Comparative sensitivity and specificity of Typhidot and Typhidot-M tests in the diagnosis of Enteric fever in Malaysian children

Suntu penelitian untuk mengetahui sensitivitas dan spesifisitas uji Typhidot dan Typhidot-M daLam mendiagnosis demam enterik pada anak-anak Malaysia telah dilakukan. Pasien dibagi dalam dua kelompok: (i) pasien dengan biakan darah dan-/ ataufeses positif S. typhi dan/atau dengan gambaran klinis yang jelas untuk demam enterik; (ii) pasien dengan kedua biakan negatif dan dengan gambaran klinis atau bukti lain adanya demam oleh sebab lain. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa Typhidot maupun TyphidorM sama sensitifnya dengan uji Widal. Uji Typhidot-M memiliki spesifisins yang sedikit Lebih tinggi daripada uji Typhido4 keduanya memiliki spesifisitas sekitar l0% Iebih baik daripada uji Widal. Data juga menunjukkan bahwa uji Typhidot-M mungkin dapat meningkntkan ketepatan diagnosis demam oleh sebab lain pada anak-anak, yang dibuktikan dengan perbaikan spesifitas. Baik uji Typhidot maupun Typhidot-M adalah alat bantu diagnosis yang cepat dan dapat diandalkan dalam penatalaksanaan demam enterik. Uji Typhidot-M mungkin lebih disukai daripada uji Typhidot dalam mengidentifikasi pasien yang menderita demam oleh sebab lain sementara ia daLam masa penyembuhan demam enterik. A study was carcied out to compare the sensitivity and specificity of Typhidot and Typhidot-M tests in the diagnosis of enteric fever in Malaysian children. The patients were divided into two groups: (i) those who were bLood and /or stool culture positive for S. typhi and/or who had clinical features strongly suggestive of enteric fever; (ii) those who were both culture - negative and had clinical or other evidence of another febrile illness. The results showed both Typhidot and Typhidot-M tests.were as sensitive as WidaL test. The Typhidot-M test hnd slightly greater specificity than the Typhidot test; both had around l07a better specificity than the Widal test. The data aLso suggest that the Typhidot-M test may, as evidenced by improved specificity, increase diagnostic accuracy for other febrile iLlnesses in children. The Typhidot and Typhidot-M are both prompt and reliable diagnostic aids in the management of enteric fever The typhidot-M test may be more preferable to the orginal Typhidot test in identifiing patients who develop other febrile illnesses whilst recovering from enteric fever

Challenges facing the agricultural extension landscape in South Africa, quo vadis?

According to the National Development Plan for South Africa there is a need for the training of a new cadre of agricultural extension advisors that will respond effectively to the needs of small-holder farmers. What is needed is a “best-fit” framework for designing and analysing agricultural advisory services namely: Policy environment; Governance (pluralism and participation); Capacity/competencies, technical and functional and the professionalising of the extension services (the South Africa case study). The role of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension (SASAE) in the way forward will be to: Determine continuously what the agricultural extension landscape will need in 10 years’ time; establish and implement a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Committee to ensure continuing professional development of extension advisors; and investigate the possibility to register as a training provider of skills programs in the science of extension.http://www.journals.co.za/content/journalam2016Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Developmen

Cryptic loxP sites in mammalian genomes: genome-wide distribution and relevance for the efficiency of BAC/PAC recombineering techniques

Cre is widely used for DNA tailoring and, in combination with recombineering techniques, to modify BAC/PAC sequences for generating transgenic animals. However, mammalian genomes contain recombinase recognition sites (cryptic loxP sites) that can promote illegitimate DNA recombination and damage when cells express the Cre recombinase gene. We have created a new bioinformatic tool, FuzznucComparator, which searches for cryptic loxP sites and we have applied it to the analysis of the whole mouse genome. We found that cryptic loxP sites occur frequently and are homogeneously distributed in the genome. Given the mammalian nature of BAC/PAC genomic inserts, we hypothesised that the presence of cryptic loxP sites may affect the ability to grow and modify BAC and PAC clones in E. coli expressing Cre recombinase. We have observed a defect in bacterial growth when some BACs and PACs were transformed into EL350, a DH10B-derived bacterial strain that expresses Cre recombinase under the control of an arabinose-inducible promoter. In this study, we have demonstrated that Cre recombinase expression is leaky in un-induced EL350 cells and that some BAC/PAC sequences contain cryptic loxP sites, which are active and mediate the introduction of single-strand nicks in BAC/PAC genomic inserts

Fluctuating brane in a dilatonic bulk

We consider a cosmological brane moving in a static five-dimensional bulk spacetime endowed with a scalar field whose potential is exponential. After studying various cosmological behaviours for the homogeneous background, we investigate the fluctuations of the brane that leave spacetime unaffected. A single mode embodies these fluctuations and obeys a wave equation which we study for bouncing and ever-expanding branes.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, revte

Examining how health navigation affects mental health among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men living with human immunodeficiency virus in Guatemala

