Publications récentes
Article
Prevalence and molecular characterization of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales in clinical samples from the Boucle du Mouhoun region in Burkina Faso
Hiliassa Coulibaly, Dissinviel Stéphane Kpoda, Hervé Kafando, Oumar Traoré, Alix Bénédicte Kagambega, Alassane Halawen Mohamed, Robin Fréderic, Racha Beyrouthy, Dramane Ouédraogo, Oumarou Soro, Dominique Bayala, Nicolas Barro, Richard Bonnet & René DembéléBackground: Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae represent a major clinical and public health concern due to their ability to confer resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. Data on the molecular epidemiology of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae remain limited in many regions of Burkina Faso, particularly outside the Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. This study aimed to determine the frequency of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and to characterize the ESBL resistance genes circulating in the Boucle du Mouhoun region. Methods: A total of 1,845 clinical samples (urine, pus, blood, and semen) collected from patients attending two major healthcare facilities in Dédougou were processed during the study period. From these samples, 247 non-duplicate Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneum...
Article
Floristic structure and phytosanitary condition of woody species in Razoutenga forest in Burkina Faso
Diakalya Traoré, Yacouba Ouédraogo, Fatimata Sanogo & Safiétou IlboudoThis study analyses the floristic composition and phytosanitary condition of woody species in Razoutenga forest, Burkina Faso. Using 20 randomly placed circular plots (1250 m2 each), research-ers inventoried trees ≥15 cm in diameter across 2.5 ha. The forest hosts 71 woody species from 18 genera and 9 families, with Mimosaceae, Combretaceae and Anacardiaceae being most abundant. Health assessments show 92.95% of trees are defect-free, with no desiccated crowns or dead specimens. Regeneration includes 137 juvenile plants in 20 genera. While species diversity is moderate and locally adapted, signs of anthropogenic degradation are evident. Sustainable management is urgently needed to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystem integrity.
Communication
Problématisation de l'extrémisme violent dans La malice des hommes de Jean Pierre Guingané
Pingdewindé Issiaka TIENDREBEOGOL’Afrique, et en particulier le Burkina Faso, est confrontée ces dernières années aux
problématiques liées au terrorisme et à l’extrémisme violent. Fort de cela, la problématique de
la violence devient un leitmotiv thématique dans les imaginaires dramaturgiques des auteurs
africains, au nombre desquels Jean-Pierre GUINGANÉ. Depuis 2015, le Burkina Faso subit
une crise marquée par des attaques terroristes multiformes, accompagnées de lourdes pertes
humaines et de dégâts considérables À travers l’esthétique de la banalisation, et dans une
tentative de « tourner la face au soleil », pour reprendre le thème de la 13ᵉ édition des
Récréâtrales du 26 octobre au 2 novembre 2024, l’un des festivals de théâtre les plus renommés
en Afrique, nous proposons d’explorer la problématique de la tolérance telle qu’elle est mise
en scène dans La malice des hommes de Jean-Pierre GUINGANÉ.
Article
Integrating Biochar to Sustain Lettuce Production in Sandy Soils of Burkina Faso Under Water-Limited Conditions
Faith Mawia Muema, Marie Sawadogo, Amadou Keita, Yohan Richardson, Firmin Sawadogo, Yacouba SanouValorization of agricultural residues into biochar for soil applications offers dual ben-efits of waste management and sustainable agriculture. However, the mechanisms governing sandy soil and lettuce response to biochar under deficit irrigation are not well understood. TheThis study evaluated the effects of biochar types on sandy soil physio-chemicalphysiochemical properties and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) yield at different irrigation levels. A field experiment was performed using a randomized com-plete block design with four treatments (soil only, cotton stalk biochar, cashew nut-shells biochar, and a mix of cotton stalks+ cashew nutshells biochar) and three irriga-tion regimes (100%, 80, and 60% of crop water requirements ETc) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The results showed that biochar -amended soils had consistently higher water retention and macro nutrientsmacronutrients, resulti...
Article
Monitoring of Drought Adaptive Mechanisms of Some Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Genotypes Grown Under Water Deficit Conditions in Burkina Faso
Yannick Bassolé · Teyioué Benoit Joseph Batieno · Hugues Roméo Bazié · Ossame Bagagnan · Abraham Sotongo Ouedraogo· Boblwendé Gildas Flavien Sawadogo · Kiswendsida Issaka Sam · Saadon Leandre PodaCowpea is an essential crop in Burkina Faso’s agriculture, but its production must cope with the consequences of climate change, particularly drought, which significantly reduces yields. The mechanisms of adaptation to drought vary between species and varieties and need to be understood to develop more drought-tolerant varieties. Seven cowpea genotypes were subjected to a 21-day water deficit induced before flowering under a screen house, using plastic pots. A split-plot design with three replications was used. The water regimes included continuous watering and induction of a 21-day water deficit initiated from the 30th day after sowing (DAS). Physiological, morphological, and productivity parameters were measured before and during the water deficit application. The results demonstrated a significant depressive effect of stress conditions on the evaluated parameters. The water deficit re...
