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Summary: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and HIV co-infection (VL/HIV) has emerged as a significant public health problem in Ethiopia, with up to 30% of patients with VL co-infected with HIV. These patients suffer from recurrent VL relapses and increased mortality. Those with a previous history of VL relapses (recurrent VL/HIV) experience increased VL relapses as compared to patients with HIV presenting with their first episode of VL (primary VL/HIV). Our aim was to identify drivers that account for the higher rate of VL relapses in patients with recurrent VL/HIV (n = 28) as compared to primary VL/HIV (n = 21). Our results show that the relapse-free survival in patients with recurrent VL/HIV was shorter, that they had higher parasite load, lower weight gain, and lower recovery of all blood cell lineages. Their poorer prognosis was characterized by lower production of IFN-gamma, lower CD4+ T cell counts, and higher expression of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) on T cells.

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (HIV-PrEP) is effective in reducing the likelihood of HIV acquisition in HIV-negative people at high risk of exposure. Guidelines recommend testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before starting, and periodically on PrEP, including bacterial infections, HIV, hepatitis C virus, and, for those who are non-immune, hepatitis B virus. Diagnosed infections can be promptly treated to reduce onward transmission. HTLV-1 is not mentioned; however, it is predominantly sexually transmitted, causes adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL) or myelopathy in 10% of those infected, and is associated with an increased risk of death in those without any classically HTLV-associated condition. The 2021 WHO Technical Report on HTLV-1 called for the strengthening of global public health measures against its spread. In this scoping review, we, therefore, (1) discuss the epidemiological context of HIV-PrEP and HTLV-1 transmission; (2) present current knowledge of antiretrovirals in relation to HTLV-1 transmission prevention, including nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs); and (3) identify knowledge gaps where data are urgently required to inform global public health measures to protect HIV-PrEP users from HTLV-1 acquisition. We suggest that systematic seroprevalence studies among PrEP-using groups, including men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWIDs), and female sex workers (FSWs), are needed. Further data are required to evaluate antiretroviral efficacy in preventing HTLV-1 transmission from in vitro studies, animal models, and clinical cohorts. PrEP delivery programmes should consider prioritizing the long-acting injectable INSTI, cabotegravir, in HTLV-1 endemic settings.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Brazil ranks first in the number of HTLV-1/-2-infected individuals worldwide. The high morbidity and mortality of HTLV-1-associated diseases, especially following infection in infancy, requires strong action to reduce vertical transmission. METHODS: To facilitate the appraisal of the implementation of the HTLV antenatal screening program by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, we determined the costs in distinct scenarios according to HTLV seroprevalence, specificity of the screening test, and type of confirmatory test. RESULTS: HTLV antenatal screening would cost R$ 55,777,012-R$ 77,082,123/year. Screening assays with high specificity reduce the need and cost of confirmatory assays by up to 25%. CONCLUSIONS: Careful selection of the screening assay is required to optimize the program.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficácia do evento piramidado (MON 89034), que expressa as proteínas Cry1A.105 e Cry2Ab2, no controle dos principais lepidópteros-praga da cultura do milho no Brasil, Spodoptera frugiperda, Helicoverpa spp. e Diatraea saccharalis. Os ensaios foram conduzidos em quatro regiões do país, com o híbrido DKB 390, submetido a seis tratamentos: híbrido com o evento piramidado, híbrido com o evento que expressa apenas a proteína Cry1A(b) (MON 810) e híbrido convencional (não Bt), todos com e sem manejo integrado de S. frugiperda. Para o evento piramidado, não foi necessário o controle químico em nenhum dos locais avaliados. Diferenças significativas foram observadas entre os tratamentos quanto aos danos e à presença de lagartas. Em geral, essas variáveis foram mais baixas no híbrido com o evento piramidado e mais altas no híbrido convencional, sem controle químico. Sob alta infestação, o controle químico reduziu os danos causados por S. frugiperda e D. saccharalis, tanto no evento que expressa apenas uma proteína, como no híbrido convencional. Com base nos danos causados pelos insetos, o evento piramidado Cry1A.105 e Cry2Ab2 é eficiente no controle dos principais lepidópteros-pragas do milho no Brasil.

