2,605 research outputs found
Accuracy of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Community Studies and their Impact on Treatment of Malaria in an Area with Declining Malaria Burden in North-Eastern Tanzania.
No full textDespite some problems related to accuracy and applicability of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), they are currently the best option in areas with limited laboratory services for improving case management through parasitological diagnosis and reducing over-treatment. This study was conducted in areas with declining malaria burden to assess; 1) the accuracy of RDTs when used at different community settings, 2) the impact of using RDTs on anti-malarial dispensing by community-owned resource persons (CORPs) and 3) adherence of CORPs to treatment guidelines by providing treatment based on RDT results. Data were obtained from: 1) a longitudinal study of passive case detection of fevers using CORPs in six villages in Korogwe; and 2) cross-sectional surveys (CSS) in six villages of Korogwe and Muheza districts, north-eastern, Tanzania. Performance of RDTs was compared with microscopy as a gold standard, and factors affecting their accuracy were explored using a multivariate logistic regression model. Overall sensitivity and specificity of RDTs in the longitudinal study (of 23,793 febrile cases; 18,154 with microscopy and RDTs results) were 88.6% and 88.2%, respectively. In the CSS, the sensitivity was significantly lower (63.4%; χ2=367.7, p<0.001), while the specificity was significantly higher (94.3%; χ2=143.1, p<0.001) when compared to the longitudinal study. As determinants of sensitivity of RDTs in both studies, parasite density of<200 asexual parasites/μl was significantly associated with high risk of false negative RDTs (OR≥16.60, p<0.001), while the risk of false negative test was significantly lower among cases with fever (axillary temperature ≥37.5 °C) (OR≤0.63, p≤0.027). The risk of false positive RDT (as a determinant of specificity) was significantly higher in cases with fever compared to afebrile cases (OR≥2.40, p<0.001). Using RDTs reduced anti-malarials dispensing from 98.9% to 32.1% in cases aged ≥5 years. Although RDTs had low sensitivity and specificity, which varied widely depending on fever and parasite density, using RDTs reduced over-treatment with anti-malarials significantly. Thus, with declining malaria prevalence, RDTs will potentially identify majority of febrile cases with parasites and lead to improved management of malaria and non-malaria fevers
Draft toxicological profile for JP-5, JP-8, and jet A fuels
No full textA Toxicological Profile for JP-5 and JP-8 was released in 1998. This present edition supersedes any previously released draft or final profile.Chemical manager(s)/author(s): John Risher, Obaid Faroon, ATSDR, Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, Atlanta, GA; Fernando Llados, Lisa Ingerman, Mario Citra, SRC, Inc., North Syracuse, NY
Using Community-Owned Resource Persons to Provide Early Diagnosis and Treatment and Estimate Malaria Burden at Community Level in North-Eastern Tanzania.
No full textAlthough early diagnosis and prompt treatment is an important strategy for control of malaria, using fever to initiate presumptive treatment with expensive artemisinin combination therapy is a major challenge; particularly in areas with declining burden of malaria. This study was conducted using community-owned resource persons (CORPs) to provide early diagnosis and treatment of malaria, and collect data for estimation of malaria burden in four villages of Korogwe district, north-eastern Tanzania.In 2006, individuals with history of fever within 24 hours or fever (axillary temperature ≥37.5°C) at presentation were presumptively treated using sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine. Between 2007 and 2010, individuals aged five years and above, with positive rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) were treated with artemether/lumefantrine (AL) while under-fives were treated irrespective of RDT results. Reduction in anti-malarial consumption was determined by comparing the number of cases that would have been presumptively treated and those that were actually treated based on RDTs results. Trends of malaria incidence and slide positivity rates were compared between lowlands and highlands. Of 15,729 cases attended, slide positivity rate was 20.4% and declined by >72.0% from 2008, reaching <10.0% from 2009 onwards; and the slide positivity rates were similar in lowlands and highlands from 2009 onwards. Cases with fever at presentation declined slightly, but remained at >40.0% in under-fives and >20.0% among individuals aged five years and above. With use of