Evaluating the potential for the environmentally sustainable control of foot and mouth disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategies to control transboundary diseases have in the past generated unintended negative consequences for both the environment and local human populations. Integrating perspectives from across disciplines, including livestock, veterinary and conservation sectors, is necessary for identifying disease control strategies that optimise environmental goods and services at the wildlife-livestock interface. Prompted by the recent development of a global strategy for the control and elimination of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), this paper seeks insight into the consequences of, and rational options for potential FMD control measures in relation to environmental, conservation and human poverty considerations in Africa. We suggest a more environmentally nuanced process of FMD control that safe-guards the integrity of wild populations and the ecosystem dynamics on which human livelihoods depend while simultaneously improving socio-economic conditions of rural people. In particular, we outline five major issues that need to be considered: 1) improved understanding of the different FMD viral strains and how they circulate between domestic and wildlife populations; 2) an appreciation for the economic value of wildlife for many African countries whose presence might preclude the country from ever achieving an FMD-free status; 3) exploring ways in which livestock production can be improved without compromising wildlife such as implementing commodity-based trading schemes; 4) introducing a participatory approach involving local farmers and the national veterinary services in the control of FMD; and 5) finally the possibility that transfrontier conservation might offer new hope of integrating decision-making at the wildlife-livestock interface

Effect of phosphorus on the attenuation of lead and chromium

This study analyses the adsorption of Pb(II) and Cr(III) in soils. These metals are commonly found together in nature in urban wastes or industrial spillages, and the theoretical approach of the work was to evaluate the response of the soil to continuous Cr and Pb spillages to soil in terms of several physicochemical parameters. The influence of an anthropogenic input of phosphorus was evaluated. Continuous flow experiments were run in duplicates in acrylic columns (25 cm × 3.2 cm). The influent Cr(III) and Pb(II) solutions of 10 mg l−1 and 25 mg l−1 at pH 5 were pumped upward through the bottom of the columns to ensure saturation flow conditions. Also, successive experiments were run with the above concentrations of Cr(III) and Pb(II) and NaH2PO4, keeping metal to phosphorus ratio of 1:0, 1:0.1 and 1:1. Modelling parameters included Freundlich and Langmuir equations, together with the Two-site adsorption model using CXTFIT code. Results obtained allowed concluding that Pb(II) adsorption presents a certain degree of irreversibility and the continued spillages over soil increment the fraction which is not easily desorbed. Cr(III) desorption was almost complete, evidencing its high mobility in nature. The presence of an anthropogenic input of phosphorus leads to a marked increase of both Pb(II) and Cr(III) adsorption in soils. Z-potential measurements allow to discard the electrostatic attraction of Cr(III) and Pb(II) with the surface charged soil as the dominant process of metal sorption. Instead, CheaqsPro simulation allows to identify PbH2PO4 +, PbHPO4 (aq) and CrHPO4 + as the dominant species which regulate Cr(III) and Pb(II) transport in soils.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Immigrant status and increased risk of heart failure: the role of hypertension and life-style risk factors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies from Sweden have reported association between immigrant status and incidence of cardiovascular diseases. The nature of this relationship is unclear. We investigated the relationship between immigrant status and risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization in a population-based cohort, and to what extent this is mediated by hypertension and life-style risk factors. We also explored whether immigrant status was related to case-fatality after HF.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>26,559 subjects without history of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke or HF from the community-based Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) cohort underwent a baseline examination during 1991-1996. Incidence of HF hospitalizations was monitored during a mean follow-up of 15 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>3,129 (11.8%) subjects were born outside Sweden. During follow-up, 764 subjects were hospitalized with HF as primary diagnosis, of whom 166 had an MI before or concurrent with the HF. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the hazard ratios (HR) for foreign-born were 1.37 (95% CI: 1.08-1.73, <it>p </it>= 0.009) compared to native Swedes, for HF without previous MI. The results were similar in a secondary analysis without censoring at incident MI. There was a significant interaction (<it>p </it>< 0.001) between immigrant status and waist circumference (WC), and the increased HF risk was limited to immigrants with high WC. Although not significant foreign-born tended to have lower one-month and one-year mortality after HF.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Immigrant status was associated with long-term risk of HF hospitalization, independently of hypertension and several life-style risk factors. A significant interaction between WC and immigrant status on incident HF was observed.</p

Effect of a primary health-care-based controlled trial for cardiorespiratory fitness in refugee women

BACKGROUND: Refugee women have a high risk of coronary heart disease with low physical activity as one possible mediator. Furthermore, cultural and environmental barriers to increasing physical activity have been demonstrated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of an approximate 6-month primary health care- and community-based exercise intervention versus an individual written prescription for exercise on objectively assessed cardiorespiratory fitness in low-active refugee women. METHODS: A controlled clinical trial, named "Support for Increased Physical Activity", was executed among 243 refugee women recruited between November 2006 and April 2008 from two deprived geographic areas in southern Stockholm, Sweden. One geographic area provided the intervention group and the other area the control group. The control group was on a higher activity level at both baseline and follow-up, which was taken into consideration in the analysis by applying statistical models that accounted for this. Relative aerobic capacity and fitness level were assessed as the two main outcome measures. RESULTS: The intervention group increased their relative aerobic capacity and the percentage with an acceptable fitness level (relative aerobic capacity > 23 O2 mlxkgxmin-1) to a greater extent than the control group between baseline and the 6-month follow-up, after adjusting for possible confounders (P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: A combined primary health-care and community-based exercise programme (involving non-profit organizations) can be an effective strategy to increase cardiorespiratory fitness among low-active refugee women. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00747942

