Prevalence of Giardia species in Cattle Faecal Matter in Selected Farms in Weija and Kpong Major Water Supply Heads to Accra, Ghana.

In developing countries including Ghana, giardiasis plays a major role in gastroenteritis in vertebrate. It poses health and socio-economic burden, and continues to be one of the causes of infant and calf mortality. Their infection continues to thrive in humans due to the zoonotic transmission of infected domesticated animals including cattle, dogs and cats, and their con­tinual presence in water bodies. The objective of this study was to establish their presence and evaluate the prevalence of Giardia sp. in cattle faecal matter in the environment in the Kpong and Weija communities. The Iron-haematoxylin staining techniques was used to analyze the faecal samples in order to identify Giardia sp. (Student t- test and Chi square were the statistical analyses) used for the studies. About five percent (5.3%) prevalence was obtained in both com­munities and this was significant (p> 0.05). The parasite was found to be most prevalent (9.4%) in calves less than 3 months old and this decreased with age of calf. It was also observed that Giardia plays an important role in the cause of diarrhoea in cattle. There is the need to educate people on the disease and its implication on the quality of water from the treatment plants. Keywords: Giardia sp, water, contamination, diarrhoea, infant mortality

Antiparasitic Activities of Compounds Isolated from Aspergillus fumigatus Strain Discovered in Northcentral Nigeria

This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial and Anti-infective Activity of Natural Products. The authors are grateful to the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future board for their financial support in conducting the present study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Bioactivities and extract dereplication of actinomycetales isolated from marine sponges

In the beginning of the twenty-first century, humanity faces great challenges regarding diseases and health-related quality of life. A drastic rise in bacterial antibiotic resistance, in the number of cancer patients, in the obesity epidemics and in chronic diseases due to life expectation extension are some of these challenges. The discovery of novel therapeutics is fundamental and it may come from underexplored environments, like marine habitats, and microbial origin. Actinobacteria are well-known as treasure chests for the discovery of novel natural compounds. In this study, eighteen Actinomycetales isolated from marine sponges of three Erylus genera collected in Portuguese waters were tested for bioactivities with the main goal of isolating and characterizing the responsible bioactive metabolites. The screening comprehended antimicrobial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-obesity properties. Fermentations of the selected strains were prepared using ten different culturing media. Several bioactivities against the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and the human liver cancer cell line HepG2 were obtained in small volume cultures. Screening in higher volumes showed consistent anti-fungal activity by strain Dermacoccus sp. #91-17 and Micrococcus luteus Berg02-26. Gordonia sp. Berg02-22.2 showed anti-parasitic (Trypanosoma cruzi) and anti-cancer activity against several cell lines (melanoma A2058, liver HepG2, colon HT29, breast MCF7 and pancreatic MiaPaca). For the anti-obesity assay, Microbacterium foliorum #91-29 and #91-40 induced lipid reduction on the larvae of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Dereplication of the extracts from several bacteria showed the existence of a variety of secondary metabolites, with some undiscovered molecules. This work showed that Actinomycetales are indeed good candidates for drug discovery.This research was partially supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020, the EU H2020-TWINN-2015, BLUEandGREEN – Boosting scientific excellence and innovation capacity in biorefineries based on marine resources (Project No. 692419) and the European ERA-NET Marine Biotechnology project CYANOBESITY (ERA-MBT/0001/2015), financed by national funds through FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal). Ralph Urbatzka was supported by a FCT postdoc grant (SFRH/BPD/112287/2015). The MEDINA authors disclosed the receipt of financial support from Fundación MEDINA, a public-private partnership of Merck Sharp & Dohme de España S.A./Universidad de Granada/Junta de Andalucía. Moreover, some of the equipment used in this work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the European Union (Grant INP-2011-0016-PCT-010000-ACT6)

Synthesis and biological evaluation of N-cyanoalkyl-, Naminoalkyl-, and N-guanidinoalkyl-substituted 4-aminoquinoline derivatives as potent, selective, brain permeable antitrypanosomal agents

YesCurrent drugs against human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) suffer from several serious drawbacks. The search for novel, effective, brain permeable, safe, and inexpensive antitrypanosomal compounds is therefore an urgent need. We have recently reported that the 4-aminoquinoline derivative huprine Y, developed in our group as an anticholinesterasic agent, exhibits a submicromolar potency against Trypanosoma brucei and that its homo- and hetero-dimerization can result in to up to three-fold increased potency and selectivity. As an alternative strategy towards more potent smaller molecule anti-HAT agents, we have explored the introduction of ω-cyanoalkyl, ω-aminoalkyl, or ω-guanidinoalkyl chains at the primary amino group of huprine or the simplified 4-aminoquinoline analogue tacrine. Here, we describe the evaluation of a small in-house library and a second generation of newly synthesized derivatives, which has led to the identification of 13 side chain modified 4-aminoquinoline derivatives with submicromolar potencies against T. brucei. Among these compounds, the guanidinononyltacrine analogue 15e exhibits a 5-fold increased antitrypanosomal potency, 10-fold increased selectivity, and 100-fold decreased anticholinesterasic activity relative to the parent huprine Y. Its biological profile, lower molecular weight relative to dimeric compounds, reduced lipophilicity, and ease of synthesis, make it an interesting anti-HAT lead, amenable to further optimization to eliminate its remaining anticholinesterasic activity.Wellcome Trus

Growth, Nutrition and Economy : Proceedings of the 27th Aschauer Soiree, held at Krobielowice, Poland, November 16th 2019

Twenty-three scientists met at Krobielowice, Poland to discuss the role of growth, nutrition and economy on body size. Contrasting prevailing concepts, re-analyses of studies in Indonesian and Guatemalan school children with high prevalence of stunting failed to provide evidence for an association between nutritional status and body height. Direct effects of parental education on growth that were not transmitted via nutrition were shown in Indian datasets using network analysis and novel statistical methods (St. Nicolas House Analysis) that translate correlation matrices into network graphs. Data on Polish children suggest significant impact of socioeconomic sensitivity on child growth, with no effect of maternal money satisfaction. Height and maturation tempo affect the position of a child among its peers. Correlations also exist between mood disorders and height. Secular changes in height and weight varied across decades independent of population size. Historic and recent Russian data showed that height of persons whose fathers performed manual work were on average four cm shorter than persons whose fathers were high-degree specialists. Body height, menarcheal age, and body proportions are sensitive to socioeconomic variables. Additional topics included delayed motherhood and its associations with newborn size; geographic and socioeconomic indicators related to low birth weight, prematurity and stillbirth rate; data on anthropometric history of Brazil, 1850-1950; the impact of central nervous system stimulants on the growth of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; and pituitary development and growth hormone secretion. Final discussions debated on reverse causality interfering between social position, and adolescent growth and developmental tempo.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Resilience of microbial respiration, respiratory quotient and stable isotope characteristics to soil hydrocarbon addition.

On the basis of CO2 evolution rate, O2 uptake rate, and 13C isotopic signature of respired CO2, the metabolic response to the addition of 13C labelled n-hexadecane and palmitic acid each with supplementary nitrogen was studied for two topsoils, one under continuous agricultural management and the other under beech forest. The CO2 evolution rate was immediately stimulated in the agricultural soil and the respiratory quotient (RQ) decreased from 0.8 to 0.4 mol CO2 evolution rate per mol O2 uptake rate, which was below the theoretically expected value of 0.65 and 0.70 for the degradation of n-hexadecane and palmitic acid, respectively. The microbial response was delayed in the forest soil, but developed better than in the agricultural soil throughout the subsequent 2–4 weeks. Consequently, the respiration rate returned earlier to the initial level for the beech forest soil and the δ13C of respired CO2 and RQ approached values before hydrocarbon addition. Based on the link among respiration rates, RQ and 13C–CO2 value, the added oil-analogue compounds induced a more rapid response in the agricultural soil and were degraded more completely in the forest soil. We concluded that the resilience, which we defined here as the capacity of the soil microbiota to buffer perturbance and to reorganise in response to change resulting in a more desirable system, was higher in our forest soil than for the agricultural soil

Microbial actvity and 13C/ 12C ratio as evidence of N-hexadecane and N-hexadecanoic acid biodegradation in agricultural and forest soils.

The dynamics of microbial degradation of exogenous contaminants, n-hexadecane and its primary microbial oxidized metabolite, n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid, was studied for top soils, under agricultural management and beech forest on the basis the changes in O 2 uptake, CO 2 evolution and its associated microbial and non-microbial carbon isotopic signature, the respiratory quotient (RQ) and the priming effect (PE) of infstrates. Soil microbial communities in agricultural soil responded to the n-hexadecane addition more rapidly compared to those of forest soil, with lagperiods of about 23 ± 10 and 68 ± 13 hours, respectively. Insignificant difference in the lag-period duration was detected for agricultural (t lag = 30 ± 13 h) and forest (t lag = 30 ± 14 h) soils treated with n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid. These results demonstrate that the soilmicrobiota differed inmetabolic activities for using n-hexadecane as a reductive hydrocarbon and n-hexadecanoic acid as a partly oxidized hydrocarbon. The corresponding δ 13C of respired CO 2 after the addition of the hydrocarbon contaminants to soils indicates a shift in microbial activity towards the consumption of exogenous infstrates with a more complete degradation of n-hexadecane in the agricultural soil, for which some initial contents of hydrocarbons are inherent. It was reflected in the carbon isotope signature of microbial biomass. It is supposed that the observed deviation of RQ from theoretically calculated value under microbial infstrate mineralization is determined by difference in the time (Δt i) of registration of CO 2 production and O 2 consumption. Positive priming effect (PE) of n-hexadecane and negative PE of n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid were detected in agricultural and forest soils. It is suggested that positive PE of n-hexadecane is conditioned by the induction of microbial enzymes that perform hydroxylation/oxygenation of stable SOM compounds mineralized by soil microbiota to CO 2. The microbial metabolism coupled with oxidative decarboxylation of n-hexadecanoic acid is considered as one of the most probable causes of the revealed negative PE value. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Phosphorus pools in soil after land conversion from silvopasture to arable and grassland use

