Bats as bushmeat in Madagascar

Bats are eaten by people throughout Madagascar and although the larger species like Pteropus rufus, Eidolon dupreanum, Rousettus madagascariensis and Hipposideros commersoni are preferred, small insectivorous bats are also eaten. The national hunting season for bats is widely ignored and both unsuitable hunting practices and high offtake represent a serious threat to bat populations in some areas. Bat bushmeat may be an important source of protein for Malagasy people during periods of food shortage but in general there are few data on the socioeconomic and cultural importance of bats. Fruit bats produce a single offspring per year and are therefore susceptible to over - hunting. Nevertheless, large roosts offer the possibility of community managed harvests to secure the colony and provide a source of meat but further research is needed before this can be considered. Roost sites also present the best focus for conservation and greater effort is needed to control hunting using existing legislation and flexible community - based solutions that are sensitive to the local context. The threat of pathogen transfer from bats to people is of growing concern as more bat species are identified as vectors of emergent viral diseases

Drug interactions in primary health care in the George subdistrict, South Africa: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions in primary healthcare clinics in the George subdistrict, to determine which drugs were involved, and to identify associated risk factors. Design: A cross-sectional retrospective folder review was performed. Setting and subjects: Four hundred randomly selected patient files from four primary care clinics in the George subdistrict. Outcome measures: The prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions in primary care, drugs involved in potential drugdrug interactions and associated risk factors. Results: The prevalence of scripts containing at least one moderate potential interaction was 42%; severe potential interaction, 5.25%; and contraindicated combinations, 0.5%. The most common drugs involved were enalapril, aspirin, ibuprofen, furosemide and fluoxetine. The most common implicated drugs in potentially severe interactions were warfarin, aspirin, fluoxetine, tramadol and allopurinol. Two contraindicated combinations were found, namely verapamil plus simvastatin, and hyoscine butyl bromide plus oral potassium chloride. Advancing age and polypharmacy were associated with an increased risk of potential drug-drug interactions. Input from the regional hospital specialist departments greatly increased the risk of a patient being given a prescription that contained a potential drug-drug interaction. Eighty one per cent of severe interactions were from this group. Conclusion: The potential for drug-drug interactions occurring was common in primary healthcare clinics in the George subdistrict. Drug interactions are predictable and preventable. The risk factors identified in this study may assist in the design of interventions that reduce the risk.Keywords: potential drug-drug interactions, adverse drug events, polypharmacy, primary health care, pharmacokinetic interactions, pharmacodynamic interaction

Three flying fox (Pteropodidae: Pteropus rufus) roosts, three conservation challenges in southeastern Madagascar

We visited three roosts of the Madagascar flying fox Pteropus rufus in December 2005 in the Anosy Region. Colony size was 900 at Berenty Private Reserve, 412 at Amborabao and 54 at Sainte Luce, based on single counts at each site. Hunting at the roost is prohibited at Berenty but P. rufus is trapped at night in the area surrounding the reserve, where it feeds on sisal. At Amborabao, the bats roost in a sacred forest and hunting is forbidden. At Sainte Luce, the forest is highly degraded and the bats are hunted frequently, despite efforts to engage the local community in forest conservation. Questionnaires with people living near the roosts revealed the flying foxes were regarded as pests of litchis in Amborabao and Sainte Luce. Berenty is the only site where tourists are able to observe roosting P. rufus. The role of sacred forests and local taboos (fady) is very relevant for P. rufus conservation and might be the only practical mechanism in sites where legislation on hunting and land use is not being enforced

A conservation assessment of Rousettus madagascariensis (G. Grandidier, 1928, Pteropodidae) roosts in eastern Madagascar

