Participatory investigation of important animal health problems amongst the Turkana pastoralists: Relative incidence, impact on livelihoods and suggested interventions

This report describes a study of the principal animal health problems in central and southern parts of Turkana South District, with particular emphasis on their relative importance, factors that promote their occurrence and persistence, and the perceived impact of intervention measures applied previously by the Turkana Livestock Development Program (TLDP). The study was conceived and supported by VSF Belgium, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which is implementing the TLDP. The first phase of the program was implemented between 2000 and 2005, and the second phase was initiated in 2006. The overall objective of the first phase, which occurred largely in Turkana Central (Turkwell, Loima and Kerio Divisions), was to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable pastoral communities through enhanced livestock production, increased access to water, improved marketing opportunities and peace building initiatives. The second phase of the program builds on the achievements of the TLDP I and seeks to expand the target area to include Turkana South (Kainuk, Katilu, Lokichar and Lokori Divisions). The study utilized participatory epidemiological techniques to capture and prioritize animal health problems observed in the target area. Topics of discussion include livestock species and benefits received from them; livestock diseases and interventions; effect of nomadic pastoralism on disease persistence and transmission; impacts of conflicts on livestock husbandry and disease occurrence and persistence; livestock species and disease priorities; disease control; access and utilization of veterinary inputs; community animal health workers; pastoralism and transboundary disease; and conflict and animal health care

MR arthrography in calcific tendinitis of the shoulder: diagnostic performance and pitfalls

The purpose was to assess the diagnostic performance of MR arthrography to diagnose calcific tendinitis of the shoulder and to assess the reasons for diagnostic errors. Standard MR arthrograms of 22 patients with calcific tendinitis and 61 controls were retrospectively analyzed by two independent and blinded radiologists. All cases were consecutively collected from a database. Conventional radiographs were available in all cases serving as gold standard. The supraspinatus was involved in 16, the infraspinatus in four and the subscapularis in two patients. All diagnostic errors were analyzed by two additional readers. Reader 1 correctly detected 12 of the 22 shoulders with and 42 of the 61 shoulders without calcific tendinitis (sensitivity 0.55, specificity 0.66). The corresponding values for reader 2 were 13 of 22 and 40 of 61 cases (sensitivity 0.59, specificity 0.69). Inter-rater agreement (kappa-value) was 0.42. Small size of the calcific deposits and isointensity compared to the surrounding tissue were the most important reasons for false negative results. Normal hypointense areas within the supraspinatus tendon substance and attachment were the main reason for false positive results. In conclusion, MR arthrography is insufficient in the diagnosis of calcific tendinitis. Normal hypointense parts of the rotator cuff may mimic calcific deposits and calcifications may not be detected when they are isointense compared to the rotator cuff. Therefore, MR imaging should not be interpreted without corresponding radiograph

Communicating Environmental Research: Harnessing the Power of Curation

Never before has public communication of critical research, science, and knowledge on climate change and biodiversity loss been more important. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report, Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, stated that we only have 12 years to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change, including extreme weather, flood, drought, and poverty. The 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services revealed that roughly 1 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Given these dire warnings, the threat of climate change and biodiversity loss have never been more relevant, considering the impact these unprecedented issues will have on human survival, health, and well-being. This paper describes the results of our study, which explores findings used to develop the practice of research curation, which found that adapting and applying museum engagement strategies, using art to communicate science, and applying social media content curation and marketing strategies in combination with social learning practices are key to successful knowledge mobilization. This article focuses primarily on the methodologies and results of three projects: an art and literary exhibit, a biodiversity conversation series, and a sustainability-themed Instagram account. Based on our experience and findings, we share the lessons learned that we believe are actional for other researchers with similar goals, in particular those who are communicating research on climate change and biodiversity loss

First results from the OSQAR photon regeneration experiment: No light shining through a wall

A new method to amplify the photon-axion conversions in magnetic field is proposed using a buffer gas at a specific pressure. As a first result, new bounds for mass and coupling constant for purely laboratory experiments aiming to detect any hypothetical scalars and pseudo-scalars which can couple to photons were obtained at 95% confidence level, excluding the PVLAS result newly disclaimed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Population dynamics in Kampong chicken and consequences for HPAI vaccination: results of a field trial in Java

Until today HPAI in poultry is considered to be endemic in most of the Indonesian provinces since it was officially declared in 2004. Vaccination is used as one of the control strategies targeting layer and breeder farms but also Kampong (village) chicken. Limited information is available on the scope of off-take and replacement occurring in Kampong chicken populations under field condition and their effects on HPAI vaccination. To collate information on population dynamics in Kampong chicken, twelve communities with 300-500 chickens each have been enrolled in this trial. Chicken exit/entries as well as disease/mortality events were intensively monitored in weekly intervals. The trial was carried out between July 2008 and August 2009 in two Districts of Yogyakarta, Java. Results indicate that 39-44% of chickens were younger than two months of age over time and more than two-thirds of chickens were younger than four months, respectively. Adult chickens represented only 10% (male) and 20% (female) of the total population. Though overall population size within the selected communities was relatively stable, the number of chickens changed widely within age classes. In each observed quarter, there was a 43% or higher turnover of the population (43-72%). Observed changes were related to socio-cultural events such as holidays or begin of school. From our results we can conclude that approximately 40% of a natural backyard population will be un-vaccinated by 60 days after the onset of a vaccination campaign. Considering this high population turnover rate, even a quarterly vaccination regime including a booster round is required will have difficulty achieving effective flock immunity levels. This results in high costs, poses a significant logistical challenge and suggests mass vaccination is not a practical approach to sustained control of HPAI

