Hydrological modeling of geophysical parameters of arboviral and protozoan disease vectors in Internally Displaced People camps in Gulu, Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine if remotely sensed data and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can test relationships between <it>Culex quinquefasciatus </it>and <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>s.l. larval habitats and environmental parameters within Internally Displaced People (IDP) campgrounds in Gulu, Uganda. A total of 65 georeferenced aquatic habitats in various IDP camps were studied to compare the larval abundance of <it>Cx. quinquefasciatus </it>and <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l. The aquatic habitat dataset were overlaid onto Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps retrieved from Landsat imagery with 150 m × 150 m grid cells stratified by levels of drainage. The LULC change was estimated over a period of 14 years. Poisson regression analyses and Moran's <it>I </it>statistics were used to model relationships between larval abundance and environmental predictors. Individual larval habitat data were further evaluated in terms of their covariations with spatial autocorrelation by regressing them on candidate spatial filter eigenvectors. Multispectral QuickBird imagery classification and DEM-based GIS methods were generated to evaluate stream flow direction and accumulation for identification of immature <it>Cx. quinquefasciatus </it>and <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l. and abundance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The main LULC change in urban Gulu IDP camps was non-urban to urban, which included about 71.5 % of the land cover. The regression models indicate that counts of <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l. larvae were associated with shade while <it>Cx. quinquefasciatus </it>were associated with floating vegetation. Moran's <it>I </it>and the General G statistics for mosquito density by species and instars, identified significant clusters of high densities of <it>Anopheles</it>; larvae, however, <it>Culex </it>are not consistently clustered. A stepwise negative binomial regression decomposed the immature <it>An. gambiae </it>s.l. data into empirical orthogonal bases. The data suggest the presence of roughly 11% to 28 % redundant information in the larval count samples. The DEM suggest a positive correlation for <it>Culex </it>(0.24) while for <it>Anopheles </it>there was a negative correlation (-0.23) for a local model distance to stream.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data demonstrate that optical remote sensing; geostatistics and DEMs can be used to identify parameters associated with <it>Culex </it>and <it>Anopheles </it>aquatic habitats.</p

Socioeconomic status and livelihoods of refugees in a self-reliance situation in Kyangwali refugee settlement

The need to establish the Socioeconomic status of refugees in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement under the new and stringent condition of self-reliance necessitated this study. Using expenditure levels as a proxy to determine income in socioeconomic status categorisation, three classifications were derived: thriving for the high income group, managing for the moderate income group and surviving for the low income group, each with distinctive characteristics. Most of the refugees (76.7%) were found to be of low socioeconomic status or simply surviving, and only 4.3% were found to be thriving, reflecting a high proportion of the poor. The study indicated a significant relationship between refugees’ household size and socioeconomic status   =(37.539,p=0.000&gt;0.05). The study concluded that the self-reliance strategy as implemented in the settlement has not significantly transformed the standards of living of the refugees as indicated by the large numbers in the low socioeconomic status, the surviving. The study therefore recommends the refinement of the agricultural requirement of the strategy and the creation of an environment that will allow for pursuance of alternative sources of income to diversify livelihoods and ultimately improve the well-being of refugees in the settlement.

Coumarin Antifungal Lead Compounds from Millettia thonningii and Their Predicted Mechanism of Action

Fungal pathogens continue to pose challenges to humans and plants despite efforts to control them. Two coumarins, robustic acid and thonningine-C isolated from Millettia thonningii, show promising activity against the fungus Candida albicans with minimum fungicidal concentration of 1.0 and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively. Molecular modelling against the putative bio-molecular target, lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), revealed a plausible binding mode for the active compounds, in which the hydroxyl group binds with a methionine backbone carboxylic group blocking access to the iron catalytic site. This binding disrupts the synthesis of several important sterols for the survival of fungi

Hydrological modeling of geophysical parameters of arboviral and protozoan disease vectors in Internally Displaced People camps in Gulu, Uganda-1

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Hydrological modeling of geophysical parameters of arboviral and protozoan disease vectors in Internally Displaced People camps in Gulu, Uganda"</p><p>http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/7/1/11</p><p>International Journal of Health Geographics 2008;7():11-11.</p><p>Published online 14 Mar 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2275725.</p><p></p