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opencc-by-4.0Dec 2018View details →

Single versus multiple dose ivermectin regimen in onchocerciasis-infected persons with epilepsy treated with phenobarbital: a randomized clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Open data for a randomized clinical trial performed in onchocerciasis-endemic villages of the Logo health zone in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo where mass ivermectin administration had never been implemented. Ivermectin naïve, persons with epilepsy with Onchocerca volvulus infection were randomly allocated to receive ivermectin once, twice or thrice over a one year period of follow up. At the same time they were treated with the anti-epileptic drug phenobarbital. At baseline, information was collected on seizure semiology, seizure frequency, epilepsy risk factors, relevant medical history, previous AED and ivermectin use. The primary outcome was seizure freedom during the last four months of the 12-month follow up period.

opennotspecifiedAug 2020View details →

FIGURES 1‒4. Rhadinopsylla alphabetica, male. 1. Head. 2. Sternum VIII. 3. Clasper and sternum IX. 4 in Updated list of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) of the Korean Peninsula, with the presence of Rhadinopsylla alphabetica Jameson & Sakaguti in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

FIGURES 1‒4. Rhadinopsylla alphabetica, male. 1. Head. 2. Sternum VIII. 3. Clasper and sternum IX. 4. Phallosome, (scale bar = 100 µm).

opennotspecifiedAug 2020View details →

FIGURES 5‒8. Rhadinopsylla alphabetica, female. 5. Head. 6. Sternum VII. 7. Spermatheca. 8 in Updated list of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) of the Korean Peninsula, with the presence of Rhadinopsylla alphabetica Jameson & Sakaguti in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

FIGURES 5‒8. Rhadinopsylla alphabetica, female. 5. Head. 6. Sternum VII. 7. Spermatheca. 8. Bursa copulatrix. (scale bar = 100 µm).

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Multilevel modeling of time-series cross-sectional data reveals the dynamic interaction between ecological threats and democratic development

What is the relationship between environment and democracy? The framework of cultural evolution suggests that societal development is an adaptation to ecological threats. Pertinent theories assume that democracy emerges as societies adapt to ecological factors such as higher economic wealth, lower pathogen threats, less demanding climates, and fewer natural disasters. However, previous research confused within-country processes with between-country processes and erroneously interpreted between-country findings as if they generalize to within-country mechanisms. In this article, we analyze a time-series cross-sectional dataset to study the dynamic relationship between environment and democracy (1949-2016), accounting for previous misconceptions in levels of analysis. By separating within-country processes from between-country processes, we find that the relationship between environment and democracy not only differs by countries but also depends on the level of analysis. Economic wealth predicts increasing levels of democracy in between-country comparisons, but within-country comparisons show that democracy declines as countries become wealthier over time. This relationship is only prevalent among historically wealthy countries but not among historically poor countries, whose wealth also increased over time. By contrast, pathogen prevalence predicts lower levels of democracy in both between-country and within-country comparisons. Our longitudinal analyses identifying temporal precedence reveal that not only reductions in pathogen prevalence drive future democracy, but also democracy reduces future pathogen prevalence and increases future wealth. These nuanced results contrast with previous analyses using narrow, cross-sectional data. As a whole, our findings illuminate the dynamic process by which environment and democracy shape each other.

opencc-zeroMar 2020View details →

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Data from: Overview of animal rabies in Kinshasa Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction: Rabies is one of the major public health problems mostly affecting developing countries in Africa and Asia where 99.9% of all rabies related human deaths are recorded each year. In Democratic Republic of Congo, repeated outbreaks have been reported. Despite this, there is little reliable epidemiological data about rabies in the country for the development of effective control strategies. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in Kinshasa Province during a period of five years (2009–2013) to describe the proportion of rabid animals and the species involved in rabies transmission and maintenance. The survey also aimed at describing the spatial-temporal distribution of rabies. To gather information, the daily registers of institutions involved in rabies diagnosis were reviewed and each rabies case was traced back to area of occurrence for collection of geographic coordinates. Results and Discussion: A total of 5,053 attacks were registered involving six animal species including dog, cat, monkey, rabbit, rat, and pig. Based on clinical observations, rabies was reported in dogs and cats while data obtained from the laboratory confirmed rabies cases included dogs, cats and a goat. The annual distribution showed a significant decrease of rabies cases from 2009 up to 2011 and a later increase up to 2013. There was no difference in rabies occurrence between seasons (p = 0.721). Rabies cases were three times higher in peri-urban zone than in urban zone OR = 3.4 (95% CI: 2.3–5.1). The positive proportion of rabies was 2.6% (95% CI: 2.1–3) based on clinical evidence and 65.9% (95% CI: 50–79.5) for laboratory confirmed cases. Conclusion and Suggestion: This study confirms the endemicity of rabies in Kinshasa where occurrence of rabies cases was related to human population density and lifestyle. In order to control rabies, there is need to set up a surveillance program and implement efficient mass vaccination campaigns of susceptible animals.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

