Purchases of fruit and vegetables for at home consumption during COVID-19 in the UK: Trends and determinants

This paper addresses the issue of fruit and vegetable purchases in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is motivated by the importance of fruit and vegetables for human nutrition, health and reduction of population obesity, especially in the UK where per capita consumption is still below recommended levels. A rich panel dataset was used reporting actual shopping places and quarterly expenditure for at-home consumption of fruit and vegetable purchases of 12,492 households in years 2019 and 2020. The unique dataset allowed us to compare expenditure for fruit and vegetables before and after the COVID-19 outbreak and to identify the main drivers of changes in purchases. Regression analysis found that expenditure increased ~3% less than what expected given the overall increase in the numbers of at-home meals during lockdown. Also, Online shopping was found to be an alternative source for fruit and vegetables purchase during the pandemic. However, the expenditure for processed products grew more than the one for fresh products, resulting in a reduction of the relative share of the latter and possible deterioration of the diet quality

The 5-HT2A Receptor Antagonist M100907 Produces Antiparkinsonian Effects and Decreases Striatal Glutamate

5-HT plays a regulatory role in voluntary movements of the basal ganglia and has a major impact on disorders of the basal ganglia such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical studies have suggested that 5-HT2 receptor antagonists may be useful in the treatment of the motor symptoms of PD. We hypothesized that 5-HT2A receptor antagonists may restore motor function by regulating glutamatergic activity in the striatum. Mice treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) exhibited decreased performance on the beam-walking apparatus. Peripheral administration of the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist M100907 improved performance of MPTP-treated mice on the beam-walking apparatus. In vivo microdialysis revealed an increase in striatal extracellular glutamate in MPTP-treated mice and local perfusion of M100907 into the dorsal striatum significantly decreased extracellular glutamate levels in saline and MPTP-treated mice. Our studies suggest that blockade of 5-HT2A receptors may represent a novel therapeutic target for the motor symptoms of PD

Urinary Lysosomal Enzyme Activities and Albuminuria in Ghanaian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Renal tubular lysosomal enzyme activities like alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) have been shown to increase in patients developing diabetic nephropathy and nephrosclerosis. This study aimed to determine the activities of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase and alanine aminopeptidase and albumin concentration in urine samples of patients with type 2 diabetes. One hundred and thirty (65 type 2 diabetic and 65 nondiabetic) subjects participated in this study. Blood samples were drawn for measurements of fasting blood glucose, albumin (Alb), lipids, and creatinine (Cr). Early morning spot urine samples were also collected for activities of alanine aminopeptidase (AAP), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and concentration of albumin (U-Alb) and creatinine (U-Cr). Both NAG/Cr and AAP/Cr were significantly increased in diabetic subjects compared to controls (p < 0.001). There was positive correlation between NAG/Cr and Alb/Cr (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) and between NAG/Cr and serum creatinine (r = 0.441, p < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between NAG/Cr and eGFR (r = -0.432, p < 0.05). 9.3% and 12% of diabetics with normoalbuminuria had elevated levels of AAP/Cr and NAG/Cr, respectively. We conclude that measuring the urinary enzymes activities (NAG/Cr and AAP/Cr) could be useful as a biomarker of early renal involvement in diabetic complications

Molecular gas and star formation in nearby starburst galaxy mergers

We employ the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE-2) physics model to study how the properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) evolve during galaxy mergers. We conduct a pixel-by-pixel analysis of molecular gas properties in both the simulated control galaxies and galaxy major mergers. The simulated GMC-pixels in the control galaxies follow a similar trend in a diagram of velocity dispersion ($\sigma_v$) versus gas surface density ($\Sigma_{\mathrm{mol}}$) to the one observed in local spiral galaxies in the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) survey. For GMC-pixels in simulated mergers, we see a significant increase of factor of 5 - 10 in both $\Sigma_{\mathrm{mol}}$ and $\sigma_v$, which puts these pixels above the trend of PHANGS galaxies in the $\sigma_v$ vs $\Sigma_{\mathrm{mol}}$ diagram. This deviation may indicate that GMCs in the simulated mergers are much less gravitationally bound compared with simulated control galaxies with virial parameter ($\alpha_{\mathrm{vir}}$) reaching 10 - 100. Furthermore, we find that the increase in $\alpha_{\mathrm{vir}}$ happens at the same time as the increase in global star formation rate (SFR), which suggests stellar feedback is responsible for dispersing the gas. We also find that the gas depletion time is significantly lower for high $\alpha_{\mathrm{vir}}$ GMCs during a starburst event. This is in contrast to the simple physical picture that low $\alpha_{\mathrm{vir}}$ GMCs are easier to collapse and form stars on shorter depletion times. This might suggest that some other physical mechanisms besides self-gravity are helping the GMCs in starbursting mergers collapse and form stars.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Link to animation update

From the Singular to the Plural: Exploring Diversities in Contemporary Childhoods in sub-Saharan Africa

The challenges that sub-Saharan Africa has faced in the post-colonial period have come to characterise the way the region is perceived. These narratives are especially evident in the various ways children’s lives are discussed, leading to a particular focus on childhoods in difficult circumstances or at the margins. This has eclipsed the mundanities of everyday life for many children whose lives are not characterised by ‘lacks’. This article seeks to move beyond an overwhelming focus on childhoods defined by what they lack by illustrating the multitude of childhoods which exist in the continent

