Mycoflora of grain maize (Zea mays L.) Stored in traditional storage containers (Gombisa and sacks) in selected woredas of Jimma zone, Ethiopia

Mycoflora of maize (Zea mays L.) grain (Variety: Bako Hybrid-660) stored in two traditional storage containers (Gombisa and Sacks) for 180 days was studied for mycoflora in two agro-ecologies, that is Intermediate and Lowland, with altitude ranges of 1500-2500 meters above sea level, and 1000-1500 meters above sea level, respectively, in Jimma zone, Ethiopia. The temperature and relative humidity were observed for identifying fungi species which can flourish and cause maximum deterioration to maize grains. Significant (P<0.05) decreases in germination rate of the grains were observed with time under each storage method for both the low and intermediate altitude ranges. Germination percentage reduced from 98% and 97.5% to 68.5% and 80.5% for grains stored in Gombisa and Sacks, respectively. Storage type significantly (p<0.05) affected seed germination under intermediate agro-ecology whereas no significant (p>0.05) effect was observed under lowland agro-ecology due to storage container type. One sterile white mycelium and a total number of eight species of fungi viz., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tereus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Drechslera halodes, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium chrysogenum were identified from maize grain at the beginning and during storage. The most common fungi recorded from both agro-ecologies in the two storage structures were A. flavus, A. niger, D. halodes and F. oxysporum. These fungi were recorded from 90, 51, 72 and 44 percentage of the seed samples, respectively. In the districts of both intermediate and lowland agro-ecology these fungi were consistently recorded throughout 180 days, during storage. A. fumigatus was detected in3.6% of samples while C. cladosporioides observed in 15% of the samples. Fungal species A. tereus and Penicillium were recorded in 0.5% of samples in selected districts of Jimma. These fungal species were known to cause deterioration of maize and are a health risk to humans and animals due to the toxins they potentially produce.Key words: Agro ecologies, Fungi, Maize, Storag

Outbreak of West Nile virus causing severe neurological involvement in children, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, 2002.

An atypical outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) occurred in Ngorban County, South Kordophan, Sudan, from May to August 2002. We investigated the epidemic and conducted a case-control study in the village of Limon. Blood samples were obtained for cases and controls. Patients with obvious sequelae underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling as well. We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neutralization tests for laboratory diagnosis and identified 31 cases with encephalitis, four of whom died. Median age was 36 months. Bivariate analysis did not reveal any significant association with the risk factors investigated. Laboratory analysis confirmed presence of IgM antibodies caused by WNV in eight of 13 cases, indicative of recent viral infection. The unique aspects of the WNW outbreak in Sudan, i.e. disease occurrence solely among children and the clinical domination of encephalitis, involving severe neurological sequelae, demonstrate the continuing evolution of WNV virulence. The spread of such a virus to other countries or continents cannot be excluded

Legal determinants of external finance revisited : the inverse relationship between investor protection and societal well-being

This paper investigates relationships between corporate governance traditions and quality of life as measured by a number of widely reported indicators. It provides an empirical analysis of indicators of societal health in developed economies using a classification based on legal traditions. Arguably the most widely cited work in the corporate governance literature has been the collection of papers by La Porta et al. which has shown, inter alia, statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for investor protection. We show statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for societal health. Our comparative evidence suggests that the interests of investors may not be congruent with the interests of wider society, and that the criteria for judging the effectiveness of approaches to corporate governance should not be restricted to financial metrics

Molecular gas and dust around a radio-quiet quasar at redshift 4.69.

Galaxies are believed to have formed a large proportion of their stars in giant bursts of star formation early in their lives, but when and how this took place are still very uncertain. The presence of large amounts of dust in quasars and radio galaxies at redshifts z > 4 shows that some synthesis of heavy elements had already occurred at this time. This implies that molecular gas--the building material of stars--should also be present, as it is in galaxies at lower redshifts (z approximately = 2.5, refs 7-10). Here we report the detection of emission from dust and carbon monoxide in the radio-quiet quasar BR1202 - 0725, at redshift z = 4.69. Maps of these emissions reveal two objects, separated by a few arc seconds, which could indicated either the presence of a companion to the quasar or gravitational lensing of the quasar itself. Regardless of the precise interpretation of the maps, the detection of carbon monoxide confirms the presence of a large mass of molecular gas in one of the most distant galaxies known, and shows that conditions conducive to huge bursts of star formation existed in the very early Universe

