The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean

An expansive and detailed review of the biology of Caribbean amphibians, considering their threats, conservation and outlook in a changing world. Amphibians are the group of vertebrates undergoing the fastest rate of extinction; it is urgent that we understand the causes of this and find means of protecting them. This landmark illustrated volume brings together the leading experts in the field. As well as offering an overview of the region as a whole, individual chapters are devoted to each island or island-group and the measures used to protect their amphibians through legislation or nature reserves. The biological background of insular biogeography, including its methods, analysis and results, is reviewed and applied specifically to the problems of Caribbean amphibians – this includes a re-examination of patterns and general ideas about the status of amphibians in the Anthropocene. The Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean offers an important baseline against which future amphibian conservation can be measured in the face of climate change, rising sea level and a burgeoning human population.

SARS-CoV-2 variants with reduced infectivity and varied sensitivity to the BNT162b2 vaccine are developed during the course of infection

In-depth analysis of SARS-CoV-2 quasispecies is pivotal for a thorough understating of its evolution during infection. The recent deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, which elicit protective anti-spike neutralizing antibodies, has stressed the importance of uncovering and characterizing SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutated spike proteins. Sequencing databases have allowed to follow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants that are circulating in the human population, and several experimental platforms were developed to study these variants. However, less is known about the SARS-CoV-2 variants that are developed in the respiratory system of the infected individual. To gain further insight on SARS-CoV-2 mutagenesis during natural infection, we preformed single-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from nose-throat swabs of infected individuals. Interestingly, intra-host SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutated S genes or N genes were detected in all individuals who were analyzed. These intra-host variants were present in low frequencies in the swab samples and were rarely documented in current sequencing databases. Further examination of representative spike variants identified by our analysis showed that these variants have impaired infectivity capacity and that the mutated variants showed varied sensitivity to neutralization by convalescent plasma and to plasma from vaccinated individuals. Notably, analysis of the plasma neutralization activity against these variants showed that the L1197I mutation at the S2 subunit of the spike can affect the plasma neutralization activity. Together, these results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 intra-host variants should be further analyzed for a more thorough characterization of potential circulating variants.

Biosecurity and post-arrival pathways in New Zealand: relating alien organism detections to tourism indicators

Between-country tourism is established as a facilitator of the spread of invasive alien species; however, little attention has been paid to the question of whether tourism contributes to the arrival and subsequent dispersal of exotic organisms within national borders. To assess the strength of evidence that tourism is a driver for the accidental introducing and dispersal of exotic organisms, we sourced three national databases covering the years 2011 to 2017, namely international and domestic hotel guest nights and national population counts, along with records of exotic organism detections collected by the Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand’s government agency that oversees biosecurity. We fitted statistical models to assess the strength of the relationship between monthly exotic organism interception rate, guest nights and population, the latter as a baseline. The analysis showed that levels of incursion detection were significantly related to tourism records reflecting the travel of both international and domestic tourists, even when population was taken into account. There was also a significant positive statistical correlation between the levels of detection of exotic organisms and human population. The core take-home message is that a key indicator of within-country human population movement, namely the number of nights duration spent in specific accommodation, is statistically significantly correlated to the contemporaneous detection of exotic pests. We were unable to distinguish between the effects of international as opposed to domestic tourists. We conclude that this study provides evidence of impact of within-country movement upon the internal spread of exotic species, although important caveats need to be considered.

Seroprevalence and Molecular Detection of Bovine Brucellosis

Background: Brucellosis is one of the major zoonotic problems that exist worldwide. Brucellosis is clinically characterized by metritis, mastitis, repeat breeding, abortion in the last trimester of pregnancy, retention of placenta and reduced milk production in the female whereas epididymitis, orchitis and sterility in male. In humans can be highly variable, ranging from nonspecific, flu-like symptoms to undulant fever, arthritis, orchitis and epididymitis. Methods: A total of 567 bovine serum samples was taken from four districts of Brij region of UP. All the samples were processed to detection of prevalence of brucellosis by RBPT, STAT ELISA and confirmation of genes bcsp31, 16SrRNA, omp2 and IS711 by PCR. Result: The prevalence of brucellosis was found to be 07.93% (31/391), 08.69% (34/391) and 10.74% (42/391) shows positive by RBPT, STAT and I- ELISA respectively. In buffalo Out of 176 tested serum sample the seroprevalence was found to be 09.66% (17/176), 10.79% (19/176) and 12.5% (22/176) positive by RBPT, STAT and I- ELISA respectively. Out of 567 samples 18 were positive for Brucella genus specific gene. The higher prevalence of the disease in this region increases the risk of zoonotic transmission and it implies a serious threat to the human population as well as the huge impact on economy due to loss of productivity as well as loss of livestock population.

