Feline sporotrichosis

Over the past two decades, many Brazilian cities have been reporting an increasing incidence and spread of feline sporotrichosis. The disease is neglected, and little is known about the causal processes underlying its epidemic occurrence. This study characterized the spatiotemporal dynamics of feline sporotrichosis in Guarulhos. Moreover, we proposed and tested a causal explanation for its occurrence and zoonotic transmission, giving a key role to social vulnerability. A direct acyclic graph represented the causal explanation, while Bayesian spatial models supported its test as well as the attribution of a risk-based priority index to the census tracts of the city. Between 2011 and 2017, the disease grew exponentially and the spatial spread increased. The model findings showed a dose-response pattern between an index of social vulnerability and the incidence of feline sporotrichosis. This pattern was not strictly monotonic, so some census tracts received a higher priority index than others with higher vulnerability. According to our causal explanation, there will not be effective prevention of feline and zoonotic sporotrichosis as long as social inequities continue imposing precarious livelihoods.

How West African countries prioritize health

Background The goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to ensure that everyone is able to obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship. UHC remains a mirage if government health expenditure is not improved. Health priority refers to general government health expenditure as a percentage of general government expenditure. It indicates the priority of the government to spend on healthcare from its domestic public resources. Our study aimed to assess health priorities in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using the health priority index from the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database. Method We extracted and analysed data on health priority in the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database across the 15 members of the ECOWAS (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) from 2010 to 2018 to assess how these countries prioritize health. The data are presented using descriptive statistics. Results Our findings revealed that no West African country beats the cutoff of a minimum of 15% health priority index. Ghana (8.43%), Carbo Verde (8.29%), and Burkina Faso (7.60%) were the top three countries with the highest average health priority index, while Guinea (3.05%), Liberia (3.46%), and Guinea-Bissau (3.56%) had the lowest average health priority in the West African region within the period of our analysis (2010 to 2018). Conclusion Our study reiterates the need for West African governments and other relevant stakeholders to prioritize health in their political agenda towards achieving UHC.

A Systematic Technique to Prioritization of Biodiversity Conservation Approaches in Nigeria

There are generally no acceptable views on the conservation of biodiversity because there are no known best approaches to that. This has presented a challenge on what and how to conserve in developing countries like Nigeria. This paper used a multi-criteria decision-making model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to elicit experts’ opinions on biodiversity conservation approaches and their corresponding conservation targets. The rationality of the experts was checked by measuring their consistency in the decision-making process. A greedy search algorithm based on linear programming application was also used for resource allocation. This technique is holistic and allows the decision maker to consider all pertinent factors. The approach allows policy makers to integrate worldviews; culture; diverse flexibility of concerned communities and other stakeholders in identifying conservation practices to achieve sustainability. In terms of current performance for the biodiversity conservation approaches; the conservation experts rated their performance on Ecosystem-service-based approach high with the priority index of 0.460. Their performances on Area- and Species-based approaches are ranked second and third with priority indexes of 0.288 and 0.252 respectively. Conversely; in the case of expectations; Ecosystem service is the most important with a priority index of 0.438 followed by Area-based with a priority index of 0.353 and Species–based with a priority index of 0.209. The Ecosystem-service based approach has the highest contribution coefficient. Resources are allocated accordingly; in form of capacity building; based on the priorities that were obtained. The research is a rights-based tool for capacity building; and a paradigm shift from the purely scientific approach to decision-making. It is designed to bridge a scientific gap between policy formulation and resource allocation in biodiversity conservation.

Prioritization of Noise Control Solutions in an Oil Refinery Using the Noise Control Priority Index

Background: It is essential to decide on where to allocate available resources and identify priorities in noise control. Objectives: This study was performed to prioritize noise control solutions in various units of an oil refinery using the noise control priority index (NCPI). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an oil refinery in 2019. The standard of ISO 91612 was applied in the first stage to assess workplaces and determine the values of the noise pressure level (SPL). The activity of stations and the duration of workers’ presence in these stations were determined via interviews with the supervisors and senior personnel of each unit. The NCPI value in various units was determined using three variables, including the number of exposed people, exposure duration, and the weighting factor related to the sound pressure level (SPL). Finally, units were prioritized based on the final NCPI value. Results: Totally, 10 units were assessed based on the ISO9612 standard. The results revealed that 8.09% of the assessed stations were in the safe zone, 62.24% in the warning zone, and 29.66% in the hazard zone. The highest noise emission was related to the NTA unit (98 dB), and the lowest noise emission was observed in the spherical reservoir unit (84 dB). The NTA unit with 12 workers had the highest noise control priority index (1.25) among the units. Conclusions: The NCPI index makes it possible to appropriately prioritize noise control solutions in various industrial units and also implement technical and noise control plans in the oil and gas industries.

