Objective The objective of our study was to assess and compare the performance of five LLMs on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in cardiology. Materials and methods This was a comparative study conducted in the cardiology department of the Bogodogo University Hospital, Ouagadougou, involving 83 MCQs derived from the 2020 French national cardiology curriculum. The questions were submitted to ChatGPT-4, Claude, Gemini, Mistral, and Perplexity. Performance was evaluated based on overall and thematic accuracy, as well as the number of discordances. Agreement between the LLMs was assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results Claude achieved the highest overall accuracy (78.31%), followed by ChatGPT-4 and Gemini (75.90%), then Mistral (72.29%) and Perplexity (68.67%). Each LLM demonstrated a distinct performance profile by topic, with Claude excelling in heart failure (100%) and arr...

Malaria remains a major public health challenge in Benin, particularly among children under five years of age. Despite the wide deployment of vector control measures the disease burden remains high. Based on modeling approach, this study evaluates the potential impact and effectiveness of the introduction of the RTS, S/ASO1 malaria vaccine on the reduction of malaria-related morbidity in the province of Couffo.

Background: The soybean crop plays a crucial role in Burkina Faso’s agricultural sector and contributes significantly to food security and nutrition. The study aimed to evaluate the nutritional composition and antioxidant potential of soybean cultivated in Burkina Faso. Methods: A total of 40 soybean varieties cultivated in 2022 at two sites in Burkina Faso were analyzed using standard methods for six parameters, including total phenolic, total flavonoid, total protein, soluble sugars, phytic acid, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Total phenolic ranged from 1.769 to 2.923 µg GAE/100 mg, total flavonoid from 0.008 to 0.031 µg QE/100 mg, total protein from 1.526 to 2.021 mg/100 mg, soluble sugar from 107.6 to 228.1 µg GE/100 mg and phytic acid concentration from 130.9 to 378.0 µg APE/100 mg. Antioxidant activity varied from 0.786 to 2.28...

Improved variety seeds play an important role in increasing agricultural productivity and production. Unfortunately, one of the major concerns of all those involved in agricultural policy in Burkina Faso is the difficulty of marketing this basic input. This study aims to highlight the opportunities and constraints of marketing certified seed of improved varieties. Semi-structured surveys were conducted among 70 people from three categories of actors: seed producers, seed distributors and food producers, based on random sampling. The results of the surveys revealed the existence of a potential market made up of farmers with areas sown with traditional seeds and a large, little-exploited marketing channel. However, most of the seed produced by seed multipliers and seed companies is purchased by the government and its partners. Marketing difficulties are linked to the high cost of seed, t...

Background: Tacca leontopetaloides is a wild food geophyte used by local communities as famine food, with significant contribution to people subsistence during food crisis events. Local ecological knowledge and use of the species are poorly documented leading to knowledge loss and underutilization of the species. This study explored local knowledge on the species, including ecology, traditional processing technique, use level, barriers to its valuation, and domestication perspective. Methods: A stratified sampling design based on climatic zones and people ethnicity was adopted for ethnobotanical investigations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from October to December 2022, with 224 local people from five ethnic groups residing in two contrasting climate zones in Burkina Faso. The main information collected included people’s socio-cultural traits, use knowledge and ecology of t...

Monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon-based modules are commonly used in Burkina Faso, particularly in the city of Koudougou, to generate electricity. However, climatic parameters affect the performance of these modules. It is therefore necessary to conduct a comparative study between polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon-based photovoltaic solar modules. The objective of this work is therefore to determine the module best suited to the city of Koudougou's climatic context. In this study, climatic parameters such as sunshine and temperature were considered. Thus, based on the mathematical model of a photovoltaic module, a simulation was carried out in the MATLAB/Simulink environment an experimental study of the two types of modules was conducted. The results obtained after the simulations and experiments were compared. Analysis of the results for the two module technologies s...

Self-immolative systems first emerged in prodrug chemistry in the 1980s. Since then, several types of self-immolative systems have been developed. Despite their structural differences, all self-immolative systems operate on the same principle: an intramolecular reaction cascade triggered by a specific stimulus, ultimately leading to the release of a molecule of interest. Self-immolative systems offer the possibility of delivering molecules safely, ensuring their specific, residue-free release at a defined location. Consequently, they have been applied in various fields, including targeted drug delivery, detection of protein biomarkers and small endogenous molecules, signal amplification, and the engineering of nanomedicines. Self-immolative systems therefore represent a versatile platform for chemical engineering in biomedical sciences.

Background Vector control strategies have predominantly relied on the use of synthetic chemicals, leading to the widespread of resistance among malaria vector populations. This growing resistance has prompted increased interest in alternative control methods, particularly those based on plant-derived essential oils (EOs). The present study investigates the insecticidal efficacy of five essential oils against field populations of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato from Burkina Faso. The objective was also to assess the current distribution and frequency of resistance-conferring mutations within these mosquito populations. Methods Essential oils were extracted from Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon nardus, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Lippia multiflora, and Ocimum americanum plants by hydrodistillation, and their chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectro...

Chilo zacconius is one of the main rice stem borers in Burkina Faso. A study was conducted on its biology under controlled conditions of 25.46 ±1 °C temperature, 75.94 ±4% relative humidity, and a 12-hour photoperiod. To do this, immature populations of the insect were sampled in rice fields at Bama, western Burkina Faso for mass rearing of the insect pest in the lab. Tavakilian food substrate was used to feed C. zacconius larvae till chrysalid stage, while adults were fed with sugar water. Results showed that the insect had an average life cycle of 65.57±3.12 days, with egg incubation averaging 5.44±0.14 days. The larval phase was the longest one in the insect’s cycle, with an average duration of 48.71±2.46 days, and comprised 7 larval instars. The average lifespan of pupae was 8.1±0.33 days. Average fecundity ranged from 80 to 309 eggs. The average fertility of the insect was 34±6...

Background Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of Dengue fever in Burkina Faso, breeds in a variety of domestic and peri-domestic water holding containers. The influence of these water containers on the mosquitoes’ ability to survive exposure to chemical insecticides remains unclear. This study investigated the insecticide susceptibility profile of Aedes aegypti in relation to larval habitat types in three districts of Ouagadougou. Methods Adult females reared from larvae collected in “domestic containers” and “car tires” were exposed separately to papers impregnated with deltamethrin, pirimiphos-methyl, and bendiocarb to determine their susceptibility profiles. A subsample of mosquitoes per locality and container type was screened for the F1534C, V1016I and V410L kdr mutations involved in pyrethroid resistance. Results Mosquito population from the three localities showed high resistan...