Adolescent health in rural Ghana: A cross-sectional study on the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardio-metabolic risk factors.

In sub-Saharan Africa, infectious diseases and malnutrition constitute the main health problems in children, while adolescents and adults are increasingly facing cardio-metabolic conditions. Among adolescents as the largest population group in this region, we investigated the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardio-metabolic risk factors (CRFs), and evaluated demographic, socio-economic and medical risk factors for these entities. In a cross-sectional study among 188 adolescents in rural Ghana, malarial infection, common infectious diseases and Body Mass Index were assessed. We measured ferritin, C-reactive protein, retinol, fasting glucose and blood pressure. Socio-demographic data were documented. We analyzed the proportions (95% confidence interval, CI) and the co-occurrence of infectious diseases (malaria, other common diseases), malnutrition (underweight, stunting, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency [VAD]), and CRFs (overweight, obesity, impaired fasting glucose, hypertension). In logistic regression, odds ratios (OR) and 95% CIs were calculated for the associations with socio-demographic factors. In this Ghanaian population (age range, 14.4-15.5 years; males, 50%), the proportions were for infectious diseases 45% (95% CI: 38-52%), for malnutrition 50% (43-57%) and for CRFs 16% (11-21%). Infectious diseases and malnutrition frequently co-existed (28%; 21-34%). Specifically, VAD increased the odds of non-malarial infectious diseases 3-fold (95% CI: 1.03, 10.19). Overlap of CRFs with infectious diseases (6%; 2-9%) or with malnutrition (7%; 3-11%) was also present. Male gender and low socio-economic status increased the odds of infectious diseases and malnutrition, respectively. Malarial infection, chronic malnutrition and VAD remain the predominant health problems among these Ghanaian adolescents. Investigating the relationships with evolving CRFs is warranted

Prevalence and risk factors of malaria among children in southern highland Rwanda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased control has produced remarkable reductions of malaria in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, including Rwanda. In the southern highlands, near the district capital of Butare (altitude, 1,768 m), a combined community-and facility-based survey on <it>Plasmodium </it>infection was conducted early in 2010.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 749 children below five years of age were examined including 545 randomly selected from 24 villages, 103 attending the health centre in charge, and 101 at the referral district hospital. Clinical, parasitological, haematological, and socio-economic data were collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>infection (mean multiplicity, 2.08) was identified by microscopy and PCR in 11.7% and 16.7%, respectively; 5.5% of the children had malaria. PCR-based <it>P. falciparum </it>prevalence ranged between 0 and 38.5% in the villages, and was 21.4% in the health centre, and 14.9% in the hospital. Independent predictors of infection included increasing age, low mid-upper arm circumference, absence of several household assets, reported recent intake of artemether-lumefantrine, and chloroquine in plasma, measured by ELISA. Self-reported bed net use (58%) reduced infection only in univariate analysis. In the communities, most infections were seemingly asymptomatic but anaemia was observed in 82% and 28% of children with and without parasitaemia, respectively, the effect increasing with parasite density, and significant also for submicroscopic infections.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>infection in the highlands surrounding Butare, Rwanda, is seen in one out of six children under five years of age. The abundance of seemingly asymptomatic infections in the community forms a reservoir for transmission in this epidemic-prone area. Risk factors suggestive of low socio-economic status and insufficient effectiveness of self-reported bed net use refer to areas of improvable intervention.</p

The "BIO:logic" knowledge platform for short-rotation biomass

In Germany in 2012, biomass accounted for 8.2% of total energy consumption. If this percentage is to continue to increase, so-called short rotation coppices (SRCs) could prove valuable. There is great demand for practical information and guidance for all actors of the value chain. To remedy this situation, the ‘BIO:logic’ wiki knowledge platform has been created as a central platform to collect and manage information about biomass logistics and SRCs in particular. In the course of different workshops, a basic wiki structure was developed in a joint effort with practical actors of the biomass sector. This structure is currently in the process of being fed with a wide range of contents, guides, tips and experience reports

