Biomarkers of Host Response Predict Primary End-Point Radiological Pneumonia in Tanzanian Children with Clinical Pneumonia: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing pediatric pneumonia is challenging in low-resource settings. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined primary end-point radiological pneumonia for use in epidemiological and vaccine studies. However, radiography requires expertise and is often inaccessible. We hypothesized that plasma biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial activation may be useful surrogates for end-point pneumonia, and may provide insight into its biological significance. METHODS: We studied children with WHO-defined clinical pneumonia (n = 155) within a prospective cohort of 1,005 consecutive febrile children presenting to Tanzanian outpatient clinics. Based on x-ray findings, participants were categorized as primary end-point pneumonia (n = 30), other infiltrates (n = 31), or normal chest x-ray (n = 94). Plasma levels of 7 host response biomarkers at presentation were measured by ELISA. Associations between biomarker levels and radiological findings were assessed by Kruskal-Wallis test and multivariable logistic regression. Biomarker ability to predict radiological findings was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and Classification and Regression Tree analysis. RESULTS: Compared to children with normal x-ray, children with end-point pneumonia had significantly higher C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and Chitinase 3-like-1, while those with other infiltrates had elevated procalcitonin and von Willebrand Factor and decreased soluble Tie-2 and endoglin. Clinical variables were not predictive of radiological findings. Classification and Regression Tree analysis generated multi-marker models with improved performance over single markers for discriminating between groups. A model based on C-reactive protein and Chitinase 3-like-1 discriminated between end-point pneumonia and non-end-point pneumonia with 93.3% sensitivity (95% confidence interval 76.5-98.8), 80.8% specificity (72.6-87.1), positive likelihood ratio 4.9 (3.4-7.1), negative likelihood ratio 0.083 (0.022-0.32), and misclassification rate 0.20 (standard error 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: In Tanzanian children with WHO-defined clinical pneumonia, combinations of host biomarkers distinguished between end-point pneumonia, other infiltrates, and normal chest x-ray, whereas clinical variables did not. These findings generate pathophysiological hypotheses and may have potential research and clinical utility

Barkhausen Demodulation

A careful examination of the magnetization of a ferromagnetic material reveals that it is a discontinuous process; when subject to a varying magnetic field, a ferromagnetic material is magnetized in discrete bursts as domain boundaries overcome pinning at defects in the crystal lattice. This discrete behavior manifests itself as high frequency “noise” superimposed upon a measurement of magnetic flux and is commonly referred to as the Barkhausen Effect. Several important microstructural properties of steel also depend on lattice defect structure, i.e., mechanical hardness, ferrite content, material fatigue, and internal stress state, and investigators have successfully correlated Barkhausen Effect parameters with these properties [1–3]. Unfortunately, Barkhausen noise signals are broadband and weak, characteristics that often limit the utility of the Barkhausen Effect in NDE applications. In this paper, we will describe a phenomenon we call Barkhausen Demodulation, which provides a means of measuring Barkhausen noise that lends itself more readily to NDE investigations. Further, we will describe an experiment in which Barkhausen Demodulation was used to measure the hardness of X40 grade pipeline steel.</p

Cheating the locals: invasive mussels steal and benefit from the cooling effect of indigenous mussels

The indigenous South African mussel Perna perna gapes during periods of aerial exposure to maintain aerobic respiration. This behaviour has no effect on the body temperatures of isolated individuals, but when surrounded by conspecifics, beneficial cooling effects of gaping emerge. It is uncertain, however, whether the presence of the invasive mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis limits the ability of P. perna for collective thermoregulation. We investigated whether varying densities of P. perna and M. galloprovincialis influences the thermal properties of both natural and artificial mussel beds during periods of emersion. Using infrared thermography, body temperatures of P. perna within mixed artificial beds were shown to increase faster and reach higher temperatures than individuals in conspecific beds, indicating that the presence of M. galloprovincialis limits the group cooling effects of gaping. In contrast, body temperatures of M. galloprovincialis within mixed artificial mussel beds increased slower and exhibited lower temperatures than for individuals in beds comprised entirely of M. galloprovincialis. Interestingly, differences in bed temperatures and heating rates were largely dependent on the size of mussels, with beds comprised of larger individuals experiencing less thermal stress irrespective of species composition. The small-scale patterns of thermal stress detected within manipulated beds were not observed within naturally occurring mixed mussel beds. We propose that small-scale differences in topography, size-structure, mussel bed size and the presence of organisms encrusting the mussel shells mask the effects of gaping behaviour within natural mussel beds. Nevertheless, the results from our manipulative experiment indicate that the invasive species M. galloprovincialis steals thermal properties as well as resources from the indigenous mussel P. perna. This may have significant implications for predicting how the co-existence of these two species may change as global temperatures continue to rise

Fertility Ideals of Women and Men Across the Life Course

This paper explores the stability of women’s and men’s fertility preferences across the life course. The data come from the first six waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), which span the period from 2008/2009 until 2013/2014. In our analysis, fertility preferences are measured using the following question: “Under ideal circumstances, how many children would you like to have?” The average number cited by both women and men is 2.2. With rising age, this number declines modestly. Relying on fixed-effects modelling, we find that neither partnership status nor economic circumstances have any causal effect on fertility preferences. However, as the number of children a respondent has increases, his or her ideal number of children is also likely to grow. Thus, fertility ideals appear to undergo changes over time, and are adjusted in line with the size of the respondent’s own family

