Biodiversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Bulgaria Related to Human Migrations or Ecological Adaptation

Bulgaria is among the 18 high-priority countries of the WHO European Region with high rates of tuberculosis. The causative agent of tuberculosis is thought to have emerged in Africa 70,000 years ago, or during the Neolithic age, and colonized the world through human migrations. The established main lineages of tuberculosis correlate highly with geography. The goal of our study was to investigate the biodiversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Bulgaria in association with human migration history during the last 10 centuries. We analyzed spoligotypes and MIRU-VNTR genotyping data of 655 drug-sensitive and 385 multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains collected in Bulgaria from 2008 to 2018. We assigned the genotype of all isolates using SITVITWEB and MIRU-VNTRplus databases and software. We investigated the major well-documented historical events of immigration to Bulgaria that occurred during the last millennium. Genetic profiles demonstrated that, with the exceptions of 3 strains of Mycobacterium bovis and 18 strains of Lineage 2 (W/Beijing spoligotype), only Lineage 4 (Euro-American) was widely diffused in Bulgaria. Analysis of well-documented immigrations of Roma from the Indian subcontinent during the 10th to the 12th centuries, Turkic peoples from Central Asia in the medieval centuries, and more recently Armenians, Russians, and Africans in the 20th century influenced the biodiversity of M. tuberculosis in Bulgaria but only with genotypes of sublineages within the L4. We hypothesize that these sublineages were more virulent, or that ecological adaptation of imported M. tuberculosis genotypes was the main driver contributing to the current genetic biodiversity of M. tuberculosis in Bulgaria. We also hypothesize that some yet unknown local environmental factors may have been decisive in the success of imported genotypes. The ecological factors leading to local genetic biodiversity in M. tuberculosis are multifactorial and have not yet been fully clarified. The coevolution of long-lasting pathogen hosts should be studied, taking into account environmental and ecological changes.

Complex climate and network effects on internal migration in South Africa revealed by a network model

Climate variability and climate change influence human migration both directly and indirectly through a variety of channels that are controlled by individual and household socioeconomic, cultural, and psychological processes as well as public policies and network effects. Characterizing and predicting migration flows are thus extremely complex and challenging. Among the quantitative methods available for predicting such flows is the widely used gravity model that ignores the network autocorrelation among flows and thus may lead to biased estimation of the climate effects of interest. In this study, we use a network model, the additive and multiplicative effects model for network (AMEN), to investigate the effects of climate variability, migrant networks, and their interactions on South African internal migration. Our results indicate that prior migrant networks have a significant influence on migration and can modify the association between climate variability and migration flows. We also reveal an otherwise obscure difference in responses to these effects between migrants moving to urban and non-urban destinations. With different metrics, we discover diverse drought effects on these migrants; for example, the negative standardized precipitation index (SPI) with a timescale of 12 months affects the non-urban-oriented migrants’ destination choices more than the rainy season rainfall deficit or soil moisture do. Moreover, we find that socioeconomic factors such as the unemployment rate are more significant to urban-oriented migrants, while some unobserved factors, possibly including the abolition of apartheid policies, appear to be more important to non-urban-oriented migrants.

Phylogeographic analysis reveals an ancient East African origin of the human herpes simplexvirus 2 dispersal out-of-Africa.

Human herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a globally ubiquitous, slow evolving DNA virus. HSV-2 genomic diversity can be divided into two main groups: an African lineage and worldwide lineage. Competing hypotheses have been put forth to explain the history of HSV-2. HSV-2 may have originated in Africa and then followed the first wave of human migration out of Africa between 50-100 kya. Alternatively, HSV-2 may have migrated out of Africa via the trans-Atlantic slave trade within the last 150-500 years. The lack of HSV-2 genomes from West and Central Africa, combined with a lack of molecular clock signal in HSV-2 has precluded robust testing of these competing hypotheses. Here, we expand the geographic sampling of HSV-2 genomes in order to resolve the geography and timing of divergence events within HSV-2. We analyze 65 newly sequenced HSV-2 genomes collected from primarily West and Central Africa along with 330 previously published genomes sampled over a 47-year period. Evolutionary simulations confirm that the molecular clock in HSV-2 is too slow to be detected using available data. However, phylogeographic analysis indicates that all biologically plausible evolutionary rates would place the ancestor of the worldwide lineage in East Africa, arguing against the trans-Atlantic slave trade as the source of worldwide diversity. The best supported evolutionary rates between 4.2x10-8 and 5.6x10-8 substitutions/site/year suggest a most recent common ancestor for HSV-2 around 90-120 kya and initial dispersal around 21.9-29.3 kya. These dates suggest HSV-2 left Africa during subsequent waves of human migration out of East Africa.

