In this multidisciplinary study we present soil chemical, phytochemical and GIS spatial patterning evidence that fairy circles studied in three separate locations of Namibia may be caused by ...Euphorbia species. We show that matrix sand coated with E. damarana latex resulted in faster water-infiltration rates. GC-MS analyses revealed that soil from fairy circles and from under decomposing E. damarana plants are very similar in phytochemistry. E. damarana and E. gummifera extracts have a detrimental effect on bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of Stipagrostis uniplumis and inhibit grass seed germination. Several compounds previously identified with antimicrobial and phytotoxic activity were also identified in E. gummifera. GIS analyses showed that perimeter sizes and spatial characteristics (Voronoi tessellations, distance to nearest neighbour ratio, pair correlation function and L-function) of fairy circles are similar to those of fairy circles co-occurring with E. damarana (northern Namibia), and with E. gummifera (southern Namibia). Historical aerial imagery showed that in a population of 406 E. gummifera plants, 134 were replaced by fairy circles over a 50-year period. And finally, by integrating rainfall, altitude and landcover in a GIS-based site suitability model, we predict where fairy circles should occur. The model largely agreed with the distribution of three Euphorbia species and resulted in the discovery of new locations of fairy circles, in the far southeast of Namibia and part of the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. It is proposed that the allelopathic, adhesive, hydrophobic and toxic latex of E. damarana, E. gummifera, and possibly other species like E. gregaria, is the cause of the fairy circles of Namibia in the areas investigated and possibly in all other areas as well.
Over the last decade use of raw acceleration metrics to assess physical activity has increased. Metrics such as Euclidean Norm Minus One (ENMO), and Mean Amplitude Deviation (MAD) can be used to ...generate metrics which describe physical activity volume (average acceleration), intensity distribution (intensity gradient), and intensity of the most active periods (MX metrics) of the day. Presently, relatively little comparative data for these metrics exists in youth. To address this need, this study presents age- and sex-specific reference percentile values in England youth and compares physical activity volume and intensity profiles by age and sex.
Wrist-worn accelerometer data from 10 studies involving youth aged 5 to 15 y were pooled. Weekday and weekend waking hours were first calculated for youth in school Years (Y) 1&2, Y4&5, Y6&7, and Y8&9 to determine waking hours durations by age-groups and day types. A valid waking hours day was defined as accelerometer wear for ≥ 600 min·d
and participants with ≥ 3 valid weekdays and ≥ 1 valid weekend day were included. Mean ENMO- and MAD-generated average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics were calculated and summarised as weighted week averages. Sex-specific smoothed percentile curves were generated for each metric using Generalized Additive Models for Location Scale and Shape. Linear mixed models examined age and sex differences.
The analytical sample included 1250 participants. Physical activity peaked between ages 6.5-10.5 y, depending on metric. For all metrics the highest activity levels occurred in less active participants (3
-50
percentile) and girls, 0.5 to 1.5 y earlier than more active peers, and boys, respectively. Irrespective of metric, boys were more active than girls (p < .001) and physical activity was lowest in the Y8&9 group, particularly when compared to the Y1&2 group (p < .001).
Percentile reference values for average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics have utility in describing age- and sex-specific values for physical activity volume and intensity in youth. There is a need to generate nationally-representative wrist-acceleration population-referenced norms for these metrics to further facilitate health-related physical activity research and promotion.
Autismus ist eine neurologische Entwicklungsstörung mit einer ausgeprägten genetischen Komponente und mehreren bekannten Risikofaktoren aus der Umwelt, so zum Beispiel auch Infektionen. Der Ursprung ...der Entstehung dieser Erkrankung ist wahrscheinlich schon in der pränatalen Entwicklung zu suchen. Wir vermuten, dass fetale Schafe, die durch Amniozentese dem bakteriellen Endotoxin Lipopolysaccharid (LPS) ausgesetzt waren, morphologische Veränderungen im Cerebellum zeigen, vergleichbar mit jenen, die man in Kleinhirnen von autistischen Patienten gefunden hat. In unserem Tiermodell wurde LPS am 110. Gestationstag (GA 147) in das Fruchtwasser injiziert. Unter Verwendung hoch-präzisierter designbasierter Färbemethoden untersuchten wir mittlere Gesamt- und schichtspezifische Volumina, sowie durchschnittliche Gesamtzahlen von Körner- und Purkinjezellen (PC) in den Kleinhirnen von 6 LPS-infizierten Schaffeten und 3 Kontrolltieren. Die Ergebnisse der gegenwärtigen Studie zeigten keine Veränderungen der Gesamtvolumina der Kleinhirne, noch der Volumina der Molekularschicht, äußerer und innerer Körnerzellschicht und der weissen Substanz. Interessanterweise zeigten die LPS-infizierten Tiere jedoch eine statistisch signifikante Zunahme (+20.4%) der mittleren Gesamtzahl an Körnerzellen im Vergleich zu den Kontrollen, wohingegen sich die Anzahl der PCs in beiden Gruppen nicht unterschied. Diese scheinbar paradoxen Ergebnisse können erklärt werden durch (1) die Entstehungszeit dieser Neuronen. So entwickeln sich Purkinjezellen pränatal, die Körnerzellen jedoch postnatal. Es könnte auch sein, dass (2) eine direkte Korrelation zwischen der PC- und der Körnerzellanzahl im Cerebellum besteht. Diese Ergebnisse könnten anhand eines Tiermodells zu unserem Verständnis der biologischen Basis für interindividuelle Unterschiede in den morphologischen Veränderungen der Gehirne von Autismuspatienten beitragen.
