The cao vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) is one of the rarest primates on Earth and now only survives in a single forest patch of less than 5000 ha on the Vietnam-China border. Accurate monitoring of ...the last remaining population is critical to inform ongoing conservation interventions and track conservation success over time. However, traditional methods for monitoring gibbons, involving triangulation of groups from their songs, are inherently subjective and likely subject to considerable measurement errors. To overcome this, we aimed to use 'vocal fingerprinting' to distinguish the different singing males in the population. During the 2021 population survey, we complemented the traditional observations made by survey teams with a concurrent passive acoustic monitoring array. Counts of gibbon group sizes were also assisted with a UAV-mounted thermal camera. After identifying eight family groups in the acoustic data and incorporating long-term data, we estimate that the population was comprised of 74 individuals in 11 family groups, which is 38% smaller than previously thought. We have no evidence that the population has declined-indeed it appears to be growing, with new groups having formed in recent years-and the difference is instead due to double-counting of groups in previous surveys employing the triangulation method. Indeed, using spatially explicit capture-recapture modelling, we uncovered substantial measurement error in the bearings and distances from field teams. We also applied semi- and fully-automatic approaches to clustering the male calls into groups, finding no evidence that we had missed any males with the manual approach. Given the very small size of the population, conservation actions are now even more urgent, in particular habitat restoration to allow the population to expand. Our new population estimate now serves as a more robust basis for informing management actions and tracking conservation success over time.
An estimated 91,998,400 L of herbicides were stocked at three US airbases in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. These herbicides were contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin ...(2,3,7,8-tetraCDD). In 2017, we sampled blood from 120 male Vietnamese military workers in the three dioxin-contaminated airbases (Bien Hoa, Da Nang, and Phu Cat) and from 20 workers at an uncontaminated airbase. 2,3,7,8-tetraCDD concentrations were highest in samples from Bien Hoa (18.2 pg/g lipid), followed by samples from Da Nang (9.2 pg/g lipid), Phu Cat (3.7 pg/g lipid), and the reference base (2.1 pg/g lipid). In Bien Hoa, 31 of the 50 subjects had blood 2,3,7,8-tetraCDD levels in the range of 10–100 pg/g lipid and four subjects had 2,3,7,8-tetraCDD levels that exceeded 100 pg/g lipid. In Da Nang, almost half of the subjects had blood 2,3,7,8-tetraCDD concentrations in the range of 10–100 pg/g lipid. These findings suggest that military workers at contaminated bases are the population most vulnerable to dioxin exposure, especially at Bien Hoa.
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•Dioxin originated from Agent Orange spraying in Vietnam War is a serious public concern.•Military workers at dioxin-contaminated airbases are the population most vulnerable to dioxin exposure.•2,3,7,8-tetraCDD concentrations in blood samples were highest in Bien Hoa airbase (18.2 pg/g lipid), followed by samples from Da Nang (9.2 pg/g lipid), and Phu Cat (3.7 pg/g lipid).•Remediation of dioxin-contaminated airbases is necessary for public health protection of populations living inside and around the airbases.
Background. Genital warts are a common sexually transmitted disease (STD), and there is no method that completely prevents its recurrence. Recently, zinc has been used in the treatment of cutaneous ...warts. Nondestructive action, ease of use, and promising results with low chances of relapse were reflected in the treatment. These effects may arise from the immunomodulatory activity of zinc in the event of a viral infection. Objectives. This study was aimed at identifying the relationship between the serum zinc level and the clinical characteristics of patients with genital warts. Materials and Methods. A case-control study was conducted. Genital warts were diagnosed by clinical examination, and disease severity was demonstrated based on the number of affected sites or the spread of lesions. The serum zinc level was measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results. A total of 78 patients with genital warts and 78 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. The mean serum zinc level in the genital wart group was lower than that in the control group (81.83±13.99 μg/dL vs. 86.66±17.58 μg/dL); however, this difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The mean concentrations of serum zinc in patients having more than one affected site, spread>2 cm2, or ten or more lesions were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusions. The results suggested that severe genital warts may be associated with a low serum zinc level in patients.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Introduction: Rabies is a viral disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. All warm-blooded animals, including humans, can host rabies's virus. Vaccination of dogs is an effective method ...of preventing rabies in humans. Objectives: To evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies prevention and factors related to vaccines for both patients exposed with rabies and dogs. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study, using the questionnaire on rabies prevention by interviewing 1 484 households. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to vaccines for both patients exposed to rabies and dogs. Results: Of all 67.32 % of the people surveyed with high knowledge, only 43.8 % and 31.47 % were assessed as having a good attitude and practice. Interviewees with poor knowledge and practice are independently related to low-rate vaccines provision for pets. Factors associated with low vaccination rates after pet bites were poor attitudes and practices. Conclusion: People with a high level of education, knowledge and practice, the rabies vaccination rate on pets is high. People with good attitudes and practices had a high rate of rabies vaccination after being bitten by an animal.
•Scrub typhus, caused by O. tsutsugamushi, is a common fever in Southeast Asia.•Delayed diagnosis of scrub typhus leads to high mortality rates, of up to 70%.•Primers and probe are designed to be ...specific to Southeast Asia's O. tsutsugamushi.•Developed RPA assay showed high sensitivity and high specificity.•Developed RPA assay is promising for field testing.
Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a common fever in parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. As delayed diagnosis of scrub typhus leads to inappropriate treatment and high mortality rates, of up to 70%, sensitive and rapid detection of O. tsutsugamushi is required for timely and appropriate treatment. Molecular assays, such as PCR and real-time PCR, have been shown to be more sensitive than conventional immunoassay, however, they are only available in centralized laboratories. In contrast to PCR assays, Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) is conducted under a constant temperature ranging from 24°C to 45°C. Therefore, this technology is very promising for nucleic acid testing in the field, and in resource-limited areas. An RPA assay for the detection of O. tsutsugamushi based on the target gene encoding for the 47 kDa outer membrane protein has been reported, but the primer and probe sequences of this assay are suboptimal for detection of the majority of recently published sequences of O. tsutsugamushi isolates from Southeast Asia. We have established a real-time RPA assay with primer and probe sequences that are optimized for most Southeast Asia's isolates of O. tsutsugamushi. As a result, the new RPA assay showed better performance than the previous assay in detecting O. tsutsugamushi in clinical samples of scrub typhus cases found in Vietnam. The specificity of RPA assay was also evaluated using genomic DNA from microorganisms commonly encountered in the differential diagnosis of scrub typhus, and blood samples from healthy controls and O. tsutsugamushi negative confirmed cases.
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