Widespread distribution of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Mauritania on the interface of the Maghreb and West Africa.

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax is very rarely seen in West Africa, although specific detection methods are not widely applied in the region, and it is now considered to be absent from North Africa. However, this parasite species has recently been reported to account for most malaria cases in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, which is a large country at the interface of sub-Saharan West Africa and the Maghreb region in northwest Africa. METHODS: To determine the distribution of malaria parasite species throughout Mauritania, malaria cases were sampled in 2012 and 2013 from health facilities in 12 different areas. These sampling sites were located in eight major administrative regions of the country, within different parts of the Sahara and Sahel zones. Blood spots from finger-prick samples of malaria cases were processed to identify parasite DNA by species-specific PCR. RESULTS: Out of 472 malaria cases examined, 163 (34.5 %) had P. vivax alone, 296 (62.7 %) Plasmodium falciparum alone, and 13 (2.8 %) had mixed P. falciparum and P. vivax infection. All cases were negative for Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. The parasite species distribution showed a broad spectrum, P. vivax being detected at six of the different sites, in five of the country's major administrative regions (Tiris Zemmour, Tagant, Brakna, Assaba, and the capital Nouakchott). Most cases in Nouakchott were due to P. vivax, although proportions vary significantly among different health facilities in the city. In the northern town of Zouérat, all cases were due to P. vivax, whereas almost all cases in the south of the country were due to P. falciparum. All P. vivax cases tested were Duffy blood group positive. CONCLUSIONS: It is important that P. vivax is recognized to be a widespread cause of malaria in Mauritania, occurring in diverse regions. This should be noted by the World Health Organization, as it has significant implications for diagnosis, treatment and control of malaria in the northwestern part of Africa

Insulin-like growth factor 1 has multisystem effects on foetal and preterm infant development.

UNLABELLED: Poor postnatal growth after preterm birth does not match the normal rapid growth in utero and is associated with preterm morbidities. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis is the major hormonal mediator of growth in utero, and levels of IGF-1 are often very low after preterm birth. We reviewed the role of IGF-1 in foetal development and the corresponding preterm perinatal period to highlight the potential clinical importance of IGF-1 deficiency in preterm morbidities. CONCLUSION: There is a rationale for clinical trials to evaluate the potential benefits of IGF-1 replacement in very preterm infants.This work was supported by a European Commission FP7 project 305485 PREVENT-ROP grant to all of the authors.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.1335

Les Niayes du Littoral Nord du Senegal: Processus de Mise en Place, Salinisation des eaux Souterranies et des Sols

L’espace couvert par les Niayes fait partie des secteurs les plus fertiles du pays. Il subit actuellement un processus de dégradation des systèmes de production dont la salinisation de la nappe constitue le facteur dominant. L’objet de cette contribution est d’analyser la salinisation des eaux souterraines et des sols dans les Niayes et particulièrement dans les différents sites d’étude notamment le lac Wouye, le lac Tanma, les villages de Taré et de Darou Mboumbaye. La méthodologie déployée est essentiellement basée sur le prélèvement et l’analyse au laboratoire. Elle a permis de mesurer la salinité des sols et des eaux souterraines de la nappe des sables quaternaires en 2010 et 2018. Ainsi, les résultats démontrent une dégradation progressive des eaux d’irrigation et une faible salinité dans le complexe absorbant. Par conséquent, la quasi-totalité des terres est abandonnée dans les sites étudiés à cause de l’alcalinisation mais surtout la salinisation des eaux souterraines qui constitue la principale source d’irrigation. Ainsi, un nombre important de maraîchers a perdu une bonne partie des terres agricoles : lac Wouye (60 %), lac Tanma (50 %), Taré (40 %), Darou Mboumbaye (80 %). Si les modifications du lac Wouye et Tanma ont entrainé la perte progressive de leur valeur naturelle et des activités maraichères, les sites de Taré et de Darou Mboumbaye sont, en revanche, menacés par la migration vers le sud de la brèche ouverte sur la Langue de Barbarie. Dans ce contexte, la maitrise des modifications environnementales et de l’irrigation constitue les premiers facteurs d’amélioration de la production maraichère.   The area covered by the Niayes is one of the most fertile areas of the country. It is currently undergoing a process of degradation of the production systems of which the salinisation of the water table is the dominant factor. The purpose of this contribution is to analyze the salinization of groundwater and soils in the Niayes and particularly in the various study sites including Lake Wouye, Lake Tanma, the villages of Taré and Darou Mboumbaye. The methodology deployed, mainly based on sampling and laboratory analysis, made it possible to measure the salinity of the soils and groundwater of the quaternary sands table in 2010 and 2018. The results show a gradual degradation of irrigation water and a low salinity in the absorbent complex. Consequently, almost all of the land is abandoned in the sites studied because of alkalinization but above all the salinization of groundwater which constitutes the main source of irrigation. A number of market gardeners have lost a good part of their land (Lake Wouye 60 %, Lake Tanma 50 %, Taré 40 %, Darou Mboumbaye 80 %). If the modifications of Lake Wouye and Tanma have led to the gradual loss of their natural value and market gardening activities, the sites of Taré and Darou Mboumbaye are, on the other hand, threatened by the migration to the south of the breach opened on the Langue de Barbarie. Therefore, controlling irrigation is the first factor in improving market gardening production

