Tracing the Bioavailability of Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam in Biological Tissues

This is the final version of the article. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record.Graphene-based materials with a three-dimensional (3D) framework have been investigated for a variety of biomedical applications because of their 3D morphology, excellent physiochemical properties, volume stability, and their controllable degradation rate. Current knowledge on the toxicological implications and bioavailability of graphene foam (GF) has major uncertainties surrounding the fate and behavior of GF in exposed environments. Bioavailability, uptake, and partitioning could have potential effects on the behavior of GF in living organisms, which has not yet been investigated. Here, we report a pilot toxicology study on 3D GF in common carps. Our results showed that GF did not show any noticeable toxicity in common carps, and the antioxidant enzymatic activities, biochemical and blood parameters persisted within the standard series. Further histological imaging revealed that GF remained within liver and kidney macrophages for 7 days without showing obvious toxicity. An in vivo study also demonstrated a direct interaction between GF and biological systems, verifying its eco-friendly nature and high biocompatibility.This work was supported by EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Metamaterials, XM2 (Grant No. EP/L015331/1) University of Exeter EX4 4QF, United Kingdom

Variabilité Intra-saisonnière des Pluies et Production du Sorgho en Zones Soudanienne et Sahélienne du Mali

           L’agriculture malienne, pilier du développement économique et de la sécurité alimentaire des populations, est affectée par les dérèglements climatiques en raison de son caractère essentiellement pluvial. La présente recherche a pour objectif d’analyser les effets de l’instabilité intra-saisonnière des pluies afin d’identifier les périodes optimales de semis du sorgho en zones soudanienne et sahélienne du Mali. A partir des hauteurs journalières de pluie de la station de Katibougou et de San entre 1987 et 2018 fournies par l’Agence pour la Sécurité et la Navigation Aérienne (ASECNAC) du Mali, les dates de début et de fin de saison ont été déterminées. Ensuite, l’analyse fréquentielle du début, de la fin et de la longueur des saisons a été faite aux fréquences de 2, 5 et 8 années sur 10. De même, la fréquence des séquences sèches et humides pendant la saison culturale a été analysée. Les résultats ont montré que dans le cercle de Koulikoro, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluie se situent entre le 06 mai et le 01 août de chaque année. Par contre à San, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluie se situent entre le 12 mai et le 01 août de chaque année.  A Koulikoro, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 06 septembre et le 04 novembre. A San, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 03 septembre et le 02 novembre. Les poches de sècheresse de 5 jours (SS1) sont les pauses pluviométriques constatées dans le cercle de Koulikoro et elles décroissent au fur et à mesure jusqu’au mois de septembre. Les SS4 s’accroissent jusqu’à partir du mois de juillet à octobre. A San, les SS1 et SS4 sont similaires à ceux du cercle de Koulikoro. Par contre, les SS3 sont un peu élevés durant les mois de mai, juillet, août et septembre. Dans le cercle de Koulikoro sur 2, 5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est de 159, 132 et 102 jours. Dans ces conditions, la variété du sorgho de 90 jours et de 105 jours peut se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation. Par contre à San, sur 2,5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est de 123, 108 et 89 jours, dans ces conditions, la variété du sorgho de 90 jours peut se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation, par contre la variété de 90 est compromise sur 8 années sur 10  et  celle de 105 jours est compromise sur 5 et 8 années sur 10. Au regard de l’intérêt que les producteurs accordent à la culture du sorgho et de l’instabilité intra-saisonnière des pluies, ils s’approprient plusieurs mesures d’adaptation (planification du calendrier agricole, adoption de la variété culturale à cycle court, utilisation d’engrais) dont l’efficacité mérite d’être analysée.   Malian agriculture, a pillar of economic development and food security, is affected by climatic disturbances because of its essentially rainfed nature. The objective of this research is to analyse the effects of intra-seasonal rainfall instability in order to identify optimal sorghum sowing periods in the Sudanian and Sahelian zones of Mali. From the daily rainfall amounts of the Katibougou and San stations between 1987 and 2018 provided by the Malian Agency for Air Safety and Navigation (ASECNAC), the start and end of the season dates were determined. Then, the frequency analysis of the beginning, end and length of the seasons was done at frequencies of 2. 5 and 8 years out of 10. Similarly, the frequency of dry and wet sequences during the cropping season was analysed. The results showed that in the Koulikoro district, the probable dates for the start of rainfall are between 6 May and 1 August each year. In contrast, in San, the probable dates for the start of the rainfall are between 12 May and 1 August each year.  In Koulikoro, the end of the rainy season is generally between 6 September and 4 November. In San, the end of the rainy season is generally between 03 September and 02 November. The 5-day drought pockets (SS1) are the rainfall breaks observed in the Koulikoro district and they decrease progressively until September. SS4 increases from July to October. In San, SS1 and SS4 are similar to those in Koulikoro, but, SS3 is slightly higher in May, July, August and September. In the Koulikoro district, the length of the agricultural season in 2. 5 and 8 years out of 10 is 159. 132 and 102 days. Under these conditions, the 90-day and 105-day sorghum varieties can be grown normally from emergence to maturation. On the other hand, in San, over 2. 5 and 8 years out of 10, the length of the agricultural season is 123. 108 and 89 days, under these conditions, the 90-day sorghum variety can be grown normally from emergence to maturation, while the 90-day variety is compromised over 8 years out of 10 and the 105-day variety is compromised over 5 and 8 years out of 10. In view of the interest that producers have in growing sorghum and the intra-seasonal instability of rainfall, they have adopted several adaptation measures (planning of the agricultural calendar, adoption of the short-cycle crop variety, use of fertilisers), the effectiveness of which deserves to be analysed

