University of Kolwezi

This study analyses the agricultural practices, production systems and crop performance of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) in Haut-Katanga Province, which is located in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The objective was to identify the agroecological, technical and socio-economic factors influencing yields to propose avenues for sustainable intensification in a tropical context characterized by significant environmental constraints. A survey involving 237 producers from five territories, Kasenga, Kipushi, Kambove, Pweto and Sakania, was carried out. Data collection relied on structured survey form and field observations focusing on production, production systems and soybean cultivation cycle duration. The results revealed a predominance of subsistence agriculture (61.6%), low mechanization (95.9% manual ploughing) and limited access to certified seeds (42.9%). Yields vary significantly between territories, ranging from less than 0.5 t/ha in Kambove to more than 1.3 t/ha in Kasenga and Sakania. The regression model explains 59% of the yield variability, with MAP fertilizer and seed availability emerging as major determinants. These findings highlight the need for an integrated approach combining rational fertilization, rhizobial inoculation, adapted varietal selection and institutional support. These strategies are essential for improving soybean productivity, enhancing food security and promoting sustainable agricultural intensification in Haut-Katanga.

Forests of Lualaba Province (DR Congo) form a compositionally complex mosaic of dry dense forest, gallery forest, and Miombo woodland. Yet, categorical land-cover maps impose discrete boundaries on these inherently continuous vegetation gradients, systematically discarding subpixel compositional information critical for forest monitoring and carbon accounting. The magnitude of this information loss at the landscape scale, however, remains largely unquantified. In this study, we train a Multi-Output Neural Network (MONN) using Sentinel-2 spectral and textural predictors (2025) to estimate the proportional cover of three forest types across the province. Model performance is benchmarked against a normalised Random Forest (RF) using spatial block cross-validation. Categorical information loss is quantified pixel-wise using two complementary metrics, dominant class proportion and Shannon compositional entropy, alongside a derived interpretive quantity, categorical information loss. The MONN slightly outperformed RF (R2 = 0.648 vs. 0.630; RMSE = 0.224 vs. 0.229), yet the results reveal a fundamentally heterogeneous landscape structure. The mean dominant-class proportion was only 56.2%, indicating that categorical maps discard, on average, 43.8% of compositional information per pixel. Only 7.9% of forested pixels exceeded the 75% dominance threshold, while Shannon entropy reached 74.1% of its theoretical maximum, indicating that forest types coexist in near-equal proportions across most pixels. This renders categorical attribution structurally inadequate for most of the forested landscape. Across 92.1% of forested pixels, no single forest type achieved clear dominance. These results show that compositional mixing is the dominant structural condition of the landscape, and that compositional mapping is essential for representing tropical forest structure in heterogeneous drylands. By formally quantifying categorical information loss at the landscape scale, this study shows that continuous compositional mapping converts this structural ambiguity into a spatially explicit ecological signal, with direct implications for monitoring vegetation dynamics and biodiversity, suggesting a structural source of error in carbon stock estimation in tropical dry forests that warrants empirical validation.

Introduction: Domestic carbon monoxide exposure represents an emerging public health concern in artisanal mining sites, where residential precarity and high-risk household practices promote the accumulation of this toxic gas. This study estimated indoor carbon monoxide concentrations and identified determinants of elevated levels in artisanal mining community dwellings. Methods: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study in 155 dwellings located in the Kamilombe artisanal mining site. Carbon monoxide concentrations were measured using a pre-calibrated MSA-ALTAIR 5X multi-gas detector. Statistical analyses employed nonparametric Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests and multivariate quantile regression to identify factors associated with different concentration levels at a significance threshold of α = 5%. Results: The median carbon monoxide concentration was 8 ppm (IQR: 2–16 ppm), with an asymmetric distribution. Most dwellings exhibited structural precarity characteristics. In multivariate quantile regression analysis, tarpaulin construction was associated with significant increases in carbon monoxide concentration across all percentiles, with more pronounced effects at higher concentrations (β = 9.25; 95% CI: 6.47–13.99 at the 75th percentile). Conversely, window presence was associated with significant reductions at the median percentile, more pronounced at higher percentiles (β = -5.75; 95% CI: -10.13 to -2.03; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that precarious structural housing conditions may contribute to elevated carbon monoxide concentration levels in artisanal mining communities. Improving housing conditions, enhancing ventilation, and reducing domestic pollution sources could constitute important pathways for reducing carbon monoxide exposure in these settings.

