The politics and aesthetics of commemoration: national days in southern Africa

The contributions to the special section in this issue study recent independence celebrations and other national days in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They explore the role of national days in state-making and nation-building, and examine the performativity of nationalism and the role of performances in national festivities. Placing the case studies in a broader, comparative perspective, the introduction first discusses the role of the state in national celebrations, highlighting three themes: firstly, the political power-play and contested politics of memory involved in the creation of a country’s festive calendar; secondly, the relationship between state control of national days and civic or popular participation or contestation; and thirdly, the complex relationship between regional and ethnic loyalties and national identifications. It then turns to the role of performance and aesthetics in the making of nations in general, and in national celebrations in particular. Finally, we look at the different formats and meanings of national days in the region and address the question whether there is anything specific about national days in southern Africa as compared to other parts of the continent or national celebrations world-wide.Web of Scienc

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

A Multi-Omic Systems-Based Approach Reveals Metabolic Markers of Bacterial Vaginosis and Insight into the Disease

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal disorder of reproductive-age women. Yet the cause of BV has not been established. To uncover key determinants of BV, we employed a multi-omic, systems-biology approach, including both deep 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing and metabolomics of lavage samples from 36 women. These women varied demographically, behaviorally, and in terms of health status and symptoms.</p> <h3>Principal Findings</h3><p>16S rRNA gene-based community composition profiles reflected Nugent scores, but not Amsel criteria. In contrast, metabolomic profiles were markedly more concordant with Amsel criteria. Metabolomic profiles revealed two distinct symptomatic BV types (SBVI and SBVII) with similar characteristics that indicated disruption of epithelial integrity, but each type was correlated to the presence of different microbial taxa and metabolites, as well as to different host behaviors. The characteristic odor associated with BV was linked to increases in putrescine and cadaverine, which were both linked to <em>Dialister</em> spp. Additional correlations were seen with the presence of discharge, 2-methyl-2-hydroxybutanoic acid, and <em>Mobiluncus</em> spp., and with pain, diethylene glycol and <em>Gardnerella</em> spp.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The results not only provide useful diagnostic biomarkers, but also may ultimately provide much needed insight into the determinants of BV.</p> </div

SBVI Sub-Network View of Linear Relationships among Variables.

<p>Pearson’s (between parametric data) and Spearman's (between non-parametric and either parametric or non-parametric data) correlations >0.6 (green) or <−0.4 (red) are shown as edges connecting patient metadata relating to demographics, hygiene and sexual behaviors and sexual practices, OTUs, microbial genera, metabolites and patient symptoms. Figures presented represent sub-networks of the complete network (Fig S2). Node identities are listed or described in the key for <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0056111#pone-0056111-g007" target="_blank">figure 7</a>. The identities of numbered metabolites are listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0056111#pone.0056111.s007" target="_blank">Table S2</a>.</p

Richness and Diversity of Each Sample.

<p>Rarefaction curves showing the richness of microbiomes for all samples colored by Nugent score (A; green = 0–3, orange = 4–6, red = 7–10) or Amsel classification (B; red = positive, green = negative) are presented along with Shannon diversity indexes (C), with samples grouped by Nugent score or Amsel criteria and colored as in rarefaction curves.</p

Network path lengths to BV.

<p>Measured as ¹Days since ²Times weekly ³Times monthly ⁴In past 6 months.</p

Venn Diagram of Discriminative Metabolites.

<p>Shown is a Venn diagram of the numbers of unique and shared metabolites that delineate high Nugent scoring (≥7), Type I symptomatic BV or Type II symptomatic BV from other samples.</p

Metabotype defining Metabolites.

D<p>Metabolite linked to douching in network.</p

Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling Analyses.

<p>Shown are nMDS plots of the 16S rRNA reads clustered by genus for all taxa (A), or for just <i>Gardnerella</i> and <i>Lactobacillus</i> (B), or metabolite profiles (C). Samples from patients determined by Amsel criteria to have BV are shown in red, while samples determined by Amsel to be healthy are shown in green. Samples with a high (7–10; up-pointing triangles), moderate (4–6; diamonds) and low (0–3; down-pointing triangles) are indicated. The two metabotypes are delineated by hollow (type I) and solid (type II) symbols.</p