Hematological changes among Beninese motor-bike taxi drivers exposed to benzene by urban air pollution

Exposure to high-concentration of benzene in polluted air has been associated with bone marrow deficiency, aplastic anemia and leukemia. However, epidemiological studies have reported conflicting data following human exposure to benzene levels below 1 ppm (that is, 3.2 mg/m3). Therefore we investigated the influence of outdoor air benzene on peripheral blood cells among exposed motor-biketaxi drivers (MBTD) in which specific IgG antibodies against reactive benzene metabolites, such as hydroquinone (HQ) and para-benzoquinone (p-BQ) are identified and quantified for further use as biomarker of exposure. We compared 144 MBTD with 30 unexposed age and sex-matched controls. The mean age ± SD (95% CI) were: MBTD 39.5 ± 7.82 (38.2 - 40.7) and village residents 40.3 ± 10.56 (39.1-43.0). Personal benzene exposure was assessed using GABIE diffusive samplers. The levels of specific IgG antibodies to HQ and p-BQ were determined by ELISA. The peripheral blood cells were counted by an automated analyzer. Benzene, Toluene and Xylene levels were much higher in MBTD in comparison to the control group. Benzene exposure levels ranged from 0.012 to 0.550 ppm in MBTD. Their average exposure level per one week was 0.126±0.206 ppm. Accordingly, MBTD had significantly higher levels of specific IgG antibodies to HQ and p-BQ compared to the controls (p< 0.001). WBC, lymphocytes, eosinophils and platelets were significantly decreased in MBTD, whereas RBC and other blood cell numbers remained unchanged. Total WBC, lymphocytes and eosinophils counts were decreased among exposed MBTD compared to unexposed controls. We suggest the use of these blood parameters together with specific IgG antibodies to HQ and p-BQ as biomarkers in biological monitoring of low level benzene exposure. Larger studies are however required to validate this new approach of health survey in workers exposed to benzene.Key words: Benzene, motor-bike-taxi drivers, specific immune responses, peripheral blood cell count

Increase in susceptibility to insecticides with aging of wild \u3ci\u3eAnopheles gambiae\u3c/i\u3e mosquitoes from Côte d’Ivoire

Background: Appropriate monitoring of vector insecticide susceptibility is required to provide the rationale for optimal insecticide selection in vector control programs. Methods: In order to assess the influence of mosquito age on susceptibility to various insecticides, field-collected larvae of An. gambiae s.l. from Tiassalé were reared to adults. Females aged 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 days were exposed to 5 insecticides (deltamethrin, permethrin, DDT, malathion and propoxur) using WHO susceptibility test kits. Outcome measures included the LT50 (exposure time required to achieve 50% knockdown), the RR (resistance ratio, i.e. a calculation of how much more resistant the wild population is compared with a standard susceptible strain) and the mortality rate following 1 hour exposure, for each insecticide and each mosquito age group. Results: There was a positive correlation between the rate of knockdown and mortality for all the age groups and for all insecticides tested. For deltamethrin, the RR50 was highest for 2 day old and lowest for 10 day old individuals. Overall, mortality was lowest for 2 and 3 day old individuals and significantly higher for 10 day old individuals (P \u3c 0.05). With permethrin, the RR50 was highest for 1 to 3 day old individuals and lowest for 10 day old individuals and mortality was lowest for 1 to 3 day old individuals, intermediate for 5 day old and highest for 10 day old individuals. DDT did not display any knockdown effect and mortality was low for all mosquito age groups (\u3c7%). With malathion, the RR50 was low (1.54 - 2.77) and mortality was high (\u3e93%) for all age groups. With propoxur, no knockdown effect was observed for 1, 2 and 3 day old individuals and a very low level of mortality was observed (\u3c 4%), which was significantly higher for 5 and 10 day old individuals (30%, P \u3c 0.01). Conclusion: Results indicate that for An. gambiae s.l. adults derived from wild-collected larvae, there was an influence of age on insecticide susceptibility status, with younger individuals (1 to 3 days old) more resistant than older mosquitoes. This indicates that the use of 1 – 2 day old mosquitoes in susceptibility assays as recommended by the WHO should facilitate detection of resistance at the stage where the highest rate of the resistance phenotype is present

Valeur Ethnobotanique De Annona Muricata Utilisee Dans Le Traitement De Certaines Pathologies Au Sud-Benin

