Prevalence and Diversity of Avian Haematozoan Parasites in Wetlands of Bangladesh

The parasites of genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon are well-known avian haematozoa and can cause declined productivity and high mortality in wild birds. The objective of the study was to record the prevalence of haematozoan parasites in a wide range of wetland birds in Bangladesh. Six species of Haemoproteus, seven species of Plasmodium, one unidentified species of Leucocytozoon, and one unidentified microfilaria of the genus Paronchocerca were found. Data on the morphology, size, hosts, prevalence, and infection intensity of the parasites are provided. The overall prevalence among the birds was 29.5% (95 out of 322 birds). Of those, 13.2% (42 of 319) of birds were infected with Haemoproteus spp., 15.1% with Plasmodium spp. (48 of 319) and 0.6% with Leucocytozoon spp. (2 of 319). Two birds were positive for both Haemoproteus sp. and Plasmodium sp. A single resident bird, Ardeola grayii, was found positive for an unidentified microfilaria. Prevalence of infection varied significantly among different bird families. Wild birds of Bangladesh carry several types of haematozoan parasites. Further investigation with a larger sample size is necessary to estimate more accurately the prevalence of haematozoan parasites among wild birds as well as domestic ducks for better understanding of the disease ecology

GPU Accelerated Probabilistic Latent Sequential Motifs for Activity Analysis

International audienc

An in-vitro study quantitative evaluation of apically extruded debris during canal preparation using three different motions of hand files: A pilot study

This study aimed to evaluate the quantity of apically extruded debris during the bio-mechanical preparation of the root canal treatment. Fifteen extracted premolars with single root canal were collected and divided into three groups for this study.  Hand protaper files (reaming motion), K files (watch-wind motion), and K flex files (balanced force technique) were used. The irrigant and debris were collected in pre-weighed (using analytic scale) empty microtainer bottles. The microtainers were kept in an incubator at 700C for 4 days for complete drying and then weighed of dry debris was recorded. Statistical analysis: Data was treated for the mean values of the weight and analysed using kruskall-wallis test at a significance of 0.05. All the three motions of hand files extruded debris. Watch wind motion showed the lowest mean value whereas reaming showed the highest. There were no significant difference between the reaming motion, watch wind motion and balanced force technique (p <0.05). The study revealed that the amount of extruded debris from the apical foramen was comparatively least in watch wind motion among all the three motions in terms of the mean weight but there is no significance difference between the three Groups

Evaluation of the <it>OnSite</it> (Pf/Pan) rapid diagnostic test for diagnosis of clinical malaria

Abstract Background Accurate diagnosis of malaria is an essential prerequisite for proper treatment and drug resistance monitoring. Microscopy is considered the gold standard for malaria diagnosis but has limitations. ELISA, PCR, and Real Time PCR are also used to diagnose malaria in reference laboratories, although their application at the field level is currently not feasible. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) however, have been brought into field operation and widely adopted in recent days. This study evaluates OnSite (Pf/Pan) antigen test, a new RDT introduced by CTK Biotech Inc, USA for malaria diagnosis in a reference setting. Methods Blood samples were collected from febrile patients referred for malaria diagnosis by clinicians. Subjects were included in this study from two different Upazila Health Complexes (UHCs) situated in two malaria endemic districts of Bangladesh. Microscopy and nested PCR were considered the gold standard in this study. OnSite (Pf/Pan) RDT was performed on preserved whole blood samples. Results In total, 372 febrile subjects were included in this study. Of these subjects, 229 (61.6%) tested positive for Plasmodium infection detected by microscopy and nested PCR. OnSite (Pf/Pan) RDT was 94.2% sensitive (95% CI, 89.3-97.3) and 99.5% specific (95% CI, 97.4-00.0) for Plasmodium falciparum diagnosis and 97.3% sensitive (95% CI, 90.5-99.7) and 98.7% specific (95% CI, 96.6-99.6) for Plasmodium vivax diagnosis. Sensitivity varied with differential parasite count for both P. falciparum and P. vivax. The highest sensitivity was observed in febrile patients with parasitaemia that ranged from 501–1,000 parasites/μL regardless of the Plasmodium species. Conclusion The new OnSite (Pf/Pan) RDT is both sensitive and specific for symptomatic malaria diagnosis in standard laboratory conditions.</p