Beef production for organic markets - A future for Namibian family farms?!

Overseas organic beef markets and its premium prices offer big opportunities for Namibian cattle farmers, who mostly come from a very close to organic farming background but have to fight against various economic problems as well as to deal with droughts and climate change to farm successfully and stay on their farms

Quality Attributes in Child Food Packaging Design: Photovoice Study with Beninese Mothers

Child malnutrition is a significant predicament in Benin, with 32% of children under the age of five being stunted and 5% wasted. The artisanal production of affordable, tasty, and nutritious baby food by local womenentrepreneurs has the potential to mitigate this issue. Nevertheless, appropriate, professional and attractive packaging is necessary to reduce spoilage and gain access to markets in both urban and peri-urban areas. The aim of our investigation was to identify items that could potentially convey affirmative quality characteristics on the packaging of infant formula for mothers. To achieve this, we conducted a photovoice study in the Parakou community, situated in northern Benin, with 15 mothers of children below the age of five. The photovoice methodology delineates the experiences and perceptions of the participants through photographs. The findings indicated that thirteen photographs of various elements, including nature (fruits, trees, gardens), people (babies), and utensils, had a positive value for the mothers. However, it still needs to be determined whether thedepiction of these elements or their derivatives on the packaging of children's food would generate interest and instill confidence in mothers to accept artisanal child food products. This could become a competitive advantage for local producers of infant foods in the face of competition from imported products

The Influence from Packaging Design Elements of Child Food on Quality Perceptions of Beninese’s Consumers

Child malnutrition is a major problem in Benin, where 31% of children under five are stunted and 5% are wasted. The artisanal production of affordable, tasty and nutritious baby foods by local women entrepreneurs could help alleviate the problem. However, appropriate, professional and attractive packaging is needed to minimize spoilage and access markets in urban and peri-urban areas. The aim of our study was to identify the elements that could potentially communicate positive quality attributes on the packaging of infant formula for mothers. To this end, a photovoice study was conducted in the Parakou community in northern Benin with 15 mothers of children under the age of five. The photovoice methodology describes the experiences and perceptions of participants through photographs. The results showed that thirteen photos of different elements such as nature (fruits, trees, gardens), people (babies) and utensils had a positive value for the mothers. It remains to be verified whether the representation of these elements or their derivatives on the packaging of children's foods would create interest and confidence in the acceptance of these foods by mothers. This could become a competitive advantage for local producers of infant foods in the face of competition from imported products

The Influence of Infant Food Packaging Design on Perceptions of Kenyan Consumers: Conjoint Analysis Combined with Eye Tracking

Locally produced, healthy and affordable foods for children based on traditional recipes have the potential to improve the high rates of child malnutrition in Africa's drylands. Professional, informative packaging is needed for women's groups producing such foods to access the formal market. To identify suitable packaging designs, a conjoint experiment was combined with eye tracking. 16 packaging designs were created (D-efficient design), randomly displayed and rated for attractiveness by 98 participants. Overall, the results suggest that packaging designs for children's foods that include food safety symbols and detailed nutritional information could help Kenyan consumers build trust in the product being offered. Consumers gain information from images showing the product's ingredients and a logo composed of the colours of the Kenyan flag. The image of a cute cartoon animal helps consumers identify the product as a children's food

The Influence of Child Food Packaging Design on Perceptions of Kenyan Consumers: Conjoint Analysis Combined with Eye Tracking

Locally manufactured, healthy and affordable child foods based on traditional recipes have the potential to improve the high child malnutrition rates in African drylands. Professional, informative packaging is needed by women groups manufacturing such foods to access the formal market. With the aim of identifying suitable packaging designs, a conjoint experiment was combined with eye tracking. 16 packaging designs were created (D-efficient design), randomly displayed and their attractiveness rated by 98 participants. Overall, the results indicate that child food packaging designs displaying food safety marks and detailed nutritional information could help Kenyan consumers to build trust in the offered product. Consumers gain information from pictures displaying the product’s ingredients as well as a logo composed using the colours of the Kenyan flag. The picture of a cute cartoon animal helps consumers identify the product as child foo

Expert-centered Evaluation of Deep Learning Algorithms for Brain Tumor Segmentation

Purpose To present results from a literature survey on practices in deep learning segmentation algorithm evaluation and perform a study on expert quality perception of brain tumor segmentation. Materials and Methods A total of 180 articles reporting on brain tumor segmentation algorithms were surveyed for the reported quality evaluation. Additionally, ratings of segmentation quality on a four-point scale were collected from medical professionals for 60 brain tumor segmentation cases. Results Of the surveyed articles, Dice score, sensitivity, and Hausdorff distance were the most popular metrics to report segmentation performance. Notably, only 2.8% of the articles included clinical experts\u27 evaluation of segmentation quality. The experimental results revealed a low interrater agreement (Krippendorff α, 0.34) in experts\u27 segmentation quality perception. Furthermore, the correlations between the ratings and commonly used quantitative quality metrics were low (Kendall tau between Dice score and mean rating, 0.23; Kendall tau between Hausdorff distance and mean rating, 0.51), with large variability among the experts. Conclusion The results demonstrate that quality ratings are prone to variability due to the ambiguity of tumor boundaries and individual perceptual differences, and existing metrics do not capture the clinical perception of segmentation quality

