Design of a Two-level Adaptive Multi-Agent System for Malaria Vectors driven by an ontology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The understanding of heterogeneities in disease transmission dynamics as far as malaria vectors are concerned is a big challenge. Many studies while tackling this problem don't find exact models to explain the malaria vectors propagation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To solve the problem we define an Adaptive Multi-Agent System (AMAS) which has the property to be elastic and is a two-level system as well. This AMAS is a dynamic system where the two levels are linked by an Ontology which allows it to function as a reduced system and as an extended system. In a primary level, the AMAS comprises organization agents and in a secondary level, it is constituted of analysis agents. Its entry point, a User Interface Agent, can reproduce itself because it is given a minimum of background knowledge and it learns appropriate "behavior" from the user in the presence of ambiguous queries and from other agents of the AMAS in other situations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Some of the outputs of our system present a series of tables, diagrams showing some factors like Entomological parameters of malaria transmission, Percentages of malaria transmission per malaria vectors, Entomological inoculation rate. Many others parameters can be produced by the system depending on the inputted data.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our approach is an intelligent one which differs from statistical approaches that are sometimes used in the field. This intelligent approach aligns itself with the distributed artificial intelligence. In terms of fight against malaria disease our system offers opportunities of reducing efforts of human resources who are not obliged to cover the entire territory while conducting surveys. Secondly the AMAS can determine the presence or the absence of malaria vectors even when specific data have not been collected in the geographical area. In the difference of a statistical technique, in our case the projection of the results in the field can sometimes appeared to be more general.</p

Invasive Aspergillus terreus morphological transitions and immunoadaptations mediating antifungal resistance

Louis Bengyella,1&ndash;3 Elsie Laban Yekwa,4 Muhammad Nasir Subhani,5 Ernest Tambo,6,7 Kiran Nawaz,5 Bakoena Ashton Hetsa,2 Sehrish Iftikhar,5 Sayanika Devi Waikhom,1 Pranab Roy8 1Department of Biomedical Science, The School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana; 2Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa; 3Department of Biotechnology, University of Burdwan, Bardhaman, India; 4Division of Medical Virology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; 5Department of Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan; 6Department of Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universit&eacute; des Montagnes, Bangangt&eacute;, 7Department of Communications, Africa Disease Intelligence and Surveillance, Communication and Response Institute, Yaound&eacute;, Cameroon; 8Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, India Background and aims: Aspergillus terreus Thom is a pathogen of public health and agricultural importance for its seamless abilities to expand its ecological niche. The aim of this study was holistically to investigate A. terreus morphological and immunoadaptations and their implication in antifungal resistance and proliferation during infection.Materials and methods: In-depth unstructured mining of relevant peer-reviewed literature was performed for A. terreus morphological, immune, resistance, and genetic diversity based on the sequenced calmodulin-like gene.Results: Accessory conidia and phialidic conidia produced by A. terreus confer discrete antifungal resistance that ensures survivability during therapies. Interestingly, by producing unique metabolites such as Asp&ndash;melanin and terretonin, A. terreus is capable of hijacking macrophages and scavenging iron, respectively. As such, A. terreus has established a rare mechanism to mitigate phagocytosis and swing the interaction dynamics in favor of its proliferation and survival in hosts.Conclusion: It is further unraveled that besides A. terreus genetic diversity, morphological, biochemical, and immunologic adaptations associated with conidia germination and discharge of chemical signals during infection enable masking of the host defense as an integral part of its strategy to survive and rapidly colonize hosts. Keywords: HSP70, terrein, terretonin, Asp&ndash;melanin, virulence, stomata atropis