African Regional Aquaculture Centre Library: information resources and services

Effective research development is no doubt information driven and ARAC library remains the place to easily access accurate and reliable information. There is an urgent need to acquire and maintain its information resources in order to provide globally acceptable information. The production of validated research literatures by ARAC staff goes to show that the library has made itself relevant to scientist in achieving their mandate to ARAC. This Paper examines the resources and services rendered by the African Regional Aquaculture Centre library in meeting the needs of research Scientist, students and stakeholders in Aquaculture practice in the Niger Delta Nigeria. It describes the establishment of TEEAL and OARE service within the library and examines the research interest of scientist and library users with emphasis on their research areas

Partial Purification of Anti-Tumor and Antioxidant Components from Uvaria Narum (Dunal) Wall Seed

Uvaria is a genus of flowering plants in the soursop family (Padmaja et al.,1993), Annonaceae. The generic name Uvaria is derived from the Latin uva meaning grape, because the edible fruits of some species in this genus resemble grapes. Scandent shrubs, branchlets sparsely hairy. It is a large climbing shrub with woody stems. Uvaria is a large woody stellately pubescent straggling shrub with dark bluish green leaves. Uvaria narum (Tran et al., 2013) is mainly used in eczema, itching, varicose vein, haemorrhoids, jaundice, inflammation and fever. Leaves are recommended in rheumatic swellings, jaundice, biliousness and fevers. Root is used in the treatment of jaundice, fever, biliousness and typhoid. A decoction of the root bark is given to women to control fits at the time of delivery. It is also used in rheumatism, bowel complaints of Children, for eczema and used in skin diseases. Oil Extracted from the root reduces burning sensation of the Liver. The whole root extract of Uvaria narum could be medicinally employed as a possible free radical scavenger. The plant may also be considered against ageing and other disease caused by free radicals. The aerial parts of Uvaria are used in stomach disorder. OBJECTIVES: 1. Preparation of oil extract and its fractions of Uvaria narum seed. 2. Screening of Phytochemical constituents of seed oil extract using standard assays as well as purification by Thin Layer Chromatography. 3. Analysis of antioxidant activity of seed oil extract and its selected fractions using various In vitro assays. 4. Analysis of In vivo antitumor activity of oil extract of seeds of Uvaria narum in mice using DLA induced solid tumor model. CONCLUSION: The seed oil fraction of Uvaria narum possesses significant cytotoxic effect towards malignat cells than normal cells. In the present study two cytotoxic fractions one positive to alkaloid stains and the other positive to anthraquinone in TLC could be purified. Both these fractions exhibited siginificant cytotoxicity towards tumor cells however they are less toxic to normal cells. The alkaloid fraction reduce DLA induced tumor progression in mice but does not show weight loss, decrease in WBC count and haemoglobin level in the tumor bearing animals suggesting a promising antitumor property. The other two fractions, Fraction-III (positive to terpenoids) and Fraction-IV (positive to tannins and phenolics) are also obtained from this seed oil extract of Uvaria narum of which Fraction-IV exhibits significant antioxidant potential. Overall partial purification of promising antitumor alkaloids and antioxidant tannin/phenolic has been achieved from Uvaria narum seeds. It is expected that further level of purification of these fractions may yield pharmacologically important phytochemicals

A Coxsackievirus B1-mediated nonlytic Extracellular Vesicle-to-cell mechanism of virus transmission and its possible control through modulation of EV release

Like most non-enveloped viruses, CVB1 mainly uses cell lysis to spread. Details of a nonlytic virus transmission remain unclear. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) transfer biomolecules between cells. We show that CVB1 entry into HeLa cells results in apoptosis and release of CVB1-induced ‘medium-sized’ EVs (CVB1i-mEVs). These mEVs (100–300 nm) harbour CVB1 as shown by immunoblotting with anti-CVB1-antibody; viral capsids were detected by transmission electron microscopy and RT-PCR revealed CVB1 RNA. The percentage of mEVs released from CVB1-infected HeLa cells harbouring virus was estimated from TEM at 34 %. Inhibition of CVB1i-mEV production, with calpeptin or siRNA knockdown of CAPNS1 in HeLa cells limited spread of CVB1 suggesting these vesicles disseminate CVB1 virions to new host cells by a nonlytic EV-to-cell mechanism. This was confirmed by detecting CVB1 virions inside HeLa cells after co-culture with CVB1i-mEVs; EV release may also prevent apoptosis of infected cells whilst spreading apoptosis to secondary sites of infection

Impact of tillage intensity on arable soil microbial communities, physical parameters and plant pathogen suppressiveness

The aim is to develop innovative and feasible agro-environmental technology for improvement of environmental sustainability of cultivation methods by increasing soil crop cover taking advantage of ecosystem services of soil microbes to suppress crop pathogens as an alternative system for chemical control. Studies were conducted at six long term experimental field sites with no-till and till treatment plots cultivated mainly with spring cereals. Four automatic continuous monitoring stations were established (2009) on two experimental fields

