Characterization of sheep fattening cooperatives in Ethiopia: Members’ satisfaction and women’s participation

Cooperatives play crucial roles in economic and social development of both men and women. The study was conducted to determine the participation of sheep farmers in sheep fattening cooperatives (SFC) in four regional states of Ethiopia with a special focus on women. Variables studied included characteristics of members, length of membership (LM), extent of participation in decision making (EPDM), satisfaction of the level of management (SLM), interaction with cooperative officials (ICO), interaction with members (ICM), satisfaction level on interaction (SLI), members taken into consideration (MTC), annual revenue of the cooperative (ARC), share of meetings attended (SMA), Fifty four legally registered SFC were selected purposively based on their current status and their accessibility. Probability proportionate to size (PPS) technique was used to determine the number of producer members to be studied. A total of 314 members and 54 chairpersons of the cooperatives were interviewed using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics (mean, percentage and frequency) and econometric model (tobit and logit) were employed for data analysis using Statistical Analytic Software (SAS) ver. 9.2. Results showed that the majority (69.7%) of members in SFC were men. The SFC in this study showed no trend of increasing membership. Members (53.8) participated moderately in decision making, while 38% had a moderate level of satisfaction in the management. There were high levels of interaction as shown by proportions of producer members who interacted with officials (58.8%) and among themselves (60.4). The proportion of members who attended all cooperative meetings was 30.6%. There were no correlations between age of members and length of membership with other variables. EPDM was strongly correlated (P0.05) with ICO. From the result of this study, majority (68.9%) of respondent members have no intention of increasing the number of sheep per fattening cycle. Poor market linkage and information, feed, cash and space ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th as factor that limit the number of fattening sheep per cycle. Internal factors were mentioned to have a strong influence on the future existence of SFC as compared to external factors. There was a significantly higher (P< 0.05) proportion of women membership in SFC initiated by NGOs and cooperatives that have women in the leadership positions. There was significantly lower (P<0.001) proportions of women in SFC whereby members buy shares at the start-up. The level of literacy had an effect on women's participation in leadership. Women had a higher chance of being leaders in SFC that were women-based, those with higher proportions of female membership, and those with leaders who have undertaken gender-related training courses. Membership in SFC resulted in improved women's access and control over inputs and resources, training and credit, and participation in decision making and management activities. However, their proportion and participation in leadership of SFC is still limited. Therefore, awareness creation and gender inclusive trainings, access to resources and education should be done and improved in order to involve women effectively in cooperative development

Structures, Deformation Mechanisms and Tectonic Phases, Recorded in Paleoproterozoic Granitoids of West African Craton, Southern Part: Example of Kan’s Complex (Central of Côte d’Ivoire)

The granito-gneissic complex of Kan is located in the central part of the Paleoproterozoic domain of Côte d’Ivoire. It consists essentially of migmatitic and mylonitic gneisses with basic intrusions and xenoliths. This Proterozoic domain belongs to the Man Leo shield, southern part of West African craton (WAC). The present study, essentially based on a structural analysis at outcrop scale, aims to identify deformation mechanisms and tectonic phasesrecorded in the granito-gneissic complex of Kan. Deformation mechanisms include: (1) flattening, (2) constriction, (3) simple shear (4), rotation (5), brittle shear, and (6) extension. The Kan complex deformation occurred during four major tectonic phases named D1, D2, D3 and D4. D1 corresponds to WNW-ESE compression. It led to the formation of NS to NNE-SSW foliation, of stretching lineation, and of folds with sub-horizontal axes. It is accompanied by N170° and N10° sinistral shear zones, which constitute globally a NS major transcurrent shear zone in the central part of Côte d’Ivoire. D1 is also marked by N90° dextral shear zones. Tectonic phase D2 is associated with EW compression. It is marked by N50° dextral and N110° sinistral transcurents shear zones. D3 corresponds to NNE-SSW compressive phase and is responsible of N110° crenulation cleavage formation. (D4) constitutes a brittle deformation phase. It correspondsto posteburnean deformation in the Proterozoic crust of Côte d'Ivoire. Generally, these deformation phases are similar to D2 and D3 reported in the Man-Leo shield and that are part of regional collisional phase referred to as Eburnean orogeny in the WAC

The African Genome Variation Project shapes medical genetics in Africa.

Given the importance of Africa to studies of human origins and disease susceptibility, detailed characterization of African genetic diversity is needed. The African Genome Variation Project provides a resource with which to design, implement and interpret genomic studies in sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide. The African Genome Variation Project represents dense genotypes from 1,481 individuals and whole-genome sequences from 320 individuals across sub-Saharan Africa. Using this resource, we find novel evidence of complex, regionally distinct hunter-gatherer and Eurasian admixture across sub-Saharan Africa. We identify new loci under selection, including loci related to malaria susceptibility and hypertension. We show that modern imputation panels (sets of reference genotypes from which unobserved or missing genotypes in study sets can be inferred) can identify association signals at highly differentiated loci across populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Using whole-genome sequencing, we demonstrate further improvements in imputation accuracy, strengthening the case for large-scale sequencing efforts of diverse African haplotypes. Finally, we present an efficient genotype array design capturing common genetic variation in Africa

Soluble Immune Complexes Shift the TLR-Induced Cytokine Production of Distinct Polarized Human Macrophage Subsets towards IL-10

