Quantifying the Burden and Trends of Isoniazid Resistant Tuberculosis, 1994–2009

Quantifying isoniazid resistant (INH-R) tuberculosis (TB) is important because isoniazid resistance reduces the probability of treatment success, may facilitate the spread of multidrug resistance, and may reduce the effectiveness of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT).We used data reported to the World Health Organization between 1994-2009 to estimate the INH-R burden among new and retreatment TB cases. We assessed geographical and temporal variation in INH-R and reported levels in high HIV prevalence countries (≥2%) to understand implications for IPT. 131 settings reported INH-R data since 1994. A single global estimate of the percentage of incident TB cases with INH-R was deemed inappropriate due to particularly high levels in the Eastern European region where 44.9% (95% CI: 34.0%, 55.8%) of incident TB cases had INH-R. In all other regions combined, 13.9% (95% CI: 12.6%, 15.2%) of incident cases had INH-R with the lowest regional levels seen in West/Central Europe and Africa. Where trend data existed, we found examples of rising and falling burdens of INH-R. 40% of high HIV prevalence countries reported national data on INH-R and 7.3% (95% CI: 5.5%, 9.1%) of cases in these settings had INH-R.Outside the Eastern European region, one in seven incident TB cases has INH-R, while this rises to nearly half within Eastern Europe. Many countries cannot assess trends in INH-R and the scarcity of data from high HIV prevalence areas limits insight into the implications for IPT. Further research is required to understand reasons for the observed time trends and to determine the effects of INH-R for control of TB

On the antibacterial effects of manuka honey: mechanistic insights

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing clinical problem precipitated by the inappropriate use of antibiotics in the later parts of the 20th Century. This problem, coupled with the lack of novel therapeutics in the development pipeline, means AMR is reaching crisis point, with an expected annual death rate of ten million people worldwide by 2050. To reduce, and to potentially remedy this problem, many researchers are looking into natural compounds with antimicrobial and/or antivirulence activity. Manuka honey is an ancient antimicrobial remedy with a good track record against a wide range of nosocomial pathogens that have increased AMR. Its inhibitory effects are the result of its constituent components, which add varying degrees of antimicrobial efficacy to the overall activity of manuka honey. The antimicrobial efficacy of manuka honey and some of its constituent components (such as methylglyoxal and leptosperin) are known to bestow some degree of antimicrobial efficacy to manuka honey. Despite growing in vitro evidence of its antimicrobial efficacy, the in vivo use of manuka honey (especially in a clinical environment) has been unexpectedly slow, partly due to the lack of mechanistic data. The mechanism by which manuka honey achieves its inhibitory efficacy has recently been identified against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with both of these contrasting organisms being inhibited through different mechanisms. Manuka honey inhibits S. aureus by interfering with the cell division process, whereas P. aeruginosa cells lyse in its presence due to the reduction of a key structural protein. In addition to these inhibitory effects, manuka honey is known to reduce virulence, motility, and biofilm formation. With this increasing in vitro dataset, we review the components and our mechanistic knowledge of manuka honey and how manuka honey could potentially be utilized in the future to impact positively on the treatment of microbial, resistant infections. Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, biofilm, antibiotic resistanc

Econometric models of eleven single family housing markets

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).by Irene D. Jenkins and Mary Helen Schaeffer.M.S

The Duration of the Effects of Repeated Widespread Badger Culling on Cattle Tuberculosis Following the Cessation of Culling

