Kinetics of the neutralizing antibody response to respiratory syncytial virus infections in a birth cohort

The kinetics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) neutralizing antibodies following birth, primary and secondary infections are poorly defined. The aims of the study were to measure and compare neutralizing antibody responses at different time points in a birth cohort followed-up over three RSV epidemics. Rural Kenyan children, recruited at birth between 2002 and 2003, were monitored for RSV infection over three epidemic seasons. Cord and 3-monthly sera, and acute and convalescent sera following RSV infection, were assayed in 28 children by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). Relative to the neutralizing antibody titers of pre-exposure control sera (1.8 log10 PRNT), antibody titers following primary infection were (i) no different in sera collected between 0 and 0.4 months post-infection (1.9 log10 PRNT, P = 0.146), (ii) higher in sera collected between 0.5 and 0.9 (2.8 log10 PRNT, P < 0.0001), 1.0–1.9 (2.5 log10 PRNT, P < 0.0001), and 2.0–2.9 (2.3 log10 PRNT, P < 0.001) months post-infection, and (iii) no different in sera collected at between 3.0 and 3.9 months post-infection (2.0 log10 PRNT, P = 0.052). The early serum neutralizing response to secondary infection (3.02 log10 PRNT) was significantly greater than the early primary response (1.9 log10 PRNT, P < 0.0001). Variation in population-level virus transmission corresponded with changes in the mean cohort-level neutralizing titers. It is concluded that following primary RSV infection the neutralizing antibody response declines to pre-infection levels rapidly (∼3 months) which may facilitate repeat infection. The kinetics of the aggregate levels of acquired antibody reflect seasonal RSV occurrence, age, and infection history

Power Relation in Memoirs of Geisha and the Dancer

This article aims at comparing the ideas of power relation between themain female character and ―Mother‖ in Arthur Golden‘s Memoirs ofGeisha and Ahmad Tohari‘s The Dancer. These two novels share thesame main female character of traditional entertainers, as a Japanesegeisha and a Javanese traditional dancer, respectively. As an entertainerin the traditional sphere, they are bounded with the other women andbuild close interaction as well as power relation with them who are called―Mother‖ in the Geisha and ―ronggeng shaman‖ in The Dancer. Thepower relation between them are unique and dynamics. This is analyzedthrough Foucault‘s theory of power. The result of the analysis shows thatthe power relation is not stable, and the power practiced by each of themis influenced by the symbolic capital and economic capital they have.The negotiation and contestation come up between the actors in dailypractices as geisha and the mother, as the ―ronggeng‖ and the shaman. Asthe entertainers, the geisha and ―ronggeng‖ build and shape their bodyand performance to attract men. This geisha and ronggeng culturereproduce many other cultural product such as ―mizuage‖ in geisha, and―bukak klambu‖ in ―ronggeng‖ both of which refer to the same thing, selling the woman‘s virginity to the highest bidder. In geisha it is used tobenefit the Mother of Okiya and no rebellion of the geisha. On the otherhand, Srintil does rebellious action in this ―bukak klambu‖ occasion.There seems to be different message from these two novels, The Dancer is much more questioning the norms covering the ―ronggeng‖ traditionwhile the Memoirs of Geisha tends to be accepting the geisha tradition as what it is.Artikel ini bertujuan untuk membandingkan relasi kuasa antara karakterutama perempuan Geisha dan ―Mother‖ dalam Memoirs of Geisha danSrintil, penari ronggeng dan Nyi Kartareja (dukun ronggeng) dalam TheDancer karya Ahmad Tohari. Kedua novel ini dibandingkan karenakeduanya sama-sama mempunyai karakter utama perempuan mudapenghibur, geisha dan ronggeng, dalam budaya hiburan tradisional.Sebagai penghibur, keduanya sama-sama terkait erat dengan tokohperempuan lain yang disebut ―Mother‖ dalam Memoirs of Geisha andNyai Kartareja dalam The Dancer. Relasi kuasa di antara keduanyasangat unik dan berjalan secara dinamis. Relasi kuasa inilah yangdianalisis dengan menggunakan teori kuasa Foucault. Hasil penelitian inimenunjukkan bahwa relasi kuasa di antara keduanya berjalan tidak tetap,kuasa yang dijalankan oleh masing-masing tokoh dipengaruhi oleh modalsimbolik dan modal ekonomi yang dimiliki. Negosiasi dan kontestasimuncul di antara tokoh-tokoh tersebut dalam praktik sehari-hari, dalamrelasi Sayuri sebagai geisha dan ―mother‖, dan antara Srintil si ronggengdan dukun ronggeng. Sebagai geisha dan ronggeng, para perempuan inimembentuk tubuh dan penampilannya untuk menarik dan menghiburlaki-laki. Budaya geisha dan ronggeng ini mereproduksi berbagai kulturlainnya seperti mizuage dalam geisha, dan ―bukak klambu‖ dalamronggeng, yang keduanya sama-sama bermakna menjual keperawananperempuan kepada penawar tertinggi. ―Mother‖ pemilik Okiyadiuntungkan oleh praktik ini, di sisi lain, Srintil berhasil mengelabuhiorang lain dalam peristiwa ―bukak klambu‖. Muncul pesan yang berbedadari kedua novel ini, dalam The Dancer norma-norma dalam tradisi―ronggeng‖ dipertanyakan sementara Memoirs of Geisha cenderungmenerima tradisi geisha sebagaimana adanya