Contribution of DEAF1 Structural Domains to the Interaction with the Breast Cancer Oncogene LMO4

The proteins LMO4 and DEAF1 contribute to the proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. During breast cancer LMO4 is upregulated, affecting its interaction with other protein partners. This may set cells on a path to tumour formation. LMO4 and DEAF1 interact, but it is unknown how they cooperate to regulate cell proliferation. In this study, we identify a specific LMO4-binding domain in DEAF1. This domain contains an unstructured region that directly contacts LMO4, and a coiled coil that contains the DEAF1 nuclear export signal (NES). The coiled coil region can form tetramers and has the typical properties of a coiled coil domain. Using a simple cell-based assay, we show that LMO4 modulates the activity of the DEAF NES, causing nuclear accumulation of a construct containing the LMO4-interaction region of DEAF1

Reversal of Cocaine-Conditioned Place Preference through Methyl Supplementation in Mice: Altering Global DNA Methylation in the Prefrontal Cortex

Analysis of global methylation in cells has revealed correlations between overall DNA methylation status and some biological states. Recent studies suggest that epigenetic regulation through DNA methylation could be responsible for neuroadaptations induced by addictive drugs. However, there is no investigation to determine global DNA methylation status following repeated exposure to addictive drugs. Using mice conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure, we measured global DNA methylation level in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) associated with drug rewarding effects. We found that cocaine-, but not morphine- or food-CPP training decreased global DNA methylation in the PFC. Chronic treatment with methionine, a methyl donor, for 25 consecutive days prior to and during CPP training inhibited the establishment of cocaine, but not morphine or food CPP. We also found that both mRNA and protein level of DNMT (DNA methytransferase) 3b in the PFC were downregulated following the establishment of cocaine CPP, and the downregulation could be reversed by repeated administration of methionine. Our study indicates a crucial role of global PFC DNA hypomethylation in the rewarding effects of cocaine. Reversal of global DNA hypomethylation could significantly attenuate the rewarding effects induced by cocaine. Our results suggest that methionine may have become a potential therapeutic target to treat cocaine addiction

What punishment expresses

In this article, I consider the question of what punishment expresses and propose a way of approaching the question that overcomes problems in both psychosocial and philosophical expressivist traditions. The problem in both traditions is, I suggest, the need for an adequate moral – neither moralizing nor reductive – psychology, and I argue that Melanie Klein’s work offers such a moral psychology. I offer a reconstruction of Klein’s central claims and begin to sketch some of its potential implications for an expressive account of punishment. I outline a Kleinian interpretation of modern punishment’s expression as of an essentially persecutory nature but also include depressive realizations that have generally proved too difficult for liberal modernity to work through successfully, and the recent ‘persecutory turn’ is a defence against such realizations. I conclude by considering the wider philosophical significance of a Kleinian account for the expressivist theory of punishment

Structural basis of PROTAC cooperative recognition for selective protein degradation

Inducing macromolecular interactions with small molecules to activate cellular signaling is a challenging goal. PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimeras) are bifunctional molecules that recruit a target protein in proximity to an E3 ubiquitin ligase to trigger protein degradation. Structural elucidation of the key ternary ligase-PROTAC-target species and its impact on target degradation selectivity remain elusive. We solved the crystal structure of Brd4 degrader MZ1 in complex with human VHL and the Brd4 bromodomain (Brd4BD2). The ligand folds into itself to allow formation of specific intermolecular interactions in the ternary complex. Isothermal titration calorimetry studies, supported by surface mutagenesis and proximity assays, are consistent with pronounced cooperative formation of ternary complexes with Brd4BD2. Structure-based-designed compound AT1 exhibits highly selective depletion of Brd4 in cells. Our results elucidate how PROTAC-induced de novo contacts dictate preferential recruitment of a target protein into a stable and cooperative complex with an E3 ligase for selective degradation

Degradation of Potassium Rock by Earthworms and Responses of Bacterial Communities in Its Gut and Surrounding Substrates after Being Fed with Mineral

BACKGROUND: Earthworms are an ecosystem's engineers, contributing to a wide range of nutrient cycling and geochemical processes in the ecosystem. Their activities can increase rates of silicate mineral weathering. Their intestinal microbes usually are thought to be one of the key drivers of mineral degradation mediated by earthworms,but the diversities of the intestinal microorganisms which were relevant with mineral weathering are unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this report, we show earthworms' effect on silicate mineral weathering and the responses of bacterial communities in their gut and surrounding substrates after being fed with potassium-bearing rock powder (PBRP). Determination of water-soluble and HNO(3)-extractable elements indicated some elements such as Al, Fe and Ca were significantly released from mineral upon the digestion of earthworms. The microbial communities in earthworms' gut and the surrounding substrates were investigated by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and the results showed a higher bacterial diversity in the guts of the earthworms fed with PBRP and the PBRP after being fed to earthworms. UPGMA dendrogram with unweighted UniFrac analysis, considering only taxa that are present, revealed that earthworms' gut and their surrounding substrate shared similar microbiota. UPGMA dendrogram with weighted UniFrac, considering the relative abundance of microbial lineages, showed the two samples from surrounding substrate and the two samples from earthworms' gut had similarity in microbial community, respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicated earthworms can accelerate degradation of silicate mineral. Earthworms play an important role in ecosystem processe since they not only have some positive effects on soil structure, but also promote nutrient cycling of ecosystem by enhancing the weathering of minerals