Addressing food insecurity in Papua New Guinea through food safety and sago cropping

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is known to have a large resource base of sago with over 1 million ha, as well as a high number of germplasm types of the Metroxylon species. The country’s food security status is very low and is primarily dependent on subsistence fresh garden produce as practiced by 85% of the population who are rural dwellers. Postharvest losses can be as high as 40% with little to no postharvest technology nor processing of foods done. Sago provides well for food security and sustains life in rural communities during disasters such as droughts, floods, and cyclones. The dilemma of sago being an underutilized crop in PNG is exacerbated by the introduction of new food crops, cash crops, and limited accessibility to cash to purchase other foods. Over the last 50 years, sago consumption has diminished as one of the major traditional food staples, from 16% to less than 10%. Neglect of sago is further due to food safety concerns about traditionally processed sago, in particular, the risk from sago hemolytic disease (SHD). For over30 years, SHD has been a food safety issue since it was first reported in 1973.Investigations on SHD highlight the serious need to improve on the hygiene and sanitation of the traditional postharvest processing and storage methods of sago starch in PNG. A set of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) protocols has been developed for traditional processing of sago as a food safety measure to improve food safety for food security. While commercial cultivation is nonexistent, there is increased planting of the larger hapaxanthic, non-soboliferous sagospecies, Metroxylon salomonense Becc., in some nontraditional sago-consuming areas as a low-cost raw material source for roof thatching and other building materials. It is however a wasted opportunity for food security in these areas as the starch from the palm is not utilized. Current work in these areas promotes sago as a potential food source that can be harvested or processed into flour. This is to improve the food security status in areas of high population density, like island communities where land is scarce

Impact of efavirenz pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics on neuropsychological performance in older HIV-infected patients

Pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics of efavirenz and its 8-hydroxy metabolite (8-OH-efavirenz) have not been robustly evaluated in older HIV-infected persons

The Timing and Strength of Regional Brain Activation Associated with Word Recognition in Children with Reading Difficulties

The study investigates the relative degree and timing of cortical activation across parietal, temporal, and frontal regions during performance of a continuous visual-word recognition task in children who experience reading difficulties (N = 44, RD) and typical readers (N = 40, NI). Minimum norm estimates of regional neurophysiological activity were obtained from magnetoencephalographic recordings. Children with RD showed bilaterally reduced neurophysiological activity in the superior and middle temporal gyri, and increased activity in rostral middle frontal and ventral occipitotemporal cortices, bilaterally. The temporal profile of activity in the RD group, featured near-simultaneous activity peaks in temporal, inferior parietal, and prefrontal regions, in contrast to a clear temporal progression of activity among these areas in the NI group. These results replicate and extend previous MEG and fMRI results demonstrating atypical, latency-dependent attributes of the brain circuit involved in word reading in children with reading difficulties

Identification of drought-response genes and a study of their expression during sucrose accumulation and water deficit in sugarcane culms

Background: The ability of sugarcane to accumulate high concentrations of sucrose in its culm requires adaptation to maintain cellular function under the high solute load. We have investigated the expression of 51 genes implicated in abiotic stress to determine their expression in the context of sucrose accumulation by studying mature and immature culm internodes of a high sucrose accumulating sugarcane cultivar. Using a sub-set of eight genes, expression was examined in mature internode tissues of sugarcane cultivars as well as ancestral and more widely related species with a range of sucrose contents. Expression of these genes was also analysed in internode tissue from a high sucrose cultivar undergoing water deficit stress to compare effects of sucrose accumulation and water deficit

Atmospheric potential oxygen: New observations and their implications for some atmospheric and oceanic models

