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Introduction: the Exacto® Triplex HIV/HCV/HBsAg (Biosynex, Strasbourg, France) consists in lateral flow, immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic test simultaneously detecting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 and HIV-2 and hepatitis C virus (HCV)- specific antibodies (IgG and IgM) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) in serum, plasma and whole blood. We herein evaluated its diagnostic performances in the Central African Republic (CAR). Methods: crosssectional study was conducted on prospectively collected panel of 550 sera from adult inpatients living in Bangui, including 200 HIV-positive, 100 HBsAg-positive, 50 HCV-positive, 200 negatives to three viruses according to reference immunoenzymatic serological tests including Murex HCV (Diasorin, Saluggia, Italy) for HCV, Murex HBsAg (Diasorin) for HBV, Genscreen ULTRA HIV Ag-Ab HIV-1/2 Version 2 (Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) and Murex HIV 1.2.0 Ag/Ab Combination (Diasorin), the 2 tests associated in the parallel algorithm for the reference strategy for the diagnosis of HIV in CAR. Serum samples were tested blindly in duplicate. The findings are reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. Results: the Exacto® Triplex showed 99.5% (95% CI; 98.5-100.0), 96.0% [90.6-100.0] and 99.0% [97.1-100.0] sensitivities for HIV, HCV and HBsAg, respectively. The specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were 100.0% for all three viruses. The Youden's J index and Cohen's κ coefficient were 0.99 for HIV and HBsAg. For HCV, Youden's J and Cohen's κ coefficient were 0.96 and 0.98, respectively. In the epidemiological context of the CAR, the PPV and NPV for all three viral infections were high (≥99.0% to 100%). Conclusion: taken together, our STROBEcompliant study demonstrates that the Exacto® Triplex HIV/HCV/HBsAg showed high sensitivity and specificity for HIV and HBsAg (≥99.0%), and relatively high sensitivity (96.0%) and high specificity (100%) for HCV. These analytical performances are within the limits required by the WHO (i.e. sensitivity ≥99.0% and specificity ≥98.0%) for HIV and HBV. The Exacto® Triplex HIV/HCV/HBsAg is user-friendly at low cost, and appears highly desirable for routine use in the CAR, and likely other Central African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about a young farmer named Linga and his encounter with a water spirit in Oubangui-Chari (present-day Central African Republic) in 1930. It is also about the telling and re-telling of Linga's encounter as the story was transcribed into Banda, translated into French, and rewritten as an ethnographic folktale. Responsible for these transformations were two Banda interpreters and a colonial administrator from the Caribbean. In the last two decades, historians of colonialism have turned increasingly to interpreters and other intermediaries. Often missing from this scholarship, however, are analyses of the granular details—of how colonial intermediaries used transcription, translation, and other methods to create new words, texts, and ideas. Linguistic anthropologists refer to such interventions as "entextualization," the process by which fragments of discourse are extracted from their immediate settings and rendered into detached texts. Drawing on this scholarship, I argue that tracing the granular processes of entextualization opens up new vantage points from which to study the role of colonial intermediaries in the production of knowledge. The article also illuminates a methodology for mapping otherwise invisible constellations of language, meaning, and colonial power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infection by hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause a high burden of morbidity and mortality in countries with poor access to clean water and sanitation. Our study aimed to investigate the situation of HEV infections in the Central African Republic (CAR).Methods: A retrospective analysis of the blood samples and notification forms collected through the national yellow fever (YF) surveillance program, but for which a diagnosis of YF was discarded, was carried out using an anti-HEV IgM ELISA and a HEV-specific RT-PCR.Results: Of 2883 YF-negative samples collected between January 2008 and December 2012, 745 (~ 26%) tested positive by at least either of the 2 tests used to confirm HEV cases. The results revealed that the CAR was hit by a large HEV outbreak in 2008 and 2009. The results also showed a clear seasonal pattern with correlation between HEV incidence and rainfall in Bangui. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the circulating strains belonged to genotypes 1e and 2b.Conclusions: Overall, this study provides further evidences that HEV can be a significant cause of acute febrile jaundice, particularly among adults during rainy season or flood, in a country from Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines the employment of religious differences in escalating political crises in the Central African Republic (CAR) with threats of separatism in the country based on this. When Michel Am Nondroko Djotodia seized power through the Séléka rebellion in March 2013 and then abdicated the 'hot potato,' the crises during and after his abdication became intensely religious and on a scale unknown in the history of the country. From then on, there have been repeated threats of separation of Muslims from the predominantly Christian population. The Séléka rebels and fighters who also have some non-Muslims have been associated with Islam, and the anti-balaka is constituted of mainly Christian and non-Christian militias. The tussle for leadership and control of the CAR between the Séléka and anti-balaka rival movements has been motivated by religion. This has contributed in making the CAR a failed state with recurrent scenes of violence, killings, and displacements. Through a content analysis of the literature on the religious dimension of the crisis, we will examine the reasons for and threats of a split in a country with xenophobic religious differences and political volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Successional and soil filtering processes are key drivers of the assembly of tropical tree communities, yet little is known about how they interact. Herein, we determine whether successional pathways depend on soil type, how the soil filtering effect varies during forest succession and whether succession is accompanied by changes in trait composition. Location South-western Central African Republic. Methods We used inventory data on 90 dominant tree species (72% of the stems ≥ 30 cm d.b.h.) in 15,420 plots (each 0.5 ha) distributed over an 8300-km2 mosaic of primary and secondary forests on contrasting clay and sandy soils. We gathered data on six traits: dispersal mode, nitrogen fixation, deciduousness, leaf area, wood density and maximum diameter. After validation with historical information, we used a successional index based on pioneer proportion to assess variations in trait composition, and in α- and β-diversity, in forest succession, and within and between soil types. Results Taxonomic and functional dissimilarities between clay and sandy soils decreased continuously during forest succession. Within soil types, early-successional communities had a low taxonomic but relatively high functional α-diversity. At the landscape scale, β-diversity was higher among earlier successional stages, except in rich soils where taxonomic β-diversity was high throughout the succession. Mean values for all traits, except leaf area, showed marked variations during forest succession in both soil types. Main conclusions The effect of soil type on community composition declines during succession, suggesting that the relative importance of neutral processes is higher in mature forests. Successional pathways were fairly similar in both soil types: disturbances reduced taxonomic diversity locally and enhanced β-diversity between sites, probably because the disturbances varied in type. We also demonstrated how easy-to-collect traits help improve predictions of ecological patterns and deepen our understanding of species assembly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers across disciplines have struggled to understand the entanglement of human-environment relationships. Nowhere are these entanglements more evident than among human communities situated within protected areas. These communities often rely on natural resources, such as wildlife, as an integral component of daily livelihoods. The success of human livelihood strategies and the continued presence of wildlife hinges upon our ability to understand inherently dependent relationships between animals and humans. Using the bushmeat trade as an entry point, this article draws on theoretical developments in anthropology, specifically mutual ecologies and data-based approaches to wildlife management, to examine relationships between hunters and hunted in the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Reserve (APDS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the politics of roadblocks in the northeastern reaches of the Central African Republic. Over the past 30 years, roadblocks have become widespread in this area of extremely minimal state institutional presence; they are one symptom of broader processes of militarization. Building on work that sees the state as a set of practices with 'magical' effects, I foreground the unpredictability and negotiation that characterize roadblock encounters to show how they challenge the dominant theories of governance in 'stateless' spaces. Though roadblock workers invoke the idea of the all-powerful state in order to qualify themselves with authorities to dispossess travelers, their practices end up strengthening noncentralized modes of rule, and particularly quests for personal profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]