stocks de céréales au Cameroun, les moyens de lutte utilisés et la possibilité de recourir aux insectes transgéniques/mutants comme un moyen de lutte complémentaire.Mots clés : Cameroun, céréales, pertes post récoltés, insectes mutant/transgéniques

Long-term biological and behavioural impact of an adolescent sexual health intervention in Tanzania: follow-up survey of the community-based MEMA kwa Vijana Trial.

BACKGROUND: The ability of specific behaviour-change interventions to reduce HIV infection in young people remains questionable. Since January 1999, an adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) intervention has been implemented in ten randomly chosen intervention communities in rural Tanzania, within a community randomised trial (see below; NCT00248469). The intervention consisted of teacher-led, peer-assisted in-school education, youth-friendly health services, community activities, and youth condom promotion and distribution. Process evaluation in 1999-2002 showed high intervention quality and coverage. A 2001/2 intervention impact evaluation showed no impact on the primary outcomes of HIV seroincidence and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence but found substantial improvements in SRH knowledge, reported attitudes, and some reported sexual behaviours. It was postulated that the impact on "upstream" knowledge, attitude, and reported behaviour outcomes seen at the 3-year follow-up would, in the longer term, lead to a reduction in HIV and HSV-2 infection rates and other biological outcomes. A further impact evaluation survey in 2007/8 ( approximately 9 years post-intervention) tested this hypothesis. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This is a cross-sectional survey (June 2007 through July 2008) of 13,814 young people aged 15-30 y who had attended trial schools during the first phase of the MEMA kwa Vijana intervention trial (1999-2002). Prevalences of the primary outcomes HIV and HSV-2 were 1.8% and 25.9% in males and 4.0% and 41.4% in females, respectively. The intervention did not significantly reduce risk of HIV (males adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 0.91, 95%CI 0.50-1.65; females aPR 1.07, 95%CI 0.68-1.67) or HSV-2 (males aPR 0.94, 95%CI 0.77-1.15; females aPR 0.96, 95%CI 0.87-1.06). The intervention was associated with a reduction in the proportion of males reporting more than four sexual partners in their lifetime (aPR 0.87, 95%CI 0.78-0.97) and an increase in reported condom use at last sex with a non-regular partner among females (aPR 1.34, 95%CI 1.07-1.69). There was a clear and consistent beneficial impact on knowledge, but no significant impact on reported attitudes to sexual risk, reported pregnancies, or other reported sexual behaviours. The study population was likely to have been, on average, at lower risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections compared to other rural populations, as only youth who had reached year five of primary school were eligible. CONCLUSIONS: SRH knowledge can be improved and retained long-term, but this intervention had only a limited effect on reported behaviour and no significant effect on HIV/STI prevalence. Youth interventions integrated within intensive, community-wide risk reduction programmes may be more successful and should be evaluated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0024846

High locomotor reactivity to novelty is associated with an increased propensity to choose saccharin over cocaine: new insights into the vulnerability to addiction.

Drug addiction is associated with a relative devaluation of natural or socially-valued reinforcers that are unable to divert addicts from seeking and consuming the drug. Before protracted drug exposure, most rats prefer natural rewards, such as saccharin, over cocaine. However, a subpopulation of animals prefer cocaine over natural rewards and are thought to be vulnerable to addiction. Specific behavioral traits have been associated with different dimensions of drug addiction. For example, anxiety predicts loss of control over drug intake whereas sensation seeking and sign-tracking are markers of a greater sensitivity to the rewarding properties of the drug. However, how these behavioral traits predict the disinterest for natural reinforcers remains unknown. In a population of rats, we identified sensation seekers (HR) on the basis of elevated novelty-induced locomotor reactivity, high anxious rats (HA) based on the propensity to avoid open arms in an elevated-plus maze and sign-trackers (ST) that are prone to approach, and interaction with, reward-associated stimuli. Rats were then tested on their preference for saccharin over cocaine in a discrete-trial choice procedure. We show that HR rats display a greater preference for saccharin over cocaine compared with ST and HA whereas the motivation for the drug was comparable between the three groups. The present data suggest that high locomotor reactivity to novelty, or sensation seeking, by predisposing to an increased choice toward non-drug rewards at early stages of drug use history, may prevent the establishment of chronic cocaine use.This work was funded by an INSERM AVENIR and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) ANR12 SAMA00201 grant to DB, the région Poitou-Charentes, an AXA research fund fellowship to ABR, and a Ministère de la Recherche et de la Technologie grant to NV. AM was supported by the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute of Cambridge.This is the accepted manuscript of a paper published in Neuropsychopharmacology (2015) 40, 577–589; doi:10.1038/npp.2014.204; published online 17 September 2014

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Assessing Total Fluoride Intake in Children: Reliability of Commonly Used Methods

