Regional technical workshop, Lusaka, Zambia. 17-19 Jun 2008. Workshop report

The WorldFish Center and FAO are implementing a regional programme entitled "Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa; investing in sustainable solutions", funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main purpose of the workshop was to bring together partners on the programme to share ideas and current research proposals, to strengthen these research proposals by taking into account cross cutting issues such as ethics and gender, and to determine arrangements for ongoing collaborative support.Fisheries, AIDS, Public health, HIV, Nutritive value

Women as moral pioneers? Experiences of first trimester antenatal screening

Copyright @ 2005 Elsevier Ltd.The implementation of innovative medical technologies can raise unprecedented ethical, legal and social dilemmas. This is particularly so in the area of antenatal screening, which is dominated by the language of risk and probabilities. Second trimester serum screening for Down's syndrome and neural tube defects has a well-established place in antenatal care. Increasingly, first trimester screening with biochemical and ultrasound markers is being proposed as advance on this, yielding higher detection rates of Down's syndrome at an earlier gestational age. This article explores the experiences of 14 women offered innovative first trimester screening, which takes place within the context of a detailed ultrasound scan. The study is set within the UK, where recent policy changes mean that the offer of screening for fetal anomalies, particularly Down's syndrome, will become a routine part of antenatal care and offered to all pregnant women. This paper focuses on the significance of the scan in first trimester screening, and some of the potential dilemmas for women that can result from this. It then discusses the ways in which women made their decisions about screening, in particular, their work as ‘moral pioneers’. We found that the part played by the ultrasound scan in first trimester screening, particularly in relation to the higher-quality images now being obtained, has the potential to introduce new and novel ethical dilemmas for pregnant women. Although concerns have been raised about pregnant women viewing ultrasound scans as benign, many of the women reported having thought carefully through their own moral beliefs and values prior to screening. It seems that whatever other implications they may have, first trimester screening technologies will continue the tradition of pregnant women acting as ‘moral pioneers’ in increasingly complex settings.ESRC/MRC Innovative Health Technologies Programme for funding the project (grant no: L218252042). CW acknowledges the support of The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics Programme in funding her postdoctoral fellowship, which enabled her to work on this project

All in good time: Women's agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa

This bibliography is the first part of a study of women's participation in agricultural production in the semi-arid regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. The study looks at women's agricultural strategies, especially their use of particular tools and crop production techniques. It focuses on ways in which the use of draught animals affect labour and resource. use, and generate increased income differentials at the household and community level. All in Good Time; Women's Agricultural Production in Sub-Saharan Africa pulls together existing information on women's crop production, and particularly information on how women presently address critical timing issues. It will be of interest to all agencies and individuals concerned with development issues especially those relating to women

General health and residential proximity to the coast in Belgium : results from a cross-sectional health survey

The health risks of coastal areas have long been researched, but the potential benefits for health are only recently being explored. The present study compared the general health of Belgian citizens a) according to the EU's definition of coastal ( 50 km), and b) between eight more refined categories of residential proximity to the coast ( 250 km). Data was drawn from the Belgian Health Interview Survey (n = 60,939) and investigated using linear regression models and mediation analyses on several hypothesized mechanisms. Results indicated that populations living 50-100 km. Four commonly hypothesized mechanisms were considered but no indirect associations were found: scores for mental health, physical activity levels and social contacts were not higher at 0-5 km from the coast, and air pollution (PM ic , concentrations) was lower at 0-5 km from the coast but not statistically associated with better health. Results are controlled for typical variables such as age, sex, income, neighbourhood levels of green and freshwater blue space, etc. The spatial urban-rural-nature mosaic at the Belgian coast and alternative explanations are discussed. The positive associations between the ocean and human health observed in this study encourage policy makers to manage coastal areas sustainably to maintain associated public health benefits into the future

Optical microbubble resonator

We develop a method for fabricating very small silica microbubbles having a micrometer-order wall thickness and demonstrate the first optical microbubble resonator. Our method is based on blowing a microbubble using stable radiative CO2 laser heating rather than unstable convective heating in a flame or furnace. Microbubbles are created along a microcapillary and are naturally opened to the input and output microfluidic or gas channels. The demonstrated microbubble resonator has 370 µm diameter, 2 µm wall thickness, and a Q factor exceeding 10

Halogen chemistry in volcanic plumes: a 1D framework based on MOCAGE 1D (version R1.18.1) preparing 3D global chemistry modelling

