University press publishing consortium for Africa : lessons from academic libraries

This paper presents the results of a case study of the policies and practices of six African university presses. Based on the findings, it posits the formation of a consortium of African university presses. It borrows heavily from consortium formation in the library world

Relationship between ¹²³l-metaiodobenzylguanidine (¹²³l-MIBG) imaging findings and outcome in patients with neuroblastoma at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital

Background: In neuroblastoma, the presence of distant metastases is associated with a poor prognosis. Aim: To assess the relationship between the findings on ¹²³I-MIBG scan and outcome in patients with neuroblastoma at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH). Methods: A single observer reviewed the ¹²³I-MIBG scans and clinical data of patients who had a histologically confirmed diagnosis of neuroblastoma and a baseline ¹²³I-MIBG scan and at least one follow up scan after chemotherapy cycles 4 or 7 between January 2001 and May 2015. Follow up extended to June 2016. Disease burden was assessed using the Curie scoring (CS) method. Results: Thirty four stage 4 patients were included in the analysis. Twenty nine (85%) were older than 12 months, with a median age at diagnosis of 32.5 months (range 6 - 93 months). 62% of primary tumours were located in the adrenal gland and half were NMYC amplified. Twenty (59%) patients died, 90% of deaths occurring in patients older than 12 months. No deaths were recorded in the 13 months after recruitment ended. The baseline CS did not predict outcome (alive or dead) or duration of survival. Patients with CS >2 (n = 5) on the cycle 4 scan had a median survival of 19.5 months compared with 29 months for those with a score ≤ 2 (n = 17, p = 0.88). Patients with a CS > 2 on the cycle 7 scan (n = 7) had a median survival of 28 months compared with 35 months for those with CS ≤ 2 (n = 14, p = 0.93). There was no relationship between the magnitude of the decrease in CS between the baseline and post cycle 4 or 7 scans and outcome. Conclusion: In these 34 high risk patients, the baseline CS and CS at cycle 4 or cycle 7 were not significantly indicative of survival. This is similar to other studies that did not find the pre-treatment score or the post treatment MIBG scan to be a predictor of outcome

Scholarly publishing in Africa: a case study of the policies and practices of African university presses

University press publishing was introduced in sub-Sahara Africa around the mid 1950s as the new independent countries strived to accelerate the pace of education and training of their peoples with the sole purpose of the rapid socio-economic development of their countries. Just like their universities, African university presses were modeled after their American and European counterparts. Like all genres of publishing, scholarly publishing in Africa has not been cushioned from the challenges imposed by economic factors. In fact publishing in Africa enjoyed a short boom in the early 1970s, but due to the serious socio-economic downturns in most of these countries, starting from the early 1980s, these gains have been halted and in some cases reversed. This study examines the policies and practices of six sub-Saharan Africa university presses. It is a multi-site case study to establish how far the presses have adopted and/or adapted their policies to suit the environment and circumstances of Africa. The study investigates the extent to which constraints facing them affect their publishing efforts, their coping strategies, and the possible avenues of reducing the effect of these constraints. Several data collection methods were employed including on-site visits, interviews, and observations at three of the presses, and a mail survey of all six presses. There is a serious absence of competition and cooperation between the presses surveyed. There are no aggressive fund raising strategies, yet the survey showed financial constraint as the most crucial factor that impedes the development of their publishing activities. The presses do not have press publishing areas or press lists, which define the subject areas in which each of them concentrates its publishing. None of the presses has a formal written policy on manuscript acquisition. The study confirms that university presses publish mainly in the humanities and social sciences. Views on a unique African model of a university press are divided. The issue of author-publisher relationship is high on the presses agenda, especially as African scholars seek publishing avenues with African presses. Opinion on publishing non-scholarly materials was divided but swayed towards getting the needed profits to support non-profitable but essential publishing by the university press. For the majority of the presses, the most important publishing category is undergraduate textbook, and direct sales is the most popular means of marketing their works. The presses have succeeded at selling between 25-65% of their output. The study concludes that the coping strategies adopted by the presses in the face of harsh environmental conditions include the introduction of ICTs, changes in the treatment of authors, editorial policy on publishing non-scholarly materials, staff levels and use of outsourcing, and different approaches to sources of funding. It recommends a consortium of African university presses based at the micro level on Specialization, Cooperation, and the adoption of ICTs especially print-on-demand technologies. Each press must operate as a Trust in order to enjoy autonomy as a private company, but be registered as a non-profit organization. At the macro level funding must be vigorously sourced through donor agencies including The African Development Bank. Governments should prioritize book publishing, the development and stocking of libraries, encourage reading, set up regional university presses, and introduce book and publishing components into research project funds. The study recommends further research into the effect of technological developments on university press publishing in Africa, a follow up study in 10 years to see how university presses in Africa are surviving, and a detailed study of university press consortia and the implications for tertiary education in Africa