Differences in soil P among silvopasture, grassland, and arable lands have been well established. Nevertheless, most of the reports compare soil properties under long-term sites. Thus, there exists little information on the effect of the conversion of silvopasture to arable or grassland use on soil P pools. The objective of the study was to determine the impact of converting silvopasture system (SP) into arable cropping and grassland system on the distribution of P pools and potential P bioavailability. We compared the following systems: SP system, SP converted to arable cropland (SP-AL), SP converted to grassland (SP-GL), and for comparative purposes, a long-term arable cropland (AL). The P fractionation was performed by a sequential extraction scheme, using acid and alkaline extractants on samples collected from the 0?10 and 10?20&#8201;cm soil layers. It was assumed that the large variations in soil-P fractionations are caused by the different management practices associated with land conversion. The results of P fractionation showed a dominance of calcium-bound P, HCl-extractable Pi constituted up to 36% of the soil total P (TP). However, the type of land use did not affect this P fraction. On the other hand, the reduction in labile-Pi and NaOH-Pi fractions observed at the SP-AL site may have led to the decline in readily available P. The soil total organic P (TPo) content was 8% and 17% lower at SP-AL compared to SP and SP-GL site, respectively. Labile organic-P (labile-Po) content was markedly higher at SP site compared to arable soils, and was &#8776; 10% of TPo. The NaOH-Po constituted the highest fraction of the organic-P pool (55%?79% of TPo) across all the study systems, and was positively correlated with TPo (p < 0.01). The study indicates that conversion of SP system in temperate regions to arable cropping with conventional tillage seems to result in the reduction of P availability compared to SP, indicating SP as an important land-use practice.201

Microbial activity and ¹³C/¹²C ratio as evidence of N-Hexadecane and N-Hexadecanoic acid biodegradation in agricultural and forest soils.

The dynamics of microbial degradation of exogenous contaminants, n-hexadecane and its primary microbial oxidized metabolite, n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid, was studied for topsoils, under agricultural management and beech forest on the basis the changes in O-2 uptake, CO2 evolution and its associated carbon isotopic signature, the respiratory quotient (RQ) and the priming effect (PE) of substrates. Soil microbial communities in agricultural soil responded to the n-hexadecane addition more rapidly compared to those of forest soil, with lag-periods of about 23 +/- 10 and 68 +/- 13 hours, respectively. Insignificant difference in the lag-period duration was detected for agricultural (t(lag) = 30 +/- 13 h) and forest (t(lag) = 30 +/- 14 h) soils treated with n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid. These results demonstrate that the soil microbiota has different metabolic activities for using n-hexadecane as a reductive hydrocarbon and n-hexadecanoic acid as a partly oxidized hydrocarbon. The corresponding delta C-13 of respired CO2 after the addition of the hydrocarbon contaminants to soils indicates a shift in microbial activity towards the consumption of exogenous substrates with a more complete degradation of n-hexadecane in the agricultural soil, for which some initial contents of hydrocarbons are inherent. It is supposed that the observed deviation of RQ from theoretically calculated value under microbial substrate mineralization is determined by difference in the time (Delta t(i)) of registration of CO2 production and O-2 consumption. Positive priming effect (PE) of n-hexadecane and negative PE of n-hexadecanoic (palmitic) acid were detected in agricultural and forest soils. It is suggested that positive PE of n-hexadecane is conditioned by the induction of microbial enzymes that perform hydroxylation/oxygenation of stable SOM compounds mineralized by soil microbiota to CO2. The microbial metabolism coupled with oxidative decarboxylation of n-hexadecanoic acid is considered as one of the most probable causes of the revealed negative PE value

Examining the Relationships Between Religiosity, Spirituality, Internalized Homonegativity, and Condom Use Among African-American Men Who Have Sex With Men

Although disproportionate HIV infection rates among African-American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) have been well-documented, less is known about reasons for the disparity. The Sexual Health in Faith Traditions (SHIFT) Study evaluated the relationships between religiosity, spirituality, internalized homonegativity, and frequency of condom use among a sample of 348 AAMSM living in the Deep South region of the United States. Participants completed a self-administered, paper-and-pencil survey. The Internalized Homonegativity Inventory (IHNI) was used to measure internalized homonegativity, the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10) to assess religiosity, and the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) to measure spirituality. Structural equation modeling was used to determine relationships between religiosity, spirituality, internalized homonegativity, and frequency of condom use for both insertive and receptive anal intercourse in the last 3 months. The mean age of participants was 28.24, and more than 20% were living with HIV. Almost half of respondents reported using condoms “Every time” they engaged in insertive (48.3%) or receptive (45.1%) anal intercourse. Structural equation models found that religiosity was positively associated with personal & moral homonegativity and negatively associated with gay affirmation, while spirituality was negatively associated with personal & moral homonegativity and positively associated with gay affirmation. There were no significant direct relationships between religiosity and condom use or spirituality and condom use; however, there were significant indirect relationships using the dimensions of internalized homonegativity as mediators. These findings suggest that religiosity and spirituality have the potential to influence AAMSM’s feelings toward their sexuality and engagement in safer sex behaviors