Cassava Superelongation Disease in the Caribbean

An important economic constraint to the growing cassava industry in the Caribbean islands is the disease caused by the fungal pathogen Sphaceloma manihoticola, synonym Elsinoë brasilensis (Bitancourt & Jenk). One hundred percent incidence has been recently observed on some farms in the Caribbean islands. The fluctuation in individual farming practices such as lack of fertilizing and irrigation schemes may play a role in the level of health and disease resistance of the plants, which in turn may affect the severity of the disease and levels of incidence. Severe elongation may be seen of the internodes in mature plants but primary symptoms include small yellow leaf spots, leaf curling, stem and petiole scab-like lesions and defoliation. The use of disease-free planting material, fungicide pre-treatment of nodal stem cuttings and germplasm maintenance of in-vitro stocks of high performing varieties is suggested. However, new molecular tools for disease diagnosis and analysis of the pathogen population dynamics are required to adequately manage the disease in the region

“Homenaje a los antepasados” Carnaval en Notting Hill ( Londres ) y la formación de identidades múltiples en la diáspora Afro-caribeña

Esta ponencia examina la celebración del carnaval en la ciudad cosmopolita de Notting Hill, Londres. Se van a explorar específicamente los temas del desarrollo de comunidades diaspóricas y la formación de identidades múltiples; también va a explicar cómo las influyen los procesos de globalización

Father Involvement, Dating Violence, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among a National Sample of Adolescent Females

This study explored the relationship between the involvement of biological fathers and the sexual risk behaviors and dating violence/victimization and/ or perpetration of adolescent girls. The data used in this cross-sectional analysis were drawn from the second wave of the public release of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Only adolescents who reported their biological sex as female, reported a history of being sexually active, and reported having a romantic partner in the previous 18 months were selected (N = 879). This study focused on overall positive sexual behaviors and use of contraception. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to best utilize capacity for dealing with latent variables and to test for possible mediation effects. The analysis demonstrated main effects of dating violence and father involvement on sexual behaviors. The more dating violence an adolescent girl experiences, the less likely she is to engage in healthy sexual behaviors. Likewise, the more involvement the biological father has in a woman’s life, the more likely she is to engage in positive sexual behaviors. Perceived father involvement was associated with risky sexual behaviors among sexually experienced adolescent girls. Dating violence was directly associated with risky sexual behaviors among sexually experienced adolescent girls, particularly non-White girls. Future studies should use longitudinal models and test theoretically and empirically guided potential mediators. Future studies should also consider father figures such as step-fathers and grandfathers in addition to biological fathers, as having a father figure may be a stronger predictor of adolescent sexual behaviors than having a biological connection

Denying humanness to victims: How gang members justify violent behavior

The high prevalence of violent offending amongst gang-involved youth has been established in the literature. Yet the underlying psychological mechanisms that enable youth to engage in such acts of violence remain unclear. 189 young people were recruited from areas in London, UK, known for their gang activity. We found that gang members, in comparison to non-gang youth, described the groups they belong to as having recognized leaders, specific rules and codes, initiation rituals, and special clothing. Gang members were also more likely than non-gang youth to engage in violent behavior and endorse moral disengagement strategies (i.e., moral justification, euphemistic language, advantageous comparison, displacement of responsibility, attribution of blame, and dehumanization). Finally, we found that dehumanizing victims partially mediated the relationship between gang membership and violent behavior. These findings highlight the effects of groups at the individual level and an underlying psychological mechanism that explains, in part, how gang members engage in violence

Promotion of access to essential medicines for Non-Communicable Diseases: Practical implications of the UN Political Declaration

Access to medicines and vaccines to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is unacceptably low worldwide. In the 2011 UN political declaration on the prevention and control of NCDs, heads of government made several commitments related to access to essential medicines, technologies, and vaccines for such diseases. 30 years of experience with policies for essential medicines and 10 years of scaling up of HIV treatment have provided the knowledge needed to address barriers to long-term effective treatment and prevention of NCDs. More medicines can be acquired within existing budgets with efficient selection, procurement, and use of generic medicines. Furthermore, low-income and middle-income countries need to increase mobilisation of domestic resources to cater for the many patients with NCDs who do not have access to treatment. Existing initiatives for HIV treatment offer useful lessons that can enhance access to pharmaceutical management of NCDs and improve adherence to long-term treatment of chronic illness; policy makers should also address unacceptable inequities in access to controlled opioid analgesics. In addition to off-patent medicines, governments can promote access to new and future on-patent medicinal products through coherent and equitable health and trade policies, particularly those for intellectual property. Frequent conflicts of interest need to be identified and managed, and indicators and targets for access to NCD medicines should be used to monitor progress. Only with these approaches can a difference be made to the lives of hundreds of millions of current and future patients with NCDs

Predicting the binding preference of transcription factors to individual DNA k-mers

Motivation: Recognition of specific DNA sequences is a central mechanism by which transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression. Many TF-binding preferences, however, are unknown or poorly characterized, in part due to the difficulty associated with determining their specificity experimentally, and an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms governing sequence specificity. New techniques that estimate the affinity of TFs to all possible k-mers provide a new opportunity to study DNA–protein interaction mechanisms, and may facilitate inference of binding preferences for members of a given TF family when such information is available for other family members. Results: We employed a new dataset consisting of the relative preferences of mouse homeodomains for all eight-base DNA sequences in order to ask how well we can predict the binding profiles of homeodomains when only their protein sequences are given. We evaluated a panel of standard statistical inference techniques, as well as variations of the protein features considered. Nearest neighbour among functionally important residues emerged among the most effective methods. Our results underscore the complexity of TF–DNA recognition, and suggest a rational approach for future analyses of TF families. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.Canadian Institutes of Health ResearchOntario Research FundNational Institutes of Health (U.S.)National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.

An endoscopic modification of the simultaneous ‘above and below’ approach to large pituitary adenomas

Surgical resections of large-to-giant pituitary adenomas (PA) are technically challenging procedures. Tumors with a fibrous consistency or ‘hour-glass’ configurations are particularly difficult to remove completely and safely through the transsphenoidal route alone. Although the transcranial approach can facilitate the removal of a large suprasellar mass, it may be associated with significant bleeding within the intradural space. A simultaneous microscopic transcranial and transsphenoidal approach has been described as an alternative surgical strategy. We have further modified this ‘above and below’ approach by adopting endoscopic techniques for the transsphenoidal part of the procedure. This modified approach has the advantages of requiring only one operating microscope, and permitting freer maneuvers and easier orientation for both surgical teams. We present two patients successfully treated with this approach. Complete tumor removal was achieved and both patients achieved satisfactory functional recovery

Confronting gang membership and youth violence: Intervention challenges and potential futures

Evaluation of approaches and psychological obstacles to tackling youth gang involvement