ECONOMIC INTEGRATION FOR DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA: ASSESSMENT AND PROSPECTS

Summary Eastern and Southern Africa has a long history of efforts to achieve operational economic integration and a complex set of overlapping institutional frames. The gains from successful cooperation are agreed ? the basic issues turn on how to attain them. In this context the experiences of the two key actors, PTA (Preferential Trade Area) and SADC (Southern African Development Community), offer insights into the strengths and weaknesses of a broad, secretariat?led trade barrier reducing organization and a narrower (geographically), key sector production coordination, country?led one (SADC). The divergences ? as well as history ? have hampered attempts to coordinate or to merge them and their responses to the opportunities and challenges posed by the re?entry of South Africa into Africa. The latter raises rather more complex issues (and ones less threatening ? or promising in some respects ? to its Eastern and Southern African region potential partners) than is sometimes supposed. Resumé efforts pour d'obtenir l'intégration économique et de rendre celle?ci opérationnelle dans le contexte d'une série complexe de cadres institutionnels parfois superposés. Les gains résultant des réussites dans la coopération ne sont pas contestés: les questions fondamentales tournent autour des moyens d'y parvenir. Dans ce contexte l'expérience de deux acteurs principaux (la PTA – Preferential Trade Area ou Zone commerciale privilégiée et la SADC – Southern African Development Community ou Communauté de développement de l'Afrique australe) offrent des aperçus quant aux avantages et désavantages de l'existence d'une organisation de grande envergure et fondée sur secrétariat, consacrée à la réduction des barrières douannières, et d'une autre organisation, cette fois limitée en termes de sa superficie géographique et menée par des pays, qui cherche à coordiner la production dans les secteurs clef: la SADC. Leurs divergences, et l'histoire même, ont servi d'entrave aux efforts de les coordiner ou de les faire fusionner, surtout en ce qui concerne les nouvelles possibilités et le challenge même de la réintégration de l'Afrique du Sud dans la grande Afrique. Cette réintégration soulève des questions un peu plus complexes (et moins menaçantes) et aussi, moins promettrices sous certains jours pour ses éventuels partenaires dans les régions orientales et australes de l'Afrique) qu'on ne le supposerait parfois. Resumen El Africa oriental y el Africa austral tienen un largo historial de esfuerzos para alcanzar la integración económica operacional y un complejo grupo de estructuras institucionales superpuestas. Los beneficios de una cooperación exitosa no están en discusión ? el punto básico es cómo obtenerlos. En este contexto las experiencias de dos actores clave, (la PTA?Preferential Trade Area o Zona de Comercio Privilegiado, y la SADC ? Southern Africa Development Community o Comunidad para el Desarrollo de Africa Austral), ofrecen interesantes revelaciones sobre los puntos fuertes y débiles de una amplia y burocrática barrera comercial que reduce la organización, y la coordinación de la producción en sectores clave de un área geográfica más reducida, de orientación nacional. Las divergenias ? así como la historia ? han estorbado intentos de combinar o coordinar estos dos aspectos y sus respuestas a las oportunidades o desafíos que presenta el reingreso de Sudafrica al Africa. Esto último plantea más asuntos complejos de los que a veces se suponen (y menos amenazantes ? más prometedores en alugunos aspectos) para sus socios comerciales en potencia en Africa oriental y Africa del sur

Diagnostic criteria and symptom grading for delayed gastric conduit emptying after esophagectomy for cancer : international expert consensus based on a modified Delphi process

Delayed gastric conduit emptying (DGCE) after esophagectomy for cancer is associated with adverse outcomes and troubling symptoms. Widely accepted diagnostic criteria and a symptom grading tool for DGCE are missing. This hampers the interpretation and comparison of studies. A modified Delphi process, using repeated web-based questionnaires, combined with live interim group discussions was conducted by 33 experts within the field, from Europe, North America, and Asia. DGCE was divided into early DGCE if present within 14 days of surgery and late if present later than 14 days after surgery. The final criteria for early DGCE, accepted by 25 of 27 (93%) experts, were as follows: >500 mL diurnal nasogastric tube output measured on the morning of postoperative day 5 or later or>100% increased gastric tube width on frontal chest x-ray projection together with the presence of an air-fluid level. The final criteria for late DGCE accepted by 89% of the experts were as follows: the patient should have 'quite a bit' or 'very much' of at least two of the following symptoms; early satiety/fullness, vomiting, nausea, regurgitation or inability to meet caloric need by oral intake and delayed contrast passage on upper gastrointestinal water-soluble contrast radiogram or on timed barium swallow. A symptom grading tool for late DGCE was constructed grading each symptom as: 'not at all', 'a little', 'quite a bit', or 'very much', generating 0, 1, 2, or 3 points, respectively. For the five symptoms retained in the diagnostic criteria for late DGCE, the minimum score would be 0, and the maximum score would be 15. The final symptom grading tool for late DGCE was accepted by 27 of 31 (87%) experts. For the first time, diagnostic criteria for early and late DGCE and a symptom grading tool for late DGCE are available, based on an international expert consensus process.Peer reviewe

Composition, potential emissions and agricultural value of pig slurry from Spanish commercial farms

