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La microfinance comme levier de financement d’une économie enclavée à dominance du secteur primaire : Analyse du réseau MECK aux Comores
No full textMicrofinance, a new financial system whose main objective is the fight against financial exclusion from traditional banks. Apart from these objectives, can microfinance become a financing instrument for economics? Through this article, we will show that the Meck microfinance network (Mutuellesd’épargnes et de Crédit – Komor) has become a financing instrument for the Comorian economy. To do this, our study focuses on an analysis of the reports of the Central Bank of the Comoros from 2005 to the present day and the reports of the microfinance network.La microfinance, un nouveau système financier qui a comme objectif principal la lutte contre l'exclusion financière des banques classiques. A part ces objectifs, la microfinance peut-elle devenir un instrument de financement pour des économies ? A travers cet article, nous allons montrer que le réseau de microfinance Meck (Mutuelles d'Epargnes et de Crédit-Komor) est devenue un instrument de financement pour l'économie comorienne. Pour se faire, notre étude se porte sur une analyse des rapports de la Banque Centrale des Comores de 2005 à nos jours et des rapports du réseau de la microfinance
How conflict shapes the impact of infant and child mortality on fertility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
No full textInternational audienceThis study investigates the impact of infant or child mortality and its interaction with conflict exposure on fertility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Birth histories of 13,859 married women from the 2007 and 2013/2014 Demographic and Health Surveys were analyzed alongside conflict data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. A series of conditional frailty survival models were estimated. Results showed that women who lost an index or non-index child during or before the birth interval were at higher risk of giving birth. These findings provide evidence for an immediate volitional replacement effect, i.e., a deliberate or psychological effort to replace a lost child as soon as possible, as well as a long-term replacement effect reflecting the desire to achieve an ideal family size. The immediate replacement effect was more pronounced among women exposed to conflict, while the long-term effect was weaker. These results, which are robust to alternative measures of conflict, reflect how families respond to infant mortality and conflict. In the short run, conflict increases the urgency to replace deceased children, supporting the fast life history or bereavement theories. By contrast, in the long term, conflict disrupts reproductive planning-likely due to resource scarcity, uncertainty about the future, and other constraints-thereby supporting the economic theory of fertility. Short-term interventions should prioritize improving child health through nutrition and immunization, providing mental health support, and offering culturally sensitive reproductive counseling. In contrast, long-term interventions must focus on economic support and family planning programs to empower women in conflict zones.</div
SIM‐Net: A Multimodal Fusion Network Using Inferred 3D Object Shape Point Clouds From RGB Images for 2D Classification
No full textInternational audienceWe introduce the shape-image multimodal network (SIM-Net), a novel 2D image classification architecture that integrates 3D point cloud representations inferred directly from RGB images. Our key contribution lies in a pixel-to-point transformation that converts 2D object masks into 3D point clouds, enabling the fusion of texture-based and geometric features for enhanced classification performance. SIM-Net is particularly well-suited for the classification of digitised herbarium specimens-a task made challenging by heterogeneous backgrounds, nonplant elements, and occlusions that compromise conventional imagebased models. To address these issues, SIM-Net employs a segmentation-based preprocessing step to extract object masks prior to 3D point cloud generation. The architecture comprises a CNN encoder for 2D image features and a PointNet-based encoder for geometric features, which are fused into a unified latent space. Experimental evaluations on herbarium datasets demonstrate that SIM-Net consistently outperforms ResNet101, achieving gains of up to 9.9% in accuracy and 12.3% in F-score. It also surpasses several transformer-based state-of-the-art architectures, highlighting the benefits of incorporating 3D structural reasoning into 2D image classification tasks. | IntroductionOver the past two decades, deep learning has made profound advancements leading to the development of numerous innovative architectures that have significantly advanced the field of artificial intelligence [1-10]. In particular, the field of computer vision has seen the emergence of many high-performing models, especially for image classification [1-5, 10]. However, traditional classification methods often struggle with complex backgrounds, occlusions, and noisy environments-challenges that are especially pronounced in biological datasets such as digitised herbarium specimens, 1 which have become vital resources for botany and biodiversity research [11-17]. Models such as ResNet [5] and Vision Transformers [10], exhibit varying degrees of robustness to noise and differences in foreground and background sensitivity [18, 19].Analysing digitised herbarium specimens remains challenging due to varying textures and presence of numerous nonplant elements, such us scale bars, labels, and extraneous artefactsThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.</div
Mesurer la qualité des services support à l'innovation agricole à Madagascar
No full textSource Agritrop Cirad (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/613523/) * Autres projets (id;sigle;titre): FOOD/2021/422-432;MAKIS;(EU) Malagasy Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems//International audienc
Unseen catalyst: How networking facilitation and brokerage drive agri-food innovation amidst growing innovation support service diversification in the global south
