Scaling out sweetpotato and potato-led interventions to improve nutrition and food security in Tigray and SNNPR, Ethiopia

This flyer is a brief of the ‘Scaling out sweetpotato and potato-led interventions to improve nutrition and food security in Tigray and SNNPR’ project, which is being implemented in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) and the Tigray region in the north of Ethiopia. At present, the project covers a total of 75 kebeles (villages) in 20 woredas (districts) in the two regions. It summarizes the objectives, achievements and lessons of the project between June 2014 and July 2015

Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich Syndrome: Pre-and Post-Surgical MRI and US Findings

Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome (HWWS) is a rare congenital anomaly of the female urogenital tract that associates Müllerian duct anomalies with mesonephric duct anomalies. The triad of uterus didelphys, obstructed hemivagina, and ipsilateral renal agenesis characterizes this syndrome. Patients generally present with non-specific symptoms after menarche. Pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and palpable mass due to hematocolpos or hematometra are the most common findings. Pyohematocolpos and pyosalpinx may appear as acute complications, while endometriosis and pelvic adhesions constitute potential long-term complications. When a prenatal diagnosis of unilateral renal agenesis in newborn girls is known, a gynecological imaging study should be performed to exclude uterine and vaginal abnormalities. These patients should be followed up to ensure that a timely surgical correction is performed. The diagnosis of HWWS is difficult due to the lack of specific symptoms or findings upon physical examination. An accurate imaging description of these congenital anomalies is crucial to guide patients toward surgical treatment, relieving acute complications, and preserving the normal fertility. The authors provide a pictorial review of the magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonography findings of the HWWS with correlation to embryological, clinical, and surgical features.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Opportunities and threats in the beer-banana value chain in Central Uganda

Poster presented at CIALCA Conference 2011. Kigali (Rwanda). 24-27 Oct 2011

Application of reduced-set pareto-lipschitzian optimization to truss optimization

In this paper, a recently proposed global Lipschitz optimization algorithm Pareto-Lipschitzian Optimization with Reduced-set (PLOR) is further developed, investigated and applied to truss optimization problems. Partition patterns of the PLOR algorithm are similar to those of DIviding RECTangles (DIRECT), which was widely applied to different real-life problems. However here a set of all Lipschitz constants is reduced to just two: the maximal and the minimal ones. In such a way the PLOR approach is independent of any user-defined parameters and balances equally local and global search during the optimization process. An expanded list of other well-known DIRECT-type algorithms is used in investigation and experimental comparison using the standard test problems and truss optimization problems. The experimental investigation shows that the PLOR algorithm gives very competitive results to other DIRECT-type algorithms using standard test problems and performs pretty well on real truss optimization problems

Antibacterial activity of the chemical constituents of the african medicinal plant Grewia Hexamita against resistant bacteria

Tese de mestrado, Química Farmacêutica e Terapêutica, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2019The main objective of this work was to contribute to the validation of the use of the medicinal plant Grewia hexamita (Malvaceae) in the treatment of infectious diseases, in the traditional medicine of Mozambique. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the methanol extract of the roots of Grewia hexamita led to the isolation of four triterpenes, three pentacyclic, namely lupeol (2.1), betulin (2.2) and betulinic aldehyde (2.3) and a new tetracyclic triterpene named 3β- caffeoyl-cycloartane (2.4). Two steroids, β-sitosterol (2.5) and 7-oxo-β-sitosterol (2.6), two phenolic compounds, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (2.7) and vanillin (2.8), as well as S- (+)-pantolactone (2.9), a γ-butyrolactone, were also isolated. Acylation of lupeol (2.1) and betulin (2.2), isolated in large amount, using acetic anhydride and benzoyl chloride, gave rise to four derivatives (2.10-2.13). The structures of the compounds were characterized by their spectroscopic data (IR, MS and one- and two-dimensional NMR). The evaluation of the antibacterial activity was performed by the microdilution method in sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) and resistant strains (MRSA ATCC 43866 and VISA CIP 106760) and in a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis strain (VRE FFHB H164). Gram-negative strains, namely Salmonella typhymurium (ATCC 13311), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) and Escherichia coli were also used. The best results were found for the pentacyclic triterpenes lupeol (2.1) and betulin (2.2), which showed significant antibacterial activity against both sensitive S. aureus and MRSA strains (MIC = 30 and 15 μg.mL-1, respectively) and against resistant VISA strains (MIC 62 μg.mL-1). In turn, betulinic aldehyde (2.3) exhibited MIC = 30 μg.mL-1 and 62 μg.mL-1, against sensitive and MRSA strains, respectively, and no significant activity against VISA. No inhibitory activities of bacterial growth were observed in Gram-positive E. faecalis VRE FFHB H164 nor in Gram-negative bacteria. Combination assays, by the checkerboard method, were also performed to evaluate the type of interaction between the compounds and reference antibiotics. It was intended to determine the existence of synergistic effect between them and thus their ability to reverse bacterial resistance. Betulinic aldehyde (2.3) restored synergistically the antibacterial activity of the two β-lactam antibiotics tested, amoxicillin from 62 to 3.8 μg.mL-1, corresponding to a 16-fold reduction (FICI = 0.31) and oxacillin from 62 to 7.5 μg.mL-1 (FICI = 0.37), corresponding to a 8-fold reduction. 7-Oxo-β-sitosterol (2.6) was also able to interact synergistically with amoxicillin, lowering the antibiotic MIC from 250 μg.mL-1 to 30 μg.mL-1 (FICI = 0.48), corresponding to a 8-fold reduction. Synergistic effects were also obtained against the VISA CIP 106760 strain, with β-sitosterol (2.5), vanillin (2.8) and pantolactone (2.9). According to the results obtained, the most active compounds may be promising prototypes for the development of new antibiotics against resistant strains.Esta dissertação teve como principal objetivo o isolamento e identificação de compostos antibacterianos a partir da planta medicinal africana Grewia hexamita (Malvaceae), de modo a validar cientificamente a sua utilização no tratamento de doenças infeciosas. Para tal, procedeu-se ao estudo fitoquímico bioguiado do extracto metanólico das raízes, a parte da planta utilizada pelas populações, recorrendo a várias técnicas cromatográficas, nomeadamente cromatografia em coluna e cromatografia em camada fina. Das frações solúveis em acetato de etilo e n-hexano (as que exibiram melhores atividades antibacterianas) foram isolados e caracterizados nove compostos, nomeadamente, três triterpenos pentacíclicos, lupeol (2.1), betulina (2.2) e aldeído betulínico (2.3) e um novo triterpeno tetracíclico designado 3β-cafeoil-cicloartano (2.4), dois esteróides, β-sitosterol (2.5) e 7-Oxo-β-sitosterol (2.6), dois compostos fenólicos, phidroxibenzaldeído (2.7) e vanilina (2.8), e uma γ-butirolactona, a S-(+)-pantolactona (2.9). Adicionalmente, foram também preparados dois derivados do lupeol (2.10 e 2.11) e da betulina (2.12 e 2.13) através de reacções de esterificação com o anidrido acético e o cloreto de benzoílo. As estruturas dos compostos foram estabelecidas com base nos seus dados espetroscópicos (IV, MS e RMN unidimensional - 1H, 13C e DEPT - e bidimensional - 1H-1H-COSY, HSQC e HMBC). A avaliação da actividade antibacteriana foi efectuada pelo método da microdiluição em meio líquido em estirpes de Staphylococcus aureus sensíveis (ATCC 6538) e resistentes à meticilina e à vancomicina (MRSA ATCC 43866 e VISA CIP 106760, respetivamente) e numa estirpe de Enterococcus faecalis resistente à vancomicina (VRE FFHB H164). A actividade antibacteriana foi também avaliada em bactérias Gram-negativas, nomeadamente Salmonella typhymurium (ATCC 13311), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) e Escherichia coli. Os triterpenos pentacíclicos lupeol (2.1) e betulina (2.2) foram os mais ativos, apresentando uma actividade antibacteriana significativa contra as estirpes de S. aureus sensíveis (CMI = 30 μg.mL-1) e resistentes à meticilina e à vancomicina (CMI = 15 e 62 μg.mL-1, respetivamente). O aldeído betulínico (2.3) exibiu igualmente actividade antibacteriana contra as estirpes de S. aureus sensíveis e MRSA resistentes (CMI de 30 μg.mL-1 e 62 μg.mL-1, respectivamente), mas não mostrou actividade significativa contra as estirpes resistentes à vancomicina. Nenhum dos compostos testados se mostrou ativo contra a estirpe de E. faecalis VRE FFHB H164 nem nas bactérias Gram-negativas. Com o objectivo de avaliar o tipo de interacção entre os compostos testados e os antibióticos de referência, foram realizados ensaios de combinação recorrendo ao método de checkerboard. O aldeído betulínico (2.3) restaurou sinergicamente a atividade antibacteriana dos dois antibióticos β-lactâmicos testados, a amoxacilina (redução dos valores de CMI de 62 para 3,8 μg.mL-1), correspondendo a uma redução de 16 vezes (FICI = 0,31) e da oxacilina (variação do valor de CMI de 62 para 7,5 μg. mL-1) (FICI = 0,37), correspondendo a uma redução de 8 vezes. O 7-oxo-β-sitosterol (2.6) também exibiu sinergismo com a amoxicilina alterando o valor de CMI do antibiótico de 250 μg.mL-1 para 30 μg.mL-1 (FICI = 0.48), correspondendo a uma redução de 8 vezes. Foram também obtidos efeitos sinérgicos dos compostos β-sitosterol (2.5), vanilina (2.8) and pantolactona (2.9) contra a estirpe VISA CIP 106760. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, os compostos mais ativos podem ser promissores para o desenvolvimento de novos antibióticos contra estirpes bacterianas resistentes

Abordagem terapêutica da esclerose múltipla: presente e futuro

A esclerose múltipla é uma doença crónica, inflamatória, autoimune e degenerativa, que afeta a camada de mielina protetora dos neurónios do sistema nervoso central. Nesta doença a transmissão dos impulsos nervosos é afetada, torna-se mais lenta, ou não ocorre, pois, o sistema imunitário deixa de identificar a bainha de mielina como própria do organismo e degrada-a, dando origem a lesões. Trata-se da doença autoimune do sistema nervoso central mais comum nos jovens adultos sendo diagnosticada, maioritariamente, entre os 20 e os 40 anos de idade e apresenta uma incidência superior nas mulheres comparativamente aos homens. Estima-se que cerca de 2,8 milhões de pessoas, ou seja, um em cada 3 mil habitantes a nível mundial sofram de esclerose múltipla.(1) É uma doença atualmente sem cura, pelo que o tratamento assenta fundamentalmente no alívio sintomático, prevenção de episódios sintomáticos (surtos) ou diminuição da sua frequência e atraso da sua progressão. Neste trabalho são abordados, principalmente, os tratamentos com medicamentos modificadores da doença que têm como objetivo a modificação do curso da doença através da supressão ou modulação da atividade do sistema imunitário. Embora nos últimos anos se tenha verificado um extenso desenvolvimento de novas terapêuticas, são poucas as opções para os subtipos progressivos da doença. No entanto, de entre as terapêuticas emergentes constata-se que uma boa parte se foca na promoção da remielinização e da neuroprotecção, assumindo-se como promissoras para os subtipos progressivos onde predomina a neurodegeneração. Os farmacêuticos hospitalares e comunitários desempenham um papel importante na terapêutica da esclerose múltipla, pois contribuem para o alcance de melhores resultados clínicos e melhoria da qualidade de vida do doente. Posto isto, esta dissertação pretende recolher e sistematizar o conhecimento disponível sobre a fisiopatologia da esclerose múltipla, diagnóstico, e terapêutica farmacológica atualmente implementada na clínica bem como explorar as novas abordagens terapêuticas mais promissoras.Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune, and degenerative disease that affects the protective myelin layer of neurons in the central nervous system. In this disease, the transmission of nerve impulses is affected, slowed down, or does not occur, because the immune system fails to identify the myelin sheath as the body's own and degrades it. It is the most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system in young adults, being mostly diagnosed between 20 and 40 years of age and has a higher incidence in women than in men. It is estimated that around 2,8 million people, or one in every 3 thousand inhabitants worldwide, suffer from multiple sclerosis. It is a disease that is currently incurable, so the treatment is fundamentally based on symptomatic relief, prevention of symptomatic episodes (relapses) or reduction in its frequency and delay in its progression. In this work, treatments with disease-modifying drugs that aim to modify the course of the disease by suppressing or modulating the activity of the immune system are discussed. Even though in the last few years it has been an extensive development of new therapies, there are still few options for the progressive subtypes of the disease. However, amongst the emerging therapies, , it is found that a significative part of them focus on promoting remyelination and neuroprotection, assuming themselves as a promising approach for the progressive subtypes of the disease where neurodegeneration is predominant. Hospital and community pharmacists play an important role in the multiple sclerosis therapy as they contribute to achieving better clinical outcomes and improving the patient's quality of life. Thus, this dissertation intends to collect and systematize the available knowledge about multiple sclerosis pathophysiology, diagnosis, and pharmacological therapeutics currently implemented in the clinic, as well as to explore the most promising new therapeutic approaches. Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, pathophysiology, diagnosis, disease-modifying drugs, emerging therapy, pharmacist’s rol

Managing the trade-off between conservation and exploitation of wetland services for economic well-being : the case of the Limpopo wetland in southern Africa

This study had two main objectives. The first objective was to determine the factors that influence rural households’ labour allocation and supply decisions for competing livelihood activities, including wetland activities. The second objective was to: develop an ecological-economic model establishing the linkages between the economic and ecological components in a wetland system and apply the model to evaluate the impacts of alternative wetland management and policy regimes on wetland functioning; and supply ecosystem services and economic well-being. To achieve the first objective an agricultural household framework was used. The reduced form labour use and supply equations for wetland products and agricultural grain, derived from optimising the agricultural household model, were estimated jointly using a seemingly unrelated regression model. The model was fitted to data collected from a survey of 143 households in a wetland system in the Limpopo basin of South Africa. Results showed that poor households, most of whom are female-headed households, have less capacity to participate in off-farm employment and rely heavily on farm and wetland activities for their livelihood. This implies that environmental protection policies that limit access to the wetland resources will deepen poverty as the poor will suffer more from deprivation of resources, which play a key role as a livelihoods safety net for the poor. This suggests that in order to enhance the sustainable management of wetlands there is need to identify and promote local level wetland management practices that allow the poor to use wetlands to enhance their economic well-being with minimum adverse effects on wetland ecological conditions instead of adopting strict wetland protection measures. In addition, there is also a need to broaden the opportunities for the poor to diversify into off-farm livelihood activities. This minimises the risks of income fluctuations associated with farm and natural resource-base livelihood sources and therefore provides the necessary positive incentives for wetland conservation and sustainable use. Better access to education is an important instrument for enhancing the poor’s ability to diversify into off-farm livelihood options. These results suggest that wetland conservation and sustainable use has to be integrated with the broader rural poverty reduction initiatives such as: improved access to education; investment in irrigation infrastructure; and improving access to markets. Results also indicate that a household’s exogenous income and wealth status (asset endowment) enhance farm production whilst reducing dependence on wetland products for livelihood. The government should pursue policy measures that reduce rural household liquidity constraints and enhance investment in productive assets (e.g. improving rural household access to credit and off-farm income opportunities) to boost farm production and enhance wetland conservation and sustainable use. To achieve the second objective the study developed a dynamic ecological-economic model. The model is based on the system dynamics framework to capture the multiple interactions and feedback effects between ecological and economic systems. The application of the model in simulating policy scenarios suggests that wetland ecosystem services (crop production and natural resource harvesting) are interlinked with trade-offs involved through their competition for labour, water and land resources. Policy scenario simulation results showed that diversifying livelihoods out of agriculture simultaneously improves economic well-being and enhances wetland conservation. Pure conservation strategies impose significant losses in the economic welfare of the local population unless supported by diversification of livelihood sources. The simulation results also show that the development of a competitive marketing system for harvested biomass products increases returns to wetland biomass products relative to that of wetland grain and it reduces conversion of wetlands to agriculture. Simulation of the predicted reduction in annual precipitation due to climate change in southern Africa showed that climate change is likely to accelerate the conversion of wetlands to agriculture, confirming the important role wetlands play in managing climate variability in smallholder agricultural systems. Government policies that support livelihood diversification into off-farm livelihood opportunities and improve the capacity of the rural poor to adapt to climate change, especially droughts, are critical for wetland conservation and sustainable use.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Developmentunrestricte

