Understanding the Sorghum–Colletotrichum sublineola interactions for enhanced host resistance

Improving sorghum resistance is a sustainable method to reduce yield losses due to anthracnose, a devastating disease caused by Colletotrichum sublineola. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of sorghum–C. sublineola interactions would help identify biomarkers for rapid and efficient identification of novel sources for host-plant resistance improvement, understanding the pathogen virulence, and facilitating resistance breeding. Despite concerted efforts to identify resistance sources, the knowledge about sorghum–anthracnose interactions remains scanty. Hence, in this review, we presented an overview of the current knowledge on the mechanisms of sorghum-C. sublineola molecular interactions, sources of resistance for sorghum breeding, quantitative trait loci (QTL), and major (R-) resistance gene sequences as well as defense-related genes associated with anthracnose resistance. We summarized current knowledge about C. sublineola populations and its virulence. Illustration of the sorghum-C. sublineola interaction model based on the current understanding is also provided. We highlighted the importance of genomic resources of both organisms for integrated omics research to unravel the key molecular components underpinning compatible and incompatible sorghum–anthracnose interactions. Furthermore, sorghum-breeding strategy employing rapid sorghum germplasm screening, systems biology, and molecular tools is presented

Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Finchaa Sugar Estate: Public health Problem Assessment based on Clinical Records and Parasitological Surveys, Western Ethiopia

The survey of Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) in Finchaa Sugar Estate, Western Ethiopia, was conducted to investigate the prevalence and health problems of schistosomiasis with some of the risk factors. The examination was undertaken based on the analysis of retrospective clinical data from the health center and a cross-sectional parasitological examinations using Kato-thick smear slides in April-June 2012/2013. Over the period 2008 to 2013 average prevalence among suspected patients at the health centre was 30.9%. Examination of double kato-thick smear slides from a random sample of 602 individuals from most schistosomiasis affected camp 7 revealed the prevalence of 37.5%. S. mansoni infection is become a year-round public health problem in Finchaa, Sugar Estate possibly due to permanent streams, water bodies and water contact behaviors and also reduced effectiveness of current control measures. Among the 7th camps, village A (camp 7) is the most schistosomiasis affected area (37.5%) followed by Kuyisa (25%). This is attributed to the presence of permanent stream (Fekerie stream) near camp 7. The present finding shows that the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis in the more affected camp 7 of Finchaa Sugar Estate was significantly higher among males than in females and its prevalence and intensity was found to be higher among study population within the age group of 11-20 years old. This study indicates that schistosomiasis is a major health problem in Finchaa Sugar Estate with moderate prevalence. The study results will provide an additional clinical and parasitological data on the current status of S. mansoni in Finchaa Sugar Estate and could serve as a guide in designing, developing and implementing intervention strategies to mitigate morbidity due to S. mansoni especially in highly risk groups under the Ethiopian health service system.Keywords: Egg per gram; Finchaa Sugar Estate; Kato-katz; Schistosomiasis; S. mansoni; Public healt

A Decade-Long Change in the Elevational Distribution of Non-Volant Small Mammals on Mount Meru, Tanzania

Understanding species distribution across elevational gradients is crucial for developing conservation strategies for montane biotic systems. A survey of small mammals was conducted on Mount Meru at six elevations, ranging between 1500 m and 3650 m. A total of 803 small mammal individuals, including 2 shrew species and 13 rodent species, were documented. Of these, Crocidura newmarki and Lophuromys verhageni were endemic on Mount Meru. Species richness was highest at mid-elevations, which is in line with the global pattern for small mammals. Prior to our study, the most complete data on small mammals on Mount Meru was collected in 2009. Our study provides an opportunity to show how small mammal elevational distribution has changed, over the last decade. We found six species (Arvicanthis niloticus, Mastomys natalensis, Lemniscomys striatus, Dasymys incomtus, Cricetomys ansorgei, and Montemys delectorum), which were not documented in 2009, but did not find Otomys tropicalis. Interestingly, the community composition at higher elevations in 2021 resembles that at lower elevations in 2009, suggesting that small mammal species have moved their range upward over time. Climate change could be a factor associated with the distributional shift found

Development of a health-related website for parents of children receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplant: HSCT-CHESS

Parents of pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) play a pivotal role in the care of their child during and after transplant. In addition to the child’s comforter, parents also serve as care coordinators and conduits of communication between various health care providers, family and community members. The stress on the parent and family is enormous during this process, which for many is compounded by geographic dislocation to accompany their child during the rigorous treatment and recovery process. For many parents, their own recovery spans months to years

Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa

Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad-scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a process-oriented grouping of soils based on pedo-climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales

Maintaining behaviour change: innovations in demand-side sanitation and hygiene interventions

This paper explores innovations in demand-side sanitation and hygiene intervention design and implementation. These innovations build on approaches employed by Community-Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene (CLTSH) programming to sustain improved WASH behaviours. Through an iterative process, our team conducted formative activities in Amhara, Ethiopia to: 1) generate information regarding stakeholders’ experiences with the government’s Health Extension Package (HEP) and previous CLTSH programming, and 2) explore options for intervention design and delivery. Our results suggest in some cases, community members were willing to engage in demand-side sanitation and hygiene programming after having negative experiences with ineffectual CLTSH triggering. Health Extension Workers (HEWs) indicated that high demand is placed on them to deliver the 16-component HEP. We conclude that what is needed are demand-side approaches that: 1) engage more community-level change agents, 2) include plans and resources to provide community actors with supportive supervision and on-the-job-training, and 3) focus on behavioural maintenance

Interpreting ambiguous ‘trace’ results in Schistosoma mansoni CCA Tests: Estimating sensitivity and specificity of ambiguous results with no gold standard

Background The development of new diagnostics is an important tool in the fight against disease. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of tests in the absence of a gold standard. The main field diagnostic for Schistosoma mansoni infection, Kato-Katz (KK), is not very sensitive at low infection intensities. A point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) test has been shown to be more sensitive than KK. However, CCA can return an ambiguous ‘trace’ result between ‘positive’ and ‘negative’, and much debate has focused on interpretation of traces results. Methodology/Principle findings We show how LCA can be extended to include ambiguous trace results and analyse S. mansoni studies from both Côte d’Ivoire (CdI) and Uganda. We compare the diagnostic performance of KK and CCA and the observed results by each test to the estimated infection prevalence in the population. Prevalence by KK was higher in CdI (13.4%) than in Uganda (6.1%), but prevalence by CCA was similar between countries, both when trace was assumed to be negative (CCAtn: 11.7% in CdI and 9.7% in Uganda) and positive (CCAtp: 20.1% in CdI and 22.5% in Uganda). The estimated sensitivity of CCA was more consistent between countries than the estimated sensitivity of KK, and estimated infection prevalence did not significantly differ between CdI (20.5%) and Uganda (19.1%). The prevalence by CCA with trace as positive did not differ significantly from estimates of infection prevalence in either country, whereas both KK and CCA with trace as negative significantly underestimated infection prevalence in both countries. Conclusions Incorporation of ambiguous results into an LCA enables the effect of different treatment thresholds to be directly assessed and is applicable in many fields. Our results showed that CCA with trace as positive most accurately estimated infection prevalence

A composite light-harvesting layer from photoactive polymer and halide perovskite for planar heterojunction solar cells

A new route for fabrication of photoactive materials in organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells is presented in this report. Photoactive materials by blending a semiconductive conjugated polymer with an organolead halide perovskite were fabricated for the first time. The composite active layer was then used to make planar heterojunction solar cells with the PCBM film as the electron-acceptor. Photovoltaic performance of solar cells was investigated by J-V curves and external quantum efficiency spectra. We demonstrated that the incorporation of the conjugated photoactive polymer into organolead halide perovskites did not only contribute to the generation of charges, but also enhance stability of solar cells by providing a barrier protection to halide perovskites. It is expected that versatile of conjugated semi-conductive polymers and halide perovskites in photoactive properties enables to create various combinations, forming composites with advantages offered by both types of photoactive materials

Diverse soil carbon dynamics expressed at the molecular level

The stability and potential vulnerability of soil organic matter (SOM) to global change remains incompletely understood due to the complex processes involved in its formation and turnover. Here we combine compound-specific radiocarbon analysis with fraction-specific and bulk-level radiocarbon measurements in order to further elucidate controls on SOM dynamics in a temperate and sub-alpine forested ecosystem. Radiocarbon contents of individual organic compounds isolated from the same soil interval generally exhibit greater variation than those among corresponding operationally-defined fractions. Notably, markedly older ages of long-chain plant leaf wax lipids (n-alkanoic acids) imply that they reflect a highly stable carbon pool. Furthermore, marked 14C variations among shorter- and longer-chain n-alkanoic acid homologues suggest that they track different SOM pools. Extremes in SOM dynamics thus manifest themselves within a single compound class. This exploratory study highlights the potential of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis for understanding SOM dynamics in ecosystems potentially vulnerable to global change