HIV and severe wasting are associated with post-discharge mortality and hospital readmission among children with complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM); however, the reasons remain unclear. We assessed body composition at hospital discharge, stratified by HIV and oedema status, in a cohort of children with complicated SAM in three hospitals in Zambia and Zimbabwe. We measured skinfold thicknesses and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to investigate whether fat and lean mass were independent predictors of time to death or readmission. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association between death/readmission and discharge body composition. Mixed effects models were fitted to compare longitudinal changes in body composition over 1 year. At discharge, 284 and 546 children had complete BIA and skinfold measurements, respectively. Low discharge lean and peripheral fat mass were independently associated with death/hospital readmission. Each unit Z-score increase in impedance index and triceps skinfolds was associated with 48 % (adjusted hazard ratio 0·52, 95 % CI (0·30, 0·90)) and 17 % (adjusted hazard ratio 0·83, 95 % CI (0·71, 0·96)) lower hazard of death/readmission, respectively. HIV-positive v. HIV-negative children had lower gains in sum of skinfolds (mean difference −1·49, 95 % CI (−2·01, −0·97)) and impedance index Z-scores (–0·13, 95 % CI (−0·24, −0·01)) over 52 weeks. Children with non-oedematous v. oedematous SAM had lower mean changes in the sum of skinfolds (–1·47, 95 % CI (−1·97, −0·97)) and impedance index Z-scores (–0·23, 95 % CI (−0·36, −0·09)). Risk stratification to identify children at risk for mortality or readmission, and interventions to increase lean and peripheral fat mass, should be considered in the post-discharge care of these children.

From 2014 to 2020, we compiled radiocarbon ages from the lower 48 states, creating a database of more than 100,000 archaeological, geological, and paleontological ages that will be freely available to researchers through the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database. Here, we discuss the process used to compile ages, general characteristics of the database, and lessons learned from this exercise in “big data” compilation.

We prove several results showing that the algebraic $K$-theory of valuation rings behaves as though such rings were regular Noetherian, in particular an analogue of the Geisser–Levine theorem. We also give some new proofs of known results concerning cdh descent of algebraic $K$-theory.

In order to work with non-Nagata rings which are Nagata “up-to-completely-decomposed-universal-homeomorphism,” specifically finite rank Hensel valuation rings, we introduce the notions of pseudo-integral closure, pseudo-normalization, and pseudo-Hensel valuation ring. We use this notion to give a shorter and more direct proof that $H_{\operatorname{cdh}}^{n}(X,F_{\operatorname{cdh}})=H_{l\operatorname{dh}}^{n}(X,F_{l\operatorname{dh}})$ for homotopy sheaves $F$ of modules over the $\mathbb{Z}_{(l)}$-linear motivic Eilenberg–Maclane spectrum. This comparison is an alternative to the first half of the author’s volume Astérisque 391 whose main theorem is a cdh-descent result for Voevodsky motives. The motivating new insight is really accepting that Voevodsky’s motivic cohomology (with $\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{p}]$-coefficients) is invariant not just for nilpotent thickenings, but for all universal homeomorphisms.

We show how a theorem of Gabber on alterations can be used to apply the work of Cisinski, Suslin, Voevodsky, and Weibel to prove that $K_n(X) \otimes \mathbb{Z}[{1}/{p}]= 0$ for$n < {-}\! \dim X$ where $X$ is a quasi-excellent noetherian scheme, $p$ is a prime that is nilpotent on $X$, and $K_n$ is the $K$-theory of Bass–Thomason–Trobaugh. This gives a partial answer to a question of Weibel.