Measurements of atmospheric O2/N2 ratios and CO2 concentrations can be combined into a tracer known as atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ≈ O2/N2 + CO2) that is conservative with respect to terrestrial biological activity. Consequently, APO reflects primarily ocean biogeochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Building on the work of Stephens et al. (1998), we present a set of APO observations for the years 1996-2003 with unprecedented spatial coverage. Combining data from the Princeton and Scripps air sampling programs, the data set includes new observations collected from ships in the low-latitude Pacific. The data show a smaller interhemispheric APO gradient than was observed in past studies, and different structure within the hemispheres. These differences appear to be due primarily to real changes in the APO field over time. The data also show a significant maximum in APO near the equator. Following the approach of Gruber et al. (2001), we compare these observations with predictions of APO generated from ocean O2 and CO2 flux fields and forward models of atmospheric transport. Our model predictions differ from those of earlier modeling studies, reflecting primarily the choice of atmospheric transport model (TM3 in this study). The model predictions show generally good agreement with the observations, matching the size of the interhemispheric gradient, the approximate amplitude and extent of the equatorial maximum, and the amplitude and phasing of the seasonal APO cycle at most stations. Room for improvement remains. The agreement in the interhemispheric gradient appears to be coincidental; over the last decade, the true APO gradient has evolved to a value that is consistent with our time-independent model. In addition, the equatorial maximum is somewhat more pronounced in the data than the model. This may be due to overly vigorous model transport, or insufficient spatial resolution in the air-sea fluxes used in our modeling effort. Finally, the seasonal cycles predicted by the model of atmospheric transport show evidence of an excessive seasonal rectifier in the Aleutian Islands and smaller problems elsewhere. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union

Macrophage Subset Sensitivity to Endotoxin Tolerisation by Porphyromonas gingivalis

Macrophages (MΦs) determine oral mucosal responses; mediating tolerance to commensal microbes and food whilst maintaining the capacity to activate immune defences to pathogens. MΦ responses are determined by both differentiation and activation stimuli, giving rise to two distinct subsets; pro-inflammatory M1- and anti-inflammatory/regulatory M2- MΦs. M2-like subsets predominate tolerance induction whereas M1 MΦs predominate in inflammatory pathologies, mediating destructive inflammatory mechanisms, such as those in chronic P.gingivalis (PG) periodontal infection. MΦ responses can be suppressed to benefit either the host or the pathogen. Chronic stimulation by bacterial pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as LPS, is well established to induce tolerance. The aim of this study was to investigate the susceptibility of MΦ subsets to suppression by P. gingivalis. CD14hi and CD14lo M1- and M2-like MΦs were generated in vitro from the THP-1 monocyte cell line by differentiation with PMA and vitamin D3, respectively. MΦ subsets were pre-treated with heat-killed PG (HKPG) and PG-LPS prior to stimulation by bacterial PAMPs. Modulation of inflammation was measured by TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 ELISA and NFκB activation by reporter gene assay. HKPG and PG-LPS differentially suppress PAMP-induced TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10 but fail to suppress IL-1β expression in M1 and M2 MΦs. In addition, P.gingivalis suppressed NFκB activation in CD14lo and CD14hi M2 regulatory MΦs and CD14lo M1 MΦs whereas CD14hi M1 pro-inflammatory MΦs were refractory to suppression. In conclusion, P.gingivalis selectively tolerises regulatory M2 MΦs with little effect on pro-inflammatory CD14hi M1 MΦs; differential suppression facilitating immunopathology at the expense of immunity

Availability, scope and quality of monkeypox clinical management guidelines globally : a systematic review

This work was supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Wellcome (215091/Z/18/Z) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1209135). The GloPID-R Secretariat is a project that receives funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874667. SL is an MRC Clinical Research Training fellow (MR/T001151/1).Background Monkeypox (MPX) is an important human Orthopoxvirus infection. There has been an increase in MPX cases and outbreaks in endemic and non-endemic regions in recent decades. We appraised the availability, scope, quality and inclusivity of clinical management guidelines for MPX globally. Methods For this systematic review, we searched six databases from inception until 14 October 2021, augmented by a grey literature search until 17 May 2022. MPX guidelines providing treatment and supportive care recommendations were included, with no exclusions for language. Two reviewers assessed the guidelines. Quality was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II tool. Results Of 2026 records screened, 14 guidelines were included. Overall, most guidelines were of low-quality with a median score of 2 out of 7 (range: 1–7), lacked detail and covered a narrow range of topics. Most guidelines focused on adults, five (36%) provided some advice for children, three (21%) for pregnant women and three (21%) for people living with HIV. Treatment guidance was mostly limited to advice on antivirals; seven guidelines advised cidofovir (four specified for severe MPX only); 29% (4/14) tecovirimat, and 7% (1/14) brincidofovir. Only one guideline provided recommendations on supportive care and treatment of complications. All guidelines recommended vaccination as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Three guidelines advised on vaccinia immune globulin as PEP for severe cases in people with immunosuppression. Conclusion Our results highlight a lack of evidence-based clinical management guidelines for MPX globally. There is a clear and urgent need for research into treatment and prophylaxis including for different risk populations. The current outbreak provides an opportunity to accelerate this research through coordinated high-quality studies. New evidence should be incorporated into globally accessible guidelines, to benefit patient and epidemic outcomes. A ‘living guideline’ framework is recommended. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020167361.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Investor heterogeneity and the cross-section of U.K. investment trust performance

