Acute blastocystis-associated appendicular peritonitis in a child, Casablanca, Morocco.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Frealle E
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4285265 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Meningococcal epidemiology may change unpredictably, and typing of Neisseria meningitidis isolates is crucial for the surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Few data are available regarding the meningococcal epidemiology in countries of North Africa. We aimed to explore invasive meningococcal isolates from the Casablanca region in Morocco. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to characterize 105 isolates from this region during the period of 2011 to 2016. Our data showed that the majority (n = 100) of the isolates belonged to serogroup B. Genotyping indicated that most of the isolates (n = 62) belonged to sequence type 33 of clonal complex 32. The isolates also showed the same PorA and FetA markers and clustered together on the basis of WGS phylogenetic analysis; they seemed to correspond to an expansion of local isolates in the Casablanca region, as reported for similar isolates in several other countries. These data suggest that serogroup B isolates may predominate in Morocco, which may have an important impact in the design of vaccination strategies.
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Project description:The onset of the Acheulean, marked by the emergence of large cutting tools (LCTs), is considered a major technological advance in the Early Stone Age and a key turning point in human evolution. The Acheulean originated in East Africa at ~ 1.8-1.6 Ma and is reported in South Africa between ~ 1.6 and > 1.0 Ma. The timing of its appearance and development in North Africa have been poorly known due to the near-absence of well-dated sites in reliable contexts. The ~ 1 Ma stone artefacts of Tighennif (Algeria) and Thomas Quarry I-Unit L (ThI-L) at Casablanca (Morocco) are thus far regarded as documenting the oldest Acheulean in North Africa but whatever the precision of their stratigraphical position, both deserve a better chronology. Here we provide a chronology for ThI-L, based on new magnetostratigraphic and geochemical data. Added to the existing lithostratigraphy of the Casablanca sequence, these results provide the first robust chronostratigraphic framework for the early North African Acheulean and firmly establish its emergence in this part of the continent back at least to ~ 1.3 Ma.
| S-EPMC8319413 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundStroke is a growing public health concern in low- and middle- income countries. Improved knowledge about the association between socioeconomic status and stroke in these countries would enable the development of effective stroke prevention and management strategies. This study presents the association between socioeconomic status and the prevalence of stroke in Morocco, a lower middle-income country.MethodsData on the prevalence of stroke and stroke-related risk factors were collected during a large population-based survey. The diagnosis of stroke in surviving patients was confirmed by neurologists while health, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics of households were collected using structured questionnaires. We used Multiple Correspondence Analysis to develop a wealth index based on characteristics of the household dwelling as well as ownership of selected assets. We used logistic regressions controlling for multiple variables to assess the statistical association between socioeconomic status and stroke.FindingsOur results showed a significant association between household socioeconomic status and the prevalence of stroke. This relationship was non-linear, with individuals from both the poorest (mainly rural) and richest (mainly urban) households having a lower prevalence of stroke as compared to individuals with medium wealth level. The latter belonged mainly to urban households with a lower socioeconomic status. When taking into account the urban population only, we observed that a third of poorest households experienced a significantly higher prevalence of stroke compared to the richest third (OR = 2.06; CI 95%: 1.09; 3.89).ConclusionWe conclude that individuals from the most deprived urban households bear a higher risk of stroke than the rest of the population in Morocco. This result can be explained to a certain extent by the higher presence of behavioral risk factors in this specific category of the population, which leads in turn to metabolic and physiological risk factors of stroke, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
| S-EPMC3938460 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To date, in Africa, evidence for animal processing and consumption in caves routinely used as living spaces is only documented in the late Middle Pleistocene of the North and South of the continent and postdates the Middle Pleistocene in East Africa. Here we report the earliest evidence in a North-African cave (Grotte des Rhinocéros at Casablanca, Morocco) of cut, percussion and human gnawing marks on faunal remains directly associated with lithic knapping activities in the same space and in a well-documented stratified context. Ages for this Acheulean site are provided by the dating of herbivorous teeth to 690-720 ka and 520-550 ka (lower and upper sets) by combined Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and U-series techniques. Traces of butchery on gazelle, alcelaphin, and zebra bones demonstrate that hominins had primary access to herbivore carcasses. Hominins brought and consumed meat in the cave, as documented by herbivore bones bearing human tooth marks concentrated in a circumscribed area of the excavation. In Africa, this site provides the earliest evidence for in situ carcass processing and meat-eating in cave, directly associated with lithic production and demonstrates the recurrent use by early Middle Pleistocene hominins of a North African cave site 400 000 years before that by Homo sapiens at Jebel Irhoud (Morocco).
| S-EPMC7075909 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Several studies had revealed that following the Mediterranean diet (MD) contributes to beneficial health status and a decreased risk of many chronic diseases. The aim of our study was to assess adherence to MD in Casablanca City and to identify the relationship between MD adherence and sociodemographic and lifestyle parameters. This cross-sectional study concerned 719 subjects with complete dietary data. Data collection was performed using a questionnaire including sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. The dietary intake was assessed with the use of a food-frequency questionnaire. The compliance with MD was evaluated with a simplified MD score. Our study showed that high adherence to the MD was characterized by high intakes of vegetables, fruits, pulses, fish, cereals, olive oil, and low meat and dairy consumption according to the Simplified MD score. As regard to the multivariate logistic, being a man, being married, persons with a level of education >6 years, luxurious housing, and consumption of alcohol were associated with a higher adherence to MD, while, the overweight was negatively associated with a higher adherence to MD. Maintaining the traditional MD pattern is crucial for public health; in this way, more research is needed in this area in order to precisely measure these associations.
