Chronic Diseases in North-West Tanzania and Southern Uganda. Public Perceptions of Terminologies, Aetiologies, Symptoms and Preferred Management

Research outputs produced to support a quantitative population survey, quantitative health facility survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews performed by the projec

The Spread of Fecally Transmitted Parasites in Socially-Structured Populations

Mammals are infected by a wide array of gastrointestinal parasites, including parasites that also infect humans and domesticated animals. Many of these parasites are acquired through contact with infectious stages present in soil, feces or vegetation, suggesting that ranging behavior will have a major impact on their spread. We developed an individual-based spatial simulation model to investigate how range use intensity, home range overlap, and defecation rate impact the spread of fecally transmitted parasites in a population composed of social groups (i.e., a socially structured population). We also investigated the effects of epidemiological parameters involving host and parasite mortality rates, transmissibility, disease–related mortality, and group size. The model was spatially explicit and involved the spillover of a gastrointestinal parasite from a reservoir population along the edge of a simulated reserve, which was designed to mimic the introduction pathogens into protected areas. Animals ranged randomly within a “core” area, with biased movement toward the range center when outside the core. We systematically varied model parameters using a Latin hypercube sampling design. Analyses of simulation output revealed a strong positive association between range use intensity and the prevalence of infection. Moreover, the effects of range use intensity were similar in magnitude to effects of group size, mortality rates, and the per-contact probability of transmission. Defecation rate covaried positively with gastrointestinal parasite prevalence. Greater home range overlap had no positive effects on prevalence, with a smaller core resulting in less range overlap yet more intensive use of the home range and higher prevalence. Collectively, our results reveal that parasites with fecal-oral transmission spread effectively in socially structured populations. Future application should focus on parameterizing the model with empirically derived ranging behavior for different species or populations and data on transmission characteristics of different infectious organisms

Utilização de controles de gestão nas maiores indústrias catarinenses

Este artigo objetiva demonstrar o efetivo uso dos controles de gestão nas maiores indústrias catarinenses. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como um estudo exploratório do tipo levantamento ou survey. Utilizando como parâmetro indústrias com mais de 200 funcionários, a população do estudo, após al-guns ajustes realizados, consistiu de 250 empresas. Para essas foi enviado um questionário com perguntas abertas e fechadas, via e-mail, obtendo respostas de 36 empresas, que constituíram a amostra da pesquisa. Para tratamento dos dados optou-se por uma abordagem predominantemente quantitativa. Assim, inicia-se o artigo com uma incursão teórica no processo de gestão e nos controles de gestão. Em seguida, procede-se à descrição e análise dos dados, enfocando as características das empresas, o perfil dos respondentes, a utilização dos controles de gestão, as formas de disponibilização das informações geradas pelos controles, bem como os aspectos positivos e negativos percebidos pelos respondentes em relação aos controles de gestão utilizados. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que as empresas valem-se de diversos tipos de controles a fim de auxiliar o processo de gestão.This article aims to demonstrate the effective use of management control systems among the biggest industries in Santa Catarina. The research is characterized as a exploratory survey. Using as a parameter industries with more than 200 employees, the study population, after some adjustments, consisted of 250 companies. A questionnaire with open and closed questions was sent by e-mail. We received answers from 36 companies, which constituted the research sample, using a predominantly quantitative approach for data treatment. The article begins with a theoretical review of the management process and management control systems. Next, data are described and analyzed, focusing on the companies' characteristics, the respondents' profiles, the use of management control systems, the means of making available information generated by control systems, as well as the positive and negative aspects perceived by the respondents in relation to the management controls that are used. The research results show that the companies use several kinds of control systems in order to support the management process

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

Single-cell RNA sequencing of a new transgenic t(8;21) preleukemia mouse model reveals regulatory networks promoting leukemic transformation

T(8;21)(q22;q22), which generates the AML1-ETO fusion oncoprotein, is a common chromosomal abnormality in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Despite having favorable prognosis, 40% of patients will relapse, highlighting the need for innovative models and application of the newest technologies to study t(8;21) leukemogenesis. Currently, available AML1-ETO mouse models have limited utility for studying the pre-leukemic stage because AML1-ETO produces mild hematopoietic phenotypes and no leukemic transformation. Conversely, overexpression of a truncated variant, AML1-ETO9a (AE9a), promotes fully penetrant leukemia and is too potent for studying pre-leukemic changes. To overcome these limitations, we devised a germline-transmitted Rosa26 locus AE9a knock-in mouse model that moderately overexpressed AE9a and developed leukemia with long latency and low penetrance. We observed pre-leukemic alterations in AE9a mice, including skewing of progenitors towards granulocyte/monocyte lineages and replating of stem and progenitor cells. Next, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing to identify specific cell populations that contribute to these pre-leukemic phenotypes. We discovered a subset of common myeloid progenitors that have heightened granulocyte/monocyte bias in AE9a mice. We also observed dysregulation of key hematopoietic transcription factor target gene networks, blocking cellular differentiation. Finally, we identified Sox4 activation as a potential contributor to stem cell self-renewal during the pre-leukemic stage