We use the upper and lower bounds derived by Ferson and Lin (2010) to examine the impact of investor heterogeneity on the performance of U.K. investment trusts relative to alternative linear factor models. We find using the upper bounds that investor heterogeneity has an important impact for nearly all investment trusts. The upper bounds are large in economic terms and significantly different from zero. We find no evidence of any trusts where all investors agree on the sign of performance beyond what we expect by chance. Using the lower bound, we find that trusts with a larger disagreement about trust performance have a weaker relation between the trust premium and past Net Asset Value (NAV) performance

Large-scale genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses of longitudinal change in adult lung function.

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous loci influencing cross-sectional lung function, but less is known about genes influencing longitudinal change in lung function. METHODS: We performed GWAS of the rate of change in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) in 14 longitudinal, population-based cohort studies comprising 27,249 adults of European ancestry using linear mixed effects model and combined cohort-specific results using fixed effect meta-analysis to identify novel genetic loci associated with longitudinal change in lung function. Gene expression analyses were subsequently performed for identified genetic loci. As a secondary aim, we estimated the mean rate of decline in FEV1 by smoking pattern, irrespective of genotypes, across these 14 studies using meta-analysis. RESULTS: The overall meta-analysis produced suggestive evidence for association at the novel IL16/STARD5/TMC3 locus on chromosome 15 (P  =  5.71 × 10(-7)). In addition, meta-analysis using the five cohorts with ≥3 FEV1 measurements per participant identified the novel ME3 locus on chromosome 11 (P  =  2.18 × 10(-8)) at genome-wide significance. Neither locus was associated with FEV1 decline in two additional cohort studies. We confirmed gene expression of IL16, STARD5, and ME3 in multiple lung tissues. Publicly available microarray data confirmed differential expression of all three genes in lung samples from COPD patients compared with controls. Irrespective of genotypes, the combined estimate for FEV1 decline was 26.9, 29.2 and 35.7 mL/year in never, former, and persistent smokers, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this large-scale GWAS, we identified two novel genetic loci in association with the rate of change in FEV1 that harbor candidate genes with biologically plausible functional links to lung function

VINE -- A numerical code for simulating astrophysical systems using particles I: Description of the physics and the numerical methods

We present a Fortran 95 code for simulating the evolution of astrophysical systems using particles to represent the underlying fluid flow. The code is designed to be versatile, flexible and extensible, with modular options that can be selected either at compile time or at run time. We include a number of general purpose modules describing a variety of physical processes commonly required in the astrophysical community. The code can be used as an N-body code to evolve a set of particles in two or three dimensions using either a Leapfrog or Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg integrator, with or without individual timesteps for each particle. Particles may interact gravitationally as $N$-body particles, and all or any subset may also interact hydrodynamically, using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) method. Massive point particles (`stars') which may accrete nearby SPH or $N$-body particles may also be included. The default free boundary conditions can be replaced by a module to include periodic boundaries. Cosmological expansion may also be included. An interface with special purpose `GRAPE' hardware may also be selected. If available, forces obtained from the GRAPE coprocessors may be transparently substituted for those obtained from the default tree based calculation. The code may be run without modification on single processors or in parallel using OpenMP compiler directives on large scale, shared memory parallel machines. In comparison to the Gadget-2 code of Springel 2005, the gravitational force calculation is $\approx 3.5 - 4.8$ times faster with VINE when run on 8 Itanium~2 processors in an SGI Altix, while producing nearly identical outcomes in our test problems. We present simulations of several test problems, including a merger simulation of two elliptical galaxies with 800000 particles.Comment: Update to revised and newly resubmitted paper version. Code updated to version 1.0.