Assessing Progress towards Public Health,Human Rights,and International Development Goals Using Frontier Analysis

Indicators to measure progress towards achieving public health, human rights, and international development targets, such as 100% access to improved drinking water or zero maternal mortality ratio, generally focus on status (i.e., level of attainment or coverage) or trends in status (i.e., rates of change). However, these indicators do not account for different levels of development that countries experience, thus making it difficult to compare progress between countries. We describe a recently developed new use of frontier analysis and apply this method to calculate country performance indices in three areas: maternal mortality ratio, poverty headcount ratio, and primary school completion rate. Frontier analysis is used to identify the maximum achievable rates of change, defined by the historically best-performing countries, as a function of coverage level. Performance indices are calculated by comparing a country’s rate of change against the maximum achievable rate at the same coverage level. A country’s performance can be positive or negative, corresponding to progression or regression, respectively. The calculated performance indices allow countries to be compared against each other regardless of whether they have only begun to make progress or whether they have almost achieved the target. This paper is the first to use frontier analysis to determine the maximum achievable rates as a function of coverage level and to calculate performance indices for public health, human rights, and international development indicators. The method can be applied to multiple fields and settings, for example health targets such as cessation in smoking or specific vaccine immunizations, and offers both a new approach to analyze existing data and a new data source for consideration when assessing progress achieved.     

Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody able to discriminate galectin-1 from galectin-2 and galectin-3

Antisera raised against galectin-1 exhibit crossreactivities with other galectins or related molecules. In order to overcome this problem, a monoclonal antibody to human brain galectin-1 was obtained by selecting clones without reactivity toward galectin-3. This mAb specifically bound galectin-1 of various animal origins but neither galectin-2 nor galectin-3. Western-blotting analysis of soluble human brain extracts after 2D gel electrophoresis revealed only the two most acidic isoforms of galectin-1. The ability of this mAb to bind galectin-1/asialofetuin complexes indicates that its epitope is not localized in the carbohydrate recognition domain of galectin-1. This particularity induces with efficiency its monospecificity.      

An anchored restriction-mapping approach applied to the genetic analysis of the Anopheles gambiae malaria vector complex 1

We introduce here a simple approach for rapidly determining restriction maps for a number of regions of a genome; this involves "anchoring" a map with a rare restriction site (in this case the seldom-cutting EagI) followed by partial digestion of a frequent-cutting enzyme (e.g., Sau 3A). We applied this technology to five species of the Anopheles gambiae complex. In a single Southern blot we obtained about a 15-kb restriction map each for the mtDNA, rRNA gene, and a scnDNA region for each of five species. Phylogenetic analyses of these regions yield trees at odds with the more traditional chromosome inversion-based trees. The value of the approach for systematic purposes is the ease with which several large, independent regions of the genome can be quickly assayed for molecular variation.      

Wealth, Status, and Reproductive Success among the Mukogodo of Kenya

The evolutionary biological hypothesis that culturally defined values and goals are proximate means of enhancing reproductive success is tested on data from the Mukogodo, a small group of Maa-speaking pastoralists in north-central Kenya who value the accumulation of livestock. The results support the prediction that, at least among males, livestock wealth should correlate with reproductive success. This correlation appears to be due mainly to greater polygyny among wealthier men. Lower age at first marriage among wealthier men may also contribute to the correlation between livestock wealth and reproductive success. The association between livestock wealth and reproductive success does not appear to be due to the productivity of wives and children, to bridewealths obtained when daughters marry, or to the effects of wealth on the reproductive success of men's wives.     

The genetic dimension of pest pressure in the tropical rainforest

Wet tropical forests are among the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and can host several hundreds of tree species per hectare. To maintain such diversity, the community must contain large numbers of relatively rare species rather than be dominated by a few very common trees, as is often the case in temperate forests. Explaining the mechanisms preventing dominance by common species has been a major task of tropical forest ecology. One of the most promising mechanisms is negative density dependence (NDD) of tree abundance driven by pests, including fungal diseases (‘pest pressure’). NDD entails that the chance of survival of a sapling increases with the distance from a mature tree of the same species, thus preventing species from becoming locally dominant. Curiously, the strength of NDD is negatively correlated with abundance, meaning that tree species that are more common generally show weaker NDD (Comita et al. 2010 ). Interactions between plants and soil pathogens have been shown to play an important role in NDD (Klironomos 2002 ), and rare species are apparently more strongly affected (Mangan et al. 2010 ). However, the genetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have remained obscure. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Marden et al. ( 2017 ) suggest that reduced diversity of the genes involved in pathogen recognition (Resistance genes or R genes) could explain why NDD is stronger in locally rare species.     

Identification of a novel noncatalytic bicarbonate binding site in eubacterial beta-carbonic anhydrase

The structures of beta class carbonic anhydrases (beta-CAs) determined so far fall into two distinct subclasses based on the observed coordination of the catalytic zinc (Zn2+) ion. The subclass of beta-CAs that coordinate Zn2+ tetrahedrally with four protein-derived ligands is represented by the structures of orthologues from Porphyridium purpureum, Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here we present the structure of an additional member of that subclass, that from Haemophilus influenzae, as well as detailed kinetic analysis, revealing the correspondence between structural classification and kinetic profile for this subclass. In addition, we identify a unique, noncatalytic binding mode for the substrate bicarbonate that occurs in both the H. influenzae and E. coli enzymes. The kinetic and structural analysis indicates that binding of bicarbonate in this site of the enzyme may modulate its activity by influencing a pH-dependent, cooperative transition between active and inactive forms. We hypothesize that the two structural subclasses of beta-CAs may provide models for the proposed active and inactive forms of the H. influenzae and E. coli enzymes.     

Bird-pollinated Macaronesian Lotus (Leguminosae) evolved within a group of entomophilous ancestors with post-anthesis flower color change

We analyzed the evolution of red/orange flowers in four putatively bird-pollinated species of Macaronesian Lotus, with the aim of investigating whether this floral trait evolved from a similar trait found in some entomophilous Lotus species, namely the ability to modify flower color to red after anthesis. First, we mapped the ability to modify flower color in this group on a well-resolved and densely sampled phylogenetic tree of the Macaronesian Lotus. Secondly, we determined differences in light reflectance and pigment composition between petals of (1) prechange and postchange flowers in bee-pollinated species and (2) between bee and putatively bird-pollinated species. Post-anthesis flower color change evolved three times within Macaronesian Lotus, and putatively bird-pollinated species evolved within a clade with this ability to change flower color to red after anthesis. The evolutionary transition to red/orange flowers in the putatively bird-pollinated species involved biochemical changes similar to those of the developmental transition to red postchange flowers. In both cases there are changes in the composition of flavonols and anthocyanidins within the same metabolic pathways, especially in the cyanidin branch of pigment production, but not the activation or inactivation of additional branches of this pathway. Post-anthesis color change in Lotus, from yellow to red, is thought to be an adaptation to reduce bee visits to already pollinated flowers. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that constitutive red coloration for bird-pollination evolved from facultative red flower color change in Lotus. As red post-anthesis coloration is widespread in plants, this may possibly represent a widespread exaptive mechanism for the evolution of bird pollination.