Combining functional weed ecology and crop stable isotope ratios to identify cultivation intensity: a comparison of cereal production regimes in Haute Provence,France and Asturias,Spain

This investigation combines two independent methods of identifying crop growing conditions and husbandry practices—functional weed ecology and crop stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis—in order to assess their potential for inferring the intensity of past cereal production systems using archaeobotanical assemblages. Present-day organic cereal farming in Haute Provence, France features crop varieties adapted to low-nutrient soils managed through crop rotation, with little to no manuring. Weed quadrat survey of 60 crop field transects in this region revealed that floristic variation primarily reflects geographical differences. Functional ecological weed data clearly distinguish the Provence fields from those surveyed in a previous study of intensively managed spelt wheat in Asturias, north-western Spain: as expected, weed ecological data reflect higher soil fertility and disturbance in Asturias. Similarly, crop stable nitrogen isotope values distinguish between intensive manuring in Asturias and long-term cultivation with minimal manuring in Haute Provence. The new model of cereal cultivation intensity based on weed ecology and crop isotope values in Haute Provence and Asturias was tested through application to two other present-day regimes, successfully identifying a high-intensity regime in the Sighisoara region, Romania, and low-intensity production in Kastamonu, Turkey. Application of this new model to Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages in central Europe suggests that early farming tended to be intensive, and likely incorporated manuring, but also exhibited considerable variation, providing a finer grained understanding of cultivation intensity than previously available.     

Potential Consequences of Virus Infection for Shade-Sun Acclimation in Leaves

Attention is drawn to literature evidence that leaf virus infection may interfere with synthesis of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase, and with the activity of photosystem II, two main requirements for shade-sun acclimation. Preliminary experiments which show that virus infections resulting in these interactions can lead to photosynthetic physiology diagnostic of nitrogen limited plants and/or shade ecotypes are presented. Other observations on the diversity of virus infections in sun populations of wild species commonly found in the shade are presented. Together, this evidence leads to the hypothesis that virus infection may well confine individuals of some species to shaded habitats because infection prevents acclimation to bright light, and predisposes them to photoinhibition.     

Taxonomic status of the `Patella miniata' species complex (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa

The species boundaries between members of the southern African `Patella miniata' species complex (Patella miniata miniata, P. miniata sanguinans and P. compressa) are poorly defined on morphological grounds. Doubt also exists whether all populations of P. miniata miniata constitute a single taxon, with `P. cf. miniata' having uncertain affinities. The status of P. adansonii (known only from shells) is also obscure. Protein gel electrophoresis was employed to resolve these taxonomic uncertainties. In addition, a population of P. safiana from southern Angola was included in the study as a reference population. Electrophoretic analysis of 16 enzyme loci revealed four distinctive groupings. All populations of P. miniata miniata and P. cf. miniata proved closely related and separated from P. compressa populations at I=0.85; the P. miniata sanguinans populations clustered out at I=0.79; and P. safiana separated at I=0.69. Phylogenetic analyses, using P. safiana as an outgroup, indicated that P. miniata miniata, P. miniata sanguinans and P. compressa form a closely related monophyletic group in which P. miniata miniata and P. compressa are more closely related to each other than either one of them is to P. miniata sanguinans. Morphological analyses (shells, radula, sperm microstructure) revealed differences that mirrored the differences detected by the allozymes. Thus, it was concluded that P. miniata sanguinans and P. miniata miniata warrant full specific status and we therefore raise the former to P. sanguinans. Patella miniata miniata and P. cf. miniata are geographic variants of the same species, P. miniata, and P. adansonii is sunk within this species. Furthermore, the suggestion that P. miniata and P. compressa may be ecomorphs of the same species are not supported and both warrant specific status. Thus, the `Patella miniata' species complex in southern Africa is a closely related monophyletic group of three species, with P. miniata and P. compressa being more closely related to each other than either one is to P. sanguinans.     

Evaluation of a package of continuum of care interventions for improved maternal,newborn, and child health outcomes and service coverage in Ghana: A cluster-randomized trial

BackgroundIn low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the continuum of care (CoC) for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is not always complete. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated package of CoC interventions on the CoC completion, morbidity, and mortality outcomes of woman–child pairs in Ghana.Methods and findingsThis cluster-randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN: 90618993) was conducted at 3 Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) sites in Ghana. The primary outcome was CoC completion by a woman–child pair, defined as receiving antenatal care (ANC) 4 times or more, delivery assistance from a skilled birth attendant (SBA), and postnatal care (PNC) 3 times or more. Other outcomes were the morbidity and mortality of women and children. Women received a package of interventions and routine services at health facilities (October 2014 to December 2015). The package comprised providing a CoC card for women, CoC orientation for health workers, and offering women with 24-hour stay at a health facility or a home visit within 48 hours after delivery. In the control arm, women received routine services only. Eligibility criteria were as follows: women who gave birth or had a stillbirth from September 1, 2012 to September 30, 2014 (before the trial period), from October 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 (during the trial period), or from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 (after the trial period). Health service and morbidity outcomes were assessed before and during the trial periods through face-to-face interviews. Mortality was assessed using demographic surveillance data for the 3 periods above. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to evaluate the effectiveness as difference in differences (DiD). For health service and morbidity outcomes, 2,970 woman–child pairs were assessed: 1,480 from the baseline survey and 1,490 from the follow-up survey. Additionally, 33,819 cases were assessed for perinatal mortality, 33,322 for neonatal mortality, and 39,205 for maternal mortality. The intervention arm had higher proportions of completed CoC (410/870 [47.1%]) than the control arm (246/620 [39.7%]; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] for DiD = 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08 to 2.92; p = 0.024). Maternal complications that required hospitalization during pregnancy were lower in the intervention (95/870 [10.9%]) than in the control arm (83/620 [13.4%]) (AOR for DiD = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.83; p = 0.008). Maternal mortality was 8/6,163 live births (intervention arm) and 4/4,068 live births during the trial period (AOR for DiD = 1.60; 95% CI: 0.40 to 6.34; p = 0.507) and 1/4,626 (intervention arm) and 9/3,937 (control arm) after the trial period (AOR for DiD = 0.11; 95% CI: 0.11 to 1.00; p = 0.050). Perinatal and neonatal mortality was not significantly reduced. As this study was conducted in a real-world setting, possible limitations included differences in the type and scale of health facilities and the size of subdistricts, contamination for intervention effectiveness due to the geographic proximity of the arms, and insufficient number of cases for the mortality assessment.ConclusionsThis study found that an integrated package of CoC interventions increased CoC completion and decreased maternal complications requiring hospitalization during pregnancy and maternal mortality after the trial period. It did not find evidence of reduced perinatal and neonatal mortality.Trial registrationThe study protocol was registered in the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Registry (90618993).

Akira Shibanuma and co-workers study a package of maternal and child health interventions in a cluster-randomized trial done in Ghana.