The study area where ethnobotanical knowledge were documented on antidiarrhoeal plant use by lay people in a rural community in northern Maputaland, South Africa.
To document the ethnobotanical ...knowledge on antidiarrhoeal plant use by lay people in a rural community in northern Maputaland.
Interviews were conducted amongst homestead inhabitants, using structured questionnaires. The focus was on the medicinal plants which are growing in and around the immediate vicinity of the homesteads.
Twenty-three plant species are used in the study area to treat diarrhoea. Four plants (
Acacia burkei,
Brachylaena transvaalensis,
Cissampelos hirta and
Sarcostemma viminale) are recorded for the first time globally as an antidiarrhoel. The three antidiarrhoeal plants most frequently used in the study area are
Psidium guajava,
Catharanthus roseus and
Melia azedarach (all three are exotic to South Africa), followed by
Sclerocarya birrea and
Strychnos madagascariensis which are indigenous. Seven of the 23 plant species are used in five different plant combinations for increased antidiarrhoeal efficacy.
The wide variety of plants that are used to treat diarrhoea in this area supports the traditional value that medicinal plants have in the primary health care system of the rural people in northern Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal.
Males who have sex with males (MSM) are prioritised in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, as a key affected population to receive HIV prevention, treatment, and HIV-related care and support (WHO, ...2016). There is, however, limited empirical research conducted on how to engage communities of South African MSM in clinical HIV prevention research programs. The development of LGBTIQ safe spaces may potentially be a viable option to promote community-based engagement by bridging the divides between HIV-prevention researchers, marginalised queer populations, and other HIV-prevention stakeholders located in heteronormative spaces (Molyneux et al., 2016). We conducted ten in-depth, qualitative interviews with MSM safe space members who have been involved in HIV prevention research programs. Data were analysed using a thematic analytic strategy (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Our results indicate that the “safe spaces” currently operational in Cape Town are not stable spaces nor are they always safe, but they form part of a broader and much more long-term political and geographical strategy of inclusion and emancipation.
•Little is known on how to engage South African MSM in clinical HIV prevention research.•Developing queer safe spaces may be a viable community engagement strategy.•Paradoxically, MSM safe space are unstable and unsafe in heteronormative contexts.•Safe space membership promote broad-level community-based stakeholder engagement.•Queer safe spaces form part of a long-term geo-political strategy of transformation.
Background Marked changes in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease have occurred in developed and developing countries in recent decades. ...The overarching aim of the study is to examine the relationship of societal influences on human lifestyle behaviors, cardiovascular risk factors, and incidence of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Methods The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is a large-scale epidemiological study that plans to recruit approximately 140,000 individuals residing in >600 communities in 17 low-, middle-, and high-income countries around the world. Individual data collection includes medical history, lifestyle behaviors (physical activity and dietary profile), blood collection and storage for biochemistry and future genetic analysis, electrocardiogram, and anthropometric measures. In addition, detailed information is being collected with respect to 4 environmental domains of interest—the built environment, nutrition and associated food policy, psychosocial/socioeconomic factors, and tobacco environment. A minimum follow-up of 10 years is currently planned. Results This report describes the design, justification, and methodology of the PURE study. The PURE study has been recruiting since 2002 and has enrolled 139,506 individuals by March 31, 2009. Conclusions The PURE study builds on the work and experience gained through conduct of the INTERHEART study. Its design and extensive data collection are geared toward addressing major questions on causation and development of the underlying determinants of cardiovascular disease in populations at varying stages of epidemiologic transition.
The study aimed to compare three fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) from different origins as dietary ingredients for Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus. The ingredients were self-prepared fish ...silage from rainbow trout viscera and two commercial FPH products from shrimp and mixed marine by-products. Each ingredient was further included at two dietary levels: a low level where hydrolysed protein contributed 20 g kg⁻¹ protein to the diet and a high level where protein contribution was 40 g kg⁻¹. It was found that all three FPH products sustained high specific growth rates in excess of 2.5 % of body weight per day at both inclusion levels and that there were no negative impacts on production performance, animal health or intestinal gross morphology compared to the control. Further, there were no significant differences in specific growth rate, feed conversion, dress-out %, non-specific immunity parameters or intestinal morphology between any treatments. However, low inclusion of FPH from mixed marine origin (treatment HCL) showed significantly higher growth than high inclusion of self-prepared silage (treatment SH) through significantly higher final animal length and height; a simultaneous significant decrease in Jones condition factor in treatment HCL might be explained by a change in animal body composition. It is concluded that all FPH products were acceptable feed ingredients at the inclusion levels investigated; however, differences in animal growth seen between treatments HCL and SH might be the result of the different inclusion levels employed, and the FPH raw material origin. Further, interpretation of animal condition factor should also take into account supplementary trial data, as differences between treatments might not signify differences in animal well-being, but rather changes in body composition.
This book aims to provide a summary of the latest knowledge about climate change as it relates to the Pacific Islands Region. A compilation of the latest literature, scientific knowledge and data, ...with frequent use of diagrams and tables, it is designed to be readily understood by readers with a variety of viewpoints and backgrounds, such as policy-makers, educators and research coordinators.The book discusses knowledge on the region’s resilience and vulnerability to climate and sea-level variability and change and identifies a suite of proven and potential response options that are deserving of further consideration and implementation.The authors' second stated objective is to provide educators, outreach and related practitioners with an integrated and functional resource portfolio for use in formal education and professional development programmes and in support of efforts to enhance political and public awareness of the implications of global and regional variability and change for the Pacific Islands Region.The Book comprises four main sections, reflecting the four principal dimensions of the climate issue – the changing climate, the observed and potential impacts, and the two broad categories of policy responses and actions, namely mitigation and adaptation.
