Of rats and children : plague, malaria, and the early history of disease reservoirs (1898-1930)

Funding: Research leading to this article by Matheus Alves Duarte da Silva was funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant ID 217988/Z/19/Z] for the project “The Global War Against the Rat and the Epistemic Emergence of Zoonosis”.This article’s jumping-off point is the highly incisive but often-ignored claim by the French doctor, Louis-Jacques Tanon, in 1922 that rats acted as plague reservoirs in Paris; in other words, that they harboured the plague bacillus but were refractory to it. This claim partially reframed the fight against this disease in the French capital in the 1920s, which became more centred on surveilling the plague reservoir rather than on destroying rats. Drawing upon Tanon’s hypothesis, this article explores the emergence, evolution, and several iterations of the idea of disease reservoirs in the early twentieth century. On the one hand, it describes the crafting of a range of ideas with which Tanon was directly or indirectly dialoguing, namely, that rats could present a stage called chronic plague, which was especially developed in India; and that human populations, especially children, acted as sources or reservoirs of malaria in Sierra Leone and Algeria. On the other hand, this article shows how Tanon created original reasoning by combining and reformulating some of these ideas and applying them to Paris. Thus, this article contributes to the early history of reasoning in terms of disease reservoirs, as well as presenting a more dynamic history of microbiology by showing how concepts crafted in the “Rest” found their place in Europe.Peer reviewe

On the modelling of wavepacket scattering noise with coherence effects

International audienceAn investigation of a wavepacket model for free-jet and jet-surface interaction noise was conducted. The source term for the axisymmetric mode was extracted from a Mach 0.9 jet large eddy simulation and employed to adjust the parameters of a simple source model. Streamwise coherence decay, in particular, was considered. The source model was propagated with both the free-field and tailored Green's function for a semi-infinite flat plate positioned at a distance of r/D = 1 from the jet axis. Significant deviations were observed in the prediction of the low-angle directivity of the isolated jet as well as in the reproduction of the characteristics of the source field. However, the effects of trailing edge noise were well reproduced. The installed jet case, at the region dominated by trailing-edge scattering, showed very little sensitivity to the coherence decay, a crucial feature in the isolated jet case. In this sense, the modelling of the installed-jet case proved to be much simpler

The Effects of 16-Week Exercising Program on Inflammatory Markers in Human Milk

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of a 16-week exercise program on inflammatory cytokines in human milk. The human milk samples were collected from 2003-2010 during two postpartum breastfeeding exercise interventions, the Breastfeeding for Healthy Infants and Postpartum (Be HIP) and Be HIP Too

Competing scales for measuring the perceived quality: a comparison between the Servqual and RSQ

Não há dúvida sobre a importância da qualidade de serviços como fator de sucesso empresarial, mas mensurar essa qualidade tem se mostrado um desafio quando se consideram diferentes contextos. Diante disso, o objetivo deste estudo foi testar duas escalas de mensuração da qualidade percebida de serviços. A comparação entre a escala Service Quality (Servqual) e a Retail Service Quality (RSQ), deu-se por meio de survey junto a 351 respondentes e utilizou como ambiente de pesquisa uma rede de home centers com lojas localizadas na cidade de São Paulo. Para analisar os dados obtidos, foram utilizadas as técnicas multivariadas de análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória. Como resultado, as duas escalas demonstraram níveis aceitáveis de confiabilidade e validade. Entretanto, no teste de validade nomológica, a escala RSQ mostrou-se superior à escala Servqual, uma vez que a primeira foi capaz de explicar 43% da lealdade em relação ao varejista, enquanto a segunda explicou apenas 11%.There is no doubt about the importance of service quality as a factor of businesses' success, but to measure this quality has proved to be a challenge when one considers different environmental contexts. Given this, the main goal of this paper was to test two measurement scales of perceived service quality. The comparison between Service Quality scale (Servqual) and Retail Service Quality (RSQ) was conducted by means of a survey with 351 participants, clients of a home center stores chain located in the city of São Paulo. The data were analyzed using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. As a result, both scales demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability and validity. However, the RSQ demonstrated a better performance in the nomological test since it was able to explain 43% of the loyalty towards the retailer, while the Servqual scale explained only 11%

Temporal and spatial variability of phytoplankton and mixotrophs in a temperate estuary

