28 research outputs found
Factors affecting control and eradication of malaria in Cape Coast, Ghana
No full textThe Global Malarial Action Plan (GMAP) addresses different measures towards achieving complete elimination of malaria, the most dangerous vector-borne disease. Present efforts for prevention and treatment of malaria in Cape Coast, a small town in southern Ghana, has achieved significant improvement from the past in controlling both the morbidity and mortality rates through various approaches. However, the current efforts and methodology in proceeding towards elimination of malaria presents many unanswered questions in terms of its level of sustainability. This report provides an overview of the current strategies implemented and addresses multifactorial issues that impede the control and eradication of malaria in Cape Coast. In addition, the effectiveness and sustainability of these strategies to achieve such intended goals have been evaluated. This study was conducted within Cape Coast, Ghana among 2 rural villages, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and the general populous. Data collection involved face-to-face interviews of 55 individuals residing in Cape Coast, as well as, the use of hospital records on malaria. The paper concludes by indicating that more funding in infrastructure, as well as, serious advancement in public action is essential for improved malarial control and complete elimination of the disease.Keywords: DDT: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, GMAP: Global Malaria Action Plan, IRS: Indoor residual spraying (insecticide), ITN: Insecticide-treated nets, LBW: Low birth weight, LLIN: Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, LSM: Larval Source Management, NHIS: National Health Insurance Scheme, Pf: Plasmodium Falciparum, WHO: World Health Organizatio
Studies on rearing performances of mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori Linnaeus, 1758) in hooghly district of West Bengal (India): A newly explored area
No full textArticle Details: Received: 2020-02-23 | Accepted: 2020-04-08 | Available online: 2020-06-30https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.02.85-93This study is aimed at proposing mulberry sericulture as an alternative to strengthen the agricultural economy of Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. Exploration of four breeds of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori (Linnaeus, 1758), popular in West Bengal (viz., two multivoltine breeds – Nistari Plain and Nistari Marked, One Bivoltine breed – SK6 X SK7 hybrid and one F1 Hybrid from cross between Nistari Plain and SK6 X SK7 hybrid) have been conducted in the Sericulture Research Laboratory, Post Graduate department of Zoology, Hooghly Mohsin College, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal, India, for three consecutive years (2016-2019) for various rearing parameters (viz., larval duration, matured larval weight, cocoon weight, shell weight, shell ratio , effective rate of rearing , absolute silk content and yield) along with common meteorological data (viz., average temperature, average relative humidity, photoperiod). The study reveals Hooghly district to be very conducive for mulberry sericulture with the multivoltine breeds to be most suitable, although rearing of F1 hybrid and bivoltine breeds should also be promoted for their better economic value. Among the seasons, late Autumn (Oct.-Nov.) and early Spring (Feb.-Mar.) are found to be most suitable commercial rearing seasons for almost all the breeds, whereas the extended summer months including Spring, Summer and rainy season (Mar.-Aug.) are unfavourable, indicating deleterious effect of temperature and humidity on the rearing performance of these breeds, for which remedies such as sub-lethal heat shock can be explored.Keywords: Silkworm rearing, cocoon weight, absolute silk content, yield, effective rate of rearing, commercial rearing seasonReferencesCHANDAN, R., SANCHARI, R. M. and GHOSH, S. (2012). Sericulture as an Employment Generating Household Industry in West Bengal (A Study on its Current Problems & Prospects). Artha Beekshan : Journal of Bangiya Arthaniti Parishad., 21, 131–155.DEWANGAN, S. K. (2017). Role of women in sericulture, observation of two tribal block of Raigarh district – Chhattisgarh – India. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 4(12), 524–531.HIRASAKA, T. and KOYAMA, N. (1970). Effects of photoperiodic conditions on the larval growth of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. II. Relationship between non-duly photoperiods and the larval growth. The Journal of Sericultural Science of Japan, 39(6), 437–442.HOQUE, A. and TAUFIQUE, M. (2018). Status and performance of sericulture in west Bengal. India: a geographical analysis. Asian profile, 46, 181–193.KUMAR, H. et al. (2013). Effect of Different Mulberry Varieties and Seasons on Growth and Economic Traits of Bivoltine Silkworm (Bombyx mori). Journal of Entomology, 10(3), 147–155.MAJUMDAR, M., SARKAR, K. and SINHA, S. (2017). A Critical Analysis on Major Problems Faced by Reelers and Weavers of Silk Industry at Field Level in Murshidabad District of West Bengal. International Journal of Social Science, 6(3), 199–210.RAHMATHULLA, V. K. (2012). Management of Climatic Factors for Successful Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) Crop and Higher Silk Production: A Review. Psyche, 2012, 12.RAJANNA, S. P. (1986). Effect Of Photoperiod On Silkworm, Bombyx Mori Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). M.SC Thesis. Bangalore: University of Agricultural Sciences.SISODIA, N. S. and GAHERWAL, S. (2017). Effects of temperature and relative humidity on commercial product of silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) in Indore region of (M.P.) India. International Journal of Zoology Studies, 2(5), 52–55.TAUFIQUE, M. and HOQUE, A. (2019). Sericulture in Malda District of West Bengal: A Block level Analysi
Genetic algorithm for feedback-based wavefront shaping in optical imaging