Variabilité Intra-saisonnière des Pluies et Production du Sorgho en Zones Soudanienne et Sahélienne du Mali

L’agriculture malienne, pilier du développement économique et de la sécurité alimentaire des populations, est affectée par les dérèglements climatiques en raison de son caractère essentiellement pluvial. La présente recherche a pour objectif d’analyser les effets de l’instabilité intra-saisonnière des pluies afin d’identifier les périodes optimales de semis du sorgho en zones soudanienne et sahélienne du Mali. A partir des hauteurs journalières de pluie de la station de katibougou et de San entre 1987 et 2018 fournies par l’Agence pour la Sécurité et la Navigation Aérienne (ASECNAC) du Mali, les dates de début et de fin de saison ont été déterminées. Ensuite, l’analyse fréquentielle du début, de la fin et de la longueur des saisons a été faite aux fréquences de 2, 5 et 8 années sur 10. De même, la fréquence des séquences sèches et humides pendant la saison culturale a été analysée. Les résultats ont montré que dans le cercle de Koulikoro, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluvieuse se situe entre le 06 mai et le 01 août de chaque année. Par contre à San, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluvieuse se situe entre le 12 mai et le 01 août de chaque année.  A Koulikoro, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 06 septembre  et le 04 novembre. A San, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 03 septembre  et le 02 novembre. Les poche de sècheresse de 5 jours (SS1) sont les pauses pluviométriques constatées dans le cercle de Koulikoro et elles décroissent au fur et à mesure jusqu’au mois de septembre. Les SS4 s’accroissent  jusqu’au à partir du mois de juillet d’octobre. A San, les SS1 et SS4 sont similaires à ceux du cercle de Koulikoro, par contre les SS3 sont un peu élevés durant les mois de mai, juillet, août et septembre. Dans le cercle de Koulikoro sur 2,5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est de 159,132 et 102 jours. Dans ces conditions, la variété du sorgho de 90 jours et de 105 jours peuvent se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation. Par contre à San, sur 2,5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est  de 123,108 et 89 jours, dans ces conditions la variété du sorgho de 90 jours  peuvent se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation par contre la variété de 90 est compromise sur 8 années sur 10  et  celle de 105 jours est compromise sur 5 et 8 années sur 10. Au regard de l’intérêt que les producteurs accordent à a culture du sorgho, ils s’approprient plusieurs mesures d’adaptation (planification du calendrier agricole, adoption de la variété culturale à cycle court, utilisation d’engrais) dont l’efficacité mérite d’être analysée.   Malian agriculture, a pillar of economic development and food security for populations, is affected by climatic disturbances due to its predominantly rain-fed nature. The objective of this research is to analyze the effects of intra-seasonal instability of rains in order to identify the optimal sorghum sowing periods in the Sudanian and Sahelian zones of Mali. From the daily rainfall amounts for the katibougou and San stations between 1987 and 2018 provided by the Agence pour la Sécurité et la Navigation Aérienne (ASECNAC) of Mali, the start and end dates of the season were determined. Then, the frequency analysis of the beginning, the end and the length of the seasons was made at the frequencies of 2, 5 and 8 years out of 10. Similarly, the frequency of dry and wet sequences during the cropping season was analyzed. . The results showed that in the Koulikoro, the probable dates of the start of the rainy season are between 06 May and 01 August of each year. On the other hand in San, the probable dates of the start of the rainy season are between May 12 and August 1 of each year. In Koulikoro, the end of the rainy season is generally between September 06 and November 04. In San, the end of the rainy season is usually between September 3 and November 2. The 5-day drought pockets (SS1) are the rainfall breaks observed in the Koulikoro circle and they gradually decrease until September. The SS4 are increasing until from July to October. In San, the SS1 and SS4 are similar to those in the Koulikoro circle, on the other hand the SS3 are a little high during the months of May, July, August and September. In the Koulikoro circle over 2.5 and 8 out of 10 years, the duration of the agricultural season is 159,132 and 102 days. Under these conditions, the 90-day and 105-day sorghum variety can be grown normally from emergence to maturity. On the other hand in San, over 2.5 and 8 years out of 10, the length of the agricultural season is 123, 108 and 89 days, under these conditions the 90-day sorghum variety can be grown normally from emergence to ripening. on the other hand, the 90-year variety is compromised over 8 out of 10 years and the 105-day variety is compromised over 5 and 8 out of 10 years. In view of the interest that producers give to sorghum cultivation, they appropriate several adaptation measures (planning the agricultural calendar, adoption of the short-cycle crop variety, use of fertilizers) whose effectiveness deserves to be analyzed

