Snapshot of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Phylogenetics from an Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh Bordering China

Uncontrolled transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis, MTB) drug resistant strains is a challenge to control efforts of global tuberculosis programme. Due to increasing multi-drug resistant (MDR) cases in Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern state of India, the tracking and tracing of these resistant MTB strains is crucial for infection control and spread of drug resistance. This study aims to correlate the phenotypic DST, genomic DST (gDST) and phylogenetic analysis of MDR-MTB strains in the region. Of total 200 suspected MDR-MTB isolates, 125(62.5%) were identified as MTB. MGIT-960 SIRE DST detected 71/125(56.8%) isolates as MDR/RR-MTB of which 22(30.9%) were detected resistant to second line drugs. Whole genome sequencing of 65 isolates and their gDST found Ser315Thr mutation in katG (35/45;77.8%) and Ser531Leu mutation in rpoB (21/41;51.2%) associated with drug resistance. SNP barcoding categorized the dataset with Lineage2 (41;63.1%) being predominant followed by Lineage3 (10;15.4%), Lineage1 (8;12.3%) and Lineage4 (6;9.2%) respectively. Phylogenetic assignment by cgMLST gave insights of two Beijing sub-lineages viz; 2.2.1 (SNP difference < 19) and 2.2.1.2 (SNP difference < 9) associated with recent ongoing transmission in Arunachal Pradesh. This study provides first insight in identifying the ongoing transmission of two virulent Beijing sub-lineages associated with TB drug resistance.

“Small Fires Causing Large Fires”: The rise of Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria and its Transnational Posture in the Lake Chad Basin

The Islamist group, Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’wati wal Jihad, translated as “people committed to the propagation of the Prophet’s teachings and jihad”, is commonly known as Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden.” It originated in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno in 2002, but its violence extends into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger in the Lake Chad Basin. This article provides an overview of the factors that led to the emergence of Boko Haram, its resort to violence, and rapid expansion in the Lake Chad Basin. The article argues that the Boko Haram insurgency is the result of the combination of overlapping and self-complementing factors. The similarity of these factors across Nigeria’s neighboring countries in the Lake Chad Basin has led to the rapid escalation of Boko Haram’s conflict.

Mission Impossible? Challenging Police Credibility in Suppression Motions

Suppression motions are the means by which defendants challenge the constitutionality of stops, searches, and seizures, and move the court to exclude illegally recovered evidence. However, defendants face insurmountable obstacles in challenging police credibility in these motions. Using 31 motions with factual disputes from a northeastern state, we dissect the types of defense challenges related to stops, searches, seizures, and arrests, as well as the prevalence and types of corroborating evidence presented by the defense. We find that most defense challenges to police credibility are not corroborated, and evidence of prior police misconduct is not presented. Furthermore, judges typically rule in favor of the police when adjudicating uncorroborated factual disputes between police officers and defendants. As a result, suppression motions generally fail to serve as an accountability structure for police conduct and rarely provide defendants with a viable remedy to address rights violations.

Melioidosis in Northeastern State of Malaysia: Spatial Analysis of Cases and Sequence Types

Melioidosis is caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei which can be found in water and soil, as well as in animals. This study was carried out to study the spatial distributions of the cases and their sequence types (ST) from the isolates. The cases were taken from the Hospital USM admission records from the years 2014 to 2019. There were 70 cases which from these cases 33 bacterial isolates were included in this study. Multi-locus Sequence Typing (MLST) was performed to the isolates. As the results, six novel STs were discovered. The cases were found to be clustered and concentrated in the northern part of the state. This study had revealed 15 different STs however, the predominant variant, ST371 (n=6) were found to be distributed in a dispersed manner. Meanwhile, the novel STs were found distributed sporadically in few districts of the state.

REPRODUCTION AND RECRUITMENT OF THE BROWN SHRIMP Penaeus subtilis IN THE AMAZON RIVER CONTINENTAL SHELF

This paper analyzes the pattern of the reproduction and recruitment of the pink shrimp Penaeus subtilis in the Amazon River continental shelf. Biostatistics samples obtained on board of industrial fishing vessels and in the estuaries of the northeastern state of Para were use in the analysis as well as monthly data on landings processed by commercial category. The sex ratio, for female and male respectively, was 61% to 39%, in the samples of commercial fishery, and 54% to 46%, in the samples of the estuary. The size at first maturity of females was estimated at 142.6 mm. The period of highest intensity of reproductive activity ranges from May to September. The settlement of post-larvae and residence period of juveniles in the estuary occurs with more intensity between June and September and the period of highest intensity of recruitment to the fishing areas begins in September extending until January of the following year. The main period of developing and maturing of the individuals ranges from November to July. It was observed a strong relationship between the hydrological cycle in the region, mainly the flow of Amazon River, and the life cycle of the species. Keywords: brown shrimp, sexual maturity, reproduction period, juvenile recruitment, Amazon.