No full textTraditional optical devices rely on light propagation along a straight path. However, when the light propagates through a blurred medium, its direction get scattered by microscopic particles. This inhomogeneous distortion results in a diffused focus point. Light scattering is one of the main limitations for the optical imaging. This limitation decreases the resolution in depth. Therefore, the ability of focusing light at a desired position has a huge worthwhile for applications of optical imaging. Over the past few years, it was shown that light can be focused inside an object even with strong scattering particles, just by shaping the wavefront of the incident beam. The most successful approaches for light focusing at the presence of scattering objects are feedback-based optical wavefront shaping. In this paper, an iterative feedback-based wavefront shaping is proposed. It uses the genetic algorithm. In summary, we aim to obtain a high intensity in the focus point with fewer steps in iteration while increase the signal-to-noise. The simulations results show that both the above mentioned goals are achieved using the proposed method.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.ImPhys/Acoustical Wavefield Imagin
Ultrasound-guided needle tracking with deep learning: A novel approach with photoacoustic ground truth
No full textAccurate needle guidance is crucial for safe and effective clinical diagnosis and treatment procedures. Conventional ultrasound (US)-guided needle insertion often encounters challenges in consistency and precisely visualizing the needle, necessitating the development of reliable methods to track the needle. As a powerful tool in image processing, deep learning has shown promise for enhancing needle visibility in US images, although its dependence on manual annotation or simulated data as ground truth can lead to potential bias or difficulties in generalizing to real US images. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging has demonstrated its capability for high-contrast needle visualization. In this study, we explore the potential of PA imaging as a reliable ground truth for deep learning network training without the need for expert annotation. Our network (UIU-Net), trained on ex vivo tissue image datasets, has shown remarkable precision in localizing needles within US images. The evaluation of needle segmentation performance extends across previously unseen ex vivo data and in vivo human data (collected from an open-source data repository). Specifically, for human data, the Modified Hausdorff Distance (MHD) value stands at approximately 3.73, and the targeting error value is around 2.03, indicating the strong similarity and small needle orientation deviation between the predicted needle and actual needle location. A key advantage of our method is its applicability beyond US images captured from specific imaging systems, extending to images from other US imaging systems.This article is published as Hui, Xie, Praveenbalaji Rajendran, Tong Ling, Xianjin Dai, Lei Xing, and Manojit Pramanik. "Ultrasound-guided needle tracking with deep learning: A novel approach with photoacoustic ground truth." Photoacoustics 34 (2023): 100575. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacs.2023.100575. © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
En plaque meningioma with angioinvasion
No full textEn plaque meningioma is a rare type of meningioma characterized by infiltrative nature, sheet-like growth and at times invading the bone. We report here a case of en plaque meningioma with typical grade I histomorphology along with unusual feature of angioinvasion. The patient was a 55-year-old man presenting with headache and painful proptosis of right eye. Imaging modalities revealed an en -plaque meningioma extending into the right sylvian fissure, with thickening of right temporal calvarium, greater wing of sphenoid and extension into the orbit. Magnetic resonance angiography showed medial displacement of right middle cerebral artery. The tumor was removed from the sylvian fissure and right temporal convexity. However, only subtotal removal of the intraorbital part was possible. Histology showed a meningothelial meningioma with low tumor cell proliferation, but infiltration into the bone, skeletal muscle and angioinvasion. Recognition of meningiomas en plaque is useful, as these tumors are difficult to resect completely, and are more prone to undergo recurrence or malignant change. In addition, angioinvasion seen in this tumor may have additional prognostic significance
Additional file 1 of Effect of different lethal temperature assay methods on thermal tolerance plasticity of three different breeds of mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori L.)
No full textAdditional file 1. Variation in daily average temperature [ºC] during the extended summer months (April-October)-2016-2019
A Detailed Overview of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron: Its Sub-Variants, Mutations and Pathophysiology, Clinical Characteristics, Immunological Landscape, Immune Escape, and Therapies
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has created significant concern for everyone. Recent data from many worldwide reports suggest that most infections are caused by the Omicron variant and its sub-lineages, dominating all the previously emerged variants. The numerous mutations in Omicron’s viral genome and its sub-lineages attribute it a larger amount of viral fitness, owing to the alteration of the transmission and pathophysiology of the virus. With a rapid change to the viral structure, Omicron and its sub-variants, namely BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, and BA.5, dominate the community with an ability to escape the neutralization efficiency induced by prior vaccination or infections. Similarly, several recombinant sub-variants of Omicron, namely XBB, XBD, and XBF, etc., have emerged, which a better understanding. This review mainly entails the changes to Omicron and its sub-lineages due to it having a higher number of mutations. The binding affinity, cellular entry, disease severity, infection rates, and most importantly, the immune evading potential of them are discussed in this review. A comparative analysis of the Delta variant and the other dominating variants that evolved before Omicron gives the readers an in-depth understanding of the landscape of Omicron’s transmission and infection. Furthermore, this review discusses the range of neutralization abilities possessed by several approved antiviral therapeutic molecules and neutralizing antibodies which are functional against Omicron and its sub-variants. The rapid evolution of the sub-variants is causing infections, but the broader aspect of their transmission and neutralization has not been explored. Thus, the scientific community should adopt an elucidative approach to obtain a clear idea about the recently emerged sub-variants, including the recombinant variants, so that effective neutralization with vaccines and drugs can be achieved. This, in turn, will lead to a drop in the number of cases and, finally, an end to the pandemic
