Land-use trajectories for sustainable land system transformations: Identifying leverage points in a global biodiversity hotspot.

Sustainable land-system transformations are necessary to avert biodiversity and climate collapse. However, it remains unclear where entry points for transformations exist in complex land systems. Here, we conceptualize land systems along land-use trajectories, which allows us to identify and evaluate leverage points, i.e., entry points on the trajectory where targeted interventions have particular leverage to influence land-use decisions. We apply this framework in the biodiversity hotspot Madagascar. In the northeast, smallholder agriculture results in a land-use trajectory originating in old-growth forests and spanning from forest fragments to shifting hill rice cultivation and vanilla agroforests. Integrating interdisciplinary empirical data on seven taxa, five ecosystem services, and three measures of agricultural productivity, we assess trade-offs and cobenefits of land-use decisions at three leverage points along the trajectory. These trade-offs and cobenefits differ between leverage points: Two leverage points are situated at the conversion of old-growth forests and forest fragments to shifting cultivation and agroforestry, resulting in considerable trade-offs, especially between endemic biodiversity and agricultural productivity. Here, interventions enabling smallholders to conserve forests are necessary. This is urgent since ongoing forest loss threatens to eliminate these leverage points due to path dependency. The third leverage point allows for the restoration of land under shifting cultivation through vanilla agroforests and offers cobenefits between restoration goals and agricultural productivity. The co-occurring leverage points highlight that conservation and restoration are simultaneously necessary to avert collapse of multifunctional mosaic landscapes. Methodologically, the framework highlights the importance of considering path dependency along trajectories to achieve sustainable land-system transformations.

Multiple Introductions of Yersinia pestis during Urban Pneumonic Plague Epidemic, Madagascar, 2017.

Pneumonic plague (PP) is characterized by high infection rate, person-to-person transmission, and rapid progression to severe disease. In 2017, a PP epidemic occurred in 2 Madagascar urban areas, Antananarivo and Toamasina. We used epidemiologic data and Yersinia pestis genomic characterization to determine the sources of this epidemic. Human plague emerged independently from environmental reservoirs in rural endemic foci >20 times during August-November 2017. Confirmed cases from 5 emergences, including 4 PP cases, were documented in urban areas. Epidemiologic and genetic analyses of cases associated with the first emergence event to reach urban areas confirmed that transmission started in August; spread to Antananarivo, Toamasina, and other locations; and persisted in Antananarivo until at least mid-November. Two other Y. pestis lineages may have caused persistent PP transmission chains in Antananarivo. Multiple Y. pestis lineages were independently introduced to urban areas from several rural foci via travel of infected persons during the epidemic.

Evaluation of nutritional status using the minimum dietary diversity for women of reproductive age (MDD-W) tool in breastfeeding mothers in Madagascar.

OBJECTIVES: Women of reproductive age in low-income countries are especially nutritionally vulnerable given the strain that pregnancy and lactation places on the body. The aim of this study was to identify dietary diversity and its associated factors among mothers with young children. METHODS: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in Ampefy, Madagascar from 1 November 2022 to 31 March 2023. Dietary diversity was determined using the minimum dietary diversity for women of reproductive age tool. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using validated structured questionnaires, and anthropometric status was examined. Frequencies and percentages were calculated, and the comparison of variables was performed between mothers with acceptable and unacceptable dietary diversity using the chi-square test for qualitative variables. A logistic regression analysis was also conducted. RESULTS: A total of 437 mothers with young children participated in the study, resulting in a response rate of 95.0%. The mean age of the participants was 25.84 years (SD = 6.30). The study revealed that 32.95% of participants had unacceptable dietary diversity scores and the associated profile included low education, no transport, homebirth not by personal choice, not breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, not breastfeed exclusively for 6 months, no dietary changes during pregnancy or lactation, and no use of folic acid supplements. CONCLUSION: This study's findings underscore the importance of providing nutrition information to women, in order to improve dietary diversity and overall maternal and child health.