\ua9 2025 The Author(s). Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Objectives: Fluoride exposure in children is commonly estimated using questionnaires or urinary biomarkers. However, no study has yet compared these methods for classifying participants into five intake categories ranging from low to high. This study aimed to estimate the extent of agreement and classification consistency between questionnaire- and urinary-based methods for assessing total daily fluoride intake (TDFI) in children aged 4–7 years. Methods: A total of 104 healthy children across three countries (UK, Brazil, Chile) receiving one of three fluoridation modalities (non-fluoridated-water, fluoridated-water, or fluoridated-milk) provided a 24-h urine sample and completed validated dietary and oral hygiene questionnaires. TDFI was estimated from dietary sources and toothpaste ingestion, adjusted for body weight. Urinary fluoride concentration was measured and 24 h-UFE determined by multiplying urine volume by fluoride concentration. TDFI was predicted from 24 h-UFE using the WHO\u27s recommended method. Method agreement was assessed using paired t-tests and Bland–Altman analysis to evaluate continuous fluoride intake estimates. Cohen\u27s kappa was used to assess agreement between categorical intake classifications, while descriptive statistics reported the percentage of children in each intake group. Results: The questionnaire method estimated a higher mean TDFI (0.072 mg/kgbw/day) than the urine-based method (0.058 mg/kgbw/day, p = 0.01). Bland–Altman analysis showed good agreement for lower mean TDFI values (< 0.10 mg/kgbw/day) but increasing variability at higher fluoride intake levels. The questionnaire classified a larger proportion of children as high exposure (≥ 0.1 mg/kgbw/day) than the urine method (19.2% vs. 11.5%), with the greatest discrepancy observed in the fluoridated milk group (46.2% vs. 7.7%). Despite these classifications, Cohen\u27s kappa revealed minimal agreement between methods (κ = 0.034, p = 0.508), suggesting that classification concordance was likely due to chance. Conclusion: This first study comparing questionnaire and urinary methods for assessing TDFI in children found significant discrepancies and minimal agreement, especially in higher exposure groups, highlighting the risk of misclassification and the need for research into combined assessment approaches

Foxa1 Reduces Lipid Accumulation in Human Hepatocytes and Is Down-Regulated in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

Triglyceride accumulation in nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) results from unbalanced lipid metabolism which, in the liver, is controlled by several transcription factors. The Foxa subfamily of winged helix/forkhead box (Fox) transcription factors comprises three members which play important roles in controlling both metabolism and homeostasis through the regulation of multiple target genes in the liver, pancreas and adipose tissue. In the mouse liver, Foxa2 is repressed by insulin and mediates fasting responses. Unlike Foxa2 however, the role of Foxa1 in the liver has not yet been investigated in detail. In this study, we evaluate the role of Foxa1 in two human liver cell models, primary cultured hepatocytes and HepG2 cells, by adenoviral infection. Moreover, human and rat livers were analyzed to determine Foxa1 regulation in NAFL. Results demonstrate that Foxa1 is a potent inhibitor of hepatic triglyceride synthesis, accumulation and secretion by repressing the expression of multiple target genes of these pathways (e.g., GPAM, DGAT2, MTP, APOB). Moreover, Foxa1 represses the fatty acid transporter protein FATP2 and lowers fatty acid uptake. Foxa1 also increases the breakdown of fatty acids by inducing peroxisomal fatty acid β-oxidation and ketone body synthesis. Finally, Foxa1 is able to largely up-regulate UCP1, thereby dissipating energy and consistently decreasing the mitochondria membrane potential. We also report that human and rat NAFL have a reduced Foxa1 expression, possibly through a protein kinase C-dependent pathway. We conclude that Foxa1 is an antisteatotic factor that coordinately tunes several lipid metabolic pathways to block triglyceride accumulation in hepatocytes. However, Foxa1 is down-regulated in human and rat NAFL and, therefore, increasing Foxa1 levels could protect from steatosis. Altogether, we suggest that Foxa1 could be a novel therapeutic target for NAFL disease and insulin resistance

Assessment of Yellow Fever Epidemic Risk: An Original Multi-criteria Modeling Approach

This article describes the use of an original modeling approach to assess the risk of yellow fever (YF) epidemics. YF is a viral hemorrhagic fever responsible in past centuries for devastating outbreaks. Since the 1930s, a vaccine has been available that protects the individual for at least 10 years, if not for life. However, immunization of populations in African countries was gradually discontinued after the 1960s. With the decrease in immunity against YF in African populations the disease reemerged in the 1980s. In 2005, WHO, UNICEF, and the GAVI Alliance decided to support preventive vaccination of at-risk populations in West African endemic countries in order to tackle the reemergence of YF and reduce the risk of urban YF outbreaks. Financial resources were made available to scale up a global YF vaccine stockpile and to support countries with limited resources in the management of preventive vaccination campaigns. This article describes the process we used to determine the most at-risk populations using a mathematical model to prioritize targeted immunization campaigns. We believe that this approach could be useful for other diseases for which decision making process is difficult because of limited data availability, complex risk variables, and a need for rapid decisions and implementation

Performing masculinity, influencing health: A qualitative mixed-methods study of young Spanish men

Background: The literature shows how gender mandates contribute to differences in exposure and vulnerability to certain health risk factors. This paper presents the results of a study developed in the south of Spain, where research aimed at understanding men from a gender perspective is still limited.Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the lay perceptions and meanings ascribed to the idea of masculinity, identifying ways in which gender displays are related to health.Design: The study is based on a mixed-methods data collection strategy typical of qualitative research. We performed a qualitative content analysis focused on manifest and latent content.Results: Our analysis showed that the relationship between masculinity and health was mainly defined with regard to behavioural explanations with an evident performative meaning. With regard to issues such as driving, the use of recreational drugs, aggressive behaviour, sexuality, and body image, important connections were established between manhood acts and health outcomes. Different ways of understanding and performing the male identity also emerged from the results. The findings revealed the implications of these aspects in the processes of change in the identity codes of men and women.Conclusions: The study provides insights into how the category ‘man’ is highly dependent on collective practices and performative acts. Consideration of how males perform manhood acts might be required in guidance on the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing gender inequalities in health in a particular local context.This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not- for-profit sectors. However, we had the opportunity to write this paper with the financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and the Andalusian Government’s Economy, Innovation and Science Department (Exp P08-CTS-4321)