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are disproportionately affected by mental health problems and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Health navigation has the potential to improve both HIV and mental health outcomes; however, few studies have measured the impact of navigation on mental health among people living with HIV. We analyzed longitudinal data from a sociobehavioral survey and navigation monitoring system with GBMSM living with HIV in Guatemala (n = 346) that participated in a 12-month differentiated care intervention. We examined relationships between navigation characteristics (frequency, duration, mode of interactions, and level of emotional, instrumental, and informational navigation support) and anxiety and depression using fixed-effects regression. We also examined if these relationships were moderated by baseline social support. We found that as navigation interactions increased, anxiety significantly improved [B = -0.03, standard error (SE) = 0.01 p = 0.05]. Participants who received high levels of informational navigator support also experienced a significant improvement in anxiety compared with those receiving low levels of informational support (B = -0.81, SE = 0.40, p = 0.04). Unexpectedly, we found that as the proportion of in-person navigation interactions increased, anxiety worsened (B = 1.12, SE = 0.54, p = 0.04). No aspects of navigation were significantly associated with depression and baseline social support did not moderate the relationship between navigation and anxiety and depression. To improve the mental health of key populations affected by HIV, health navigation programs should prioritize frequent interaction and informational navigation support for clients with anxiety while considering other strategies that specifically target reducing depressive symptoms, including other cost-effective modalities, such as mobile apps

Stability and collapse of localized solutions of the controlled three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation

On the basis of recent investigations, a newly developed analytical procedure is used for constructing a wide class of localized solutions of the controlled three-dimensional (3D) Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) that governs the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). The controlled 3D GPE is decomposed into a two-dimensional (2D) linear Schr\"{o}dinger equation and a one-dimensional (1D) nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation, constrained by a variational condition for the controlling potential. Then, the above class of localized solutions are constructed as the product of the solutions of the transverse and longitudinal equations. On the basis of these exact 3D analytical solutions, a stability analysis is carried out, focusing our attention on the physical conditions for having collapsing or non-collapsing solutions.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figure

Human Amygdala Sensitivity to the Pupil Size of Others

Stimulation of the amygdala produces pupil dilation in animal and human subjects. The present study examined whether the amygdala is sensitive to variations in the pupil size of others. Male subjects underwent event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while passively viewing unfamiliar female faces whose pupils were either unaltered (natural variations in large and small pupils) or altered to be larger or smaller than their original size. Results revealed that the right amygdala and left amygdala/substantia innominata were sensitive to the pupil size of others, exhibiting increased activity for faces with relatively large pupils. Upon debrief, no subject reported being aware that the pupils had been manipulated. These results suggest a function for the amygdala in the detection of changes in pupil size, an index of arousal and/or interest on the part of a conspecific, even in the absence of explicit knowledge

Neoadjuvant pazopanib and molecular analysis of tissue response in renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND. Surgery remains the frontline therapy for patients with localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC); however, 20%–40% recur. Angiogenesis inhibitors have improved survival in metastatic patients and may result in responses in the neoadjuvant setting. The impact of these agents on the tumor genetic heterogeneity or the immune milieu is largely unknown. This phase II study was designed to evaluate safety, response, and effect on tumor tissue of neoadjuvant pazopanib. METHODS. ccRCC patients with localized disease received pazopanib (800 mg daily; median 8 weeks), followed by nephrectomy. Five tumors were examined for mutations by whole exome sequencing from samples collected before therapy and at nephrectomy. These samples underwent RNA sequencing; 17 samples were available for posttreatment assessment. RESULTS. Twenty-one patients were enrolled. The overall response rate was 8 of 21 (38%). No patients with progressive disease. At 1-year, response-free survival and overall survival was 83% and 89%, respectively. The most frequent grade 3 toxicity was hypertension (33%, 7 of 21). Sequencing revealed strong concordance between pre- and posttreatment samples within individual tumors, suggesting tumors harbor stable core profiles. However, a reduction in private mutations followed treatment, suggesting a selective process favoring enrichment of driver mutations. CONCLUSION. Neoadjuvant pazopanib is safe and active in ccRCC. Future genomic analyses may enable the segregation of driver and passenger mutations. Furthermore, tumor infiltrating immune cells persist during therapy, suggesting that pazopanib can be combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors without dampening the immune response. FUNDING. Support was provided by Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline as part of an investigator-initiated study

Ramond-Ramond Fields, Fractional Branes and Orbifold Differential K-Theory

We study D-branes and Ramond-Ramond fields on global orbifolds of Type II string theory with vanishing H-flux using methods of equivariant K-theory and K-homology. We illustrate how Bredon equivariant cohomology naturally realizes stringy orbifold cohomology. We emphasize its role as the correct cohomological tool which captures known features of the low-energy effective field theory, and which provides new consistency conditions for fractional D-branes and Ramond-Ramond fields on orbifolds. We use an equivariant Chern character from equivariant K-theory to Bredon cohomology to define new Ramond-Ramond couplings of D-branes which generalize previous examples. We propose a definition for groups of differential characters associated to equivariant K-theory. We derive a Dirac quantization rule for Ramond-Ramond fluxes, and study flat Ramond-Ramond potentials on orbifolds.Comment: 46 pages; v2: typos correcte