We visited four cave roosts of the near threatened, and endemic, fruit bat Rousettus madagascariensis over a five year period and found major threats to the bats from hunting and deforestation. The conservation of this species is particularly challenging because it is legally hunted inside its cave roosts. Although provisional protected area status was obtained for two sites with community support, hunting continued. R. madagascariensis roosts were associated with humid forest and the loss of vegetation around caves rendered them unsuitable for the bats at two abandoned sites. A few individual hunters can have a rapid and destructive impact on R. madagascariensis roosts and future initiatives in this area should involve working with hunters to develop realistic solutions to reduce hunting. These efforts need to be supported by habitat protection measures.RÉSUMÉL’espèce de chauve - souris frugivore Quasi Menacée Rousettus madagascariensis est endémique à Madagascar. Nous avons étudié quatre gîtes dans des grottes où cette espèce a établi des dortoirs diurnes en procédant à des visites multiples au cours d’une période de cinq ans et avons trouvé que la chasse et la déforestation constituaient les principales menaces pesant sur R. madagascariensis. La conservation de cette espèce est particulièrement difficile dans la mesure où la chasse dans ses dortoirs ou gîtes est permise. Bien que les deux sites abritant l’espèce bénéficient du statut de Nouvelle Aire Protégée avec le soutien de la communauté locale, la chasse ne cesse de s’intensifier. Les gîtes de R. madagascariensis sont associés à la forêt humide, de sorte que la disparition de la végétation arborée autour de deux de ces gîtes les a rendus impropres à héberger R. madagascariensis qui a fini par les abandonner. La disparition de la végétation arborée autour du gîte pourrait être à l’origine d’un changement de microclimat à l’intérieur de la grotte qui constitue le gîte diurne. Les activités de certains chasseurs peuvent aussi avoir un impact destructif rapide sur les gîtes de R. madagascariensis et des initiatives à mener conjointement avec les chasseurs sont nécessaires pour élaborer des mesures réalistes afin de réduire la chasse. De tels efforts doivent être étendus et appuyés par des mesures de protection de l’habitat car plusieurs autres gîtes pourraient exister dans les forêts du versant est de Madagascar et subir les mêmes pressions anthropiques. Des recherches récentes ont également montré que l’histoire naturelle de R. madagascariensis est étroitement liée à la forêt naturelle, de sorte que la perte de la biodiversité de la forêt naturelle malgache menace les plantes dont se nourrit cette espèce ainsi que l’équilibre de l’ensemble de l’écosystème dont elle dépend

Post-translational processing targets functionally diverse proteins in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

© 2016 The Authors. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a genome-reduced, cell wall-less, bacterial pathogen with a predicted coding capacity of less than 700 proteins and is one of the smallest self-replicating pathogens. The cell surface of M. hyopneumoniae is extensively modified by processing events that target the P97 and P102 adhesin families. Here, we present analyses of the proteome of M. hyopneumoniae-type strain J using protein-centric approaches (one- and two-dimensional GeLC-MS/MS) that enabled us to focus on global processing events in this species. While these approaches only identified 52% of the predicted proteome (347 proteins), our analyses identified 35 surface-associated proteins with widely divergent functions that were targets of unusual endopro-teolytic processing events, including cell adhesins, lipoproteins and proteins with canonical functions in the cytosol that moonlight on the cell surface. Affinity chromatography assays that separately used heparin, fibronectin, actin and host epithelial cell surface proteins as bait recovered cleavage products derived from these processed proteins, suggesting these fragments interact directly with the bait proteins and display previously unrecognized adhesive functions. We hypothesize that protein processing is underestimated as a post-translational modification in genome-reduced bacteria and prokaryotes more broadly, and represents an important mechanism for creating cell surface protein diversity

