Bottom-up accountability initiatives to claim tenure rights in sub-saharan Africa : country report on South Africa

The research project uses the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, fisheries and forests (VGGT or Tenure Guidelines) as a tool to assess the impact of various governance frameworks on small scale fishing communities. It uses the Tenure Guidelines to empower communities to protect their rights in the context of promoting food sovereignty. This case illustrates how Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) impact small scale fishers’ tenure rights, and how communities can resist and negotiate the challenges of exclusion. In terms of human rights, small-scale fishers continue to be marginalized

A systematic review regarding women’s emotional and psychological experiences of high-risk pregnancies

High-risk pregnancy refers to a pregnancy that negatively affects the health of the mother, the baby, or both. High-risk pregnancy evokes a range of emotional and psychological experiences for the expectant mother, and can adversely affect both the mother and the baby’s health. Medical research on high-risk pregnancy abounds, while women’s emotional/psychological experiences are not sufficiently documented, and hence much less attention and/or programming is directed to support women with high risk pregnancies

Management of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis at a cardiac transplantation centre

Background: Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients with cardiac failure. The aim of the study was to evaluate the management of AIT at a tertiary hospital specialising in cardiac failure and transplantation. Methods: Retrospective audit of 66 patients treated for AIT by Endocrinology (2007–2016), classified as type 1 (T1) or type 2 (T2) based on radiological criteria. Main outcome measurements were response rate to initial treatment, time to euthyroidism, and frequency/safety of thyroidectomy. Results: Mean age was 60 ± 2 years; 80% were male. Sixty-four patients commenced medical treatment: thionamides (THIO) in 23, glucocorticoids (GC) in 17 and combination (COMB) in 24. Median thyroxine (fT4) was 35.1 (31.2–46.7) in THIO, 43.1 (30.4 –60.7) in GC, and 60.0 (39.0 –\u3e99.9) pmol/L in COMB (p = 0.01). Initial therapy induced euthyroidism in 52%: 70% THIO, 53% GC, and 33% COMB (p = 0.045) by 100 (49–167), 47 (35–61), and 53 (45–99) days, respectively (p = 0.02). A further 11% became euthyroid after transitioning from monotherapy to COMB. Thyroidectomy was undertaken in 33%. Patients who underwent thyroidectomy were younger (54 ± 3 vs. 63 ± 2 years; p = 0.03), with higher prevalence of severely impaired left ventricular function prior to diagnosis of AIT (38 vs. 18%; p = 0.08). Despite median American Society of Anaesthesiologists classification 4, no thyroidectomy patient experienced cardiorespiratory complications/death. Conclusions: Patients with AIT had limited response to medical treatment. The poorest response was observed in COMB group, likely related to greater hyperthyroidism severity. Thyroidectomy is safe in patients with severe cardiac failure if performed in a centre with cardiac anaesthetic expertise. There should be low threshold for proceeding to thyroidectomy in patients with severe AIT and/or cardiac failure

Contraceptive Preference Among Women at Risk of HIV Acquisition in a Preparatory Screening Study for a Phase III Microbicide Trial in South Western Uganda.

Contraceptive preferences of women at risk for HIV acquisition are not well documented. We report on contraceptive choices among women residing in small townships in southwestern Uganda. This was part of preparatory efforts for recruitment into the Ring Study, a phase 3 microbicide trial, between July 2013 and October 2014. Clinicians provided contraceptives per a woman's choice. HIV testing and screening for other sexually transmitted infections were done at first contact and at screening for the trial. Contraceptive choice was summarized by demographics and regression analysis to show factors associated with use of the injectable method. Of 6725 women contacted, 489 were prescreened. Of these 489 women, most (306, 63%) were already using contraception. Injectables were most preferred (58.7%), followed by implants (23.9%). Women living with a regular sexual partner preferred the injectable method (61.0%, P = 0.06), compared with other methods. Women at risk for HIV infection are willing to initiate use of modern contraceptives, which may reduce study dropout during intervention trials due to unintended pregnancy. Registration no: NCT01539226

Anti-cancer and anti-trypanosomal properties of alkaloids from the root bark of Zanthoxylum leprieurii Guill and Perr

