HLA class II allele polymorphism in an outbreak of chikungunya fever in Middle Andaman,India

A sudden upsurge of fever cases with joint pain was observed in the outpatient department, Community Health Centre, Rangat during July–August 2010 in Rangat Middle Andaman, India. The aetiological agent responsible for the outbreak was identified as chikungunya virus (CHIKV), by using RT‐PCR and IgM ELISA. The study investigated the association of polymorphisms in the human leucocyte antigen class II genes with susceptibility or protection against CHIKV. One hundred and one patients with clinical features suggestive of CHIKV infection and 104 healthy subjects were included in the study. DNA was extracted and typed for HLA‐DRB1 and DQB1 alleles. Based on the amino acid sequences of HLA‐DQB1 retrieved from the IMGT/HLA database, critical amino acid differences in the specific peptide‐binding pockets of HLA‐DQB1 molecules were investigated. The frequencies of HLA‐DRB1 alleles were not significantly different, whereas lower frequency of HLA‐DQB1*03:03 was observed in CHIKV patients compared with the control population [P = 0·001, corrected P = 0·024; odds ratio (OR)  = 0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0·0–0·331; Peto's OR = 0·1317, 95% CI 0·0428–0·405). Significantly lower frequency of glutamic acid at position 86 of peptide‐binding pocket 1 coding HLA‐DQB1 genotypes was observed in CHIKV patients compared with healthy controls (P = 0·004, OR = 0·307, 95% CI 0·125–0·707). Computational binding predictions of CD4 epitopes of CHIKV by NetMHCII revealed that HLA‐DQ molecules are known to bind more CHIKV peptides than HLA‐DRB1 molecules. The results suggest that HLA‐DQB1 alleles and critical amino acid differences in the peptide‐binding pockets of HLA‐DQB1 alleles might have role in influencing infection and pathogenesis of CHIKV.     

The Occupational Characteristics and Health Status of Workers in Geographically Isolated and Confined Areas in the Republic of Korea

BackgroundThis study investigates the safety and health status of geographically isolated and confined workers.MethodsThis study was conducted in Baekryeong Island in Korea in 2020. The age-standardized prevalence ratios (aSPR) for occupational injury, unmet medical needs, psychological status, and lifestyle were estimated from the available data. Also, we compared the aSPRs of workers in Baekryeong Island with a reference study population who participated in a nationally representative survey in Korea.ResultsThe study revealed that Baekryeong Island workers had an increased risk of acquiring health and safety problems compared to the general worker population. The island workers showed a significant increase in unmet medical care (aSPR, 5.319; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.984–6.958) and occupational injury (aSPR, 8.371; 95% CI, 3.820–15.892).ConclusionThis study identified the safety and health problems of geographically isolated workers in Baekryeong Island. The risk of occupational injury and unmet medical care are simultaneously highlighted in the region''s population, thereby underscoring the importance of prevention.     

Large-scale mapping of live corals to guide reef conservation

Coral is the life-form that underpins the habitat of most tropical reef ecosystems, thereby supporting biological diversity throughout the marine realm. Coral reefs are undergoing rapid change from ocean warming and nearshore human activities, compromising a myriad of services provided to societies including coastal protection, fishing, and cultural practices. In the face of these challenges, large-scale operational mapping of live coral cover within and across reef ecosystems could provide more opportunities to address reef protection, resilience, and restoration at broad management- and policy-relevant scales. We developed an airborne mapping approach combining laser-guided imaging spectroscopy and deep learning models to quantify, at a large archipelago scale, the geographic distribution of live corals to 16-m water depth throughout the main Hawaiian islands. Airborne estimates of live coral cover were highly correlated with field-based estimates of live coral cover (R² = 0.94). Our maps were used to assess the relative condition of reefs based on live coral, and to identify potential coral refugia in the face of human-driven stressors, including marine heat waves. Geospatial modeling revealed that water depth, wave power, and nearshore development accounted for the majority (>60%) of live coral cover variation, but other human-driven factors were also important. Mapped interisland and intraisland variation in live coral location improves our understanding of reef geography and its human impacts, thereby guiding environmental management for reef resiliency.

