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Vector-borne diseases affecting livestock have serious impacts in Africa. Trypanosomosis is caused by parasites transmitted by tsetse flies and other blood-sucking Diptera. The animal form of the disease is a scourge for African livestock keepers, is already present in Latin America and Asia, and has the potential to spread further. A human form of the disease also exists, known as human African trypanosomosis or sleeping sickness. Controlling and progressively minimizing the burden of animal trypanosomosis (COMBAT) is a four-year research and innovation project funded by the European Commission, whose ultimate goal is to reduce the burden of animal trypanosomosis (AT) in Africa. The project builds on the progressive control pathway (PCP), a risk-based, step-wise approach to disease reduction or elimination. COMBAT will strengthen AT control and prevention by improving basic knowledge of AT, developing innovative control tools, reinforcing surveillance, rationalizing control strategies, building capacity, and raising awareness. Knowledge gaps on disease epidemiology, vector ecology and competence, and biological aspects of trypanotolerant livestock will be addressed. Environmentally friendly vector control technologies and more effective and adapted diagnostic tools will be developed. Surveillance will be enhanced by developing information systems, strengthening reporting, and mapping and modelling disease risk in Africa and beyond. The socio-economic burden of AT will be assessed at a range of geographical scales. Guidelines for the PCP and harmonized national control strategies and roadmaps will be developed. Gender equality and ethics will be pivotal in all project activities. The COMBAT project benefits from the expertise of African and European research institutions, national veterinary authorities, and international organizations. The project consortium comprises 21 participants, including a geographically balanced representation from 13 African countries, and it will engage a larger number of AT-affected countries through regional initiatives.

Vector-borne diseases affecting livestock have serious impacts in Africa. Trypanosomosis is caused by parasites transmitted by tsetse flies and other blood-sucking Diptera. The animal form of the disease is a scourge for African livestock keepers, is already present in Latin America and Asia, and has the potential to spread further. A human form of the disease also exists, known as human African trypanosomosis or sleeping sickness. Controlling and progressively minimizing the burden of animal trypanosomosis (COMBAT) is a four-year research and innovation project funded by the European Commission, whose ultimate goal is to reduce the burden of animal trypanosomosis (AT) in Africa. The project builds on the progressive control pathway (PCP), a risk-based, step-wise approach to disease reduction or elimination. COMBAT will strengthen AT control and prevention by improving basic knowledge of AT, developing innovative control tools, reinforcing surveillance, rationalizing control strategies, building capacity, and raising awareness. Knowledge gaps on disease epidemiology, vector ecology and competence, and biological aspects of trypanotolerant livestock will be addressed. Environmentally friendly vector control technologies and more effective and adapted diagnostic tools will be developed. Surveillance will be enhanced by developing information systems, strengthening reporting, and mapping and modelling disease risk in Africa and beyond. The socio-economic burden of AT will be assessed at a range of geographical scales. Guidelines for the PCP and harmonized national control strategies and roadmaps will be developed. Gender equality and ethics will be pivotal in all project activities. The COMBAT project benefits from the expertise of African and European research institutions, national veterinary authorities, and international organizations. The project consortium comprises 21 participants, including a geographically balanced representation from 13 African countries, and it will engage a larger number of AT-affected countries through regional initiatives.

The development of commercially available flexible and wearable devices requires low‐operating‐voltage circuit and resistive random access memory (RRAM). This paper reports the preparation and performances of low‐operating‐voltage RRAM based on the interlayer‐spacing regulation of MoSe2. Twine‐jumble‐like MoSe2 clusters were synthesized via hydrothermal method. The average interlayer spacing in the clusters is higher than the value for bulk MoSe2 by 9.969%. The layer count of the MoSe2 sample predicted according to the experimental value of ωA1g​−ωE2g1 in the Raman spectroscopy is 1.403 while it is 2 regarding the characteristic of A1g peak and the existence of B2g peak, which is inconsistent with the results of scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. Calculation of van der Waals force reveals that the twine‐jumble‐like MoSe2 should not be considered as a bi‐layer (or few‐layer) crystal, but as a cluster consisting of a numerous monolayer crystals. Compared with the conventional nanosized MoSe2, the SET/RESET voltages of the RRAM device based on the monolayer MoSe2 clusters are decreased by 4–10 times while the switching ratio and endurance are increased by 2–40 and 2–10 times respectively, which is due to that the interstitial radius in the monolayer MoSe2 clusters is higher than that of a silver ion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]