Economic Analysis of Rubber Agroforestry Systems in Ghana

Even though rubber contributes massively to Ghana’s economy, smallholder rubber farmers’ inability to wait for about 6-8 years to see the benefits constrains establishment and expansion of the rubber subsector. To lessen the waiting time to the benefits, an option exists to intercrop rubber with food crops. Cost benefits analysis of rubber/plantain intercropping system under different treatments on two experimental plots for sole crop plantain (P) and three intercropping treatments consisting of one (PR), two (PPR) and three (PPPR) rows of plantain each between two rows of rubber each were carried out to assess the most viable. Analysis using discounted cash flow was used to determine the benefit/cost ratio (BCR), net present value (NPV) in addition to internal rate of return (IRR) at 25 % interest rate. All the rubber/plantain intercropping systems (PR, PPR and PPPR) were found to be profitable from the results. The highest return of GHȻ40, 331 (USD 9,379) per hectare from plantain over the period of two years was realized from the PPPR cropping system. Additional analysis performed to assess the profitability of rubber/plantain intercropping systems by varying the price of plantain, discount rate and the total cost of production showed that the systems were all profitable. The PPPR was the most profitable with the highest income to smallholder farmers. Extension education by the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Ghana Rubber Estates Limited and support to rubber farmers to access credit can help in farmers’ adoption of rubber agroforestry system

The observability of galaxy merger signatures in nearby gas-rich spirals

Galaxy mergers are crucial to understanding galaxy evolution, therefore we must determine their observational signatures to select them from large IFU galaxy samples such as MUSE and SAMI. We employ 24 high-resolution idealized hydrodynamical galaxy merger simulations based on the ‘Feedback In Realistic Environment’ (FIRE-2) model to determine the observability of mergers to various configurations and stages using synthetic images and velocity maps. Our mergers cover a range of orbital configurations at fixed 1:2.5 stellar mass ratio for two gas rich spirals at low redshift. Morphological and kinematic asymmetries are computed for synthetic images and velocity maps spanning each interaction. We divide the interaction sequence into three: (1) the pair phase; (2) the merging phase; and (3) the post-coalescence phase. We correctly identify mergers between first pericentre passage and 500 Myr after coalescence using kinematic asymmetry with 66 per cent completeness, depending upon merger phase and the field of view of the observation. We detect fewer mergers in the pair phase (40 per cent) and many more in the merging and post-coalescence phases (97 per cent). We find that merger detectability decreases with field of view, except in retrograde mergers, where centrally concentrated asymmetric kinematic features enhances their detectability. Using a cut-off derived from a combination of photometric and kinematic asymmetry, we increase these detections to 89 per cent overall, 79 per cent in pairs, and close to 100 per cent in the merging and post-coalescent phases. By using this combined asymmetry cut-off we mitigate some of the effects caused by smaller fields of view subtended by massively multiplexed integral field spectroscopy programmes

Secondary bacterial infections of buruli ulcer lesions before and after chemotherapy with streptomycin and rifampicin

Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is a chronic necrotizing skin disease. It usually starts with a subcutaneous nodule or plaque containing large clusters of extracellular acid-fast bacilli. Surrounding tissue is destroyed by the cytotoxic macrolide toxin mycolactone produced by microcolonies of M. ulcerans. Skin covering the destroyed subcutaneous fat and soft tissue may eventually break down leading to the formation of large ulcers that progress, if untreated, over months and years. Here we have analyzed the bacterial flora of BU lesions of three different groups of patients before, during and after daily treatment with streptomycin and rifampicin for eight weeks (SR8) and determined drug resistance of the bacteria isolated from the lesions. Before SR8 treatment, more than 60% of the examined BU lesions were infected with other bacteria, with Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the most prominent ones. During treatment, 65% of all lesions were still infected, mainly with P. aeruginosa. After completion of SR8 treatment, still more than 75% of lesions clinically suspected to be infected were microbiologically confirmed as infected, mainly with P. aeruginosa or Proteus miriabilis. Drug susceptibility tests revealed especially for S. aureus a high frequency of resistance to the first line drugs used in Ghana. Our results show that secondary infection of BU lesions is common. This could lead to delayed healing and should therefore be further investigated

Rapid Molecular Assays for Specific Detection and Quantitation of Loa loa Microfilaremia

Loa loa is a filarial nematode that infects over 10 million people in Africa. Most infections cause no symptoms, but individuals with large numbers of blood-stage microfilariae are at risk for fatal reactions to ivermectin, an antiparasitic agent used to treat and prevent infections with Onchocerca volvulus, a related filarial parasite that may occur alongside L. loa. To address the urgent need for a point-of-care L. loa diagnostic assay, we screened a Loa microfilaria gene expression library and identified 18 Loa-specific DNA targets. From two targets, we developed a novel, rapid quantitative PCR assay for estimating L. loa microfilaria burden. The assay is highly sensitive (detects a single microfilaria in 20 µL of blood) and correlates well with microfilaria counts obtained with conventional microscopic techniques. The assay is species-specific for L. loa compared with related filarial parasites (including O. volvulus) and can be used in its current form in resource-rich areas as a diagnostic tool for L. loa infection. Although modifications will be required to make point-of-care use feasible, our assay provides a proof of concept for a potentially valuable tool to identify individuals at risk for adverse reactions to ivermectin and to facilitate the implementation of filarial control programs