HBr emissions from volcanoes lead rapidly to the formation of BrO within volcanic plumes and have an impact on tropospheric chemistry, at least at the local and regional scales. The motivation of this paper is to prepare a framework for further 3D modelling of volcanic halogen emissions in order to determine their fate within the volcanic plume and then in the atmosphere at the regional and global scales. The main aim is to evaluate the ability of the model to produce a realistic partitioning of bromine species within a grid box size typical of MOCAGE (Model Of atmospheric Chemistry At larGE scale) 3D (0.5×0.5). This work is based on a 1D single-column configuration of the global chemistry-transport model MOCAGE that has low enough computational cost to allow us to perform a large set of sensitivity simulations. This paper uses the emissions from the Mount Etna eruption on 10 May 2008. Several reactions are added to MOCAGE to represent the volcanic plume halogen chemistry. A simple plume parameterisation is also implemented and tested. The use of this parameterisation tends to only slightly limit the efficiency of BrO net production. Both simulations with and without the parameterisation give results for the partitioning of the bromine species, of ozone depletion and of the BrO/SO2 ratio that are consistent with previous studies. A series of test experiments were performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the results to the composition of the emissions (primary sulfate aerosols, Br radical and NO) and to the effective radius assumed for the volcanic sulfate aerosols. Simulations show that the plume chemistry is sensitive to all these parameters. We also find that the maximum altitude of the eruption changes the BrO production, which is linked to the vertical variability of the concentrations of oxidants in the background air. These sensitivity tests display changes in the bromine chemistry cycles that are generally at least as important as the plume parameterisation. Overall, the version of the MOCAGE chemistry developed for this study is suitable to produce the expected halogen chemistry in volcanic plumes during daytime and night-time

СИНТЕЗ ТА ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ АНТИТРИПАНОСОМНОЇ АКТИВНОСТІ НОВИХ 5-ІЛІДЕН-2-(1,3,4-ТІАДІАЗОЛ-2-ІЛ)ІМІНОТІАЗОЛІДИН-4-ОНІВ

The aim of work. Synthesize the new thiadiazolo-2-iminothiazolidin-4-ones and their 5-arylidene derivatives based on the heterocyclization reaction and Knoevenagel condensation and study their antitrypanosomal activity.Materials and Methods: organic synthesis, NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, pharmacological screening.Results and Discussion. Following the cyclization reaction of N-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)substituted 2-chloroacetamides with ammonium thiocyanate in dry acetone the corresponding 2-imino-4-thiazolidinone derivatives have been obtained. Further chemical modification of synthesized methylene active 2-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)imino-4-thiazolidinones was performed via Knoevenagel condensation with various aromatic or heterocyclic aldehydes, isatin or cinnamic aldehyde derivatives have yielded a series of 5-aryl(heteryl)ylidene- and 5-isatin(3-phenylpropene)ylidene derivatives as potential antitrypanosomal agents. The structure of obtained compounds was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis.Conclusions. The results of in vitro screening of antitrypanosomal activity against Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (TBG) allowed us to identify four highly active compounds which owned essential trypanocidal effect with a range of values IC50 within 7.3-12.8 µM.Мета роботи. На основі реакцій гетероциклізації та Кньовенагеля здійснити синтез нових тіадіазоло-2-імінотіазолідин-4-онів та їх 5-ариліденпохідних для скринінгу антитрипаносомної активності.Матеріали і методи. Органічний синтез, спектроскопія ЯМР, елементний аналіз, фармакологічний скринінг.Результати й обговорення. Циклізацією N-(1,3,4-тіадіазол-2-іл)заміщених 2-хлороацетамідів під дією амонію тіоціанату в середовищі ацетону синтезовано серію нових похідних 2-імінотіазолідин-4-ону. Наявність метиленактивної групи в положенні 5 тіазолідинового циклу отриманих 2-(1,3,4-тіадіазол-2-іл)імінотіазолідин-4-онів дозволила провести їх подальшу модифікацію в умовах реакції Кньовенагеля з різноманітними арил(гетерил)карбальдегідами, ізатином або похідними коричного альдегіду з утворенням серій відповідних 5-арил(гетерил)іліден- та 5-ізатин(3-фенілпропен)іліденпохідних як потенційних антитрипаносомних агентів. Структуру синтезованих сполук підтверджено елементним аналізом та спектроскопією ПМР.Висновки. Результати скринінгу антитрипаносомної активності in vitro синтезованих сполук на штамі Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (TBG) дозволили ідентифікувати чотири високоактивні сполуки, які зі значеннями IC50 в межах 7,3-12,8 мкМ володіли суттєвим трипаноцидним ефектом