scholarly journals Local Virus Extinctions following a Host Population Bottleneck

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (16) ◽  
pp. 8152-8161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrix Kapusinszky ◽  
Usha Mulvaney ◽  
Anna J. Jasinska ◽  
Xutao Deng ◽  
Nelson Freimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Population Bottleneck ◽  
Host Population ◽  
West African ◽  
Founder Population ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Green Monkeys

ABSTRACTA small number of African green monkeys (AGMs) were introduced into the Caribbean from West Africa in the 1600s. To determine the impact of this population bottleneck on the AGM virome, we used metagenomics to compare the viral nucleic acids in the plasma of 43 wild AGMs from West Africa (Gambia) to those in 44 AGMs from the Caribbean (St. Kitts and Nevis). Three viruses were detected in the blood of Gambian primates: simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVagm; in 42% of animals), a novel simian pegivirus (SPgVagm; in 7% of animals), and numerous novel simian anelloviruses (in 100% of animals). Only anelloviruses were detected in the Caribbean AGMs with a prevalence and levels of viral genetic diversity similar to those in the Gambian animals. A host population bottleneck therefore resulted in the exclusion of adult-acquired SIV and pegivirus from the Caribbean AGMs. The successful importation of AGM anelloviruses into the Caribbean may be the result of their early transmission to infants, very high prevalence in African AGMs, and frequent coinfections with as many as 11 distinct variants.IMPORTANCEThe extent to which viruses can persist in small isolated populations depends on multiple host, viral, and environmental factors. The absence of prior infections may put an immunologically naive population at risk for disease outbreaks. Isolated populations originating from a small number of founder individuals are therefore considered at increased risk following contact with populations with a greater variety of viruses. Here, we compared the plasma virome of West African green monkeys to that in their descendants after importation of a small number of animals to the Caribbean. A lentivirus and a pegivirus were found in the West African population but not in the Caribbean population. Highly diverse anelloviruses were found in both populations. A small founder population, limited to infants and young juvenile monkeys, may have eliminated the sexually transmitted viruses from the Caribbean AGMs, while anelloviruses, acquired at an earlier age, persisted through the host population bottleneck.

scholarly journals A Synoptic Review of Forestry and Forest Products Trade and Production in Africa- The Case of Wood and Non-Wood Forest Products in West Africa

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Adekunle Adesina ◽  
Zhu Jiangang ◽  
Tang Xiaolan
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
West African ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Impact Reduction ◽  
The Impact

According to this study, approximately half of Africa's forests are utilized primarily or partially for the production of wood and non-wood commodities. Aims to evaluate Africa's forestry and forest products, namely Wood Forest Products (WFPs) and Non-wood Forest Products (NWFPs) in the sixteen (16) West African countries. While adhering to the following guidelines: wood extraction and preparation, analyzing wood primarily used as an energy source in Africa, identifying non-wood forest products in Africa, the state of export, trade, and customs procedures in West Africa, and examining the role of forests and forest stakeholders in Africa's low-carbon economy transition. An exploratory literature review of selected wood forest products and non-wood forest products (plants and animals) in West Africa identifying the country, the natural land area with the natural habitat issues of the forest, the species most harvested and traded in the West African sub-region. The study reemphasized some government legislation, policies, and market trade failures and limitations while also stating that trees may help in the low-carbon revolution through interventions aimed at maintaining, improving, and restoring natural capital have demonstrated that high environmental requirements of sustainable forest management (SFM) may be met in both natural and planted forests. The study identified a systematic assessment of the most common forest products (wood and non-wood forest products) considering the available data on the national forest reserves of the selected countries in West Africa. The study also revealed the need for biodiversity conservation of the available forest reserves to help mitigate the impact of global warming targeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 13- Climate Action. Which is focused on integrating climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning signs into the national policies, improving forest planning and management education, awareness-raising, and institutional capacity within the sub-region.

