Welfare and food security effects of commercializing African indigenous vegetables in Kenya

African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have high nutritional value, forming a potent weapon against the pressing hidden hunger problem in East Africa, but they are not sufficiently adopted as cash crops by Kenyan small-scale farmers to meet the rising demand in the urban areas. This study therefore aims (i) to explore which factors motivate small-scale farmers to specialize in commercial AIV production and (ii) to assess the impact of AIV production on household income and food security. This analysis was based on primary data from 706 rural and peri-urban small-scale vegetable producers in Kenya. Results of a binary choice model showed that education, participation in producer groups, access to market information and irrigation water, as well as distance to the next city influenced the decision to commercialize AIV production. Impact analysis was conducted with binary and continuous propensity score matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression (ESR). The production of AIVs as cash crops positively influenced the total per capita household income and the food security status of the households

Retrospektive Bestimmung der Prävalenz Influenzavirus-spezifischer IgG-Antikörper bei Kindern und Jugendlichen im Alter von 0 bis 18 Jahren

In diese Untersuchung wurden 1.111 Seren von Kindern und Jugendlichen im Alter zwischen 0-18 Jahren einbezogen. Als Vergleichsgruppe diente eine Gruppe gesunder Blutspender im Alter zwischen 18-30 Jahren (809 Proben). Methodisch wurde die indirekte ELISA-Technik (Antigen: influenzavirus-spezifische Ribonukleo- und Matrixproteine) eingesetzt. Die Proben wurden mit dem Influenzavirus A/B IgG-ELISA der Firma Nova-Tec-Immundiagnostica GmbH untersucht. FAZIT: Nach dem Abbau der mütterlichen Leihantikörper im zweiten Lebenshalbjahr wurde ein Anstieg der Antikörper (AK)-Prävalenzen nachgewiesen. Infektionen mit dem Influenzavirus A setzen im frühen Kindesalter ein. Fast alle Kinder > 9 Jahre hatten bereits Kontakt mit dem Influenzavirus A (Prävalenz bis 100% bei den 12-15 Jährigen). Die Gesamtprävalenz der IgG-AK gegen Influenzavirus A betrug 82% bei den Kindern und 99,4% bei den Erwachsenen. Infektionen mit Influenzavirus B erfolgen später. Bis zum 12. Lebensjahr weisen fast alle Kinder keine Antikörper gegen Influenzavirus B auf (12-15 Jahre: 24%). Die Gesamtprävalenz der IgG-AK gegen Influenzavirus B betrug 9,6% bei den Kindern und 56,7% bei den Erwachsenen. Eine jährliche Influenzaschutz-Impfung bei Kindern und Jugendlichen könnte den Schutz vor einer Influenza-Infektion bei epidemiologischen Ausbrüchen verbessern.In this study sera of 1111 children and adolescents aged 0-18 years were included. As a comparison group was a group of healthy blood donors aged 18-30 years (809 samples). Methodologically the indirect ELISA technique (Antigen: influenza virus-specific ribo-and matrix proteins) was used. The samples were analyzed with the influenza virus A / B IgG-ELISA, the company Nova-Tec Immundiagnostica GmbH. CONCLUSION: After the reduction of maternal Leihantikörper in the second half of life has been a rise in antibody (AK)-prevalence demonstrated. Infection with the influenza A virus use in early childhood. Almost all children> 9 years had been in contact with the influenza A virus (prevalence of up to 100% for 12-15 year olds). The overall prevalence of IgG antibodies to influenza virus A was 82% among children and 99.4% for adults. Infection with influenza virus B shall be made later. By 12 Age, almost all children, no antibodies against influenza virus B (12-15 years: 24%). The overall prevalence of IgG antibodies to influenza virus B was 9.6% among children and 56.7% for adults. An annual influenza vaccine protection in children and adolescents could enhance protection against influenza infection in epidemiological outbreaks

