An educational pathway and teaching materials for first aid training of children in sub-Saharan Africa based on the best available evidence

CITATION: De Buck, E., et al. 2020. An educational pathway and teaching materials for first aid training of children in sub-Saharan Africa based on the best available evidence. BMC Public Health, 20:836, doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08857-5.The original publication is available at https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.comBackground: First aid training is a cost-effective way to decrease the burden of disease and injury in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Since evidence from Western countries has shown that children are able to learn first aid, first aid training of children in LMIC may be a promising way forward. Hence, our project aim was to develop contextualized materials to train sub-Saharan African children in first aid, based on the best available evidence. Methods: Systematic literature searches were conducted to identify studies on first aid education to children up to 18 years old (research question one), and studies investigating different teaching approaches (broader than first aid) in LMIC (research question two). A multidisciplinary expert panel translated the evidence to the context of sub- Saharan Africa, and evidence and expert input were used to develop teaching materials. Results: For question one, we identified 58 studies, measuring the effect of training children in resuscitation, first aid for skin wounds, poisoning etc. For question two, two systematic reviews were included from which we selected 36 studies, revealing the effectiveness of several pedagogical methods, such as problem-solving instruction and small-group instruction. However, the certainty of the evidence was low to very low. Hence expert input was necessary to formulate training objectives and age ranges based on “good practice” whenever the quantity or quality of the evidence was limited. The experts also placed the available evidence against the African context. Conclusions: The above approach resulted in an educational pathway (i.e. a scheme with educational goals concerning first aid for different age groups), a list of recommended educational approaches, and first aid teaching materials for children, based on the best available evidence and adapted to the African context.https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08857-5Publisher's versio

Death and the Societies of Late Antiquity

Ce volume bilingue, comprenant un ensemble de 28 contributions disponibles en français et en anglais (dans leur version longue ou abrégée), propose d’établir un état des lieux des réflexions, recherches et études conduites sur le fait funéraire à l’époque tardo-antique au sein des provinces de l’Empire romain et sur leurs régions limitrophes, afin d’ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur ses évolutions possibles. Au cours des trois dernières décennies, les transformations considérables des méthodologies déployées sur le terrain et en laboratoire ont permis un renouveau des questionnements sur les populations et les pratiques funéraires de l’Antiquité tardive, période marquée par de multiples changements politiques, sociaux, démographiques et culturels. L’apparition de ce qui a été initialement désigné comme une « Anthropologie de terrain », qui fut le début de la démarche archéothanatologique, puis le récent développement d’approches collaboratives entre des domaines scientifiques divers (archéothanatologie, biochimie et géochimie, génétique, histoire, épigraphie par exemple) ont été décisives pour le renouvellement des problématiques d’étude : révision d’anciens concepts comme apparition d’axes d’analyse inédits. Les recherches rassemblées dans cet ouvrage sont articulées autour de quatre grands thèmes : l’évolution des pratiques funéraires dans le temps, l’identité sociale dans la mort, les ensembles funéraires en transformation (organisation et topographie) et les territoires de l’empire (du cœur aux marges). Ces études proposent un réexamen et une révision des données, tant anthropologiques qu’archéologiques ou historiques sur l’Antiquité tardive, et révèlent, à cet égard, une mosaïque de paysages politiques, sociaux et culturels singulièrement riches et complexes. Elles accroissent nos connaissances sur le traitement des défunts, l’emplacement des aires funéraires ou encore la structure des sépultures, en révélant une diversité de pratiques, et permettent au final de relancer la réflexion sur la manière dont les sociétés tardo-antiques envisagent la mort et sur les éléments permettant d’identifier et de définir la diversité des groupes qui les composent. Elles démontrent ce faisant que nous pouvons véritablement appréhender les structures culturelles et sociales des communautés anciennes et leurs potentielles transformations, à partir de l’étude des pratiques funéraires.This bilingual volume proposes to draw up an assessment of the recent research conducted on funerary behavior during Late Antiquity in the provinces of the Roman Empire and on their borders, in order to open new perspectives on its possible developments. The considerable transformations of the methodologies have raised the need for a renewal of the questions on the funerary practices during Late Antiquity, a period marked by multiple political, social, demographic and cultural changes. The emergence field anthropology, which was the beginning of archaeothanatology, and then the recent development of collaborative approaches between various scientific fields (archaeothanatology, biochemistry and geochemistry, genetics, history, epigraphy, for example), have been decisive. The research collected in this book is structured around four main themes: Evolution of funerary practices over time; Social identity through death; Changing burial grounds (organisation and topography); Territories of the Empire (from the heart to the margins). These studies propose a review and a revision of the data, both anthropological and archaeological or historical on Late Antiquity, and reveal a mosaic of political, social, and cultural landscapes singularly rich and complex. In doing so, they demonstrate that we can truly understand the cultural and social structures of ancient communities and their potential transformations, based on the study of funerary practices