Evaluation of toxicological metal profiling in different varieties of candies from the local market of Lucknow City, India

Virtually almost everyone enjoys chocolates and candies every now and then. Usually, chocolate and candies are the most craved food among children and pregnant women. This craving kicks high during the phase of stress, anxiousness, hormonal changes or mood swings. As children and pregnant women are the most sensitive groups of human population, the presence of any kind of toxicants in their food products can raise serious health concerns. In view of this, an approach has been made to estimate the quantity of nine metals in three different variety of commonly available candies (67 samples) i.e., cocoa-chocolate based, milk based, and fruit flavored candies. Few metals were found at relatively high level in cocoa-chocolate based candies followed by milk based and fruit flavored candies. The findings of this study enlightens the international food safety and public health protection authorities to implement strict permissible limits for the presence of metals in candies. The statistical approach of m­­­ultiple discriminant analysis was also performed in this study to reverse identify the candy groups based on their inter-comparative profiling of multi-elemental contamination among similar type of candy samples which points towards stipulating stringent quality policies and establishing strict standards for manufacturing, processing, storage and transportation of candies and their raw materials.

Epigenetic Issues. The Link Between Microbiota and Gestational Diabetes.

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is considered a significant and increasing problem worldwide. The growing body of evidence points out that a hostile intrauterine environment in mothers with GDM via epigenetic mechanisms induces "diabetogenic" and "obesogenic" changes in an offspring's DNA. This sets in motion a vicious intergenerational cycle of metabolic diseases gradually deteriorating the health of the human population. One of the most important players in this process seems to be altered microbiota/microbiome. There is a chance that the identification of specific epigenetic marks may provide a key for future diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic solutions/measures in the field of person-alized medicine. Given the reversibility of most epigenetic changes, an opportunity arises to improve the long-term health of the human population/race. In this manuscript, we aim to summarize available data on epigenetic changes among women suffering from GDM and their progeny in association with changes in microbiome.

Evaluation of risk due to chronic low dose ionizing radiation exposure on the birth prevalence of congenital heart diseases (CHD) among the newborns from high-level natural radiation areas of Kerala coast, India

Background The human population residing in monazite bearing Kerala coast are exposed to chronic low dose and low dose rate external gamma radiation due to Th232 deposits in its beach sand. The radiation level in this area varies from < 1.0 to 45.0 mGy/year. This area serves as an ideal source for conducting large-scale epidemiological studies for assessing risk of low dose and low dose rate radiation exposure on human population. The areas with a dose level of ≤1.50 mGy/year are considered as normal level natural radiation areas (NLNRAs) and areas with > 1.50 mGy/year, as high level natural radiation areas (HLNRAs). HLNRAs were further stratified into three dose groups of 1.51-3.0 mGy/year, 3.01-6.00 mGy/year and > 6.0 mGy/year. The present study evaluates the effects of chronic low dose radiation (LDR) exposure on the birth prevalence of Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) among the live newborns monitored in hospital based prospective study from NLNRAs and HLNRAs of Kerala coast, India. Methodology Consecutive newborns were monitored from two hospital units located in the study area for congenital malformations. Referred CHD cases among the newborns screened were confirmed by conducting investigations such as pulse oximetry, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram etc. Results Among the newborns screened, 289 CHDs were identified with a frequency of 1.49‰ among 193,634 livebirths, which constituted 6.03% of overall malformations and 16.29% of major malformations. Multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that the risk of CHD among the newborns of mothers from HLNRAs with a dose group of 1.51-3.0 mGy/year was significantly lower as compared to NLNRA (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57-0.92), whereas it was similar in HLNRA dose groups of 3.01-6.00 mGy/year (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-1.00) and ≥ 6.0 mGy/year (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.50-1.85). The frequency of CHDs did not show any radiation dose related increasing trend. However, a significant (P = 0.005) reduction was observed in the birth prevalence of CHDs among the newborns from HLNRA (1.28‰) as compared to NLNRA (1.79‰). Conclusion Chronic LDR exposure did not show any increased risk on the birth prevalence of CHDs from high-level natural radiation areas of Kerala coast, India. No linear increasing trend was observed with respect to different background dose groups. The frequency of CHD was observed to be 1.49 per 1000 livebirths, which was similar to the frequency of severe CHD rate reported elsewhere in India and was much less than the reported frequency of 9 per thousand.

Risk Communication for Viral Hepatitis Management Among Migrants

The burden of viral hepatitis is high with huge mortality and morbidity on human population. The increasing migration of people from areas highly prevalent of viral hepatitis poses a unique threat to the healthcare systems of the host nations. The deficient universal standards for screening, vaccination, and treatment of viral hepatitis have therefore made the burden of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma to increase among migrant populations globally. This study examines the role of risk communication in managing viral hepatitis among migrants at the different levels of pre-departure phase, travel phase, destination phase, interception phase and the return phase. The study concluded on the need for concerted effort by national governments to develop a national communication policy with comprehensive risk communication strategies on viral hepatitis management among migrants.

Features of the course of coronavirus infection in patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetesmellitus, overweight and the age of a patient over 65 years old are identified by clinicians as themain factors that can complicate the course of the coronavirus infection and increase the likelihood of fatal outcome. Although in the general human population mortality from coronavirus fluctuateswithin 3–5 %, sometimes very significantly differing in individual countries, this level can reach 15–25 % among patientswith diabetes, especially for those receiving insulin therapy. Diabetes mellitus as a concomitant disease in COVID-19 is considered one of the most significant risk factors for the development of adverse outcomes due to a more severe course of infection in conditions of hyperglycemia and other aggravating factors.