Intramedullary melanotic schwannoma

We present a case of an intramedullary melanotic schwannoma (IMS) of the thoracic spinal cord. To our knowledge, this is the seventh reported case of an IMS of the central nervous system. Schwannomas are benign nerve sheath tumors of neural crest origin composed entirely of well differentiated Schwann cells that typically occur in peripheral nerves. Both the intramedullary location and the melanotic component of the reported lesion make it exceedingly rare. We will present our case, theories as to the origin of these tumors, clues in radiographic identification, and current clinical follow-up recommendations

“Excellence R Us”: university research and the fetishisation of excellence

The rhetoric of “excellence” is pervasive across the academy. It is used to refer to research outputs as well as researchers, theory and education, individuals and organisations, from art history to zoology. But does “excellence” actually mean anything? Does this pervasive narrative of “excellence” do any good? Drawing on a range of sources we interrogate “excellence” as a concept and find that it has no intrinsic meaning in academia. Rather it functions as a linguistic interchange mechanism. To investigate whether this linguistic function is useful we examine how the rhetoric of excellence combines with narratives of scarcity and competition to show that the hypercompetition that arises from the performance of “excellence” is completely at odds with the qualities of good research. We trace the roots of issues in reproducibility, fraud, and homophily to this rhetoric. But we also show that this rhetoric is an internal, and not primarily an external, imposition. We conclude by proposing an alternative rhetoric based on soundness and capacity-building. In the final analysis, it turns out that that “excellence” is not excellent. Used in its current unqualified form it is a pernicious and dangerous rhetoric that undermines the very foundations of good research and scholarship

Regulatory T Cells Restrain Interleukin-2- and Blimp-1-Dependent Acquisition of Cytotoxic Function by CD4⁺ T Cells

In addition to helper and regulatory potential, CD4+ T cells also acquire cytotoxic activity marked by granzyme B (GzmB) expression and the ability to promote rejection of established tumors. Here, we examined the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning the differentiation of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells following immunotherapy. CD4+ transfer into lymphodepleted animals or regulatory T (Treg) cell depletion promoted GzmB expression by tumor-infiltrating CD4+, and this was prevented by interleukin-2 (IL-2) neutralization. Transcriptional analysis revealed a polyfunctional helper and cytotoxic phenotype characterized by the expression of the transcription factors T-bet and Blimp-1. While T-bet ablation restricted interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production, loss of Blimp-1 prevented GzmB expression in response to IL-2, suggesting two independent programs required for polyfunctionality of tumor-reactive CD4+ T cells. Our findings underscore the role of Treg cells, IL-2, and Blimp-1 in controlling the differentiation of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells and offer a pathway to enhancement of anti-tumor activity through their manipulation

Comprehensive annotation of the Parastagonospora nodorum reference genome using next-generation genomics, transcriptomics and proteogenomics

Parastagonospora nodorum, the causal agent of Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB), is an economically important pathogen of wheat (Triticum spp.), and a model for the study of necrotrophic pathology and genome evolution. The reference P. nodorum strain SN15 was the first Dothideomycete with a published genome sequence, and has been used as the basis for comparison within and between species. Here we present an updated reference genome assembly with corrections of SNP and indel errors in the underlying genome assembly from deep resequencing data as well as extensive manual annotation of gene models using transcriptomic and proteomic sources of evidence (https://github.com/robsyme/Parastagonospora_nodorum_SN15). The updated assembly and annotation includes 8,366 genes with modified protein sequence and 866 new genes. This study shows the benefits of using a wide variety of experimental methods allied to expert curation to generate a reliable set of gene models

Cross-Sectional Surveys of the Prevalence of Follicular Trachoma and Trichiasis in The Gambia: Has Elimination Been Reached?

BACKGROUND: The Gambia's National Eye Health Programme has made a concerted effort to reduce the prevalence of trachoma. The present study had two objectives. The first was to conduct surveillance following mass drug administrations to determine whether The Gambia has reached the World Health Organization's (WHO) criteria for trachoma elimination, namely a prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) of less than 5% in children aged 1 to 9 years. The second was to determine the prevalence of trichiasis (TT) cases unknown to the programme and evaluate whether these meet the WHO criteria of less than 0.1% in the total population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Three cross-sectional surveys were conducted between 2011 and 2013 to determine the prevalence of TF and TT in each of nine surveillance zones. Each zone was of similar size, with a population of 60,000 to 90,000, once urban settlements were excluded. Trachoma grading was carried out according to the WHO's simplified trachoma grading system. The prevalence of TF in children aged 1 to 9 years was less than 5% in each surveillance zone at each of the three surveys. The prevalence of TT cases varied by zone from 0 to 1.7% of adults greater than 14 years while the prevalence of TT cases unknown to the country's National Eye Health Programme was estimated at 0.15% total population. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The Gambia has reached the elimination threshold for TF in children. Further work is needed to bring the number of unknown TT cases below the elimination threshold