2022 AICCRA Partnership Survey Results Report

Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a USD 60 million three-year project, funded by the World Bank and being led by CIAT, with participating partners from six countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Mali and Senegal. This report provides an overview of the Satisfaction Survey that was disseminated to partners to gather their feedback on three of the intermediate Project Indicators (IPI), as laid out in the Project Implementation Arrangements. These indicators capture progress on (1 - IPI 1.3) the satisfaction with the usefulness, accessibility and relevance, particularly for gender and youth responsiveness, (2 - IPI 2.4) effectiveness of partnerships and (3 - IPI 3.3) the use or adaptation of AICCRA-funded climate-relevant knowledge products, decision-making tools and services. The survey was open from 8 December 2022 to 11 January 2023 Cluster leads provided the products/services to survey for their cluster, and they sent the survey to their partners totaling 451 recipients. There were 312 responses from 309 unique individuals, which was a 69% response rate. Three individuals reported on two separate Clusters. All second-year targets were achieved. Satisfaction with the products and services of the project (IPI 1.3) attained an average of 82%, 2% higher than the 2021 average of 80% and 5% higher than the target of 75%. Effectiveness of partnerships (IPI 2.4) surpassed the target of 75% and achieved an average score of 85% for all criteria including Vision, Leadership, Accountability, Communications & Collaboration and Impact, which matches the 2021 result. Through an elaborative capacity development program, IPI 3.3 - which looked precisely at how many respondents have used the products - scored an average of 73% confirmed use (233 identified use cases); well above the 12.5% target for year two. Continuous feedback on the survey design and results are also being compiled and will help improve the process for next year

Influenza D virus: a potential threat for humans?

Influenza D virus (IDV) is a novel influenza virus first isolated from swine in 2011 in Oklahoma. Several studies have isolated IDV in cattle from multiple geographic areas, suggesting that cattle could be a possible primary natural reservoir for the virus. To date, few studies have been performed on human samples and there is no conclusive evidence that IDV has the ability to infect humans. This serological study aimed to assess the prevalence of antibodies against IDV in the human population. The IDV used in the serological analysis was influenza D/bovine/Oklahoma/660/2013. The human serum samples, collected in Italy between 2005 and 2017, were randomly selected from the laboratory serum bank and tested by the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. HI positivity has been confirmed using the virus neutralization (VN) assay. Based on HI positivity (HI titers ≥ 10), a low prevalence (5%–10%) was observed between 2005 and 2007. There has been a sharp increase since 2008, resulting in two main peaks in 2009–2010 and 2013–2014, a finding confirmed by the statistical trend analysis. The same pattern and trends can be seen with higher HI titers of >20 and ≥40. The prevalence of antibodies against IDV has increased in the human population in Italy from 2005 to 2017. Low prevalence values between 2005 and 2007 suggest that IDV most probably circulated before its detection in 2011, and perhaps even before 2005. In Italy, IDV has been shown to circulate among swine and bovine herds. It is, therefore, possible that prevalence peaks in humans follow the infection epidemics in animals and do not to persist in the population, resembling a spillover event from the animal reservoir and showing that the virus may not circulate consistently in the human population. However, IDV seemed to have the ability to elicit an immune response in humans

Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology

A cross-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) including 29,612 patients with ALS and 122,656 controls identifies 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with a lifetime risk of one in 350 people and an unmet need for disease-modifying therapies. We conducted a cross-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 29,612 patients with ALS and 122,656 controls, which identified 15 risk loci. When combined with 8,953 individuals with whole-genome sequencing (6,538 patients, 2,415 controls) and a large cortex-derived expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) dataset (MetaBrain), analyses revealed locus-specific genetic architectures in which we prioritized genes either through rare variants, short tandem repeats or regulatory effects. ALS-associated risk loci were shared with multiple traits within the neurodegenerative spectrum but with distinct enrichment patterns across brain regions and cell types. Of the environmental and lifestyle risk factors obtained from the literature, Mendelian randomization analyses indicated a causal role for high cholesterol levels. The combination of all ALS-associated signals reveals a role for perturbations in vesicle-mediated transport and autophagy and provides evidence for cell-autonomous disease initiation in glutamatergic neurons

Multicenter Diagnostic Evaluation of OnSite COVID-19 Rapid Test (CTK Biotech) among Symptomatic Individuals in Brazil and the United Kingdom

Evaluating rapid diagnostic tests in diverse populations is essential to improving diagnostic responses as it gives an indication of the accuracy in real-world scenarios. In the case of rapid diagnostic testing within this pandemic, lateral flow tests that meet the minimum requirements for sensitivity and specificity can play a key role in increasing testing capacity, allowing timely clinical management of those infected, and protecting health care systems