Abstract The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253), located in the Southern Hemisphere, far off the Galactic Plane, has a relatively high star-formation rate of about 7 M⊙ yr−1 and hosts a young and bright ...stellar population, including several super star clusters and supernova remnants. It is also the first galaxy, apart from the Milky Way Galaxy to be associated with two giant magnetar flares. As such, it is a potential host of pulsars and/or fast radio bursts in the nearby Universe. The instantaneous sensitivity and multibeam sky coverage offered by MeerKAT therefore make it a favourable target. We searched for pulsars, radio-emitting magnetars, and fast radio bursts in NGC 253 as part of the TRAPUM large survey project with MeerKAT. We did not find any pulsars during a four-hour observation, and derive a flux density limit of 4.4 μJy at 1400 MHz, limiting the pseudo-luminosity of the brightest putative pulsar in this galaxy to 54 Jy kpc2. Assuming universality of pulsar populations between galaxies, we estimate that detecting a pulsar as bright as this limit requires NGC 253 to contain a pulsar population of ⪞20 000. We also did not detect any single pulses and our single pulse search flux density limit is 62 mJy at 1284 MHz. Our search is sensitive enough to have detected any fast radio bursts and radio emission similar to the brighter pulses seen from the magnetar SGR J1935+2154 if they had occurred during our observation.
In an effort to achieve control of the HIV epidemic, 90-90-90 targets have been proposed whereby 90% of the HIV-infected population should know their status, 90% of those diagnosed should be ...receiving antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of those on treatment should be virologically suppressed. In this article we present approaches for using relatively simple geographic information systems (GIS) analyses of routinely available data to support HIV programme management towards achieving the 90-90-90 targets, with a focus on South Africa (SA) and other high-prevalence settings in low- and middle-income countries. We present programme-level GIS applications to map aggregated health data and individual-level applications to track distinct patients. We illustrate these applications using data from City of Johannesburg Region D, demonstrating that GIS has great potential to guide HIV programme operations and assist in achieving the 90-90-90 targets in SA.
A pragmatic three-tiered approach to monitor the world's largest antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme was adopted by the South African National Department of Health in 2010. With the rapid ...expansion of the programme, the limitations of the paper-based register (tier 1) were the catalyst for implementation of the stand-alone electronic register (tier 2), which offers simple digitisation of the paper-based register. This article engages with theory on implementation to identify and contextualise enabling and constraining factors for implementation of the electronic register, to describe experiences and use of the register, and to make recommendations for implementation in similar settings where standardisation of ART monitoring and evaluation has not been achieved.
We conducted a qualitative evaluation of the roll-out of the register. This comprised twenty in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of stakeholders at facility, sub-district, and district levels of the health system. Facility-level participants were selected across five sub-districts, including one facility per sub-district. Responses were coded and analysed using a thematic approach. An implementation science framework guided interpretation of the data.
We identified the following seven themes: 1) ease of implementation, 2) perceived value of an electronic M&E system, 3) importance of stakeholder engagement, 4) influence of a data champion, 5) operational and logistical factors, 6) workload and role clarity, and 7) importance of integrating the electronic register with routine facility monitoring and evaluation. Interpreting our findings through an implementation theory enabled us to construct the scaffolding for implementation across the five facility-settings. This approach illustrated that implementation was not a linear process but occurred at two nodes: at the adoption of the register for roll-out, and at implementation at facility-level.
In this study we found that relative advantage of an intervention and stakeholder engagement are critical to implementation. We suggest that without these aspects of implementation, formative and summative outcomes of implementation at both the adoption and coalface stages of implementation would be negatively affected.
