Economic Potentials of Women in Small-scale Fisheries in West Africa

In the past three and a half a century since fisheries development was embarked upon in West Africa, the significant contributions of women in sustaining the socio-economic livelihoods of their families has been neglected and taken for granted. Development and support systems have paid much less attention to the economic potentials of women in small-scale fisheries in West Africa. Women in developing economies, especially in Africa lack access to services such as credit, fisheries extension, technology, information and basic education which are critical for shifting patterns of fisheries production or increasing output, all these are limited. Research information on the role and extent of women’s involvement in agricultural and/or fisheries development process show a genuine desire to improve their socio-economic status. However, by a combination of factors, women could not break through the cycle of poverty. There is therefore need for the support systems to be organized in a way that should bring about social changes that may be resisted at first, but will eventually promote the role of women in the economy. Gender relations should not be seen as competitive but rather as complementary and mutually reinforcing. General recommendations include: training and extension programmes in fisheries targeting women in areas where they contribute to fisheries activities like processing, packaging, distribution and marketing; microcredit programmes to benefit women; networks formed at national level with the active participation of all the stakeholders.Keywords: women, small-scale, fisheries, potential, extension, training, and support system

New socio-economic role models for women in fisheries and aquaculture

New socio-economic role models for women in fisheries and aquaculture Stella Williams and Cornelia E. Nauen The global scale of aquatic ecosystem degradation raises the question on how women in fisheries and aquaculture can reverse their resulting loss of social status and income by becoming major actors in the transition towards restoration of lost productivity. Influx of external capital into once traditional fisheries e.g. in West Africa, has eroded the control of family enterprises and the role of women who were important in maintaining rules of restraint. While these rules have often taken the form of the sacred in traditional communities, they worked de facto as access limitations to the resource and thus had conservation effects. New socio-economic role models for women could be instrumental in allowing them to regain lost economic influence. Where social recognition is achieved, particularly through enforcement of modern equal opportunity legislation and especially so, when combined with enhanced access to formal education, training, asset titles and credit, women regain capabilities for enhanced social organisation and leadership. A participatory method is proposed to render women’s role visible and enable development of socio-economic organisation supportive of social justice and ecosystem restoration.This is part of the IIFET Special Session on Markets and Value Chains for Small Aquaculture & Fisheries Enterprises with a Focus on Gender that took place on 17 July 2012 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in conjunction with 16th IIFET Conference. The complete proceedings of this special session are available ( http://aquafishcrsp.oregonstate.edu/Documents/Uploads/FileManager/IIFET%202012%20CRSP%20Session%20Proceedings%20Final_small.pdf) through the Aquaculture & Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Program gender web site, ( http://aquafishcrsp.oregonstate.edu/Gender/)

Putting Fisheries and Aquaculture on Nepad Agenda

Capture fisheries is a primary employment for inhabitants of coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems globally. However, historically, aquaculture has been well documented as an economic activity in Southeast Asia. Coastal marine fisheries and freshwater inland waters provided employment for inhabitants of these ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Aquaculture was started in Africa over four decades ago. Yet, the activities have not substantially contributed to domestic fish production, hence, the need for the hosting of the NEPAD Fish for All Summit by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria in Abuja, August 2005. The Summit ended with a unanimously adopted Abuja Declaration. This is a positive strategy for putting fisheries and aquaculture on NEPAD's Future Actions in the process of developing Agriculture in all 53 SSA countries. This paper examined the issues that will enhance the objectives of putting fisheries and aquaculture on the future agenda of NEPAD. Nigeria's fisheries and aquaculture was used as an example for the implementation of the Abuja Declaration as a follow-up action. The Private and Public Sector contributions to a successful action plan are extensively discussed. Recommendations hinge on the issues inhibiting farming Nigeria’s waters for economic growth as a nation and as a unique market for fisheries and aquaculture in West and Central Africa

The methylome of the hypothalamus of prepubertal and pubertal goats

Puberty is the fulfillment of fertility, a process involving physiological and morphological development. It is well known that the increased hypothalamic secretion of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is essential for the activation of this process, even if the elements coordinating the timing of puberty have not been fully identified1,2. Recent studies provide proof that there is an epigenetic regulation of female puberty, and DNA methylation, the most studied epigenetic modification, plays a major role in it3. We analyzed DNA methylation patterns of 5 Alpine goats at their prepubertal stage and 5 that reached puberty in order to highlight differences in their methylome. Detection of methylated regions across the goat genome involved a Methyl Binding Domain (MBD) enrichment followed by deep sequencing (Hiseq2000 Illumina). The software ChIPseeqer4 permitted the identification of peaks corresponding to hyper-methylated regions. We have observed a higher methylation level in prepubertal goats. The distribution of the methylation peaks across the genome and within CpG islands per chromosome per group of animals has been analyzed. Furthermore, we have investigated differential methylation in genes associated with puberty. Specifically, Cbx7, coding for a core component of the Polycomb group silencing complex, and GnRHR, the gene coding for GnRH receptor, showed a higher number of peaks into two intragenic fragments within prepubertal goats. These results, accompanied by transcriptome analysis, provide a foundation for elucidating the role of DNA methylation in the complex mechanisms that drive puberty in goat species

