Sciences De Research Articles

Randomised controlled trial on the effect of social support on disease control, mental health and health-related quality of life in people with diabetes from Côte d’Ivoire: the SoDDiCo study protocol

IntroductionDiabetes mellitus (DM) and its severe complications contribute significantly to disability and, hence, burden of disease. Poor mental health, a frequent DM consequence, may hinder successful diabetes control in low-income...

Educational sciences in France. History and current events

French educational sciences stem from a long history that began in the late 19th century when Republican education policy needed scientific support. At that time they use the expression “Science of Education” (Science de l’éducation: singular in French). It soon became clear that this reference to an unique science of education was not appropriate and the discipline disappeared from universities for a long time until they were recreated as educational sciences (Sciences de l’éducation: plural in French) in 1967. The article examines the content of these educational sciences, now challenged by neuroeducation, regarded as a new “true and unique” scientific approach to education. This essay questions the place of pedagogy in “educational sciences”, on the one hand, and the heterogeneity and epistemological value of this new discipline, its numerous and diverse contributions to the knowledge of educational phenomena, on the other. An agreement with UNESCO’s conception of pluralistic and multi-stakeholder educational research is also expressed here.

GEOSCOPE Network: 40 Yr of Global Broadband Seismic Data

Abstract The GEOSCOPE observatory (Institut de physique du globe de Paris [IPGP] and École et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre de Strasbourg, 1982) provides more than four decades of high-quality continuous broadband data to the scientific community. Started in 1982 with only two stations, the network has grown over the years thanks to numerous international partnerships. At present, 34 stations operate in 18 countries across all continents and on islands throughout the oceans, filling important gaps in global Earth coverage. Most of the first installed stations are still running today, allowing for long-term observations, and new sites are being prospected to further improve global coverage. Over the years, GEOSCOPE has contributed to defining today’s global seismology standards (data format, data quality level, instrumentation requirements), being the French contribution to the international effort for global seismic observations. The stations are instrumented with the best quality seismometers (from the very first STS-1 in the early 80s to the last STS-6A and Trillium T360 today) and digitizers (Q330HR and Centaur) to record with high fidelity the ground motions generated by all types of seismic sources. Real-time data are sent to the tsunami warning centers and both validated and real-time data are available at the IPGP, Epos-France and Earthscope data centers. The quality of GEOSCOPE data and metadata is ensured by daily and yearly validation that enables issue detection and mitigation. GEOSCOPE, in collaboration with the other global networks, has played and continues to play a crucial role in the study of Earth’s structure and global dynamics and the characterization of all types of seismic sources.

Zacharijus Niemčevskis – Vilniaus universtiteto aukštosios matematikos profesorius (1797–1820)

Zacharij Niemcevski (1766–1820) was a professor of higher mathematics at the Vilnius university in the period from 1797 until 1820. He was a member correspondent of Societe Academique des sciences and Academie Imperial des Sciences de Turin. Niemcevski tought differential and integral calculus by the tracktate of S.F. Lacroix, analytic geomety – by J.B. Biot, and mechanics – by L.B. Francoeur. His investigations on the Lithuanian language was published in the tractate of K. Malte Brun.

Humanitarian Numbers in the Russian–Ukrainian War

In this interview, Irina Mützelburg discusses the production and spreading of humanitarian numbers in the on-going Russian–Ukrainian war since February 2022. She traces the emergence of the announced number of Ukrainian refugees several months before the beginning of the full-scale invasion and analyses the ways in which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) compile statistics respectively on Ukrainian refugees abroad and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Numbers are produced to be coherent and higher, to illustrate the need for attention and funding. Furthermore, the debated issue of Ukrainians who (were) moved to Russia since the invasion is reviewed, discussing not only the numbers, but also the ways the Ukrainian and the Russian states frame the ways and reasons for which Ukrainians came to Russia. Finally, the interview covers the term ‘evacuee’ and ‘evacuation’ that both Russian and Ukrainian politicians and media use in unusual ways and which have been taken up by international media outlets. Irina Mützelburg is a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin and a co-coordinator of the German-French ANR-DFG project, Limspaces, researching everyday life in Moldova and Ukraine. Currently she studies the educational situation of displaced pupils from Ukraine in Germany. She holds a PhD from Sciences Po Paris and has published on Ukraine, migration policies, norm transfer and public policy analysis in the Journal of Intercultural Studies, European Journal of Migration, Revue française de science politique, Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest, Revue Gouvernance and Trajectoires. Her book Transferring Asylum Norms to EU Neighbours: Multi-Scalar Policies and Practices in Ukraine has been published with Palgrave Macmillan (London) in 2022.

