7 research outputs found
Empowering sickle cell disease care: the rise of TechnoRehabLab in Sub-Saharan Africa for enhanced patient's perspectives
No full textSickle-cell Disease (SCD) is a major public health problem in Africa, and there are significant obstacles to its comprehensive management, particularly in terms of access to appropriate healthcare. This calls for inventive approaches to improve patients' prospects. Among the major challenges to be met are the primary and secondary prevention of certain serious complications associated with the disease, such as neurocognitive, motor and respiratory functional disorders. This perspective argues for the rapid creation of specific, cost-effective, technology-supported rehabilitation centres to advance SCD care, identify patients at high risk of stroke and implement tailored rehabilitation strategies. The TechnoRehabLab in Lubumbashi illustrates this shift in thinking by using cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality (VR), serious games and mobile health to create a comprehensive and easily accessible rehabilitation framework. Diagnostic tools used to perform functional assessment can be used to identify cognitive, balance and walking deficits respectively. Transcranial Doppler enables early detection of sickle cell cerebral vasculopathy, making it possible to provide early and appropriate treatment. VR technology and serious games enable effective rehabilitation and cognitive stimulation, which is particularly advantageous for remote or community-based rehabilitation. In the context of African countries where there is a glaring disparity in access to digital resources, the TechnoRehabLab serves as a tangible example, demonstrating the flexibility and accessibility of technology-assisted rehabilitation. This perspective is an urgent call to governments, non-governmental organisations and the international community to allocate resources to the replication and expansion of similar facilities across Africa.The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the VLIR-UOS through the Short Initiative Program (328-SI2022-77969)
Biomass and Carbon of Trees and Shrubs in the Commune of Mbunya in the City of Bunia, Ituri Province, DRC
No full textThe aim of this study of trees in the MBUNYA commune is to assess the diversity of trees and their role in improving the urban environment. The itinerant survey method was used to identify trees along 19 avenues. During the survey, the DBH and height of trees with DBH ? 10 cm were recorded. We then assessed the biomass of the individuals using generic allometric equations for urban trees. The analyses revealed 1,689 individuals, divided into 36 species and 21 families. The average above-ground biomass for the neighbourhoods studied was 1366.14±710.106 (CV: 51.98%), corresponding to an average of 683.075 ± 355.053 kg of sequestered carbon. The total above-ground biomass of the areas surveyed amounts to 5464.6 kg of dry matter, which corresponds to a sequestered carbon stock of 2732.3 kg, with a CO2 equivalent of 10119.63 kg. The values of these parameters vary from one neighbourhood to another and from one avenue to another
Inventory of Urban Trees in the City of Bunia, Case of the Mudzipela District, Ituri Province, DRC
No full textThe choice of this investigation was motivated by the fact that knowledge of urban forests seems to be of little interest to researchers, given its absence in the local literature. The general objective of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the floristic diversity of the Mudzi-pela district. The meth
odological approach adopted made it possible to count and identify the trees planted along 13 avenues. After analysing the data collected in the area, we arrived at the following results: 361 trees, divided into 36 species and 30 families along the main avenues in the district. The average above-ground biomass for the avenues studied was 0.5730±0.0907 (CV: 15.82%), corresponding to an average of 0.28461 ± 0.045341 kg of sequestered carbon. This testifies to the compensatory role of the tree species in the Mudzi-pela district in the emissions of carbon dioxide resulting from human activities. The study environment is highly species-diverse, with the Simpsom 1-D index tending towards 1 in all the avenues studied
Edible fungi consumed by the Lamba and Bemba people of Haut-Katanga (DR Congo)
No full textThe objective of this work is to establish a list of species of edible fungi consumed by the Lamba and Bemba people of Haut-Katanga (DR Congo). This study contributes to the valorization of edible fungi gathered in the miombo woodlands of Haut-Katanga. A survey was conducted among Lamba and Bemba people of the peri-urban area of Lubumbashi. The first author conducted structured and semi-structured surveys among 331 people, mostly women aged 30-50.