Mapping the risk of Rift Valley fever in Uganda using national seroprevalence data from cattle, sheep and goats

Uganda has had repeated outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) since March 2016 when human and livestock cases were reported in Kabale after a long interval. The disease has a complex and poorly described transmission patterns which involves several mosquito vectors and mammalian hosts (including humans). We conducted a national serosurvey in livestock to determine RVF virus (RVFV) seroprevalence, risk factors, and to develop a risk map that could be used to guide risk-based surveillance and control measures. A total of 3,253 animals from 175 herds were sampled. Serum samples collected were screened at the National Animal Disease Diagnostics and Epidemiology Centre (NADDEC) using a competition multispecies anti-RVF IgG ELISA kit. Data obtained were analyzed using a Bayesian model that utilizes integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) and stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) approaches to estimate posterior distributions of model parameters, and account for spatial autocorrelation. Variables considered included animal level factors (age, sex, species) and multiple environmental data including meteorological factors, soil types, and altitude. A risk map was generated by projecting fitted (mean) values, from a final model that had environmental factors onto a spatial grid that covered the entire domain. The overall RVFV seroprevalence was 11.3% (95% confidence interval: 10.2–12.3%). Higher RVFV seroprevalences were observed in older animals compared to the young, and cattle compared to sheep and goats. RVFV seroprevalence was also higher in areas that had (i) lower precipitation seasonality, (ii) haplic planosols, and (iii) lower cattle density. The risk map generated demonstrated that RVF virus was endemic in several regions including those that have not reported clinical outbreaks in the northeastern part of the country. This work has improved our understanding on spatial distribution of RVFV risk in the country as well as the expected burden of the disease in livestock

SOX2 Is an Oncogene Activated by Recurrent 3q26.3 Amplifications in Human Lung Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung is a frequent and aggressive cancer type. Gene amplifications, a known activating mechanism of oncogenes, target the 3q26-qter region as one of the most frequently gained/amplified genomic sites in SCC of various types. Here, we used array comparative genomic hybridization to delineate the consensus region of 3q26.3 amplifications in lung SCC. Recurrent amplifications occur in 20% of lung SCC (136 tumors in total) and map to a core region of 2 Mb (Megabases) that encompasses SOX2, a transcription factor gene. Intense SOX2 immunostaining is frequent in nuclei of lung SCC, indicating potential active transcriptional regulation by SOX2. Analyses of the transcriptome of lung SCC, SOX2-overexpressing lung epithelial cells and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) reveal that SOX2 contributes to activate ESC-like phenotypes and provide clues pertaining to the deregulated genes involved in the malignant phenotype. In cell culture experiments, overexpression of SOX2 stimulates cellular migration and anchorage-independent growth while SOX2 knockdown impairs cell growth. Finally, SOX2 over-expression in non-tumorigenic human lung bronchial epithelial cells is tumorigenic in immunocompromised mice. These results indicate that the SOX2 transcription factor, a major regulator of stem cell function, is also an oncogene and a driver gene for the recurrent 3q26.33 amplifications in lung SCC

Cell-specific occupancy of an extended repertoire of CREM and CREB binding loci in male germ cells

Background: CREB and CREM are closely related factors that regulate transcription in response to various stress, metabolic and developmental signals. The CREMτ activator isoform is selectively expressed in haploid spermatids and plays an essential role in murine spermiogenesis.Results: We have used chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to sequencing (ChIP-seq) to map CREM and CREB target loci in round spermatids from adult mouse testis and spermatogonia derived GC1-spg cells respectively. We identify more than 9000 genomic loci most of which are cell-specifically occupied. Despite the fact that round spermatids correspond to a highly specialised differentiated state, our results show that they have a remarkably accessible chromatin environment as CREM occupies more than 6700 target loci corresponding not only to the promoters of genes selectively expressed in spermiogenesis, but also of genes involved in functions specific to other cell types. The expression of only a small subset of these target genes are affected in the round spermatids of CREM knockout animals. We also identify a set of intergenic binding loci some of which are associated with H3K4 trimethylation and elongating RNA polymerase II suggesting the existence of novel CREB and CREM regulated transcripts.Conclusions: We demonstrate that CREM and CREB occupy a large number of promoters in highly cell specific manner. This is the first study of CREM target promoters directly in a physiologically relevant tissue in vivo and represents the most comprehensive experimental analysis of CREB/CREM regulatory potential to date

Observation of singlet-triplet anticrossings in 4He2

International audienceAnticrossings between excited singlet and triplet levels of the He2 molecule have been observed. Measurements have been made on anticrossings which take place between the f (3d) 3Δu and F (3d) 1Δu states both in the v=0, N=2,3,4 and v=1, N=2 vibrational and rotational levels. Analysis of these results yields a new and more precise value for the excitation energy, T0, from the a (2s) 3Σ to the A (2s) 1Σ state. This result, when combined with available optical data, fixes the absolute energy of all He2 excited states. The present experiment establishes that the steady state populations of the 3Δ levels are greater than the 1Δ levels under a variety of excitation conditions. Also, collisional transfer may take place before radiation giving rise to a given anticrossing signal appearing on optical emission lines of several nearby rotational levels