Variabilité Intra-saisonnière des Pluies et Production du Sorgho en Zones Soudanienne et Sahélienne du Mali

L’agriculture malienne, pilier du développement économique et de la sécurité alimentaire des populations, est affectée par les dérèglements climatiques en raison de son caractère essentiellement pluvial. La présente recherche a pour objectif d’analyser les effets de l’instabilité intra-saisonnière des pluies afin d’identifier les périodes optimales de semis du sorgho en zones soudanienne et sahélienne du Mali. A partir des hauteurs journalières de pluie de la station de katibougou et de San entre 1987 et 2018 fournies par l’Agence pour la Sécurité et la Navigation Aérienne (ASECNAC) du Mali, les dates de début et de fin de saison ont été déterminées. Ensuite, l’analyse fréquentielle du début, de la fin et de la longueur des saisons a été faite aux fréquences de 2, 5 et 8 années sur 10. De même, la fréquence des séquences sèches et humides pendant la saison culturale a été analysée. Les résultats ont montré que dans le cercle de Koulikoro, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluvieuse se situe entre le 06 mai et le 01 août de chaque année. Par contre à San, les dates probables des démarrages de la pluvieuse se situe entre le 12 mai et le 01 août de chaque année.  A Koulikoro, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 06 septembre  et le 04 novembre. A San, la fin de la saison pluvieuse se situe généralement entre le 03 septembre  et le 02 novembre. Les poche de sècheresse de 5 jours (SS1) sont les pauses pluviométriques constatées dans le cercle de Koulikoro et elles décroissent au fur et à mesure jusqu’au mois de septembre. Les SS4 s’accroissent  jusqu’au à partir du mois de juillet d’octobre. A San, les SS1 et SS4 sont similaires à ceux du cercle de Koulikoro, par contre les SS3 sont un peu élevés durant les mois de mai, juillet, août et septembre. Dans le cercle de Koulikoro sur 2,5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est de 159,132 et 102 jours. Dans ces conditions, la variété du sorgho de 90 jours et de 105 jours peuvent se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation. Par contre à San, sur 2,5 et 8 années sur 10, la durée de la saison agricole est  de 123,108 et 89 jours, dans ces conditions la variété du sorgho de 90 jours  peuvent se cultiver normalement depuis la levée jusqu’à la maturation par contre la variété de 90 est compromise sur 8 années sur 10  et  celle de 105 jours est compromise sur 5 et 8 années sur 10. Au regard de l’intérêt que les producteurs accordent à a culture du sorgho, ils s’approprient plusieurs mesures d’adaptation (planification du calendrier agricole, adoption de la variété culturale à cycle court, utilisation d’engrais) dont l’efficacité mérite d’être analysée.   Malian agriculture, a pillar of economic development and food security for populations, is affected by climatic disturbances due to its predominantly rain-fed nature. The objective of this research is to analyze the effects of intra-seasonal instability of rains in order to identify the optimal sorghum sowing periods in the Sudanian and Sahelian zones of Mali. From the daily rainfall amounts for the katibougou and San stations between 1987 and 2018 provided by the Agence pour la Sécurité et la Navigation Aérienne (ASECNAC) of Mali, the start and end dates of the season were determined. Then, the frequency analysis of the beginning, the end and the length of the seasons was made at the frequencies of 2, 5 and 8 years out of 10. Similarly, the frequency of dry and wet sequences during the cropping season was analyzed. . The results showed that in the Koulikoro, the probable dates of the start of the rainy season are between 06 May and 01 August of each year. On the other hand in San, the probable dates of the start of the rainy season are between May 12 and August 1 of each year. In Koulikoro, the end of the rainy season is generally between September 06 and November 04. In San, the end of the rainy season is usually between September 3 and November 2. The 5-day drought pockets (SS1) are the rainfall breaks observed in the Koulikoro circle and they gradually decrease until September. The SS4 are increasing until from July to October. In San, the SS1 and SS4 are similar to those in the Koulikoro circle, on the other hand the SS3 are a little high during the months of May, July, August and September. In the Koulikoro circle over 2.5 and 8 out of 10 years, the duration of the agricultural season is 159,132 and 102 days. Under these conditions, the 90-day and 105-day sorghum variety can be grown normally from emergence to maturity. On the other hand in San, over 2.5 and 8 years out of 10, the length of the agricultural season is 123, 108 and 89 days, under these conditions the 90-day sorghum variety can be grown normally from emergence to ripening. on the other hand, the 90-year variety is compromised over 8 out of 10 years and the 105-day variety is compromised over 5 and 8 out of 10 years. In view of the interest that producers give to sorghum cultivation, they appropriate several adaptation measures (planning the agricultural calendar, adoption of the short-cycle crop variety, use of fertilizers) whose effectiveness deserves to be analyzed

