Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Data from: Conservation priorities for endangered coastal North African Pennisetum glaucum L. landrace populations as inferred from phylogenetic considerations and population structure analysis

The increasing anthropologic pressure and the modernization of agriculture have led to a forsaking of pearl millet traditional cultivars inducing a progressive loss of the genetic variability encompassed in this locally-adapted germplasm. Imperatively, national efforts based on robust data gleaned from genetic surveys have to be undertaken in order to set up suitable conservation priorities. Inthis study, in addition to the assessment of the genetic diversity and population structure among and within a set of seven pearl millet landrace populations from coastal North Africa, demographic and phylogenetic data, conservation priority scores were calculated according to Vane-Wright et al. (1991). To date, genetic diversity of pearl millet in North Africa is still poorly documented. The present survey reports for the first time the use of highly informative nSSR markers (PIC =0.74) on P. glaucum landraces representative of the Mediterranean coastline of North Africa. A high level of genetic diversity was obtained within the investigated landraces (He=0.80) at the population level. FST, AFC-3D and Bayesian clustering underlined significant differentiation and an apparent genetic structure according to geographical origin. Phylogenetic considerations integrated with demographic and genetic information enabled conclusive inferences of highly prioritized populations for conservation. Populations Haouaria, Hammem Laghzez, Mahdia and Medenine representatives of the main pearl millet growing areas in Tunisia and cultivated in the North African littoral should be strongly recommended for an ex-situ conservation program. Dynamic on-farm conservation method is also required as it allows to the local landraces to evolve in different environments while maintaining their adaptation potentials