Modern Machine Learning for LHC Physicists

Modern machine learning is transforming particle physics, faster than we can follow, and bullying its way into our numerical tool box. For young researchers it is crucial to stay on top of this development, which means applying cutting-edge methods and tools to the full range of LHC physics problems. These lecture notes are meant to lead students with basic knowledge of particle physics and significant enthusiasm for machine learning to relevant applications as fast as possible. They start with an LHC-specific motivation and a non-standard introduction to neural networks and then cover classification, unsupervised classification, generative networks, and inverse problems. Two themes defining much of the discussion are well-defined loss functions reflecting the problem at hand and uncertainty-aware networks. As part of the applications, the notes include some aspects of theoretical LHC physics. All examples are chosen from particle physics publications of the last few years. Given that these notes will be outdated already at the time of submission, the week of ML4Jets 2022, they will be updated frequently.Comment: First version, we very much appreciate feedbac

Absence of vaccine-enhanced RSV disease and changes in pulmonary dendritic cells with adenovirus-based RSV vaccine

The development of a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been hampered by the risk for vaccine-enhanced RSV pulmonary disease induced by immunization with formalin-inactivated RSV (FIRSV). This study focuses on the evaluation of vaccine-enhanced pulmonary disease following immunization with AdF.RGD, an integrin-targeted adenovirus vector that expresses the RSV F protein and includes an RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) motif. Immunization of BALB/c mice with AdF.RGD, resulted in anti-RSV protective immunity and induced increased RSV-specific IFN-γ T cell responses compared to FIRSV. RSV infection 5 wk after immunization with FIRSV induced pulmonary inflammatory responses in the lung, that was not observed with AdF.RGD. Additionally, In the FIRSV-immunized mice following infection with RSV, pulmonary DC increased and Tregs decreased. This suggests that distinct responses of pulmonary DC and Tregs are a features of vaccine-enhanced RSV disease and that immunization with an RGD-modified Ad vaccine does not trigger vaccine-enhanced disease

Study of Effector CD8+ T Cell Interactions with Cortical Neurons in Response to Inflammation in Mouse Brain Slices and Neuronal Cultures

Cytotoxic CD8+ T cells contribute to neuronal damage in inflammatory and degenerative CNS disorders, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The mechanism of cortical damage associated with CD8+ T cells is not well understood. We developed in vitro cell culture and ex vivo brain slice co-culture models of brain inflammation to study CD8+ T cell–neuron interactions. To induce inflammation, we applied T cell conditioned media, which contains a variety of cytokines, during CD8+ T cell polyclonal activation. Release of IFNγ and TNFα from co-cultures was verified by ELISA, confirming an inflammatory response. We also visualized the physical interactions between CD8+ T cells and cortical neurons using live-cell confocal imaging. The imaging revealed that T cells reduced their migration velocity and changed their migratory patterns under inflammatory conditions. CD8+ T cells increased their dwell time at neuronal soma and dendrites in response to added cytokines. These changes were seen in both the in vitro and ex vivo models. The results confirm that these in vitro and ex vivo models provide promising platforms for the study of the molecular details of neuron–immune cell interactions under inflammatory conditions, which allow high-resolution live microscopy and are readily amenable to experimental manipulation

Schweigen über Differenz

In 1808, Portugal’s royal court fled from Napoleon’s forces and resettled in Rio de Janeiro. Within a very short time, the city’s population grew rapidly while it also had to meet the demands of a European royal capital. This situation fostered two different security discourses. On the one hand, there was a discourse, also widespread throughout much of Europe, on the threat posed by mostly foreign revolutionaries. But, as this contribution shows, on the other hand, there was a telling silence about potentially insurgent black people. This silence was only broken once they became the target of repression by the public security apparatus and more and more frequently struggled to establish their rights (and thus their security). However, the abolition of slavery in 1888 intensified racism, which once again became covered by public silence — a silence that willfully ignored the difference constituted by this very racism and thus continued to obstruct security for the black population

Nutrient-dense crops for rural and peri-urban smallholders in Kenya-A regional social accounting approach

Kenya ranks among the countries with the highest micronutrient deficiency worldwide. Due to their high micronutrient content, African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) can be a solution to this problem, and urban areas in Kenya have seen a rise in demand for these crops in the previous decade. To fill the gap between supply and demand, programmes to promote AIV production have been implemented in rural and peri-urban areas. However, the effects of increased AIV production on income and food security in the regional economies are not clear. Thus, in this analysis, we first evaluate differences between the livelihoods of household groups with different levels of food security in rural and peri-urban Kenya using a two-step cluster analysis. Then, we generate a regional social accounting matrix (SAM) and calculate the direct and indirect income effects of AIVs and other crops grown in the area using a multiplier analysis. For the analysis, a total of 706 small-scale vegetable producers in four counties in Kenya were interviewed in 2015. Households in rural areas were more food insecure, especially with respect to the utilization and stability dimension of food security. Multiplier analysis showed increased indirect income effects of AIVs in the regional economy compared to those of many cash crops. We suggest further promoting the production of AIVs in rural and peri-urban Kenya