Evidence that an APOE ε4 'double whammy' increases risk for Alzheimer's disease

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with some of the same neuropathological features as those reported for early stages of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD). The APOE ε4 allele is associated with a gene-dose-dependent increase in AD risk and in the severity of amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology. In a study published in the current BMC Medicine, Sue Griffin and colleagues studied markers of brain resilience in the amputated temporal lobes of TLE patients. They discovered compelling evidence that the APOE ε3 isoform in TLE patients is apparently more neuroprotective from Aβ toxicity than is the APOE ε4 isoform, as shown by the reduced levels of neuronal damage, glial activation, and expression of IL-1α in the APOE ε3/ε3 brains. This result points to a new property of APOE isoforms: not only are APOE ε4 alleles associated with increased brain amyloid plaque burden, but these alleles are also apparently inferior to APOE ε3 alleles in conveying resistance to Aβ neurotoxicity. This 'double whammy' result opens up a new direction for studies aimed at elucidating the relevant neurobiological activities of APOE isoforms in the pathogenesis of AD

Serially measured high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and growth differentiation factor 15 for risk assessment after acute coronary syndrome:the BIOMArCS cohort

Aims: Evidence regarding the role of serial measurements of biomarkers for risk assessment in post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients is limited. The aim was to explore the prognostic value of four, serially measured biomarkers in a large, real-world cohort of post-ACS patients. Methods and results: BIOMArCS is a prospective, multi-centre, observational study in 844 post-ACS patients in whom 12 218 blood samples (median 17 per patient) were obtained during 1-year follow-up. The longitudinal patterns of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) were analysed in relation to the primary endpoint (PE) of cardiovascular mortality and recurrent ACS using multivariable joint models. Median age was 63 years, 78% were men and the PE was reached by 45 patients. The average biomarker levels were systematically higher in PE compared with PE-free patients. After adjustment for 6-month post-discharge Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events score, 1 standard deviation increase in log[hs-cTnT] was associated with a 61% increased risk of the PE [hazard ratio (HR) 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-2.44, P = 0.045], while for log[GDF-15] this was 81% (HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.28-2.70, P = 0.001). These associations remained significant after multivariable adjustment, while NT-proBNP and hs-CRP were not. Furthermore, GDF-15 level showed an increasing trend prior to the PE (Structured Graphical Abstract). Conclusion: Longitudinally measured hs-cTnT and GDF-15 concentrations provide prognostic value in the risk assessment of clinically stabilized patients post-ACS. Clinical Trial Registration: The Netherlands Trial Register. Currently available at URL https://trialsearch.who.int/; Unique Identifiers: NTR1698 and NTR1106.</p

Serially measured high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and growth differentiation factor 15 for risk assessment after acute coronary syndrome: the BIOMArCS cohort

Aims: Evidence regarding the role of serial measurements of biomarkers for risk assessment in post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients is limited. The aim was to explore the prognostic value of four, serially measured biomarkers in a large, real-world cohort of post-ACS patients.// Methods and results: BIOMArCS is a prospective, multi-centre, observational study in 844 post-ACS patients in whom 12 218 blood samples (median 17 per patient) were obtained during 1-year follow-up. The longitudinal patterns of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) were analysed in relation to the primary endpoint (PE) of cardiovascular mortality and recurrent ACS using multivariable joint models. Median age was 63 years, 78% were men and the PE was reached by 45 patients. The average biomarker levels were systematically higher in PE compared with PE-free patients. After adjustment for 6-month post-discharge Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events score, 1 standard deviation increase in log[hs-cTnT] was associated with a 61% increased risk of the PE [hazard ratio (HR) 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–2.44, P = 0.045], while for log[GDF-15] this was 81% (HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.28–2.70, P = 0.001). These associations remained significant after multivariable adjustment, while NT-proBNP and hs-CRP were not. Furthermore, GDF-15 level showed an increasing trend prior to the PE (Structured Graphical Abstract).// Conclusion: Longitudinally measured hs-cTnT and GDF-15 concentrations provide prognostic value in the risk assessment of clinically stabilized patients post-ACS.// Clinical Trial Registration: The Netherlands Trial Register. Currently available at URL https://trialsearch.who.int/; Unique Identifiers: NTR1698 and NTR1106

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts