Efficacy of Wolbachia-Infected Mosquito Deployments for the Control of Dengue.

BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with the wMel strain of Wolbachia pipientis are less susceptible than wild-type A. aegypti to dengue virus infection. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial involving releases of wMel-infected A. aegypti mosquitoes for the control of dengue in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. We randomly assigned 12 geographic clusters to receive deployments of wMel-infected A. aegypti (intervention clusters) and 12 clusters to receive no deployments (control clusters). All clusters practiced local mosquito-control measures as usual. A test-negative design was used to assess the efficacy of the intervention. Patients with acute undifferentiated fever who presented to local primary care clinics and were 3 to 45 years of age were recruited. Laboratory testing was used to identify participants who had virologically confirmed dengue (VCD) and those who were test-negative controls. The primary end point was symptomatic VCD of any severity caused by any dengue virus serotype. RESULTS: After successful introgression of wMel into the intervention clusters, 8144 participants were enrolled; 3721 lived in intervention clusters, and 4423 lived in control clusters. In the intention-to-treat analysis, VCD occurred in 67 of 2905 participants (2.3%) in the intervention clusters and in 318 of 3401 (9.4%) in the control clusters (aggregate odds ratio for VCD, 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.35; P = 0.004). The protective efficacy of the intervention was 77.1% (95% CI, 65.3 to 84.9) and was similar against the four dengue virus serotypes. The incidence of hospitalization for VCD was lower among participants who lived in intervention clusters (13 of 2905 participants [0.4%]) than among those who lived in control clusters (102 of 3401 [3.0%]) (protective efficacy, 86.2%; 95% CI, 66.2 to 94.3). CONCLUSIONS: Introgression of wMel into A. aegypti populations was effective in reducing the incidence of symptomatic dengue and resulted in fewer hospitalizations for dengue among the participants. (Funded by the Tahija Foundation and others; AWED ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03055585; Indonesia Registry number, INA-A7OB6TW.)

Neuropsychological function is related to irritable bowel syndrome in women with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea

Background There is increasing evidence demonstrating the co-occurrence of primary dysmenorrhea (PD), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in women. This study aimed to investigate whether women who have symptoms of IBS in addition to PD and PMS also report more severe or frequent menstruation-associated symptoms and psychological complications compared to women with PD and PMS alone. Methods The study group included 182 female University students aged 18–25 years. IBS was diagnosed using the Rome III criteria. The severity of PMS and PD was determined using a 10-point visual analog scale and PSST (Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool), respectively. Neuropsychological functions including cognitive function, depression score, anxiety score, stress, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, quality of life and personality were assessed using standard questionnaires. Results Of the 182 young females, 31 (17.0%) had IBS. Average days of bleeding during the menstrual cycle and mean pain severity on the PSST scale were significantly greater in the group with IBS compared to the non-IBS group (p < 0.01). The non-IBS individuals scored more favorably than the women with IBS with respect to severity of depression, insomnia, daytime sleepiness (p < 0.05). The PSST scores were significantly correlated with scores for depression (r = 0.29; p < 0.001), anxiety (r = 0.28; p < 0.001), stress (r = 0.32; p < 0.001), insomnia (r = 0.34; p < 0.001) and daytime sleepiness (r = 0.31; p < 0.001); while, they were negatively correlated with cognitive abilities (r = − 0.20; p = 0.006) and quality of life (r = − 0.42; p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that the PSST scores were possibly significant factors in determining the scores for depression, anxiety, stress, quality of life, insomnia and daytime sleepiness (p < 0.05). Conclusion IBS is related to psychological comorbidities, in particular depression, sleep problems and menstrual-associated disorders. IBS may exacerbate the features of PMS which should be taken into account in the management of PMS

Role of mycorrhizae in enhancing the economic revenue of water and phosphorus use efficiency in sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) plants

The water scarcity caused by climate change is a major agro-environmental issue that affects not only the amount of water available for irrigation but also impairs the nutrient absorption ability of plants. This issue is mainly resolved using microbial inoculants, which support crop productivity by increasing water and nutrient availability and uptake. This ensures the production of more sustainable and healthy food. In this study, we designed two field trials to evaluate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the growth, productivity, nutrient uptake, benefit-cost ratio, and economic return of irrigation water of sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata, cv Giza 1) under various water regimes (80%, 100%, and 120% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and phosphorous (P) rates at 50%, 75% and 100% of the recommended dose). Our results indicated that the endomycorrhizae significantly enhanced the vegetative growth, yield values, water use efficiency (WUE), benefit-cost ratio, and economic return of irrigation water compared with non-inoculated plants, with 80% ETc and 75% of phosphorus rate. The fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots were 1085, 446, 367, and 93.1 g/plant, respectively. The shoot and root length and leaf numbers were 238 and 120.8 cm and 15.7 leaves/plant, respectively. For the corncob, the weight of the cob, grains, and 100 grains, grain number, and corncob diameter were 366, 446, and 205, 34.8 g/plant, 538 grains/plant, and 4.52 cm, respectively. The WUE was 3.29 Kg/m3, while the benefit-cost ratio and economic return of irrigation water were 2.384 LE/Fadden and 9.0158 LE/m3, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that AMF positively influenced the vegetative growth and yield measurements, plant WUE, the economic return of irrigation water, and the benefit-cost ratio under a low irrigation regime and moderate P rate