Prevalence of tick-borne haemoparasites in small ruminants in Turkey and diagnostic sensitivity of single-PCR and RLB

Background: Tick-borne haemoparasitic diseases (TBHDs), caused by Theileria, Babesia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia, are common in regions of the world where the distributions of host, pathogen and vector overlap. Many of these diseases threaten livestock production and some also represent a concern to human public health. The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the above-mentioned pathogens in a large number of blood samples (n = 1979) collected from sheep (n = 1727) and goats (n = 252) in Turkey. A secondary aim was to assess the diagnostic sensitivity of a number of species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and the reverse line blotting (RLB) assay. DNA samples were screened using species-specific PCR for the presence of Theileria ovis, Theileria sp. MK, T. lestoquardi, T. uilenbergi, T. luwenshuni, Babesia ovis, Anaplasma ovis and A. phagocytophilum while RLB was undertaken to test for the presence of all known Theileria, Babesia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species. The diagnostic sensitivity of these two approaches was then compared in terms of their ability to detect single species and mixed infections. Results: Overall, 84 and 74.43% of the small ruminants sampled were identified as hosting one or more pathogen(s) by species-specific PCR and RLB respectively. The presence of Theileria sp. OT1, T. luwenshuni and T. uilenbergi in Turkey was revealed for the first time while the presence of Babesia motasi, B. crassa and T. separata in Turkish small ruminants was confirmed using molecular methods. A high prevalence of mixed infection was evident, with PCR and RLB approaches indicating that 52.24 and 35.42% of animals were co-infected with multiple species, respectively. More than 80% of the mixed infections contained T. ovis and/or A. ovis. The RLB approach was found to be capable of detecting mixed infections with species such as Theileria sp. OT1, Theileria sp. OT3, T. separata, B. crassa and Babesia spp. Conclusion: The results indicated that pathogens causing TBHDs are highly prevalent in sheep and goats in Turkey. The diagnostic sensitivity of species-specific single PCR was generally higher than that of RLB. However, the latter approach was still capable of identifying a high proportion of individuals containing mixed-species infections. The use of species-specific single PCR is recommended to accurately estimate pathogen prevalence and to identify co-infected hosts

The effectiveness of basic life support training on nursing students\u2019 knowledge and basic life support practices: a non-randomized quasi-experimental design

Background: Provision of up-to-date information and skills training related to basic life support practices is very important for nursing students\u2019 professional development and practitioner and education related roles. Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of basic life support training on knowledge and practices among nursing students. Methods: A non-randomized quasi-experimental design (one group pre-test-post-test) was used in this study. The study was conducted in the laboratory of an undergraduate nursing school. The sample consisted of a convenience sample of 1st-year students enrolled in the undergraduate nursing class. The study sample consisted of 65 nursing students. Basic life support training included both theoretical and practical components. The students\u2019 knowledge and practices were assessed before basic life support training. Data were collected using the knowledge assessment questionnaire. The practical skills for basic life support were observed and assessed using a checklist. The pre- and post-assessment practice scores were compared. Results: After basic life support training, level of knowledge and practical skill scores were higher compared to pre-training scores (t= -12.442, p=0.000; t= -22.899, p=0.000). There was a significant and moderate association between the adult basic life support knowledge form scores and the adult basic life support practice assessment form scores obtained after the training (r = 0.39, p<0.01). Conclusion: The study showed that basic life support training improved knowledge and skills related to basic life support practices in nursing students. Periodic basic life support training is very important for competency in this area among nursing students

The effectiveness of basic life support training on nursing students\u2019 knowledge and basic life support practices: a non-randomized quasi-experimental study

