Statistical and Geostatistical Analysis of Lineaments Network Mapped in The Precambrian Basement: Case of Divo-Oume Region (Southern Cote d’Ivoire)

The high populated and dense agricultural region of Divo-Oumé, in the southern part of Côte d’Ivoire, periodically faces drinking water scarcity and lack of reliable water resources management tools. This study presents a statistical and geostatistical analysis of lineaments network, conducted in Divo-Oumé region, in order to contribute to a better understanding of local Precambrian basement aquifer. Fractures network has been characterized through the analysis of the attributes of lineaments derived from conjoint Radarsat and Asar images. The average length of lineaments is 2.15 km and around this value, high dispersion is observed (CV = 133%). A total of 3,559 cross-points (CP) are identified and most of spacing values (84.3%) are less than 2 km. The statistical distribution of lineaments lengths, cross-points and spacing follow power law, highlighting the fractal nature of fractures network. Also, the variation coefficient (CV = 51%) of lineaments spacing and the characteristic exponent of power law in the case of lineament lengths (α = 2.55) would indicate respectively, fracturing process is intense in the region and fracture network reach a mature stage of development. The geostatistical analysis showed that the variograms of lineaments cumulative lengths (CL) and cross-points (CP) are structured. These variograms have the same behavior, reflecting the intrinsic character of CL and CP. However, the correlation ranges of CL are higher than those of CP. These results could be useful for understanding groundwater flow and the establishment of water resource management tools

Stiffness-Dependent Intracellular Location of Cylindrical Polymer Brushes

Cylindrical polymer brushes (CPBs) are macromolecules with nanoparticle proportions. Their modular synthesis enables tailoring of their chemical composition as well as the dialing-up of overall dimensions and physicochemical properties. In this study, two rod-like poly[(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (PEGMA)-based CPBs with varying stiffness but otherwise comparable features and functionality, are synthesized. Differences in particle stiffness are assessed using small angle neutron scattering (SANS). It is observed that the fate of the two CPBs within cells is distinctly different. Stiffer CPBs seem to gravitate toward the mitochondria, whereas CPBs with reduced stiffness are present in different intracellular vesicles

Drinking Water Safety & Security Planning (DWSSP) Structured Follow - up Implementation Guide

The International WaterCentre (IWC) at Griffith University, in partnership with The University of the South Pacific (USP), have prepared this Implementation Guide following pilot testing with the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) and Vanuatu Red Cross (VRC) in five villages in the Shefa province, Republic of Vanuatu. Research shows that Drinking Water Safety & Security Planning (DWSSP) has mixed results, with community Implementation Plans often not being progressed by communities due to a lack of ownership and collective action. As with community water management more generally, communities require some sort of follow-up support. This guide contains five targeted activities designed to assist communities to re-engage with their Implementation Plans. This DWSSP follow-up activities are especially designed for communities whose DWSSP Plans have stalled, and who may not have received some follow-up visits since the initial DWSSP intervention. This is not intended to be the only form of follow-up support provided to communities

GDF-15 is abundantly expressed in plexiform lesions in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and affects proliferation and apoptosis of pulmonary endothelial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Growth-differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a stress-responsive, transforming growth factor-β-related cytokine, which has recently been reported to be elevated in serum of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). The aim of the study was to examine the expression and biological roles of GDF-15 in the lung of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>GDF-15 expression in normal lungs and lung specimens of PAH patients were studied by real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Using laser-assisted micro-dissection, GDF-15 expression was further analyzed within vascular compartments of PAH lungs. To elucidate the role of GDF-15 on endothelial cells, human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC) were exposed to hypoxia and laminar shear stress. The effects of GDF-15 on the proliferation and cell death of HPMEC were studied using recombinant GDF-15 protein.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>GDF-15 expression was found to be increased in lung specimens from PAH patients, com-pared to normal lungs. GDF-15 was abundantly expressed in pulmonary vascular endothelial cells with a strong signal in the core of plexiform lesions. HPMEC responded with marked upregulation of GDF-15 to hypoxia and laminar shear stress. Apoptotic cell death of HPMEC was diminished, whereas HPMEC proliferation was either increased or decreased depending of the concentration of recombinant GDF-15 protein.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GDF-15 expression is increased in PAH lungs and appears predominantly located in vascular endothelial cells. The expression pattern as well as the observed effects on proliferation and apoptosis of pulmonary endothelial cells suggest a role of GDF-15 in the homeostasis of endothelial cells in PAH patients.</p

Travel burden and clinical presentation of retinoblastoma: analysis of 1024 patients from 43 African countries and 518 patients from 40 European countries

BACKGROUND: The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries. RESULTS: Capture rate was 42.2% of expected patients from Africa and 108.8% from Europe. African patients were older (95% CI -12.4 to -5.4, p<0.001), had fewer cases of familial retinoblastoma (95% CI 2.0 to 5.3, p<0.001) and presented with more advanced disease (95% CI 6.0 to 9.8, p<0.001); 43.4% and 15.4% of Africans had extraocular retinoblastoma and distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis, respectively, compared to 2.9% and 1.0% of the Europeans. To reach a retinoblastoma centre, European patients travelled 421.8 km compared to Africans who travelled 185.7 km (p<0.001). On regression analysis, lower-national income level, African residence and older age (p<0.001), but not travel distance (p=0.19), were risk factors for advanced disease. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half the expected number of patients with retinoblastoma presented to African referral centres in 2017, suggesting poor awareness or other barriers to access. Despite the relatively shorter distance travelled by African patients, they presented with later-stage disease. Health education about retinoblastoma is needed for carers and health workers in Africa in order to increase capture rate and promote early referral

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- A nd middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

A Theoretical Analysis of the Geography of Schistosomiasis in Burkina Faso Highlights the Roles of Human Mobility and Water Resources Development in Disease Transmission

We study the geography of schistosomiasis across Burkina Faso by means of a spatially explicit model of water-based disease dynamics. The model quantitatively addresses the geographic stratification of disease burden in a novel framework by explicitly accounting for drivers and controls of the disease, including spatial information on the distributions of population and infrastructure, jointly with a general description of human mobility and climatic/ecological drivers. Spatial patterns of disease are analysed by the extraction and the mapping of suitable eigenvectors of the Jacobian matrix subsuming the stability of the disease-free equilibrium. The relevance of the work lies in the novel mapping of disease burden, a byproduct of the parametrization induced by regional upscaling, by model-guided field validations and in the predictive scenarios allowed by exploiting the range of possible parameters and processes. Human mobility is found to be a primary control at regional scales both for pathogen invasion success and the overall distribution of disease burden. The effects of water resources development highlighted by systematic reviews are accounted for by the average distances of human settlements from water bodies that are habitats for the parasite's intermediate host. Our results confirm the empirical findings about the role of water resources development on disease spread into regions previously nearly disease-free also by inspection of empirical prevalence patterns. We conclude that while the model still needs refinements based on field and epidemiological evidence, the proposed framework provides a powerful tool for large-scale public health planning and schistosomiasis management