A first glance on the epigenome of Capra hircus

DNA methylation and microRNAs (miRNA) are two important forms of epigenetic modifications that play an important role in gene regulation in animals. Methylation at the carbon 5 position of cytosine residues is a fundamental layer of cellular differentiation through the control of transcriptional potential. MiRNA are small noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression. Complete DNA methylomes for several organisms are now available; at the present, methylome of the domestic goat is unexplored. There is also still limited knowledge about miRNAs expression profiles in small ruminant species. Therefore, to contribute information on epigenetic modification in Capra hircus, we analysed the methylome and the miRNA population of three tissues (hypothalamus, pituitary and ovary) from 3 adult Saanen goats. We used Methylated DNA binding domain sequencing with enrichment of methylated DNA fragments and next generation sequencing. We produced least 23 million reads per sample, which were aligned to the goat reference genome. Further analyses were performed to identify peaks corresponding to hyper-methylated regions. We sequenced miRNAs expressed in the three tissues with Illumina high-throughput sequencing. Reads were mapped on the Capra hircus reference genome and both known and novel miRNAs, and miRNA target sites were identified using information collected in miRBase and using specific bioinformatic tools. This study produced a comprehensive miRNA profile related to the biology of goat. Furthermore, this is the first work dealing with methylome in Capra hircus: our preliminary results could provide new information for a deeper comprehension of epigenetic mechanisms of this species

Validation of depressive symptoms, social support, and minority stress scales among gay, bisexual, and other men who have with men (GBMSM) in Nigeria, Africa: a mixed methods approach

Background Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in Nigeria experience social marginalization, discrimination and violence due to their sexual identity, which may negatively impact physical, mental, and sexual health outcomes. Studies on GBMSM in Africa utilize measurement scales developed largely for populations in the Global North. The validity and reliability of these instruments—to our knowledge—have never been thoroughly investigated among GBMSM in Nigeria. The aim of the current study was to determine the validity and reliability of the English versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-R), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and LGBT Minority Stress Measure among a large multi-state sample of GBMSM Nigeria. Methods Between January and June 2019, we conducted cognitive interviews (N = 30) and quantitative assessments (N = 406) with GBMSM in Nigeria. The cognitive interviews assessed comprehension of scale items and elicited suggestions for scale modifications. The quantitative assessment was used to gather psychosocial health data and to evaluate psychometric properties and construct validity of the modified scales. We utilized confirmatory factor analysis to assess factor structure, correlation coefficients, and Cronbach’s alpha to examine scale validity and internal consistency. Results Based on participant feedback from the cognitive interviews, we made slight modifications (i.e., culturally appropriate word substitutions) to all three scales. Results of quantitative analyses indicated good psychometric properties including high factor loadings, internal consistency and construct validity among the CESD-R, MSPSS, and LGBT Minority Stress Measure among GBMSM in Nigeria. Conclusion These results suggests that modifying research scales to be more culturally relevant likely do not jeopardize their validity and reliability. We found that modified scales measuring depressive symptoms, perceived social support, and minority stress among GBMSM in Nigeria remained valid. More research is needed to explore whether the psychometric properties remain if the scales are translated into broken English (Pidgin) and other traditional Nigerian languages (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa)

Multi-parallel qPCR provides increased sensitivity and diagnostic breadth for gastrointestinal parasites of humans: field-based inferences on the impact of mass deworming

BACKGROUND: Although chronic morbidity in humans from soil transmitted helminth (STH) infections can be reduced by anthelmintic treatment, inconsistent diagnostic tools make it difficult to reliably measure the impact of deworming programs and often miss light helminth infections. METHODS: Cryopreserved stool samples from 796 people (aged 2-81 years) in four villages in Bungoma County, western Kenya, were assessed using multi-parallel qPCR for 8 parasites and compared to point-of-contact assessments of the same stools by the 2-stool 2-slide Kato-Katz (KK) method. All subjects were treated with albendazole and all Ascaris lumbricoides expelled post-treatment were collected. Three months later, samples from 633 of these people were re-assessed by both qPCR and KK, re-treated with albendazole and the expelled worms collected. RESULTS: Baseline prevalence by qPCR (n = 796) was 17 % for A. lumbricoides, 18 % for Necator americanus, 41 % for Giardia lamblia and 15% for Entamoeba histolytica. The prevalence was <1% for Trichuris trichiura, Ancylostoma duodenale, Strongyloides stercoralis and Cryptosporidium parvum. The sensitivity of qPCR was 98% for A. lumbricoides and N. americanus, whereas KK sensitivity was 70% and 32%, respectively. Furthermore, qPCR detected infections with T. trichiura and S. stercoralis that were missed by KK, and infections with G. lamblia and E. histolytica that cannot be detected by KK. Infection intensities measured by qPCR and by KK were correlated for A. lumbricoides (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001) and N. americanus (r = 0.55, p < 0.0001). The number of A. lumbricoides worms expelled was correlated (p < 0.0001) with both the KK (r = 0.63) and qPCR intensity measurements (r = 0.60). CONCLUSIONS: KK may be an inadequate tool for stool-based surveillance in areas where hookworm or Strongyloides are common or where intensity of helminth infection is low after repeated rounds of chemotherapy. Because deworming programs need to distinguish between populations where parasitic infection is controlled and those where further treatment is required, multi-parallel qPCR (or similar high throughput molecular diagnostics) may provide new and important diagnostic information

