Localize-It: Co-designing a Community-Owned Platform

One of the most difficult, yet undocumented, aspects of information and communications technologies and development (ICTD) projects is that of establishing partnerships around which researchers’ interventions will develop, be tested and grow. Constraints on timing and funding usually lead to short-term projects, in which benefits are biased towards researchers rather than the partner community. In order to avoid empty and unethical promises and to increase the potential benefit for the community, we consider the process of developing participatory partnerships in ICTD projects. The objective is to make the project community owned, allowing the participants to develop what they value as important. Using the case of a township-based wireless community content sharing network, we describe the potential and some of the challenges with this approach. The paper highlights building blocks, such as ethical behaviour and trust, to avoid recreating the dichotomy between research and practice, and building a constructive collaboration

Wolfram Syndrome: New Mutations, Different Phenotype

BACKGROUND: Wolfram Syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Mellitus, Optic Atrophy, and Deafness identified by the acronym "DIDMOAD". The WS gene, WFS1, encodes a transmembrane protein called Wolframin, which recent evidence suggests may serve as a novel endoplasmic reticulum calcium channel in pancreatic β-cells and neurons. WS is a rare disease, with an estimated prevalence of 1/550.000 children, with a carrier frequency of 1/354. The aim of our study was to determine the genotype of WS patients in order to establish a genotype/phenotype correlation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We clinically evaluated 9 young patients from 9 unrelated families (6 males, 3 females). Basic criteria for WS clinical diagnosis were coexistence of insulin-treated diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy occurring before 15 years of age. Genetic analysis for WFS1 was performed by direct sequencing. Molecular sequencing revealed 5 heterozygous compound and 3 homozygous mutations. All of them were located in exon 8, except one in exon 4. In one proband only an heterozygous mutation (A684V) was found. Two new variants c.2663 C>A and c.1381 A>C were detected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study increases the spectrum of WFS1 mutations with two novel variants. The male patient carrying the compound mutation [c.1060_1062delTTC]+[c.2663 C>A] showed the most severe phenotype: diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy (visual acuity 5/10), deafness with deep auditory bilaterally 8000 Hz, diabetes insipidus associated to reduced volume of posterior pituitary and pons. He died in bed at the age of 13 years. The other patient carrying the compound mutation [c.409_424dup16]+[c.1381 A>C] showed a less severe phenotype (DM, OA)

Phosphine Resistance in the Rust Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): Inheritance, Gene Interactions and Fitness Costs

The recent emergence of heritable high level resistance to phosphine in stored grain pests is a serious concern among major grain growing countries around the world. Here we describe the genetics of phosphine resistance in the rust red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), a pest of stored grain as well as a genetic model organism. We investigated three field collected strains of T. castaneum viz., susceptible (QTC4), weakly resistant (QTC1012) and strongly resistant (QTC931) to phosphine. The dose-mortality responses of their test- and inter-cross progeny revealed that most resistance was conferred by a single major resistance gene in the weakly (3.2×) resistant strain. This gene was also found in the strongly resistant (431×) strain, together with a second major resistance gene and additional minor factors. The second major gene by itself confers only 12–20× resistance, suggesting that a strong synergistic epistatic interaction between the genes is responsible for the high level of resistance (431×) observed in the strongly resistant strain. Phosphine resistance is not sex linked and is inherited as an incompletely recessive, autosomal trait. The analysis of the phenotypic fitness response of a population derived from a single pair inter-strain cross between the susceptible and strongly resistant strains indicated the changes in the level of response in the strong resistance phenotype; however this effect was not consistent and apparently masked by the genetic background of the weakly resistant strain. The results from this work will inform phosphine resistance management strategies and provide a basis for the identification of the resistance genes

Stakeholder Relations and Ownership of a Community Wireless Network: The Case of iNethi

The primary objective for this study is to investigate multi-stakeholder understanding of ownership of a community wireless network (CWN) located in Ocean View, Cape Town. This is important because ownership and stakeholder relations are components that contribute to the success of a CWN. Using the convenience and snowball sampling method, we completed 11 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from the University of Cape Town and the Ocean View community. We consider different ways ownership is conceived between stakeholders. We found that the involvement of the community at initiation of a CWN project is imperative in establishing ownership of a CWN. We characterize some of the ways in which discordant conceptions of ownership have resulted in miscommunication within this project and offer considerations for researchers to take into account as they collaborate with communities on joint initiatives

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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