Diversity of agroecosystems and ecosystem services gain for agrobiodiversity conservation in agricultural landscape in northern Togo

To tackle food insecurity and alleviate rural poverty, the Togolese government initiated a novel form of land-based investment in rural agriculture named «Kara agropole», which promotes the cultivation of maize, rice, sesame, soybean and cashew mainly for commercial and industrial purposes. This study analyses the agricultural diversity as a baseline to foster the sustainable management of agrobiodiversity while implementing the project. The study was carried out in 11 counties from 4 districts (Bassar, Dankpen, Doufelgou and Kéran) in Kara region. A survey of 115 households was conducted to collect data about agricultural practices. Botanical inventory had been carried out in 60 square plots of 25mx25m to evaluate the current agrobiodiversity and to identify ecosystem services. Data analysis matching with empirical field observations showed that there are 6 types of agroecosystems (pure cropping – crop rotation, intercropping, agroforestry, forestry, fallow lands and pasture lands) in the area with pure cropping as the main agricultural practice. Provisioning services turn out to be of the highest interest to the survey respondents for annual and perennial species. Therefore, a landscape approach that strikes a balance between agricultural land use and conservation might help to conserve more  agrobiodiversity and promote other categories of ecosystem services. Keywords: Agroecosystems, ecosystem services, species, sustainable agriculture, Togo. French title: Diversite des agroecosystemes et benefice des services ecosystemiques pour la conservation de l’agrobiodiversite en paysage agricole au nord TogoPour lutter contre l’insécurité alimentaire et la pauvreté rurale, le gouvernement togolais a lancé une nouvelle forme d’investissement foncier en agriculture rurale, appelée « agropole de Kara », favorisant la culture du maïs, du riz, du sésame, du soja et de l’anacarde aux fins commerciales et industrielles. La présente étude analyse la diversité agricole comme référence pour favoriser la gestion durable del’agrobiodiversité pendant la mise en œuvre du projet. L’étude est réalisée dans 11 cantons de 4 préfectures (Bassar, Dankpen,  Doufelgou et Kéran) de la région de Kara. Une enquête menée auprès de 115 ménages a recueilli des données sur les pratiques  agricoles. L’inventaire botanique est réalisé dans 60 parcelles carrées de 25mx25m pour évaluer l’agrobiodiversité présente et identifier les services écosystémiques. L’analyse de données couplées à l’observation empirique montrent l’existence de 6 types d’agroécosystèmes (culture pure, cultures associées, agroforesterie, sylviculture, jachère et pâturage) dans la zone, avec la culture pure comme principale pratique agricole. Les services d’approvisionnement sont d’un grand intérêt aux répondants enquêtés pour les espèces annuelles et pérennes. Par conséquent, l’approche paysage qui établit un équilibre entre utilisation et conservation des terres agricoles pourrait contribuer à conserver davantage l’agrobiodiversité et promouvoir d’autres catégories de services écosystémiques. Mots-clés : Agroécosystèmes, services écosystémiques, espèces, agriculture durable, Tog

The Sleep Quality- and Myopia-Linked PDE11A-Y727C Variant Impacts Neural Physiology by Reducing Catalytic Activity and Altering Subcellular Compartmentalization of the Enzyme

Recently, a Y727C variant in the dual-specific 3′,5′-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A-Y727C) was linked to increased sleep quality and reduced myopia risk in humans. Given the well-established role that the PDE11 substrates cAMP and cGMP play in eye physiology and sleep, we determined if (1) PDE11A protein is expressed in the retina or other eye segments in mice, (2) PDE11A-Y7272C affects catalytic activity and/or subcellular compartmentalization more so than the nearby suicide-associated PDE11A-M878V variant, and (3) Pde11a deletion alters eye growth or sleep quality in male and female mice. Western blots show distinct protein expression of PDE11A4, but not PDE11A1-3, in eyes of Pde11a WT, but not KO mice, that vary by eye segment and age. In HT22 and COS-1 cells, PDE11A4-Y727C reduces PDE11A4 catalytic activity far more than PDE11A4-M878V, with both variants reducing PDE11A4-cAMP more so than PDE11A4-cGMP activity. Despite this, Pde11a deletion does not alter age-related changes in retinal or lens thickness or axial length, nor vitreous or anterior chamber depth. Further, Pde11a deletion only minimally changes refractive error and sleep quality. That said, both variants also dramatically alter the subcellular compartmentalization of human and mouse PDE11A4, an effect occurring independently of dephosphorylating PDE11A4-S117/S124 or phosphorylating PDE11A4-S162. Rather, re-compartmentalization of PDE11A4-Y727C is due to the loss of the tyrosine changing how PDE11A4 is packaged/repackaged via the trans-Golgi network. Therefore, the protective impact of the Y727C variant may reflect a gain-of-function (e.g., PDE11A4 displacing another PDE) that warrants further investigation in the context of reversing/preventing sleep disturbances or myopia.</p