Over the last 8000 years the Fertile Crescent of the Near East has seen the emergence of urban agglomerations, small scale polities and large territorial empires, all of which had profound effects on settlement patterns. Computational approaches, including the use of remote sensing data, allow us to analyse these changes at unprecedented geographical and temporal scales. Here we employ these techniques to examine and compare long term trends in urbanisation, population and climate records. Maximum city size is used as a proxy for the intensity of urbanisation, whilst population trends are modelled from settlement densities in nine archaeological surveys conducted over the last 30 years across the region. These two measures are then compared with atmospheric moisture levels derived from multiple proxy analyses from two locations close to the study area, Soreq Cave in Israel and Lake Van in south-eastern Turkey, as well as wider literature. The earliest urban sites emerged during a period of relatively high atmospheric moisture levels and conform to a series of size thresholds. However, after the Early Bronze Age maximum urban size and population levels increase rapidly whilst atmospheric moisture declines. We argue that although the initial phase of urbanization may have been linked to climate conditions, we can see a definitive decoupling of climate and settlement patterns after 2000 BC. We relate this phenomenon to changes in socio-economic organisation and integration in large territorial empires. The complex relationships sustaining urban growth during this later period resulted in an increase in system fragility and ultimately impacted on the sustainability of cities in the long term.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152563.].

The EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa) project is a collaboration between the Universities of Leicester, Oxford and Durham; it is funded by the Arcadia Fund and the Cultural Protection Fund. This paper explores the development of the EAMENA methodology, and discusses some of the problems of working across such a broad region. We discuss two main case studies: the World Heritage site of Cyrene illustrates how the project can use satellite imagery (dating from the 1960s to 2017), in conjunction with published data to create a detailed set of database records for a single site and, in particular, highlights the impact of modern urban expansion across the region. Conversely, the Homs Cairns case study demonstrates how the EAMENA methodology also works at an extensive scale, and integrates image interpretation (using imagery dating from the 1960s to 2016), landuse mapping and field survey (2007–2010) to record and analyse the condition of hundreds of features across a small study region. This study emphasises the impact of modern agricultural and land clearing activities. Ultimately, this paper assesses the effectiveness of the EAMENA approach, evaluating its potential success against projects using crowd-sourcing and automation for recording archaeological sites, and seeks to determine the most appropriate methods to use to document sites and assess disturbances and threats across such a vast and diverse area.

Improved freshwater resource management requires the implementation of widespread, effective, and timely water quality monitoring. Conventional monitoring methods are often inhibited by financial, infrastructural, and human capacity limitations, especially in developing regions. This study aimed to validate the citizen‐scientist‐operated transparency or clarity tube (hereafter "clarity tube") for measuring water clarity as a proxy for total suspended solids (TSS) concentration, a critical quality metric in river systems and wastewater treatment works (WWTW) effluent in Southern Africa. Clarity tubes provided a relatively accurate and precise proxy for TSS in riverine lotic systems and WWTW effluent, revealing significant inverse log‐linear relationships between clarity and TSS with r2 = 0.715 and 0.503, respectively. We demonstrate that clarity‐derived estimates of TSS concentration (TSScde) can be used to estimate WWTW compliance with WWTW effluent TSS concentration regulations. The measurements can then be used to engage with WWTW management, potentially affecting WWTW performance. Overall, these findings demonstrate the usefulness of clarity tubes as low‐cost, accessible, and easy‐to‐use citizen science tools for high spatial and temporal resolution water quality monitoring, not only in rivers in Southern Africa but also in WWTW effluent for estimating compliance, with strong global relevance to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1463–1472. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Key Points: Clarity tubes provide a relatively accurate and precise proxy for total suspended solids (TSS) in riverine lotic systems and wastewater treatment works (WWTW) effluent, revealing significant inverse log‐linear relationships between clarity and TSS.Clarity‐derived estimates of TSS concentration (TSScde) can be used to estimate WWTW compliance with WWTW effluent TSS concentration regulations, which can then be used to engage with WWTW management, potentially affecting WWTW performance.These findings demonstrate the usefulness of clarity tubes as low‐cost, accessible, and easy‐to‐use citizen science tools for high spatial and temporal resolution water quality monitoring in rivers in Southern Africa and in WWTW effluent for estimating compliance.Using clarity tubes for river and WWTW monitoring is a decisive step toward achieving significant progress in meeting sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 for ensuring safe access to water and sanitation for all, specifically SDG 6.3.2 and SDG 6b, by involving communities in water and sanitation monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]