Patterns of Grewia (Malvaceae) diversity across geographical scales in Africa and Madagascar.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Quantifying spatial species richness is useful to describe biodiversity patterns across broad geographical areas, especially in large, poorly known plant groups. We explore patterns and predictors of species richness across Africa in one such group, the palaeotropical genus Grewia L. (Malvaceae). METHODS: Grewia species richness was quantified by extracting herbarium records from GBIF and Tropicos and creating geographical grids at varying spatial scales. We assessed predictors of species richness using spatial regression models with 30 environmental variables. We explored species co-occurrence in Madagascar at finer resolutions using Schoener's index and compared species range sizes and International Union for Conservation of Nature status among ecoregions. Lastly, we derived a trait matrix for a subset of species found in Madagascar to characterize morphological diversity across space. KEY RESULTS: Grewia species occur in 50 countries in Africa, with the highest number of species in Madagascar (93, with 80 species endemic). Species richness is highest in Madagascar, with ≤23 Grewia species in a grid cell, followed by coastal Tanzania/Kenya (≤13 species) and northern South Africa and central Angola (11 species each). Across Africa, higher species richness was predicted by variables related to aridity. In Madagascar, a greater range in environmental variables best predicted species richness, consistent with geographical grid cells of highest species richness occurring near biome/ecoregion transitions. In Madagascar, we also observe increasing dissimilarity in species composition with increasing geographical distance. CONCLUSIONS: The spatial patterns and underlying environmental predictors that we uncover in Grewia represent an important step in our understanding of plant distribution and diversity patterns across Africa. Madagascar boasts nearly twice the Grewia species richness of the second most species-rich country in Africa, which might be explained by complex topography and environmental conditions across small spatial scales.

Identifying and characterizing high-risk populations in pilot malaria elimination districts in Madagascar: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: In Madagascar, the districts of Antsirabe II, Faratsiho and Antsiranana I have relatively low malaria incidence rates and have been selected by the National Malaria Control Programme for pilot elimination strategies. The districts have residual transmission despite increasing coverage and quality of malaria services. This study sought to identify priority subpopulations at highest risk for malaria and collect information on intervention preferences and methods that will inform subnational tailoring of malaria service delivery. METHODS: This mixed methods study employed (i) a quantitative malaria risk factor assessment in Antsirabe II and Faratsiho comprising a test-negative frequency matched case-control study and a qualitative risk factor assessment in Antsiranana I; and (ii) a qualitative formative assessment in all three districts. For the case-control study, a mixed effects logistic regression was used with age, sex and district included as fixed effects and health facility included as a random effect. The qualitative risk factor assessment used semi-structured interview guides and key informant interviews. For the qualitative formative assessment in the three districts, a summary report was generated following semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with high-risk populations (HRPs) and stakeholders. RESULTS: In Antsirabe II and Faratsiho districts, rice agriculture workers, outdoor/manual workers, particularly miners, and those with jobs that required travel or overnight stays, especially itinerant vendors, had higher odds of malaria infection compared to other (non-rice) agricultural workers. In Antsiranana I, respondents identified non-rice farmers, mobile vendors, and students as HRPs. Risk factors among these groups included overnight stays and travel patterns combined with a lack of malaria prevention tools. HRPs reported treatment cost and distance to the health facility as barriers to care and expressed interest in presumptive treatment and involvement of gatekeepers or people who have influence over intervention access or participation. CONCLUSIONS: The study results illustrate the value of in-depth assessments of risk behaviours, access to services and prevention tools, surveillance and prevention strategies, and the involvement of gatekeepers in shaping subnational tailoring to reach previously unreached populations and address residual transmission in elimination settings.

New species of Dermoergasilus Ho & Do, 1982 (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Ergasilidae) parasitizing endemic cichlid Paretroplus polyactis (Bleeker) in Madagascar.

Dermoergasilus madagascarensis n. sp. is described from the gills of Paretroplus polyactis, an endemic cichlid fish in Madagascar, using a combined morphological (light microscopy and SEM) and molecular approach (partial 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and COI sequences). The new species is characterized mainly by possessing: (i) roughly pentagonal cephalosome; (ii) antennal endopodal segments covered with slightly inflated membrane; (iii) maxillule bearing 2 equally long outer setae and a minute inner seta; (iv) interpodal sternites of swimming legs ornamented with 3­4 rows of spinules; (v) genital segment and first abdominal somite both barrel-shaped; and (vi) a caudal ramus projecting into a digitiform process with inconspicuous terminal seta and bearing 3 terminal setae. The obtained DNA sequences of Malagasy species represent the first molecular data for species of Dermoergasilus. The 28S rDNA phylogeny showed the affiliation of D. madagascarensis n. sp. to Ergasilidae and its sister relationship with cosmopolitan Ergasilus sieboldi von Nordmann, 1832. The first checklist for all species of Dermoergasilus is provided.