Recent solar conditions indicate a persistent decline in solar activity—possibly similar to the past solar grand minima. During such periods of low solar activity, the fluxes of galactic cosmic rays ...(GCRs) increase remarkably, presenting a hazard for long‐term crewed space missions. We used data from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to examine the correlation between the heliospheric magnetic field, solar wind speed, and solar modulation potential of the GCRs through Cycle 24. We used this correlation to project observations from past secular solar minima, including the Dalton minimum (1790–1830) and the Gleissberg minimum (1890–1920), into the next cycle. For the case of conditions similar to the Dalton (or Gleissberg) minimum, the heliospheric magnetic field could drop to 3.61 (or 4.06) nT, leading to a dose rate increase of ∼75% (or 34%). We showed that accounting for a floor in the modulation potential, invoked by the Badhwar‐O'Neill 2014 model, moderates the projected radiation levels in Cycle 25. We used these results to determine the most conservative permissible mission duration (PMD,
290.4−35.9+37.7 and
204.3−25.2+26.6 days for 45‐year‐old male and female astronauts, respectively) based on a 3% risk of exposure‐induced death (REID) at the upper 95% confidence interval in interplanetary space.
Key Points
The Sun is exhibiting a persistent decline in solar activity, similar to past secular minima
The GCR radiation doses will probably exceed the already unprecedentedly high values
The radiation environment will be a limiting factor for long‐term mission planning
Early observations from the first orbit of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) show recurrent stream interaction regions that form close to the Sun. Energetic particle enhancements were observed on the ...320th–326th day of the year 2018, which corresponds to ~1–7 days after the passage of the stream interface between faster and slower solar wind. Energetic particles stream into the inner heliosphere to the PSP spacecraft near 0.33 au (71 solar radii) where they are measured by the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS⊙IS). The large 6-day time interval over which energetic particles are observed after the stream passage provides a unique perspective on the development of stream interactions within the heliosphere. The long duration of energetic particle enhancements suggests that particles stream in through the inner heliosphere more directly along magnetic field lines that form a sub-Parker spiral structure due to magnetic footpoint motion at the Sun and shearing of the magnetic field in the rarefaction region behind the stream interface. The strong build-up of energetic particle fluxes in the first 3 days after the passage of the stream interface indicates that suprathermal populations are enhanced near the interaction region through compression or other acceleration processes in addition to being diffusively accelerated. The early increases in energetic particle fluxes (in the first 3 days) in the formation of these events allows for the characterization of the acceleration associated with these suprathermal seed populations. Thus, we show that the time history of energetic particle fluxes observed by IS⊙IS provides a new view of particle acceleration at stream interaction regions throughout the inner heliosphere.
Dysregulated glucagon secretion from pancreatic alpha-cells is a key feature of type-1 and type-2 diabetes (T1D and T2D), yet our mechanistic understanding of alpha-cell function is underdeveloped ...relative to insulin-secreting beta-cells. Here we show that the enzyme acetyl-CoA-carboxylase 1 (ACC1), which couples glucose metabolism to lipogenesis, plays a key role in the regulation of glucagon secretion. Pharmacological inhibition of ACC1 in mouse islets or αTC9 cells impaired glucagon secretion at low glucose (1 mmol/l). Likewise, deletion of ACC1 in alpha-cells in mice reduced glucagon secretion at low glucose in isolated islets, and in response to fasting or insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in vivo. Electrophysiological recordings identified impaired K
channel activity and P/Q- and L-type calcium currents in alpha-cells lacking ACC1, explaining the loss of glucose-sensing. ACC-dependent alterations in S-acylation of the K
channel subunit, Kir6.2, were identified by acyl-biotin exchange assays. Histological analysis identified that loss of ACC1 caused a reduction in alpha-cell area of the pancreas, glucagon content and individual alpha-cell size, further impairing secretory capacity. Loss of ACC1 also reduced the release of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) in primary gastrointestinal crypts. Together, these data reveal a role for the ACC1-coupled pathway in proglucagon-expressing nutrient-responsive endocrine cell function and systemic glucose homeostasis.
There is still a paucity of evidence on the outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) and those co-infected with tuberculosis (TB), ...particularly in areas where these conditions are common. We describe the clinical features, laboratory findings and outcome of hospitalised PWH and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected COVID-19 patients as well as those co-infected with tuberculosis (TB). We conducted a multicentre cohort study across three hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. All adults requiring hospitalisation with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia from March to July 2020 were analysed. PWH comprised 270 (19%) of 1434 admissions. There were 47 patients with active tuberculosis (3.3%), of whom 29 (62%) were PWH. Three-hundred and seventy-three patients (26%) died. The mortality in PWH (n = 71, 26%) and HIV-uninfected patients (n = 296, 25%) was comparable. In patients with TB, PWH had a higher mortality than HIV-uninfected patients (n = 11, 38% vs n = 3, 20%; p = 0.001). In multivariable survival analysis a higher risk of death was associated with older age (Adjusted Hazard Ratio (AHR) 1.03 95%CI 1.02-1.03, p < 0.001), male sex (AHR1.38 (95%CI 1.12-1.72, p = 0.003) and being "overweight or obese" (AHR 1.30 95%CI 1.03-1.61 p = 0.024). HIV (AHR 1.28 95%CI 0.95-1.72, p 0.11) and active TB (AHR 1.50 95%CI 0.84-2.67, p = 0.17) were not independently associated with increased risk of COVID-19 death. Risk factors for inpatient mortality in PWH included CD4 cell count < 200 cells/mm.sup.3, higher admission oxygen requirements, absolute white cell counts, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios, C-reactive protein, and creatinine levels. In a population with high prevalence of HIV and TB, being overweight/obese was associated with increased risk of mortality in COVID-19 hospital admissions, emphasising the need for public health interventions in this patient population.
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