Many breeding programs have been implemented in developing countries, many of which have been unsuccessful. To better understand the failure of these breeding programs, it is proposed to analyze ...their adequacy with innovations that are actually adopted by smallholders. The proposed methodology takes account of these innovations, the reasons for their adoption and the objectives of livestock keeping. The N’Dama cattle-breeding program in Senegal was used as a case study. Surveys were carried out among 54 farmers: 27 breeders who participated in this program, 17 of whom recently resigned, and 27 breeders who have never participated. Feeding was the most frequently cited area of innovation, followed by infrastructure. Genetics, animal health and reproduction held the third rank. Milk production appeared as an important objective of breeders, although the context remains one of strong multifunctionality. Principal component analysis highlighted three categories of breeders according to the innovations they adopted: institutional, modernizing, and integrating innovators. The groups of institutional and modernizing innovators dominate, gathering each 41% of the farmers. In the first category, breeders have organized themselves in an association and use N’Dama sires, livestock aiming at an insurance objective. In the second category, artificial insemination with exotic breeds and other technical innovations (cowshed, vaccination, urea treatment of straw) are used to improve production of milk and meat. The third group is termed ‘integrating innovators,’ since their innovations aim at integrating livestock and crop production. Gathering 18% of the sampled breeders, this group presents intermediate features between the two previous groups, using animals as draught power and for manure production. These results indicate that a process of intensification is at play and that the genetic improvement through the selection of N’Dama cattle for production criteria does not meet the breeders’ demand. However, the N’Dama’s adaptive traits justify its use as part of the breeding strategy of farmers, either in pure-breeding or in crossbreeding. The study thus tends to show the interactive link between genetic improvement and other innovations. It suggests that the success of a breeding program depends on its adequate positioning within the set of innovations adopted by breeders and proposes a method to inform breeding programs accordingly.
Childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic condition with serious repercussions on both the quality of life of the child and the family. Insulin therapy is the cornerstone of optimal blood sugar ...control. The main objective of our study was to assess the level of knowledge of physicians about insulin therapy in diabetes.
This was a multicenter survey over a period of 5 months (from March 5 to August 2, 2018). It took place in five reference university hospital centers in the Dakar region.
The number of doctors interviewed in our study was 82, 47.6% of whom were confirmed pediatricians or pediatricians in the process of specialization. The number of years of experience in the field of diabetes was on average 3 years. Fast-acting regular insulins were recommended by 75.6% of doctors and mixtures of insulin (intermediate and rapid-acting) by 50% of doctors. Overall, 91% of doctors recommend a variation in insulin injection sites. The “basal bolus” treatment regimen with insulin analogs was recommended by 50% of doctors, while 31.7% recommended it with human insulin. Regarding adapting insulin doses for leisure and sports activities, more than half (54.9%) of the doctors had to reduce the doses.
This study enabled us to assess the level of knowledge of insulin therapy among doctors caring for children with diabetes in Senegal, which proved to be limited. We recommend the reinforcement and follow-up of training on the management of T1D for providers at the different facilities.
Hepcidin is an antimicrobial peptide produced by the liver in response to inflammatory stimuli and iron overload. Hepcidin regulates iron homeostasis by mediating the degradation of the iron export ...protein ferroportin 1, thereby inhibiting iron absorption from the small intestine and release of iron from macrophages. Here, we examined the expression of hepcidin in macrophages infected with the intracellular pathogens Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Stimulation of the mouse RAW264.7 macrophage cell line and mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages with mycobacteria and IFN-gamma synergistically induced high levels of hepcidin mRNA and protein. Similar results were obtained using the human THP-1 monocytic cell line. Stimulation of macrophages with the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-beta did not induce hepcidin mRNA expression. Iron loading inhibited hepcidin mRNA expression induced by IFN-gamma and M. avium, and iron chelation increased hepcidin mRNA expression. Intracellular protein levels and secretion of hepcidin were determined by a competitive chemiluminescence ELISA. Stimulation of RAW264.7 cells with IFN-gamma and M. tuberculosis induced intracellular expression and secretion of hepcidin. Furthermore, confocal microscopy analyses showed that hepcidin localized to the mycobacteria-containing phagosomes. As hepcidin has been shown to possess direct antimicrobial activity, we investigated its activity against M. tuberculosis. We found that hepcidin inhibited M. tuberculosis growth in vitro and caused structural damage to the mycobacteria. In summary, our data show for the first time that hepcidin localizes to the phagosome of infected, IFN-gamma-activated cells and has antimycobacterial activity.
Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction is subject to inhibition by substances that co-purify with nucleic acids during isolation and preparation of samples. Such materials alter the ...activity of reverse transcriptase (RT) and thermostable DNA polymerase enzymes on which the assay depends. When removal of inhibitory substances by column or reagent-based methods fails or is incomplete, the remaining option of appropriately, precisely and differentially diluting samples and standards to non-inhibitory concentrations is often avoided due to the logistic problem it poses. To address this, we invented the PREXCEL-Q software program to automate the process of calculating the non-inhibitory dilutions for all samples and standards after a preliminary test plate has been performed on an experimental sample mixture. The SPUD assay was used to check for inhibition in each PREXCEL-Q-designed qPCR reaction. When SPUD amplicons or SPUD amplicon-containing plasmids were spiked equally into each qPCR reaction, all reactions demonstrated complete absence of qPCR inhibition. Reactions spiked with about 15,500 SPUD amplicons yielded a Cq of 27.39 plus/minus 0.28 (at about 80.8% efficiency), while reactions spiked with about 7,750 SPUD plasmids yielded a Cq of 23.82 plus/minus 0.15 (at about 97.85% efficiency). This work demonstrates that PREXCEL-Q sample and standard dilution calculations ensure avoidance of qPCR inhibition.
•This diversity reveals a strong consensus on the need for multi-stakeholder programs.•Divergent views on roles suggest the plurality of potential forms of collaboration with shared ...responsibilities.•Views on the diversity of stakeholders to be involved diverge according to the experts’ profession.
Stakeholders’ involvement is key to breeding programs’ success. The identification of stakeholders, their categories, respective role and weight in the overall process therefore constitutes a crucial aspect of animal breeding. The objective of this paper is to show how the different international experts in breeding perceive the participation of stakeholders and their collaboration in the sustainable management of cattle-breeding programs in developing countries. This study uses the Delphi method to collect experts’ opinions on stakeholders’ involvement in breeding scheme design. In a first round, experts are asked to list all potential stakeholders and to score them on a scale from 1 to 5 according to the perceived importance of roles assigned to them. In a second round, experts were asked to confirm or modify their first notes for each proposal, by taking into account the opinion of the other experts. In the first and second rounds, 17 and 12 experts answered our questionnaires respectively. Two types of analyses were first realized, i.e., a statistical analysis, which evaluated the consensus and the divergence between experts, and a textual analysis, which evaluated the arguments and the roles. Then a factorial correspondence analysis was conducted to propose a typology of stakeholders according to their roles. In the first round, the State representatives, researchers and breeders were frequently mentioned, but the experts variably perceived the importance given to them individually. In the second round, the experts confirmed the need to involve these stakeholders. Between the two rounds, a convergence of views is observed on this implication, despite a persisting divergence on the assigned roles and their relative importance. This diversity of views may have reflected a diversity of origins and professions of responding experts. Development professionals considered the State as the main actor, while researchers considered the breeders and researchers. Expressed through a typological analysis, this divergence of experts’ perception of roles suggests three groups of actors playing main roles. Group 1 corresponds to research, which role is to provide a scientific support for genetic and economic evaluation, as well as technological development. Group 2, composed of State, NGOs and funding institutions, covers roles in financing, subsidizing and capacity building. Group 3, including farmers and their organizations, is responsible of the breeding program management, genetic progress and breed conservation. The proposed typology of actors according to their role may intervene as a basis of discussion, helping in the identification of fruitful agreements beyond the perspective of one sole expert in charge of the designing of a breeding program. It suggests an organization that federates these groups of actors and defines the intervention framework and the activities of the breeding program.
In this original work, we want to control the shape of the resulting porous structures by templateless electropolymerization, by adjusting the spacer (flexible alkyl chains or rigid aromatic groups) ...between thieno3,4-bthiophene and carbazole used as the monomer and the substituent, respectively. A huge change is especially observed from ribbon-like structures to nanorings as the alkyl spacer increases. The presence of a significant amount of water is necessary for the formation of these porous structures because it allows releasing a high amount of gas bubbles. The size and number of nanorings are dependent on both the alkyl spacer and electrochemical parameters such as the number of deposition scans. These surfaces could be used in the future in various potential applications such as in water harvesting, oil/water separation membranes, optical devices, sensors or photocatalysis.
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•Formation of ordered nanorings structures by templateless electropolymerization in organic solvent.•Thieno3,4-bthiophene monomers with carbazole substituent and different (alkyl and aromatic) spacers.•Importance of water content in the formation of porous structures.