Evolution of vaccination rates after the implementation of a free systematic pneumococcal vaccination in Catalonian older adults: 4-years follow-up

BACKGROUND: The systematic vaccination with 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV) was introduced as a strategic objective of health for all the people over 65 in Catalonia in 1999. We analysed the evolution of the pneumococcal vaccination rates from 2000 to 2003. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective population-based study including all the individuals 65 years or older assigned to 8 Primary Care Centres (PCCs) in Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain), who figured in the administrative population databases on 31 December 2003 (n = 10,410 persons). We assessed whether every person had received PPV during the last four years (2000 to 2003) or whether they had received it before January 2000. Data sources were the computerised clinical records of the 8 participating PCCs, which included adult vaccination registries and diagnoses coded of International Classification of Diseases 9(th )Review RESULTS: The overall vaccination uptake increased to 38.6% at the end of 2000. Global accumulated coverages increased more slowly the following years: 44.4% in 2001, 50.9% in 2002, and 53.1% at the end of 2003. Vaccine uptake varied significantly according to age (46.7% in people 65–74 years-old, 60.9% in people 75 years or more; p < 0.001) and number of diseases or risk factors (DRFs) for pneumonia (47.1% vaccinated in people without DRFs, 56.8% in patients with one DRF, and 62.2% in patients with two or more DRFs; p < 0.001). The highest coverages were observed among those patients with: diabetes (65.9%), active neoplasia (64.8%), history of stroke (63.7%), and chronic lung disease (63.5%). The lowest uptake was observed among smokers (48.7%). DISCUSSION: The pneumococcal vaccination coverage increased quickly after the introduction of the recommendation for free vaccination in all the elderly people (with and without risk factors), but two years after the improvement the coverage became stable and increased slowly

Swim-Training Changes the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Skeletogenesis in Zebrafish Larvae (Danio rerio)

Fish larvae experience many environmental challenges during development such as variation in water velocity, food availability and predation. The rapid development of structures involved in feeding, respiration and swimming increases the chance of survival. It has been hypothesized that mechanical loading induced by muscle forces plays a role in prioritizing the development of these structures. Mechanical loading by muscle forces has been shown to affect larval and embryonic bone development in vertebrates, but these investigations were limited to the appendicular skeleton. To explore the role of mechanical load during chondrogenesis and osteogenesis of the cranial, axial and appendicular skeleton, we subjected zebrafish larvae to swim-training, which increases physical exercise levels and presumably also mechanical loads, from 5 until 14 days post fertilization. Here we show that an increased swimming activity accelerated growth, chondrogenesis and osteogenesis during larval development in zebrafish. Interestingly, swim-training accelerated both perichondral and intramembranous ossification. Furthermore, swim-training prioritized the formation of cartilage and bone structures in the head and tail region as well as the formation of elements in the anal and dorsal fins. This suggests that an increased swimming activity prioritized the development of structures which play an important role in swimming and thereby increasing the chance of survival in an environment where water velocity increases. Our study is the first to show that already during early zebrafish larval development, skeletal tissue in the cranial, axial and appendicular skeleton is competent to respond to swim-training due to increased water velocities. It demonstrates that changes in water flow conditions can result into significant spatio-temporal changes in skeletogenesis

Choice of the initial antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive individuals in the era of integrase inhibitors

BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe the most frequently prescribed initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in recent years in HIV-positive persons in the Cohort of the Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network (CoRIS) and to investigate factors associated with the choice of each regimen. METHODS: We analyzed initial ART regimens prescribed in adults participating in CoRIS from 2014 to 2017. Only regimens prescribed in >5% of patients were considered. We used multivariable multinomial regression to estimate Relative Risk Ratios (RRRs) for the association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the choice of the initial regimen. RESULTS: Among 2874 participants, abacavir(ABC)/lamivudine(3TC)/dolutegavir(DTG) was the most frequently prescribed regimen (32.1%), followed by tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC)/elvitegravir(EVG)/cobicistat(COBI) (14.9%), TDF/FTC/rilpivirine (RPV) (14.0%), tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)/FTC/EVG/COBI (13.7%), TDF/FTC+DTG (10.0%), TDF/FTC+darunavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobicistat (bDRV) (9.8%) and TDF/FTC+raltegravir (RAL) (5.6%). Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, starting TDF/FTC/RPV was less likely in patients with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+DTG was more frequent in those with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+RAL and TDF/FTC+bDRV were also more frequent among patients with CD4<200 cells//muL and with transmission categories other than men who have sex with men. Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, the prescription of other initial ART regimens decreased from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 with the exception of TDF/FTC+DTG. Differences in the choice of the initial ART regimen were observed by hospitals' location. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of initial ART regimens is consistent with Spanish guidelines' recommendations, but is also clearly influenced by physician's perception based on patient's clinical and sociodemographic variables and by the prescribing hospital location