L’utilisation d’Annona muricata dans le traitement de diverses pathologies humaines prend de plus en plus d’ampleur au Bénin. Le but de la présente étude est de faire l’inventaire des maladies traitées par l’utilisation de cette plante. Pour ce faire, une enquête ethnobotanique a été réalisée auprès de 77 herboristes et 170 tradithérapeutes des Départements de l’Ouémé et du Plateau, du Littoral, de l’Atlantique et du Mono. Les données collectées étaient relatives à la structure écologique de l’arbre Annona muricata, aux différents organes utilisés et les maladies traitées, au mode d’emploi, etc. Ces données ont été analysées avec le logiciel SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) pour la détermination des statistiques descriptives en termes de pourcentage et de moyenne. Il ressort de l’étude que les acteurs enquêtés étaient majoritairement des hommes (74,9%),non scolarisés (40,1%), d’origine Goun (27,1%), Cotafon (19,8%) et Nago (18,2%). Les caractéristiques écologiques de A. muricata ont varié significativement (p<0,05) selon les enquêtés. Le mode de multiplication de l’arbre, selon les enquêtés,se fait principalement par la graine (82,6%). Les principaux organes d’Annonamuricata utilisés pour le traitement des maladies sont majoritairement le fruit (86,2%), la feuille (66,4%) et l’écorce (62,8%). Les principaux modes de préparation des organes étaient la tisane (97,2%), ladécoction (93,5%), et la poudre (76,9%). L’Annonamuricata était majoritairement utilisé, selon les enquêtés, pour le traitement de l’insomnie (70,9%), le cancer (70%), le paludisme (59,9%), l’hypertension artérielle (58,7%), le vertige (57,5)…Ainsi, vu les résultats, ce travail a permis de connaitre la valeur ethnobotanique d’Annona muricata. The use of Annona muricata(A. muricata) in the treatment of various human pathologies is becoming more and more widespread in Benin. The aim of this study was to inventory the diseases treated by the use of this plant. For this purpose, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out among 77 herbalists and 170 traditional therapists from the Departments of Ouémé and Plateau, Littoral, Atlantic and Mono. The data collected was relative, to the ecological structure of the Annona muricata tree, the different organs used and the diseases treated, the use instructions, etc. The data was collected in the form of a questionnaire. These data had been analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for the determination of descriptive statistics in terms of percentage and average. The study showed that the majority of the actorssurveyed were men (74.9%), unschooled (40.1%), ethnic groups as Goun (27.1%), Cotafon (19.8%) and Nago (18.2%). The ecological characteristics of A. muricatavaried significantly (p<0.05) according to the surveyed actors. The main method of multiplication of the tree is by seeds (82.6%). The main organs of Annona muricata used for diseases treatment were usually the fruit (86.2%), the leaf (66.4%) and the bark (62.8%). According to the actors, Annona muricata was mainly used for the treatment of insomnia (70.9%), cancer (70%), malaria (59.9%), high blood pressure (58.7%), vertigo (57.5), etc. The main method of organ preparation was herbal tea (97.2%), decoction (93.5%), and powder (76.9%). Therefore, at the results showed, this study allowed to know ethnobotanic value of Annona muricata

Forage yield and quality of a dense thorny and thornless "jurema-preta" stand

O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar a produção e qualidade da forragem de jurema-preta (Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poiret) com e sem acúleos, em plantio adensado, submetida ao corte anual dos ramos finos, em Patos, PB. Utilizou-se delineamento em blocos casualizados, com dois tratamentos (plantas sem acúleos e plantas com acúleos), com dez repetições de duas parcelas lineares subdivididas no tempo. A produção e composição química da forragem de ramos finos e o diâmetro basal das plantas foram medidos durante cinco anos. A poda diminuiu (p < 0,05) o incremento anual do diâmetro basal e a produção de forragem. A produção anual de matéria seca atingiu 4.108 e 5.833 kg ha-1, respectivamente, em plantas sem e com acúleos, de qualidade forrageira semelhante (p > 0,05) para os dois fenótipos. Este volumoso – valores médios mínimos para FDN e FDA: 56±1,1% e 43±1,1%, respectivamente – mostrou-se pobre em P e K. Seu teor médio de proteína bruta acima de 9,9±0,5% superou o mínimo necessário para a manutenção animal. Os dois genótipos toleraram a poda dos ramos e contribuíram com uma quantidade significativa de volumoso para a manutenção de ruminantes na estação seca.The objective of this work was to compare forage production and quality of thorny and thornless "jurema-preta" (Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poiret) in a dense planted stand, subjected to annual pruning of fine branches, in Patos, PB, Brazil. The experiment consisted of two treatments (thornless and thorny "jurema-preta") in a complete randomized block design, with ten replicates of two linear plots subdivided in time. Forage mass and chemical composition of fine branches and the basal diameter of plants were measured during five years. Pruning decreased (p < 0.05) increments in basal diameter and forage production. Annual dry matter yields reached 4,108 and 5,833 kg ha-1, respectively, for thornless and thorny plants, and forage quality was similar (p > 0.05) for both genotypes. This roughage fodder (minimum NDF and ADF averages were 56±1.1% and 43±1.0%, respectively) had low P and K concentrations. Its average crude protein content was greater than 9.9±0.5%, which exceeds the minimum necessary for animal maintenance. Both "jurema-preta" genotypes tolerated pruning of fine branches and contributed with a significant amount of roughage fodder for animal maintenance in the dry season

Influence of the programmed cell death of lymphocytes on the immunity of patients with atopic bronchial asthma

