This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a non-governmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consists of four modules: hygiene, problem solving, women's health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves. The Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of Female Genital Cutting of GTZ funded implementation of the program in 90 villages in Kolda Region, and the Population Council's Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program, with funding from USAID, used this opportunity to evaluate the program in 20 villages.All women and men participating in the education program were interviewed before and after the intervention, and again two years later, to measure women's and men's awareness, attitudes and behavior concerning reproductive health (RH) and female genital cutting (FGC). A group of women and men from 20 similar villages that did not receive the education program were interviewed at the same time to serve as a comparison group. To test the impact of the program on community members' willingness to abandon FGC, the proportion of respondents' daughters aged 0 to 10 years whose parents reported they had been cut was used as the primary outcome indicator.The education program significantly increased the awareness of women and men about human rights, gender-based violence, FGC and reproductive health, but awareness of human rights, violence and FGC also increased in the comparison site, although to a lesser extent. The consequences of FGC were better known, as were issues concerning contraception, pregnancy surveillance and child survival. In general, women's knowledge improved more than men's, except for STI/HIV. Diffusion of information from the education program within villages worked well, as other women and men living in the intervention villages also increased their knowledge on most indicators. For all indicators, apart from those concerning violence, the experimental group improved significantly more than the comparison group.Attitudes improved significantly in the experimental group, with women and men denouncing discrimination, violence and FGC. Attitudes towards FGC also improved significantly in the comparison group, but to a lesser extent than in the experimental group. There was a dramatic decrease in the approval of FGC, although a small proportion of women (16%) participating in the program did not change their attitude. Regret for having cut their daughters increased and fewer women were willing to cut their daughters in the future. Women perceived men's attitudes towards contraception as improving. However, the intervention group showed higher levels of positive attitudes than the comparison group.There also appears to have been a positive improvement in behavior in terms of FGC and some aspects of reproductive health. The preval...

This study compared the hemorheological responses of a group of sickle cell trait (SCT) carriers with those of a control (Cont) group in response to 40 min of submaximal exercise (exercise intensity, 55% aerobic peak power) performed in two conditions: one with water offered ad libitum, i.e., the hydration (Hyd) condition, and one without water, i.e., the dehydration (Dehyd) condition. Blood and plasma viscosities, as well as red blood cell rigidity, were determined at rest, at the end of exercise, and at 2 h recovery with a cone plate viscometer at high shear rate and 37 degrees C. The SCT and Cont groups lost 1 +/- 0.7 and 1.6 +/- 0.6 kg of body weight, respectively, in the Dehyd condition, indicating a significant effect of water deprivation compared with the Hyd condition, in which body weight remained unchanged. Plasma viscosity increased with exercise and returned to baseline during recovery independently of the group and condition. As previously demonstrated, resting blood viscosity was greater in the SCT carriers than in the Cont group. Blood viscosity increased by the end of exercise and returned to baseline at 2 h recovery in the Cont group in both conditions. The blood viscosity of SCT carriers did not change in response to exercise in the Dehyd condition and remained elevated at 2 h recovery. This extended hyperviscosity, in association with other biological changes induced by exercise, could be considered as a risk factor for exercise-related events in SCT carriers, similar to vasoocclusive crises, notably during the recovery. In contrast, the Hyd condition normalized the hyperviscosity and red blood cell rigidity of the SCT carriers, with blood viscosity values reaching the same lower values as those found in the Cont group during the recovery. Adequate hydration of SCT carriers should be strongly promoted to reduce the clinical risk associated with potential hyperviscosity complications.

Abstract:Much current debate focuses on the role of growth in alleviating poverty. However, the majority of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models used in poverty and inequality analysis are static in nature. The inability of this kind of model to account for growth (accumulation) effects makes them inadequate for long run analysis of the poverty and inequality impacts of economic policies. They exclude accumulation effects and do not allow the study of the transition path of the economy where short run policy impacts are likely to be different from those of the long run. To overcome this limitation we use a sequential dynamic CGE microsimulation model that takes into account accumulation effects and makes it possible to study poverty and inequality through time. Changes in poverty are then decomposed into growth and distribution components in order to examine whether de-protection and factor accumulation are pro-poor or not.The model is applied to Senegalese data using a 1996 social accounting matrix and a 1995 survey of 3278 households. The main findings of this study are that trade liberalisation induces small increases in poverty and inequality in the short run as well as contractions in the initially protected agriculture and industrial sectors. In the long run, it enhances capital accumulation, particularly in the service and industrial sectors, and brings substantial decreases in poverty. However, a decomposition of poverty changes shows that income distribution worsens, with greater gains among urban dwellers and the non-poor.

The present study compared the changes in blood viscosity, hydration status, body temperature and heart rate between a group of sickle cell trait (SCT) carriers and a control (Cont) group before and after a soccer game performed in two conditions: one with water offered ad libitum (hydration condition; Hyd) and the other one without water (dehydration condition; Dehyd). Blood viscosity and haematocrit per blood viscosity ratio (HVR; an index of red blood cell oxygen transport effectiveness) were measured before and at the end of each game. Resting blood viscosity was greater in the SCT carriers than in the Cont group. The increase of blood viscosity over baseline at the end of the game in the Cont group was similar in the two conditions. In contrast, the change in blood viscosity occurring in SCT carriers during soccer games was dependant on the experimental condition: (1) in Dehyd condition, blood viscosity rose over baseline; (2) in Hyd condition, blood viscosity decreased below resting level reaching Cont values. The Cont group had higher HVR than SCT carriers at rest. HVR remained unchanged in the Cont group at the end of the games, whatever the experimental condition. Although HVR of SCT carriers decreased below baseline at the end of the game performed in Dehyd condition, it increased over resting level in Hyd condition reaching the values of the Cont group. Our study demonstrated that ad libitum hydration in exercising SCT carriers normalises the blood hyperviscosity.

No abstract

Electrical stimulation of calf muscle with the Veinoplus device results in a significant increase of arterial inflow without measurable muscle ischemia or pain. Potential use of this device as an adjuvant treatment to improve walking capacity in PAD patients remains to be evaluated.

No abstract

Obesity is currently viewed as a serious worldwide public health issue. In this survey, we aim to determine its prevalence among schoolchildren and teenagers in Dakar. The sample of our survey consisted of 2,356 students aged 11-17, including 1,110 boys and 1,246 girls. For each of them, we have calculated their body mass index. Based on the higher value of the norm of that index, referred to the 97th percentile of Rolland-Cachera MF's curves, we have identified obese students according to their age and sex. The prevalence of obesity within our sample is 9.34%, with 2.88% for boys and 6.46% for girls. It is at its peak in the age of 11, though there is no significance (p > 0.05) in its decrease (from age 12 to 17). There are significantly (p < 0.05) more obese students in "catholic private" schools than in "public" schools where schooling is free. Child and teenage obesity is a reality in Dakar schools. Consequently, it is advisable to determine its nationwide prevalence to take on its prevention as well as its cure.