Suchergebnisse

BACKGROUND: Rice fields in Africa are major breeding sites for malaria vectors. However, when reviewed in the 1990s, in settings where transmission was relatively intense, there was no tendency for malaria indices to be higher in villages with irrigated rice fields than in those without. Subsequently, intervention coverage in sub-Saharan Africa has been massively scaled up and malaria infection prevalence has halved. We re-examined this rice–malaria relationship to assess whether, with lower malaria transmission, malaria risk is greater in rice-growing than in non-rice-growing areas. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched EMBASE, Global Health, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science to identify observational studies published between Jan 1, 1900, and Sept 18, 2020. Studies were considered eligible if they were observational studies (cross-sectional, case-control, or cohort) comparing epidemiological or entomological outcomes of interest between people living in rice-growing and non-rice-growing rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies with pregnant women, displaced people, and military personnel as participants were excluded because they were considered not representative of a typical community. Data were extracted with use of a standardised data extraction form. The primary outcomes were parasite prevalence (P falciparum parasite rate age-standardised to 2–10-year-olds, calculated from total numbers of participants and number of infections [confirmed by microscopy or rapid diagnostic test] in each group) and clinical malaria incidence (number of diagnoses [fever with Plasmodium parasitaemia confirmed by microscopy or rapid diagnostic test] per 1000 person-days in each group). We did random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the pooled risk ratio (RR) for malaria parasite prevalence and incidence rate ratio (IRR) for clinical malaria in rice-growing versus non-rice-growing villages. RRs were compared in studies conducted before and after 2003 (chosen to mark the start of the mass ...

Abstract
Plants produce specialized metabolites with defensive properties that are often synthesized through the coordinated regulation of metabolic genes by transcription factors in various biological contexts. In this study, we investigated the regulatory function of the transcription factor PhERF1 from petunia (Petunia hybrida), which belongs to a small group of ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) family members that regulate the biosynthesis of bioactive alkaloids and terpenoids in various plant lineages. We examined the effects of transiently overexpressing PhERF1 in petunia leaves on the transcriptome and metabolome, demonstrating the production of a class of specialized steroids, petuniolides, and petuniasterones in these leaves. We also observed the activation of many metabolic genes, including those involved in sterol biosynthesis, as well as clustered genes that encode new metabolic enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 oxidoreductases, 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, and BAHD acyltransferases. Furthermore, we determined that PhERF1 transcriptionally induces downstream metabolic genes by recognizing specific cis-regulatory elements in their promoters. This study highlights the potential of evolutionarily conserved transcriptional regulators to induce the production of specialized products through transcriptional reprogramming.

PURPOSE: We investigated the cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) in women receiving governmental subsidies for assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. METHODS: Women who applied for subsidies from Saitama Prefectural Government for the first time in 2016 were enrolled and followed up until the end of 2017. Treatment information, including live birth, was obtained from the Japanese ART registry by linking it with unique identification numbers for treatment. Patients' factors associated with having a live birth were investigated. RESULTS: Of 1,072 women (2,513 applications), 495 (46.2%) had a live birth with 8 (1.6%) twin pregnancies. The CLBR over six subsidized cycles was 53.7% for women aged <40 years, and 17.2% over three subsidized cycles for women 40‐42 years; highest among women <35 years (58.4%), followed by those aged 35‐39 years (49.3%). Multivariate analysis revealed patient age as the only independent factor for having a live birth. CONCLUSIONS: The CLBR of women receiving subsidies for ART was greatest in women aged <35 years. Effective policies for promoting ART among younger couples who seek infertility treatment are essential.

BACKGROUND: Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is a globally established treatment; however, large disparities exist in ART use among young couples. We investigated regional-level factors associated with ART use in Japan. METHODS: We calculated the use rate of ART using the number of women aged <35 years who applied for government subsidies in 2017; we divided that figure by the number of women aged 20–35 years in each prefecture. Prefectural-level average household income; social capital indicators including voting rate, volunteer rate, and move-in rate; and Gini coefficients as indicators of income inequality were linked to ART use, adjusting for prefectural size, the mean age of women at first marriage, number of ART facilities, and additional prefectural subsidies. RESULTS: The rate of ART use (per 10,000 women) varied significantly from 22.0 to 58.8 across Japan's 47 prefectures. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the use rate increased by 0.048 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.007 to 0.088) for each 10,000-yen increase in average household income and 1.5 (95% CI, 0.65 to 2.3) for each 1% increase in volunteer rate. Conversely, the use rate decreased by 18.4 (95% CI, −28.6 to −8.1) for each 1% increase in the move-in rate. There was no significant association between ART use and income inequality. CONCLUSION: Although we cannot infer causal relationships, the findings suggest that improving financial access and enhancing social capital may increase access to ART. Further research, particularly multilevel analysis using individual data, is required to confirm these findings.

The Crop Nutrient Gap Project discusses their activities and outputs in this presentation; including a journal article from 2016, Can Sub-Saharan African Feed Itself? The project focuses on supplying different levels of government and the private sector in SSA with different agricultural methods and system that are sensible both from a climate change and food security perspective.