Background: In the British Isles, control of cattle tuberculosis (TB) is hindered by persistent infection of wild badger (Meles meles) populations. A large-scale field trial—the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT)—previously showed that widespread badger culling produced modest reductions in cattle TB incidence during culling, which were offset by elevated TB risks for cattle on adjoining lands. Once culling was halted, beneficial effects inside culling areas increased, while detrimental effects on adjoining lands disappeared. However, a full assessment of the utility of badger culling requires information on the duration of culling effects. Methodology/Principal Findings: We monitored cattle TB incidence in and around RBCT areas after culling ended. We found that benefits inside culled areas declined over time, and were no longer detectable by three years post-culling. On adjoining lands, a trend suggesting beneficial effects immediately after the end of culling was insignificant, and disappeared after 18 months post-culling. From completion of the first cull to the loss of detectable effects (an average five-year culling period plus 2.5 years post-culling), cattle TB incidence was 28.7% lower (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.7 to 35.8% lower) inside ten 100 km2 culled areas than inside ten matched no-culling areas, and comparable (11.7% higher, 95% CI: 13.0% lower to 43.4% higher, p = 0.39) on lands #2 km outside culled and no-culling areas. The financial costs of culling an idealized 150 km2 area would exceed the savings achieved through reduced cattle TB, by factors of 2 to 3.5. Conclusions/Significance: Our findings show that the reductions in cattle TB incidence achieved by repeated badger culling were not sustained in the long term after culling ended and did not offset the financial costs of culling. These results, combined with evaluation of alternative culling methods, suggest that badger culling is unlikely to contribute effectively to the control of cattle TB in Britain

Sediment Thickness Model of Andalusia’s Nearshore and Coastal Inland Topography

This study represents the first attempt to map the sediment thickness spatial distribution along the Andalusian coastal zone by integrating various publicly available datasets. While prior studies have presented bedform- and sediment-type syntheses, none have attempted to quantify sediment thickness at the scale and resolution performed in this study. The study area has been divided into 18 physiographic zones, and we have used BGS Groundhog Desktop v2.6 software for 3D modeling and sediment thickness model calculations. We present here the modeling workflow, model results, and the challenges that we have encountered, including discrepancies in geological maps, difficulty managing data input for grain size/consolidation, and the need for additional geological information. We have compared the modeled sediment fractions of the unconsolidated material with 4194 seabed samples distributed along the study area and found that the differences between the modeled versus the sampled emphasized the importance of incorporating river contributions, particularly from the Guadalquivir River, into the model for more accurate results. The model intermediate and final outputs and the software routines used to query the sediment thickness model are provided as publicly accessible datasets and tools. The modeled sediment thickness could contribute to making quantitative predictions of morphological change at a scale that is relevant to longer-term strategic coastal management in Andalusia. The methodology and tools used for this study are transferable to any study area.CHAMFER project (NE/W004992/1

A review of selected bee products as potential anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral agents

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest medical challenges the world faces. It was estimated recently that by 2050, AMR will account for 10 million extra deaths annually with additional economic costs in the region of $100 trillion. In order to combat this, novel antimicrobial agents with a broad spectrum of activity are required. Bee products, including; honey, propolis, defensins, royal jelly, bee pollen and venom have been used to treat infectious diseases for several centuries, although they were largely disregarded by Western medicine during the antibiotic era. There has since been a resurgence in interest in their antimicrobial properties, especially due to their reported activity against multi-drug resistant pathogens displaying high levels of AMR. In this paper we review the current scientific literature of honey, propolis, honey bee, defensins, royal jelly, bee pollen and bee venom. We highlight the antimicrobial activity each of these products has displayed and potential future research directions

Jansenism as literature : a study into the influence of Augustinian theology on seventeenth-century French literature

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Examining the Risk of Disease Transmission between Wild Dall’s Sheep and Mountain Goats, and Introduced Domestic Sheep, Goats, and Llamas in the Northwest Territories

This risk assessment has been carried out following the guidelines for Health Risk Analysis entitled “Wild Animal Translocations” prepared by the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre (http://wildlife1.usask.ca). It includes 9 comprehensive appendices of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal organisms reported from domestic sheep, goats, llamas and wild sheep and mountain goats. The report is a breakdown of those appendices into discussions of organisms of major concern, organisms of unknown concern, organisms of minimal concern, and those that cause no apparent disease, are not transmissible between the species of interest, or do not occur in Canada. Where possible, organisms were assigned a risk designation according to the probability of transmission as well as the effects on susceptible species