Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia following mass testing and treatment in Pakro sub-district of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Global efforts to scale-up malaria control interventions are gaining steam. These include the use of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets, Indoor Residual Spraying, Intermittent Preventive Treatment and Test, Treat and Track. Despite these, the drive for malaria elimination is far from being realistic in endemic communities in Africa. This is partly due to the fact that asymptomatic parasite carriage, not specifically targeted by most interventions, remains the bedrock that fuels transmission. This has led to mass testing, treatment and tracking (MTTT) as an alternative strategy to target asymptomatic individuals. We report the impact of MTTT on the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia over a one-year period in Ghana, hypothesizing that implementing MTTT could reduce the rate of asymptomatic parasitaemia. METHODS: A population of about 5000 individuals in seven communities in the Pakro sub-district of Ghana participated in this study. A register was developed for each community following a census. MTTT engaged trained community-based health volunteers who conducted house-to-house testing using RDTs every 4 months and treated positive cases with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy. Between interventions, community-based management of malaria was implemented for symptomatic cases. RESULTS: MTTT Coverage was 98.8% in July 2017 and 79.3% in July 2018. Of those tested, asymptomatic infection with malaria parasites reduced from 36.3% (1795/4941) in July 2017 to 32.9% (1303/3966) in July 2018 (p = 0.001). Prevalence of asymptomatic parasitaemia among children under 15 years declined from 52.6% (1043/1984) in July 2017 to 47.5% (820/1728) in July 2018 (p = 0.002). Implementing MTTT significantly reduced asymptomatic parasitaemia by 24% from July 2017 to July 2018 after adjusting for age, ITN use and axillary temperature (OR = 0.76, CI = 0.67, 0.85 p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that implementing MTTT is feasible and could reduce the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia in children under 15 years of age. Furthermore, the use of community-based health volunteers could ensure high coverage at lower cost of implementation

«O que é, bebé?», ou o que a Mãe diz ao Recém-nascido no Contacto Precoce

Com o presente estudo, que se insere numa investigação mais lata sobre padrões de comunicação precoce mãe-criança, pretende-se descrever algumas das características da linguagem verbal que as mães dirigem aos seus filhos, durante o contacto-precoce e da forma como o bebé real é, nesse momento, percepcionado e investido pela mãe. Para tal realizou-se o registo auditivo do contacto precoce de 30 pares de mães-bebés. Posteriormente analisou-se o discurso materno que foi classificado em diversas categorias relacionadas com aspectos da estrutura sintáctica e com análise de conteúdo. Constatou-se que as mães recorrem pouco a expressao verbal, no primeiro contacto com os seus filhos. Quando o fazem utilizam uma linguagem que tem características da «fala de bebé)) e é constituída, sobretudo, por interjeições, exclamações, frases com duas a três palavras e palavras isoladas. O discurso emitido centra-se em torno da realidade vivida no momento. O bebé que a mãe descreve é um ser pequenino e frágil, que chora e tem fome, pouco individualizado e pouco «humano», a quem atribui essencialmente, necessidades fisiológicas.In the present study, part of a broader research on mother-child early communication patterns, we describe some of the verbal language characteristics of mothers speaking to their children in early interactions, and we discuss the way in wich the real baby is, at that stage, perceived and elaborated by the mother. The early contacts of 30 pairs mother-child were recorded. The speech of these mothers was classified in severa1 categories according to syntax structure and also through content analysis. ment. In these initial contacts, mothers don’t use much verbal language. When they do, they use «baby talk» expressions and emit mostly exclamations and interjections, two or three-word sentences and isolated words. The speech is centered in the reality of the mo- The baby described by the mother is a small and fragile being, who cries and feels hunger, not very individualized and not very «human», and in whom she recognizes, essentially, psysiological needs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identification and characterization of a QTL for growth of Fusarium circinatum on pine-based medium

SUPPLEMENTARY FILE S1: HPLC and GC-MS results showing the broad overview and primary metabolites identified in the pine-based media. SUPPLEMENTARY FILE S2: The primer sequences and PCR protocols used to amplify gene regions in this study. SUPPLEMENTARY FILE S3: Reference mapping of F. circinatum Illumina and MinIon raw reads mapped to the genomes of F circinatum KS17 and F. temperatum. SUPPLEMENTARY FILE S4: Genic information of the identified genes and indel region in the QTL region of F. circinatum. InterProScan and gene ontology information are provided for all genes in this region. Further information on the retrotransposons and repeats that are characteristic of the indel within the QTL region is provided.Fusarium circinatum is an economically important pathogen of pine and resides in the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex. Here we investigated the molecular processes underlying growth in F. circinatum by exploring the association between growth and the nutritional environment provided by the pine host. For this purpose, we subjected a mapping population consisting of F. circinatum X F. temperatum hybrid progeny to an analysis of growth rate on a pine-tissue derived medium. These data, together with the available genetic linkage map for F. circinatum, were then used to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) associated with growth. The single significant QTL identified was then characterized using the available genome sequences for the hybrid progeny’s parental isolates. This revealed that the QTL localized to two non-homologous regions in the F. circinatum and F. temperatum genomes. For one of these, the F. circinatum parent contained a two-gene deletion relative to the F. temperatum parent. For the other region, the two parental isolates encoded different protein products. Analysis of repeats, G+C content, and repeat-induced point (RIP) mutations further suggested a retrotransposon origin for the two-gene deletion in F. circinatum. Nevertheless, subsequent genome and PCR-based analyses showed that both regions were similarly polymorphic within a collection of diverse F. circinatum. However, we observed no clear correlation between the respective polymorphism patterns and growth rate in culture. These findings support the notion that growth is a complex multilocus trait and raise the possibility that the identified QTL contains multiple small-effect QTLs, of which some might be dependent on the genetic backgrounds. This study improved our current knowledge of the genetic determinants of vegetative growth in F. circinatum and provided an important foundation for determining the genes and processes underpinning its ability to colonize its host environment.The South African Department of Science and Innovation’s South African Research Chair Initiative and the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jofam2023BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyZoology and Entomolog

