Camera traps unveil enigmatic crop raiders in Udawalawe, Sri Lanka

We studied Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) entering three villages bordering the Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka, by placing camera traps on road openings of the boundary electric fence of the park. We identified 35 individuals that crossed the fence, all of which were males. Identified individuals were of differing age/size classes and the majority were solitary. Elephants left the park at dusk and retuned at dawn. Individual variation was observed in method and time of fence crossing. Elephants showed localized movement over the small area of the study. Our results suggest a high degree of crop raiding by males in the area and underscore the failure of current management activities in preventing human-elephant conflict

Managing Soil and Plant Nutrients: Role of Microbial Phosphate Solubilisation

Phosphorus (P) is one of the macronutrients required for the optimum growth and development of plants. The deficiency of P can be compensated by adding chemical fertilisers, which are expensive and have a negative impact on the ecosystem. Solubilisation of phosphate by microorganisms is an emerging application for eco-friendly and sustainable agriculture practices. This chapter discuss the importance of P for plants, the main problems related to the over-exploitation of natural reserves of P and chemical fertilisers, the diversity of phosphate-solubilising microorganisms (PSM), the ability of microorganisms to solubilise phosphates and key mechanisms of microbial P solubilisation, the capability of microorganisms to formulate phosphate-related nanoparticles, the potential of PSM to develop as commercial level biofertiliser and contribution of PSM for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter will highlight the input of PSM in sustainable agriculture

The response to Typhi Vi vaccination is compromised in individuals with primary immunodeficiency

Measurement of an individuals ability to respond to polysaccharide antigens is a crucial test to determine adaptive immunity. Currently the response to Pneumovax® is utilized but with the success of Prevnar®, measurement of the response to Pneumovax may be challenging. The aim of the study was to assess the response to Typhi Vi vaccination in both children and adult control groups and patients with primary immunodeficiency (PID). In the control groups, >95% of the individuals had pre Typhi Vi vaccination concentrations 94% achieving ≥3 fold increase in concentration (FI). The response to Typhi Vi vaccination was significantly lower in both children (p = 0.006) and adult (p = 0.002) PID groups when compared to their control groups. 11% and 55% of the children and adult PID groups respectively did not obtain a response >3FI. There were no significant differences between the responses obtained in the children and adult PID groups. When all individuals with PID were separated into those with either hypogammaglobulinemia (HYPO) or common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), both groups had a significantly lower median FI than the control group (19, 95%CI 5–56 vs 59, 95%CI 7–237; p = 0.01 and 1, 95%CI 1–56 vs 32, 95%CI 5–136; p = 0.005). Further, a >3FI differentiated the antibody responses between both the CVID and HYPO groups and their control groups (AUC: 0.83, 95%CI: 0.65–1.00, p = 0.005 and 0.81, 95% CI: 0.65–0.97, p = 0.01). The data suggests that measurement of the response to Typhi Vi vaccination could represent a complementary assay for the assessment of the response to a polysaccharide vaccine

Surgeons’ practice and preferences for the anal fissure treatment: results from an international survey

The best nonoperative or operative anal fissure (AF) treatment is not yet established, and several options have been proposed. Aim is to report the surgeons' practice for the AF treatment. Thirty-four multiple-choice questions were developed. Seven questions were about to participants' demographics and, 27 questions about their clinical practice. Based on the specialty (general surgeon and colorectal surgeon), obtained data were divided and compared between two groups. Five-hundred surgeons were included (321 general and 179 colorectal surgeons). For both groups, duration of symptoms for at least 6 weeks is the most important factor for AF diagnosis (30.6%). Type of AF (acute vs chronic) is the most important factor which guide the therapeutic plan (44.4%). The first treatment of choice for acute AF is ointment application for both groups (59.6%). For the treatment of chronic AF, this data is confirmed by colorectal surgeons (57%), but not by the general surgeons who prefer the lateral internal sphincterotomy (LIS) (31.8%) (p = 0.0001). Botulin toxin injection is most performed by colorectal surgeons (58.7%) in comparison to general surgeons (20.9%) (p = 0.0001). Anal flap is mostly performed by colorectal surgeons (37.4%) in comparison to general surgeons (28.3%) (p = 0.0001). Fissurectomy alone is statistically significantly most performed by general surgeons in comparison to colorectal surgeons (57.9% and 43.6%, respectively) (p = 0.0020). This analysis provides useful information about the clinical practice for the management of a debated topic such as AF treatment. Shared guidelines and consensus especially focused on operative management are required to standardize the treatment and to improve postoperative results