Coral is the foundational, habitat-generating life-form of most tropical reefs, but coral is under increasing pressure from marine heat waves, coastal development, and resource extraction (1). Coral change is occurring at multiple ecological scales ranging from genotypic- and species-level responses to broad reef- and regional-level reorganization (2). However, the spatially continuous distribution of live coral cover remains unknown, owing to a scale gap between field and drone-based surveys that sample portions of any given reef and satellite-based approaches that fail to resolve live coral cover from space (3). This gap makes it difficult to map very large regions, such as island archipelagos, at the spatial and biological resolution of the habitat-forming organisms inhabiting these regions.Operational mapping of live coral cover within and across reef ecosystems could provide opportunities for science and management to better address reef protection, resilience, and restoration. For example, reef areas with live coral cover persisting after repeated stressors, such as marine heat waves, may indicate coral refugia (4). Spatial information on refugia may then drive innovations in marine protection as well as scientific investigation of underlying drivers of coral survival (5). In turn, new understanding of survivorship may alter predictions of reef change in the current and forthcoming ocean climate (6, 7). Large-scale information on live coral cover can also inform restoration efforts. Reefs that have lost coral cover from activities such as coastal development could be targeted for restoration if these activities are curtailed. However, low coral cover reefs previously exposed to repeated marine heat waves and severe degradation may represent intractable restoration possibilities (8).The eight main Hawaiian islands (MHIs) are an iconic case in point of regional variability in the face of multiple stressors. Human pressure on Hawaiian reefs is wide-ranging, from relatively low impact on Kahoʻolawe to high impact on Oʻahu (9). Coastal development has resulted in hot spots of sedimentation, waterborne pollutants, and reef removal, while fishing and other resource uses have generated declines in reef resilience (10). In parallel, a series of marine heat waves has nonuniformly engulfed the MHIs, with the 2014, 2015, and 2019 bleaching events being the most recent. The 2015 event generated live coral losses reaching more than 50% in some areas, but the geographic extent of loss or resistance remains unknown (11).The MHIs span a latitude and longitude range of 4° and 6°, respectively, and vary in geologic age, from less than a few years old on parts of Hawaiʻi Island to more than six million years old on Niʻihau (12). Island age is accompanied by stage of accretion and subsidence, processes that generate enormous interisland and intraisland variation in reef extent associated with benthic substrate availability. Combined geophysical and anthropogenic variability across the MHIs has generated ecological complexity in reef composition common to reef systems worldwide.To assess land–sea controls over live coral cover, and to expand options for coral conservation and management, we undertook the first large-scale, high-resolution mapping study of live coral cover across an island archipelago. While there have been extensive in-water surveys of coral reefs in the MHIs, these have been constrained by site access and benthic variability, making the use of field information a challenge to the development of comprehensive regional maps of where live coral exists. Moreover, most airborne or satellite-based approaches derive benthic composition as aggregate classes such as coral combined with algal cover (e.g., refs. 13 and 14), and no programs have operationalized a method to cover large areas (e.g., >1,000 ha) with highly automated mapping of live coral location. We developed an airborne mapping approach that combines laser-guided imaging spectroscopy and computational deep learning to quantify the geographic distribution of live corals to a depth of 16 m. The resulting map was used to assess the relative condition of reefs from a coral perspective, and to identify areas of high live coral cover, deemed potential refugia. Following geospatial analyses of live corals, we used computational machine learning to quantify multiple land–sea drivers affecting live coral cover, as a means to inform mitigation and restoration efforts throughout the MHIs.     

Haemophilus ducreyi Associated with Skin Ulcers among Children,Solomon Islands

During a survey of yaws prevalence in the Solomon Islands, we collected samples from skin ulcers of 41 children. Using PCR, we identified Haemophilus ducreyi infection in 13 (32%) children. PCR-positive and PCR-negative ulcers were phenotypically indistinguishable. Emergence of H. ducreyi as a cause of nongenital ulcers may affect the World Health Organization’s yaws eradication program.     