RDTs, cases treated with AL decreased from <58.0% in 2007 to <11.0% in 2010 and the numbers of adult courses saved were 3,284 and 1,591 in lowlands and highlands respectively. Malaria incidence declined consistently from 2008 onwards; and the highest incidence of malaria shifted from children aged <10 years to individuals aged 10-19 years from 2009. With basic training, supervision and RDTs, CORPs successfully provided early diagnosis and treatment and reduced consumption of anti-malarials. Progressively declining malaria incidence and slide positivity rates suggest that all fever cases should be tested with RDTs before treatment. Data collected by CORPs was used to plan phase 1b MSP3 malaria vaccine trial and will be used for monitoring and evaluation of different health interventions. The current situation indicates that there is a remarkable changing pattern of malaria and these areas might be moving from control to pre-elimination levels
Shock tube study of JP-10 ignition delay time
No full textJP-10 (exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene, C10H16) ignition delay times were measured in a preheated shock tube. The vapor pressures of the JP-10 were measured directly by using a high-precision vacuum gauge, to remedy the difficulty in determining the gaseous concentrations of heavy hydrocarbon fuel arising from the adsorption on the wall in shock tube experiments. The whole variation of pressure and emission of the OH or CH radicals were observed in the ignition process by a pressure transducer and a photomultiplier with a monochromator. The emission of the OH or CH radicals was used to identify the time to ignition. Experiments were performed over the pressure range of 151-556 kPa, temperature range of 1000-2100 K, fuel concentrations of 0.1%-0.55% mole fraction, and stoichiometric ratios of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. The experimental results show that for the lower and higher temperature ranges, there are different dependency relationships of the ignition time on the temperature and the concentrations of JP-10 and oxygen
Decreasing incidence of severe malaria and community-acquired bacteraemia among hospitalized children in Muheza, north-eastern Tanzania, 2006-2010.
No full textBACKGROUND: The annual incidence and temporal trend of severe malaria and community-acquired bacteraemia during a four-year period in Muheza, Tanzania was assessed. METHODS: Data on severely ill febrile children aged 2 months to 14 years from three prospective studies conducted at Muheza District Hospital from 2006 to 2010 was pooled and analysed. On admission, each enrolled child had a thin and thick blood film and at least one rapid diagnostic test for falciparum malaria, as well as a blood culture. The annual incidence of bacteraemia and severe malaria among children coming from Muheza was calculated and their temporal trend was assessed. RESULTS: Overall, 1, 898 severe falciparum malaria and 684 bacteraemia cases were included. Of these, 1, 356 (71%) and 482 (71%), respectively, were from the referral population of Muheza. The incidence of falciparum malaria and all-cause bacteraemia in Muheza decreased five-fold and three-fold, respectively, from the first to the fourth year of surveillance (p < 0.0001). During this period, the median ages of children from Muheza admitted with severe malaria increased from 1.7 to 2.5 years (p < 0.0001). The reduction in all-cause bacteraemia was mainly driven by the 11-fold decline in the incidence of non-typhoidal salmonellosis. The annual incidences of Haemophilus influenzae and pneumococcal invasive bacterial infections decreased as well but were much fewer in number. CONCLUSIONS: These results add to the growing evidence of the decline in malaria associated with a decrease in non-typhoidal salmonellosis and possibly other bacteraemias. Malarial prevention and control strategies may provide a greater benefit than the mere reduction of malaria alone
Dynamics of Network Formation Processes in the Co-Author Model
No full textThis article studies the dynamics in the formation processes of a mutual consent network in game theory setting: the Co-Author Model. In this article, a limited observation is applied and analytical results are derived. Then, 2 parameters are varied: the number of individuals in the network and the initial probability of the links in the network in its initial state. A simulation result shows a finding that is consistent with an analytical result for a state of equilibrium while it also shows different possible equilibria.Dynamics, Network, Game Theory, Model,Simulation, Equilibrium, Complexity
Altitude-dependent and -independent variations in Plasmodium falciparum prevalence in northeastern Tanzania.