Article
Optimization of Antigen Concentrations to Improve the Signal to Noise Ratio of ELISA Tests for the Detection of Anti Plasmodium falciparum Antibodies
Nicolas OUEDRAOGO, Fatimata THIOMBIANO, Oumarou OUEDRAOGO, Mireille OUEDRAOGO, Guillaume Sylvestre SANOU, Harouna SORE, Casimire Wendlamita TARAMA, François TAPSOBA, Yéri Esther HIEN, Kaba Mariama CHERIF and Aly SAVADOGOMalaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, remains a major public health priority in tropical regions. The Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for detecting anti-Plasmodium antibodies is an essential diagnostic tool. However, its sensitivity and specificity are closely dependent on the concentration of antigens used.
This study aimed to determine the optimal antigen concentration for seven P. falciparum antigens (AMA1, MSP1, GLURP, CSP, EBA175, MSP3, and EXP1) in order to optimize the signal-to-background noise ratio of indirect ELISA tests. To achieve this, titration microplates were coated with serial dilutions of each antigen (from 2 μg/ml to 0.0625 μg/ml), incubated with patient sera, and then developed using conjugated secondary antibodies. Each antigen concentration was tested in duplicate wells (n=2), using Hyper-Immune Tanzanian (HIT) plasma at antigen-specific...
Article
Neural Machine Translation for French–Mooré: Adapting Large Language Models to Low-Resource Languages
Walker Stanislas Rocksane COMPAORE, Maimouna Ouattara, Rodrique Kafando, Tegawendé F. Bissyandé, Abdoul Kader Kaboré, Aminata SabanéThis work focuses on neural machine translation between French and Mooré, leveraging the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) in a low-resource language context. Mooré is a local language widely spoken in Burkina Faso but remains underrepresented in digital resources. Alongside Mooré, French, now a working language, remains widely used in administration, education, justice, etc. The coexistence of these two languages creates a growing demand for effective translation tools. However, Mooré, like many low-resource languages, poses significant challenges for machine translation due to the scarcity of parallel corpora and its complex morphology.The main objective of this work is to adapt LLMs for French–Mooré translation. Three pre-trained models were selected: No Language Left Behind (NLLB-200), mBART50, and AfroLM. A corpus of approximately 83,000 validated sentence pairs was compi...
Article
Contributing to Speech-to-Speech Translation for African Low-Resource Languages : Study of French-Mooré Pair
Fayçal S. A. Ouedraogo, Maimouna Ouattara, Rodrique Kafando, Abdoul Kader Kaboré, Aminata Sabané, Tegawendé F. BissyandéMost of African low-resource languages are primarily spoken rather than written and lack large, standardized textual resources. In many communities, low literacy rates and limited access to formal education mean that text-based translation technologies alone are insufficient for effective communication. As a result, speech-to-speech translation systems play a crucial role by enabling direct and natural interaction across languages without requiring reading or writing skills. Such systems are essential for improving access to information, public services, healthcare, and education. The goal of our work is to build powerful transcription and speech synthesis models for Mooré language. Then, these models have been used to build a cascaded voice translation system between French and Mooré, since we already got a French-Mooré machine translation model. We collected Mooré audio-text pairs, rea...
Article
Functional, physicochemical, and microbiological properties of Djir, a traditional fermented pearl millet flour from Chad
Moussa Idriss Mahamat, Edwige Rosine Somé/Tiodjio, Kagambèga Boureima, Cissé Hama, Mahamat Bechir, Abdelsalam Tidjani, Donatien Kaboré and Aly SavadogoCe travail de recherche a permis de caractériser pour la première fois les propriétés fonctionnelles, physico-chimiques et microbiologiques du Djir, une farine fermentée traditionnelle à base de mil perlé (Pennisetum glaucum) largement consommée au Tchad. Quatre-vingt-dix échantillons ont été collectés dans trois villes tchadiennes (Abéché, Guéréda et Oum-Hadjer), aussi bien sur des sites de production que sur des marchés. Les résultats ont montré que le Djir présente un pH acide (3,39 à 3,93) et une faible teneur en humidité (2,50 à 10,68 %), deux facteurs favorables à sa conservation. Les propriétés fonctionnelles varient considérablement d’un échantillon à l’autre, avec des capacités d’absorption d’eau comprises entre 68 et 128 %, des capacités d’absorption d’huile entre 60 et 109 %, et une stabilité de la mousse particulièrement élevée (88 à 99 %). L’analyse microbiologique a révélé...
Article
Impact of Chemical Exposure on the Quality of DNA Extracted from Teeth: A Potential Application for Forensic Study in Burkina Faso
Noufou Salou, Pegdwendé Abel Sorgho, Tokeda Abdoul Moctar Zeba, Albert Théophane Yonli1, Mousso Sawadogo, Missa Millogo, David Zongo, Lassina Traore, Tampoubila Edwige Yelemkoure, Florencia Wendkuuni Djigma, Jacques SimporeIntroduction: Forensic investigations involving the discovery of a corpse or human remains aim to identify the individual involved. Sometimes, the body is subjected to chemical solutions with the intention of disintegrating or completely altering it. This further complicates identification. Nevertheless, it is possible to recover sufficient DNA from dental tissues. The present study aims to determine the effects of chemical solutions on the physical structure of teeth and also on their DNA. Methods: Teeth from Sus scrofa pigs were subjected to acidic (NHO3, H2SO4, and HCl) and basic (NaOH) solutions for specific durations (up to 144 h). Observations were recorded at regular intervals to document the effects on the tissues. After sampling, DNA was extracted using the PrepFiler® BTA Forensic DNA extraction kit. The extracted DNA was quantified using a BioDrop spectrometer and then amplifie...