Herpetofauna of Matas de Água Azul, an Atlantic Forest remnant in Serra do Mascarenhas, Pernambuco state, Brazil

The northern most portion of Atlantic Forest is currently considered as the most vulnerable and threatened in this ecoregion, while also harboring the ecoregion’s least studied biota. Herein we present results of a herpetofaunistic survey in Refúgio de Vida Silvestre (Wildlife Refuge) Matas de Água Azul (RVSMAA), in the mountain range Serra do Mascarenhas, northeastern state of Pernambuco, Brazil, one of the largest forest remnants in the northern Atlantic Forest. The sampling was carried out in four expeditions using methods of visual searching and pitfall traps. A total of 43 species of amphibians and 40 species of reptiles were registered, including anurans, caecilians, lizards, snakes and chelonians. The richness recorded represented 56% of amphibians and 20% of reptiles registered in the Atlantic Forest north of the São Francisco River. The RVSMAA holds a high diversity of amphibians and reptiles, representing one of the highest levels of richness in the northern Atlantic Forest. The record of seven species included in some of the threatened species lists reinforces the importance of the area for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest herpetofauna and adds relevant information to our knowledge of northern Atlantic Forest biodiversity and aids in its assessment of conservation.

Temporal trend of cancer mortality in a Brazilian state with a medium Human Development Index (1980–2018)

Emerging economy countries in epidemiological transition have been especially challenged in the fight against cancer. This was an ecological study that aimed to describe the temporal trend of cancer mortality in a Brazilian northeastern state with a medium Human Development Index using official Brazilian mortality data from 1980 to 2018. We calculated the mortality crude rate (CR) and age-standardized rate (ASR) based on official population counts and estimates. The Joinpoint Regression Program, National Cancer Institute, USA, was used to calculate time trends of cancer mortality. There were 34,214 deaths from cancer, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer, in Sergipe. The overall cancer mortality ASR was 70.1 and 57.9 per 100,000 men and women, respectively. For the last five years, the leading causes of cancer deaths were prostate (21.3), trachea, bronchus and lung (11.7), stomach (6.5), oral cavity (5.4) and liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (5.1) in males and breast (13.8), trachea, bronchus and lung (6.6), cervix (6.4), colon/rectum (5.8) and central nervous system (3.6) in females. In addition, there was a significant reduction in deaths from ill-defined causes in the series. Our results show that although there has been an increase in cancer mortality rates associated with Western lifestyles, such as prostate, breast and colon/rectum, high rates of cancer related to poverty and infections, such as stomach and cervix, still persist in Sergipe.

Clinical Characterization of Oculomotricity in Children with and without Specific Learning Disorders

Children with specific learning disorders have been associated with oculomotor problems, with their analysis even suggested to be a potential diagnostic tool. A prospective non-randomized comparative study evaluating 59 children (6–13 years old) divided into three groups was conducted: a control group (CG) including 15 healthy emmetropic children; a group of 18 healthy children with oculomotor abnormalities (OAG); and a group of 26 children diagnosed with specific learning disorders (LDG). In all groups, besides a complete eye exam, oculomotricity was characterized with two clinical tests: Northeastern State University College of Optometry’s Oculomotor (NSUCO) and Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) tests. Concerning the NSUCO test, lower ability, precision, and head/body movement associated scorings were obtained for both smooth pursuits and saccades in OAG and LDG when compared to the CG (p < 0.001). Likewise, significantly longer time needed to read the horizontal sheet of the DEM test and a higher DEM ratio were found in OAG and LDG compared to CG (p ≤ 0.003). No differences between LDG and OAG were found in the performance with the two oculomotor tests (p ≥ 0.141). Oculomotor anomalies can be present in children with and without specific learning disorders, and therefore cannot be used as diagnostic criteria of these type of disorders.