Trypanosoma brucei Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3, A Target for Anti-Trypanosomal Drug Development: A Public-Private Partnership to Identify Novel Leads

Over 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of infection with the parasite Trypanosoma brucei which causes Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness. The disease results in systemic and neurological disability to its victims. At present, only four drugs are available for treatment of HAT. However, these drugs are expensive, limited in efficacy and are severely toxic, hence the need to develop new therapies. Previously, the short TbruGSK-3 short has been validated as a potential target for developing new drugs against HAT. Because this enzyme has also been pursued as a drug target for other diseases, several inhibitors are available for screening against the parasite enzyme. Here we present the results of screening over 16,000 inhibitors of human GSK-3β (HsGSK-3) from the Pfizer compound collection against TbruGSK-3 short. The resulting active compounds were tested for selectivity versus HsGSK-3β and a panel of human kinases, as well as their ability to inhibit proliferation of the parasite in vitro. We have identified attractive compounds that now form potential starting points for drug discovery against HAT. This is an example of how a tripartite partnership involving pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions and non-government organisations such as WHO TDR, can stimulate research for neglected diseases

Resurgence of Ebola virus in 2021 in Guinea suggests a new paradigm for outbreaks

These authors contributed equally: Alpha K. Keita, Fara R. Koundouno, Martin Faye, Ariane Düx, Julia Hinzmann.International audienc

“Control-Alt-Delete”: Rebooting Solutions for the E-Waste Problem

A number of efforts have been launched to solve the global electronic waste (e-waste) problem. The efficiency of e-waste recycling is subject to variable national legislation, technical capacity, consumer participation, and even detoxification. E-waste management activities result in procedural irregularities and risk disparities across national boundaries. We review these variables to reveal opportunities for research and policy to reduce the risks from accumulating e-waste and ineffective recycling. Full regulation and consumer participation should be controlled and reinforced to improve local e-waste system. Aiming at standardizing best practice, we alter and identify modular recycling process and infrastructure in eco-industrial parks that will be expectantly effective in countries and regions to handle the similar e-waste stream. Toxicity can be deleted through material substitution and detoxification during the life cycle of electronics. Based on the idea of "Control-Alt-Delete", four patterns of the way forward for global e-waste recycling are proposed to meet a variety of local situations

A 32 GHz urban micro cell measurement campaign for 5G candidate spectrum region

International audienceA 32 GHz urban microcellular measurement campaign is presented in this paper. A path loss model in line-of-sight (LOS) for the fifth-generation (5G) candidate frequency band 31.8-33.4 GHz is provided, and different key channel metrics such as omni-directional path loss, angular and delay spreads and Rician K-factor are investigated. The investigation shows that no significant difference between the 28 GHz and 32 GHz frequency bands for the studied metrics. © 2017 Euraap

Severe malaria during pregnancy at the maternity ward of the municipal medical center of Ratoma, Guinea-Conakry

Background: Gestational malaria remains a major public health problem in malarious areas. The objectives of this work were to describe the socio-demographic, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and prognostic characteristics of patients who developed severe malaria during pregnancy.Methods: It was a descriptive prospective study carried out in the maternity ward of Ratoma municipal medical center, which was carried out over a period of 6 months from 01 October 2018 to 31 March 2019. This study involved all pregnant women who had presented severe malaria according to WHO criteria.Results: The incidence of severe malaria during pregnancy was 7%. The average age of our patients was 22.4 years with extremes of 15 and 47 years. The symptomatology that motivated the consultation was variable, the most frequent signs were: hyperthermia (100%), headache (79%), vomiting (99%). The general examination at admission objectified a fever with an average temperature of 39°C with extremes of 38-40.4°C. All patients had a positive rapid diagnostic test (RDT) as well as their thicker drop. The hemogram revealed the existence of a more or less severe anemia in 89.9% of cases. All patients were treated with parenteral quinine (100%). Maternal lethality was 1.8%. After severe malaria, 70 patients (62.5%) carried their pregnancy to term and 40 delivered an eutrophic child (35.71%), 30 (26.78%) delivered a hypotrophic child, 20 (17.85%) had a spontaneous abortion, premature delivery was observed in 10 patients (8.9%), and fetal death in utero was observed in 12 patients (10.71%).Conclusions: All patients had received parenteral quinine curative therapy. Maternal and perinatal complications were common. To improve this prognosis, intermittent preventive treatment and the use of insecticide-treated nets, which are the most effective prevention method at this time, must be further promoted in anticipation of the much hoped-for vaccine