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In Ethiopia, pesticides are widely used in vegetable production. However, if used incorrectly they may harm consumers of vegetables contaminated with pesticide residues, as well as producers handling the pesticides and lead to ecological damage. We performed a cross-sectional survey to assess pesticide residues level in vegetables produced in central and eastern Ethiopia. A total of 232 vegetable samples (91 tomatoes, 106 cabbages and 35 Swiss chard) were collected from fields and retail markets, and were screened for 35 pesticides (20 organophosphate, 14 organochlorine and a synergist, pipero...

The activity of marine microorganisms depends on community composition, yet, in some oceans, little is known about the environmental and ecological processes that structure their distribution. The objective of this study was to test the effect of geographic distance and environmental parameters on prokaryotic community structure in the Southern Ocean (SO). We described the total (16S rRNA gene) and the active fraction (16S rRNA-based) of surface microbial communities over a ~6.500 km longitudinal transect in the SO. We found that the community composition of the total fraction was different fr...

Food security and livelihoods among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are often constrained by limited farm resource endowment. It can be difficult to improve resource endowment given barriers such as low land availability and the unaffordability of agricultural inputs, so here we ask whether farmers can gain a better return on their resources through optimising their farm strategy in terms of the composition and/or diversity of crop and livestock species raised. Our survey of 1133 smallholder farmers in western Kenya and northern Nigeria, using a modified version of RHoMIS, suggested ...

In this article, statistician Bruno Wiesend reports on a scientific controversy about a study on the "Influence of intelligence and practice on the development of skills". The author considers the results of the study to be wrong due to methodological errors. | Photo: Pixabay

SARS-CoV-2 variants with multiple spike mutations enable increased transmission and antibody resistance. Here, we combine cryo-EM, binding and computational analyses to study variant spikes, including one that was involved in transmission between minks and humans, and others that originated and spread in human populations. All variants showed increased ACE2 receptor binding and increased propensity for RBD up states. While adaptation to mink resulted in spike destabilization, the B.1.1.7 (UK) spike balanced stabilizing and destabilizing mutations. A local destabilizing effect of the RBD E484K ...