L’activité de la glande thyroïdienne est liée à l’apport de l’iode dont la teneur dans la ration, varie en fonction des éléments qui la composent. Le dysfonctionnement de la thyroïde est donc lié ...soit un apport excessif ou un déficit d’iode dans la ration et les manifestations du dysfonctionnement thyroïdien sont nombreuses. En cas de déficit d’apport ou d’assimilation, la glande thyroïde devient hypoactive et produit trop peu d’hormones thyroïdiennes. Dans de cas, il est noté un retard de croissance et divers troubles mentaux, une alopécie et parfois un gain de poids. Tandis qu’en cas d'hyperthyroïdie, les symptômes sont entre autres : le goitre exophtalmique, une hyperactivité, une perte de poids, une diarrhée chronique et parfois une accélération de la vitesse de croissance. La carence tout comme l’excès en iode ont donc des effets sur la croissance. Ainsi, l’effet de régimes alimentaires à base de Rémington, déficitaires ou riche en iode ou contenants des substances antithyroïdiennes sur la consommation, la croissance et le comportement des rats a été étudié. L’étude a nécessité 56 rats mâles de souche Wistar, âgés de 4 semaines environ, répartis-en 14 lots de 4 individus comme suit : lots B (carence iodée simple) ; C (carence iodée + dénutrition), D (carence iodée + thiocyanate) ; E (carence iodée + thiocyanate + dénutrition) ; F (Propylthiouracile – PTU) ; G (Régime cassava (manioc) + eau distillée) : H (Régime Brassica + eau distillée) ; I (Remington + eau iodée + sélénium) ; J (témoin d'expérience : Remington + eau iodée) ; K (ration de Remington additionnée de sélénium) ; L (carence iodée + calcium + eau distillée) ; M (Régime mil + eau distillée) et ; N (Régime Nététu + eau distillée). Après 120 jours d’expérience, les rats se sont bien comportés en général. L’évolution pondérale à l’exception de quelques lots, a été globalement positive. Les animaux des lots B, C, D et E ont manifesté une certaine léthargie au milieu de l’expérience (environ deux mois d’expérimentation), qui a disparu une à deux semaines après. Les animaux du lot F (PTU) étaient affaiblis, très affectés par le traitement (consommation d’un régime contenant du PTU), surtout dans la deuxième moitié de l’expérimentation. Tandis que les animaux des lots M et N qui avaient beaucoup grossis, paraissaient peu actifs en fin d’expérience. Aussi, après trois semaines d’expérimentation, il a été noté des cas d’alopécie (chute de poils) chez quelques animaux des lots B, C, D, E, F et I. Ces manifestations ont disparu après un mois d’expérience. Il y’a eu 2,5% de mortalités en 120 jours de traitement. Ce pourcentage plutôt faible, prouve que les conditions expérimentales générales étaient bonnes. Dans l’ensemble, à l’exception des lots E et F, les animaux se sont adaptés aux différents traitements et ont eu des croissances pondérables positives ; même si des différences significatives sont notées sur les gains moyens quotidiens (GMQ) et les niveaux d’ingestion.
The thyroid gland activity is linked to the supply of iodine, the content of which in the diet varies according to the elements that compose it. Thyroid dysfunction is therefore linked to either an excessive intake or a deficit of iodine in the ration and the manifestations of thyroid dysfunction are numerous. In case of a deficit in intake or assimilation, the thyroid gland becomes hypoactive and produces too little thyroid hormone. In some cases, growth retardation and various mental disorders, alopecia and sometimes weight gain are noted. In the case of hyperthyroidism, the symptoms include exophthalmic goiter, hyperactivity, weight loss, chronic diarrhea and sometimes accelerated growth rate. Both iodine deficiency and excess have effects on growth. Thus, the effect of Remington-based diets, deficient or rich in iodine or containing antithyroid substances on the consumption, growth and behavior of rats was studied. The study involved 56 male Wistar rats, approximately 4 weeks old, divided into 14 batches of 4 individuals as follows: B (simple iodine deficiency); C (iodine deficiency + undernutrition), D (iodine deficiency + thiocyanate); E (iodine deficiency + thiocyanate + undernutrition); F (Propylthiouracil - PTU); G (Cassava diet + distilled water): H (Brassica diet + distilled water); I (Remington + iodized water + selenium); J (Experimental control: Remington + iodized water); K (Remington ration supplemented with selenium); L (Iodine deficiency + calcium + distilled water); M (Millet diet + distilled water) and; N (Nétu diet + distilled water). After 120 days of the experiment, the rats were generally well behaved. The weight evolution, with the exception of some batches, was globally positive. The animals of batches B, C, D and E showed some lethargy in the middle of the experiment (about two months of experimentation), which disappeared one to two weeks later. The animals of batch F (PTU) were weakened, highly affected by the treatment (consumption of a diet containing PTU), especially in the second half of the experiment. While the animals of the M and N batches, which had grown a lot, seemed to be not very active at the end of the experiment. Also, after three weeks of experimentation, alopecia (hair loss) was noted in some animals of batches B, C, D, E, F and I. These manifestations disappeared after one month of experimentation. There were 2.5% of deaths in 120 days of treatment. This rather low percentage proves that the general experimental conditions were good. Overall, with the exception of batches E and F, the animals adapted to the different treatments and had positive weighted growths; although significant differences were noted on average daily gain (ADG) and feed intake levels.
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