| S-EPMC7115148 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The ability to produce large cutting tools (LCTs) is considered as the technological marker of the Acheulean and the indicator of a greater technological complexity compared to the previous Oldowan. Although Acheulean techno-complexes are also composed of a concurrent core-and-flake technology, the iconic handaxes have attracted more attention than any other lithic component. Consequently, little is known of the small and medium-sized flake productions (small flaking), especially starting from 1?Ma, when handaxe and cleaver manufacture becomes intensive and widespread across Africa, including the Atlantic coastal regions of Morocco. Research at Thomas Quarry I yielded a rich early Acheulean lithic assemblage, mainly composed of quartzite LCTs and small flaking, together with a small-sized flint production. Here, we report a particular aspect of this flint assemblage, i.e. a flint bladelet-like flake production. This process represents a discrete technical behaviour among those related to small flaking both in quartzite and flint: pebbles were flaked using the bipolar-on-anvil technique repeatedly employing a specific method to produce bladelet-like flakes. This production represents the oldest dated occurrence of bladelet-like technology in Africa and reveals technical competencies hitherto unknown for these periods, providing further elements for the techno-economic diversification of the African Acheulean.
| S-EPMC7280310 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Trilobites were one of the most successful groups of marine arthropods during the Palaeozoic era, yet their soft-part anatomy is only known from a few exceptionally-preserved specimens found in a handful of localities from the Cambrian to the Devonian. This is because, even if the sclerotized appendages were not destroyed during early taphonomic stages, they are often overprinted by the three-dimensional, mineralised exoskeleton. Inferences about the ventral anatomy and behavioural activities of trilobites can also be derived from the ichnological record, which suggests that most Cruziana and Rusophycus trace fossils were possibly produced by the actions of trilobites. Three specimens of the asaphid trilobite Megistaspis (Ekeraspis) hammondi, have been discovered in the Lower Ordovician Fezouata Konservat-Lagerstätte of southern Morocco, preserving appendages and digestive tract. The digestive structures include a crop with digestive caeca, while the appendages display exopodal setae and slight heteropody (cephalic endopods larger and more spinose than thoracic and pygidial ones). The combination of these digestive structures and the heteropody has never been described together among trilobites, and the latter could assist in the understanding of the production of certain comb-like traces of the Cruziana rugosa group, which are extraordinarily abundant on the shallow marine shelves around Gondwana.
| S-EPMC5223178 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In order to identify the medicinal and aromatic plants most requested for the treatment of the most common oral pathology, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the economic capital Casablanca, Morocco. The data basis was obtained draw selected traditional herbalists based on the semi-structured questionnaire. Quantitative indices such as use value (UV), family UV (FUV), fidelity level and informant consensus factor (ICF) were intended to evaluate the importance of plant species. A total of 46 plants species belonging to 22 families that were used. Juglandaceae family showed the highest significance (FUV?=?0.75). We identified 40 species used for gum disease (gingivitis, periodontal abscess), 15 for dental pain (toothache, tooth sensitivity), 14 for halitosis, 12 for oral ulcers (aphtous, mouth ulcers and herpes), 3 for dental stain (teeth cleaning, sparkling and bleaching) and only 2 for tooth decay. The used plants are mainly prepared as decoction (80.4%). Syzygium aromaticum (UV?=?0.94) was the specie most commonly prescribed by local herbalists. The higher ICF (0.75) was registered for the use gum disease.
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Project description:Fecal samples from 444 Danish patients presenting with acute diarrhea were tested for Blastocystis and positive samples were subtyped to investigate the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in this patient group. A total of 25 patients (5.6%) were positive, and 19 of these patients (76.0%) were positive for Blastocystis sp. ST4. Because the relative prevalence of ST4 in other patients presenting with other types of diarrhea (persistent, travel-related, and human immunodeficiency virus-related) in Denmark is low, the role of Blastocystis sp. ST4 in the etiology of acute diarrhea should be investigated further.
| S-EPMC3110361 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundStreptococcus pneumoniae serotype 1 remains a leading cause of invasive pneumococcal diseases, even in countries with PCV-10/PCV-13 vaccine implementation. The main objective of this study, which is part of the Pneumococcal African Genome project (PAGe), was to determine the phylogenetic relationships of serotype 1 isolates recovered from children patients in Casablanca (Morocco), compared to these from other African countries; and to investigate the contribution of accessory genes and recombination events to the genetic diversity of this serotype.ResultsThe genome average size of the six-pneumococcus serotype 1 from Casablanca was 2,227,119 bp, and the average content of coding sequences was 2113, ranging from 2041 to 2161. Pangenome analysis of the 80 genomes used in this study revealed 1685 core genes and 1805 accessory genes. The phylogenetic tree based on core genes and the hierarchical bayesian clustering analysis revealed five sublineages with a phylogeographic structure by country. The Moroccan strains cluster in two different lineages, the five invasive strains clusters altogether in a divergent clade distantly related to the non-invasive strain, that cluster with all the serotype 1 genomes from Africa.ConclusionsThe whole genome sequencing provides increased resolution analysis of the highly virulent serotype 1 in Casablanca, Morocco. Our results are concordant with previous works, showing that the phylogeography of S. pneumoniae serotype 1 is structured by country, and despite the small size (six isolates) of the Moroccan sample, our analysis shows the genetic cohesion of the Moroccan invasive isolates.
| S-EPMC7792055 | biostudies-literature