Early mobilisation in critically ill COVID-19 patients: a subanalysis of the ESICM-initiated UNITE-COVID observational study

Background Early mobilisation (EM) is an intervention that may improve the outcome of critically ill patients. There is limited data on EM in COVID-19 patients and its use during the first pandemic wave. Methods This is a pre-planned subanalysis of the ESICM UNITE-COVID, an international multicenter observational study involving critically ill COVID-19 patients in the ICU between February 15th and May 15th, 2020. We analysed variables associated with the initiation of EM (within 72 h of ICU admission) and explored the impact of EM on mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay, as well as discharge location. Statistical analyses were done using (generalised) linear mixed-effect models and ANOVAs. Results Mobilisation data from 4190 patients from 280 ICUs in 45 countries were analysed. 1114 (26.6%) of these patients received mobilisation within 72 h after ICU admission; 3076 (73.4%) did not. In our analysis of factors associated with EM, mechanical ventilation at admission (OR 0.29; 95% CI 0.25, 0.35; p = 0.001), higher age (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98, 1.00; p ≤ 0.001), pre-existing asthma (OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.73, 0.98; p = 0.028), and pre-existing kidney disease (OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.71, 0.99; p = 0.036) were negatively associated with the initiation of EM. EM was associated with a higher chance of being discharged home (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.08, 1.58; p = 0.007) but was not associated with length of stay in ICU (adj. difference 0.91 days; 95% CI − 0.47, 1.37, p = 0.34) and hospital (adj. difference 1.4 days; 95% CI − 0.62, 2.35, p = 0.24) or mortality (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.7, 1.09, p = 0.24) when adjusted for covariates. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that a quarter of COVID-19 patients received EM. There was no association found between EM in COVID-19 patients' ICU and hospital length of stay or mortality. However, EM in COVID-19 patients was associated with increased odds of being discharged home rather than to a care facility. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04836065 (retrospectively registered April 8th 2021)

The quest for osmotic stress markers in Musa: From protein to gene and back in a non-model crop

Bananas and plantains are a major staple food and export product in more than 120 countries with a worldwide production of over 135 million tonnes per year. The Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement hosts the Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre which contains the world s largest banana collection with over 1400 accessions kept as in vitro plants.Water is one of the most limiting abiotic stress factors in banana production. We therefore designed a long term experimental set-up to screen the available Musa biodiversity for drought tolerance in which osmotic stress research is a first step. This research was executed at three levels: cell cultures, heterotrophic in vitro plants and autotrophic plants.Research on banana cell cultures identified more than fifty potential osmotic stress markers via proteomics and transcriptomics. To evaluate the suitability of these stress markers for future use in high-throughput screening of banana varieties, we assessed the four most promising via qPCR. We showed that all four candidates reacted to the stress treatment. One (phosphoglycerate kinase) was validated as an osmotic stress marker.Then our focus shifted from the model on cell cultures towards the plant level. We developed a heterotrophic in vitro growth model to screen five varieties representing different genome constitutions present in Musa. The proteome of the variety with the smallest growth reduction was analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. We successfully identified 24 proteins as potential osmotic stress markers of which five (PR10, isoflavone reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, S-adenosyl methionine synthase and phosphoglucomutase) had already been identified in cell cultures and we showed that proteins belonging to the defense and reactive oxygen species metabolism and to the energy metabolism contributed to the new homeostasis in the stressed in vitro plants.Further proteomic research on autotrophic plants again revealed 35 potential stress markers of which six (HSP20, HSP70, glutathione-S-transferase, S-adenosyl methionine synthase, sucrose synthase and phosphoglycerate kinase) had already been identified in cell cultures and/or in vitro plants. Finally we focused our research on one interesting osmotic stress marker protein family, HSP70. It is not uncommon to identify several spots on a gel from two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with the same general identification of the gene family. Gene families in banana consist of paralogs, genes related by duplication within a genome, and allelic variants, genes at the same locus of homologous chromosomes. HSP70 was identified in a trail of six spots. With the availability of the Musa A and B genomes and the combinatorial use of gel-based and gel-free proteomics techniques, we were able to pinpoint in an ABB variety which paralogs and/or allelic variants were expressed and were present in the spots. We also identified an osmotic stress-responsive HSP70 encoded by the paralog located on chromosome 2.The nine osmotic stress markers (HSP20, HSP70, PR10, isoflavone reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, S-adenosyl methionine synthase, sucrose synthase, phosphoglucomutase and phosphoglycerate kinase) identified in this research should now be screened in several varieties and validated under real drought conditions. Combining the validated stress marker genes with phenotyping approaches will help in the future to diagnose the severity of stress and finally drought stress tolerance marker will aid us in the identification of drought tolerant varieties and facilitate banana breeding for drought tolerance.status: publishe