Purpose: To isolate the anti-cancer and anti-trypanosomal principles of Zanthoxylum leprieurii, a medicinally versatile wild tropical plant used for managing tumours, African trypanosomiasis, and inflammation in southeastern Nigeria. Methods: The pure compounds were isolated using chromatographic methods. The structural elucidation of the pure compounds was based on their NMR (1D and 2D) and mass spectral data as well as chemical test results. Structure-activity relationships were based on the structural differences among the compounds. The cytotoxicity of the extracts and compounds (1, 2, 3, and 4) was evaluated in HeLa (human cervix adenocarcinoma) cell line while the trypanocidal activities were evaluated on Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Results: Two acridone alkaloids, 1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-10-methylacridin-9 (10H)-one, named fabiocinine (1), and 1-hydroxy-2,3-dimethoxy-10-methylacridin-9 (10H)-one (arborinine, 2), together with a furoquinoline alkaloid, skimmianine (3), and a chelerythrine derivative, 6-acetonyl-5,6-dihydrochelerythrine (4) were isolated from the root bark of Zanthoxylum leprieurii. Skimmianine (3) exhibited cytotoxicity and anti-trypanosomal IC50 of 12.8 and 13.2 µg/mL respectively (p less than 0.05). Compound (1) and arborinine (2) were selectively cytotoxic to HeLa cells with cytotoxicity IC50 of 28.49 and 62.71 µg/mL, respectively, while (4) did not show significant activity (p less than 0.05). Conclusion: Zanthoxylum leprieurii root bark contains cytotoxic and trypanocidal compounds, and is thus a potential source of anti-cancer and anti-trypanosomal leads

Preparation and characterization of isoniazid-loaded crude soybean lecithin liposomes

Unexpected substituent-dependent regioselectivty challenges in the synthesis of C-benzylated (N-arylcarbamoyl)phosphonate esters have been resolved. The C-benzylated N-furfurylcarbamoyl derivative showed low micromolar PfLDH inhibition, while one of the C-benzylated N-arylcarbamoyl analogues was active against Nagana Trypanosoma brucei parasites which are responsible for African trypanosomiasis in cattle

Synthesis of N-Substituted phosphoramidic acid esters as “reverse” fosmidomycin analogues

An efficient synthetic pathway to a series of novel “reverse” fosmidomycin analogues has been developed, commencing from substituted benzylamines. In these analogues, the fosmidomycin hydroxamate moiety is reversed and the tetrahedral methylene carbon adjacent to the phosphonate moiety is replaced by a nitrogen atom bearing different benzyl groups. The resulting phosphonate esters were designed as potential antimalarial “pro-drugs”

Influence of Acute High Glucose on Protein Abundance Changes in Murine Glomerular Mesangial Cells

The effects of acute exposure to high glucose levels as experienced by glomerular mesangial cells in postprandial conditions and states such as in prediabetes were investigated using proteomic methods. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry methods were used to identify protein expression patterns in immortalized rat mesangial cells altered by 2 h high glucose (HG) growth conditions as compared to isoosmotic/normal glucose control (NG⁎) conditions. Unique protein expression changes at 2 h HG treatment were measured for 51 protein spots. These proteins could be broadly grouped into two categories: (1) proteins involved in cell survival/cell signaling and (2) proteins involved in stress response. Immunoblot experiments for a protein belonging to both categories, prohibitin (PHB), supported a trend for increased total expression as well as significant increases in an acidic PHB isoform. Additional studies confirmed the regulation of proteasomal subunit alpha-type 2 and the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone and oxidoreductase PDI (protein disulfide isomerase), suggesting altered ER protein folding capacity and proteasomal function in response to acute HG. We conclude that short term high glucose induces subtle changes in protein abundances suggesting posttranslational modifications and regulation of pathways involved in proteostasis

Living phosphatic stromatolites in a low-phosphorus environment: Implications for the use of phosphorus as a proxy for phosphate levels in paleosystems

In the geological record, fossil phosphatic stromatolites date back to the Great Oxidation Event in the Paleoproterozoic, but living phosphatic stromatolites have not been described previously. Here, we report on cyanobacterial stromatolites in a supratidal freshwater environment at Cape Recife, South African southern coast, precipitating Ca carbonate alternating with episodes of Ca phosphate deposition. In their structure and composition, the living stromatolites from Cape Recife closely resemble their fossilized analogues, showing phosphatic zonation, microbial casts, tunnel structures and phosphatic crusts of biogenic origin. The microbial communities appear to be also similar to those proposed to have formed fossil phosphatic stromatolites. Phosphatic domains in the material from Cape Recife are spatially and texturally associated with carbonate precipitates, but form distinct entities separated by sharp boundaries. Electron Probe Micro-Analysis shows that Ca/P ratios and the overall chemical compositions of phosphatic precipitates are in the range of octacalcium phosphate, amorphous tricalcium phosphate and apatite. The coincidence in time of the emergence of phosphatic stromatolites in the fossil record with a major episode of atmospheric oxidation led to the assumption that at times of increased oxygen release the underlying increased biological production may have been linked to elevated phosphorus availability. The stromatolites at Cape Recife, however, form in an environment where ambient phosphorus concentrations do not exceed 0.28μM, one to two orders of magnitude below the previously predicted minimum thresh-old of >5 μM for biogenic phosphate precipitation in paleo-systems. Accordingly, we contest the previously proposed suitability of phosphatic stromatolites as a proxy for high ambient phosphate concentrations in supratidal to shallow ocean settings in earth history