Diarrhea in young children from low-income countries leads to large-scale alterations in intestinal microbiota composition

Acknowledgments This work was funded in part by the William and Melinda Gates Foundation, award 42917 to JPN and OCS; US National Institutes of Health grants 5R01HG005220 to HCB, 5R01HG004885 to MP; US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award DGE0750616 to JNP; AWW and JP are funded by The Wellcome Trust (Grant No. WT098051).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Automated insertion and testing of ads

App developers seek to optimize the number, format, placement, and combination of ads to be served a given user. However, they often don’t know which placements, numbers, or formats are the most effective. Running tests to determine optimal ad combinations to a given user is cumbersome and time-consuming. This disclosure presents analytical techniques to display ads in a variety of formats and measure the efficacy of the ad in terms of, e.g., ad-time vs. app-time; numbers of ads shown; time since last ad; attrition of users; etc. The analytical techniques determine which ads to show based on statistics that optimize the lifetime value of users. Statistics generated by the techniques herein can be used by app developers to drive particular app behavior, e.g., the design of ad units that reduce attrition

Towards precision inputs through improved understanding of the underlying causes of in-field variation in lettuce crop maturity and yield

In-field variability in the yield of the mature lettuce heads affects the efficiency of a single-pass harvest. Heads that do not acquire the target weight range and quality at harvest result in crop wastage. Understanding the overall causes of this variability may inform targeted solutions for improving yield uniformity. Examining the potential for using current tools in precision farming, such as soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) scans and geographic information systems may help identifying the effects of soil heterogeneity on this variation. This in turn will support the making of precision management decisions. The central hypothesis for this study was that there are underlying physiological and edaphic factors that control the spatial variability in lettuce fields. Five field experiments and four glasshouse experiments were conducted between 2014 and 2017. Scans of ECa identified field zones of difference in both yield and soil. Zones varied statistically in clay content, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, as well as, plant fresh weights 35 days after planting and at harvest. However, the underlying variation in ECa did not explain this difference. Grid sampling studies showed that lettuce yield varied spatially but not seasonally, and that bulk density was the strongest predictor for lettuce yield for two successive crops. The results of field studies suggest that in-field variation in lettuce yield is mainly derived by soil type and soil physical properties such as bulk density, the mineral fraction of the soil texture, organic matter and soil profile. Glasshouse studies explored the effect of transplant dissimilarities on the variation in plant growth after transplanting. Transplant weights and sizes varied considerably within trays and this variation amplified 14 days after planting. Furthermore, variations in transplant orientations and depth at transplanting affected significantly the quality and the quantity of the final yield. Glasshouse studies suggest that a considerable proportion of the variation in lettuce yield is a result of dissimilarity in transplant sizes at the propagation stage and farming practices during transplanting ECa scans helped identifying different soil zones within the studied field and enabled targeted soil sampling which revealedsignificant variations in soil properties and lettuce yield. Variable field zones could be identified using soil EC scans, maps of soil properties, as well as the yield maps. Field areas that varied in EC ranges varied statistically in soil texture and major nutrients.And whilst lettuce yield in this study varied spatially and not temporally. It was also found that there is a proportion of the variation in lettuce yield starting at early stages of growth, before and at the transplanting in the field. Bulk density was the strongest predictor for both yields of lettuce. The suggested role for organic matter in the variability of the yield was supported by the glasshouse experiments