Effects of an intervention program to improve mental health and epilepsy care in Madagascar.

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of mental disorders and epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries, nearly 80% of patients are not treated. In Madagascar, initiatives to improve access to epilepsy and mental health care, including public awareness and training of general practitioners (GPs), were carried out between 2013 and 2018. Our study's main objective was to assess the effectiveness of these initiatives, two to five years post-intervention. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study (intervention vs. control areas) included five surveys assessing: general population's Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KAP), GPs' KAP , number of epilepsy and mental health consultations at different levels of the healthcare system, diagnostic accuracy, and treatments' availability. OUTCOMES: In the general population, KAP scores were higher in intervention areas for epilepsy (11.4/20 vs. 10.3/20; p = 0.003). For mental disorders, regardless of the area, KAP scores were low, especially for schizophrenia (1.1/20 and 0.1/20). Among GPs, KAP scores were higher in intervention areas for schizophrenia (6.0/10 vs. 4.5/10; p = 0.008) and epilepsy (6.9/10 vs. 6.2/10; p = 0.044). Overall, there was a greater proportion of mental health and epilepsy consultations in intervention areas (4.5% vs 2.3%). Although low, concordance between GPs' and psychiatrists' diagnoses was higher in intervention areas. There was a greater variety of anti-epileptic and psychotropic medications available in intervention areas. INTERPRETATION: This research has helped to better understand the effectiveness of initiatives implemented in Madagascar to improve epilepsy and mental health care and to identify barriers which will need to be addressed. FUNDING: Sanofi Global Health, as part of the Fight Against STigma Program.

What predicts health facility delivery among women? analysis from the 2021 Madagascar Demographic and Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: One of the pivotal determinants of maternal and neonatal health outcomes hinges on the choice of place of delivery. However, the decision to give birth within the confines of a health facility is shaped by a complex interplay of sociodemographic, economic, cultural, and healthcare system-related factors. This study examined the predictors of health facility delivery among women in Madagascar. METHODS: We used data from the 2021 Madagascar Demographic and Health Survey. A total of 9,315 women who had a health facility delivery or delivered elsewhere for the most recent live birth preceding the survey were considered in this analysis. Descriptive analysis, and multilevel regression were carried out to determine the prevalence and factors associated with health facility delivery. The results were presented as frequencies, percentages, crude odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and a p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. RESULTS: The prevalence of health facility delivery was 41.2% [95% CI: 38.9-43.5%]. In the multilevel analysis, women aged 45-49 [aOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.34-3.43], those with secondary/higher education [aOR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.30-2.01], widowed [aOR = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.43-3.58], and those exposed to mass media [aOR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.00-1.39] had higher odds of delivering in health facilities compared to those aged 15-49, those with no formal education, women who had never been in union and not exposed to mass media respectively. Women with at least an antenatal care visit [aOR = 6.95, 95% CI = 4.95-9.77], those in the richest wealth index [aOR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.99-3.77], and women who considered distance to health facility as not a big problem [aOR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.09-1.50] were more likely to deliver in health facilities compared to those who had no antenatal care visit. Women who lived in communities with high literacy levels [aOR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.15-2.08], and women who lived in communities with high socioeconomic status [aOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.28-2.31] had increased odds of health facility delivery compared to those with low literacy levels and in communities with low socioeconomic status respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of health facility delivery among women in Madagascar is low in this study. The findings of this study call on stakeholders and the government to strengthen the healthcare system of Madagascar using the framework for universal health coverage. There is also the need to implement programmes and interventions geared towards increasing health facility delivery among adolescent girls and young women, women with no formal education, and those not exposed to media. Also, consideration should be made to provide free maternal health care and a health insurance scheme that can be accessed by women in the poorest wealth index. Health facilities should be provided at places where women have challenges with distance to other health facilities. Education on the importance of antenatal care visits should also be encouraged, especially among women with low literacy levels and in communities with low socioeconomic status.