New insects (Paoliida, Dictyoptera) from the Carboniferous outcrop of Tante Victoire in Var, France

We introduce a novel paoliid, Carbonidelia gallica gen. et sp. nov., which may share close affinities with the ‘ideliid’ genus Sojanidelia Storozhenko, 1992. This new taxon is described from Gzhelian strata exposed at Tante Victoire in Var, France. Additionally, we present a remarkably well-preserved forewing from the same outcrop belonging to the phyloblattid genus and species Anthracoblattina ensifer cf. ‘variety desguini’. This species was previously known from the Gzhelian of Commentry in Allier, France. Therefore, this finding strengthens the Gzhelian age derived from the study of the palaeoflora at this outcrop. In this study, we also briefly delve into the inter- and intraspecific variability in the forewing venation of the ‘Anthracoblattina gigantea-ensifera group’. Furthermore, we challenge the classification of two Mesozoic roachoids, Sobytie tungusicum Vršanský, 2010 and Pozabudnutie antiquorum Hinkelman and Vršanský, 2022, which, in our view, do not belong to the Phyloblattidae family. Instead, they should be regarded as Dictyoptera of uncertain family affinities. A comprehensive revision of these species will be necessary to establish their precise taxonomic positions. André Nel [ anel@mnhn.fr ], Romain Garrouste [ romain.garrouste@mnhn.fr ], Corentin Jouault [ jouaultc0@gmail.com ], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP50, 45 rue Buffon 75005, Paris, France; Univ. Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118, F-35000, Rennes, France; Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (UMR 5554), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, F-34095 Montpellier, France.

Engaging in politics through youth transitions

ABSTRACT This article explores the potential of youth transitions to explain and contextualize young people’s engagements with politics. It starts with the discussion of the alleged detachment between young people and politics, recently challenged by research on alternative engagements and Do It Ourselves (DIO) politics (Pickard, Sarah. 2019. Politics, Protest and Young People. Political Participation and Dissent in the 21 Century Britain. London: Palgrave MacMillan. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-57788-7). Then follows the discussion on the contributions which different currents on youth research have brought to the role of youth transitions in young people’s engagements with politics. Youth transitions are afterwards defined as the strategic setting where intensive and plural engagements with politics may emerge if certain conditions are met. This is the context where a sense of place in the structural spectrum of inequality starts to develop and the correspondent agentic response blossoms, fostered by crucial encounters with significant others and the occurrence of critical moments. This account is brought by a qualitative approach based on the biographical records of a group of intensely mobilized young people, which retraces the individual processes of engagement made through transitions during education and from education to work, highlighting the contribution that transitional features may bring to the development of successful ‘militant careers’ (Filieulle, Olivier, Lilian Mathieu, and Cécile Péchu. 2009. Dictionnaire des Mouvements Sociaux. Presses de Sciences Po. doi:10.3917/scpo.filli.2009.01) and to incorporate contemporary young people’s subjectivities in the political process.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and its association with HIV, HCV, HBV, HTLV-1&2 and syphilis among men who have sex with men in Burkina Faso.

