Mosquito nets in a rural area of Western Kenya: ownership, use and quality

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are regarded as one of the most effective strategies to prevent malaria in Africa. This study analyses the use and quality of nets owned by households in an area of high net coverage.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A structured questionnaire on ownership and use of nets was administered to the households of individuals sampled from a local health centre in south Kisii district, Kenya. A physical inspection of all the nets in the households was done and their conditions recorded on spot check forms designed for that purpose.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 670 households surveyed, 95% owned at least one net. Only 59% of household residents slept under a net during the night prior to the survey. 77% of those who slept under a net used an insecticide-treated net (ITN) or long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN). Out of 1,627 nets in the survey households, 40% were deemed to be of poor quality because of holes. Compared to other age groups, children aged 5-14 years were most likely to have slept under nets of poor quality (odds ratio 1.41; <it>p </it>= 0.007).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although net ownership was high following increased delivery of ITNs, continuous promotion of effective maintenance and routine use is needed and efforts to replace damaged nets must be implemented.</p

Defending the genome from the enemy within:mechanisms of retrotransposon suppression in the mouse germline

The viability of any species requires that the genome is kept stable as it is transmitted from generation to generation by the germ cells. One of the challenges to transgenerational genome stability is the potential mutagenic activity of transposable genetic elements, particularly retrotransposons. There are many different types of retrotransposon in mammalian genomes, and these target different points in germline development to amplify and integrate into new genomic locations. Germ cells, and their pluripotent developmental precursors, have evolved a variety of genome defence mechanisms that suppress retrotransposon activity and maintain genome stability across the generations. Here, we review recent advances in understanding how retrotransposon activity is suppressed in the mammalian germline, how genes involved in germline genome defence mechanisms are regulated, and the consequences of mutating these genome defence genes for the developing germline

Tissue-Specific Transcriptomics of the Exotic Invasive Insect Pest Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

BACKGROUND: The insect midgut and fat body represent major tissue interfaces that deal with several important physiological functions including digestion, detoxification and immune response. The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), is an exotic invasive insect pest that has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) primarily in the Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada. However, despite its high impact status little knowledge exists for A. planipennis at the molecular level. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Newer-generation Roche-454 pyrosequencing was used to obtain 126,185 reads for the midgut and 240,848 reads for the fat body, which were assembled into 25,173 and 37,661 high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for the midgut and the fat body of A. planipennis larvae, respectively. Among these ESTs, 36% of the midgut and 38% of the fat body sequences showed similarity to proteins in the GenBank nr database. A high number of the midgut sequences contained chitin-binding peritrophin (248)and trypsin (98) domains; while the fat body sequences showed high occurrence of cytochrome P450s (85) and protein kinase (123) domains. Further, the midgut transcriptome of A. planipennis revealed putative microbial transcripts encoding for cell-wall degrading enzymes such as polygalacturonases and endoglucanases. A significant number of SNPs (137 in midgut and 347 in fat body) and microsatellite loci (317 in midgut and 571 in fat body) were predicted in the A. planipennis transcripts. An initial assessment of cytochrome P450s belonging to various CYP clades revealed distinct expression patterns at the tissue level. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge this study is one of the first to illuminate tissue-specific gene expression in an invasive insect of high ecological and economic consequence. These findings will lay the foundation for future gene expression and functional studies in A. planipennis

Current sensor optimization based on simulated transfer function under partial discharge pulses

The time measurement efficiency of the partial discharge (PD) relies on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and gain of the high-frequency current transformer (HFCT) sensor. However, the PD's time measurement efficiency decreases with the noise coupled to the HFCT in onsite measurements. To overcome that setback, this paper proposes one pre-processing, through modelling and simulation, considering the physical effects, features of the electrical circuit and coil construction parameters of the HFCT. The main goal is to reach reasonable high SNR under the strong influence of background noises. This investigation aims to validate the hypothesis of improvement or deterioration of the HFCT signal response through a transfer function optimization. This research effort's contributions are threefold: 1. Generation of PD pulse signal and noise addition; 2. HFCT modelling, simulation, and frequency response analysis; and 3. Models performance evaluation and validation of hypothesis. In conclusion, the pre-processing approach stands out as a means to robustify and provide freedom to the electric utility, making up for an eventual need to redefine the physical and geometrical parameters of the HFCT sensor under specific background noise for maintenance tests purpose. According to a cyber-physical system framework, experiments corroborate the project's goals to contribute to the PD pattern monitoring in onsite measurements and incorporate robustness to signals with low SNRs

Barriers to managing chronic illness among urban households in coastal Kenya

The burden of chronic illnesses is rising throughout the world but information on barriers to managing such diseases in developing countries is scarce. Qualitative data from focus group discussions and interview transcripts from a longitudinal study involving 22 households in urban, coastal Kenya were analysed. Themes around barriers to chronic illness care were identified and a conceptual framework developed which described relationships between these themes. The main barrier to chronic illness management was the cost of care. Other barriers identified were patient knowledge and beliefs, stigma, quality and trust in providers and long care pathways. Household resilience was adversely affected by chronic illness, further reducing households' ability to cope with illness. Policy options to address the barriers identified are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.