An overview of the nutritional status of childbearing age women, children and adolescents living in a rural area of Madagascar: preliminary results of the Tany Vao project.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the food consumption, nutrition knowledge and nutritional assessment of childbearing age women and their children, living in rural villages in Madagascar. The results presented are related to the Tany Vao research study. DESIGN: A cross-sectional pilot study. SETTING: The study was carried out in Ampanitosoha village on Nosy Mitsio island in Madagascar. PARTICIPANTS: 32 women (14-49 years) and 36 children and adolescents (2-17 years). RESULTS: 70 % of the women lacked nutrition knowledge and did not reach the Minimum Dietary Diversity Index for Women cut-off. The median BMI was 21·1 kg/m2 but 55·2 % of the women exceeded the cut-off for waist-to-hip ratio, 51·7 % for waist-to-height ratio and 81·2 % for mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). Almost all had adequate intake of energy, protein and carbohydrates, while 27·6 % had excessive fat intake and 75·9 % of added sugars. Over half of the women did not meet the micronutrients Reference Daily Intake (RDI). For children, the MUAC z-score was lower for boys than for girls (P-value = 0·041). CONCLUSIONS: These results underline the importance of increasing women's nutritional knowledge to promote healthy pregnancy and lactation. Moreover, it is fundamental to provide people living in rural areas with sustainable tools to improve dietary diversity and support long-term health.

Place of residence and blood sugar testing practices among men: insights from the 2021 Madagascar demographic and health survey.

BACKGROUND: In 2021, Madagascar had approximately 13,919 people living with diabetes, with 66.1% of cases being undiagnosed. The implication is that this population are at high risk of developing diabetes complications which will affect their quality of life. However, promoting the uptake of screening practices such as the blood glucose test among the asymptomatic population would offer a chance to reduce the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in the country. This study examined the association between place of residence and blood sugar testing practices among men in Madagascar. METHODS: Secondary data from the men recode file of the 2021 Madagascar Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) was used. A sample of 9,035 were used for the analysis. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed in STATA version 14. The results are presented in adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: Only 5.83% reported to have ever had their blood glucose/sugar tested by a health professional. Residing in rural areas was associated in lower likelihood of undergoing a test to check one's blood sugar level [AOR = 0.23; 95%CI = 0.19-0.28] compared to those in urban areas. This association remained consistent even after adjusting for the effects of covariates [AOR = 0.67; 95%CI = 0.52-0.86]. CONCLUSION: We conclude that place of residence plays a significant role in influencing men's decision to test their blood glucose level. It is, therefore, imperative for the Madagascar Public Health Department to liaise with the government to bridge the rural-urban disparities in terms of accessibility to blood glucose testing services. Practically, this can be achieved by instituting community-based health services centers in the rural areas of Madagascar to mitigate the rural-urban disparities. Also, health education campaigns to raise men's awareness about the need to test their blood glucose level must necessarily target older men, those without formal education, those without health insurance, and men who have been diagnosed with hypertension.

Spatial Markov matrices for measuring the spatial dependencies of an epidemiological spread : case Covid'19 Madagascar.

BACKGROUND: This article applies a variant of the Markov chain that explicitly incorporates spatial effects. It is an extension of the Markov class allowing a more complete analysis of the spatial dimensions of transition dynamics. The aim is to provide a methodology for applying the explicit model to spatial dependency analysis. METHODS: Here, the question is to study and quantify whether neighborhood context affects transitional dynamics. Rather than estimating a homogeneous law, the model requires the estimation of k transition laws each dependent on spatial neighbor state. This article used published data on confirmed cases of Covid'19 in the 22 regions of Madagascar. These data were discretized to obtain a discrete state of propagation intensity. RESULTS: The analysis gave us the transition probabilities between Covid'19 intensity states knowing the context of neighboring regions, and the propagation time laws knowing the spatial contexts. The results showed that neighboring regions had an effect on the propagation of Covid'19 in Madagascar. CONCLUSION: After analysis, we can say that there is spatial dependency according to these spatial transition matrices.