This study aimed to estimate herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence and its association with HIV, HBV, HCV, HTLV-1&2 and syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa. We screened MSM sera for HSV-2 antibodies. A total of 329 sera were collected from an HIV and syphilis behavioral and biological cross-sectional survey conducted among MSM in Ouagadougou from January to April 2013. Serum samples were tested using Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) for the detection of IgG antibodies to HSV-2. Also, antibodies to HTLV-1&2, HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies were screened by ELISA. Laboratory assays were performed according to manufacturers' instructions at the Biomedical Research Laboratory at the "Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante" (IRSS) in Burkina Faso. The seroprevalence of HSV-2 infection among MSM was 14.3%(95% CI: 10.6-18.1), with disparities according to age and occupation. HSV-2 seroprevalence was high among MSM who were seropositive for HIV (40% versus 13.9%), for syphilis (42.9% versus 13.3%), for HCV (32.5% versus 11.7%) and for HTLV-1&2 (38.5% versus 12.9%) compared to people seronegative for these pathogens. Multivariate analysis showed that HIV-positive (ORa​=​5.34, p​=​0.027), anti-HCV-positive (ORa​=​4.44, p​=​0.001), and HTLV-1&2 positive (aOR​=​4.11, p​=​0.046) were associated with HSV-2 infection among MSM. However, no significant statistical association between HSV-2 and syphilis was found. HSV-2 seroprevalence among MSM in Burkina Faso is relatively high. Positive associations between sexual transmitted infections including HIV with HSV-2 suggest that HSV-2 infection's prevention should be strengthened through HIV transmission control programs.

Issue Information

No abstract is available for this article.

Situation analysis of urogenital bilharzia in West Africa (2010-2021) and control strategies and prospects: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Schistosomes are parasitic diseases caused by flatworms (schistosomes or bilharzia), transmitted in the urine or in the faeces, and involving intermediate hosts (freshwater molluscs). Their recrudescence in endemic areas is no longer in question and remains a crucial public health problem in the world in general and in West Africa in particular. In order to eradicate bilharzia, many control strategies and policies have been implemented on both sides. The objective of this systematic literature review is to synthesize the existing evidence on control strategies implemented by West African countries. To achieve this, data were collected from PubMed, Direct Science, Web of Sciences, Google Scholar, PloS and Banque de Données de Santé Publique (BDSP), using appropriate keywords. Academic articles and theses written in French or English that evaluated the analysis of a bilharzia situation in West Africa were selected. Sixteen scientific papers were selected for the study, ten of which were used for a meta-analysis. The systematic review revealed that bilharzia is still an endemic disease in West Africa. Clearly, it continues to wreak havoc on the population, especially among school children. Rural areas are the most affected by the disease. Strategies to control bilharzia are based on preventive and curative treatment of the infection with chemotherapy and vector control of soil molluscs (host and vector of bilharzia eggs). Praziquantel is the main known antibilharzian. Also, the species most frequently found in analyses are S. haematobiumand S. mansonii. This review has allowed to evaluate the control strategies carried out and to deduce the strengths and weaknesses, in order to define the perspectives for the efficiency of the anti-bilharzia control for the eradication of bilharzia in the endemic zones of West Africa.

An Objective Structured Laboratory Animal Science Examination (OSLASE) to ensure researchers' professional competence in laboratory animal science.

The evaluation of the competence of personnel working with laboratory animals is currently a challenge. Directive 2010/63/EU establishes that staff must have demonstrated competence before they perform unsupervised work with living animals. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research into education and training in laboratory animal science, and the establishment of assessment strategies to confirm researchers' competence remains largely unaddressed.In this study, we analysed the implementation of a practical assessment strategy over three consecutive years (2018-2021) using the Objective Structured Laboratory Animal Science Exam (OSLASE) developed previously by us to assess professional competence. The interrater reliability (IRR) was determined based on the assessors' rating of candidates' performance at different OSLASE stations using weighted kappa (Kw) and percentage of agreement. Focus group interviews were conducted to access trainees' acceptability regarding the OSLASE.There was a moderate-to-good Kw for the majority of the scales' items (0.79 ± 0.20 ≤ Kw ≥ 0.45 ± 0.13). The percentages of agreement were also acceptable (≥75%) for all scale items but one. Trainees reported that the OSLASE had a positive impact on their engagement during practical training, and that it clarified the standards established for their performance and the skills that required improvement. These preliminary results illustrate how assessment strategies, such as the OSLASE, can be implemented in a manner that is useful for both assessors and trainees.Examen structuré objectif de science animale de laboratoire (OSASSE) pour assurer la compétence professionnelle des chercheurs en SAL.

