847 research outputs found
Occurrence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis among patients with suspected tuberculosis in Katsina State north western Nigeria
Background: A couple of decades ago, experts in the study of Tuberculosis excogitated that multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa due to the delayed introduction of rifamycin based regimens. However, previous studies showed that 21% of the global MDR-TB burden occurs in the region; with South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia ranking first second and third, respectively.
Aims and objectives: the objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of drug resistant tuberculosis in patients suspected of having tuberculosis. The aims are: to determine the prevalence of MDR-TB in the non HIV patients presenting with persistent cough, to determine the prevalence of MDR-TB in HIV infected patients and to appraise the extent of the association between MDR-TB and HIV in this region.
Methods: Eight hundred and twenty four (824) sputa were collected from suspected participants and analyzed for the presence Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistant strains using a nucleic acid amplification test based machine, Gene expert (Cepheid inc. USA).
Results: One hundred and seventy three (21.0%) of the 824 had MTB and 13(7.5%) of the MTB cases were MDR-TB.
Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of MDR-TB among patients with chronic cough in the region and it is found in both HIV positive and negative patients
Study of the effect of neutrino oscillations on the supernova neutrino signal in the LVD detector
The LVD detector, located in the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (Italy),
studies supernova neutrinos through the interactions with protons and carbon
nuclei in the liquid scintillator and interactions with the iron nuclei of the
support structure. We investigate the effect of neutrino oscillations in the
signal expected in the LVD detector. The MSW effect has been studied in detail
for neutrinos travelling through the collapsing star and the Earth. We show
that the expected number of events and their energy spectrum are sensitive to
the oscillation parameters, in particular to the mass hierarchy and the value
of , presently unknown. Finally we discuss the astrophysical
uncertainties, showing their importance and comparing it with the effect of
neutrino oscillations on the expected signal.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on Astroparticle Physics. 36 pages, 18
figure
Isolated right ventricular failure in hyperthyroidism: a clinical dilemma
We present a unique case of a 42-year-old gentleman with newly diagnosed Graves’ disease and isolated right ventricular failure. Extensive evaluation to include echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization were negative for significant pulmonary hypertension or coronary artery disease as potential etiologies. Hyperthyroid induced vasospasm is a rare but reported clinical entity that serves to be a clinical and diagnostic dilemma
Exposure of a Dengue Vector to Tea and Its Waste: Survival, Developmental Consequences, and Significance for Pest Management
Dengue mosquitoes are evolving into a broader global public health menace, with relentless outbreaks and the rise
in number of Zika virus disease cases as reminders of the continued hazard associated with Aedes vectors. The use of chemical
insecticidesthe principal strategy against mosquito vectorshas been greatly impeded due to the development of insecticide
resistance and the shrinking spectrum of effective agents. Therefore, there is a pressing need for new chemistries for vector
control. Tea contains hundreds of chemicals, and its waste, which has become a growing global environmental problem, is almost
as rich in toxicants as green leaves. This paper presents the toxic and sublethal effects of different crude extracts of tea on Aedes
albopictus. The survival rates of larvae exposed to tea extracts, especially fresh tea extract (FTE), were markedly lower than those
in the control treatment group. In addition to this immediate toxicity against different developmental stages, the extracts tested
caused a broad range of sublethal effects. The developmental time was clearly longer in containers with tea, especially in those
with young larvae (YL) and FTE. Among the survivors, pupation success was reduced in containers with tea, which also
produced low adult emergence rates with increasing tea concentration. The production of eggs tended to be reduced in females
derived from the tea treatment groups. These indirect effects of tea extracts on Ae. albopictus exhibited different patterns
according to the exposed larval stage. Taken together, these findings indicate that tea and its waste affect most key components of
Ae. albopictus vectorial capacity and may be useful for dengue control. Reusing tea waste in vector control could also be a practical
solution to the problems associated with its pollution
N-body simulations of gravitational dynamics
We describe the astrophysical and numerical basis of N-body simulations, both
of collisional stellar systems (dense star clusters and galactic centres) and
collisionless stellar dynamics (galaxies and large-scale structure). We explain
and discuss the state-of-the-art algorithms used for these quite different
regimes, attempt to give a fair critique, and point out possible directions of
future improvement and development. We briefly touch upon the history of N-body
simulations and their most important results.Comment: invited review (28 pages), to appear in European Physics Journal Plu
Large enhancement of deuteron polarization with frequency modulated microwaves
We report a large enhancement of 1.7 in deuteron polarization up to values of
0.6 due to frequency modulation of the polarizing microwaves in a two liters
polarized target using the method of dynamic nuclear polarization. This target
was used during a deep inelastic polarized muon-deuteron scattering experiment
at CERN. Measurements of the electron paramagnetic resonance absorption spectra
show that frequency modulation gives rise to additional microwave absorption in
the spectral wings. Although these results are not understood theoretically,
they may provide a useful testing ground for the deeper understanding of
dynamic nuclear polarization.Comment: 10 pages, including the figures coming in uuencoded compressed tar
files in poltar.uu, which also brings cernart.sty and crna12.sty files neede
Ultrabroadband near-infrared pulse generation by noncollinear OPA with angular dispersion compensation
Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results
Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC
provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of
lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with
a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the
transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the
anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the
nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of
the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp.
Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in
the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies
smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating
nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and
transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of
inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous
measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables,
submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are
available at
http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02
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