Integrating early child development into an existing health and nutrition program: evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: In low-resource settings, introducing child health programs into community services may compete for caregiver time. We analyzed the impact of a new early childhood development (ECD) program in rural Madagascar on family attendance at other health services and of adding at-home play materials on program attendance. METHODS: We randomized 75 communities where community health workers (CHWs) implement an existing child health and nutrition program (Projet d'Amélioration des Résultats Nutritionnels or PARN), the status quo. We offered two 6-month cycles of 12 ECD sessions to eligible caregiver-child dyads (6-30 months) in 25 sites [T]; we added take-home play materials in Cycle 2 to 25 sites [T+]. We used differences-in-differences with administrative data to analyze the effect of offering ECD sessions on monthly PARN attendance (T+/T vs. C) among age-eligible children and the impact of toy boxes/libraries on monthly ECD session attendance (T + vs. T). We used random intercept models to analyze characteristics associated with program registration. RESULTS: We analyzed data for 9,408 dyads; 30% and 32% registered for the program in Cycle 1 and 2 (respectively). On average, CHWs delivered 11.4 sessions (SD: 1.5). Children from wealthier households who already attended PARN sessions were more likely to register, and we found no effect of T or T + on PARN attendance. Adding play materials did not affect monthly ECD session attendance. Children from more populated sites were less likely to participate in both ECD and PARN sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating new services for ECD into the health system was feasible and did not reduce dyad participation in existing services. Investment in health services in more populated areas is needed to provide coverage to all eligible children. Novel strategies should be explored to engage the most vulnerable children in new and existing health services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: AEA Social Science Registry (AEARCTR-0004704) on November 15, 2019 (prospective registration) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05129696) on November 22, 2021 (retrospective registration).

Losing lemurs: Declining populations and land cover changes over space and time.

Forest loss and degradation due to land cover changes imperil biodiversity worldwide. Subtropical and tropical ecosystems experience high deforestation rates, negatively affecting species like primates. Madagascar's endemic lemurs face exceptionally high risks of population declines and extirpation. We examined how short-term land cover changes within a fragmented landscape in southeastern Madagascar impacted the density of lemur species. Using line transects, we assessed density changes in nine lemur species across five forest fragments. Diurnal surveys were conducted monthly from 2015 to 2019 on 35 transects (total effort = 1268 km). Additionally, 21 transects were surveyed nocturnally in 2015 and 2016 (total effort = 107.5 km). To quantify forest cover changes, we generated land use/land cover (LULC) maps from Sentinel-2 imagery using supervised classification for each year. For the LULC maps, we overlayed species-specific buffers around all transects and calculated the proportion of land cover classes within them. We observed declines in the annual densities of four diurnal and cathemeral lemur species between 2015 and 2019, with species-specific declines of up to 80% (Varecia variegata). While the density of two nocturnal species decreased, one increased fivefold (Cheirogaleus major) between 2015 and 2016. By 2019, Grassland was the dominant land type (50%), while Paddy Fields had the smallest coverage (1.03%). Mature Agricultural Land increased the most (63.37%), while New Agricultural Land decreased the most (-66.36%). Unexpectedly, we did not find evidence that higher forest cover supported a higher lemur population density within sampled areas, but we found support for the negative impact of degraded land cover types on three lemur species. Our study underscores the urgent need to address land-use changes and their repercussions for primate populations in tropical ecosystems. The diverse responses of lemur species to modified habitats highlight the complexity of these impacts and emphasize the importance of targeted conservation efforts.

Evidence for female dominance in the Milne-Edwards' sportive lemur (Lepilemur edwardsi).

Female dominance over males is more frequent in Malagasy lemurs than in other primate clades, but patterns of female-male dominance vary among species, and few data are available for one particularly species-rich genus, Lepilemur. We investigated the types, temporal distribution, and outcome of female-male agonistic conflicts in the Milne-Edwards' sportive lemur (Lepilemur edwardsi). Ten L. edwardsi belonging to five social units were equipped with radio collars and observed during 79 focal follows between May and November 1998. We quantified agonistic conflicts, monthly conflict rates, and documented the winner and context for all conflicts. Female-male agonistic conflicts (N = 162) occurred at a mean rate of 0.21 conflicts/hour within groups. Agonistic conflicts peaked during the birth season and occurred mostly in unknown or infant proximity contexts. Females won 96% of all decided agonistic conflicts (N = 154). Other outcomes occurred only when females were with infants during the birth season. In that context, one female sometimes withdrew from her pair partner, and another female withdrew or fled from an extra-group male whose attacks eventually led to infanticide. Our results suggest female dominance in pair-living L. edwardsi. We hypothesize that elevated female aggression may convey fitness benefits to female Lepilemur because it generally allows females to intervene quickly and efficiently on behalf of their infants against nonfather males who may approach the newborn infants when they are parked in vegetation.