Avaliação da expectativa e da satisfação dos visitantes da Ilha da Berlenga

As áreas protegidas têm vindo a desempenhar um papel muito importante na conservação da natureza, que se encontra cada vez mais ameaçada devido, maioritariamente à ação do Homem. A Reserva Natural das Berlengas abriga importantes valores naturais, ecológicos e paisagísticos. No entanto, a visitação sazonal e as atividades recreativas que são realizadas na Ilha da Berlenga constituem impactos na conservação deste ecossistema, podendo colocar em causa os objetivos definidos para esta reserva natural. Ao longo dos anos tem-se assistido a um crescente aumento do número de visitantes na Ilha da Berlenga, o que pode pressionar as infraestruturas e serviços existentes. Assim, é importante perceber se a satisfação com as condições da visita à ilha corresponde ou ultrapassa a expectativa, assim como também é importante entender quais os elementos que podem ser alvos de melhorias de forma a aumentar a satisfação do turismo na Ilha das Berlengas, sem contudo colocar em risco a reserva natural. Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a relação entre a expectativa e a satisfação dos visitantes da Ilha da Berlenga, bem como identificar os elementos que podem contribuir para uma maior qualidade da visita. Para avaliar as expectativas, o inquérito foi aplicado aos turistas que se encontravam no cais de embarque, imediatamente antes da partida para a Ilha da Berlenga. De forma similar, para avaliar a satisfação, os mesmos indivíduos foram inquiridos mesmo antes de regressar a terra. Desta forma, foi possível quantificar a expectativa e a motivação daqueles que fazem a visita à Ilha da Berlenga, bem como identificar quais os aspetos em que os visitantes saíam satisfeitos/insatisfeitos. Através dos resultados foi possível perceber que tanto a expectativa como a satisfação foram avaliadas positivamente, mas os visitantes acabavam por sair satisfeitos em comparação à expectativa relativamente à maior parte dos itens avaliados. O único item onde os visitantes avaliaram a expectativa melhor que a satisfação foi no número de visitantes presentes na ilha. Com este trabalho foi possível caracterizar o perfil dos visitantes da Ilha da Berlenga, assim como identificar os elementos que contribuem para a satisfação da experiência e os que poderão vir eventualmente a ser melhorados. Desta forma, será possível aconselhar a implementação de atividades e infraestruturas e o melhoramento das já existentes que consigam ir ao encontro das sugestões expressas pelos visitantes inquiridos, assim como, atividades que potenciem benefícios para a natureza