Pre-Mesozoic origin and paleogeography of blocks in the Caribbean, South Appalachian and West African domains and their impact on the post “variscan” evolution

2013 ◽  
Vol 184 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Villeneuve ◽  
Boris Marcaillou
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
West African ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Western Sahara ◽  
The North ◽  
Gondwana Margin ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
North American Craton

Abstract New geodynamical data from West Africa bring consistent informations on the pre-Mesozoic reconstruction within a large area running from the western Sahara to the Colombian cordillera. These new data support a Neoproterozoic Ocean (WANO) between the Amazonian (AMC) and West African (WAC) cratons previously to the Iapetus and Rheic oceans. We delineate 31 blocs detached from the surrounding three continents: NAC (North American Craton), AMC and WAC. 7 came from the WAC margin, 7 from the NAC, 6 from the AMC and 11 from an intermediate volcano sedimentary domain (COB) built on a 1200–1000 Ma oceanic crust. These imbricated blocks formed a tight mosaic by the Hercynian/Alleghanian tectonic event which gave way to the Pangea super-continent. But, during the Atlantic Ocean opening these blocks began to move. They were separated by new oceanic basins. However, previously to the Pangea, blocks from the COB domain formed two sets of garlands located on the northwestern Gondwana margin. The northern one moved to the North until the Silurian to collide the NAC (Taconic tectonic event) meanwhile the southern one remains on the Gondwana margin. All together were gathered by the Carboniferous/Permian time. Then, the framework for the opening of the Atlantic Ocean was not totally disconnected from the “Variscan” collage and many variscan weakness zones were re-used as initial breaking zones. Beyond this tectonic impact, the pre-mesozoic assemblage allows us to compare this “Caribbean” island arc with another one: the Indonesian “Banda” arc. Thus, West Africa is a geological key area for correlations between the Caribbean, the Appalachian, the Brazilian “Nordeste” and the West European domains and for the understanding of the Atlantic Ocean opening process.

scholarly journals Leptospira Infection in African Green Monkeys in an Endemic Area: An Opportunity for Comparative Studies in a Natural Environment

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sreekumari Rajeev ◽  
Pompei Bolfa ◽  
Kanae Shiokawa ◽  
Amy Beierschmitt ◽  
Roberta Palmour
Keyword(s):  
Interstitial Nephritis ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Renal Pathology ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Small Surface ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Green Monkeys

This study was performed to investigate the potential asymptomatic Leptospira reservoir status among African green monkeys (AGMs) in the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts, and whether there is any renal pathology associated with Leptospira exposure. Forty-eight percent of AGMs tested were positive for Leptospira antibodies by the microscopic agglutination test. Leptospira DNA was detected in 4% of kidney samples tested using a lipl32 gene based PCR. We observed minimal to severe microscopic renal lesions in 85% of the AGM kidneys evaluated. The majority of the AGMs (n = 26) had only minimal to mild interstitial nephritis and a few (n = 3) had moderate to severe lesions. The presence of interstitial nephritis was not significantly associated with Leptospira exposure. The presence of infected AGMs in a small surface limited geographic region may pose zoonotic threat to humans and animals. The impact of Leptospira infection in renal pathology in AGMs warrants further investigation. AGMs residing in a natural setting in an insular, surface limited Leptospira endemic geographic region may offer opportunities for comparative studies to advance the field of leptospirosis. Due to their similarity to humans, such studies in AGMs may also provide translational opportunities to advance Leptospira research.