Ecological and genetic variables co-vary with social group identity to shape the gut microbiome of a pair-living primate.

Primates exhibit diverse social systems that are intricately linked to their biology, behavior, and evolution, all of which influence the acquisition and maintenance of their gut microbiomes (GMs). However, most studies of wild primate populations focus on taxa with relatively large group sizes, and few consider pair-living species. To address this gap, we investigate how a primate's social system interacts with key environmental, social, and genetic variables to shape the GM in pair-living, red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer). Previous research on this species suggests that social interactions within groups influence interindividual microbiome similarity; however, the impacts of other nonsocial variables and their relative contributions to gut microbial variation remain unclear. We sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA hypervariable V4-V5 region to characterize the GM from 26 genotyped individuals across 11 social groups residing in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We estimated the degree to which sex, social group identity, genetic relatedness, dietary diversity, and home range proximity were associated with variation in the gut microbial communities residing in red-bellied lemurs. All variables except sex played a significant role in predicting GM composition. Our model had high levels of variance inflation, inhibiting our ability to determine which variables were most predictive of gut microbial composition. This inflation is likely due to red-bellied lemurs' pair-living, pair-bonded social system that leads to covariation among environmental, social, and genetic variables. Our findings highlight some of the factors that predict GM composition in a tightly bonded, pair-living species and identify variables that require further study. We propose that future primate microbiome studies should simultaneously consider environmental, social, and genetic factors to improve our understanding of the relationships among sociality, the microbiome, and primate ecology and evolution.

Singing in the rain! Climate constraints on the occurrence of indri's song.

The study of how animals adapt their behaviors depending on weather variables has gained particular significance in the context of climate change. This exploration offers insights into endangered species' potential threats and provides information on the direction to take in conservation activities. In this context, noninvasive, cost-effective, and potentially long-term monitoring systems, such as Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), become particularly appropriate. Our study investigates the relationship between weather variables and the vocal behavior of Indri indri, the sole singing lemur species, within Madagascar's Maromizaha New Protected Area. Using PAM, we explore the factors shaping the vocalization patterns of this primate species in response to some environmental factors in their natural habitat. Analysis of an extensive audio data set collected across different years revealed the differential influence of temperature and precipitation on Indri indri vocal activity. We found that rainfall negatively influenced the emission of the vocalizations while warmer temperatures correlated with a greater emission of songs. The various environmental factors we considered also affected the timing of vocal emissions, showing the same pattern. Furthermore, our study confirms, once again, the strength of PAM as a valuable tool for studying vocal animal communication quickly, giving us information about long-term behavioral patterns that would be difficult to get in other ways. This research gives us further valuable information about how indris use vocalizations in their environment and how they adjust to environmental changes.

Discovery and Characterization of Two Highly Divergent Variants of a Novel Potyvirus Species Infecting Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus).

During the summer of 2022, a cluster of Madagascar periwinkle plants with white and mauve flowers were observed with foliar mild yellow mosaic symptoms on a private property in Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas. The symptoms were reproduced on mechanically inoculated periwinkle and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Virions of 776 to 849 nm in length and 11.7 to 14.8 nm in width were observed in transmission electron microscopy of leaf dip preparations made from symptomatic periwinkle leaves. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis of total RNA extracts from symptomatic leaves revealed the occurrence of two highly divergent variants of a novel Potyvirus species as the only virus-like sequences present in the sample. The complete genomes of both variants were independently amplified via reverse transcriptase PCR, cloned, and Sanger sequenced. The 5' and 3' of the genomes were acquired using random amplification of cDNA ends methodology. The assembled virus genomes were 9,936 and 9,944 nucleotides (nt) long, and they shared 99.9 to 100% identities with the respective HTS-derived genomes. Each genome encoded hypothetical polyprotein of 3,171 amino acids (aa) (362.6 kilodaltons [kDa]) and 3,173 aa (362.7 kDa), respectively, and they shared 77.3/84.4% nt/aa polyprotein identities, indicating that they represent highly divergent variants of the same Potyvirus species. Both genomes also shared below-species-threshold polyprotein identity levels with the most closely phylogenetically related known potyviruses, thus indicating that they belong to a novel species. The name periwinkle mild yellow mosaic virus (PwMYMV) is given to the potyvirus with complete genomes of 9,936 nt for variant 1 (PwMYMV-1) and 9,944 nt for variant 2 (PwMYMV-2). We propose that PwMYMV be assigned into the genus Potyvirus (family Potyviridae).