A look behind the screens: Characterization of the HSP70 family during osmotic stress in a non-model crop

UNLABELLED: High-throughput molecular analysis is challenging in a non-model species. Proteomics has a great potential to characterize non-model species. We went beyond the level of simply 'identifying' the proteins of interest during osmotic stress experiments in an allopolyploid crop (in casu banana) and focus on an important stress family: the cytoplasmic HSP70s. HSP70s were already identified earlier in proteomics studies as an important player during stress but an insight into the different family members and their polymorphisms was lacking. One particular spot within a whole spot trail drew our attention: its abundance was significantly higher after osmotic stress. What distinguishes this spot from its brother and sister spots? To understand what was special about that particular spot, we characterized the whole spot family in roots and meristem cultures. Using an 2D-DIGE LC-MS/MS approach we were able to measure a proteotypic peptide for each paralog. From our data it is clear that the different paralogs have evolved over time and do not necessarily behave the same when subjected to a stress treatment. The presumable paralog that particularly reacted to the osmotic stress in roots and meristems is located on chromosome 2 and the promoter region contains a unique ABRE element. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge, this is the first time that a proteomics approach has led to the exploration of a protein family at the paralog and allelic variant level in a crop. Moreover we identified a specific osmotic responsive cytoplasmic HSP70 isoform, the HSP70 paralog 2, at the protein level. We have shown that the availability of genomic resources as well as the technique used for proteomics analysis are crucial in being able to go beyond the 'usual suspects'.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: A look behind the screens: Characterization of the HSP70 family during osmotic stress in a non-model crop journaltitle: Journal of Proteomics articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2015.01.014 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe

The Potential Efficacy of Psychological First Aid on Self-Reported Anxiety and Mood

status: publishe

Screening the banana biodiversity for drought tolerance: can an in vitro growth model and proteomics be used as a tool to discover tolerant varieties and understand homeostasis

There is a great need for research aimed at understanding drought tolerance, screening for drought tolerant varieties and breeding crops with an improved water use efficiency. Bananas and plantains are a major staple food and export product with a worldwide production of over 135 million tonnes per year. Water however is the most limiting abiotic factor in banana production. A screening of the Musa biodiversity has not yet been performed. We at KU Leuven host the Musa International Germplasm collection with over 1200 accessions. To screen the Musa biodiversity for drought tolerant varieties, we developed a screening test for in vitro plants. Five varieties representing different genomic constitutions in banana (AAAh, AAA, AAB, AABp, and ABB) were selected and subjected to a mild osmotic stress. The ABB variety showed the smallest stress induced growth reduction. To get an insight into the acclimation and the accomplishment of homeostasis, the leaf proteome of this variety was characterized via 2D DIGE. After extraction of the leaf proteome of six control and six stressed plants, 2600 spots could be distinguished. A PCA analysis indicates that control and stressed plants can blindly be classified based on their proteome. One hundred and twelve proteins were significantly more abundant in the stressed plants and 18 proteins were significantly more abundant in control plants (FDR α 0.05). Twenty four differential proteins could be identified. The proteome analysis clearly shows that there is a new balance in the stressed plants and that the respiration, metabolism of ROS and several dehydrogenases involved in NAD/NADH homeostasis play an important role.status: publishe

Data for the characterization of the HSP70 family during osmotic stress in banana, a non-model crop

Here, we present the data from an in-depth analysis of the HSP70 family in the non-model banana during osmotic stress [1]. First, a manual curation of HSP70 sequences from the banana genome was performed and updated on the Musa hub http://banana-genome.cirad.fr/. These curated protein sequences were then introduced into our in-house Mascot database for an in-depth look at the HSP70 protein profiles in banana meristem cultures and roots during osmotic stress. A 2D-DIGE LC MS/MS approach was chosen to identify and quantify the different paralogs and allelic variants in the HSP70 spots