Ivermectin, ‘Wonder drug’ from Japan: the human use perspective

Discovered in the late-1970s, the pioneering drug ivermectin, a dihydro derivative of avermectin—originating solely from a single microorganism isolated at the Kitasato Intitute, Tokyo, Japan from Japanese soil—has had an immeasurably beneficial impact in improving the lives and welfare of billions of people throughout the world. Originally introduced as a veterinary drug, it kills a wide range of internal and external parasites in commercial livestock and companion animals. It was quickly discovered to be ideal in combating two of the world’s most devastating and disfiguring diseases which have plagued the world’s poor throughout the tropics for centuries. It is now being used free-of-charge as the sole tool in campaigns to eliminate both diseases globally. It has also been used to successfully overcome several other human diseases and new uses for it are continually being found. This paper looks in depth at the events surrounding ivermectin’s passage from being a huge success in Animal Health into its widespread use in humans, a development which has led many to describe it as a “wonder” drug

Parasite-induced inversion of geotaxis in a freshwater amphipod: a role for anaerobic metabolism?

9 pagesInternational audience1. Many parasites with complex life cycles alter the phenotype of their intermediate hosts inways that seem to favour transmission to a final host. Although there is a large literature onhost manipulation, how parasites alter the phenotype of their hosts remains poorly known.2. The bird acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus is known to alter geotaxis in its amphipodhost, Gammarus roeseli. Here, we examine the potential roles of low oxygen availability andthe excretion, by the parasite, of two products from its own anaerobic metabolism (lactate andsuccinate) in altered geotaxis.3. Under hypoxia, uninfected G. roeseli showed negative geotaxis and lower metabolic rate,two traits also altered by infection with P. minutus, albeit with different intensities. Theinjection of a mixture of lactate and succinate in uninfected amphipods mimicked theparasite-induced reversion of geotaxis, without affecting the metabolic rate.4. In addition, both P. minutus-infected gammarids and uninfected ones conditioned tohypoxia for 2 days showed elevated levels of lactate in the brain, but not in the haemolymph.5. Overall, our results indicate that the pathways involved in anaerobic metabolism andhypoxia signalling might be responsible for the changes in geotaxis and metabolic rate inducedby P. minutus infection.6. Our study emphasizes the need to consider the tight and complex connections between physiologicalprocesses and behavioural adjustments, in particular at the brain level, in the understandingof parasitic manipulation, and more broadly of behavioural changes in infected hosts

Are we willing to pay enough to ‘Back the Bid’?: valuing the intangible impacts of London’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

Using a contingent valuation survey, this paper provides the first empirical test of the proposition that intangible impacts might justify hosting major sporting events on cost—benefit grounds. Respondents, drawn from London, Manchester and Glasgow, were asked for their willingness to pay (WTP) to host the 2012 Olympic Games in London on the basis of the intangible impacts that this event might provide. Annual mean WTP is £22, £12 and £11 per year (for 10 years) in these 3 UK cities respectively. An illustrative total (UK) WTP for intangible impacts is in the region of £2 billion. Statistical analysis of WTP determinants reveals a range of plausible explanatory factors such as respondents' degree of support for the bid

The Effect of Community Gardens on Neighboring Property Values

Cities across the United States that have considerable vacant land are debating whether to foster community gardens on that land, while cities with land shortages are debating when to replace gardens with other uses. Meanwhile, many cities are looking for new ways to finance green spaces. Little empirical evidence about the neighborhood impacts of community gardens is available, however, to inform the debate or to help cities design financing schemes. This article estimates the impact of community gardens on neighborhood property values, using rich data for New York City and a difference-in-difference specification of a hedonic regression model. We find that gardens have significant positive effects, especially in the poorest neighborhoods. Higher-quality gardens have the greatest positive impact. Copyright 2008 American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association