opencc-zeroSep 2015View details →

Institutions and Cultural Diversity: Effects of Democratic and Propaganda Processes on Local Convergence and Global Diversity.

In a connected world where people influence each other, what can cause a globalized monoculture, and which measures help to preserve the coexistence of cultures? Previous research has shown that factors such as homophily, population size, geography, mass media, and type of social influence play important roles. In the present paper, we investigate for the first time the impact that institutions have on cultural diversity. In our first three studies, we extend existing agent-based models and explore the effects of institutional influence and agent loyalty. We find that higher institutional influence increases cultural diversity, while individuals' loyalty to their institutions has a small, preserving effect. In three further studies, we test how bottom-up and top-down processes of institutional influence impact our model. We find that bottom-up democratic practices, such as referenda, tend to produce convergence towards homogeneity, while top-down information dissemination practices, such as propaganda, further increase diversity. In our last model – an integration of bottom-up and top-down processes into a feedback loop of information – we found that when democratic processes are rare, the effects of propaganda are amplified, i.e. more diversity emerges; however, when democratic processes are common, they are able to neutralize or even reverse this propaganda effect. Importantly, our models allow for control over the full spectrum of diversity, so that a manipulation of our variables can result in preferred levels of diversity, which will be useful for the study of other factors in the future. We discuss possible mechanisms behind our results, possible applications, and implications for political and social sciences.

FIGURE 6 in Micralestes (Characiformes, Alestidae) of the lower Congo River, with a description of a new species endemic to the lower Congo River rapids in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 6. Micralestes schelly sp. nov. AMNH 240671, photograph of mature male taken immediately post mortem. Specimen collected from the type locality in July 2007, photo by Jake Lowenstein.

FIGURE 5 in Micralestes (Characiformes, Alestidae) of the lower Congo River, with a description of a new species endemic to the lower Congo River rapids in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 5. Micralestes schelly sp. nov. A) AMNH 239518, paratype, female, 44.5 mm SL, B) AMNH 240662, holo-

FIGURE 4 in Micralestes (Characiformes, Alestidae) of the lower Congo River, with a description of a new species endemic to the lower Congo River rapids in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 4. Micralestes schelly sp. nov. A) schematic of dominant color pattering in preservation in female, B) male. C) Skeletal elements of anterior region of anal fin of mature male.

FIGURE 2 in Micralestes (Characiformes, Alestidae) of the lower Congo River, with a description of a new species endemic to the lower Congo River rapids in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 2. Isolated orbital series in A) Bryconaethiops yseuxi, B) Brachypetersius altus, C) Micralestes humilis, D) Micralestes schelly sp. nov., E) pectoral girdle in medial view of Micralestes humilis, F) caudal skeleton and adjacent vertebrae in Micralestes humilis.

FIGURE 1 in Micralestes (Characiformes, Alestidae) of the lower Congo River, with a description of a new species endemic to the lower Congo River rapids in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 1. Micralestes of the lower Congo River. A) Micralestes acutidens, AMNH 238378, female, 51.1 mm SL, B) Micralestes holargyreus, AMNH 239479, male, 60.5 mm SL, C) Micralestes humilis, AMNH 238406, female, 56.8 mm SL, D) Micralestes lualabae, AMNH 238386, female, 65.4 mm SL, E) Micralestes stormsi, AMNH 238440, male, 51.0 mm SL, F) Micralestes schelly sp. nov., AMNH 239518, male, 37.7 mm SL. Scale bars = 1 cm.

FIGURE 4 in A new species of clawed frog (genus Xenopus) from the Itombwe Massif, Democratic Republic of the Congo: implications for DNA barcodes and biodiversity conservation.

