Engaging Research with Policy and Action: What are the Challenges of Responding to Zoonotic Disease in Africa?

Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a ‘One Health’ approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’

Europium Sorptionsexperimente mit Muskovit, Orthoklas und Quarz: Modellierung der Oberflächenkomplexierung und des reaktiven Stofftransports

For long-term safety analysis of a potential radioactive waste disposal site it is, amongst others, a prerequisite to characterize transport and retardation processes of relevant radionuclides to adequately describe hypothetical release scenarios and to assess the barrier capacity of the contaminant providing rock zone, the geological formation, and the overburden. To simulate migration processes of radionuclides a sound understanding of solid-solution interface reactions is necessary to determine the influence of the geochemical environment on sorption, precipitation, speciation, and dissolution processes. For long-term safety assessments of nuclear waste disposal sites, the behavior of activation and fission products as well as radionuclides from decay chains are of major interest. The trivalent lanthanide europium(III) is a chemical homologue for trivalent actinides such as curium(III) and americium(III). In the field of safety assessments there is still a need for sound data concerning the interaction of minerals with the surrounding solution even for well-known surfaces such as quartz, muscovite, and orthoclase. Up to now only some studies have taken the approach to study the interaction and interrelation of surface charge, surface complexation, and transport processes for trivalent lanthanides and actinides for orthoclase, muscovite, and quartz; and so far only few studies tried to describe all processes under varying geochemical conditions with one set of mineral-specific parameters as it had been done in this study. A vast amount of experiments was carried out and evaluated with mechanistic thermodynamic sorption models; surface complexation parameters of Eu were derived and subsequently used to simulate Eu reactive transport under varying experimental boundary conditions with reactive transport models. It was shown that the approach to simulate different geochemical conditions with one surface complexation parameter set yielded adequate predictions of Eu transport under laboratory and close to nature conditions for quartz systems; for orthoclase Eu transport under the influence of complexing ligands was also satisfyingly represented. This study contributed to fill the gap of sorption and transport data of Eu and, thus, trivalent actinides for ubiquitously present minerals. Expertise in the development of reactive transport models was gained and results offered insight into the transport of trivalent lanthanides and actinides.Für die Langzeitsicherheitsanalyse potentieller Endlager radioaktiver Abfälle ist unter anderem die Charakterisierung von Transport- und Sorptionsprozessen von relevanten Radionukliden eine Grundvoraussetzung, um hypothetische Freisetzungsszenarien adäquat zu beschreiben und um das Rückhaltevermögen des einschlusswirksamen Gebirgsbereichs, der geologischen Formationen und des Deckgebirges zu bewerten. Zur Simulation des Migrationsverhaltens von Radionukliden ist ein fundiertes Verständnis von Grenzflächenprozessen notwendig, um den Einfluss verschiedener Umweltbedingungen auf Sorptions-, Ausfällungs-, Speziations- und Lösungsprozesse betrachten zu können. Für die Langzeitsicherheitsanalyse ist das Verhalten von Aktivierungs-, Spalt- und Zerfallsproduktion von höchstem Interesse, wobei das trivalente Lanthanid Europium(III) als chemisches Homolog für die trivalenten Actiniden Curium(III) und Americium(III) verwendet wird. Für die Sicherheitsbewertung von potentiellen Endlagern werden u.a. konsistente Datensätze zur Beschreibung von Feststoff-Flüssigkeit Grenzflächenprozessen benötigt; teilweise auch noch für gut charakterisierte Mineraloberflächen wie zum Beispiel Muskovit, Orthoklas und Quarz. Bisher haben nur wenige Studien die Interaktion von Oberflächenladung, Oberflächenkomplexierung und Transportprozessen untersucht und nur sehr selten wurden alle Prozesse mit einem mineralspezifischen Parameterset beschrieben, wie es in dieser Studie verfolgt wurde. Eine Vielzahl von Experimenten wurde durchgeführt und mittels mechanistischer thermodynamischer Sorptionsmodelle zur Erhebung von Oberflächenkomplexparametern ausgewertet. Diese Parameter wurden anschließend verwendet, um den reaktiven Eu Stofftransport unter variierenden geochemischen Bedingungen zu beschreiben. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Transport von Eu mit einem Parameterset unter Labor- und naturnahen experimentellen Randbedingungen adäquat für Quarzsysteme abgebildet werden konnte. Für Orthoklas konnte der Transport von Eu unter Einfluss von komplexierenden Liganden ebenfalls zufriedenstellend simuliert werden. Diese Studie hat dazu beigetragen, die Wissenslücke von Eu Sorptions- und Transportprozessen für allgegenwärtige Mineraloberflächen zu schließen. Es konnte ein fundiertes Wissen über die Modellierung des reaktiven Stofftransportes entwickelt werden sowie ein Einblick in das Transportverhalten trivalenter Lanthaniden und Actiniden gewonnen werden

Dorylaimida uit die Nasionale Krugerwildtuin

M.Sc.This study embraces three facets, namely a checklist of all the freeliving and plantparasitic nematodes, reported from the Kruger National Park, descriptions of the nematode species found during the present study, and a historical review of the family Aporcelaimidae with emphasis on the genus Aporcelaimellus Heyns, 1965, a species compendium and descriptions of several new species ..

