Building the capacity of small scale cocoa farmers to conduct on-farm fermentation

This policy brief highlights currently used cocoa fermentation methods along with policy recommendations for farm level fermentation. The project aims to aid fermentation through design of a single fermentation box which can handle 60 to 100kg of cocoa and has shown potential to reduce fermentation time from six to four days with 99% fermented beans. The majority of farmers have less than a hectare of land and produce approximately 70kg of cocoa bean pulp in two weeks. For small-scale farmers to benefit from the cocoa enterprise, there is need to add value to the beans through fermentation

Design of Z-Pinch and Dense Plasma Focus Powered Vehicles

Z-pinch and Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) are two promising techniques for bringing fusion power to the field of in-space propulsion. A design team comprising of engineers and scientists from UAHuntsville, NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Wisconsin developed concept vehicles for a crewed round trip mission to Mars and an interstellar precursor mission. Outlined in this paper are vehicle concepts, complete with conceptual analysis of the mission profile, operations, structural and thermal analysis and power/avionics design. Additionally engineering design of the thruster itself is included. The design efforts adds greatly to the fidelity of estimates for power density (alpha) and overall performance for these thruster concept

Spillover of sea scallops from rotational closures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (United States)

We examined evidence for larval spillover (increased recruitment outside the closures) of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) due to rotational closures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight using a 40-year fisheries survey time series and a larval transport model. Since the first closure of the Hudson Canyon South (HCS) area in 1998, mean recruitment in the two areas directly down-current from this closure, Elephant Trunk (ET) and Delmarva (DMV), increased significantly by factors of about 7 and 2, respectively. Stock–recruit plots indicate that low biomasses in HCS were associated with reduced mean recruitment in ET and DMV. Simulations indicate that larvae spawned in HCS often settle in the two downstream areas and that model-estimated settlement (based on gonad biomass in HCS and year-specific larval transport between the areas) is correlated with observed recruitment. This study gives strong evidence that the rotational closure of HCS has induced increased recruitment in down-current areas

Continuous glucose monitoring metrics and pregnancy outcomes in insulin-treated diabetes : A post-hoc analysis of the GlucoMOMS trial

Funding Information: BWM is supported by a NHMRC investigatorgrant (GNT1176437) and BWM reports consultancy, travel support and research funding from Merck. All other authors declare no conflict of interest. The GlucoMOMS trial was funded by ZonMw, the Dutch Organisation for Health Research and Development, project number 80‐82310‐97‐11157. Continuous Glucose Monitors were purchased at a discount price at Medtronic®, Heerlen, The Netherlands. Neither ZonMw nor Medtronic had a role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the reports of either the original study or the current post hoc analysis. 10 Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effective differentiation of double negative thymocytes requires high fidelity replication of mitochondrial DNA in an age dependent manner

One of the most proliferative periods for T cells occurs during their development in the thymus. Increased DNA replication can result in increased DNA mutations in the nuclear genome, but also in mitochondrial genomes. A high frequency of mitochondrial DNA mutations can lead to abnormal mitochondrial function and have negative implications on human health. Furthermore, aging is accompanied by an increase in such mutations through oxidative damage and replication errors. Increased mitochondrial DNA mutations cause loss of mitochondrial protein function, and decrease energy production, substrates, and metabolites. Here we have evaluated the effect of increased mitochondrial DNA mutations on T cell development in the thymus. Using mice carrying a mutant mitochondrial DNA polymerase γ (PolG) that causes increased mitochondrial DNA mutations, we show that high fidelity replication of mitochondrial DNA is pivotal for proper T cell development. Reducing the fidelity of mitochondrial DNA replication results in a premature age-dependent reduction in the total number of CD4/CD8 double negative and double positive thymocytes. Analysis of mitochondrial density in thymocyte subpopulations suggests that this may be due to reduced proliferation in specific double negative stages. Taken together, this work suggests that T cell development is regulated by the ability of mitochondria to faithfully replicate their DNA

Predicting Long-term Disease-free Survival after Resection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma:A Nationwide Cohort Study

Objective: To develop a prediction model for long-term (≥5 years) disease-free survival (DFS) after the resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Background: Despite high recurrence rates, 10% of patients have long-term DFS after PDAC resection. A model to predict long-term DFS may aid individualized prognostication and shared decision-making. Methods: This nationwide cohort study included all consecutive patients who underwent PDAC resection in the Netherlands (2014-2016). The best-performing prognostic model was selected by Cox-proportional hazard analysis and Akaike's Information Criterion, presented by hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Internal validation was performed, and discrimination and calibration indices were assessed. Results: In all, 836 patients with a median follow-up of 67 months (interquartile range 51-79) were analyzed. Long-term DFS was seen in 118 patients (14%). Factors predictive of long-term DFS were low preoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (logarithmic; HR 1.21; 95% CI 1.10-1.32), no vascular resection (HR 1.33; 95% CI 1.12-1.58), T1 or T2 tumor stage (HR 1.52; 95% CI 1.14-2.04, and HR 1.17; 95% CI 0.98-1.39, respectively), well/moderate tumor differentiation (HR 1.44; 95% CI 1.22-1.68), absence of perineural and lymphovascular invasion (HR 1.42; 95% CI 1.11-1.81 and HR 1.14; 95% CI 0.96-1.36, respectively), N0 or N1 nodal status (HR 1.92; 95% CI 1.54-2.40, and HR 1.33; 95% CI 1.11-1.60, respectively), R0 resection margin status (HR 1.25; 95% CI 1.07-1.46), no major complications (HR 1.14; 95% CI 0.97-1.35) and adjuvant chemotherapy (HR 1.74; 95% CI 1.47-2.06). Moderate performance (concordance index 0.68) with adequate calibration (slope 0.99) was achieved. Conclusions: The developed prediction model, readily available at www.pancreascalculator.com, can be used to estimate the probability of long-term DFS after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.</p