Monitoring species’ response in marine protected areas is important for informing both the management of those areas and the establishment of additional protected areas. Populations of spiny lobsters Jasus edwardsii were monitored in eight New Zealand marine reserves for up to 34 years. The populations displayed highly variable responses to protection. While a few showed rapid (within 1–2 years of protection) increases in abundance, others showed little response even after a decade of protection. Some reserves displayed little initial recovery, then a sudden increase following several years of protection, while others displayed significant declines in abundance following initial recovery. Marine reserves located in areas with initially high densities of juveniles tended to have rapid recovery, but aspects of reserve design had no significant influence on the recovery rate. Variability among recovery trajectories also suggests that supply-side dynamics may be a key driver of lobster recovery. Densities of legal-sized lobsters were positively correlated with reserve age, but the abundance of juvenile lobsters increased in all but one reserve, indicating enhanced recruitment, survival and/or movement of juvenile lobsters into reserves. It is important to consider the placement of reserves, with respect to potential levels of larval supply, when establishing marine reserves for either conservation or fisheries management purposes and for evaluating their effectiveness.

High density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping panels provide an alternative to microsatellite markers for genome scans. However, genotype errors have a major impact on power to detect linkage or association and are difficult to detect for SNPs. We estimated error rates with the Affymetrix GeneChip® SNP platform in samples from a family with a mixed set of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) triplets using lymphocyte, buccal DNA and samples from whole genome amplification using the multiple displacement amplification (MDA) technique. The average call rate from 58,960 SNPs for five genomic samples was 99.48%. Comparison of results for the MZ twins showed only three discordant genotypes (concordance rate 99.995%). The mean concordance rate for comparisons of samples from lymphocyte and buccal DNA was 99.97%. Mendelian inconsistencies were identified in 46 SNPs with errors in one or more family members, a rate of 0.022%. Observed genotype concordance rates between parents, between parents and children, and among siblings were consistent with previously reported allele frequencies and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Using the MDA technique, results for two samples had equivalent high accuracy to results with genomic samples. However, the SNP call rate for the remaining seven samples varied from 72.5% to 99.5%, with an average of 86.11%. Quality of the DNA sample following the MDA reaction appears to be the critical factor in SNP call rate for MDA samples. Our results demonstrate highly accurate and reproducible genotyping for the Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Mapping Set in lymphocyte and buccal DNA samples.

The protozoan parasites Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi are the causative agents of African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease, respectively. These are debilitating infections that exert a considerable health burden on some of the poorest people on the planet. Treatment of trypanosome infections is dependent on a small number of drugs that have limited efficacy and can cause severe side effects. Here, we review the properties of these drugs and describe new findings on their modes of action and the mechanisms by which resistance can arise. We further outline how a greater understanding of parasite biology is being exploited in the search for novel chemotherapeutic agents. This effort is being facilitated by new research networks that involve academic and biotechnology/pharmaceutical organisations, supported by public–private partnerships, and are bringing a new dynamism and purpose to the search for trypanocidal agents.

ZnO thin films were prepared on borosilicate glass from both single- and multi- step coating deposition of a sol-gel prepared with anhydrous zinc acetate [Zn(C2H3O2)2], monoethanolamine [H2NC2H4OH ] and isopropanol. ZnO films prepared over a range of zinc acetate concentrations, for a fixed annealing temperature, showed that sol-gels prepared with a 0.3M zinc acetate concentration resulted in the formation of films with the greatest degree of c-axis orientation. In this study, a detailed investigation of the influence of process annealing temperature over the range 450 – 550°C on the microstructural, physical, electronic and optical properties of these single and multi-step ZnO thin films around this 0.3M zinc concentration set point is presented. X-ray analysis showed that all single-step deposition thin films were preferentially orientated along the [002] c-axis direction of the crystal. In contrast, only the multi-layer film annealed at 550°C showed similar preferential orientation. All single step deposited films showed a similar average optical transmittance above 87%, independent of annealing temperature. The transmittance of the multi-step films was shown to be strongly correlated to the degree of c-axis orientation. The optical band-gap energy was evaluated to be 3.298 – 3.316 eV for all samples. The photoluminescence spectra of the single layer ZnO films showed a strong emission centred at ca. 405 nm, which blue shifted with increasing annealing temperature. The multi-layer ZnO samples emitted throughout the UV and the visible range, with the samples prepared at 500 and 550°C showing the expected ZnO emission peak at 380 nm. Despite being thicker, the emission from the multi- layer samples was less than measured for the single layer samples. The effect of sol-gel annealing temperature and deposition process on film microstructure, morphology, electrical resistivity and optical transparency is detailed.