Community-based control of a neglected tropical disease: the mossy foot treatment and prevention association

Podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis, also known as mossy foot) is a non-communicable disease now found exclusively in the tropics, caused by the conjunction of environmental, genetic, and economic factors. Silicate particles formed by the disintegration of lava in areas of high altitude (over 1,000 m) and seasonal rainfall (over 1,000 mm per annum) penetrate the skin of barefoot subsistence farmers, and in susceptible individuals cause lymphatic blockage and subsequent elephantiasis [1]. Although an estimated one million Ethiopians (of a total population of 77 million) are afflicted with podoconiosis [2], which creates a huge economic burden in endemic areas [3], no national policy has yet been developed to control or prevent the condition, and most affected communities remain unaware of treatment options

Extension in the western Ross Sea region-links between Adare Basin and Victoria Land Basin

Spreading in the Adare Basin off north-western Ross Sea (43–26 Ma) and extension in the Victoria Land Basin (VLB, > 36 Ma) are used to constrain the pole of rotation for the Adare Basin, providing a rifting model for the region for the past 45 Ma. The offset from Northern Basin to VLB at about 74°S coincides with the linear Polar-3 magnetic anomaly, inferred to be caused by a major 48 - 34 Ma igneous intrusion. The style of extension apparently changed at about 34 Ma, with the end of intrusion at the Polar-3 anomaly, a change from highly asymmetric extension in Adare Basin, and the onset of major subsidence on the flanks of VLB. Ductile lower crustal and lithospheric flow is proposed as the cause of the inferred thick crust underlying southern Adare Basin, and a result of the constraining of extension to the adjacent contiguous Northern Basin

Quantum causal histories

Quantum causal histories are defined to be causal sets with Hilbert spaces attached to each event and local unitary evolution operators. The reflexivity, antisymmetry, and transitivity properties of a causal set are preserved in the quantum history as conditions on the evolution operators. A quantum causal history in which transitivity holds can be treated as ``directed'' topological quantum field theory. Two examples of such histories are described.Comment: 16 pages, epsfig latex. Some clarifications, minor corrections and references added. Version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Worrying Leads to Reduced Concreteness of Problem Elaborations: Evidence for the Avoidance Theory of Worry

Both lay concept and scientific theory have embraced the view that nonpathological worry may be helpful for defining and analyzing problems. To evaluate the quality of problem elaborations, concreteness is a key variable. Two studies with nonclinical student samples are presented in which participants elaborated topics associated with different degrees of worry. In Study 1, participants' elaborations were assessed using problem elaboration charts; in Study 2, they were assessed using catastrophizing interviews. When participants' problem elaborations were rated for concreteness, both studies showed an inverse relationship between degree of worry and concreteness: The more participants worried about a given topic the less concrete was the content of their elaboration. The results challenge the view that worry may promote better problem analyses. Instead they conform to the view that worry is a cognitive avoidance response

Individual correlates of podoconiosis in areas of varying endemicity: a case-control study

BACKGROUND Podoconiosis is a non-filarial form of elephantiasis resulting in lymphedema of the lower legs. Previous studies have suggested that podoconiosis arises from the interplay of individual and environmental factors. Here, our aim was to understand the individual-level correlates of podoconiosis by comparing 460 podoconiosis-affected individuals and 707 unaffected controls. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This was a case-control study carried out in six kebeles (the lowest governmental administrative unit) in northern Ethiopia. Each kebele was classified into one of three endemicity levels: 'low' (prevalence 5%). A total of 142 (30.7%) households had two or more cases of podoconiosis. Compared to controls, the majority of the cases, especially women, were less educated (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.2), were unmarried (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 2.6-4.6) and had lower income (t = -4.4, p<0.0001). On average, cases started wearing shoes ten years later than controls. Among cases, age of first wearing shoes was positively correlated with age of onset of podoconiosis (r = 0.6, t = 12.5, p<0.0001). Among all study participants average duration of shoe wearing was less than 30 years. Between both cases and controls, people in 'high' and 'medium' endemicity kebeles were less likely than people in 'low' endemicity areas to 'ever' have owned shoes (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7). CONCLUSIONS Late use of shoes, usually after the onset of podoconiosis, and inequalities in education, income and marriage were found among cases, particularly among females. There were clustering of cases within households, thus interventions against podoconiosis will benefit from household-targeted case tracing. Most importantly, we identified a secular increase in shoe-wearing over recent years, which may give opportunities to promote shoe-wearing without increasing stigma among those at high risk of podoconiosis

Synchronous oceanic spreading and continental rifting in West Antarctica

Magnetic anomalies associated with new ocean crust formation in the Adare Basin off north-western Ross Sea (43 – 26 Ma) can be traced directly into the Northern Basin that underlies the adjacent morphological continental shelf, implying a continuity in the emplacement of oceanic crust. Steep gravity gradients along the margins of the Northern Basin, particularly in the east, suggest that little extension and thinning of continental crust occurred before it ruptured and the new oceanic crust formed, unlike most other continental rifts and the Victoria Land Basin further south. A pre-existing weak crust and localisation of strain by strike slip faulting are proposed as the factors allowing the rapid rupture of continental crust