No full textSource Agritrop Cirad (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/612820/) * Autres projets (id;sigle;titre): ;SERVInnov;(EU) Strengthening Innovation Support SERVices to enhance INNOVations for sustainable food production//International audienceThis paper examines the role of networking service activities in fostering sustainability-oriented innovations in agriculture and in the agri-food sector. It focuses on case studies from Cameroon, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso. While existing current research on networking for innovation has focused on management and business issues, this study introduces and uses the novel concepts of “service situation” and “Innovation Support Services (ISS)” to analyse the role of networking service activities in agri-food innovation processes. The findings reveal that networking activities were not prioritised as key services by service providers instead, the focus was on resource access and capacity-building services. Additionally, institutional support for niche innovations and demand articulation services were observed to be lacking. The study underscores the necessity for a more comprehensive service portfolio that extends beyond technical training, advocating for the deliberate incorporation of networking, institutional support, advisory, consultancy, and backstopping services into innovation processes. The study further proposes a categorisation of networking activities into two distinct types: managed (intentional) and informal (unintentional). This categorisation is intended to facilitate a more precise assessment thereby enhancing their role in promoting innovation. The paper further postulates that networking services, although invisible, are pivotal for the success of innovations by providing adaptable support throughout different phases. By strategically delineating networking approaches for each innovation phase, service providers and beneficiaries can enhance the effectiveness and outcomes of innovation efforts in the agri-food sector
Electron impact ro-vibrational transitions and dissociative recombination of H2+ and HD+: Rate coefficients and astrophysical implications
No full textContext. Molecular hydrogen and its cation H+2 are among the first species formed in the early Universe, and play a key role in the thermal and chemical evolution of the primordial gas. In molecular clouds, H+2 ions formed through ionization of H2 by particles react rapidly with H2 to form H+3 , triggering the formation of almost all detected interstellar molecules. Aims. We present a new set of cross sections and rate coefficients for state-to-state ro-vibrational transitions of the H+2 and HD+ ions, induced by low-energy electron collisions. Study includes the major electron-impact processes relevant for low-metallicity astrochemistry: inelastic and superelastic scattering, and dissociative recombination. Methods. The electron-induced processes involving H+2 and HD+ are treated using the multichannel quantum defect theory. Results. The newly calculated thermal rate coefficients show significant differences compared to those used in previous studies. When introduced into astrochemical models, particularly for shock-induced chemistry in metal-free gas, the updated dissociative recombination rates produce substantial changes in the predicted molecular abundances. Conclusions. These data provide updated and improved input for the modeling of hydrogen-rich plasmas in environment
Avulsion of the Nyabarongo River into Lake Rweru (Rwanda) Under Anthropic Pressure: Morpho-Sedimentary and Ecological Implications
No full textInternational audienceInland water ecosystems are sensitive to global change and anthropic pressure, especially to land conversion and modifica- tions of the drainage network. The impacts depend on the type of environment and while the general mechanisms impacting continental wetlands are known and documented, regional studies remain compulsory to constrain the issues relative to a particular catchment. The Lake Victoria basin in Eastern Africa is a key example of the urgent necessity to conduct such regional studies. Lake Victoria is the second world largest freshwater body and its basin sustains a rapidly growing popula- tion of about 42 million people. The poorly mechanized agriculture in some of the sharing countries makes for extensive conversion of land, deforestation and soil degradation. This study addresses the interactions between lakes, rivers and the connected floodplains in the Nyabarongo – Kagera river system, in the southwestern part of Lake Victoria basin. Using remote sensing images, climate and water discharge data, this work discusses how a sudden modification in the local drain- age resulting from an acceleration of natural processes by human activity such as catchment-wide deforestation and rapid conversion of the Nyabarongo River floodplain to agriculture modified the environment of Lake Rweru. In a matter of a few years, this event created a new delta, strongly affected the lake water quality and modified the water discharge and sediment load downstream the lake. The results advocate for an increased research effort to better support initiatives to preserve these valuable wetland ecosystems
The copper ionophore disulfiram improves mitochondrial function in various yeast and human cellular models of mitochondrial diseases
No full textInternational audienceAbstract The copper ionophore disulfiram (DSF) is commonly used to treat chronic alcoholism and has potential anti-cancer activity. Using a yeast-based screening assay of FDA-approved compounds, DSF was herein identified for its ability to improve oxidative phosphorylation-dependent growth of various yeast models of mitochondrial diseases caused by a wide range of defects in ATP synthase, complexes III and IV, cardiolipin remodeling, maintenance and translation of the mitochondrial genome. This compound also showed beneficial effects in cells derived from patients suffering from Barth or MELAS syndromes, two mitochondrial diseases associated respectively with a lack in cardiolipin remodeling and protein synthesis inside the organelle. We provide evidence that the rescuing activity of DSF results from its ability to transport copper ions across biological membranes. Indeed, other copper ionophores (pyrithione and elesclomol) and supplementation of the growth media with copper ions had also beneficial effects in yeast and human cells with dysfunctional mitochondria. Our data suggest that the copper-dependent rescuing activity in these cells results from a better capacity to assemble cytochrome c oxidase. Altogether, our findings hold promise for the development of new therapeutic strategies for mitochondrial disorders
How motivation influence physical activity engagement among active older adults: The contribution of identity and habit
No full textInternational audienceObjective: Using a moderated mediation model, the present study investigated whether the mediation of physical activity (PA) habit into PA level via PA identity depends on the levels of both autonomous and controlled motivation among active older adults.Method: A one-month prospective study was conducted among 220 French physically active older adults. They were administrated measures of sociodemographic variables, self-determination, habit, and identity at baseline as well as PA level one month later.Results: PA identity partially mediated the positive relationship between PA habit and PA level. In addition, moderated mediation analysis revealed that PA identity and the interaction between habit and motivation were positively and significantly associated with PA level. More precisely, PA habit was related to PA level only for older adults with both high level of controlled motivation and moderated or high level of autonomous motivation. Conclusion:The results highlighted the crucial role of PA identity in the prediction of PA level among physically active older adults. They also revealed the importance to consider various types of motivations in the maintenance of PA.</div