Leaching as a pretreatment process to complement torrefaction in improving co-firing characteristics of Jatropha curcas seed cake

The presence of certain inorganic elements in biomass causes issues such as slagging, fouling and corrosion when co-firing with coal for power generation. In this work, the efficacy of leaching to remove these elements from Jatropha curcas seed cake was investigated. Leaching of both untorrefied and torrefied seed cakes was carried out in Milli-Q water at temperatures of 20, 35 and 50 °C. At 20 °C, the two critical elements, potassium and chlorine, decreased by as much as 85 and 97 %, respectively. Leaching at higher temperatures was only beneficial for the more intensely torrefied biomass, since they were more resistant to leaching. The electrical conductivity and ion content of the leachates were measured, as were the inorganic elemental content, dry ash content, volatile matter content and higher heating value (HHV) of the solid seed cake. A secondary benefit of the leaching was an increase in the HHV by up to 10 %

Doubly nonlinear parabolic equations involving variable exponents

The Magazine Wharf area, Freetown, Sierra Leone was a focus of ongoing Ebola virus transmission from late June 2015. Viral genomes linked to this area contain a series of 13 T to C substitutions in a 150 base pair intergenic region downstream of viral protein 40 open reading frame, similar to the Ebolavirus/H.sapienswt/ SLE/2014/Makona-J0169 strain (J0169) detected in the same town in November 2014. This suggests that recently circulating viruses from Freetown descend from a J0169-like virus

Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak

In its largest outbreak, Ebola virus disease is spreading through Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. We sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierra Leone to ~2000× coverage. We observed a rapid accumulation of interhost and intrahost genetic variation, allowing us to characterize patterns of viral transmission over the initial weeks of the epidemic. This West African variant likely diverged from central African lineages around 2004, crossed from Guinea to Sierra Leone in May 2014, and has exhibited sustained human-to-human transmission subsequently, with no evidence of additional zoonotic sources. Because many of the mutations alter protein sequences and other biologically meaningful targets, they should be monitored for impact on diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies critical to outbreak response.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Exposure Patterns Driving Ebola Transmission in West Africa:A Retrospective Observational Study

BackgroundThe ongoing West African Ebola epidemic began in December 2013 in Guinea, probably from a single zoonotic introduction. As a result of ineffective initial control efforts, an Ebola outbreak of unprecedented scale emerged. As of 4 May 2015, it had resulted in more than 19,000 probable and confirmed Ebola cases, mainly in Guinea (3,529), Liberia (5,343), and Sierra Leone (10,746). Here, we present analyses of data collected during the outbreak identifying drivers of transmission and highlighting areas where control could be improved.Methods and findingsOver 19,000 confirmed and probable Ebola cases were reported in West Africa by 4 May 2015. Individuals with confirmed or probable Ebola ("cases") were asked if they had exposure to other potential Ebola cases ("potential source contacts") in a funeral or non-funeral context prior to becoming ill. We performed retrospective analyses of a case line-list, collated from national databases of case investigation forms that have been reported to WHO. These analyses were initially performed to assist WHO's response during the epidemic, and have been updated for publication. We analysed data from 3,529 cases in Guinea, 5,343 in Liberia, and 10,746 in Sierra Leone; exposures were reported by 33% of cases. The proportion of cases reporting a funeral exposure decreased over time. We found a positive correlation (r = 0.35, p ConclusionsAchieving elimination of Ebola is challenging, partly because of super-spreading. Safe funeral practices and fast hospitalisation contributed to the containment of this Ebola epidemic. Continued real-time data capture, reporting, and analysis are vital to track transmission patterns, inform resource deployment, and thus hasten and maintain elimination of the virus from the human population