Efecto de las características socioeconómicas de los agricultores de invernaderos en la producción de verduras en el estado de Ogun, Nigeria

In Nigeria, vegetable production is adversely affected by climate change, pest and diseases attack and unfavourably environmental condition which have made resourceful farmers and government to embark on vegetable production under greenhouse technology. Hence, this study was conducted to assess socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology for sustainable vegetable production in Ogun State, Nigeria. The specific objective is to identify major limitations to the practice of greenhouse vegetable in the study area. One hundred and twenty (120) vegetable farmers were purposively selected for this study. Data were collected using well-structured interview guide and analyzed with descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis. The results showed that the respondents were 32 – 40 years of age; predominantly male (90.8%), and had formal education (28.3%). Socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology includes increased yield (94.3%), available supplies all the year round (85.7%), and higher income generation (75.7%). Paradoxically, greenhouse vegetable production has not been widely spread due to difficult to establish it by individuals and high cost of construction (98.3%). So also, chi-square results showed that significant relationship existed between the major limitations and socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology at p < 0.05 level of significance. This study recommends that cost of raw materials for constructing greenhouse should be subsidized by the Federal Government of Nigeria while wealthy individuals, farmers’ groups and cooperative societies should invest in greenhouse technology for large scale vegetable farmingEn Nigeria, la producción de hortalizas se ve afectada negativamente por el cambio climático, el ataque de plagas y enfermedades y las condiciones ambientales desfavorables que han hecho que los agricultores y el gobierno ingeniosos se embarquen en la producción de hortalizas con tecnología de invernadero. Por lo tanto, este estudio se realizó para evaluar la importancia socioeconómica de la tecnología de efecto invernadero para la producción sostenible de hortalizas en el estado de Ogun, Nigeria. El objetivo específico es identificar las principales limitaciones a la práctica de hortalizas de invernadero en el área de estudio. Ciento veinte (120) productores de hortalizas fueron seleccionados deliberadamente para este estudio. Los datos se recopilaron mediante una guía de entrevista bien estructurada y se analizaron con estadísticas descriptivas y análisis de chi-cuadrado. Los resultados mostraron que los encuestados tenían entre 32 y 40 años de edad; predominantemente masculino (90.8%), y tenía educación formal (28.3%). La importancia socioeconómica de la tecnología de efecto invernadero incluye un mayor rendimiento (94.3%), suministros disponibles durante todo el año (85.7%), y mayor generación de ingresos (75.7%). Paradójicamente, la producción de hortalizas de invernadero no se ha extendido ampliamente debido a la dificultad de establecerla por parte de los individuos y el alto costo de construcción (98.3%). Así también, los resultados de chi-cuadrado mostraron que existía una relación significativa entre las principales limitaciones y la importancia socioeconómica de la tecnología de invernadero con un nivel de significancia p<0.05. Este estudio recomienda que el gobierno federal de Nigeria subsidie el costo de las materias primas para la construcción del invernadero, mientras que las personas adineradas, los grupos de agricultores y las sociedades cooperativas deberían invertir en tecnología de invernadero para el cultivo de hortalizas a gran escal

COVID-19 and emerging viral infections: The case for interferon lambda

With the first reports on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the scientific community working in the field of type III IFNs (IFN-λ) realized that this class of IFNs could play an important role in this and other emerging viral infections. In this Viewpoint, we present our opinion on the benefits and potential limitations of using IFN-λ to prevent, limit, and treat these dangerous viral infections

HS1, a Lyn Kinase Substrate, Is Abnormally Expressed in B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Correlates with Response to Fludarabine-Based Regimen

In B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL) kinase Lyn is overexpressed, active, abnormally distributed, and part of a cytosolic complex involving hematopoietic lineage cell-specific protein 1 (HS1). These aberrant properties of Lyn could partially explain leukemic cells’ defective apoptosis, directly or through its substrates, for example, HS1 that has been associated to apoptosis in different cell types. To verify the hypothesis of HS1 involvement in Lyn-mediated leukemic cell survival, we investigated HS1 protein in 71 untreated B-CLL patients and 26 healthy controls. We found HS1 overexpressed in leukemic as compared to normal B lymphocytes (1.38±0.54 vs 0.86±0.29, p<0.01), and when HS1 levels were correlated to clinical parameters we found a higher expression of HS1 in poor-prognosis patients. Moreover, HS1 levels significantly decreased in ex vivo leukemic cells of patients responding to a fludarabine-containing regimen. We also observed that HS1 is partially localized in the nucleus of neoplastic B cells. All these data add new information on HS1 study, hypothesizing a pivotal role of HS1 in Lyn-mediated modulation of leukemic cells’ survival and focusing, one more time, the attention on the BCR-Lyn axis as a putative target for new therapeutic strategies in this disorder

