Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on ginger production: Supply chains, labor, and food security in Northeast Thailand

This paper evaluates the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on ginger production and ginger farmer livelihoods in Loei province where ginger is an important commercial crop. The analysis also pays particular attention to the lockdown period (March – June 2020). Data for this study were obtained from several sources, including information from government records, onsite observation, and semi-structured interviews. Field research was conducted in August 2020 for 10 days in a village in Plaba sub-district. Data was obtained using an interview guide with 55 ginger farmers who have been growing ginger for at least 3 years. The results show that the lock down and transportation restrictions affected input supply chains, such as fertilizer and rhizome seeds. The flow of international labor was also constrained affecting skilled labor shortage in ginger production. However, COVID-19 shows positive impacts on ginger production systems. Ginger price is higher than the previous year because of world market demand and the belief that ginger can be used as an antioxidant to prevent COVID-19 infections. Moreover, the result also shows that these ginger farmers are somewhat resilient in the face of COVID-19 as they are not much dependent on markets for their own subsistence needs. Finally, this study recommends that promoting farmers to produce their own food and diversify commercial crops would be a good strategy for farmers to survive the crisis

Serum NGAL to Clinically Distinguish Cholangiocarcinoma from Benign Biliary Tract Diseases

Aim. To determine whether the serum level of NGAL can discriminate cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract disease in patients. Methods. This study was performed according to a prospective-specimen-collection, retrospective-blinded-evaluation (PRoBE) design. A total of 50 cholangiocarcinoma and 50 benign biliary tract disease cases were randomly selected from a cohort of consecutive cases of biliary tract diseases. Their sera were measured for the levels of NGAL and the widely used serum cholangiocarcinoma marker, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Results. The serum CA19-9 and NGAL levels were significantly elevated in cholangiocarcinoma patients (CA19-9: P < .001, NGAL: P < .001). The area under the curve (AUC) of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma of CA19-9 and NGAL was 0.81 and 0.79, respectively. Conclusion. The diagnostic accuracy of serum NGAL and CA19-9 makes them good candidates for use as biomarkers to discriminate cholangiocarcinoma patients from benign biliary tract disease patients

Comparative anatomy of the mammalian bony cochlea and its ontogenetic development in humans

The cochlea is the organ for sound reception. Mammals place varied functional demands on their sense of hearing to meet the requirements of a broad range of ecological niches and diverse behaviours. However, documenting potentially related adaptations of the cochlea to eco-behavioural traits is difficult due to its complex geometry. The present study aims to determine whether the bony cochlea carries eco-behavioural traits that can be used to contextualize our understanding of the fossil record and evolutionary transitions. This study also includes work on ontogenetic changes since these can yield important insights into evolutionary processes resulting in differences of the adult phenotypes. Advanced techniques in micro-CT imaging, 3D image visualization, geometric morphometrics and statistical methods were used to study morphological variations of the bony cochlea across 45 adult eutherian species. Also, the same set of techniques was used to study 12 human fetal (approximately four to nine months of gestation) cochleae in comparison with five adult cochleae. Results revealed that there was a considerable range of variation in form of the mammalian bony cochlea. Potential links between the bony cochlear morphology and hearing, ecology and behaviour were found. Dimensions of the bony cochlea may be indicative of the eco-behavioural niche that a mammal occupies; e.g., fewer than two spiral turns is associated with obligate marine species. Rodents also showed remarkable variation in the cochlear morphology, more so than any other group of mammals studied, reflecting their diverse eco-behavioural traits. Results from the human developmental study showed that whilst the general coiled shape was achieved at the midgestational age, there was size related morphological change during the postnatal period. The round window size reached mature state prior to birth, by approximately the second trimester, whereas the oval window continued to change in size after birth. The postnatal enlargement may be determined by functional requirements of air-borne hearing, particularly with respect to frequency range and sensitivity

Detection of serum MMP-7 and MMP-9 in cholangiocarcinoma patients: evaluation of diagnostic accuracy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive tumor with a tendency for local invasion and distant metastases. Timely diagnosis is very important because surgical resection (R0) remains the only hope for a cure. However, at present, there is no available tumor marker that can differentiate cholangiocarcinoma from benign bile duct disease. Previous studies have demonstrated that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-7 and MMP-9 are frequently expressed in cholangiocarcinoma specimens.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was designed to determine whether the serum levels of MMP-7 and MMP-9 can discriminate cholangiocarcinoma patients from benign biliary tract disease patients in comparison to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). We measured the level of CEA, CA19-9, MMP-7 and MMP-9 in the serum of 44 cholangiocarcinoma and 36 benign biliary tract diseases patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the serum levels of CEA, CA19-9, MMP-7 and MMP-9, only the serum MMP-7 level was significantly higher in the patients with cholangiocarcinoma (8.9 ± 3.43 ng/ml) compared to benign biliary tract disease patients (5.9 ± 3.03 ng/ml) (<it>p </it>< 0.001). An receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the detection of the serum MMP-7 level is reasonably accurate in differentiating cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract disease patients (area under curve = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.614–0.848). While the areas under the curve of the ROC curves for CEA, CA19-9 and MMP-9 were 0.63 (95% CI = 0.501–0.760), 0.63 (95% CI = 0.491–0.761) and 0.59 (95% CI = 0.455–0.722), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Serum MMP-7 appears to be a valuable diagnostic marker in the discrimination of cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract disease. Further prospective studies for serum MMP-7 measurement should be carried out to further investigate the potential of this molecule as a biomarker of cholangiocarcinoma.</p

Prospective study of MMP7 serum levels in the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma

AIM: To determine whether the serum level of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP7) has the potential to diagnosis cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract diseases