Lutte contre les ravageurs des stocks de céréales et de légumineuses au Sénégal et en Afrique occidentale : synthèse bibliographique

Controlling pests of cereals and legumes in Senegal and West Africa: a review. Post-harvest losses of cereals and legumes are a major problem in Senegal and West Africa. The solutions to eliminate insects, major pests of stored products were mainly chemical. However, due to pollution associated with pesticides use, selection of resistant strains, environmental pollution, poisoning, the search for alternatives is needed. It is reported on different methods of protecting stocks performed alternatively or in combination with pesticides. The major pest species encountered, particularly Prostephanus truncatus (Horn), insect emerging in Senegal, could be controlled by alternative methods including specially the use of insecticide plants. Different aspects related to this alternative way to chemical pesticides are reviewed herein

Out-of-phase circadian biorhythms in gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum

The individual circadian periodicity in eight hosts of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes is studied in Senegal. The average time series does not present any periodicity. As for filariasis (Pichon and Treuil, 2004), it could be considered that this lack of global periodicity is in fact due to the coexistence, in each host, of two completely periodic, out of phase rhythms. Here we propose a simple mathematical method to test this assumption, which is confirmed. There is a complete morning rhythm with peak at 10 a.m. and another evening rhythm with peak at 10 p.m., both rhythms being at equal proportions on average. A similar temporal pattern is suggested in Gambia. The same morning rhythm is observed in Tanzania, but the evening rhythm happens two hours earlier, explaining the occurrence of a global subperiodic fluctuation (Magesa et al., 2000). The paradoxical situation of gametocytes following a circadian morning rhythm in spite of the nocturnal activity of vectors is discussed

Use of chicken eggshell to improve dietary calcium intake in rural sub-Saharan Africa

Undernutrition resulting from inadequate access to high‐quality, nutritious food is a widespread issue in sub‐Saharan Africa impacting the health and survival of mothers and their children. Inadequate dietary intake leads to a deficiency in nutrients including calcium, required for growth and physiological functioning. This study investigated the potential of increasing dietary calcium intake by the addition of heat‐treated ground eggshell to locally prepared food. A mixed methods approach of literature review, Delphi expert survey and focus group discussions with women of childbearing age in rural Tanzania, were used to assess the practicality, safety, and acceptability of consumption of ground eggshell. Chicken eggshell has high calcium content (380 mg of calcium/gram) and bioavailability comparable to calcium carbonate (~39%) with 1 g sufficient to provide one half of a sub‐Saharan African adult female's dietary calcium needs. Salmonella was indicated as the most likely threat to human health through eggshell consumption. Experts agreed that eggshells boiled for 10 min when preparing hard‐boiled eggs with a further 20 min cooking of crushed eggshell in staple foods would eliminate identified egg‐associated pathogens. Five focus groups (n = 46) indicated eggshells were perceived as waste. However, there was an indication of general acceptance of the approach and a willingness to consider the incorporation of ground eggshells into their diets. Development of suitable communication methods are required to convey benefits and safe preparation methods. Ground eggshell could be a highly equitable method of increasing calcium intakes across rural sub‐Saharan Africa where calcium intake is low and village poultry ownership common

Population genomics of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.): Comparative analysis of global accessions and Senegalese landraces

Citation: Hu, Z., Mbacké, B., Perumal, R., Guèye, M. C., Sy, O., Bouchet, S., . . . Morris, G. P. (2015). Population genomics of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.): Comparative analysis of global accessions and Senegalese landraces. Bmc Genomics. doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2255-0Background: Pearl millet is a staple food for people in arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and South Asia due to its high drought tolerance and nutritional qualities. A better understanding of the genomic diversity and population structure of pearl millet germplasm is needed to support germplasm conservation and genetic improvement of this crop. Here we characterized two pearl millet diversity panels, (i) a set of global accessions from Africa, Asia, and the America, and (ii) a collection of landraces from multiple agro-ecological zones in Senegal. Results: We identified 83,875 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 500 pearl millet accessions, comprised of 252 global accessions and 248 Senegalese landraces, using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) of PstI-MspI reduced representation libraries. We used these SNPs to characterize genomic diversity and population structure among the accessions. The Senegalese landraces had the highest levels of genetic diversity (?), while accessions from southern Africa and Asia showed lower diversity levels. Principal component analyses and ancestry estimation indicated clear population structure between the Senegalese landraces and the global accessions, and among countries in the global accessions. In contrast, little population structure was observed across in the Senegalese landraces collections. We ordered SNPs on the pearl millet genetic map and observed much faster linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay in Senegalese landraces compared to global accessions. A comparison of pearl millet GBS linkage map with the foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) genomes indicated extensive regions of synteny, as well as some large-scale rearrangements in the pearl millet lineage. Conclusions: We identified 83,875 SNPs as a genomic resource for pearl millet improvement. The high genetic diversity in Senegal relative to other regions of Africa and Asia supports a West African origin of this crop, followed by wide diffusion. The rapid LD decay and lack of confounding population structure along agro-ecological zones in Senegalese pearl millet will facilitate future association mapping studies. Comparative population genomics will provide insights into panicoid crop evolution and support improvement of these climate-resilient crops. © 2015 Hu et al