A significant proportion of phototrophic species are known to be mixotrophs: cells that obtain nutrients through a combination of photosynthesis and prey ingestion. Current methods to estimate mixotroph abundance in situ are known to be limited in their ability to help identify conditions that favor mixotrophs over strict autotrophs. For the first time, we combine microscopic analysis of phototrophic taxa with immunoprecipitated bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)labeled DNA amplicon sequencing to identify and quantify active and putative mixotrophs at 2 locations in a microtidal temperate estuary. We analyze these data to examine spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton and mixotrophs. Microscopy-based phototrophic diversity and abundances reveal expected seasonal patterns for our 2 stations, with the start of growth in winter and highest abundances in summer. Diatoms tend to dominate at the site with less stratification, while dinoflagellates and euglenids are usually more prominent at the stratified station. The BrdU-based mixotroph identifications are translated to the microscopy identification and abundances to estimate the proportion of mixotrophs (cells \u3e10 μm in size) at both sites. The average proportion of potential mixotrophs is higher at the station with higher stratification (51%) compared to the station with lower stratification (30%), and potential mixotrophs tend to be higher in summer, although we did not conduct BrdU experiments in any of the other seasons. Combining the identification of active mixotrophs through the uptake of BrdU-labeled bacteria with robust abundance measurements can expand our understanding of mixotrophs across systems

Influência do treinamento de força sobre parâmetros comportamentais em modelo animal de alcoolismo

O uso abusivo e a dependência de álcool são considerados um grave problema de saúde pública. O Brasil apresenta grande número de dependentes de álcool e um número ainda maior de pessoas com comportamento de consumo considerado nocivo à saúde. O tratamento para o alcoolismo se mostra ainda muito ineficiente, considerando a alta prevalência de recaídas e a baixa adesão ao tratamento. Apesar do exercício físico ser uma forma segura e eficaz de prevenção e recurso terapêutico para diversos problemas de saúde, pouco se conhece sobre os benefícios do exercício para indivíduos com desordens de uso de álcool. Ainda não foram investigados os possíveis efeitos de uma intervenção, com treinamento físico, no comportamento de consumo e tratamento da dependência em estudos pré-clínicos de alcoolismo. Nesse estudo, foram investigadas as alterações comportamentais decorrentes da intervenção aguda com o treinamento de força em ratos dependentes de álcool. Para isso, ratos Wistar machos (n = 96) foram divididos em 6 grupos: Controle Sedentário (CS), Controle Treinado (CT), Abstinente Sedentário (WS), Abstinente Treinado (WT), Álcool Sedentário (AS) e Álcool Treinado (AT). A indução da dependência ao álcool ocorreu por meio do modelo de consumo voluntário e o protocolo teve duração de 28 dias. Em seguida, os animais foram submetidos ao protocolo de treinamento de força, que consistiu em escalada vertical com duração de 2 semanas. Foi avaliado, além do consumo voluntário de álcool, a atividade locomotora espontânea e comportamentos do tipo ansioso. O treinamento de força, com 14 dias de duração, não alterou significativamente o comportamento de consumo ou preferência pelo álcool dos animais alcoolistas (grupo AT). Contrário ao esperado, esses animais do grupo AT apresentaram comportamento do tipo ansioso após o período de intervenção com o exercício físico. O treinamento de força preveniu comportamentos tipo-ansioso nos animais WT, possivelmente relacionado aos efeitos anti-inflamatórios e neuroprotetores do exercício físico. Sugerimos a intervenção com o treinamento de força durante a abstinência de álcool pois os efeitos anti-inflamatórios e antioxidantes do exercício podem ajudar a preservar as funções cognitivas e prevenir os distúrbios de ansiedade.Abuse and alcohol dependence are considered a public health problem. Brazil has a large number of alcohol dependents and an even greater number of people with consumption behavior considered harmful to health. Treatment for alcoholism is still very inefficient, considering the high prevalence of relapses and low adherence to treatment. Although physical exercise is a safe and effective form of prevention and therapeutic resource for several health problems, little is known about the benefits of exercise for individuals with alcohol use disorders. The possible effects of an intervention, with physical training, on consumption behavior and addiction treatment in preclinical studies of alcoholism have not yet been investigated. In this study, behavioral changes resulting from acute intervention with strength training in alcohol-dependent rats were investigated. For this, male Wistar rats (n = 96) were divided into 6 groups: Sedentary Control (CS), Trained Control (CT), Sedentary Abstinent (WS), Trained Abstinent (WT), Sedentary Alcohol (AS) and Trained Alcohol (AT). The induction of alcohol dependence occurred through the voluntary consumption model and the protocol lasted 28 days. Then, the animals were submitted to the strength training protocol, which consisted of vertical climbing lasting 2 weeks. In addition to voluntary alcohol consumption, spontaneous locomotor activity and anxious behaviors were evaluated. Strength training, lasting 14 days, did not significantly alter the consumption behavior or preference for alcohol in alcoholic animals (AT group). Contrary to expectations, these animals in the AT group showed anxious behavior after the intervention period with physical exercise. Strength training prevented anxiety-like behaviors in WT animals, possibly related to the antiinflammatory and neuroprotective effects of physical exercise. We suggest intervention with strength training during alcohol withdrawal because the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of exercise can help preserve cognitive functions and prevent anxiety disorders