Background: Provision of up-to-date information and skills training related to basic life support practices is very important for nursing students\u2019 professional development and practitioner and education related roles. Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of basic life support training on knowledge and practices among nursing students. Methods: A non-randomized quasi-experimental design (One group pre-test-post-test) was used in this study. The study was conducted in the laboratory of an undergraduate nursing school. The sample consisted of a convenience sample of 1st-year students enrolled in the undergraduate nursing class. The study sample consisted of 65 nursing students. Basic life support training included both theoretical and practical components. The students' knowledge and practices were assessed before basic life support training. Data were collected using the knowledge assessment questionnaire. The practical skills for basic life support were observed and assessed using a checklist. The pre- and post-assessment practice scores were compared. Results: After basic life support training, level of knowledge and practical skill scores were higher compared to pre-training scores (t= -12.442, p=0.000; t= -22.899, p=0.000). There was a significant and moderate association between the adult basic life support Knowledge Form scores and the adult basic life support practice assessment form scores obtained after the training (r= 0.39, p<0.01). Conclusion: The study showed that basic life support training improved knowledge and skills related to basic life support practices in nursing students. Periodic basic life support training is very important for competency in this area among nursing students. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.51 Cite as: Kose S, Akin S, Mendi O, Goktas S. The effectiveness of basic life support training on nursing students\u2019 knowledge and basic life support practices: a non-randomized quasi-experimental design. Afri Health Sci.2019;19(2): 2252-2262. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.5

Infection dynamics of Theileria annulata over a disease season following cell line vaccination

Tropical theileriosis is a tick-borne haemoparasitic disease of cattle caused by the protozoan parasite Theileria annulata. Globally, the economic impact of the disease is immense and enhanced control measures would improve livestock production in endemic regions. Immunisation with a live attenuated vaccine is an effective and widely used control method, however, the repeated use of live vaccines may have an impact on the field parasite population at a genetic level. Additionally, there has been an increasing number of reports of vaccine breakthrough cases in recent years. Thus, the present study was designed to evaluate the genetic composition of a parasite population over a disease season in a locality where live cell line vaccination is practised. A diverse range of parasite genotypes was identified and every T. annulata positive cattle blood sample harboured multiple parasite genotypes. An alteration in the major genotype and an increasing multiplicity of infection in individual animals was observed over the course of the disease season. Vaccination status was found not to effect within-host multiplicity of infection, while a significantly higher number of genotypes was detected in grazed cattle compared to non-grazed ones. A degree of genetic isolation was evident between parasite populations on a micro-geographic scale, which has not been reported previously for T. annulata. Analysis of parasite genotypes in vaccinated animals suggested only a transient effect of the vaccine genotype on the genetic diversity of the T. annulata population. The vaccine genotype was not detected among clones of two vaccine ‘breakthrough’ isolates and there is no suggestion that it was responsible for disease. The obtained data indicated that in the system studied there is no apparent risk of introducing the vaccine genotype into the population with only a transient effect on the genetic diversity of the parasite population during the disease season

