Progress Report HortiFresh West Africa 2019 : Commercial Fruit & Vegetable Sector Development in West Africa programme

This report can also be downloaded from : http://www.d-portal.org

Simulated effect of pneumococcal vaccination in the Netherlands on existing rules constructed in a non-vaccinated cohort predicting sequelae after bacterial meningitis

BACKGROUND: Previously two prediction rules identifying children at risk of hearing loss and academic or behavioral limitations after bacterial meningitis were developed. Streptococcus pneumoniae as causative pathogen was an important risk factor in both. Since 2006 Dutch children receive seven-valent conjugate vaccination against S. pneumoniae. The presumed effect of vaccination was simulated by excluding all children infected by S. pneumoniae with the serotypes included in the vaccine, from both previous collected cohorts (between 1990-1995). METHODS: Children infected by one of the vaccine serotypes were excluded from both original cohorts (hearing loss: 70 of 628 children; academic or behavioral limitations: 26 of 182 children). All identified risk factors were included in multivariate logistic regression models. The discriminative ability of both new models was calculated. RESULTS: The same risk factors as in the original models were significant. The discriminative ability of the original hearing loss model was 0.84 and of the new model 0.87. In the academic or behavioral limitations model it was 0.83 and 0.84 respectively. CONCLUSION: It can be assumed that the prediction rules will also be applicable on a vaccinated population. However, vaccination does not provide 100% coverage and evidence is available that serotype replacement will occur. The impact of vaccination on serotype replacement needs to be investigated, and the prediction rules must be validated externally

From aid to sustainable trade: driving competitive horticulture sector development : A quick scan of the horticulture sector

This report provides an overview of how the Kenyan horticulture sector performs in three analytical domains: the robustness of the supply chains, the reliability of institutional governance and the resilience of the innovation system. Analysis is by literature review, stakeholder interviews and a validation workshop guided by a SWOT framework to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The findings inform the existing opportunities and challenges that potentially impede growth in the sector. The report is a first step towards documenting and sharing insights that support the move towards a more Robust, Reliable and Resilient (3R) horticulture sector. The findings and recommendations presented will guide policy engagement and action in the transition of Dutch government bilateral engagement in Kenya from development aid–support to a trade approach in the agricultural sector, with a focus on partnering opportunities to drive competitive market-oriented horticulture sector development that attracts investments

Food Safety and Plant Health in Ghana - Analysis of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary

Ghana is a signatory of the WTO agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures. This international agreement sets out a framework for food safety as well as plant health. While food safety is important for both national as well as international trade, phytosanitary compliance can especially be a big obstacle for international trade. The current weakness of the sanitary and phytosanitary compliance system for Ghanaian vegetables might hamper development of the sector in the years to come. This study assesses the current food safety and plant health status of the vegetable sector in Ghana, determines bottlenecks and provides recommendations for improvement of the food safety and phytosanitary system of the vegetable sector in Ghana

Comparison of a generic and a rhinitis-specific quality-of-life (QOL) instrument in patients with house dust mite allergy: Relationship between the SF-36 and rhinitis QOL questionnaire

Background: Generic and disease-specific quality-of-life (QOL) questionnaires are commonly used in subjects with allergic rhinitis (AR). AR, however, is closely associated with other disorders such as bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD). These co-morbid associations may have an effect on the inter-relation of generic and disease-specific QOL outcomes and the behaviour of this inter-relation in time. Objective: To unravel the inter-relationships between the outcome of a generic instrument (SF-36) and a disease-specific instrument (Rhinitis QOL Questionnaire (RQLQ)). Materials and methods: In the framework of a randomized clinical trial with respect to the efficacy of impermeable bedding covers in house dust mite (HDM) allergy, SF-36 and RQLQ were administered to 224 adults with AR and/or allergic asthma and/or AD at baseline and after 12 months of intervention. Regression analysis and canonical correlation were used to estimate overlap. Results: Overlap between SF-36 and RQLQ domains in terms of explained variance ranged from 6% to 56%. Canonical correlation yielded low coefficients (0.16-0.27). Moreover, both SF-36 and RQLQ s

Exposure-response relationships for the sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor dapagliflozin with regard to renal risk markers

Aims: To quantitate the consistency of an individual's plasma exposure to dapagliflozin upon re-exposure, and to investigate whether the individual's systemic exposure to dapagliflozin explains inter-individual variation in response to dapagliflozin with regard to multiple renal risk markers. Methods: Data were used from a crossover randomized clinical trial that assessed the albuminuria-lowering effect of dapagliflozin in 33 people with type 2 diabetes and elevated albuminuria. Fifteen participants were exposed twice to dapagliflozin. Trough plasma concentrations of dapagliflozin were measured for each participant at steady state. Dapagliflozin plasma concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and pharmacokinetic characteristics were simulated based on a population pharmacokinetic model. Linear mixed-effects models were used to quantify the exposure–response relationships. Results: The median plasma concentration after first and second exposure to dapagliflozin was 5.3 ng/mL vs 4.6 ng/mL, respectively (P = 0.78). Lin's concordance correlation coefficient between occasions was 0.73 (P < 0.0021). Every 100 ng.h/mL increment in area under the dapagliflozin plasma concentration curve was associated with a decrease in log-transformed urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (β = −5.9, P < 0.01), body weight (β = −0.3, P < 0.01) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (β = −0.7, P = 0.01) and an increase in urinary glucose excretion (β = 17.0, P < 0.001). Conclusion: An individual's exposure to dapagliflozin is consistent upon re-exposure and correlates with pharmacodynamic response in renal risk markers