Some social and phenomenological characteristics of psychotic immigrants

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Littlewood ◽  
Maurice Lipsedge
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Study ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
West Indian ◽  
Married Women ◽  
West African ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Psychiatric Unit ◽  
The West ◽  
The Caribbean

SynopsisVarious studies have shown: (i) increased rates of psychoses in immigrants to Britain, and a particularly high rate of schizophrenia in the West Indian- and West African-born; and (ii) a greater proportion of atypical psychoses in immigrants. A retrospective study of psychotic inpatients from a London psychiatric unit demonstrated increased rates of schizophrenia in patients from the Caribbean and West Africa. These patients included a high proportion of those with paranoid and religious phenomenology, those with frequent changes of diagnosis, formal admissions, and married women. The West Indian-born had been in Britain for nearly 10 years before first seeing a psychiatrist and, if they had an illness with religious symptomatology, were likely to have been in hospital for only 3 weeks. Rates of schizophrenia without paranoid phenomenology were similar in each ethnic group. It is suggested that the increase in the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the West Indian- born, and possibly in the West African-born, may be due in part to the occurrence of acute psychotic reactions which are diagnosed as schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Modeling gas exchange and biomass production in West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecological zones

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 3789-3812
Author(s):  
Jaber Rahimi ◽  
Expedit Evariste Ago ◽  
Augustine Ayantunde ◽  
Sina Berger ◽  
Jan Bogaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
West African ◽  
Biogeochemical Model ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mean Square Errors

Abstract. West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecosystems provide essential services to people and also play a significant role within the global carbon cycle. However, climate and land use are dynamically changing, and uncertainty remains with respect to how these changes will affect the potential of these regions to provide food and fodder resources or how they will affect the biosphere–atmosphere exchange of CO2. In this study, we investigate the capacity of a process-based biogeochemical model, LandscapeDNDC, to simulate net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and aboveground biomass of typical managed and natural Sahelian and Sudanian savanna ecosystems. In order to improve the simulation of phenology, we introduced soil-water availability as a common driver of foliage development and productivity for all of these systems. The new approach was tested by using a sample of sites (calibration sites) that provided NEE from flux tower observations as well as leaf area index data from satellite images (MODIS, MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). For assessing the simulation accuracy, we applied the calibrated model to 42 additional sites (validation sites) across West Africa for which measured aboveground biomass data were available. The model showed good performance regarding biomass of crops, grass, or trees, yielding correlation coefficients of 0.82, 0.94, and 0.77 and root-mean-square errors of 0.15, 0.22, and 0.12 kg m−2, respectively. The simulations indicate aboveground carbon stocks of up to 0.17, 0.33, and 0.54 kg C ha−1 m−2 for agricultural, savanna grasslands, and savanna mixed tree–grassland sites, respectively. Carbon stocks and exchange rates were particularly correlated with the abundance of trees, and grass biomass and crop yields were higher under more humid climatic conditions. Our study shows the capability of LandscapeDNDC to accurately simulate carbon balances in natural and agricultural ecosystems in semiarid West Africa under a wide range of conditions; thus, the model could be used to assess the impact of land-use and climate change on the regional biomass productivity.

The Sacred Language of the Abakuá

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-368
Author(s):  
Lydia Cabrera
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Lydia Cabrera ◽  
African Institution

This chapter is a translation of the introduction and over 6,000 entries of Abakuá ritual jargon created by Lydia Cabrera from 1938–1959 in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba. Many entries have new commentaries by living Abakuá specialists to clarify obscure issues in the original material. The entries refer to the foundation of Abakuá in West Africa centuries ago, with reference to historical figures in the port of Calabar. They also refer to important Abakuá specialists in Cuba and the adaptation of this West African institution to the Caribbean context.

scholarly journals Characterizing risk of Ebola transmission based on frequency and type of case–contact exposures

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1721) ◽  
pp. 20160301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Skrip ◽  
Mosoka P. Fallah ◽  
Stephen G. Gaffney ◽  
Rami Yaari ◽  
Dan Yamin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
West African ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
High Transmission ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Source Case ◽  
Risk Of Exposure

