Current and potential contributions of large-scale food fortification to meeting micronutrient requirements in Senegal: a modelling study using household food consumption data.

Introduction: Micronutrient deficiencies are common among women of reproductive age (WRA) and children in Senegal. Large-scale food fortification (LSFF) can help fill gaps in dietary intakes.

Methods: We used household food consumption data to model the contributions of existing LSFF programs (vitamin A-fortified refined oil and iron and folic acid-fortified wheat flour) and the potential contributions of expanding these programs to meeting the micronutrient requirements of WRA (15-49 years) and children (6-59 months).

Cure of urethro-rectal fistula secondary to a road traffic accident by perineal approach with gracilis flap interposition: A case report.

Introduction: A urethro-rectal fistula is an abnormal communication between the urethra and the rectum. It is a rare entity. It is most often an iatrogenic lesion during prostate surgery.

Dedicated developmental programing for group-supporting behaviors in eusocial honeybees.

The evolutionary changes from solitary to eusocial living in vertebrates and invertebrates are associated with the diversification of social interactions and the development of queen and worker castes. Despite strong innate patterns, our understanding of the mechanisms manifesting these sophisticated behaviors is still rudimentary. Here, we show that () manifests group-supporting behaviors in the honeybee () worker caste.

The costs and the potential allocation of costs of bouillon fortification: The cases of Nigeria, Senegal, and Burkina Faso.

Food and condiment fortification programs are needed to address micronutrient deficiencies and their health, developmental, and mortality consequences; but these programs are never free. Knowing program costs and their allocation across stakeholders is essential to design and manage effective, efficient, and sustainable programs. We developed 10-year hypothetical bouillon fortification program cost models for Nigeria, Senegal, and Burkina Faso that included start-up and operational costs for government and industry, as well as premix costs generated by an embedded premix cost calculator to allow for alternative premix formulas in cost calculations.

Dietary diversity and associated factors among infants and young children in three West African countries.

Providing children healthy diversified diets is important for their optimal growth and development. The high prevalence of under-nourishment during the critical early life period is of serious concern in West Africa. We assessed the level of dietary diversity and associated factors for children aged 6-23 months in Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Senegal.

Informing the Need for a SARS-CoV-2 Booster Based on the Immune Responses Among Young Healthy Adults to Variants Circulating in Late 2023.

Background: COVID-19 remains a global public health challenge due to new immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants and heterogeneous immunity.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the adaptive immune responses in US active duty personnel who completed a COVID-19 primary vaccine series and had heterogenous SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and infection histories to 3 previously dominant variants (ancestral, Delta, BA.5) and 3 circulating variants (XBB.

Vitamin A supplementation coverage and associated factors for children aged 6 to 59 months in integrated and campaign-based delivery systems in four sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a leading contributor to the poor health and nutrition of young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Funding constraints are compelling many countries to shift from longstanding campaigns to integrating vitamin A supplementation (VAS) into routine health services. We assessed child VAS coverage and associated factors for integrated delivery systems in Mozambique, Senegal, and Sierra Leone and for a campaign-based delivery strategy in Tanzania.

Dietary Quality and Associated Factors among Women of Reproductive Age in Six Sub-Saharan African Countries.

The burden of micronutrient malnutrition is high among women of reproductive age (WRA) in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the dietary quality and associated factors for WRA in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. Data were collected from women aged 15-49 years using representative Diet Quality Questionnaire surveys.

Optical control of 4 orbital state in rare-earth metals.

A change of orbital state alters the coupling between ions and their surroundings drastically. Orbital excitations are hence key to understand and control interaction of ions. Rare-earth elements with strong magneto-crystalline anisotropy (MCA) are important ingredients for magnetic devices.

Advancing access to care: An assessment of the prehospital system in Senegal.

Background: Most low- and middle-income countries do not have a mature prehospital system limiting access to definitive care. This study sought to describe the current state of the prehospital system in Senegal and offer recommendations aimed at improving system capacity and population access to definitive care.

Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with key informants in various regions throughout the country using qualitative and quantitative techniques.

Influenza at the 2021 Grand Magal of Touba and possible spread to rural villages in South Senegal - a genomic epidemiological study.

Objectives: Influenza is frequent among pilgrims participating in the Grand Magal de Touba (GMT), in Senegal, with a potential to spread to contacts when they return home.

