Exploring Impact of Probiotic-Fermented Soymilk on Dextran-Sulfate-Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis via Modulating Inflammation and Gut Microbiota Profile.

Scope: Lactic acid bacteria with probiotic functions and their fermentation products play a role in regulating ulcerative colitis (UC). This study investigates the potential role of fermented soymilk (FSM4) rich in isoflavones on DSS-induced UC.

Methods And Results: Mice received 3% DSS and are supplemented daily once for 1 week by NFSM and FSM4.

Individual and household risk factors of severe acute malnutrition among under-five children in Mao, Chad: a matched case-control study.

Background: Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Chad. The reasons behind persistently high prevalence of SAM in the Kanem region are still poorly understood, leaving national and international partners without clearly identified drivers to address. Current knowledge of SAM determinants in this context is largely based on very limited data.

Effectiveness of a Household Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Package on an Outpatient Program for Severe Acute Malnutrition: A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Chad.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions have a small but measurable benefit on stunting, but not on wasting. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of a household WASH package on the performance of an Outpatient Therapeutic feeding Program (OTP) for severe acute malnutrition (SAM). We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial embedded in a routine OTP.

Challenges and opportunities for healthcare workers in a rural district of Chad.

Background: Trained healthcare workers are an essential resource for effective health systems. However, healthcare workers' perspective on healthcare, the challenges they face to provide quality health services, and opportunities to improve motivation and providing adequate care are rarely investigated in resource-constrained settings of sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: All reachable nurses of Abou Deia, a primarily rural district in the south-eastern part of Chad, were invited to participate.

Why Performance-Based Financing in Chad Failed to Emerge on the National Policy Agenda.

-Supported by the World Bank (WB), Chad implemented a performance-based financing (PBF) scheme as a pilot, from October 2011 to May 2013. However, despite promising results and the government's stated commitment to ensure its continuation after the World Bank's departure, PBF failed to come onto the national policy agenda. This article aims to explain why this was the case, an especially interesting question given that several factors were favorable for project continuation.

Seasonal dynamics of human retinol status in mobile pastoralists in Chad.

Vitamin A deficiency is a prevalent public health problem in Africa and South-East Asia, although national population based surveys are lacking in many countries. This study investigated seasonal variation of human retinol concentrations in Chadian mobile pastoralists to identify critical time periods for interventions addressing vitamin A deficiency. The repeated cross-sectional study design used convenience sampling during three seasons to include 327 Fulani, Gorane and Arab adult mobile pastoralists in nine camps in the Lake Chad area.

Estimating population and livestock density of mobile pastoralists and sedentary settlements in the south-eastern Lake Chad area.

Mobile pastoralists provide major contributions to the gross domestic product in Chad, but little information is available regarding their demography. The Lake Chad area population is increasing, resulting in competition for scarce land and water resources. For the first time, the density of people and animals from mobile and sedentary populations was assessed using randomly defined sampling areas.

The benefits of 'One Health' for pastoralists in Africa.

'One health' is particularly suited to serve mobile pastoralists. Dinka pastoralists in Sudan inspired Calvin Schwabe to coin the term 'one medicine', indicating that there is no difference in paradigm between human and veterinary medicine. Our contemporary definition of 'one health' is any added value in terms of improved health of humans and animals or financial savings or environmental services resulting from a closer cooperation of human and animal health sectors.

Random demographic household surveys in highly mobile pastoral communities in Chad.

Problem: Reliable demographic data is a central requirement for health planning and management, and for the implementation of adequate interventions. This study addresses the lack of demographic data on mobile pastoral communities in the Sahel.

Approach: A total of 1081 Arab, Fulani and Gorane women and 2541 children (1336 boys and 1205 girls) were interviewed and registered by a biometric fingerprint scanner in five repeated random transect demographic and health surveys conducted from March 2007 to January 2008 in the Lake Chad region in Chad.

Human and animal vaccination delivery to remote nomadic families, Chad.

Vaccination services for people and livestock often fail to achieve sufficient coverages in Africa's remote rural settings because of financial, logistic, and service delivery constraints. In Chad from 2000 through 2005, we demonstrated the feasibility of combining vaccination programs for nomadic pastoralists and their livestock. Sharing of transport logistics and equipment between physicians and veterinarians reduced total costs.

Synergy between public health and veterinary services to deliver human and animal health interventions in rural low income settings.

Rural African communities, especially those that are nomadic, often have poor access to health care. Collaboration with other services could help improve coverage