Differences in the epidemiology of theileriosis on smallholder dairy farms in contrasting agro-ecological and grazing strata of highland Kenya

A prospective cohort study was conducted in five purposively-sampled agro-ecological zone (AEZ)-grazing system strata in Murang’a District, Kenya, between March 1995 and June 1996. The study strata were selected based on a preliminary characterization study to represent the widest range of risks to East Coast fever (ECF) in the District and included zero-grazing and open-grazing farms. In total, 225 calves from 188 smallholder farms were examined from birth to 6 months of age and visited within the first 2 weeks of life and thereafter at bi-weekly intervals for up to 14 visits. The purpose of the study was to characterize the differences in epidemiology (risks of infection, morbidity and mortality) and potential control of ECF between the selected strata. Evidence of Theileria parva infection was assessed by increased antibody levels as measured in an indirect ELISA assay by the percent positivity (PP) of serum samples relative to a strong positive reference serum. Sero-conversion risks of T. parva were highest in the open-grazing strata. Antibody prevalence in adult cattle and ECF morbidity and mortality risks were also highest in open-grazing strata. While different, all five AEZ-grazing strata were considered to be endemically unstable for ECF. East Coast fever challenge was low in all zero-grazing strata and this challenge is likely to remain low due to continuing intensification of smallholder farming in the central highlands. In the open-grazing strata, there was higher challenge and a greater impact of ECF. ILRI publication no.: 99017

A serological survey of ruminant livestock in Kazakhstan during post-Soviet transitions in farming and disease control

The results of a serological survey of livestock in Kazakhstan, carried out in 1997–1998, are reported. Serum samples from 958 animals (cattle, sheep and goats) were tested for antibodies to foot and mouth disease (FMD), bluetongue (BT), epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), rinderpest (RP) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) viruses, and to Brucella spp. We also investigated the vaccination status of livestock and related this to changes in veterinary provision since independence in 1991. For the 2 diseases under official surveillance (FMD and brucellosis) our results were similar to official data, although we found significantly higher brucellosis levels in 2 districts and widespread ignorance about FMD vaccination status. The seroprevalence for BT virus was 23%, and seropositive animals were widespread suggesting endemicity, despite the disease not having being previously reported. We found a few seropositives for EHDV and PPRV, which may suggest that these diseases are also present in Kazakhstan. An hierarchical model showed that seroprevalence to FMD and BT viruses were clustered at the farm/village level, rather than at a larger spatial scale. This was unexpected for FMD, which is subject to vaccination policies which vary at the raion (county) level

Postnatal Depression - Myth and Reality: Maternal Depression Before and After the Birth of a Child

Background Much has been written about postnatal depression as a clinical condition. There is some evidence to suggest that a substantial proportion of women who give birth experience a depression in the postnatal period. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the mental health of a large sample of women who were in the early stages of pregnancy at entry to the study. Methods Each participant was assessed for symptoms of depression at the first clinic visit (entry to the study), and reassessed at various intervals - at 3-5 days, at 6 months, and again at 5 years after the birth of the child - using the DSSI-D (Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory). Results Retrospective recall questions indicate that shortly after the birth the majority of women experienced some depressed mood. Of those who experienced depressed mood, the data suggest that the symptoms were not severe, nor did these symptoms generally continue beyond a few weeks. The longitudinal data indicate that levels of depression in our sample are highest either at the firrst clinic visit or at the 5-year follow-up. Rates of depression at the 6-month follow-up are relatively low by comparison. Conclusion While most mothers experience periods of depressed mood after the birth of their baby, these periods are generally of short duration and of lesser intensity than a major depression. Mothers appear to experience increasing levels of symptoms of depression as their child grows up. Many of the "cases" of depression experienced at the 5-year follow-up represent a recurrence of a previous experience of depression

Intrauterine Growth and Intelligence Within Sibling Pairs: Findings From the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy and its Outcomes

Objective: To examine the association between intrauterine growth and intelligence. Design: Population based birth cohort study of sibling pairs born within a maximum of three years of each other. Setting: Mater-University women and children's hospital, Brisbane, Australia. Participants: 235 (470 children) sibling pairs. Results: Among one randomly selected sibling from each pair verbal comprehension at age 5, general intelligence at age 14, and reading ability at age 14 increased linearly with increasing gestational age and sex standardised birth weight z scores. With adjustment for maternal age, race, and smoking during pregnancy, birth order, family income, and parental education the associations with verbal comprehension at age 5 and general intelligence at age 14 remained, whereas the association with reading ability at age 14 was attenuated to the null. Within sibling pairs, differences in intrauterine growth were positively associated with differences in verbal comprehension at age 5 (test score difference per one unit difference in birth weight z score = 1.52 (0.11 to 3.26)) and general intelligence at age 14 (1.09 (0.01 to 2.18)), but not with reading ability at age 14. Conclusions: Socioeconomic position or other fixed maternal characteristics do not seem to explain the positive association between intrauterine growth and childhood intelligence

Maternal Anxiety and Depression, Poverty and Marital Relationship Factors During Early Childhood as Predictors of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence

BACKGROUND This paper examines the degree to which symptoms of anxiety and depression at age 14 years are associated with early childhood experience of maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, and mother's marital relationship distress and break-up. METHODS In a longitudinal study, 4434 families were followed-up from infancy to adolescence. RESULTS: Maternal anxiety and depression during early childhood were found to have small, but significant, influences upon the development of high anxiety-depression symptoms at age 14, after controlling for the effects of poverty and marital relationship factors. This effect was greater with repeated exposure to high maternal anxiety and depression. Poverty, distressed marital relationship and marital break-up during the child's first five years also produced small, but significant, increases in risk of high anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescence. Stable, single-parent status was not found to be a risk factor. There was no evidence of marked gender differences in risk factors, other than poverty, which had a stronger impact for girls than boys. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the results suggest that maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, parent relationship conflict and marital break-up during early childhood are associated with small, but significant, increased risk of anxiety-depression symptoms in adolescence

Early overweight and pubertal maturation—pathways of association with young adults' overweight: A longitudinal study

Objective: Objectives of this study were to examine the prospective association of childhood body mass index (BMI) and overweight and pubertal stages with BMI and overweight in early adulthood independent of each other

Loss of p38δ mitogen-activated protein kinase expression promotes oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma proliferation, migration and anchorage-independent growth.

Oesophageal cancer is an aggressive tumour which responds poorly to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy and has a poor prognosis. Thus, a greater understanding of the biology of oesophageal cancer is needed in order to identify novel therapeutic targets. Among these targets p38 MAPK isoforms are becoming increasingly important for a variety of cellular functions. The physiological functions of p38α and -β are now well documented in contrast to -γ and -δ which are comparatively under-studied and ill-defined. A major obstacle to deciphering the role(s) of the latter two p38 isoforms is the lack of specific chemical activators and inhibitors. In this study, we analysed p38 MAPK isoform expression in oesophageal cancer cell lines as well as human normal and tumour tissue. We observed specifically differential p38δ expression. The role(s) of p38δ and active (phosphorylated) p38δ (p-p38δ) in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OESCC) was delineated using wild-type p38δ as well as active p-p38δ, generated by fusing p38δ to its upstream activator MKK6b(E) via a decapeptide (Gly-Glu)5 linker. OESCC cell lines which are p38δ-negative (KE-3 and -8) grew more quickly than cell lines (KE-6 and -10) which express endogenous p38δ. Re-introduction of p38δ resulted in a time-dependent decrease in OESCC cell proliferation which was exacerbated with p-p38δ. In addition, we observed that p38δ and p-p38δ negatively regulated OESCC cell migration in vitro. Finally both p38δ and p-p38δ altered OESCC anchorage-independent growth. Our results suggest that p38δ and p-p38δ have a role in the suppression of OESCC. Our research may provide a new potential target for the treatment of oesophageal cancer

Cohort Profile: The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP)

How did the study come about? At the initiative of three hospital-based obstetricians one of the authors (JMN) and another sociologist attended a 1978 meeting to explore the potential for collaborative research. No specific project was proposed by the obstetricians. Two of the obstetricians had been trained in Scotland; one in Aberdeen where he had had some familiarity with the work of obstetrician Dugald Baird and sociologist Raymond Illsely. The obstetricians argued for an agenda which was clinically oriented. The two sociologists were more focussed on understanding how some social constructs (e.g. social class) might be relevant to explaining health outcomes. The initial year of the study was characterised by frequent (at least weekly) meetings at which the aims and substance of the proposed study were debated vigorously. As an initial decision the team focused on factors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The first major project was to be a 3-5 year longitudinal study of pregnant women which would include a 6-month child post-natal follow-up as the main outcome of interest

Souvenirs, salvage and storied things: remembering community

What I am talking about comes from a much larger set of projects with a number of collaborators so I will be ventriloquising along the way today. What effect does it have if we take that supply chain and value chain and take it even further, into the after life of things. And I am thinking about the Tales of Things of Electronic Memory. Lets extend the social biographies. Lets look at the movement in and out of the commodity phase. Not just ending as commodities and having use-value, but becoming commodities again then stopping being commodities again and so on. So this is a story that is also about circulation from stocks of objects. Things that we hold idling in our house, our wardrobes and things which are held in hiding by the state that we will come on to and many things that are circulated and how they made to circulate. A large part of the story is about things and about changing things in order to rekindle value. How do you take something which has no value let in it, no worth if you want to put it in those terms, and rekindle that, recreate worth from it? So this is dealing with consumption, not just consumption in terms of using, as context as Irene would says, but also as using up, consuming in that sense, finishing it. So I want to tell some stories about remainder objects; the things which are left over, or actually remainders of objects. What happens when the object themselves have got used up during consumption? And find their story map of object destruction, about actually using things until they have gone, until they have broken. So to continue that cheery theme of death and destruction, I thought I would just illustrate this in a few quotes in terms of things and objects. I will start with Robert Smithson’s take on this. The conceptual artist of the 1960s and 70s in the United States, with his comments: ‘separate forms, objects, shapes are mere convenient fictions. There is only an uncertain disintegrating order that transcends the limits of rational separations.” Now he does not acknowledge it, but basically he lifted that from Henri Bergson, who was summarsied by Bertrand Russell as being about being as flow: “separate things, beginnings and endings are mere convenient fictions: imaginary congealings of the stream” and of course we can take this back further to Heraclitus or Lucretius or if we want back to someone like Gautama Buddha's final words: “It came as if in all composite things, everything ends up breaking, everything ends up being destroyed.