Governance and stakeholder perspectives of managed re-alignment: Adapting to sea level rise in the Inner Forth estuary, Scotland

With climate change, coastal areas are faced with unprecedented sea level rise and flooding, raising questions as to how societies will choose to adapt. One option is to strengthen existing sea walls to maintain current land uses; however, scientists, policy-makers and conservationists increasingly see the benefits of managed realignment, which is a nature-based coastal adaptation that involves the conversion of reclaimed farmland back to wetlands, allowing periodic local flooding in designated areas to reduce the risk of flooding downstream. We interviewed 16 local organisations, landowners and farmers and held workshops with 109 citizens living the Inner Forth estuary in eastern Scotland, to examine how managed realignment is supported by stakeholder attitudes and their engagement. Most of the farmers we interviewed prefer strengthened sea walls, to maintain their livelihoods and agricultural heritage. Citizens and local organisations were mainly supportive of managed realignment, because it provided wildlife and flood regulation benefits. However, we identified several barriers that could present obstacles to implementing managed realignment, for example, uncertainty whether it would support their principles of economic and rational decision-making. Our findings suggest that the local capacity to cope with rising sea levels is limited by lack of engagement with all relevant stakeholder groups, the limited scope of existing stakeholder partnerships and poor short-term funding prospects of landscape partnerships that would facilitate collaboration and discussion. We suggest that including citizens, landowners, farmers and industries would strengthen existing stakeholder deliberation and collaboration, and support the Inner Forth’s transition towards a more sustainable future shoreline

Individual trajectories of asthma, obesity and ADHD during the transition from childhood and adolescence to young adulthood

The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) provides comprehensive and reliable data on the health situation of the upcoming generation. The KiGGS cohort accompanies participants from the KiGGS baseline study (2003–2006) into adulthood. Until now, two follow-up surveys of the cohort have been implemented with KiGGS Wave 1 (2009–2012) and KiGGS Wave 2 (2014–2017). In KiGGS Wave 2, the cohort was supplemented by the in-depth study ‘Family and care-specific factors influencing the development, trajectories and effects of mental disorders (especially ADHD), obesity and allergic diseases (especially asthma)’. One aim of the study was to identify individual trajectories of these health disorders. For this purpose, probabilities for typical transitions from the KiGGS baseline study to KiGGS Wave 2 were calculated. An important result is that many participants who had asthma, obesity or ADHD at KiGGS baseline still had the disease more than ten years later: Over a third still had asthma (35%) or ADHD (37%), and almost half were still affected by obesity (47%). The results point to the need for early preventive measures to stop these potentially chronic diseases from developing in childhood and adolescence. ASTHMA · OBESITY · ADHD · TRANSITION · YOUNG ADULTHOOD · KIGG

Cancer Patient T Cells Genetically Targeted to Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Specifically Lyse Prostate Cancer Cells and Release Cytokines in Response to Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen

AbstractThe expression of immunoglobulin-based artificial receptors in normal T lymphocytes provides a means to target lymphocytes to cell surface antigens independently of major histocompatibility complex restriction. Such artificial receptors have been previously shown to confer antigen-specific tumoricidal properties in murine T cells. We constructed a novel ζ chain fusion receptor specific for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) termed Pz-1. PSMA is a cell-surface glycoprotein expressed on prostate cancer cells and the neovascular endothelium of multiple carcinomas. We show that primary T cells harvested from five of five patients with different stages of prostate cancer and transduced with the Pz-1 receptor readily lyse prostate cancer cells. Having established a culture system using fibroblasts that express PSMA, we next show that T cells expressing the Pz-1 receptor release cytokines in response to cell-bound PSMA. Furthermore, we show that the cytokine release is greatly augmented by B7.1-mediated costimulation. Thus, our findings support the feasibility of adoptive cell therapy by using genetically engineered T cells in prostate cancer patients and suggest that both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte functions can be synergistically targeted against tumor cells