A Origem das Feiras de Ciências

Resenha de Science Education and Citizenship: Fairs, Clubs, and Talent Searches for American Youth, livro de autoria de Sevan G. Terzian.

Determination of Quebec's Quarterly Real GDP and Analysis of the Business Cycle, 1948–1980

This study aims to consolidate the economic history of Quebec over the period from 1948 to 2019 with the emphasis on the period 1948–1980 for which we estimated the quarterly GDP for the province. Unlike previous economic studies relating to this period, we identify the chronology of the economic cycle of Quebec by estimating the real quarterly GDP by using the method of Ginsburgh (Appl Stat 22(3):368–374, 1973) as modified by De Carufel and Lizotte (in: Paper presented at Congrès de la Société canadienne de Science Économique, Montréal, 1982). Our analysis of the duration and intensity of recessions confirms the presence of regional cycles in Canada. Il shows also that the business cycle of Quebec is more strongly correlated with the US cycle than with the cycle in the rest of Canada for the period prior to 1980 and more correlated to the cycle of the rest of Canada onwards. We provide insights on why this trend changed over time.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Health Care Workers in the Management of Peptic Ulcer at the Paul VI and the Bogodogo District Hospitals, in Burkina Faso

Background: In 2015, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) was cause of 52.3% and 17% of digestive bleeding and death in respectively among in-hospital patients at the gastroenterology units of the main hospital in Ouagadougou. We aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the health care workers in the management of PUD.Subjects dan Method: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a prospective data collection implemented at the Paul VI and the Bogodogo District Hospitals in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) from December 15, 2015 to January 25, 2016. A questionnaire was administered to 134 health care workers including medical doctors, nurses and midwives.Results: The mean age was 33 years (Mean= 33.6; SD= 5.84). Females represented 61.9%. Knowledge levels were good to excellent for general knowledge, symptoms and treatment of PUD. Depending on the agent's qualification, knowledge levels were excellent in all areas for two-thirds to three-quarters of the general practitioners, except for knowledge of additional investigation analyses, where only 47.8% had an excellent knowledge. Depending on the level of education, the level of knowledge was at least good for more than 50% of the agents except for the knowledge of additional investigation analyses where only 45.2 % of the agents of secondary school level had a good knowledge. The main attitudes consisted in managing the patients in emergency and out of an emergency context in 45.8% and 42.2% of the cases, respectively. Regarding the practices, 51.5% of the HCWs systematically requested investigation analyses before starting an aetiological therapy.Conclusion: The PUD knowledge ranks from good to excellent. However, the frequent prescription of symptomatic treatments could be the cause of many complications. The promotion of continuous medical education is a good mitigation plan to resolve the issues of knowledge and competence regarding the PUD. Keywords: attitude, knowledge, peptic ulcer disease, practice Correspondence:Eric Nagaonlé Somé. Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS)/CNRST 10 BP 250 Ouagadougou 10 Burkina Faso. Email: eric.some@gmail.com. Mobile phone: +22670751333.

Adherence of the Spanish National Plan of Science and Innovation to open access mandates