Identifying Novel Psoriatic Disease Drug Targets Using a Genetics-Based Priority Index Pipeline

Background: Despite numerous genome-wide association studies conducted in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, only a small fraction of the identified genes has been therapeutically targeted. Objective: We sought to identify and analyze potential therapeutic targets for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using the priority index (Pi), a genetics-dependent drug target prioritization approach. Methods: Significant genetic variants from GWAS for psoriasis, PsA, and combined psoriatic disease were annotated and run through the Pi pipeline. Potential drug targets were identified based on genomic predictors, annotation predictors, pathway enrichment, and pathway crosstalk. Results: Several gene targets were identified for psoriasis and PsA that demonstrated biological associations to their respective diseases. Some are currently being explored as potential therapeutic targets (i.e. ICAM1, NF-kB, REV3 L, ADRA1B for psoriasis; CCL11 for PsA); others have not yet been investigated (i.e. LNPEP, LCE3 for psoriasis; UBLCP1 for PsA). Additionally, many nodal points of potential intervention were identified as promising therapeutic targets. Of these, some are currently being studied such as TYK2 for psoriasis, and others have yet to be explored (i.e. PPP2CA, YAP1, PI3 K, AKT, FOXO1, RELA, CSF2, IFNGR1, IFNGR2 for psoriasis; GNAQ, PLCB1, GNAI2 for PsA). Conclusion: Through Pi, we identified data-driven candidate therapeutic gene targets and pathways for psoriasis and PsA. Given the sparse PsA specific genetic studies and PsA specific drug targets, this analysis could prove to be particularly valuable in the pipeline for novel psoriatic therapies.

Penentuan Tingkat Kritikalitas Peralatan Pembangkit Dengan Metode Equipment Criticality Management Dalam Rangka Penentuan Prioritas Pemeliharaan

The criticality level of equipment used at PT PLN (Pesero) power plants at present is using the Maintenance Priority Index (MPI) method. The calculation for the criticality rating of MPI equipment uses 4 (four) types of calculations, namely SCR, OCR, ACR and AFPF. To add to the consideration in determining the priority of equipment maintenance, an additional calculation of the criticality level of PLTU Tarahan equipment is carried out using the Equipment Criticality Management method. The Equipment Criticality Management method has 4 (four) assessment perspectives, namely Production, Safety, Environment and Equipment Failure. Calculations that have been carried out on the top 100 (one hundred) equipment in the PLTU Tarahan SERP using the Equipment Criticality Management method, there are 85 (eight five) equipment that has “High” criticality and 15 (fifteen) equipment in the “Medium” criticality category. 15 (fifteen) equipment that has “Medium” criticality is equipment that has backup and part of common generating equipment.

Using the novel priority index in prioritizing the selection of inland water bodies for site-based fish species conservation

Freshwater ecosystems occupy <1% of the Earth’s total surface area but provide an array of ecosystem services. However, these ecosystems are threatened by multiple stressors, including overexploitation, infrastructure developments, habitat alteration, and alien species introductions. The magnitude of these threats varies in different water bodies, requiring site-based conservation actions. In this paper, we aimed at developing a priority index (CPIw) that can be used to inform conservation managers in prioritizing the selection of a waterbody for site-based fish conservation purposes. We used data on distribution, diversity, and conservation status of fishes of Uganda, which were retrieved from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and International Union Conservation for Nature (IUCN) databases. In the index, we incorporated the species richness, surface area of a waterbody, species rarity, and species IUCN status. A total of 288 fish species were recorded in 81 waterbodies (7 large lakes, 37 small lakes, and 37 rivers). Of these species, 110 were only found in large lakes, followed by rivers (19) and small lakes (6). Despite the higher species richness in large lakes relative to small lakes, the latter recorded significantly higher CPIw compared with the former (t = −2.8, df = 30, p-value = 0.008, d=0.7). This observation is consistent with the expectation, given the low ecological substitutability for the species and higher levels of exposure to human-induced threats in small water bodies compared with large systems. Therefore, we suggest that in situations where resources are limiting, small water bodies need to be given much attention, although we do not suggest ignoring water bodies with low CPIw values.