[EN] Pig slurry is a valuable fertilizer for crop production but at the same time its management may pose environmental risks. Slurry samples were collected from 77 commercial farms of four animal categories (gestating and lactating sows, nursery piglets and growing pigs) and analyzed for macronutrients, micronutrients, heavy metals and volatile fatty acids. Emissions of ammonia (NH3) and biochemical methane potential (BMP) were quantified. Slurry electrical conductivity, pH, dry matter content and ash content were also determined. Data analysis included an analysis of correlations among variables, the development of predictionmodels for gaseousemissions and the analysis of nutritional content of slurries for crop production. Descriptive information is provided in this work and shows a wide range of variability in all studied variables. Animal category affected some physicochemical parameters, probably as a consequence of different slurry management and use of cleaning water. Slurries from gestating sows and growing pigs tended to be more concentrated in nutrients, whereas the slurry from lactating sows and nursery piglets tended to be more diluted. Relevant relationships were found among slurry characteristics expressed in fresh basis and gas emissions. Predictivemodels using on-farmmeasurable parameterswere obtained forNH3 (R2 = 0.51) andCH4 (R2 = 0.76), which suggests that BMP may be estimated in commercial farms from easily determined slurry characteristics. Finally, slurry nutrient composition was highly variable. Therefore, complete analyses of slurries should be performed for an effective and environmental friendly land application.This project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2011-30023) and the Valencian Government (ACOMP/2013/118). We thank the BABEL Project, Building Academic Bonds between Europe and Latin America. Erasmus Mundus Programme Action 2 for PhD fellowships. The translation of this paper was funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.Antezana-Julian, WO.; Blas, CD.; García-Rebollar, P.; Rodríguez, C.; Beccaccia, A.; Ferrer Riera, P.; Cerisuelo, A.... (2016). Composition, potential emissions and agricultural value of pig slurry from Spanish commercial farms. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 104(2):159-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9764-3S1591731042Aarnink AJA, Verstegen MWA (2007) Nutrition, key factor to reduce environmental load from pig production. Livest Sci 109(1–3):194–203Abubaker J, Risberg K, Jönsson E, Dahlin A S, Cederlund H, Pell M (2015) Short-term effects of biogas digestates and pig slurry application on soil microbial activity. Appl Environ Soil Sci. Article ID 658542: 1–15Adekunle KF, Okolie JA (2015) A review of biochemical process of anaerobic digestion. 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BioMart Central Portal: an open database network for the biological community

BioMart Central Portal is a first of its kind, community-driven effort to provide unified access to dozens of biological databases spanning genomics, proteomics, model organisms, cancer data, ontology information and more. Anybody can contribute an independently maintained resource to the Central Portal, allowing it to be exposed to and shared with the research community, and linking it with the other resources in the portal. Users can take advantage of the common interface to quickly utilize different sources without learning a new system for each. The system also simplifies cross-database searches that might otherwise require several complicated steps. Several integrated tools streamline common tasks, such as converting between ID formats and retrieving sequences. The combination of a wide variety of databases, an easy-to-use interface, robust programmatic access and the array of tools make Central Portal a one-stop shop for biological data querying. Here, we describe the structure of Central Portal and show example queries to demonstrate its capabilities

Diagnostic criteria and symptom grading for delayed gastric conduit emptying after esophagectomy for cancer: international expert consensus based on a modified Delphi process

Delayed gastric conduit emptying (DGCE) after esophagectomy for cancer is associated with adverse outcomes and troubling symptoms. Widely accepted diagnostic criteria and a symptom grading tool for DGCE are missing. This hampers the interpretation and comparison of studies. A modified Delphi process, using repeated web-based questionnaires, combined with live interim group discussions was conducted by 33 experts within the field, from Europe, North America, and Asia. DGCE was divided into early DGCE if present within 14 days of surgery and late if present later than 14 days after surgery. The final criteria for early DGCE, accepted by 25 of 27 (93%) experts, were as follows: >500 mL diurnal nasogastric tube output measured on the morning of postoperative day 5 or later or >100% increased gastric tube width on frontal chest x-ray projection together with the presence of an air-fluid level. The final criteria for late DGCE accepted by 89% of the experts were as follows: the patient should have 'quite a bit' or 'very much' of at least two of the following symptoms; early satiety/fullness, vomiting, nausea, regurgitation or inability to meet caloric need by oral intake and delayed contrast passage on upper gastrointestinal water-soluble contrast radiogram or on timed barium swallow. A symptom grading tool for late DGCE was constructed grading each symptom as: 'not at all', 'a little', 'quite a bit', or 'very much', generating 0, 1, 2, or 3 points, respectively. For the five symptoms retained in the diagnostic criteria for late DGCE, the minimum score would be 0, and the maximum score would be 15. The final symptom grading tool for late DGCE was accepted by 27 of 31 (87%) experts. For the first time, diagnostic criteria for early and late DGCE and a symptom grading tool for late DGCE are available, based on an international expert consensus process

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

RNA Interference in Schistosoma mansoni Schistosomula: Selectivity, Sensitivity and Operation for Larger-Scale Screening

RNA interference (RNAi) is a technique to selectively suppress mRNA of individual genes and, consequently, their cognate proteins. RNAi using double-stranded (ds) RNA has been used to interrogate the function of mainly single genes in the flatworm, Schistosoma mansoni, one of a number of schistosome species causing schistosomiasis. In consideration of large-scale screens to identify candidate drug targets, we examined the selectivity and sensitivity (the degree of suppression) of RNAi for 11 genes produced in different tissues of the parasite: the gut, tegument (surface) and otherwise. We used the schistosomulum stage prepared from infective cercariae larvae which are accessible in large numbers and adaptable to automated screening platforms. We found that RNAi suppresses transcripts selectively, however, the sensitivity of suppression varies (40%–>75%). No obvious changes in the parasite occurred post-RNAi, including after targeting the mRNA of genes that had been computationally predicted to be essential for survival. Additionally, we defined operational parameters to facilitate large-scale RNAi, including choice of culture medium, transfection strategy to deliver dsRNA, dose- and time-dependency, and dosing limits. Finally, using fluorescent probes, we show that the developing gut allows rapid entrance of dsRNA into the parasite to initiate RNAi