FIGURE 4. Evolutionary relationships of (A) combined data from two tightly linked nuclear loci (RAG1 and RAG2) and (B) mitochondrial DNA illustrate a divergent but sister relationship of X. itombwensis and X. wittei. Nuclear loci but not mitochondrial loci illustrate a close relationship between (X. itombwensis + X. wittei) to half of the allopolyploid genome of X. vestitus. For clarity most posterior probabilities are omitted because they are similar or identical to those found elsewhere (Evans 2007; Evans et al. 2004). However, with reference to X. itombwensis, in (A and B) the red clades have over 95% posterior probability and the blue clade has over 80% posterior probability. (C) A species phylogeny illustrating bifurcating and reticulating evolutionary relationships in clawed frogs. The most recent common ancestor of X. wittei and X. itombwensis evolved through allopolyploidization of two tetraploid species. The number of chromosomes in each species is indicated in parentheses after each species name. (A) and (C) are modified from (Evans 2007).

FIGURE 3 in A new species of clawed frog (genus Xenopus) from the Itombwe Massif, Democratic Republic of the Congo: implications for DNA barcodes and biodiversity conservation.

FIGURE 3. Male advertisement vocalization of (A) X. wittei, (B) X. vestitus, and (C) X. itombwensis. The slow trill portion of the X. itombwensis call (beginning at about 400 milliseconds) is a unique feature within the "vestitus-wittei" group.

FIGURE 2 in A new species of clawed frog (genus Xenopus) from the Itombwe Massif, Democratic Republic of the Congo: implications for DNA barcodes and biodiversity conservation.

FIGURE 2. Type specimen and variation of X. itombwensis. (A) Holotype specimen MCZ A-138192 (field number BJE 0275), (B) Paratype MCZ A-138193 (field no. BJE 0276), and (C) a live unvouchered male individual. Arrows indicate dorsal spots that are not found in X. wittei. Scale bars are 5 mm. Photo credit for B: Jon Woodward.

FIGURE 1 in A new species of clawed frog (genus Xenopus) from the Itombwe Massif, Democratic Republic of the Congo: implications for DNA barcodes and biodiversity conservation.

FIGURE 1. Distribution of selected Xenopus species with small geographic ranges. Numbered boxes indicate areas of interest. These include (1) the volcanic highlands of Cameroon (X. longipes, X. amieti), (2) lowland fynbos biome of South Africa (X. gilli), (3) the Albertine Rift highlands of the Eastern DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi (X. vestitus, X. wittei, X. ruwenzoriensis), (4) the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia (X. largeni), and (5) the Itombwe Massif, South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (X. itombwensis). The right side indicates the location of the Itombwe Massif Conservation Landscape and the location of Miki, the type locality of X. itombwensis. (Image modified from the Wildlife Conservation Society.)

FIGURE 7 in Description of Fenerbahce devosi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of dwarf killifish from the eastern Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 7. Unrooted tree of the maximum parsimony analysis of the DNA dataset. Numbers on internal nodes are bootstrap support values.Tree description: tree length = 131, consistency index = 0.9542, homoplasy index = 0.0458, retention index = 0.9535, rescaled consistency index = 0.9098. Scale bar indicates the number of steps.

FIGURE 6 in Description of Fenerbahce devosi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of dwarf killifish from the eastern Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 6. Male of Fenerbahce sp. aff. devosi, photographed shortly after capture, mouth of the Aruwimi River east of Basoko. Photographed by T. Musschoot.

FIGURE 5 in Description of Fenerbahce devosi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of dwarf killifish from the eastern Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 5. Males of Fenerbahce formosus from different localities: A. aquarium strain, originating from Pool Malebo, Democratic Republic of Congo, not preserved. Photographed by A. Persson. B. F1 offspring from specimens collected at the Njiri River, Republic of Congo, not preserved. Photographed by H. Ott. C. wild caught specimen from Oyo, Republic of Congo, not preserved. D. second generation offspring of an aquarium strain originating from Tchika Pika, Republic of Congo, not preserved. C and D photographed by T. Woeltjes.

FIGURE 4 in Description of Fenerbahce devosi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of dwarf killifish from the eastern Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 4. Female of Fenerbahce devosi, collection locality AVD 2007/2, not preserved. Photographed by H. Ott.

FIGURE 1 in Description of Fenerbahce devosi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of dwarf killifish from the eastern Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo

FIGURE 1. Collection point map of Fenerbahce based on specimens and data from the MRAC collection, U. Schliewen (pers. comm.), W. Kirchhof (pers. comm.), Huber (1979, 2007b), and Van der Zee (1990).