Calabash (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) has long been an essential species for communities in Africa. Over the past decades, its production has gradually declined. Developing knowledge of existing ethnovarieties and the causes of their decline, as well of the socio-cultural services associated with the ethnovarieties and the chosen local management strategies, could contribute to their better valorization and conservation. This study aims to (i) map existing ethnovarieties, (ii) determine the endogenous management strategies, (iii) document the socio-cultural services associated with the ethnovarieties, and (iv) determine the causes of the decline. First, a non-probabilistic snowball sampling technique was used to identify the producers to be involved in the study. Then, semi-structured interviews involving 80 producers from 8 provinces across Burkina Faso were conducted using a...

The use of medicinal plants remains an essential practice in sub-Saharan Africa, where they constitute a major therapeutic and socio-cultural resource objective of the study was to investigate medicinal plants used for doping in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. Methods: To do this, a semi-structured ethnobotanical survey was first conducted among traditional practitioners. Phytochemical compositions of the plants were analyzed using spectrophotometry. Finally, the acute toxicity of the doping plants was studied by administering a single dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight to NRMI mice, which were observed for 14 days. Results: A total of 50 traditional practitioners and herbalists were interviewed and 25 plants species belonging to 17 botanical families were identified. Based on the frequency of citation, the species Martynia annua Lin (Martyniaceae), Securidaca longepedunculata Fresen (Polygalace...

In this work, we establish theoretical and numerical links between the Bernstein copula, the Bernstein polynomial, and Value at Risk (VaR) in the context of dependence approximation in financial risk. Thanks to the smoothing induced by this copula, we express the portfolio VaR as the quantile of an approximate joint distribution, highlighting the effect of Bernstein smoothing on the estimation of extreme risk. In this work, we establish theoretical and numerical links between the Bernstein copula, the Bernstein polynomial, and Value at Risk (VaR) in the context of dependence approximation in financial risk. Thanks to the smoothing induced by this copula, we express the portfolio VaR as the quantile of an approximate joint distribution, highlighting the effect of Bernstein smoothing on the estimation of extreme risks. The relationship is further refined by representing the Bernstein copul...

Background In Burkina Faso, typhoid fever remains a major public health concern, particularly among children under 15. In January 2025, a nationwide campaign introduced the typhoid conjugate vaccine targeting children aged 9 months to 14 years. This study aimed to estimate the cost of typhoid conjugate vaccine delivery during the national campaign and to identify the main cost drivers across different administrative levels. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional costing study using a microcosting approach from the perspective of the Ministry of Health. We collected data from fifty health facilities, eight health districts, five health regions, and the national level. Financial and economic costs were estimated for each level, excluding vaccine and syringe costs. All costs were converted to 2024 USD using the official exchange rate. Parameter uncertainty was explored...

Oranges are consumed in many African countries. In Burkina Faso, they are consumed in various forms. In particular, they are used in the production of juices and nectars. Orange juice is a non-concentrated, undiluted, and unfermented liquid with a variable chemical composition and diverse properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and microbiological quality of natural orange juices sold in the city of Ouagadougou. A total of ten samples were collected from three markets in the city of Ouagadougou. The physicochemical parameters (pH, Brix degree, acidity, vitamin C content, and impurity level) and microbiological parameters (total mesophilic aerobic flora, total coliforms, thermotolerant bacteria, yeasts, and molds) were determined using standard analytical methods. The pH, Brix degree, free acidity, vitamin C content, and impurity levels of the juices an...

Depuis l’époque coloniale, les politiques de développement ont favorisé le développement de puissants courants migratoires, internes et internationaux, qui se sont maintenus voire amplifiés après les indépendances. Développées en dehors de toute intervention directe des États, ces migrations se sont progressivement structurées autour de l’institution du tutorat qui a permis la structuration des réseaux reliant les zones de départ aux zones d’arrivée d’une part, et, d’autre part, l’insertion socioéconomique du migrant dans les zones de destination. Le foncier a été ainsi utilisé par les autochtones comme un instrument d’insertion des migrants tout en gardant le contrôle politique de leur « pays ». Cependant avec les évolutions, parfois radicales, des contextes socioéconomiques ainsi que le renouvellement des générations, la place et la représentation de terre ont évolué et autorisé sa mar...

L’expansion rapide de Tahoua met en péril l’accès durable à l’eau potable, soulignant la nécessité de concilier urbanisation et gestion hydrique. L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser le lien entre l’étalement urbain et l’accès à l’eau dans la ville de Tahoua. La démarche méthodologique s’appuie sur une approche mixte combinant collecte de données secondaires (recherche documentaire) et primaires (observation de terrain, enquête auprès de 170 ménages dans cinq quartiers périphériques, entretiens avec des acteurs clés). La recherche montre que l’expansion spatiale dépasse la croissance démographique, rendant difficile la couverture efficace par les réseaux d’eau publics. La gestion défaillante et la faiblesse des ressources financières aggravent la situation, conduisant à une dépendance aux forages privés. La conséquence est une vulnérabilité sanitaire accrue, en particulier dans les q...

We present here a fractional model in the sense of Caputo of a vector-borne disease with insecticide resistance genes. This study is important because it contributes to our understanding of vector-borne disease transmission dynamics using the notion of dif- ferential operators. The use of fractional derivatives in the model provides a memory efect and long-term dynamics often observed in infectious diseases. An epidemic must be able to decline slowly because of the memory of previous contacts. A detailed proof for the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the model is presented. The basic reproduction number R0 is derived, and a stability analysis of the equilibrium points is established. Numerical simulations are provided to prove the usefulness of the theoretical results. We simulated each model compartment at various fractional orders and compared them with integer-order simulat...

Accurate geolocation for low-power wide-area (LPWAN) devices is desirable when GNSS is unavailable or too energy-expensive, yet RSSI-/TDoA-based approaches are often fragile under channel variability, collisions and cross-device heterogeneity. We address this gap with a reproducible, tabular pipeline that maps LoRa RSSI/SNR/ToA and PHY metadata to 2D positions, compares strong tabular baselines (k-NN, Random Forest, LightGBM, XGBoost), and crucially evaluates them under group-aware (device-wise) splits to avoid identity leakage. On an ns-3-generated LoRa dataset of about 3.3 × 104 labeled receptions, Random Forest attains the tightest distribution with p50 ≈ 0 m and p95 < 1 m, whereas k-NN, despite a low median, exhibits a much heavier tail (p95 ≈ 187 m), underscoring the need to report both central and tail metrics. These results indicate that simple, edge-feasible models can perform...

Understanding the gelation behavior of novel plant protein under varying pH and temperature conditions is crucial for designing food systems with tailored texture, stability, and functional properties. In this study, we investigated the effects of pH and temperature on the aggregation behavior and heat-induced gelation of TGNP. The results showed that TGNP gelation was strongly influenced by both pH and heating temperature. Near the isoelectric point (pH 4), the protein exhibited minimal solubility (8%) and large particle size (>3000 nm) due to extensive aggregation, conditions that were unfavorable for the formation of a well-developed gel network. In contrast, strongly acidic (pH 2), neutral (pH 7), and alkaline (pH 10) conditions improved protein solubility (62%, 81% and 89%, respectively) and reduced particle sizes (400–900 nm), promoting better molecular dispersion and facilitating...