Background: Fairly recent data highlight the role of programmed cell death and autoimmunity, as potentially important factors in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive airway diseases. The purpose of our research was to determine the influence of apoptotic factors on the immunity of patients with atopic bronchial asthma according to the degree of severity.Method: The study was performed on the peripheral blood of patients with atopic bronchial asthma with different severity. The Immunological aspects were determined with ELISA, the fluorimetric method and the method of precipitation with polyethylene glycol. And the quantification of the parameters of the programmed cell death was performed by the method of flow cytometry and electron microscopy method.Results: The data obtained from morphological and biochemical parameters show the deregulation of Programmed Death of lymphocytes of patients with atopic bronchial asthma but individual for each group of patients. This dysfunction might induce the secretion of autoantibodies against DNA. This could explain the accumulation of circulating immune complex with average size considered as the most pathogenic in patients with bronchial asthma especially in the patients of serious severity. It should be noted that Patients with bronchial asthma of mild and severe severity had different way and did not have the same degree of deficiency of the immune system.Conclusion: These data suggested that apoptotic factor of lymphocytes may play an important role in controlling immunity of patients with atopic bronchial asthma. © 2014 VODOUNON et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Policy-Driven, Multimodal Deep Learning for Predicting Visual Fields from the Optic Disc and OCT Imaging

Purpose: To develop and validate a deep learning (DL) system for predicting each point on visual fields (VFs) from disc and OCT imaging and derive a structure–function mapping. Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional database study. Participants: A total of 6437 patients undergoing routine care for glaucoma in 3 clinical sites in the United Kingdom. Methods: OCT and infrared reflectance (IR) optic disc imaging were paired with the closest VF within 7 days. EfficientNet B2 was used to train 2 single-modality DL models to predict each of the 52 sensitivity points on the 24-2 VF pattern. A policy DL model was designed and trained to fuse the 2 model predictions. Main Outcome Measures: Pointwise mean absolute error (PMAE). Results: A total of 5078 imaging scans to VF pairs were used as a held-out test set to measure the final performance. The improvement in PMAE with the policy model was 0.485 (0.438, 0.533) decibels (dB) compared with the IR image of the disc alone and 0.060 (0.047, 0.073) dB with to the OCT alone. The improvement with the policy fusion model was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Occlusion masking shows that the DL models learned the correct structure–function mapping in a data-driven, feature agnostic fashion. Conclusions: The multimodal, policy DL model performed the best; it provided explainable maps of its confidence in fusing data from single modalities and provides a pathway for probing the structure–function relationship in glaucoma

M19 Modulates Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Insulin Secretion in Pancreatic β-Cells through Modulation of Respiratory Chain Activity

Mitochondrial dysfunction due to nuclear or mitochondrial DNA alterations contributes to multiple diseases such as metabolic myopathies, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes and cancer. Nevertheless, to date, only half of the estimated 1,500 mitochondrial proteins has been identified, and the function of most of these proteins remains to be determined. Here, we characterize the function of M19, a novel mitochondrial nucleoid protein, in muscle and pancreatic β-cells. We have identified a 13-long amino acid sequence located at the N-terminus of M19 that targets the protein to mitochondria. Furthermore, using RNA interference and over-expression strategies, we demonstrate that M19 modulates mitochondrial oxygen consumption and ATP production, and could therefore regulate the respiratory chain activity. In an effort to determine whether M19 could play a role in the regulation of various cell activities, we show that this nucleoid protein, probably through its modulation of mitochondrial ATP production, acts on late muscle differentiation in myogenic C2C12 cells, and plays a permissive role on insulin secretion under basal glucose conditions in INS-1 pancreatic β-cells. Our results are therefore establishing a functional link between a mitochondrial nucleoid protein and the modulation of respiratory chain activities leading to the regulation of major cellular processes such as myogenesis and insulin secretion

Citrus bright spot virus: a new dichorhavirus, transmitted by Brevipalpus azores, Causing Citrus Leprosis Disease in Brazil.

Citrus leprosis (CL) is the main viral disease affecting the Brazilian citriculture. Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) trees affected by CL were identified in small orchards in Southern Brazil. Rod-like particles of 40 × 100 nm and electron lucent viroplasm were observed in the nucleus of infected cells in symptomatic tissues. RNA extracts from three plants, which proved negative by RT-PCR for known CL-causing viruses, were analyzed by high throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing after RT-PCR. The genomes of bi-segmented ss(?)RNA viruses, with ORFs in a typical organization of members of the genus Dichorhavirus, were recovered. These genomes shared 98?99% nt sequence identity among them but <73% with those of known dichorhavirids, a value below the threshold for new species demarcation within that genus. Phylogenetically, the three haplotypes of the new virus called citrus bright spot virus (CiBSV) are clustered with citrus leprosis virus N, which is a dichorhavirus transmitted by Brevipalpus phoenicis sensu stricto. In CiBSV-infected citrus plants, B. papayensis and B. azores were found, but the virus could only be transmitted to Arabidopsis plants by B. azores. The study provides the first evidence of the role of B. azores as a viral vector and supports the assignment of CiBSV to the tentative new species Dichorhavirus australis