Guelord Kahinga Mukwiza,1,2 Yves Isango Idi,1 Roger Munan mwazaz,1 Blaise Kaki Bal’olam,1 Justin Biayi Mukendi,1 Paul Tshisola Kashala,3 Freddy Mbiya Kabukwa Bafwindisoni,3 Yvette Yowa Malemba,3 Patrick Tshinawej Mukinyi,3 John Katshunga omalosombe,1,2 Nadine Mambue Mwepu,4 Eric Kiwele Zongwe,5 Joseph Chola Mwansa,1 Michel Kabamba nzaji,6 Xavier Kinenkinda kalume1 1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo; 2Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Higher Institute of Medical Techniques of Kolwezi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo; 3Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kolwezi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo; 4Department of Anesthesia and Resuscitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina, Democratic Republic of the Congo; 5Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina, Democratic Republic of Congo; 6Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina, Democratic Republic of CongoCorrespondence: Michel Kabamba nzaji, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Email michelnzaji@yahoo.frBackground: Cesarean myomectomy remains a controversial procedure because of concerns regarding severe hemorrhage and peripartum hysterectomy. Recent reports suggest that it may be performed safely in carefully selected patients; however, the certainty of the available evidence remains very low, and reports describing its use for refractory uterine atony in women with eclampsia are scarce.Case Presentation: We report the case of a 38-year-old Congolese woman, gravida 3 para 0 abortus 2, admitted to the University Clinics of Lubumbashi with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, severe hypertension (180/120 mmHg), and marked proteinuria, leading to a diagnosis of eclampsia. No ultrasound examination was performed before surgery because of the maternal emergency. After stabilization with magnesium sulfate and nicardipine, an emergency cesarean section was performed. A live female infant weighing 2030 g was delivered but died 30 minutes after birth in the neonatal intensive care unit.Operative Findings and Management: Extensive uterine fibromyomatosis was identified, including nine fibroids, the largest measuring 16 × 10 × 8 cm and weighing approximately 1050 g. After hysterorrhaphy, severe uterine atony persisted despite uterine massage and oxytocin administration. Considering the patient’s nulliparity and the wish to preserve the uterus, a conservative cesarean myomectomy was undertaken. Five major fibroids were removed, including the giant lower-segment fibroid. Progressive restoration of uterine tone was observed after myomectomy, with satisfactory hemostasis. Estimated blood loss was 900 mL, and total operative time was 90 minutes. Postoperatively, the patient received blood transfusion and recovered without complications. She was discharged in stable condition on postoperative day five.Conclusion: In this patient, removal of the dominant fibroids was temporally associated with restoration of uterine tone and allowed emergency hysterectomy to be avoided. This single observation does not establish the safety or efficacy of the procedure, but suggests that cesarean myomectomy may be considered as a uterus-preserving option in carefully selected patients with refractory uterine atony related to extensive fibromyomatosis, provided that surgical expertise and blood transfusion capacity are available.Keywords: cesarean myomectomy, uterine fibroids, refractory uterine atony, eclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage, fertility preservation, case report

Sugarcane-peanut intercropping system has garnered global attention, primarily for its role in promoting sustainable agriculture. Yet, its impacts on industrially relevant traits and underlying mechanisms regulating these outcomes remain largely elusive. To address these critical knowledge gaps, we leveraged a multi-scale approach, integrating data from a synthesis of experiments with long-term field trials. Our long-term field trial demonstrates that this cropping system significantly enhances industrially relevant sugarcane traits while reducing heavy metal levels in bulk and rhizosphere soils. Sugarcane-peanut intercropping also enrich key plant growth- and stress-regulating bacteria, including Anaeromyxobacter and Bradyrhizobium in the rhizosphere soil and root tissue, Rhizomicrobium and Streptomyces in root tissue, and Bacilli in stem tissue. The vast majority of these taxa show significant positive associations with a number of industrially relevant sugarcane traits. Concurrently, this cropping system enriches key growth- and stress-related metabolites such as β-sitosterol, abscisic acid, and gibberellin A7 in the rhizosphere soil and root tissue, while potentially phytotoxic compounds are suppressed. Other key compounds, including flavonoids (95.63%), dominate the entire plant and soil compartments and exhibit significant associations with industrial traits. The meta-analysis identifies soil multifunctionality (40%) as the dominant predictor of variation in industrially relevant sugarcane traits. Taken together, these findings suggest that the benefits of sugarcane-peanut intercropping emerge from the integration of multiple soil-plant processes rather than from any single factor, highlighting the importance of a whole-system perspective when evaluating intercropping outcomes.