\u3cem\u3eL’Appel des arènes:\u3c/em\u3e A Postcolonial Development of the \u3cem\u3eBuildungsroman\u3c/em\u3e

Despite the fact that many critics consider the Buildungsroman obsolete, the genre is still alive. Many African writers have revised the classical Buildungsroman in order to underscore the conflict of cultures and the complex subjectivities of their characters. By analyzing the discourse on identity in L’Appel des arènes, we understand how Aminata Sow Fall recreates the modalities of enunciation found in African traditional literature while structuringL’Appel des arènes with generic patterns from the Buildungsroman

Coulomb Distortion in Quasielastic (e,e′)(e,e') Scattering on Nuclei: Effective Momentum Approximation and Beyond

The role of the effective momentum approximation to disentangle Coulomb distortion effects in quasielastic $(e,e')$ reactions is investigated. The separation of the cross section in longitudinal and transverse components is discussed including higher order DWBA corrections due to the focusing of the electron waves.The experimental studies performed, in the last few years, making use of different approximate treatments are shown to be sometime inconsistent. As a consequence some of the longitudinal and transverse responses, extracted from the inclusive cross sections cannot be considered reliable. A separation procedure based on the effective momentum approximation is discussed in connection with the recent experimental data on electron/positron quasielastic scattering on $^{12}$C and $^{208}$Pb.Comment: latex, no figures, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Strengthening human genetics research in Africa: report of the 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics in Dakar in May 2016.

The 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics, in partnership with the Senegalese Cancer Research and Study Group and the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, was held in Dakar, Senegal. The theme was Strengthening Human Genetics Research in Africa. The 210 delegates came from 21 African countries and from France, Switzerland, UK, UAE, Canada and the USA. The goal was to highlight genetic and genomic science across the African continent with the ultimate goal of improving the health of Africans and those across the globe, and to promote the careers of young African scientists in the field. A session on the sustainability of genomic research in Africa brought to light innovative and practical approaches to supporting research in resource-limited settings and the importance of promoting genetics in academic, research funding, governmental and private sectors. This meeting led to the formation of the Senegalese Society for Human Genetics

Accouchement de jumeaux conjoints de découverte fortuite au cours du travail au CHU de Dakar

L’objectif de cette étude était de rapporter 3 cas de jumeaux conjoints, discuter de l’importance du diagnostic anténatal et de décrire les particularités diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et évolutives. Sur 45700 accouchements du 1er Février 2009 au 31 Décembre 2011, 3 cas de jumeaux conjoints ont été enregistrés, soit 1 cas pour 15000 accouchements. Ces cas ont été diagnostiqués au cours du travail au décours d’une dystocie mécanique ou d’une césarienne réalisée pour une autre indication. Il s’agissait d’un cas de jumeaux conjoints thoraco-omphalopages, un cas de diprosopes et un cas de dicéphales. L’accouchement dans les trois cas était fait par voie haute permettant d’extraire des mort-nés frais. Nous insistons sur l’intérêt d’un diagnostic anténatal précoce par le recours à l’échographie afin d’éviter les accidents mécaniques d’un accouchement qui ne saurait s’accomplir par voie basse.Key words: Jumeaux conjoints, diprosopes, dicéphales, thoraco-omphalopage