Les Niayes du Littoral Nord du Senegal: Processus de Mise en Place, Salinisation des eaux Souterranies et des Sols

L’espace couvert par les Niayes fait partie des secteurs les plus fertiles du pays. Il subit actuellement un processus de dégradation des systèmes de production dont la salinisation de la nappe constitue le facteur dominant. L’objet de cette contribution est d’analyser la salinisation des eaux souterraines et des sols dans les Niayes et particulièrement dans les différents sites d’étude notamment le lac Wouye, le lac Tanma, les villages de Taré et de Darou Mboumbaye. La méthodologie déployée est essentiellement basée sur le prélèvement et l’analyse au laboratoire. Elle a permis de mesurer la salinité des sols et des eaux souterraines de la nappe des sables quaternaires en 2010 et 2018. Ainsi, les résultats démontrent une dégradation progressive des eaux d’irrigation et une faible salinité dans le complexe absorbant. Par conséquent, la quasi-totalité des terres est abandonnée dans les sites étudiés à cause de l’alcalinisation mais surtout la salinisation des eaux souterraines qui constitue la principale source d’irrigation. Ainsi, un nombre important de maraîchers a perdu une bonne partie des terres agricoles : lac Wouye (60 %), lac Tanma (50 %), Taré (40 %), Darou Mboumbaye (80 %). Si les modifications du lac Wouye et Tanma ont entrainé la perte progressive de leur valeur naturelle et des activités maraichères, les sites de Taré et de Darou Mboumbaye sont, en revanche, menacés par la migration vers le sud de la brèche ouverte sur la Langue de Barbarie. Dans ce contexte, la maitrise des modifications environnementales et de l’irrigation constitue les premiers facteurs d’amélioration de la production maraichère.   The area covered by the Niayes is one of the most fertile areas of the country. It is currently undergoing a process of degradation of the production systems of which the salinisation of the water table is the dominant factor. The purpose of this contribution is to analyze the salinization of groundwater and soils in the Niayes and particularly in the various study sites including Lake Wouye, Lake Tanma, the villages of Taré and Darou Mboumbaye. The methodology deployed, mainly based on sampling and laboratory analysis, made it possible to measure the salinity of the soils and groundwater of the quaternary sands table in 2010 and 2018. The results show a gradual degradation of irrigation water and a low salinity in the absorbent complex. Consequently, almost all of the land is abandoned in the sites studied because of alkalinization but above all the salinization of groundwater which constitutes the main source of irrigation. A number of market gardeners have lost a good part of their land (Lake Wouye 60 %, Lake Tanma 50 %, Taré 40 %, Darou Mboumbaye 80 %). If the modifications of Lake Wouye and Tanma have led to the gradual loss of their natural value and market gardening activities, the sites of Taré and Darou Mboumbaye are, on the other hand, threatened by the migration to the south of the breach opened on the Langue de Barbarie. Therefore, controlling irrigation is the first factor in improving market gardening production

La Mort, une constante chez MALLARMÉ

Résumé : Chez Mallarmé, le thème de la mort est récurrent dans son œuvre poétique. De par la fécondité de l’écriture et du caractère symbolique du thème, le poète y déploie toute la ferveur de verbe. Découlant d’une existence triste et morose, la mort quand elle frappe laisse la place à la tristesse, le chagrin et la désolation, créant ainsi un grand vide, un néant que le poète tente de restaurer dans la poésie. Ainsi, l’abondance des « Tombeaux » et de tous les poèmes qui abordent cette thématique funeste témoignent de cette volonté de prendre sa revanche sur l’existence décevante dans l’écriture, mais aussi d’assurer une sorte de triomphe et de pérennité de la vie (de ses héros) dans un-au-delà post-mortem. Donc, de la mort métaphorique (Tombeau), en passant par le suicide, à la mort symbolique et spirituelle (mort divine, mort symbolique et résurrection du poète), l’écriture poétique se construit et se déconstruit dans la dialectique du rêve et de la réalité, du profane et du sacré, de l’idéalisme et du symbolisme dans un foisonnement verbal et visuel, multidimensionnel. Mots-clés : symbolisme, mort, écriture, suicide, métaphore