The concept of transport capacity in geomorphology

The notion of sediment-transport capacity has been engrained in geomorphological and related literature for over 50 years, although its earliest roots date back explicitly to Gilbert in fluvial geomorphology in the 1870s and implicitly to eighteenth to nineteenth century developments in engineering. Despite cross fertilization between different process domains, there seem to have been independent inventions of the idea in aeolian geomorphology by Bagnold in the 1930s and in hillslope studies by Ellison in the 1940s. Here we review the invention and development of the idea of transport capacity in the fluvial, aeolian, coastal, hillslope, débris flow, and glacial process domains. As these various developments have occurred, different definitions have been used, which makes it both a difficult concept to test, and one that may lead to poor communications between those working in different domains of geomorphology. We argue that the original relation between the power of a flow and its ability to transport sediment can be challenged for three reasons. First, as sediment becomes entrained in a flow, the nature of the flow changes and so it is unreasonable to link the capacity of the water or wind only to the ability of the fluid to move sediment. Secondly, environmental sediment transport is complicated, and the range of processes involved in most movements means that simple relationships are unlikely to hold, not least because the movement of sediment often changes the substrate, which in turn affects the flow conditions. Thirdly, the inherently stochastic nature of sediment transport means that any capacity relationships do not scale either in time or in space. Consequently, new theories of sediment transport are needed to improve understanding and prediction and to guide measurement and management of all geomorphic systems

Kenya and its way to the Mau Mau Uprising A Contribution to the Process of Radicalization in Kenya in the 1920s and the 1930s.

This bachelor thesis deals with political movements and their development in Kenya from the twenties of the twentieth century to the Mau Mau uprising. The aim is to characterize and then to analyze the main problems in Kenya in the 1920s and 1930s. The first part of the thesis presents the thema and then focuses mainly on the kikuyu tribe. The second part introduces the first political movements and deals primarily with Harry Thuku, the founder of a few political associations. The last part is focused on Jomo Kenyatta, the main chcaracter of kenyan history and his work in London. Then the thesis is focused on radicalization of the political movements and their activities which came to the Mau Mau uprising. Key words: Kenya, Great Britain, Radicalization, Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuk

Sacrificial-layer free transfer of mammalian cells using near infrared femtosecond laser pulses.

Laser-induced cell transfer has been developed in recent years for the flexible and gentle printing of cells. Because of the high transfer rates and the superior cell survival rates, this technique has great potential for tissue engineering applications. However, the fact that material from an inorganic sacrificial layer, which is required for laser energy absorption, is usually transferred to the printed target structure, constitutes a major drawback of laser based cell printing. Therefore alternative approaches using deep UV laser sources and protein based acceptor films for energy absorption, have been introduced. Nevertheless, deep UV radiation can introduce DNA double strand breaks, thereby imposing the risk of carcinogenesis. Here we present a method for the laser-induced transfer of hydrogels and mammalian cells, which neither requires any sacrificial material for energy absorption, nor the use of UV lasers. Instead, we focus a near infrared femtosecond (fs) laser pulse (λ = 1030 nm, 450 fs) directly underneath a thin cell layer, suspended on top of a hydrogel reservoir, to induce a rapidly expanding cavitation bubble in the gel, which generates a jet of material, transferring cells and hydrogel from the gel/cell reservoir to an acceptor stage. By controlling laser pulse energy, well-defined cell-laden droplets can be transferred with high spatial resolution. The transferred human (SCP1) and murine (B16F1) cells show high survival rates, and good cell viability. Time laps microscopy reveals unaffected cell behavior including normal cell proliferation

Compositional evolution of Pd-based nanoclusters under thermal annealing in ion implanted SiO2

Sequential ion implantation has been used to synthesize Pd-based alloy nanoclusters in SiO2. Three systems have been investigated (PdCu, PdAg and PdFe) in terms of nanocluster formation and stability under thermal annealing. In particular, we focused on the role played by the annealing atmosphere. A comparison is made with similar alloy-based systems obtained by sequential ion implantation in silica of Au-Ag or Au-Cu followed by annealing under similar conditions. Strong similarities have been found in the compositional evolution of Pd-based and Au-based nanoclusters

Compositional evolution of Pd-based nanoclusters under thermal annealing in ion implanted SiO2

Sequential ion implantation has been used to synthesize Pd-based alloy nanoclusters in SiO2. Three systems have been investigated (PdCu, PdAg and PdFe) in terms of nanocluster formation and stability under thermal annealing. In particular, we focused on the role played by the annealing atmosphere. A comparison is made with similar alloy-based systems obtained by sequential ion implantation in silica of Au-Ag or Au-Cu followed by annealing under similar conditions. Strong similarities have been found in the compositional evolution of Pd-based and Au-based nanoclusters