Analisis Mikroorganisme Udara terhadap Gangguan Kesehatan dalam Ruangan Administrasi Gedung Menara UMI Makassar

Ruang Administrasi Gedung Menara Universitas Muslim Indonesia merupakan ruangan tertutup dan menggunakan sistem pengaturan udara dengan Air Conditioner (AC) untuk mengurangi panas udara di dalam ruang kerja. Kondisi gedung dan ruang kerja dengan ventilasi tertutup, furnitur dan bahan bangunan yang bervariasi, serta aktifitas perkantoran di ruangan tersebut yang cukup padat serta keberadaan alat-alat perkantoran dalam ruangan dapat memicu timbulnya kontaminan mikrobiologis pada udara dalam ruang. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis kualitas mikroorganisme udara dalam ruang adsministrasi Gedung Menara Universitas Muslim Indonesia. Dalam hal ini jumlah angka kuman berupa bakteri dan jamur di udara terhadap gangguan kesehatan dalam ruang administrasi Gedung Menara Universitas Muslim Indonesia. Desain penelitian ini adalah cross-sectional dengan penentuan sampel menggunakan teknik total sampling. Sampel objek dalam penelitian ini berjumlah enam ruangan, sedangkan sampel subjek dalam penelitian ini adalah sebanyak 37 responden. Analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan uji statistik chi square. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat hubungan antara suhu ruang dengan angka total mikroorganisme udara terhadap gangguan kesehatan, dengan nilai p-value 0.001 (0.001&lt;0.05). Terdapat hubungan antara kelembaban ruang dengan angka total mikroorganisme udara terhadap gangguan kesehatan dengan nilai p-value 0.001 (0.001&lt;0.05), tidak ada hubungan antara pencahayaan ruang dengan angka total mikroorganisme udara terhadap gangguan kesehatan dengan nilai p-value 0.156 (0.156&gt;0.05), ada hubungan antara angka total mikroorganisme udara terhadap gangguan kesehatan dengan nilai p-value 0.001 (0.001&lt;0.05). Penelitian ini menyarankan perlunya peningkatan pemahaman akan gangguan kesehatan yang diakibatkan mikroorganisme di udara pada pihak manajemen dan pegawai

Retail technology adaptation in traditional retailers:A technology-to-performance chain perspective

Traditional retailers must immediately embrace and adapt technology to survive in the competitive retail industry as retail technology rapidly changes consumers’ buying habits and expectations. This study may be the first to apply the Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) to traditional retailers' technological adaptation in an emerging market. A developing country's traditional retailers were studied qualitatively. Most of traditional retail's ongoing technologies are the result of adaptation by combining existing technologies to local conditions or technology adoption improvements. Technology adaptation includes using PoS system software with a printer and barcode scanner to substitute modern retail cash registers, a combination of mobile apps and PoS system software to mimic mPoS, and adapted EDC for digital product transactions. This technology adaptation is meant to manage business processes and manage the business growth of traditional retail that has limited resources and unique additional services. Therefore, available technology should be adapted to ensure low complexity, compatibility, and reliance on technologies that are familiar to people in developing countries. Furthermore, the task-technology fit (TTF) component requires the support of traditional retailers’ awareness, effective partnerships with technology providers, and perceived technical competence to increase the utilization of adapted technology and achieve the expected performance which includes inventory data clarity, increased retail revenue, and time savings

The clinical burden of malaria in Nairobi: a historical review and contemporary audit