Molecular surveillance of Theileria parasites of livestock in Oman

Background: Theileriosis is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases of livestock in the Arabian Peninsula, and causes high rates of mortality and morbidity in sheep and cattle. However, there is a paucity of information on the distribution of Theileria spp. over the whole region and their impact on different hosts. The present study carried out a country-wide molecular survey for Theileria spp. of livestock in Oman across four governorates. The aim of the survey was to define the prevalence of Theileria spp. in cattle, sheep and goats, highlight risk factors for infection and identify the main tick species involved in parasite transmission. Material and methods: A total of 2020 animals were examined in the survey consisting of sheep [n = 592], goats [n = 981] and cattle [n = 447]. All three species were raised and co-grazed on the same farms. Theileria parasites were detected using PCR-RFLP and RLB of the 18S rRNA gene. Cloning and sequencing of the 18S rRNA was carried out on 11 T. lestoquardi isolates from Ash-Sharqiyah, and Ad-Dhahira governorates, and phylogenetic relationships were inferred using additional sequences of T. lestoquardi, T. annulata and T. ovis available in GenBank. Results: Theileria spp. prevalence was 72.3%, 36.7% and 2.7% among cattle, sheep and goats, respectively. Strong similarity in results was obtained using RLB and PCR-RFLP for detection of Theileria spp. however, RLB detected a higher rate of mixed infection than PCR-RFPL (P < 0.001). Theileria annulata was the only parasite detected in cattle, while sheep and goats carried T. ovis, T. lestoquardi and T. annulata as well as Theileria spp. OT1. Of the four Theileria spp. detected in small ruminants, overall T. ovis was most prevalent (sheep [33.4%], goats [2.0%]), whereas T. lestoquardi was less prevalent (sheep [22.0%], goats [0.5%]). A large proportion of infected sheep (19%) carried mixed infection of T. ovis and T. lestoquardi. However, single T. lestoquardi infections (3.0%) were less prevalent than T. ovis infections (14.5%). Risk of Theileria spp. infection was significantly higher for exotic breeds, relative to native breeds, of cattle (p = 0.00002) and sheep (p = 0.005). Phylogenetic analysis placed T. lestoquardi in Oman in the same clade as other T. lestoquardi strains isolated from the same regional area (Iraq and Iran). The main tick species, identified on the examined animals, Hyalomma anatolicum, was widely distributed and was found in all of the surveyed governorates. Conclusion: Theileria spp. are widespread in Oman with variable prevalence detected in different regions. Two economically important hosts, cattle and sheep are at high risk from virulent T. annulata and T. lestoquardi, respectively. The survey indicates extensive exposure to ticks and transmission of infection that has a significant economic impact. The higher prevalence of T. lestoquardi as mixed rather than single infection requires further investigation

The effectiveness of basic life support training on nursing students' knowledge and basic life support practices: a non-randomized quasi-experimental study

Akin, Semiha/0000-0002-1901-2963; Mendi, Onur/0000-0003-4112-7035WOS: 000482191800051PubMed: 31656511Background: Provision of up-to-date information and skills training related to basic life support practices is very important for nursing students' professional development and practitioner and education related roles. Objective: the purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of basic life support training on knowledge and practices among nursing students. Methods: A non-randomized quasi-experimental design (One group pre-test-post-test) was used in this study. the study was conducted in the laboratory of an undergraduate nursing school. the sample consisted of a convenience sample of 1st-year students enrolled in the undergraduate nursing class. the study sample consisted of 65 nursing students. Basic life support training included both theoretical and practical components. the students' knowledge and practices were assessed before basic life support training. Data were collected using the knowledge assessment questionnaire. the practical skills for basic life support were observed and assessed using a checklist. the pre- and post-assessment practice scores were compared. Results: After basic life support training, level of knowledge and practical skill scores were higher compared to pre-training scores (t= -12.442, p=0.000; t= -22.899, p=0.000). There was a significant and moderate association between the adult basic life support Knowledge Form scores and the adult basic life support practice assessment form scores obtained after the training (r = 0.39, p<0.01). Conclusion: the study showed that basic life support training improved knowledge and skills related to basic life support practices in nursing students. Periodic basic life support training is very important for competency in this area among nursing students

Early Detection of Skin Cancer Using Deep Learning Architectures: Resnet-101 and Inception-v3

Skin cancer is one of the most prevalently seen cancer type in human beings. Skin cancer occurs due to the uncontrollable growing of mutations taking place in DNAs owing to some reasons. Recognizing the cancer in early stages could increase the chance of a successful treatment. Nowadays, computer aided diagnosis applications are used almost at every field. One of the mostly used areas is health sector. Biomedical datasets are created by saving the data of illness people in computers. Our goal is to obtain an effective way for early diagnosis of skin cancer by classifying our dataset images as benign or malignant. Our dataset consists of 2437 training images, 660 test images and lastly 200 validation images. ResNet-101 and Inception-v3 deep learning architectures are used for the classification task. Once the acquired results are examined, an accuracy rate of 84.09\% is get in ResNet-101 architecture, and an accuracy rate of 87.42\% is get in Inception-v3 architecture