Pollutant removal efficiency of bare and planted rain gardens with diverse planting mixtures.

This study examines the influence of planting mixture variations on the quality of the percolated water of the rain garden with and without plants. Six planting mixtures in experimental rain gardens have been used. It has been noted that pollutant removal efficiency of RG can exhibit variations based on specific parameters. Notably, RG6, utilizing a planting mix of 75% topsoil and 25% compost, demonstrated the highest performance. These results draw attention to the critical role of the specific planting mixtures in influencing the performance of vital parameters related to pollutant removal. The observation shows that RG5 exhibits exceptional removal efficiency in pH, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and RG6 performs best in electrical conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Nitrogen (TN), and Total Phosphorus (TP) removal. In particular, when analyzing pollutant removal on a surface with Madagascar periwinkle plants, RG6 emerges as the most effective, achieving an impressive efficiency of approximately 49%. For the bare surface, pollutant removal efficiency is 40%. The study outcome will be useful in deciding the composition of the planting mixture, which will keep the rain garden to improve quality and quantitatively hydrological performance, lowering urban flooding magnitude.

Three-arm clinical trial of improved flour targeting intestinal microbiota (MALINEA).

The main objective of this project was to compare in the field conditions two strategies of re-nutrition of children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) aged from 6 to 24 months, targeting the microbiota in comparison with a standard regimen. A three-arm, open-label, pragmatic randomised trial was conducted in four countries (Niger, CAR, Senegal and Madagascar). Children received for 12 weeks either fortified blended flour (FBF control) = arm 1, or FBF + azithromycin (oral suspension of 20 mg/kg/day daily given with a syringe) for the first 3 days at inclusion = arm 2 or mix FBF with inulin/fructo-oligosaccharides (6 g/day if age ≥12 months and 4 g if age <12 months) = arm 3. For each arm, children aged from 6 to 11 months received 100 g x 2 per day of flours and those aged from 12 to 24 months received 100 g × 3 per day of FBF. The primary endpoint was nutritional recovery, defined by reaching a weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) ≥ -1.5 within 12 weeks. Overall, 881 children were randomised (297, 290 and 294 in arm 1, arm 2 and arm 3, respectively). Three hundred and forty-four children were males (39%) and median/mean age were 14.6/14.4 months (SD = 4.9, IQR = 10.5-18.4). At inclusion, the three arms were comparable for all criteria, but differences were observed between countries. Overall, 44% (390/881) of the children recovered at week 12 from MAM, with no significant difference between the three arms (41.4%, 45.5% and 45.9%, in arm 1, arm 2 and arm 3, respectively, p = 0.47). This study did not support the true advantages of adding a prebiotic or antibiotic to flour. When using a threshold of WHZ ≥ -2 as an exploratory endpoint, significant differences were observed between the three arms, with higher success rates in arms with antibiotics or prebiotics compared to the control arm (66.9%, 66.0% and 55.2%, respectively, p = 0.005).

Sociodemographic Variables Can Guide Prioritized Testing Strategies for Epidemic Control in Resource-Limited Contexts.

BACKGROUND: Targeted surveillance allows public health authorities to implement testing and isolation strategies when diagnostic resources are limited, and can be implemented via the consideration of social network topologies. However, it remains unclear how to implement such surveillance and control when network data are unavailable. METHODS: We evaluated the ability of sociodemographic proxies of degree centrality to guide prioritized testing of infected individuals compared to known degree centrality. Proxies were estimated via readily available sociodemographic variables (age, gender, marital status, educational attainment, household size). We simulated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemics via a susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered individual-based model on 2 contact networks from rural Madagascar to test applicability of these findings to low-resource contexts. RESULTS: Targeted testing using sociodemographic proxies performed similarly to targeted testing using known degree centralities. At low testing capacity, using proxies reduced infection burden by 22%-33% while using 20% fewer tests, compared to random testing. By comparison, using known degree centrality reduced the infection burden by 31%-44% while using 26%-29% fewer tests. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that incorporating social network information into epidemic control strategies is an effective countermeasure to low testing capacity and can be implemented via sociodemographic proxies when social network data are unavailable.