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Widespread urbanization over the next 20 years has the potential to drastically change the risk of malaria within Africa. The burden of the disease, its management, risk factors and appropriateness of targeted intervention across varied urban environments in Africa remain largely undefined. This paper presents a combined historical and contemporary review of the clinical burden of malaria within one of Africa's largest urban settlements, Nairobi, Kenya.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A review of historical reported malaria case burdens since 1911 within Nairobi was undertaken using archived government and city council reports. Contemporary information on out-patient case burdens due to malaria were assembled from the National Health Management and Information System (HMIS). Finally, an audit of 22 randomly selected health facilities within Nairobi was undertaken covering 12 months 2009-2010. The audit included interviews with health workers, and a checklist of commodities and guidelines necessary to diagnose, treat and record malaria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the 1930's through to the mid-1960's malaria incidence declined coincidental with rapid population growth. During this period malaria notification and prevention were a priority for the city council. From 2001-2008 reporting systems for malaria were inadequate to define the extent or distribution of malaria risk within Nairobi. A more detailed facility review suggests, however that malaria remains a common diagnosis (11% of all paediatric diagnoses made) and where laboratories (n = 15) exist slide positivity rates are on average 15%. Information on the quality of diagnosis, slide reading and whether those reported as positive were imported infections was not established. The facilities and health workers included in this study were not universally prepared to treat malaria according to national guidelines or identify foci of risks due to shortages of national first-line drugs, inadequate record keeping and a view among some health workers (17%) that slide negative patients could still have malaria.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Combined with historical evidence there is a strong suggestion that very low risks of locally acquired malaria exist today within Nairobi's city limits and this requires further investigation. To be prepared for effective prevention and case-management of malaria among a diverse, mobile population in Nairobi requires a major paradigm shift and investment in improved quality of malaria diagnosis and case management, health system strengthening and case reporting.</p

A rapid and reproducible picture of open access health facility data in Africa to support the COVID-19 response

Background: Open data on the locations and services provided by health facilities in some countries have allowed the development of software tools contributing to COVID-19 response. The UN and WHO encourage countries to make health facility location data open, to encourage use and improvement. We provide a summary of open access health facility location data in Africa using re-useable code. We aim to support data analysts developing software tools to address COVID-19 response in individual countries. In Africa there are currently three main sources of such data; 1) direct from national ministries of health, 2) a database for sub-Saharan Africa collated and published by a team from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and now hosted by WHO, and 3) The Global Healthsites Mapping Project in collaboration with OpenStreetMap. Methods: We searched for and documented official national facility location data that were openly available. We developed re-useable open-source R code to summarise and visualise facility location data by country from the three sources. This re-useable code is used to provide a web user interface allowing data exploration through maps and plots of facility type. Results: Out of 53 African countries, seven provide an official open facility list that can be downloaded and analysed reproducibly. Considering all three sources, there are over 185,000 health facility locations available for Africa. However, there are differences and overlaps between sources and a lack of data on capacities and service provision. Conclusions: We suggest that these summaries and tools will encourage greater use of existing health facility location data, incentivise further improvements in the provision of those data by national suppliers, and encourage collaboration within wider data communities. The tools are a part of the afrimapr project, actively developing R building blocks to facilitate the use of health data in Africa

Duration of shedding of respiratory syncytial virus in a community study of Kenyan children

Background: Our understanding of the transmission dynamics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection will be better informed with improved data on the patterns of shedding in cases not limited only to hospital admissions. Methods: In a household study, children testing RSV positive by direct immunofluorescent antibody test (DFA) were enrolled. Nasal washings were scheduled right away, then every three days until day 14, every 7 days until day 28 and every 2 weeks until a maximum of 16 weeks, or until the first DFA negative RSV specimen. The relationship between host factors, illness severity and viral shedding was investigated using Cox regression methods. Results: From 151 families a total of 193 children were enrolled with a median age of 21 months (range 1-164 months), 10% infants and 46% male. The rate of recovery from infection was 0.22/person/day (95% CI 0.19-0.25) equivalent to a mean duration of shedding of 4.5 days (95%CI 4.0-5.3), with a median duration of shedding of 4 days (IQR 2-6, range 1-14). Children with a history of RSV infection had a 40% increased rate of recovery i.e. shorter duration of viral shedding (hazard ratio 1.4, 95% CI 1.01-1.86). The rate of cessation of shedding did not differ significantly between males and females, by severity of infection or by age. Conclusion: We provide evidence of a relationship between the duration of shedding and history of infection, which may have a bearing on the relative role of primary versus re-infections in RSV transmission in the community