Upscaling marine forest restoration: challenges, solutions and recommendations from the Green Gravel Action Group

Introduction: To counteract the rapid loss of marine forests globally and meet international commitments of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the Convention on Biological Diversity ‘30 by 30’ targets, there is an urgent need to enhance our capacity for macroalgal restoration. The Green Gravel Action Group (GGAG) is a global network of 67 members that are working on the restoration of a diverse range of macroalgal forests and it aims to facilitate knowledge exchange to fast-track innovation and implementation of outplanting approaches worldwide. Methods: Here, we overview 25 projects conducted by members of the group that are focused on testing and developing techniques for macroalgal restoration. Based on these projects, we summarise the major challenges associated with scaling up the area of marine forests restored. Results: We identify several critical challenges that currently impede more widespread rollout of effective large-scale macroalgal restoration worldwide: 1) funding and capacity limitations, 2) difficulties arising from conditions at restoration sites, 3) technical barriers, and 4) challenges at the restoration-policy interface. Discussion: Despite these challenges, there has been substantial progress, with an increasing number of efforts, community engagement and momentum towards scaling up activities in recent years. Drawing on the collective expertise of the GGAG, we outline key recommendations for the scaling up of restoration efforts to match the goals of international commitments. These include the establishment of novel pathways to fund macroalgal restoration activities, building skills and capacity, harnessing emerging innovations in mobile hatchery and seeding technologies, and the development of the scientific and governance frameworks necessary to implement and monitor macroalgal restoration projects at scale.publishedVersio

International Perspectives on Nonformal Education

The New England Regional Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society was held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, on 3 May, 1979. The conference was co-sponsored by the Division of Community Education, Springfield College, and the Center for International Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts. The theme of the conference was International Perspectives on Nonformal Education. The papers delivered ranged in topics from the use of traditional art forms and poetry as a medium of nonformal education to the discussion of the philosophical foundations underlying the field. Case studies of specific nonformal education projects helped to highlight the conference. A total fifteen papers were delivered, all of which are included in their original form in this document. The papers represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the organizers

Baltic Salmon, Salmo salar, from Swedish River Lule Älv Is More Resistant to Furunculosis Compared to Rainbow Trout

BACKGROUND: Furunculosis, caused by Aeromonas salmonicida, continues to be a major health problem for the growing salmonid aquaculture. Despite effective vaccination programs regular outbreaks occur at the fish farms calling for repeated antibiotic treatment. We hypothesized that a difference in natural susceptibility to this disease might exist between Baltic salmon and the widely used rainbow trout. STUDY DESIGN: A cohabitation challenge model was applied to investigate the relative susceptibility to infection with A. salmonicida in rainbow trout and Baltic salmon. The course of infection was monitored daily over a 30-day period post challenge and the results were summarized in mortality curves. RESULTS: A. salmonicida was recovered from mortalities during the entire test period. At day 30 the survival was 6.2% and 34.0% for rainbow trout and Baltic salmon, respectively. Significant differences in susceptibility to A. salmonicida were demonstrated between the two salmonids and hazard ratio estimation between rainbow trout and Baltic salmon showed a 3.36 higher risk of dying from the infection in the former. CONCLUSION: The finding that Baltic salmon carries a high level of natural resistance to furunculosis might raise new possibilities for salmonid aquaculture in terms of minimizing disease outbreaks and the use of antibiotics

A longitudinal study to examine the influence of farming practices and environmental factors on pathogen prevalence using structural equation modeling

The contamination of fresh produce with foodborne pathogens has been an on-going concern with outbreaks linked to these commodities. Evaluation of farm practices, such as use of manure, irrigation water source, and other factors that could influence pathogen prevalence in the farming environment could lead to improved mitigation strategies to reduce the potential for contamination events. Soil, water, manure, and compost were sampled from farms in Ohio and Georgia to identify the prevalence of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), Campylobacter, and Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), as well as Arcobacter, an emerging human pathogen. This study investigated agricultural practices to determine which influenced pathogen prevalence, i.e., the percent positive samples. These efforts identified a low prevalence of Salmonella, STEC, and Campylobacter in soil and water (&lt; 10%), preventing statistical modeling of these pathogens. However, Lm and Arcobacter were found in soil (13 and 7%, respectively), manure (49 and 32%, respectively), and water samples (18 and 39%, respectively) at a comparatively higher prevalence, suggesting different dynamics are involved in their survival in the farm environment. Lm and Arcobacter prevalence data, soil chemical characteristics, as well as farm practices and weather, were analyzed using structural equation modeling to identify which factors play a role, directly or indirectly, on the prevalence of these pathogens. These analyses identified an association between pathogen prevalence and weather, as well as biological soil amendments of animal origin. Increasing air temperature increased Arcobacter and decreased Lm. Lm prevalence was found to be inversely correlated with the use of surface water for irrigation, despite a high Lm prevalence in surface water suggesting other factors may play a role. Furthermore, Lm prevalence increased when the microbiome’s Simpson’s Diversity Index decreased, which occurred as soil fertility increased, leading to an indirect positive effect for soil fertility on Lm prevalence. These results suggest that pathogen, environment, and farm management practices, in addition to produce commodities, all need to be considered when developing mitigation strategies. The prevalence of Arcobacter and Lm versus the other pathogens suggests that multiple mitigation strategies may need to be employed to control these pathogens