Pancreatic Cancer in the Faroe Islands: An Epidemiologic Study of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer in the Faroe Islands 1972–82

An epidemiologic study of pancreatic cancer was performed in the Faroe Islands, which have 44,000 inhabitants. All the patients with this diagnosis in the period 1972–82 were reviewed. The material comprised 57 patients. The diagnosis was confirmed microscopically in 67%, by explorative laporatomy in 28%, and by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in 5% of the patients. The average annual age-standardized incidence per 100,000 inhabitants (world standard) was 10.7 among men and 7.9 among women. The incidence of pancreatic cancer on the Faroe Islands is at the same high level as in the other Scandinavian countries, suggesting that industrial pollution has no pathogenic role. Nor could diseases or environmental, occupational, or familial factors be identified in the development of pancreatic cancer. High intake of lipids, available carbohydrates, and alcohol can be a contributory cause of developing pancreatic cancer.     

Natural foci of tsutsugamushi disease in the Nan Peng Lie Islands in China

目的：近年我国南潮列遍恙虫病率明显增高,而国内并无该地区恙虫病疫源地的记载,为当地人民的健康,本研究对该地区作为恙虫病疫源地进行全面调查与研究。方法：疫源地流行病学调查,病原分离,当地预防措施的制定。结果：该地区为南亚热带岛屿疫源地,主要宿主为褐家鼠,其季节消长与发病一致。主要媒介为地里纤恙螨,褐家鼠带螨率、地里纤恙螨的季节消长与发病均一致。从宿主与媒介分离35株恙虫病立克次体,鉴定7株大部分为Karp株。血清流行病学调查表明该岛居民恙虫病抗体阳性率极高。预防措施应用以后发病率降低。结论：这是第一次成功地证明我国南澎列岛是恙虫病疫源地。     

The hippocampal continuation (indusium griseum): its connectivity in the hedgehog tenrec and its status within the hippocampal formation of higher vertebrates

The indusium griseum and its precallosal extension are usually considered poorly differentiated portions of the hippocampus. The connections of this so-called 'hippocampal continuation' (HCt) have only been analyzed so far in rodents, which show one of the least-developed HCt among mammals. In this study we have investigated the relatively well differentiated HCt of the small Madagascan hedgehog tenrec (Afrotheria) using histochemical and axonal transport techniques. The tenrec's HCt shows associative and commissural connections. It receives laminar specific afferents from the entorhinal cortex (collaterals from neurons projecting to the dentate area), the anterior and posterior piriform cortices as well as the supramammillary region. A few fibers also originate in the olfactory bulb and the dentate hilus. Among these input areas only the dentate hilus receives a significant reciprocal projection from the HCt. Additional HCt efferents are directed to the subcallosal septum (presumed septohippocampal nucleus), the olfactory tubercle and the islands of Calleja. With the exception of the supramammillary afferents and possible efferents to the supraoptic nucleus we failed, however, to demonstrate distinct thalamic and hypothalamic connections. A comparison of the connections of the HCt with those of the hippocampal subdivisions reveal some similarity between the HCt and the dentate area, but the overall pattern of connectivity does not permit a correlation of the HCt with the dentate area, let alone the cornu ammonis and the subiculum. This view is supported by histochemical findings in the tenrec (immunoreactivity to calcium binding proteins) as well as the rat (data taken from the literature). The HCt is therefore considered a region in its own right within the hippocampal formation. It may be tentatively correlated with the medial cortex of reptiles, while the dentate area and the cornu ammonis may have evolved de novo in mammals.     

Molecular analysis of echovirus 13 isolates and aseptic meningitis,Spain

Echovirus 13 (EV13), considered rare, was reported worldwide in 2000, mostly related to aseptic meningitis outbreaks. In Spain, 135 EV13 isolates were identified. The genetic relationships between 64 representative strains from Spain and other reported isolates from the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden were described by analyzing the partial sequence of the major capsid protein (VP1) gene. The strains from Spain were clearly identified as EV13 (79.5% similarity with the EV13 reference strain) and were grouped phylogenetically into two different clusters (by origination on either the Iberian Peninsula or Canary Islands). Isolates from Germany from 2000 clustered with the Canary Islands group. The isolates from other countries obtained before 2000 were genetically distant. Changes in EV13 coding sequence involved several differences in the C-terminal extreme of the VP1 protein. Part of the neutralizing antigenic site III has been described in this genome region in poliovirus and swine vesicular disease virus.