During the initial months of the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic, rapid geographical dissemination and intense transmission challenged response efforts across West Africa. Contextual behaviours associated with increased risk of exposure included travel to high-transmission settings, caring for sick and preparing the deceased for traditional funerals. Although such behaviours are widespread in West Africa, high-transmission pockets were observed. Superspreading and clustering are typical phenomena in infectious disease outbreaks, as a relatively small number of transmission chains are often responsible for the majority of events. Determining the characteristics of contacts at greatest risk of developing disease and of cases with greatest transmission potential could therefore help curb propagation of infection. Our analysis of contact tracing data from Montserrado County, Liberia, suggested that the probability of transmission was 4.5 times higher for individuals who were reported as having contact with multiple cases. The probability of individuals developing disease was not significantly associated with age or sex of their source case but was higher when they were in the same household as the infectious case. Surveillance efforts for rapidly identifying symptomatic individuals and effectively messaged campaigns encouraging household members to bring the sick to designated treatment centres without administration of home care could mitigate transmission. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.

From Sail to Steam: the Impact of the Steamship Services on the British Palm Oil Trade with West Africa, 1850–1890.

1989 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lynn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
West African ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Important Impact ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
The Impact

In the late nineteenth century the West African palm oil trade entered a period of difficulties, characterized mainly by a fall in prices from the early 1860s. Part of the reason for this lay in the introduction of regular steamship services between Britain and West Africa from 1852. As steam came to replace sail so the palm oil trade underwent major changes. These changes can be quantified fairly precisely. One effect of the introduction of steamers was the concentration of the British side of the oil trade once again on Liverpool, its original centre. Another effect was the increase in the number of West African ports involved in the trade. The most important impact was the increase in numbers of traders in oil trade from around 25 to some 150. The resulting increased competition in the trade led to amal-gamations becoming increasingly common – a process that culminated in the formation of the African Association Ltd in 1889. It was also to provide the context for the pressure exerted by some traders for an increased colonial presence in the 1880s and 1890s.

Rethinking the Impact of Structural Adjustment Programs on Human Rights Violations in West Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotsmart Fonjong
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
West African ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programs ◽  
Liberalization Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Public Demonstrations ◽  
Country Specific

Abstract In this article I argue that the worsening human rights situation of West Africa in the early 1990s was largely the creation of the structural adjustment policies (SAP) of the IMF/World Bank. The austerity measures implemented through SAP plunged the region into hardship, forcing the population to demand better living conditions through public demonstrations and protests. Attempts by the West African states to contain protesters led to further human rights abuses. The implementation of a common liberalization policy across board without taking into account the specificities of each country was counterproductive. In fact, some of the excesses recorded could have been avoided if SAPs had been country specific and human rights-based.

scholarly journals The Role of Finding Out in Type 2 Diabetes Management among West-African Immigrants Living in the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 6037
Author(s):  
Folashade Alloh ◽  
Ann Hemingway ◽  
Angela Turner-Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Diabetes Management ◽  
African Immigrants ◽  
West African ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
The Uk ◽  
West African Immigrants ◽  
The Impact

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) prevalence is three times higher among West African Immigrants compared to the general population in the UK. The challenges of managing T2DM among this group have resulted in complications. Reports have highlighted the impact of migration on the health of the immigrant population, and this has contributed to the need to understand the influence of living in West Africa, and getting diagnosed with T2DM, in the management of their condition in the UK. Using a qualitative constructivist grounded theory approach, thirty-four West African immigrants living in the UK were recruited for this study. All participants were interviewed using Semi-structured interviews. After coding transcripts, concepts emerged including noticing symptoms, delayed diagnosis, affordability of health services, beliefs about health, feelings at diagnosis, and emotions experienced at diagnosis all contribute to finding out about diagnosis T2DM. These factors were linked to living in West Africa, among participants, and played significant roles in managing T2DM in the UK. These concepts were discussed under finding out as the overarching concept. Findings from this study highlight important aspects of T2DM diagnosis and how lived experiences, of living in West Africa and the UK, contribute to managing T2DM among West African immigrants. The findings of this study can be valuable for healthcare services supporting West African immigrants living in the UK.

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