Learning the Smart Way: Lessons Learned by the Reaching Agents of Change Project.

The Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) project was a pilot that advocated for increased investment in orange-fleshed sweetpotato to combat vitamin A deficiency among young children and women of reproductive age. It was implemented by the International Potato Center and Helen Keller International primarily in Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania and to a lesser extent in Ghana and Burkina Faso between 2011 and 2014. The project had multiple deliverables in advocacy for raising of new investment, policy change and strengthening of institutional and individual capacities in the project countries. RAC incorporated a systematic and comprehensive results-based monitoring and evaluation system and continuously documented the implementation process over the project period. This booklet shares the learning process that RAC adopted and highlights some useful and replicable lessons learned

Chemobiosis reveals tardigrade tun formation is dependent on reversible cysteine oxidation.

Tardigrades, commonly known as 'waterbears', are eight-legged microscopic invertebrates renowned for their ability to withstand extreme stressors, including high osmotic pressure, freezing temperatures, and complete desiccation. Limb retraction and substantial decreases to their internal water stores results in the tun state, greatly increasing their ability to survive. Emergence from the tun state and/or activity regain follows stress removal, where resumption of life cycle occurs as if stasis never occurred. However, the mechanism(s) through which tardigrades initiate tun formation is yet to be uncovered. Herein, we use chemobiosis to demonstrate that tardigrade tun formation is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). We further reveal that tuns are dependent on reversible cysteine oxidation, and that this reversible cysteine oxidation is facilitated by the release of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). We provide the first empirical evidence of chemobiosis and map the initiation and survival of tardigrades via osmobiosis, chemobiosis, and cryobiosis. In vivo electron paramagnetic spectrometry suggests an intracellular release of reactive oxygen species following stress induction; when this release is quenched through the application of exogenous antioxidants, the tardigrades can no longer survive osmotic stress. Together, this work suggests a conserved dependence of reversible cysteine oxidation across distinct tardigrade cryptobioses

Recent developments in surface science and engineering, thin films, nanoscience, biomaterials, plasma science, and vacuum technology

International audienc

Recent developments in surface science and engineering, thin films, nanoscience, biomaterials, plasma science, and vacuum technology

Nanometer-sized structures, surfaces and sub-surface phenomena have played an enormous role in science and technological applications and represent a driving-force of current interdisciplinary science. Recent developments include the atomic-scale characterization of nanoparticles, molecular reactions at surfaces, magnetism at the atomic scale, photoelectric characterization of nanostructures as well as two-dimensional solids. Research and development of smart nanostructured materials governed by their surface properties is a rapidly growing field. The main challenge is to develop an accurate and robust electronic structure description. The density of surface-related trap states is analyzed by transient UV photoconductivity and temperature-dependent admittance spectroscopy. An advanced application of thin films on shaped substrates is the deposition of catalytic layers on hollow glass microspheres for hydrogen storage controlled exothermal hydrolytic release. Surface properties of thin films including dissolution and corrosion, fouling resistance, and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity are explored to improve materials response in biological environments and medicine. Trends in surface bio-functionalization routes based on vacuum techniques, together with advances in surface analysis of biomaterials, are discussed. Pioneering advances in the application of X-ray nanodiffraction of thin film cross-sections for characterizing nanostructure and local strain including in-situ experiments during nanoindentation are described. Precise measurements and control of plasma properties are important for fundamental investigations and the development of next generation plasma-based technologies. Critical control parameters are the flux and energy distribution of incident ions at reactive surfaces||it is also crucial to control the dynamics of electrons initiating non-equilibrium chemical reactions. The most promising approach involves the exploitation of complementary advantages in direct measurements combined with specifically designed numerical simulations. Exciting new developments in vacuum science and technology have focused on forward-looking and next generation standards and sensors that take advantage of photonics based measurements. These measurements are inherently fast, frequency based, easily transferrable to sensors based on photonics and hold promise of being disruptive and transformative. Realization of Pascal, the SI unit for pressure, a cold-atom trap based ultra-high and extreme high vacuum (UHV and XHV) standard, dynamic pressure measurements and a photonic based thermometer are three key examples that are presented.660120160Agências de fomento estrangeiras apoiaram essa pesquisa, mais informações acesse artig

Clinical phenotypes and outcomes in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome across SARS-CoV-2 variant eras: a multinational study from the 4CE consortiumResearch in context

Summary: Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a severe complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It remains unclear how MIS-C phenotypes vary across SARS-CoV-2 variants. We aimed to investigate clinical characteristics and outcomes of MIS-C across SARS-CoV-2 eras. Methods: We performed a multicentre observational retrospective study including seven paediatric hospitals in four countries (France, Spain, U.K., and U.S.). All consecutive confirmed patients with MIS-C hospitalised between February 1st, 2020, and May 31st, 2022, were included. Electronic Health Records (EHR) data were used to calculate pooled risk differences (RD) and effect sizes (ES) at site level, using Alpha as reference. Meta-analysis was used to pool data across sites. Findings: Of 598 patients with MIS-C (61% male, 39% female; mean age 9.7 years [SD 4.5]), 383 (64%) were admitted in the Alpha era, 111 (19%) in the Delta era, and 104 (17%) in the Omicron era. Compared with patients admitted in the Alpha era, those admitted in the Delta era were younger (ES −1.18 years [95% CI −2.05, −0.32]), had fewer respiratory symptoms (RD −0.15 [95% CI −0.33, −0.04]), less frequent non-cardiogenic shock or systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) (RD −0.35 [95% CI −0.64, −0.07]), lower lymphocyte count (ES −0.16 × 109/uL [95% CI −0.30, −0.01]), lower C-reactive protein (ES −28.5 mg/L [95% CI −46.3, −10.7]), and lower troponin (ES −0.14 ng/mL [95% CI −0.26, −0.03]). Patients admitted in the Omicron versus Alpha eras were younger (ES −1.6 years [95% CI −2.5, −0.8]), had less frequent SIRS (RD −0.18 [95% CI −0.30, −0.05]), lower lymphocyte count (ES −0.39 × 109/uL [95% CI −0.52, −0.25]), lower troponin (ES −0.16 ng/mL [95% CI −0.30, −0.01]) and less frequently received anticoagulation therapy (RD −0.19 [95% CI −0.37, −0.04]). Length of hospitalization was shorter in the Delta versus Alpha eras (−1.3 days [95% CI −2.3, −0.4]). Interpretation: Our study suggested that MIS-C clinical phenotypes varied across SARS-CoV-2 eras, with patients in Delta and Omicron eras being younger and less sick. EHR data can be effectively leveraged to identify rare complications of pandemic diseases and their variation over time. Funding: None