Zootechnical study of breeding modes of Somba cattle in Benin

The Somba cattle (Bos Taurus brachyceros sp), located in Benin and Togo, has a severe reduction of its livestock in recent decades. The aim of this study was to determine the causes of this phenomenon, in order to propose new approaches of conservation. The study consisted of surveys with targeted farmers and cattle. The results indicate that Somba cattle are not cared for both in terms of food and health, justifying its low performance and high mortality rate. The parameters covered by the study vary from one mode of farming to another. For individual parameters, entrusted farming is more interesting. In more than 80% of the farms of this mode, age at first calving is around 36 months, whereas it is of 42 months in the home farming, and have an inter calving period of 14 months which is also less than 24 months in the second case. Demographic parameters seem more interesting than home farming. Then, the mortality rate is 13.46% in home farming against 16.61% in entrusted farming. Regarding to external factors, health monitoring is lax in both modes. Food is a great concern especially during the dry season. The absorption by zebu was often mentioned as the main cause of the decrease of Somba cattle livestock. The present study shows that high mortality due to an absence of health monitoring is the basis of the sharp decline in the number of Somba cattle. The influence of zebu is currently marginal because 96.22% of cattle at the farm level respondents are Somba breed.Keywords: Parameters, individuals, demographic, livestock, conservation, mortalit

Occurrence of antibiotic residues in raw fish Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus from intensive rearing system in Benin

International audienceAn observational cross-sectional study was carriedy out to investigate antibiotic residues in Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus from the intensive rearing system in Southern Benin. The targeted antibiotic families were tetracyclins, amphenicols, beta-lactams and macrolides. One hundred and forty-four (144) samples were used per antibiotic family for residue detection in the fish muscle, making 576 treated samples. The Charm II method based on radioimmunoassay was used. The results showed an overall residue prevalence of 11.1%, which is attributable to tetracyclines alone. There was no residue of the other antibiotic families in the treated fish muscles. The adult fish were the only contaminated age group with 22.2% residue prevalence compared to the fingerlings (p < 0.05). Likewise, the antibiotic residues were significantly (p< 0.05) more prevalent in Clarias gariepinus (16.7%) than in Oreochromis niloticus (5.6%). The adult fishes are generally fattier than the young ones, and that can lower the fish body antibiotic elimination capability. This first detection of tetracyclines residues in fish produced in Benin shows the need to rule and control antibiotic use in the developing fish industry to preserve consumers' health

Gains in grain yield of extra-early maize during three breeding periods under drought and rain-fed conditions

Open Access Article; Published online: 30 Aug 2018Drought is a key maize (Zea mays L.) production constraint in sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen, fifteen, and twenty-five extra-early maturing maize cultivars, with varying Striga resistance and drought and low soil N tolerance, were developed from 1995 to 2000 (Period 1), 2001 to 2006 (Period 2), and 2007 to 2012 (Period 3), respectively. The objectives of this study were to examine yield gains in the cultivars and to investigate inter-trait relationships and yield stability under six drought and 17 rainfed conditions in West Africa from 2013 to 2016. Annual rate of yield increase across cultivars was 0.034 (3.28%) and 0.068 Mg ha−1 (2.25%), whereas yield gains per period were 0.17 and 0.38 Mg ha−1 under drought and rainfed environments, respectively. Yield gains under drought and rainfed environments were related to prolonged flowering period, increased plant and ear heights, improved stalk lodging, and ear and plant aspects, whereas delayed leaf senescence and increased number of ears per plant accompanied yield improvement under drought only. Ear aspect and number of ears per plant were primary contributors to yield and could be used as selection criteria for yield enhancement under drought and rainfed conditions. High-yielding and stable cultivars across all environments based on additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) biplot included ‘2004 TZEE-Y Pop STR C4’ and ‘TZEE-W Pop STR BC2 C0’ of Period 2 and ‘2009 TZEE-W STR’, ‘TZEE-Y STR 106’, ‘TZEE-W STR 107’, and ‘TZEE-W DT C0 STR C5’ of Period 3. These cultivars could be commercialized to improve food self-sufficiency in sub-Saharan Africa

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

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