Discipline-Specific Compared to Generic Training of Teachers in Higher Education

A recurrent theme arising in the higher education sector is the suitability and effectiveness of generic versus discipline-specific training of university teachers, who are often recruited based on their disciplinary specialties to become teachers in higher education. We compared two groups of participants who had undergone training using a generic post-graduate certificate in higher education (PGCertGeneric) versus a discipline-specific course in veterinary education (PGCertVetEd). The study was conducted using a survey that allowed comparison of participants who completed PGCertGeneric (n=21) with PGCertVetEd (n=22). Results indicated that participants from both PGCertGeneric and PGCertVetEd considered teaching to be satisfying and important to their careers, valued the teaching observation component of the course, and identified similar training needs. However, the participants of the PGCertVetEd felt that the course made them better teachers, valued the relevance of the components taught, understood course design better, were encouraged to do further courses/reading in teaching and learning, changed their teaching as a result of the course, and were less stressed about teaching as compared to the PGCertGeneric participants (p<.05). It is likely that the PGCertVetEd, which was designed and developed by veterinarians with a wider understanding of the veterinary sector, helped the participants perceive the training course as suited to their needs

Genome-wide fine-scale recombination rate variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Estimating fine-scale recombination maps of Drosophila from population genomic data is a challenging problem, in particular because of the high background recombination rate. In this paper, a new computational method is developed to address this challenge. Through an extensive simulation study, it is demonstrated that the method allows more accurate inference, and exhibits greater robustness to the effects of natural selection and noise, compared to a well-used previous method developed for studying fine-scale recombination rate variation in the human genome. As an application, a genome-wide analysis of genetic variation data is performed for two Drosophila melanogaster populations, one from North America (Raleigh, USA) and the other from Africa (Gikongoro, Rwanda). It is shown that fine-scale recombination rate variation is widespread throughout the D. melanogaster genome, across all chromosomes and in both populations. At the fine-scale, a conservative, systematic search for evidence of recombination hotspots suggests the existence of a handful of putative hotspots each with at least a tenfold increase in intensity over the background rate. A wavelet analysis is carried out to compare the estimated recombination maps in the two populations and to quantify the extent to which recombination rates are conserved. In general, similarity is observed at very broad scales, but substantial differences are seen at fine scales. The average recombination rate of the X chromosome appears to be higher than that of the autosomes in both populations, and this pattern is much more pronounced in the African population than the North American population. The correlation between various genomic features—including recombination rates, diversity, divergence, GC content, gene content, and sequence quality—is examined using the wavelet analysis, and it is shown that the most notable difference between D. melanogaster and humans is in the correlation between recombination and diversity

Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather

[EN] For several years, reports have been published about fluctuations in measured radioactive decay time-series and in some instances linked to astrophysical as well as classical environmental influences. Anomalous behaviors of radioactive decay measurement and measurement of capacitance inside and outside a modified Faraday cage were documented by our group in previous work. In the present report, we present an in-depth analysis of our measurement with regard to possible correlations with space weather, i.e. the geomagnetic activity (GMA) and cosmic-ray activity (CRA). Our analysis revealed that the decay and capacitance time-series are statistically significantly correlated with GMA and CRA when specific conditions are met. The conditions are explained in detail and an outlook is given on how to further investigate this important finding. Our discovery is relevant for all researchers investigating radioactive decay measurements since they point out that the space weather condition during the measurement is relevant for partially explaining the observed variability.This work has been partially financed by: grant no. 20170764 (Equipos de deteccion, regulacion e informacion en el sector de los sistemas inteligentes de transporte (ITS). Nuevos modelos y ensayos de compatibilidad y verificacion de funcionamiento) (Spain), by grant no. RTI2018-102256-B-I00 (Spain), by the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) under project Bioingenieria de las Radiaciones Ionizantes. Biorad (PROMETEO/2018/035) and the project MEMO RADION (IDIFEDER/2018/038) co-financed by the Programa Operativo del Fondo Social Europeo 2014-2020", and by grant No.075-00845-20-01 (Russia).Milián-Sánchez, V.; Scholkmann, F.; Fernández De Córdoba, P.; Mocholí Salcedo, A.; Mocholí-Belenguer, F.; Iglesias-Martínez, ME.; Castro-Palacio, JC.... (2020). Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather. Scientific Reports. 10(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64497-0S112101Milián-Sánchez, V., Mocholí-Salcedo, A., Milián, C., Kolombet, V. A. & Verdú, G. Anomalous effects on radiation detectors and capacitance measurements inside a modified Faraday cage. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 828, 210–228 (2016).G. F. Knoll Radiation Detection and Measurement, 4th Edition. (Wiley, 2010).Jenkins, J. H., Mundy, D. W. & Fischbach, E. Analysis of environmental influences in nuclear half-life measurements exhibiting time-dependent decay rates. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 620, 332–342 (2010).Jenkins, J. H. et al. Additional experimental evidence for a solar influence on nuclear decay rates. Astroparticle Physics 37, 81–88 (2012).Falkenberg, E. D. Radioactive Decay Caused by Neutrinos? Apeiron 8, 32–45 (2001).A. G. Parkhomov Influence of Relic Neutrinos on Beta Radioactivity. arXiv:1010.1591v1 [physics.gen-ph], (2010).P. A. Sturrock, E. Fischbach, A. G. Parkhamov, J. D. Scargle, G. Steinitz, Concerning the variability of beta-decay measurements. arXiv:1510.05996 [nucl-ex], (2015).Baurov, Y. A. et al. Experimental Investigations of Changes in β-Decay if 60Co and 137Cs. Modern Physics Letters A 16, 2089–2101 (2001).Baurov, Y. A. Research of Global Anisotropy of Physical Space on Investigation Base of Changes in β and α-decay Rate of Radioactive Elements. Motion of Pulsars and Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays. American Journal of Modern Physics 2, 177–184 (2013).Baurov, Y. A., Sobolev, Y. G., Ryabov, Y. V. & Kushniruk, V. F. Experimental investigations of changes in the rate of beta decay of radioactive elements. Physics of Atomic Nuclei 70, 1825–1835 (2009).Baurov, Y. A. The anisotropic phenomenon in the β decay of radioactive elements and in other processes in nature. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics 76, 1076–1080 (2012).Baurov, Y. A., Sobolev, Y. G. & Ryabov, Y. V. New force, global anisotropy and the changes in β-decay rate of radioactive elements. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2, 8–19 (2014).Pons, D. J., Pons, A. D. & Pons, A. J. Asymmetrical neutrino induced decay of nucleons. Applied Physics Research 7, 1–13 (2015).Pons, D. J., Pons, A. D. & Pons, A. J. Hidden Variable Theory Supports Variability in Decay Rates of Nuclides. Applied Physics Research 7, 18–29 (2015).Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. J. Long-term measurements of 36Cl to investigate potential solar influence on the decay rate. Astroparticle Physics 55, 33–36 (2014).Schrader, H. Seasonal variations of decay rate measurement data and their interpretation. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 114, 202–213 (2016).Pommé, S. et al. Evidence against solar influence on nuclear decay constants. Physics Letters B 761, 281–286 (2016).Bergeson, S. D., Peatross, J. & Ware, M. J. Precision long-term measurements of beta-decay-rate ratios in a controlled environment. Physics Letters B 767, 171–176 (2017).McKnight, Q., Bergeson, S. D., Peatross, J. & Ware, M. J. 2.7 years of beta-decay-rate ratio measurements in a controlled environment. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 142, 113–119 (2018).Pommé, S. et al. On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part I: alpha decay. Metrologia 54, 1–18 (2017).Pommé, S. et al. On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part III: beta plus and electron capture decay. Metrologia 54, 36–50 (2017).Pommé, S., Lutter, G., Marouli, M., Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. On the claim of modulations in radon decay and their association with solar rotation. Astroparticle Physics 97, 38–45 (2018).S. Pommé, K. Kossert, O. Nähle On the Claim of Modulations in 36Cl Beta Decay and Their Association with Solar Rotation. Solar Physics 292 (2017).Pommé, S. et al. Is decay constant? Applied Radiation and Isotopes 134, 6–12 (2018).Bellotti, E., Broggini, C., Di Carlo, G., Laubenstein, M. & Menegazzo, R. Search for time modulations in the decay constant of 40 K and 226 Ra at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory. Physics Letters B 780, 61–65 (2018).Borrello, J. A., Wuosmaa, A. & Watts, M. Non-dependence of nuclear decay rates of 123 I and 99m Tc on Earth-Sun distance. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 132, 189–194 (2018).Sturrock, P. A., Steinitz, G., Fischbach, E., Parkhomov, A. & Scargle, J. D. Analysis of beta-decay data acquired at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt: Evidence of a solar influence. Astroparticle Physics 84, 8–14 (2016).Stancil, D. D., Balci Yegen, S., Dickey, D. A. & Gould, C. R. Search for possible solar influences in Ra-226 decays. Results in Physics 7, 385–406 (2017).P. A. Sturrock, G. Steinitz & E. Fischbach Analysis of Ten Years of Radon-Chain Decay Measurements: Evidence of Solar Influences and Inferences Concerning Solar Internal Structure and the Role of Neutrinos. arXiv:1705.03010 [astro-ph.SR], (2017).Sturrock, P. A., Steinitz, G. & Fischbach, E. Concerning the variability of nuclear decay rates: Rebuttal of an article by Pomme et al. [1]. Astroparticle Physics 98, 9–12 (2018).Pommé, S., Lutter, G., Marouli, M., Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. A reply to the rebuttal by Sturrock et al. Astroparticle Physics 107, 22–25 (2019).S. Pommé, Solar influence on radon decay rates: irradiance or neutrinos? The European Physical Journal C. 79 (2019).Barnes, V. E. et al. Upper limits on perturbations of nuclear decay rates induced by reactor electron antineutrinos. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 149, 182–199 (2019).Pommé, S., Stroh, H. & Van Ammel, R. The 55Fe half-life measured with a pressurised proportional counter. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 148, 27–34 (2019).Elmaghraby, E. E. Configuration Mixing in Particle Decay and Reaction. Progress in Physics 13, 150–155 (2017).Shnoll, S. E. et al. Realization of discrete states during fluctuations in macroscopic processes. Physics-Uspekhi 41, 1025–1035 (1998).Namiot, V. A. & Shnoll, S. E. On the possible mechanism of periodicity in fine structure of histograms during nuclear decay processes. Physics Letters A 359, 249–251 (2006).Panchelyuga, V. A. & Panchelyuga, M. S. Fractal dimension and histogram method: Algorithm and some preliminary results of noise-like time series analysis. Biophysics 58, 283–289 (2013).Panchelyuga, V. A. & Panchelyuga, M. S. Local fractal analysis of noise-like time series by the all-permutations method for 1–115 min periods. Complex Systems Biophysics 60, 317–330 (2015).T. A. Zenchenko, A. A. Konradov, K. I. Zenchenko In Biophotonics and Coherent Systems in Biology. chap. Chapter 18, pp. 225–233 (2005).Jenkins, J. H. & Fischbach, E. Perturbation of nuclear decay rates during the solar flare of 2006 December 13. Astroparticle Physics 31, 407–411 (2009).F. Scholkmann et al., Anomalous effects of radioactive decay rates and capacitance values measured inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather. EPL (Europhysics Letters) 117 (2017).M. E. Iglesias-Martínez et al. Correlations between Background Radiation Inside a Multilayer Interleaving Structure, Geomagnetic Activity, and Cosmic Radiation: A Fourth-Order Cumulant-Based Correlation Analysis. Mathematics 8 (2020).Karinen, A. & Mursula, K. A new reconstruction of the Dst index for 1932-2002. Annales Geophysicae 23, 475–485 (2005).A. Karinen, K. Mursula Correcting the Dst index: Consequences for absolute level and correlations. Journal of Geophysical Research 111 (2006).Nakamura, T., Uwamino, Y., Ohkubo, T. & Hara, A. Altitude Variation of Cosmic-ray Neutrons. Health Physics 53, 509–517 (1987).Hendrick, L. D. & Edge, R. D. Cosmic-Ray Neutrons near the Earth. Physical Review 145, 1023–1025 (1966).Yamashita, M., Stephens, L. D. & Patterson, H. W. Cosmic-ray-produced neutrons at ground level: Neutron production rate and flux distribution. Journal of Geophysical Research 71, 3817–3834 (1966).Mohsinally, T. et al. Evidence for correlations between fluctuations in 54Mn decay rates and solar storms. Astroparticle Physics 75, 29–37 (2016).Snyder, C. W., Neugebauer, M. & Rao, U. R. The solar wind velocity and its correlation with cosmic-ray variations and with solar and geomagnetic activity. Journal of Geophysical Research 68, 6361–6370 (1963).Kharayat, H., Prasad, L., Mathpal, R., Garia, S. & Bhatt, B. Study of Cosmic Ray Intensity in Relation to the Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Geomagnetic Storms for Solar Cycle 23. Solar Physics 291, 603–611 (2016).M. Tsichla, M. Gerontidou, H. Mavromichalaki, Spectral Analysis of Solar and Geomagnetic Parameters in Relation to Cosmic-ray Intensity for the Time Period 1965 – 2018. Solar Physics 294 (2019).Singh, Y. P. Badruddin, Short- and mid-term oscillations of solar, geomagnetic activity and cosmic-ray intensity during the last two solar magnetic cycles. Planetary and Space Science 138, 1–6 (2017).B. Adhikari, N. Sapkota, P. Baruwal, N. P. Chapagain & C. R. Braga Impacts on Cosmic-Ray Intensity Observed During Geomagnetic Disturbances. Solar Physics 292 (2017).Grigoryev, V. G., Starodubtsev, S. A. & Gololobov, P. Y. Monitoring geomagnetic disturbance predictors using data of ground measurements of cosmic rays. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics 81, 200–202 (2017).W. Reich Selected Writings: An Introduction to Orgonomy. (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1960).Fischbach, E. et al. Time-Dependent Nuclear Decay Parameters: New Evidence for New Forces? Space Science Reviews 145, 285–335 (2009).Javorsek, D. et al. Power spectrum analyses of nuclear decay rates. Astroparticle Physics 34, 173–178 (2010).Bellotti, E., Broggini, C., Di Carlo, G., Laubenstein, M. & Menegazzo, R. Search for time dependence of the 137Cs decay constant. Physics Letters B 710, 114–117 (2012)