Hyper-reactive Malarial Splenomegaly (HMS) in a patient with β thalassaemia syndrome

This report describes a case of hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly in a patient with a thalassaemia syndrome. Increased haemoglobin A2 is valuable for the diagnosis of common forms of β-thalassemia, while haemoglobin F (HbF) helps in diagnosis of the rarer δβ- forms. Thalassemia is characterised by splenomegaly and is common in malaria endemic areas. Hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly is also a common cause of massive splenomegaly in malaria endemic areas. Splenic enlargement regresses with prolonged antimalarial therapy

An exploration of sanitation and waste disposal practices in low income communities in Accra, Ghana

Poor sanitation and solid waste disposal practices in communities result in environmental pollution. Thus, the study investigated sanitation and waste disposal practices from community members’ perspectives. A qualitative research approach was adopted. The population of the study was all residents in the Odaw-Korle River Catchment, Accra. The sample frame was the three selected low income communities; Alajo, Nima, and Sabon Zongo. Up to 76 individuals were conveniently sampled for the study. The data collection instrument used was a focus group interview guide. Drawing from the grounded theory and content analysis approaches to qualitative data analysis, the focus group discussion notes were analyzed through a process of constant comparison of codes, ideas, and themes. Poor sanitation and waste disposal practices are due to failures in community collective action, poor practices, and insufficient facilities. The city authority can collaborate with community members to address the environmental problems

Natural Products in Renal-Associated Drug Discovery

The global increase in the incidence of kidney failure constitutes a major public health problem. Kidney disease is classified into acute and chronic: acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with an abrupt decline in kidney function and chronic kidney disease (CKD) with chronic renal failure for more than three months. Although both kidney syndromes are multifactorial, inflammation and oxidative stress play major roles in the diversity of processes leading to these kidney malfunctions. Here, we reviewed various publications on medicinal plants with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties with the potential to treat and manage kidney-associated diseases in rodent models. Additionally, we conducted a meta-analysis to identify gene signatures and associated biological processes perturbed in human and mouse cells treated with antioxidants such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the active ingredient in green tea, and the mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (GL) and in kidney disease rodent models. We identified EGCG- and GL-regulated gene signatures linked to metabolism; inflammation (NRG1, E2F1, NFKB1 and JUN); ion signalling; transport; renal processes (SLC12A1 and LOX) and VEGF, ERBB and BDNF signalling. Medicinal plant extracts are proving to be effective for the prevention, management and treatment of kidney-associated diseases; however, more detailed characterisations of their targets are needed to enable more trust in their application in the management of kidney-associated diseases

A highly efficient two level diamond based single photon source

An unexplored diamond defect centre which is found to emit stable single photons at a measured rate of 1.6 MHz at room temperature is reported. The novel centre, identified in chemical vapour deposition grown diamond crystals, exhibits a sharp zero phonon line at 734 nm with a full width at half maximum of ~ 4 nm. The photon statistics confirm the center is a single emitter and provides direct evidence of the first true two-level single quantum system in diamond.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Adipose tissue macrophages in non-rodent mammals: a comparative study

The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue in rodents and primates contains mesenchymal stem cells and immune cells. SVF cells have complex metabolic, immune and endocrine functions with biomedical impact. However, in other mammals, the amount of data on SVF stem cells is negligible and whether the SVF hosts immune cells is unknown. In this study, we show that the SVF is rich in immune cells, with a dominance of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) in cattle (Bos primigenius taurus), domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus), domestic sheep (Ovis aries), domestic cat (Felis catus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris). ATMs of these species are granulated lysosome-rich cells with lamellipodial protrusions and express the lysosome markers acid phosphatase 5 (ACP-5) and Mac-3/Lamp-2. Using ACP-5 and Mac-3/Lamp-2 as markers, we additionally detected ATMs in other species, such as the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus), wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Feline and canine ATMs also express the murine macrophage marker F4/80 antigen. In the lean condition, the alternative macrophage activation marker CD206 is expressed by feline and canine ATMs and arginase-1 by feline ATMs. Obesity is associated with interleukin-6 and interferon gamma expression and with overt tyrosine nitration in both feline and canine ATMs. This resembles the obesity-induced phenotype switch of murine and human ATMs. Thus, we show, for the first time, that the presence of ATMs is a general trait of mammals. The interaction between the adipose cells and SVF immune cells might be evolutionarily conserved among mammals.University of Ul

MPCVD processing of titanium-diffused LiNbO3 waveguides: optical characterisation and waveguide restoration

This paper presents some initial findings that explore the material properties of LiNbO3 which has been exposed to a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) environment. The LiNbO3 was found to undergo a process known as 'reduction' when exposed to this environment. A technique was developed to reverse this process and recover the LiNbO3, which is a crucial first step towards the integration of diamond-based single photon sources with LiNbO3 waveguide technologies