Targeting conservation actions at species threat response thresholds

To improve the status of the world’s biodiversity by 2030, conservation actions must not only seek to halt or slow biodiversity loss, they must increase species’ populations. A better mechanistic understanding of biodiversity loss and of species’ sensitivities to certain intensities of threats is needed to target conservation actions effectively. Moving beyond ordinal space-for-time substitution analyses, towards monitoring concurrent changes in threats and species’ populations over time will help achieve this. We propose a framework to quantify species’ response thresholds along gradients of threat intensity, using a combination of threat-sensitive taxa, biogeographic regions, and biomes. This framework will allow efficient targeting of conservation actions, of relevance to global policy-making

Nematicidal activity of Paecilomyces marquandii proteases on infective larvae of Ancylostoma spp

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to evaluate the action of Paecilomyces marquandii proteases on Ancylostoma spp L3. White halos in the zymogram confirmed the proteolytic action. Difference (p <0.01) between the number of L3 in the differents groups was found, with 41.4% of reduction of Ancylostoma spp. L3 before 24 hours

Social research on neglected diseases of poverty: Continuing and emerging themes

Copyright: © 2009 Manderson et al.Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exist and persist for social and economic reasons that enable the vectors and pathogens to take advantage of changes in the behavioral and physical environment. Persistent poverty at household, community, and national levels, and inequalities within and between sectors, contribute to the perpetuation and re-emergence of NTDs. Changes in production and habitat affect the physical environment, so that agricultural development, mining and forestry, rapid industrialization, and urbanization all result in changes in human uses of the environment, exposure to vectors, and vulnerability to infection. Concurrently, political instability and lack of resources limit the capacity of governments to manage environments, control disease transmission, and ensure an effective health system. Social, cultural, economic, and political factors interact and influence government capacity and individual willingness to reduce the risks of infection and transmission, and to recognize and treat disease. Understanding the dynamic interaction of diverse factors in varying contexts is a complex task, yet critical for successful health promotion, disease prevention, and disease control. Many of the research techniques and tools needed for this purpose are available in the applied social sciences. In this article we use this term broadly, and so include behavioral, population and economic social sciences, social and cultural epidemiology, and the multiple disciplines of public health, health services, and health policy and planning. These latter fields, informed by foundational social science theory and methods, include health promotion, health communication, and heath education

In-situ upgrading of Napier grass pyrolysis vapour over microporous and hierarchical mesoporous zeolites

This study presents in-situ upgrading of pyrolysis vapour derived from Napier grass over microporous and mesoporous ZSM-5 catalysts. It evaluates effect of process variables such catalyst–biomass ratio and catalyst type in a vertical fixed bed pyrolysis system at 600 °C, 50 °C/min under 5 L/min nitrogen flow. Increasing catalyst–biomass ratio during the catalytic process with microporous structure reduced production of organic phase bio-oil by approximately 7.0 wt%. Using mesoporous catalyst promoted nearly 4.0 wt% higher organic yield relative to microporous catalyst, which translate to only about 3.0 wt% reduction in organic phase compared to the yield of organic phase from non-catalytic process. GC–MS analysis of bio-oil organic phase revealed maximum degree of deoxygenation of about 36.9% with microporous catalyst compared to the mesoporous catalysts, which had between 39 and 43%. Mesoporous catalysts promoted production olefins and alkanes, normal phenol, monoaromatic hydrocarbons while microporous catalyst favoured the production of alkenes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. There was no significant increase in the production of normal phenols over microporous catalyst due to its inability to transform the methoxyphenols and methoxy aromatics. This study demonstrated that upgrading of Napier grass pyrolysis vapour over mesoporous ZSM-5 produced bio-oil with improved physicochemical properties

Welcoming low testosterone as a cardiovascular risk factor

Male hypogonadism now has a new spectrum of complications. They are mainly cardiometabolic in nature. Low serum testosterone levels are a risk factor for diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammation and dyslipidemia. These metabolic and inflammatory complications are not without consequences. Recent studies have shown low serum testosterone levels to be an independent risk factor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. It is time to welcome low serum testosterone levels as a cardiovascular risk factor

Proteomic Analysis of the Cyst Stage of Entamoeba histolytica

We used tandem mass spectrometry to identify E. histolytica cyst proteins in 5 cyst positive stool samples. We report the identification of 417 non-redundant E. histolytica proteins including 195 proteins that were not identified in existing trophozoite derived proteome or EST datasets, consistent with cyst specificity. Because the cysts were derived directly from patient samples with incomplete purification, a limited number of proteins were identified (N = 417) that probably represent only a partial proteome. Nevertheless, the study succeeded in identifying proteins that are likely to be abundant in the cyst stage of the parasite. Several of these proteins may play roles in E. histolytica stage conversion or cyst function. Proteins identified in this study may be useful markers for diagnostic detection of E. histolytica cysts. Overall, the data generated in this study promises to aid the understanding of the cyst stage of the parasite which is vital for disease transmission and pathogenesis in E. histolytica