Sero-Prevalence and Factors Associated with Toxoplasma gondii Infection among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Serological screening of pregnant women for Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies is not practiced as an antenatal care in Tanzania; and there is a limited data about sero-prevalence of T. gondii infection in developing countries. We therefore conducted this study to determine the sero-prevalence and factors associated with T. gondii infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics in Mwanza, Tanzania. Between 1st November 2012 and 31st May 2013 a total of 350 pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics in Mwanza were enrolled and screened for IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii using the ELISA technique. Of 350 pregnant women, 108 (30.9%) were sero-positive for T. gondii-specific antibodies. The risk of contracting T. gondii infection increases by 7% with each yearly increase in a woman's age (OR=1.07, 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.11, p=0.002). The sero-positivity rate of T. gondii-specific antibodies was higher among pregnant women from the urban than those from rural communities (41.5% versus 22.0%); [OR=2.2, 95% CI; 1.4 - 3.7, p=0.001]. Likewise employed/business women were more likely to get T. gondii infection than peasants (40.0% versus 25.9%) [OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.2 - 3.0, p=0.006]. Sero-prevalence of T. gondii-specific antibodies is high among pregnant women in Mwanza with a significant proportion of women at risk of contracting primary T. gondii infections. Screening of T. gondii infections during antenatal care should be considered in Tanzania as the main strategy to minimize congenital toxoplasmosis

Low Sputum Smear Positive Tuberculosis among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Suspects in a Tertiary Hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania

Early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and prompt initiation of treatment are essential for an effective tuberculosis control programme. In many resource limited settings microscopic diagnosis is still the pivotal tool in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB. This study aimed at evaluating laboratory microscopic diagnosis of tuberculosis in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. This retrospective hospital based study reviewed consecutively from TB registry and patients’ files a total of 5,922 TB suspects who submitted their sputum for examination between January 2007 and May 2010 at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC). Among TB suspects (mean age=36.1±13.6 years) female accounted for 54.1% of the patients. The prevalence of HIV among TB patients was 59.4%. The sputum smear positivity rate among the TB suspects was 6.1%; the rate was higher in HIV positive than in HIV negative patients (9.9 % versus 3.2%, P-value < 0.001). The overall positivity rate for the first smear was 94.2% with an incremental percentage yield of 5.2% and 0.6% for the second and third smears, respectively. The study found that 28.6% of patients who were positive in the first smear did not return for the second smear. The risk factors among smear positive TB patients were co-illness (32.5%), previous history of TB (7.5%) and history of positive TB contact (4.7%). These findings also show that as CD4+ T Cells count increases, the quantity AFB in sputum smear also increase although not statistically significant. The sputum smear positivity rate at Bugando Medical Centre is low and more than a quarter of initial TB suspects who were positive in the first smear were lost to follow up posing a threat of continuous transmission of tuberculosis to the community. The finding of more sputum smear positivity rate among HIV positive than HIV negative patients at BMC requires a prospective study to ascertain whether it is a reality or a coincidence.\u

Evaluation of the Bruker SMART X2S: crystallography for the nonspecialist?

An evaluation of the Bruker SMART X2S for the collection of crystallographic diffraction data, structure solution and refinement is carried out with a variety of materials with different electron densities, presenting some of the successes and challenges of automation in chemical crystallography

Protective Efficacy of Menthol Propylene Glycol Carbonate Compared to N, N-diethyl-Methylbenzamide Against Mosquito Bites in Northern Tanzania.

The reduction of malaria parasite transmission by preventing human-vector contact is critical in lowering disease transmission and its outcomes. This underscores the need for effective and long lasting arthropod/insect repellents. Despite the reduction in malaria transmission and outcomes in Tanzania, personal protection against mosquito bites is still not well investigated. This study sought to determine the efficacy of menthol propylene glycol carbonate (MR08), Ocimum suave as compared to the gold standard repellent N, N-diethyl-methylbenzamide (DEET), either as a single dose or in combination (blend), both in the laboratory and in the field against Anopheles gambiae s.l and Culex quinquefasciatus. In the laboratory evaluations, repellents were applied on one arm while the other arm of the same individual was treated with a base cream. Each arm was separately exposed in cages with unfed female mosquitoes. Repellents were evaluated either as a single dose or as a blend. Efficacy of each repellent was determined by the number of mosquitoes that landed and fed on treated arms as compared to the control or among them. In the field, evaluations were performed by human landing catches at hourly intervals from 18:00  hr to 01:00  hr. A total of 2,442 mosquitoes were collected during field evaluations, of which 2,376 (97.30%) were An. gambiae s.l while 66 (2.70%) were Cx. quinquefaciatus. MR08 and DEET had comparatively similar protective efficacy ranging from 92% to 100 for both single compound and blends. These findings indicate that MR08 has a similar protective efficacy as DEET for personal protection outside bed nets when used singly and in blends. Because of the personal protection provided by MR08, DEET and blends as topical applicants in laboratory and field situations, these findings suggest that, these repellents could be used efficiently in the community to complement existing tools. Overall, Cx. quinquefasciatus were significantly prevented from blood feeding compared to An. gambiae s.l. The incorporation of these topical repellents for protection against insect bites can be of additional value in the absence or presence of IRS and ITNs coverage. However, a combination of both the physical (bed nets) and the repellent should be used in an integrated manner for maximum protection, especially before going to bed. Additional research is needed to develop repellents with longer duration of protection

The Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator

During the past several years, there has been tremendous progress on the development of the RF system and accelerating structures for a Next Linear Collider (NLC). Developments include high-power klystrons, RF pulse compression systems and damped/detuned accelerator structures to reduce wakefields. In order to integrate these separate development efforts into an actual X-band accelerator capable of accelerating the electron beams necessary for an NLC, we are building an NLC Test Accelerator (NLCTA). The goal of the NLCTA is to bring together all elements of the entire accelerating system by constructing and reliably operating an engineered model of a high-gradient linac suitable for the NLC. The NLCTA will serve as a testbed as the design of the NLC evolves. In addition to testing the RF acceleration system, the NLCTA is designed to address many questions related to the dynamics of the beam during acceleration. In this paper, we will report on the status of the design, component development, and construction of the NLC Test Accelerator

Dietary Supplementation with Soluble Plantain Non-Starch Polysaccharides Inhibits Intestinal Invasion of Salmonella Typhimurium in the Chicken

Soluble fibres (non-starch polysaccharides, NSP) from edible plants but particularly plantain banana (Musa spp.), have been shown in vitro and ex vivo to prevent various enteric pathogens from adhering to, or translocating across, the human intestinal epithelium, a property that we have termed contrabiotic. Here we report that dietary plantain fibre prevents invasion of the chicken intestinal mucosa by Salmonella. In vivo experiments were performed with chicks fed from hatch on a pellet diet containing soluble plantain NSP (0 to 200 mg/d) and orally infected with S.Typhimurium 4/74 at 8 d of age. Birds were sacrificed 3, 6 and 10 d post-infection. Bacteria were enumerated from liver, spleen and caecal contents. In vitro studies were performed using chicken caecal crypts and porcine intestinal epithelial cells infected with Salmonella enterica serovars following pre-treatment separately with soluble plantain NSP and acidic or neutral polysaccharide fractions of plantain NSP, each compared with saline vehicle. Bacterial adherence and invasion were assessed by gentamicin protection assay. In vivo dietary supplementation with plantain NSP 50 mg/d reduced invasion by S.Typhimurium, as reflected by viable bacterial counts from splenic tissue, by 98.9% (95% CI, 98.1–99.7; P<0.0001). In vitro studies confirmed that plantain NSP (5–10 mg/ml) inhibited adhesion of S.Typhimurium 4/74 to a porcine epithelial cell-line (73% mean inhibition (95% CI, 64–81); P<0.001) and to primary chick caecal crypts (82% mean inhibition (95% CI, 75–90); P<0.001). Adherence inhibition was shown to be mediated via an effect on the epithelial cells and Ussing chamber experiments with ex-vivo human ileal mucosa showed that this effect was associated with increased short circuit current but no change in electrical resistance. The inhibitory activity of plantain NSP lay mainly within the acidic/pectic (homogalacturonan-rich) component. Supplementation of chick feed with plantain NSP was well tolerated and shows promise as a simple approach for reducing invasive salmonellosis

5-Hydroxytryptamine receptors (version 2019.4) in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology Database

oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/31555-HT receptors (nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee on 5-HT receptors [194] and subsequently revised [176]) are, with the exception of the ionotropic 5-HT3 class, GPCRs where the endogenous agonist is 5-hydroxytryptamine. The diversity of metabotropic 5-HT receptors is increased by alternative splicing that produces isoforms of the 5-HT2A (non-functional), 5-HT2C (non-functional), 5-HT4, 5-HT6 (non-functional) and 5-HT7 receptors. Unique amongst the GPCRs, RNA editing produces 5-HT2C receptor isoforms that differ in function, such as efficiency and specificity of coupling to Gq/11 and also pharmacology [40, 482]. Most 5-HT receptors (except 5-ht1e and 5-ht5b) play specific roles mediating functional responses in different tissues (reviewed by [463, 382])

5-Hydroxytryptamine receptors in GtoPdb v.2023.1

5-HT receptors (nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee on 5-HT receptors [198] and subsequently revised [180]) are, with the exception of the ionotropic 5-HT3 class, GPCRs where the endogenous agonist is 5-hydroxytryptamine. The diversity of metabotropic 5-HT receptors is increased by alternative splicing that produces isoforms of the 5-HT2A (non-functional), 5-HT2C (non-functional), 5-HT4, 5-HT6 (non-functional) and 5-HT7 receptors. Unique amongst the GPCRs, RNA editing produces 5-HT2C receptor isoforms that differ in function, such as efficiency and specificity of coupling to Gq/11 and also pharmacology [40, 491]. Most 5-HT receptors (except 5-ht1e and 5-ht5b) play specific roles mediating functional responses in different tissues (reviewed by [471, 387])