We examined the compositional associations between the intensity spectrum derived from incremental acceleration intensity bands and the body mass index (BMI) z-score in youth, and investigated the ...estimated differences in BMI z-score following time reallocations between intensity bands. School-aged youth from 63 schools wore wrist accelerometers, and data of 1453 participants (57.5% girls) were analysed. Nine acceleration intensity bands (range: 0−50 mg to ≥700 mg) were used to generate time-use compositions. Multivariate regression assessed the associations between intensity band compositions and BMI z-scores. Compositional isotemporal substitution estimated the differences in BMI z-score following time reallocations between intensity bands. The ≥700 mg intensity bandwas strongly and inversely associated with BMI z-score (p < 0.001). The estimated differences in BMI z-score when 5 min were reallocated to and from the ≥700 mg band and reallocated equally among the remaining bands were −0.28 and 0.44, respectively (boys), and −0.39 and 1.06, respectively (girls). The time in the ≥700 mg intensity band was significantly associated with BMI z-score, irrespective of sex. When even modest durations of time in this band were reallocated, the asymmetrical estimated differences in BMI z-score were clinically meaningful. The findings highlight the utility of the full physical activity intensity spectrum over a priori-determined absolute intensity cut-point approaches.
Objective
To evaluate how electronic data management systems affect data use practices in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs within local health districts, and individual health facilities.
...Methods
We used a data quality audit to establish a baseline of the quality of data in the electronic register alongside in‐depth interviews with health workers and managers, to understand perceptions of data quality, data use by facility staff and challenges affecting data use.
Results
The findings provide a four‐level continuum of data use that can be applied to other settings and recommendations for optimising facility‐level data use.
Conclusion
By defining four levels of data use our findings suggest the potential to encourage a structured process of moving from passive data use, to more active and engaged data use, where data could be used to anticipate patient behaviour and link that behaviour to differentiated care plans.
Objectif
Evaluer comment les systèmes de gestion des données électroniques affectent les pratiques d'utilisation des données dans les programmes ART dans les districts de santé locaux et les établissements de santé individuels.
Méthodes
Nous avons utilisé un audit de la qualité des données pour établir une base de qualité des données du registre électronique, ainsi que des entretiens approfondis avec les agents de santé et les gestionnaires, pour comprendre les perceptions sur la qualité des données, l'utilisation des données par le personnel du service et les défis affectant l'utilisation des données.
Résultats
Les résultats fournissent un continuum de données à 4 niveaux pouvant être appliqué dans d'autres cadres et des recommandations pour optimiser l'utilisation des données au niveau de l’établissement.
Conclusion
En définissant quatre niveaux d'utilisation des données, nos résultats suggèrent la possibilité d'encourager un processus structuré de passage d'une utilisation passive des données à une utilisation plus active des données, permettant d'anticiper le comportement des patients et de relier ce comportement à des plans de soins différenciés.
We determined the efficacy of three potential oviposition deterrents in reducing fruit infestation by Anastrepha obliqua in tropical plum and mango orchards. These were: (1) Extracts of feces of ...Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, known to contain the A. ludens host marking pheromone (HMP) and (2) two fully synthetic simplified analogues of the naturally occurring compound, which we have named desmethyl A. ludens HMP (DM-HMP) and Anastrephamide. Two applications of feces extracts 2 or 3 wk before fruit color break reduced A. obliqua infestation in plums by 94.1, 75.9, and 72% when measured 8, 14, and 25 d, respectively, after application. The natural A. ludens-HMP containing extract retained its effectiveness despite considerable rainfall (112.5 mm) and high A. obliqua populations. The synthetic desmethyl HMP derivative (DM-HMP) also reduced infestation in plums by 53.3 and 58.7% when measured, 18 and 26 d, respectively, after application. Finally, applications of Anastrephamide resulted in fruit loss cut by half and an 80% reduction in numbers of fly larvae per fruit. Our results confirm previous findings indicating that there is interspecific crossrecognition of the HMP in two of the most pestiferous Anastrepha species and open the door for the development of a highly selective, biorational Anastrepha management scheme.
Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD), also known as manic depressive illness, is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression. It has a lifetime prevalence of ...approximately 1% in all human populations. In order to identify chromosomal regions containing genes that play a role in determining susceptibility to this psychiatric condition, we have conducted a complete genome screen with 382 markers (average marker spacing of 9.3 cM) in a sample of 75 BPAD families which were recruited through an explicit ascertainment scheme. Pedigrees were of German, Israeli and Italian origin, respectively. Parametric and non-parametric linkage analysis was performed. The highest two-point LOD score was obtained on 8q24 (D8S514; LOD score = 3.62), in a region that has not attracted much attention in previous linkage studies of BPAD. The second best finding was seen on 10q25-q26 (D10S217; LOD score = 2.86) and has been reported in independent studies of BPAD. Other regions showing 'suggestive' evidence for linkage localized to 1p33-p36, 2q21-q33, 3p14, 3q26-q27, 6q21-q22, 8p21, 13q11 and 14q12-q13. In addition, we aimed at detecting possible susceptibility loci underlying genomic imprinting by analyzing the autosomal genotype data with the recently developed extension of the GENEHUNTER program, GENEHUNTER-IMPRINTING. Putative paternally imprinted loci were identified in chromosomal regions 2p24-p21 and 2q31-q32. Maternally imprinted susceptibility genes may be located on 14q32 and 16q21-q23.
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