Lower Expression of TLR2 and SOCS-3 Is Associated with Schistosoma haematobium Infection and with Lower Risk for Allergic Reactivity in Children Living in a Rural Area in Ghana

Inflammatory diseases such as atopic disorders are a major health problem in the Western world, but their prevalence is also increasing in developing countries, especially in urban centres. There is increasing evidence that exposure to a rural environment with high burden of compounds derived from parasites and microorganisms is associated with protection from atopic disorders. Since urbanisation is progressing at a rapid pace, particularly in less-developed nations, there is a need to understand the molecular processes that control the progress towards the development of allergic diseases in developing countries. In this study we have examined a population of school children living in a rural area of Ghana, where helminth (worm) infections are prevalent and associated with protection from skin reactivity to house dust mite. Blood samples were collected from these children and analysed for the expression levels of several genes involved in the development of a pro allergic immune system. The results point at a potential molecular link that might explain the negative association between schistosome infections and allergies

Scale Construction of Self-Assessment of Entrepeneurial Competencies

Entering the ASEAN economic community today, Indonesia needs to develop the number of entrepreneurs, primarily comes from student graduate of the vocational high school. The curriculum on vocational education in Indonesia consists of entrepreneur subjects that developed the students with technical competence (hard skills) and non-technical competencies (soft skills). In this study, the authors construct a measure of entrepreneurial competencies consists of soft skill competence and hard skill competence. Participants were asked to assess own abilities in various competencies, according to the statements provided. The participants were 258 graduated vocational students from Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Researchers made 137 initial statement and in the end, took 24 best statement. Results of the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were satisfactory. Future studies are needed to test the predictive power of the test tool to the success of students in entrepreneurship. Keywords: competencies, entrepreneurship, scale construction, selfassessment, vocational school

Wonderpa: Indahnya pendampingan

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Enhancing the Fertilizer Value of Cattle Manure Using Organic Resources for Soil Fertility Improvement: A Review

The poor quality of cow dung in Ghana resulting from the opportunistic feeding mode of cattle impedes its adoption due to high quantities needed for application. This calls for nutrient optimization of cattle manure with inexpensive locally available sources of organic inputs that could enhance its quality. Though large volumes of crop residues and other agro-wastes are produced on-farm, they are underutilized and mostly a nuisance. Major food crops take approximately, 44 %, 42 % and 56 % of the total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), respectively and are found in crop residues. There is therefore the need to develop appropriate technologies for utilizing agro-wastes by transforming them into useful “resources” with potentially available plant macro and micronutrients. Common agro-wastes in Ghana include cocoa pod husk (CPH), palm kernel cake (PKC), cattle manure (CM) and poultry manure. Hence, this review sought to explore the use of crop residues and agro-minerals to improve the quality of manure and consequently its fertilizer value for soil fertility improvement and increased crop yield. The review presented an assessment of resource potentials of some crop residues and local agro-mineral as a means of enhancing the quality of CM. Using published data, the review has identified that PKC, rock phosphate (RP) and CPH have high potential for improving the N, P and K contents of CM, respectively. In conclusion, it recommends the need to extensively explore the potential of other commonly available organic resource materials for their efficacy to improve the fertilizer value of cattle manure

Frecuencia de listeria monocytogenes y otras listerías en carne de pollo fresco y verduras frescas obtenidas en mercados y centros de abasto de Lima Metropolitana

The objective of the present research was to determine the frequency of Lísteria monocytogenes in chicken meat and vegetable raw, obtained from various food market of Metropolitan Lima. Fifty samples of fresh chicken meat and 50 of fresh vegetables (asparagus, cabbage, celery, spinach and lettuce). The microbiologycal analysis was carried out according to methodology recormmended in the Bacteriological Analytical Manual of the FDA and NF ISO 11290-1. Listeria monocytogenes was isolates from chicken sample (2%) and from sample asparagus (2%).El objetivo del trabajo fue determinar la frecuencia de Listeria monocytogenes en carne de pollo y verduras obtenidas de diversos mercados y centros de abastecimiento de Lima. Se analizaron 50 muestras de carne de pollo fresco y 50 muestras de verduras frescas (espárrago, col, apio, espinaca y lechuga). El análisis microbiológico se realizó de acuerdo a la metodología recomendada en el Bacteriological Analytícal Manual de la FDA y la NF ISO 11290-1. Se aisló Listeria monocytogenes en una muestra de pollo (2%) y de una muestra de espárrago (2%)