A genetically defined asymmetry underlies the inhibitory control of flexor–extensor locomotor movements

V1 and V2b interneurons (INs) are essential for the production of an alternating flexor–extensor motor output. Using a tripartite genetic system to selectively ablate either V1 or V2b INs in the caudal spinal cord and assess their specific functions in awake behaving animals, we find that V1 and V2b INs function in an opposing manner to control flexor–extensor-driven movements. Ablation of V1 INs results in limb hyperflexion, suggesting that V1 IN-derived inhibition is needed for proper extension movements of the limb. The loss of V2b INs results in hindlimb hyperextension and a delay in the transition from stance phase to swing phase, demonstrating V2b INs are required for the timely initiation and execution of limb flexion movements. Our findings also reveal a bias in the innervation of flexor- and extensor-related motor neurons by V1 and V2b INs that likely contributes to their differential actions on flexion–extension movements. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04718.00

Application of molecular fingerprinting for analysis of a PAH-contaminated soil microbiota growing in the presence of complex PAHs - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v32i1.7575

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a group of priority pollutants which are present at high concentrations in the soils of many industrial contaminated sites. Pollution by these compounds may stimulate growth of organisms able to live in these environments causing changes in the structure of the microbial community due to some cooperative process of metabolization of toxic compounds. A long-term PAH-contaminated soil was stored for several years and used to analyze the native microbiota regarding their ability to grow on pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, as well as in mixtures of LMW- and HMW-PAHs. Molecular profiles of the microbial community was assessed by PCR-DGGE of 16S rRNA gene, and the number of bands observed in DGGE analyses was interpreted as dominant microbial members into the bacterial community. Results of PAH-contaminated soil microorganisms showed different profiles in the degradative dynamics when some nutrients were added. Predominant species may play a significative role while growing and surviving on PAHs, and some other metabolically active species have emerged to interact themselves in a cooperative catabolism of PAHs.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a group of priority pollutants which are present at high concentrations in the soils of many industrial contaminated sites. Pollution by these compounds may stimulate growth of organisms able to live in these environments causing changes in the structure of the microbial community due to some cooperative process of metabolization of toxic compounds. A long-term PAH-contaminated soil was stored for several years and used to analyze the native microbiota regarding their ability to grow on pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, as well as in mixtures of LMW- and HMW-PAHs. Molecular profiles of the microbial community was assessed by PCR-DGGE of 16S rRNA gene, and the number of bands observed in DGGE analyses was interpreted as dominant microbial members into the bacterial community. Results of PAH-contaminated soil microorganisms showed different profiles in the degradative dynamics when some nutrients were added. Predominant species may play a significative role while growing and surviving on PAHs, and some other metabolically active species have emerged to interact themselves in a cooperative catabolism of PAHs

Serum and Adipose Tissue Amino Acid Homeostasis in the Metabolically Healthy Obese

A subgroup of obese individuals, referred to as metabolically healthy obese (MHO), have preserved insulin sensitivity and a normal lipid profile despite being obese. The molecular basis for this improved cardiometabolic profile remains unclear. Our objective was to integrate metabolite and gene expression profiling to elucidate the molecular distinctions between MHO and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) phenotypes. A subset of individuals were selected from the Diabetes Risk Assessment study and classified into three groups using anthropometric and clinical measurements: lean healthy (LH), MHO, and MUO. Serum metabolites were profiled using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Multivariate data analysis uncovered metabolites that differed between groups, and these were subsequently validated by capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry. Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) gene expression profiling using microarrays was performed in parallel. Amino acids were the most relevant class of metabolites distinguishing MHO from MUO individuals. Serum levels of glutamic acid, valine, and isoleucine were positively associated (i.e., LH < MHO < MUO) with homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values, while leucine was only correlated with HOMA-IR. The glutamine-to-glutamic acid ratio and glycine were inversely correlated (i.e., LH > MHO > MUO) with HbA1c values. Concomitantly, SAT gene expression profiling revealed that genes related to branched-chain amino acid catabolism and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were less down-regulated in MHO individuals compared to MUO individuals. Together, this integrated analysis revealed that MHO individuals have an intermediate amino acid homeostasis compared to LH and MUO individuals