No full textBACKGROUND: Effective malaria control requires information about intensity of transmission across large areas and populations. Estimates based on entomological factors lack precision and are not cost-effective to obtain. We tested altitude and rainfall measurements as correlates of transmission intensity in different ecological settings. METHODS: We conducted 2 cross-sectional surveys of approximately 12,000 people (1-45 years old) in 6 altitude transects (150-1800 m) in the Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions of Tanzania. Data were analyzed for associations with altitude and rainfall estimates by use of appropriate regression models. RESULTS: Plasmodium falciparum prevalence showed a negative relationship with altitude (19% and 21% decrease/100-m altitude increase, respectively, in children in Kilimanjaro and Tanga) and rainfall during the 3 months before the survey (46% decrease/100-mm rainfall increase in children in Kilimanjaro). Mean hemoglobin concentrations increased with altitude (0.05 and 0.09 g/dL/100-m altitude increase, respectively, in children in Kilimanjaro and Tanga) and rainfall (0.17 g/dL/100-mm rainfall increase in children and adults in Kilimanjaro). DISCUSSION: Altitude and rainfall were correlated with parasite prevalence and mean hemoglobin concentration; however, the relationship varied according to ecological setting. Climatological variables alone cannot predict malarial outcomes. Local variations in seasonality of malaria transmission--together with vector species composition, topography, host and parasite genetics, and socioeconomic factors--may influence malaria prevalence
An equivalent formulation of the Fan-Raspaud Conjecture and related problems
No full textIn 1994, it was conjectured by Fan and Raspaud that every simple bridgeless cubic graph has three perfect matchings whose intersection is empty. In this paper we answer a question recently proposed by Mkrtchyan and Vardanyan, by giving an equivalent formulation of the Fan-Raspaud Conjecture. We also study a possibly weaker conjecture originally proposed by the first author, which states that in every simple bridgeless cubic graph there exist two perfect matchings such that the complement of their union is a bipartite graph. Here, we show that this conjecture can be equivalently stated using a variant of Petersen-colourings, we prove it for graphs having oddness at most four and we give a natural extension to bridgeless cubic multigraphs and to certain cubic graphs having bridges
Ephemisms as communication vehicle in the Tiv language and literature
No full textThe beauty of Tiv language and literature is achieved when communication or discourse is laced with euphemistic expressions. Euphemisms aid in turning impolite utterances into polite ones. This study, therefore, investigates the communicative potentials of euphemisms in the Tiv language and literature. The study discusses formations of euphemisms, classifies euphemisms and explores the effects of euphemisms. Connotative theory of meaning has been deployed in this study because the interpretation of euphemisms is contextually and connotatively loaded. Methodologically, the author used primary and secondary materials. The author used a participant-observation tool for data collection. Being a native speaker of the Tiv language, the author collected, translated and classified euphemisms. Secondary materials were sourced from textbooks, journal articles, online sources and dictionaries. The following findings were made: euphemisms constitute phrasal or idiomatic synonyms; they beautify or spice our daily communication; they can becloud meanings. This study will benefit preachers, writers, lecturers/teachers, researchers, semanticists, public speakers, politicians and students
Open Access to Peer-Reviewed Research through Author/Institution Self-Archiving: Maximizing Research Impact by Maximizing Online Access
No full textAll refereed journals will soon be available online; most of them already are. This means that anyone will be able to access them from any networked desk-top. The literature will all be interconnected by citation, author, and keyword/subject links, allowing for unheard-of power and ease of access and navigability. Successive drafts of pre-refereeing preprints will be linked to the official refereed draft, as well as to any subsequent corrections, revisions, updates, comments, responses, and underlying empirical databases, all enhancing the self-correctiveness, interactivity and productivity of scholarly and scientific research and communication in remarkable new ways. New scientometric indicators of digital impact are also emerging <http://opcit.eprints.org> to chart the online course of knowledge. But there is still one last frontier to cross before science reaches the optimal and the inevitable: Just as there is no longer any need for research or researchers to be constrained by the access-blocking restrictions of paper distribution, there is no longer any need to be constrained by the impact-blocking financial fire-walls of Subscription/Site-License/Pay-Per-View (S/L/P) tolls for this give-away literature. Its author/researchers have always donated their research reports for free (and its referee/researchers have refereed for free), with the sole goal of maximizing their impact on subsequent research (by accessing the eyes and minds of fellow-researchers, present and future) and hence on society. Generic (OAi-compliant) software is now available free so that institutions can immediately create Eprint Archives in which their authors can self-archive all their refereed papers for free for all forever <http://www.eprints.org/>. These interoperable Open Archives <http://www.openarchives.org> will then be harvested into global, jointly searchable "virtual archives" (e.g., <http://arc.cs.odu.edu/>). "Scholarly Skywriting" in this PostGutenberg Galaxy will be dramatically (and measurably) more interactive and productive, spawning its own new digital metrics of productivity and impact, allowing for an online "embryology of knowledge.
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