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in hypothalamus and ovary of Capra hircus

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is a frequently studied epigenetic modification due to its role in regulating gene expression and hence in biological processes and in determining phenotypic plasticity in organisms. Rudimentary DNA methylation patterns for some livestock species are publically available: among these, goat methylome deserves to be further explored. RESULTS: Genome-wide DNA methylation maps of the hypothalamus and ovary from Saanen goats were generated using Methyl-CpG binding domain protein sequencing (MBD-seq). Analysis of DNA methylation patterns indicate that the majority of methylation peaks found within genes are located gene body regions, for both organs. Analysis of the distribution of methylated sites per chromosome showed that chromosome X had the lowest number of methylation peaks. The X chromosome has one of the highest percentages of methylated CpG islands in both organs, and approximately 50% of the CpG islands in the goat epigenome are methylated in hypothalamus and ovary. Organ-specific Differentially Methylated Genes (DMGs) were correlated with the expression levels. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison between transcriptome and methylome in hypothalamus and ovary showed that a higher level of methylation is not accompanied by a higher gene suppression. The genome-wide DNA methylation map for two goat organs produced here is a valuable starting point for studying the involvement of epigenetic modifications in regulating goat reproduction performance

The DNA Methylation Pattern of Prepubertal and Pubertal Alpine Goats

Puberty timing is controlled by many genes and the elements coordinating this process have not completely been identified. Hypothalamus is a pivotal organ in the control of sexual maturation. There is evidence that epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, play a key role in the process. The methylome of the hypothalamus of 10 Alpine goats, 5 at a prepubertal stage (93\ub18 days old) and 5 at their pubertal stage (230\ub117 days old) was analysed to investigate the differences at the DNA methylation level behind these physiological changes. In order to evaluate differentially methylated regions, Methylated DNA Binding Domain sequencing (MBD-seq) with enrichment of methylated DNA fragments and next generation sequencing (Hiseq2000 Illumina) were performed. An average of 24,13 million of reads (range 18.00 and 30.11 million of reads) were produced per sample and peaks corresponding to hyper-methylated regions were estimated using the software ChIPseeqer. The analysis showed that there was an increase in methylation before puberty.The extent of methylation had a median value (\ub1IQR) of 12.32\ub110.21 Mbp of the genome for prepubertal goats, compared with 8.18\ub19.71 Mbp for pubertal goats. Significantly increased methylation was seen on 11 chromosomes in prepubertal goats. Among these, chromosomes 4 and 7 were the most highly significant differentially methylated. In showing that female puberty in goats is associated with amodification of the DNA methylation pattern in the hypothalamus, these results add information on the complex mechanisms that control puberty in mammals

H-NS binds with high affinity to the Tn10 transpososome and promotes transpososome stabilization

H-NS is a bacterial DNA-binding protein that regulates gene expression and DNA transposition. In the case of Tn10, H-NS binds directly to the transposition machinery (i.e. the transpososome) to influence the outcome of the reaction. In the current work we evaluated the binding affinity of H-NS for two forms of the Tn10 transpososome, including the initial folded form and a pre-unfolded form. These two forms differ in that IHF is bound to the former but not the latter. IHF binding induces a bend (or fold) in the transposon end that facilitates transpososome formation. However, the continued presence of IHF in the transpososome inhibits intermolecular transposition events. We show that H-NS binds particularly strongly to the pre-unfolded transpososome with an apparent Kd of ∼0.3 nM. This represents the highest affinity interaction between H-NS and a binding partner documented to date. We also show that binding of H-NS to the transpososome stabilizes this structure and propose that both high-affinity binding and stabilization result from the combined interaction between H-NS and DNA and H-NS and transposase within the transpososome. Mechanistic implications for tight binding of H-NS to the transpososome and transpososome stabilization are considered