Is nebulized saline a placebo in COPD?

BACKGROUND: Many trials of nebulized therapy have used nebulized saline as a "placebo". However, nebulized isotonic saline is sometimes used to assist sputum expectoration and relieve breathlessness in COPD patients. We designed this study to establish if nebulized saline had a placebo effect or a clinical effect. METHODS: 40 patients were studied following hospital admission for exacerbated COPD (mean FEV1 30% predicted). Patients were randomised to single-blind administration of either 4 mls of nebulized isotonic saline using an efficient nebulizer (active group n = 20) or an inefficient nebulizer (placebo group n = 20). Spirometry and subjective breathlessness scores (Modified Likert Scale) were measured before nebulized treatment and 10 minutes after treatment. RESULTS: There was no significant change in FEV1 after active or placebo nebulized saline treatment. Patients reported a 4% improvement in mean breathlessness score following placebo (Wilcoxon test; p = 0.37) compared with 23% improvement following active nebulized saline (p = 0.0001). 65% of patients given active nebulized saline but only 5% of the placebo group reported that mucus expectoration was easier after the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study lends support to the current use of nebulized saline to relieve breathlessness (possibly by facilitating sputum clearance) in COPD patients. Lung function was not affected. Nebulized saline can therefore be used as a placebo in bronchodilator studies involving COPD patients but it cannot be used as a placebo in trials assessing symptom relief