IFN-λ3, not IFN-λ4, likely mediates IFNL3-IFNL4 haplotype-dependent hepatic inflammation and fibrosis

Genetic variation in the IFNL3-IFNL4 (interferon-λ3-interferon-λ4) region is associated with hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Whether IFN-λ3 or IFN-λ4 protein drives this association is not known. We demonstrate that hepatic inflammation, fibrosis stage, fibrosis progression rate, hepatic infiltration of immune cells, IFN-λ3 expression, and serum sCD163 levels (a marker of activated macrophages) are greater in individuals with the IFNL3-IFNL4 risk haplotype that does not produce IFN-λ4, but produces IFN-λ3. No difference in these features was observed according to genotype at rs117648444, which encodes a substitution at position 70 of the IFN-λ4 protein and reduces IFN-λ4 activity, or between patients encoding functionally defective IFN-λ4 (IFN-λ4-Ser70) and those encoding fully active IFN-λ4-Pro70. The two proposed functional variants (rs368234815 and rs4803217) were not superior to the discovery SNP rs12979860 with respect to liver inflammation or fibrosis phenotype. IFN-λ3 rather than IFN-λ4 likely mediates IFNL3-IFNL4 haplotype-dependent hepatic inflammation and fibrosis

Human leukocyte antigen-DQA1*04:01 and rs2040406 variants are associated with elevated risk of childhood Burkitt lymphoma

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is responsible for many childhood cancers in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is linked to recurrent or chronic infection by Epstein-Barr virus or Plasmodium falciparum. However, whether human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms, which regulate immune response, are associated with BL has not been well investigated, which limits our understanding of BL etiology. Here we investigate this association among 4,645 children aged 0-15 years, 800 with BL, enrolled in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi. HLA alleles are imputed with accuracy >90% for HLA class I and 85-89% for class II alleles. BL risk is elevated with HLA-DQA1*04:01 (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32-1.97, P = 3.71 × 10-6), with rs2040406(G) in HLA-DQA1 region (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.26-1.63, P = 4.62 × 10-8), and with amino acid Gln at position 53 versus other variants in HLA-DQA1 (OR = 1.36, P = 2.06 × 10-6). The associations with HLA-DQA1*04:01 (OR = 1.29, P = 0.03) and rs2040406(G) (OR = 1.68, P = 0.019) persist in mutually adjusted models. The higher risk rs2040406(G) variant for BL is associated with decreased HLA-DQB1 expression in eQTLs in EBV transformed lymphocytes. Our results support the role of HLA variation in the etiology of BL and suggest that a promising area of research might be understanding the link between HLA variation and EBV control

Effect of Socio-economic Characteristics of Greenhouse Farmers on Vegetable Production in Ogun State, Nigeria

In Nigeria, vegetable production is adversely affected by climate change, pest and diseases attack and unfavourably environmental condition which have made resourceful farmers and government to embark on vegetable production under greenhouse technology. Hence, this study was conducted to assess socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology for sustainable vegetable production in Ogun State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty (120) vegetable farmers were purposively selected for this study while descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were used for the data analysis. The results showed that the respondents were 32 – 40 years of age; predominantly male (90.8%), and had formal education (28.3%). Socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology includes increased yield (94.3%), available supplies all the year round (85.7%), cluster marketing formation (72.9%), higher income generation (75.7%), and rural development (91.4%). Paradoxically, greenhouse vegetable production has not been widely spread due to difficult to establish it by individuals and high cost of construction (98.3%); it is too expensive for the low peasant vegetable farmers (86.7%); and awareness of greenhouse vegetable is low in the public markets (85.8%). So also, chi-square results showed that significant relationship existed between the major limitations and socio-economic importance of greenhouse technology at p < 0.05 level of significance. This study recommends that cost of raw materials for constructing greenhouse should be subsidized by the Federal Government of Nigeria while wealthy individuals, farmers' groups and cooperative societies should invest in greenhouse technology for large scale vegetable farming