Contains fulltext : 109563.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Costimulation of murine macrophages with immune complexes (ICs) and TLR ligands leads to alternative activation. Studies on human myeloid cells, however, indicate that ICs induce an increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production. This study aimed to clarify the effect of ICs on the pro- versus anti-inflammatory profile of human polarized macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Monocytes isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors were polarized for four days with IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10, GM-CSF, M-CSF, or LPS, in the presence or absence of heat aggregated gamma-globulins (HAGGs). Phenotypic polarization markers were measured by flow cytometry. Polarized macrophages were stimulated with HAGGs or immobilized IgG alone or in combination with TLR ligands. TNF, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-23 were measured by Luminex and/or RT-qPCR. RESULTS: HAGGs did not modulate the phenotypic polarization and the cytokine production of macrophages. However, HAGGs significantly altered the TLR-induced cytokine production of all polarized macrophage subsets, with the exception of MPhi(IL-4). In particular, HAGGs consistently enhanced the TLR-induced IL-10 production in both classically and alternatively polarized macrophages (M1 and M2). The effect of HAGGs on TNF and IL-6 production was less pronounced and depended on the polarization status, while IL-23p19 and IL-12p35 expression was not affected. In contrast with HAGGs, immobilized IgG induced a strong upregulation of not only IL-10, but also TNF and IL-6. CONCLUSION: HAGGs alone do not alter the phenotype and cytokine production of in vitro polarized human macrophages. In combination with TLR-ligands, however, HAGGs but not immobilized IgG shift the cytokine production of distinct macrophage subsets toward IL-10

Enzymatic Activities and DNA Substrate Specificity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA Helicase XPB

XPB, also known as ERCC3 and RAD25, is a 3′→5′ DNA repair helicase belonging to the superfamily 2 of helicases. XPB is an essential core subunit of the eukaryotic basal transcription factor complex TFIIH. It has two well-established functions: in the context of damaged DNA, XPB facilitates nucleotide excision repair by unwinding double stranded DNA (dsDNA) surrounding a DNA lesion; while in the context of actively transcribing genes, XPB facilitates initiation of RNA polymerase II transcription at gene promoters. Human and other eukaryotic XPB homologs are relatively well characterized compared to conserved homologs found in mycobacteria and archaea. However, more insight into the function of bacterial helicases is central to understanding the mechanism of DNA metabolism and pathogenesis in general. Here, we characterized Mycobacterium tuberculosis XPB (Mtb XPB), a 3′→5′ DNA helicase with DNA-dependent ATPase activity. Mtb XPB efficiently catalyzed DNA unwinding in the presence of significant excess of enzyme. The unwinding activity was fueled by ATP or dATP in the presence of Mg2+/Mn2+. Consistent with the 3′→5′ polarity of this bacterial XPB helicase, the enzyme required a DNA substrate with a 3′ overhang of 15 nucleotides or more. Although Mtb XPB efficiently unwound DNA model substrates with a 3′ DNA tail, it was not active on substrates containing a 3′ RNA tail. We also found that Mtb XPB efficiently catalyzed ATP-independent annealing of complementary DNA strands. These observations significantly enhance our understanding of the biological roles of Mtb XPB

Beyond humanization and de-immunization: tolerization as a method for reducing the immunogenicity of biologics

Immune responses to some monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and biologic proteins interfere with their efficacy due to the development of anti-drug antibodies (ADA). In the case of mAbs, most ADA target ‘foreign’ sequences present in the complementarity determining regions (CDRs). Humanization of the mAb sequence is one approach that has been used to render biologics less foreign to the human immune system. However, fully human mAbs can also drive immunogenicity. De-immunization (removing epitopes) has been used to reduce biologic protein immunogenicity. Here, we discuss a third approach to reducing the immunogenicity of biologics: introduction of Treg epitopes that stimulate Treg function and induce tolerance to the biologic protein. Supplementing humanization (replacing xenosequences with human) and de-immunization (reducing T effector epitopes) with tolerization (introducing Treg epitopes) where feasible, as a means of improving biologics ‘quality by design’, may lead to the development of ever more clinically effective, but less immunogenic, biologics

Trends in HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality in Eastern 3 Mediterranean countries, 1990–2015: findings from the Global 4 Burden of Disease 2015 study

Objectives We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to estimate trends of HIV/AIDS burden in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries between 1990 and 2015. Methods Tailored estimation methods were used to produce final estimates of mortality. Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated by multiplying the mortality rate by population by age-specific life expectancy. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were computed as the prevalence of a sequela multiplied by its disability weight. Results In 2015, the rate of HIV/AIDS deaths in the EMR was 1.8 (1.4–2.5) per 100,000 population, a 43% increase from 1990 (0.3; 0.2–0.8). Consequently, the rate of YLLs due to HIV/AIDS increased from 15.3 (7.6–36.2) per 100,000 in 1990 to 81.9 (65.3–114.4) in 2015. The rate of YLDs increased from 1.3 (0.6–3.1) in 1990 to 4.4 (2.7–6.6) in 2015. Conclusions HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality increased in the EMR since 1990. To reverse this trend and achieve epidemic control, EMR countries should strengthen HIV surveillance,and scale up HIV antiretroviral therapy and comprehensive prevention services