As one of the fundamental pillars of open science (De Filippo & Mañana Rodríguez, 2020; De Filippo, Silva & Borges, 2019), open access (OA) is the central topic of the European Commission’s Open Science Policy Platform (Mendez et al., 2020) and the main goal of the CoalitionS initiative for open publication of publicly funded research. The Spanish Science, Technology, and Innovation Act (BOE, 2011) requires that publicly funded research is published in OA, but with so many exceptions to the rule it makes OA rather a choice than a stipulation. Unfortunately, the draft of the new bill has retained the same formulation.The Spanish National Plan of Science and Innovation (SNP) is Spain’s leading research funding instrument. This paper analyses publications derived from the projects funded by the SNP in the period 2013–2019 and their compliance with the OA recommendations. Projects obtained after 2019 are not included as most of them do not have published results. We investigate the presence of OA by area, how OA influenced the citation impact of the publications, and how did their inclusion in journals by journal quartile. These are the two most common measures of the quality of the article and a requisite for academic advancement in Spain.OA rates noticeably vary between research areas and types of institutions. OA rates highly (with (over 60% of articles) in life sciences, biomedicine, physical sciences, and technology whereas in arts, humanities, and social sciences it is below 50%. As for the type of institution, regional research, government and technology centres and hospitals have over 70% of their academic production published in OA, whereas this decreases to 30% for private foundations. Surprisingly, the university rate is below 60%. Overall, OA has experienced a steady growth over the past years, which is reflected in a 9% increase in the studied period. This is an encouraging result compared to earlier reports (Borrego, 2016). Future research should look more closely into the differences between research areas and institution to inform policies and regulations on open access at universities and research institutions.Our major finding is that the relationship between OA and citation count is positive (Mann-Whitney U test and GLM regression; p<0.01) controlling for research area, number of authors, presence in Q1, international collaboration, reference count, and other article measures such as paper and abstract length. This result is in line with previous reports of citation advantages of OA publications (Bautista et al., 2020; Piwowar et al., 2018). However, being published in a Q1 has a significant negative relationship with OA. Although preliminary, these results show that publishing in OA might be positive for the article impact in terms of citations but punitive in terms of academic advancement if evaluation agencies and public policies have not adapted to the new OS paradigm. Further research might explore the effects on individual authors, who might be forced to publish in high-impact open journals. More importantly, OA publication might be punitive if only a few high-impact OA journals are available.

Comprehensive analysis of superconducting gravimeter data, GPS, and hydrology modelling in support of lunar laser ranging at Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico

SUMMARYThe Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) project began in 2006 using a 3.5 m telescope on a high peak in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. It has been one of the best performing (in terms of returned photons per viewing period and range uncertainty) of a handful of similar sites worldwide. The purpose of installing a superconducting gravimeter (SG) in 2009 was to improve the determination of local deformation, directly affecting the telescope motions, as part of an effort to reduce the error in lunar distance to the mm level. We have now accumulated 10 yr of gravity measurements, together with data from a nearby permanent GPS Plate Boundary Observatory (P027) site. This paper describes the traditional analysis of SG data to produce a local tidal model and to determine a number of necessary dynamic corrections that are specific to the site, of which local atmospheric and hydrology attraction and loading are the most important. Loading corrections are available through the Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST) website as part of the International Earth Rotation Service, and we consider 12 different EOST loading series for global atmosphere and hydrology loading and attraction. Nonetheless, local hydrology can only be addressed at the required level of detail using local models determined directly from the gravity data. We devote a major portion of the paper to the development of several water storage and conceptual tank models that succeed in reducing the large seasonal variance of the SG residuals by more than 90 per cent. Yet there remain episodes in the corrected residuals that depart by up to 4 $\mu {\rm{Gal}}\,$ from the hydrological models, and the mean error of our fit remains between 1.5–2.0 $\mu {\rm{Gal}}\,$ for our two data sets, 2009–2012 and 2013–2018 respectively. Unfortunately the vertical GPS data relies on the UNAVCO processing, and has typically poor vertical accuracy. We find the correlation between the GPS and gravity residuals to be correspondingly weak, and then discuss briefly the incorporation of the displacement and gravity data into the Planetary Ephemeris Program for solving for the lunar distance.

Halidou Tinto—leading top-quality research in malaria in Burkina Faso

As a teenager growing up in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in the 1980s, Halidou Tinto dreamed of becoming a musician. He even recorded a few songs in the hope of getting music industry support to make an album. “I was quite invested in this track until my father vetoed my musical career”, he recalls. “I wasn’t happy” about it at the time, he admits, “but at the end of the day, it wasn’t so bad as it forced me to invest more energy in my schooling”. The redirection and hard work paid off. Today, Tinto is the Regional Director of the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Nanoro, Burkina Faso.

Keystone Malaria Symposium 2022: a vibrant discussion of progress made and challenges ahead from drug discovery to treatment

Keystone Malaria Symposium 2022: a vibrant discussion of progress made and challenges ahead from drug discovery to treatment

Issue Information

No abstract is available for this article.

Stowing parachutes, strengthening science

Stowing parachutes, strengthening science