The results show the existence of thirty-eight edible species belonging to 9 genera and 8 families. The majority is ectomycorrhizal (66%) followed by Termitomyces (21%), while only a few are saprotrophic (13%). Lamba and Bemba people consume all taxa. Twenty-three local names have been recorded in their respective languages, i.e., Kilamba and Kibemba, two closely related Bantu languages belonging to the family’s Eastern clade. The Lamba and Bemba do not consume species of the genera Russula (Russulaceae) and Boletus (Boletaceae). We succeeded in reconstructing the conceptualization underlying the creation of several Kibemba and Kilamba mushroom names. Popular and scientific taxonomies rarely overlap: one and the same species may have different names in Kilamba and Kibemba, while one and the same name in Kilamba and/or Kibemba is often used for several congeneric species. Species considered toxic and not consumed do not have a Kilamba or Kibemba name of their own. Instead, they are collectively referred to by a term fyana fya bene, literally meaning “big (dangerous) children of them” and signaling that local consumers reject those species
Towards an Inclusive Approach to Forest Management: Highlight of the Perception and Participation of Local Communities in the Management of miombo Woodlands around Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, D.R. Congo)
No full textThe misappropriation of sustainable forest programs by local communities and the under-utilization of their knowledge are major impediments to the mitigation of deforestation. Within this context, participation has become a principle used in almost all interventions. It is important to evaluate the practices in this area to ensure better involvement of local communities. This survey examined the perception and participation of local communities in the management of miombo woodlands, based on semi-structured questionnaire surveys involving 945 households in 5 villages in the Lubumbashi rural area. The results reveal that local communities perceive soil fertility loss and deforestation as major environmental challenges in their area. This perception remains largely influenced by their socio-demographic factors such as respondents’ age, seniority in the villages, and level of education. To mitigate deforestation, the rare actions of provincial public services and non-governmental organizations are focused on the sustainable exploitation of miombo woodlands through the development of simple management plans, reforestation, and forest control. These activities are sparse and poorly inclusive of scientific findings and the priorities of local communities. These justify poor community participation, particularly in the actions of provincial public services. For a better appropriation of sustainable forest management plans and to reinforce miombo woodlands’ resilience to anthropogenic pressures, based on these findings, we recommend a concerted and inclusive approach to forest planning
Quantification and Determinants of Carbonization Yield in the Rural Zone of Lubumbashi, DR Congo: Implications for Sustainable Charcoal Production
No full textpeer reviewedAlthough charcoal production is a source of income, it is often associated with deforestation due to the felling of trees in rural areas. In this study, we quantified the yield of carbonization in the rural area of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), and identified its determinants. By analyzing 20 kilns of professional producers in different villages, we found that these charcoal producers build large kilns, which contained an average of 46.9 ± 21.5 m3 of wood from 19 species of Miombo woodland trees, with a predominance of Julbernardia paniculata (Benth.) Troupin, alongside Brachystegia microphylla Harms and B. spiciformis Benth. The average carbonization yield was 10.2%, varying from village to village due to parameters such as kiln size, quantity of wood used, kiln coverage time, wind exposure, substrate type, and tree species. It was noted that the moisture content and dimensions of the wood did not significantly correlate with the quantity of charcoal harvested per kiln. Yield improvement should, therefore, take these parameters into account to enable charcoal producers to increase their income while adopting sustainable production practices
Contemporary Management of Severe Symptomatic Aortic Stenosis
No full textBACKGROUND
There were gaps between guidelines and practice when surgery was the only treatment for aortic stenosis (AS).
OBJECTIVES
This study analyzed the decision to intervene in patients with severe AS in the EORP VHD (EURObservational Research Programme Valvular Heart Disease) II survey.
METHODS
Among 2,152 patients with severe AS, 1,271 patients with high-gradient AS who were symptomatic fulfilled a Class I recommendation for intervention according to the 2012 European Society of Cardiology guidelines; the primary end point was the decision for intervention.
RESULTS
A decision not to intervene was taken in 262 patients (20.6%). In multivariate analysis, the decision not to intervene was associated with older age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.34 per 10-year increase; 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.61; P = 0.002), New York Heart Association functional classes I and II versus III (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.16 to 2.30; P = 0.005), higher age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (OR: 1.09 per 1-point increase; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.17; P = 0.03), and a lower transaortic mean gradient (OR: 0.81 per 10-mm Hg decrease; 95% CI: 0.71 to 0.92; P < 0.001). During the study period, 346 patients (40.2%, median age 84 years, median EuroSCORE II [European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II] 3.1%) underwent transcatheter intervention and 515 (59.8%, median age 69 years, median EuroSCORE II 1.5%) underwent surgery. A decision not to intervene versus intervention was associated with lower 6-month survival (87.4%; 95% CI: 82.0 to 91.3 vs 94.6%; 95% CI: 92.8 to 95.9; P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
A decision not to intervene was taken in 1 in 5 patients with severe symptomatic AS despite a Class I recommendation for intervention and the decision was particularly associated with older age and combined comorbidities. Transcatheter intervention was extensively used in octogenarians