Methods: Ill pilgrims consulting at a health care center in Mbacké city close to Touba during the 2021 GMT, pilgrims returning to Dielmo and Ndiop villages, and patients who did not travel to Touba and consulted at health care centers in these two villages in 2021 were tested for the influenza virus by polymerase chain reaction on nasopharyngeal samples. Next-generation sequencing and comparative and phylogenetic analyses of influenza A virus genomes were performed.

and Co-Culture Illustrates Transkingdom Symbiosis.

Among oral microbiota methanogens, () has remained less studied than the well-characterised and cultivated methanogens and . has been associated with different oral pathologies and was co-isolated with the bacterium () in one case of severe periodontitis. Here, reporting on two additional necrotic pulp cases yielded the opportunity to characterise two co-cultivated isolates, both with , as non-motile, 1-2-µm-long and 0.

A review of the literature of in Africa highlights breast milk as an overlooked human source.

According to the latest WHO estimates (2015) of the global burden of foodborne diseases, is responsible for one of the most serious foodborne infections and commonly results in severe clinical outcomes. The 2013 French MONALISA prospective cohort identified that women born in Africa has a 3-fold increase in the risk of maternal neonatal listeriosis. One of the largest outbreaks occurred in South Africa in 2017-2018 with over 1,000 cases.

Electron population dynamics in resonant non-linear x-ray absorption in nickel at a free-electron laser.

Free-electron lasers provide bright, ultrashort, and monochromatic x-ray pulses, enabling novel spectroscopic measurements not only with femtosecond temporal resolution: The high fluence of their x-ray pulses can also easily enter the regime of the non-linear x-ray-matter interaction. Entering this regime necessitates a rigorous analysis and reliable prediction of the relevant non-linear processes for future experiment designs. Here, we show non-linear changes in the -edge absorption of metallic nickel thin films, measured with fluences up to 60 J/cm.

Emergence of a second SARS-CoV-2 variant with a tremendous genetic leap from its ancestors.

The on-going emergence of the Omicron BA.2.86 variant is one of the major events in SARS-CoV-2 genetic evolution that remain enigmatic regarding the overall virus mutation rate, together with the emergence of the initial Omicron variant, BA.

Recognition of polymorphic Csd proteins determines sex in the honeybee.

Sex in honeybees, , is genetically determined by heterozygous versus homo/hemizygous genotypes involving numerous alleles at the single complementary sex determination locus. The molecular mechanism of sex determination is however unknown because there are more than 4950 known possible allele combinations, but only two sexes in the species. We show how protein variants expressed from complementary sex determiner () gene determine sex.

COVID-19 in 16 West African Countries: An Assessment of the Epidemiology and Genetic Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 after Four Epidemic Waves.

West Africa faced the COVID-19 pandemic in early March 2020 and, as of March 31, 2022, had more than 900,000 confirmed cases and more than 12,000 deaths. During this period, SARS-CoV-2 genomes evolved genetically, resulting in the emergence of distinct lineages. This review was conducted to provide the epidemiological profile of COVID-19, the mutational profile of SARS-CoV-2, and the dynamics of its lineages in the 16 west African countries by analyzing data from 33 studies and seven situation reports.

Description of sp. nov., a Bacterium Isolated from Human Blood.

Blood is a precious biological liquid that is normally sterile. Therefore, bacteria in the bloodstream are shown a priori anomaly. A blood culture is systematically performed to diagnose the cause of the bacteremia.

High Throughput SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing from 384 Respiratory Samples Using the Illumina COVIDSeq Protocol.

The emergence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fostered the use of high-throughput techniques to sequence the entire severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome and track its evolution. The present study proposes a rapid and relatively less expensive sequencing protocol for 384 samples by adapting the use of an Illumina NovaSeq library to an Illumina MiSeq flow cell instrument. The SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences obtained with Illumina NovaSeq and those obtained using MiSeq instruments were compared with the objective to validate the new, modified protocol.

Photon-shot-noise-limited transient absorption soft X-ray spectroscopy at the European XFEL.

Femtosecond transient soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a very promising technique that can be employed at X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) to investigate out-of-equilibrium dynamics for material and energy research. Here, a dedicated setup for soft X-rays available at the Spectroscopy and Coherent Scattering (SCS) instrument at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (European XFEL) is presented. It consists of a beam-splitting off-axis zone plate (BOZ) used in transmission to create three copies of the incoming beam, which are used to measure the transmitted intensity through the excited and unexcited sample, as well as to monitor the incoming intensity.