Charmonium in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma

We present a model of charmonium as two heavy quarks propagating classically in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma. The quarks interact via a static, color-dependent potential and also suffer collisions with the plasma particles. We calculate the radiation width of the color octet state (for fixed, classical $q\bar q$ separation) and find that it is long-lived provided a finite gluon mass is used to provide a threshold energy.Comment: 7 pages in plain LaTeX + 3 figures packed with uufiles; slight changes to comply with referees, added one referenc

Perturbations in myocardial perfusion and oxygen balance in swine with multiple risk factors: a novel model of ischemia and no obstructive coronary artery disease

Comorbidities of ischemic heart disease, including diabetes mellitus (DM), hypercholesterolemia (HC) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), are associated with coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD). Increasing evidence suggests that CMD may contribute to myocardial 'Ischemia and No Obstructive Coronary Artery disease' (INOCA). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that CMD results in perturbations in myocardial perfusion and oxygen delivery using a novel swine model with multiple comorbidities. DM (streptozotocin), HC (high-fat diet) and CKD (renal embolization) were induced in 10 female swine (DM + HC + CKD), while 12 healthy female swine on a normal diet served as controls (Normal). After 5 months, at a time when coronary atherosclerosis was still negligible, myocardial perfusion, metabolism, and function were studied at rest and during treadmill exercise. DM + HC + CKD animals showed hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and impaired kidney function. During exercise, DM + HC + CKD swine demonstrated perturbations in myocardial blood flow and oxygen delivery, necessitating a higher myocardial oxygen extraction-achieved despite reduced capillary density-resulting in lower coronary venous oxygen levels. Moreover, myocardial efficiency was lower, requiring higher oxygen consumption for a given level of myocardial work. These perturbations in myocardial oxygen balance were associated with lower myocardial lactate consumption, stroke volume, and LVdP/dtmax, suggestive of myocardial ischemia and dysfunction. Further analyses showed a reduction in adenosine-recruitable coronary flow reserve, but this was exclusively the result of an increase in basal coronary blood flow, while maximal coronary flow per gram of myocardium was maintained; the latter was consistent with the unchanged arteriolar wall/lumen ratio, arteriolar density and peri-arteriolar collagen content. However, isolated small arteries displayed selective blunting of endothelium-dependent vasodilation in response to bradykinin in DM + HC + CKD swine, suggesting that changes in coronary microvascular function rather than in structure contributed to the perturbations in myocardial oxygen delivery. In conclusion, common comorbidities in swine result in CMD, in the absence of appreciable atherosclerosis, which is severe enough to produce perturbations in myocardial oxygen balance, particularly during exercise, resembling key features of INOCA

Proper genomic profiling of (BRCA1-mutated) basal-like breast carcinomas requires prior removal of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes

BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas may have distinct biological features, suggesting the involvement of specific oncogenic pathways in tumor development. The identification of genomic aberrations characteristic for BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas could lead to a better understanding of BRCA1-associated oncogenic events and could prove valuable in clinical testing for BRCA1-involvement in patients. Methods: For this purpose, genomic and gene expression profiles of basal-like BRCA1-mutated breast tumors (n=27) were compared with basal-like familial BRCAX (non-. BRCA1/. 2/. CHEK2*1100delC) tumors (n=14) in a familial cohort of 120 breast carcinomas. Results: Genome wide copy number profiles of the BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas in our data appeared heterogeneous. Gene expression analyses identifi

Demonstration of Cross-Protective Vaccine Immunity against an Emerging Pathogenic Ebolavirus Species

A major challenge in developing vaccines for emerging pathogens is their continued evolution and ability to escape human immunity. Therefore, an important goal of vaccine research is to advance vaccine candidates with sufficient breadth to respond to new outbreaks of previously undetected viruses. Ebolavirus (EBOV) vaccines have demonstrated protection against EBOV infection in nonhuman primates (NHP) and show promise in human clinical trials but immune protection occurs only with vaccines whose antigens are matched to the infectious challenge species. A 2007 hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Uganda demonstrated the existence of a new EBOV species, Bundibugyo (BEBOV), that differed from viruses covered by current vaccine candidates by up to 43% in genome sequence. To address the question of whether cross-protective immunity can be generated against this novel species, cynomolgus macaques were immunized with DNA/rAd5 vaccines expressing ZEBOV and SEBOV glycoprotein (GP) prior to lethal challenge with BEBOV. Vaccinated subjects developed robust, antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses against the GP from ZEBOV as well as cellular immunity against BEBOV GP, and immunized macaques were uniformly protected against lethal challenge with BEBOV. This report provides the first demonstration of vaccine-induced protective immunity against challenge with a heterologous EBOV species, and shows that Ebola vaccines capable of eliciting potent cellular immunity may provide the best strategy for eliciting cross-protection against newly emerging heterologous EBOV species