Characterization of SKT1, an Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel from Potato, by Heterologous Expression in Insect Cells

A cDNA encoding a novel, inwardly rectifying K(+) (K(+)(in)) channel protein, SKT1, was cloned from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). SKT1 is related to members of the AKT family of K(+)(in) channels previously identified in Arabidopsis thaliana and potato. Skt1 mRNA is most strongly expressed in leaf epidermal fragments and in roots. In electrophysiological, whole-cell, patch-clamp measurements performed on baculovirus-infected insect (Spodoptera frugiperda) cells, SKT1 was identified as a K(+)(in) channel that activates with slow kinetics by hyperpolarizing voltage pulses to more negative potentials than −60 mV. The pharmacological inhibitor Cs(+), when applied externally, inhibited SKT1-mediated K(+)(in) currents half-maximally with an inhibitor concentration (IC(50)) of 105 μm. An almost identical high Cs(+) sensitivity (IC(50) = 90 μm) was found for the potato guard-cell K(+)(in) channel KST1 after expression in insect cells. SKT1 currents were reversibly activated by a shift in external pH from 6.6 to 5.5, which indicates a physiological role for pH-dependent regulation of AKT-type K(+)(in) channels. Comparative studies revealed generally higher current amplitudes for KST1-expressing cells than for SKT1-expressing insect cells, which correlated with a higher targeting efficiency of the KST1 protein to the insect cell's plasma membrane, as demonstrated by fusions to green fluorescence protein

Influence of haemoglobins S and C on predominantly asymptomatic Plasmodium infections in northern Ghana

The haemoglobin (Hb) variants HbS and HbC protect against severe malaria. Yet, the influence particularly of HbC on asymptomatic or mild Plasmodium infection is not well established. In a dry season cross-sectional survey among 2108 children aged 0.5-9 years in the Northern Region of Ghana, Plasmodium species and density, as well as Hb, were analysed with respect to Hb genotypes. HbAC occurred in 19.7% and HbAS in 7.4% (HbSC, 0.8%; HbCC, 0.8%; HbSS, 0.3%). Overall, 56% of the children had microscopically visible parasitaemia. By PCR, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale were present in 74.5%, 9.7%, and 5.5%, respectively. Febrile parasitaemia was rare (2.8%) but anaemia (Hb <11g/dL) frequent (59.3%). Children with HbAA and HbAC showed virtually identical malariometric parameters. In contrast, children with HbAS had significantly less parasitaemia, lower parasite densities, and a higher proportion of submicroscopic P. falciparum infection. Remarkably, in children with HbCC, P. malariae infection occurred in 37.5% (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 5.8; 95% CI, 1.8-18.8) and P. ovale in 18.8% (aOR, 3.61; 95% CI, 0.97-13.5). In this population with predominantly asymptomatic Plasmodium infection, HbAC shows no discernible effect on malaria-related parameters. Homozygous HbC, in contrast, confers an increased risk of P. malariae infection which conceivably may modulate falciparum malari

Tree Species Classification Based on Hybrid Ensembles of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Random Forest Classifiers

In this paper, we evaluate different popular voting strategies for fusion of classifier results. A convolutional neural network (CNN) and different variants of random forest (RF) classifiers were trained to discriminate between 15 tree species based on airborne hyperspectral imaging data. The spectral data was preprocessed with a multi-class linear discriminant analysis (MCLDA) as a means to reduce dimensionality and to obtain spatial&ndash;spectral features. The best individual classifier was a CNN with a classification accuracy of 0.73 +/&minus; 0.086. The classification performance increased to an accuracy of 0.78 +/&minus; 0.053 by using precision weighted voting for a hybrid ensemble of the CNN and two RF classifiers. This voting strategy clearly outperformed majority voting (0.74), accuracy weighted voting (0.75), and presidential voting (0.75)