XSHOOTER spectroscopy of the enigmatic planetary nebula Lin49 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We performed a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the fullerene C60-containing planetary nebula (PN) Lin49 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using XSHOOTER at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope and the Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph instruments. We derived nebular abundances for nine elements. We used TLUSTY to derive photospheric parameters for the central star. Lin49 is C-rich and metal-deficient PN (Z ∼ 0.0006). The nebular abundances are in good agreement with asymptotic giant branch nucleosynthesis models for stars with initial mass 1.25 M⊙ and metallicity Z = 0.001. Using the TLUSTY synthetic spectrum of the central star to define the heating and ionizing source, we constructed the photoionization model with CLOUDY that matches the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) and the line fluxes in the UV to far-IR wavelength ranges simultaneously. We could not fit the ∼1–5 μm SED using a model with 0.005–0.1-μm-sized graphite grains and a constant hydrogen density shell owing to the prominent near-IR excess, while at other wavelengths the model fits the observed values reasonably well. We argue that the near-IR excess might indicate either (1) the presence of very small particles in the form of small carbon clusters, small graphite sheets, or fullerene precursors, or (2) the presence of a high-density structure surrounding the central star. We found that SMC C60 PNe show a near-IR excess component to lesser or greater degree. This suggests that these C60 PNe might maintain a structure nearby their central star

The matrix Kadomtsev--Petviashvili equation as a source of integrable nonlinear equations

A new integrable class of Davey--Stewartson type systems of nonlinear partial differential equations (NPDEs) in 2+1 dimensions is derived from the matrix Kadomtsev--Petviashvili equation by means of an asymptotically exact nonlinear reduction method based on Fourier expansion and spatio-temporal rescaling. The integrability by the inverse scattering method is explicitly demonstrated, by applying the reduction technique also to the Lax pair of the starting matrix equation and thereby obtaining the Lax pair for the new class of systems of equations. The characteristics of the reduction method suggest that the new systems are likely to be of applicative relevance. A reduction to a system of two interacting complex fields is briefly described.Comment: arxiv version is already officia

Higher HDL cholesterol is associated with better cognitive function: The Maine-Syracuse Study

AbstractFew studies have examined associations between different subcategories of cholesterol and cognitive function. We examined relationships between total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), triglyceride levels and cognitive performance in the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study, a community-based study of cardiovascular risk factors. Cross-sectional analyses were undertaken on data from 540 participants, aged 60 to 98 years, free of dementia and stroke. TC, HDL, LDL, and triglyceride levels were obtained. Cognitive function was assessed using a thorough neuropsychological test battery, including domains of cognitive function indexed by multiple cognitive tests. The cognitive outcomes studied were as follows: Visual-Spatial Memory and Organization, Verbal and Working Memory, Scanning and Tracking, Abstract Reasoning, a Global Composite score, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Significant positive associations were observed between HDL-cholesterol and the Global Composite score, Working Memory, and the MMSE after adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. Participants with desirable levels of HDL (≥60 mg/dL) had the highest scores on all cognitive outcomes. There were no significant associations observed between TC, LDL, or triglyceride concentrations and cognition. In older individuals, HDL-cholesterol was related to a composite of Working Memory tests and for general measures of cognitive ability when adjusted for cardiovascular variables. We speculate that persons over 60 are survivors and thus less likely to show cognitive deficit in relation to TC, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine relations between specific cognitive abilities and the different subcategories of cholesterol. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–10)</jats:p

Spatial distribution of podoconiosis in relation to environmental factors in Ethiopia: a historical review

BACKGROUND An up-to-date and reliable map of podoconiosis is needed to design geographically targeted and cost-effective intervention in Ethiopia. Identifying the ecological correlates of the distribution of podoconiosis is the first step for distribution and risk maps. The objective of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution and ecological correlates of podoconiosis using historical and contemporary survey data. METHODS Data on the observed prevalence of podoconiosis were abstracted from published and unpublished literature into a standardized database, according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 10 studies conducted between 1969 and 2012 were included, and data were available for 401,674 individuals older than 15 years of age from 229 locations. A range of high resolution environmental factors were investigated to determine their association with podoconiosis prevalence, using logistic regression. RESULTS The prevalence of podoconiosis in Ethiopia was estimated at 3.4% (95% CI 3.3%-3.4%) with marked regional variation. We identified significant associations between mean annual Land Surface Temperature (LST), mean annual precipitation, topography of the land and fine soil texture and high prevalence of podoconiosis. The derived maps indicate both widespread occurrence of podoconiosis and a marked variability in prevalence of podoconiosis, with prevalence typically highest at altitudes >1500 m above sea level (masl), with >1500 mm annual rainfall and mean annual LST of 19-21°C. No (or very little) podoconiosis occurred at altitudes 24°C. CONCLUSION Podoconiosis remains a public health problem in Ethiopia over considerable areas of the country, but exhibits marked geographical variation associated in part with key environmental factors. This is work in progress and the results presented here will be refined in future work