An Overview of Multilingual Learners' Literacy Needs for the 21st Century

The most common definition of literacy is the ability to read and write. However, for teachers working with multilingual learners, the development of literacy skills is much more complex than this simple definition would suggest. Notions of literacy in the 21st century have evolved in response to a number of societal changes, such as globalization, large-scale human migration, and advances in digital technologies. This chapter considers how these societal changes have influenced conceptions and practices of literacy. It provides a brief overview of some important theoretical considerations that inform understandings of literacy development for multilingual learners, including critical literacy, multiliteracies, multimodal literacy, and translanguaging, and explores current conceptions of literacy to help second and foreign language (SFL) teachers better understand how to meet the literacy needs of multilingual learners in the 21st century, offering practical suggestions for teaching from a multiliteracies perspective.

Subsistence Strategy of Here Sorot Entapa Cave in Kisar Island, Maluku: Dwelling Site in Island with Limited Terrestrial Resources

Penelitian di wilayah Wallacea selalu menghasilkan informasi yang menarik, salah satunya adalah mengenai peran pulau-pulau yang berada di wilayah ini dalam jalur migrasi manusia. Beberapa pulau kecil yang ada di wilayah ini merupakan pulau dengan sumber daya alam yang terbatas. Gua Here Sorot Entapa merupakan salah satu situs yang terletak di Kawasan Wallacea bagian Tenggara, yaitu di Pulau Kisar. Hasil ekskavasi yang dilakukan telah menemukan akumulasi artefak, ekofak dan fitur. Lalu bagaimana adaptasi yang dilakukan oleh manusia pada masa itu terhadap lingkungan dengan sumberdaya alam yang terbatas, merupakan hal yang akan dibahas dalam tulisan ini. Metode yang digunakan dalam tulisan ini adalah analisis hasil ekskavasi yang dilakukan oleh Tim Penelitian gabungan UGM dan ANU serta Balai Arkeologi Maluku. Untuk mengetahui perubahan lingkungan dan pemanfaatannya akan digunakan data botani yang diperoleh secara langsung maupun studi pustaka. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Gua Here Sorot Entapa dihuni sejak sekitar 16.000 BP. Pemanfaatan sumberdaya laut merupakan subsistensi utama di samping pemanfaatan beberapa jenis tumbuhan yang secara kuantitas berbanding lurus dengan pemanfaatan sumberdaya laut. Research in the Wallacea area always produces exciting information, including the role of the islands in this region in human migration routes. Several small islands in this region are islands with limited terrestrial resources. Here Sorot Entapa cave is one of the sites located on Kisar Island, Southeast Wallacea region. The occupation of small islands presents particular challenges for human communities related to limited terrestrial resources and susceptibility to natural disasters. Then how the adaptation made by humans at that time in an environment with limited terrestrial resources is discussed in this study. This study used excavation methods to obtain data accumulation of artifacts, ecofacts, and features. Literature study and botanical data analysis were used to determine environmental changes and resource utilization. The results of this study indicate that the Here Sorot Entapa Cave has been occupied since around 16,000 BP. Marine resources were the primary subsistence along with several types of plants food in the same quantity. The function of the Here Sorot Entapa Cave may also be related to the existence of rock art that spread on Kisar Island. Eventually, Kisar Island was the main purpose of a prehistoric human in carrying out religious and artistic activities, and the Here Sorot Entapa Cave served as a temporary shelter for these activities.

Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogies

Part 3: Beyond the Songs contains three chapters. “Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogies” presents summaries of these teaching approaches alongside strategies to responsibly integrate the repertoire into school curriculums. “Music in Central America” is a brief overview of the diverse and rich music genres of the region and how historic events introduced, shaped, and eradicated music traditions. Genres described include music in the classic Mayan period, folkloric dance, Spanish music, the marimba, Nueva Canción, Garifuna music, Miskitu music, and current traditions. “A Brief History of Central America” provides a historical context for the song collection. Beginning with the first civilizations and ending with current events, this chapter chronicles the political history of the region, including the involvement of the U.S. government in business affairs and civil wars. This overview allows the reader to develop an awareness of the effects of colonization, continued foreign involvement, current political situations, and a basic understanding of human migration patterns from Central America to North America.

Filsafat Digital Integral: Reformulasi Program Literasi Digital Nasional di Era Pandemi Covid-19 di Indonesia

<p><span lang="EN-US">The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the process of human migration from the real world to the virtual world (cyber). One of the impacts is the emergence of the phenomenon of cyber religion. As one of the parties responsible for literacy of its citizens in this regard, the government, through the role of the Ministry of Communication and Information, then initiated the National Digital Literacy Program, which is based on four pillars, namely: digital safety, digital skills, digital ethics, and digital culture. In dealing with the cyber religion phenomenon, the four pillars only reinforce the interobjective space. Therefore, to complete it, this research uses the theoretical framework of Ken Wilber's Universal Integralism or Holonic Integralism, which integrates four dimensions of "space" integrally, namely: intersubjective, interobjective, subjective, and objective space. In his findings, the researcher offers the concept of Integral Digital Philosophy, which integrates the four spaces simultaneously. The implications of this finding are beneficial for the provision of religious preachers about the importance of integrating the awareness of the "four worlds" when preaching in cyberspace.</span></p>

Tackling the global health threat of arboviruses: An appraisal of the three holistic approaches to health

Background: The rapid circulation of arboviruses in the human population has been linked with changes in climatic, environmental, and socio-economic conditions. These changes are known to alter the transmission cycles of arboviruses involving the anthropophilic vectors and thus facilitate an extensive geographical distribution of medically important arboviral diseases, thereby posing a significant health threat. Using our current understanding and assessment of relevant literature, this review aimed to understand the underlying factors promoting the spread of arboviruses and how the three most renowned interdisciplinary and holistic approaches to health such as One Health, Eco-Health, and Planetary Health can be a panacea for control of arboviruses. Methods: A comprehensive structured search of relevant databases such as Medline, PubMed, WHO, Scopus, Science Direct, DOAJ, AJOL, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify recent articles on arboviruses and holistic approaches to health using the keywords including "arboviral diseases", "arbovirus vectors", "arboviral infections", "epidemiology of arboviruses", "holistic approaches", "One Health", "Eco-Health", and "Planetary Health" Results: Changes in climatic factors like temperature, humidity, and precipitation support the growth, breeding, and fecundity of arthropod vectors transmitting the arboviral diseases. Increased human migration and urbanization due to socio-economic factors play an important role in population increase leading to the rapid geographical distribution of arthropod vectors and transmission of arboviral diseases. Medical factors like misdiagnosis and misclassification also contribute to the spread of arboviruses. Conclusion: This review highlights two important findings: First, climatic, environmental, socio-economic, and medical factors influence the constant distributions of arthropod vectors. Second, either of the three holistic approaches or a combination of any two can be adopted on arboviral disease control. Our findings underline the need for holistic approaches as the best strategy to mitigating and controlling the emerging and reemerging arboviruses.

Bioavailable soil and rock strontium isotope data from Israel

Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr = 86Sr) of biogenic material such as bones and teeth reflect the local sources of strontium ingested as food and drink during their formation. This has led to the use of strontium isotope ratios as a geochemical tracer in a wide range of fields including archaeology, ecology, food studies and forensic sciences. In order to utilise strontium as a geochemical tracer, baseline data of bioavailable 87Sr = 86Sr in the region of interest are required, and a growing number of studies have developed reference maps for this purpose in various geographic regions, and over varying scales. This study presents a new data set of bioavailable strontium isotope ratios from rock and soil samples across Israel, as well as from sediment layers from seven key archaeological sites. This data set may be viewed and accessed both in an Open Science Framework repository (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/XKJ5Y, Moffat et al., 2020) or via the IRHUM (Isotopic Reconstruction of Human Migration) database.