Community Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices Associated with Urogenital Schistosomiasis among School-Aged Children in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania

Background: On the Zanzibar islands, United Republic of Tanzania, elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis is strived for in the coming years. This qualitative study aimed to better understand community knowledge, perceptions, and practices associated with schistosomiasis among school-aged children on Unguja and Pemba islands, in order to inform the development of behavior change interventions contributing to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis. Methodology: In 2011, we conducted 35 children’s discussion groups, 41 in-depth interviews with parents and teachers, and 5 focus group discussions with community members in Zanzibar. Using a modified-grounded theory approach, we transcribed and coded the narrative data followed by thematic analysis of the emergent themes. Principal Findings: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a common experience among children in Zanzibar and typically considered a boys’ disease. Children engage in multiple high-risk behaviors for acquiring schistosomiasis because of poor knowledge on disease transmission, lack of understanding on severity of disease-associated consequences, and lack of alternative options for water related activities of daily living and recreational play. Local primary school teachers had little to no training about the disease and no teaching tools or materials for students. Conclusions/Significance: Conducting activities in open natural freshwater contaminated by S. haematobium larvae compromises the health of school-aged children in Zanzibar. The perception of urogenital schistosomiasis as a minor illness rather than a serious threat to a child’s well-being contributes to the spread of disease. Understanding community perceptions of disease along with the barriers and facilitators to risk reduction behaviors among children can inform health promotion activities, campaigns, and programs for the prevention, control, and elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis in Zanzibar

Electron Momentum Density in Nickel (Ni)

In this paper, Compton profile of (Ni) was Calculated by employing both the renormalized-free atom(RFA) model and free electron(FE) model setting several configurations in subset (3d-4s). The results were compared with recent data ,It shows that the RFA calculation in(3d8.8-4s1.2) gives a better agreement with experiment.The calculated data used for the first time also to compute the cohesive energy of Nickle and compared it with available data. The Band structure and Density of state of Nickel crystals(DFT-LDA) also calculated by using code Quantum wise.Keywords: Compton profile,Electron momentum density, Cohesive energy, Band structure, Density of state

Complete Sequences of Organelle Genomes from the Medicinal Plant Rhazya Stricta (Apocynaceae) and Contrasting Patterns of Mitochondrial Genome Evolution Across Asterids

Rhazya stricta is native to arid regions in South Asia and the Middle East and is used extensively in folk medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. In addition to generating genomic resources for this medicinally important plant, analyses of the complete plastid and mitochondrial genomes and a nuclear transcriptome from Rhazya provide insights into inter-compartmental transfers between genomes and the patterns of evolution among eight asterid mitochondrial genomes. Results: The 154,841 bp plastid genome is highly conserved with gene content and order identical to the ancestral organization of angiosperms. The 548,608 bp mitochondrial genome exhibits a number of phenomena including the presence of recombinogenic repeats that generate a multipartite organization, transferred DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes, and bidirectional DNA transfers between the mitochondrion and the nucleus. The mitochondrial genes sdh3 and rps14 have been transferred to the nucleus and have acquired targeting presequences. In the case of rps14, two copies are present in the nucleus; only one has a mitochondrial targeting presequence and may be functional. Phylogenetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial copies of rps14 across angiosperms suggests Rhazya has experienced a single transfer of this gene to the nucleus, followed by a duplication event. Furthermore, the phylogenetic distribution of gene losses and the high level of sequence divergence in targeting presequences suggest multiple, independent transfers of both sdh3 and rps14 across asterids. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial genomes of eight sequenced asterids indicates a complicated evolutionary history in this large angiosperm clade with considerable diversity in genome organization and size, repeat, gene and intron content, and amount of foreign DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Conclusions: Organelle genomes of Rhazya stricta provide valuable information for improving the understanding of mitochondrial genome evolution among angiosperms. The genomic data have enabled a rigorous examination of the gene transfer events. Rhazya is unique among the eight sequenced asterids in the types of events that have shaped the evolution of its mitochondrial genome. Furthermore, the organelle genomes of R. stricta provide valuable genomic resources for utilizing this important medicinal plant in biotechnology applications.King Abdulaziz UniversityIntegrative Biolog

Fuzzy Subspaces For Fuzzy space of Orderings

The purpose of this paper is to define fuzzy subspaces for fuzzy space of orderings and we prove some results about this definition in which it leads to a lot of new results on fuzzy space of orderings. Also we define the sum and product over such spaces such that: If f = and g = , their sum and product are f + g = and f × g =. for all a1,…,an,b1,…,bm ?

Change of American Migration Policies and the Consequence of Inflation of Assimilation Among Arab Americans

United States has been well known as the country of immigrants since 1492. Over the years, people used to migrate to the United States from all over the world in order to share the vantages of the ‘American Dream'. Arabs started their systematic migration to the United States in the 1870s. Initially they perceive themselves as immigrants whose aim is to earn economic amelioration. This article traces the history of Arab migration to the United States and exposes the multifarious push and pull-factors behind the migration of each wave. Constantly, the United States used to impose deliberate migration laws that aim to either to restrict or recruit immigrants from particular races and nationalities. Thereby, this paper reviews different legislations and policies that have been executed by American authorities in order to restrict or ban the Arab immigrants from migrating to the United States. Consequentially, such legislations contributed in the isolation of the Arab immigrants from the other worlds

Polymerase chain reaction detection of haemolysin D gene (hlyD) in uropathogenic Escherichia coli as a novel diagnostic test for urinary tract infection

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common and sometime serious infectious disease diagnosed using conventional urine culture as the ‘gold standard’ for identifying Escherichia coli, the most common causative agent. However, due to the slow turn-around-time and other challenges of urine culture, this study explores the use of a novel biomolecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach to detect the presence of haemolysin D gene (hlyD) that encodes a unique virulence factor of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) for its rapid identification in UTI. Methodology: Primers from UPEC CFT073 and non-pathogenic E. coli K-12 MG1655 strains provided by Nottingham Trent University, England, UK were used to investigate the presence of haemolysin D gene (hlyD) in UPEC. The hlyD primers were developed from hlyD with locus number C_RS01660 on UPEC CFT073 strain using the NCBI, virulence finder, and Island viewer, and used in a PCR assay to target the hlyD in UPEC. Three sets of PCR templates were designed (UPEC, E. coli, and “No template”), each with internal and external controls amplified in a multiplex PCR assay, and agarose gel electrophoresis was used to separate the amplicons, and determine the specificity of hlyD for UPEC. Results: The UPEC genome PCR assays were positive for hlyD and UPEC positive control, and similarly, PCR was positive for E. coli genome positive control, but negative for hlyD. Moreover, the “No template” PCR assay was clean with no amplification product, confirming the absence of PCR contaminations. Conclusion: The hlyD is a unique virulence gene specific for UPEC. PCR assay of this gene is a promising specific and rapid biomolecular diagnostic test that can overcome the limitations of the traditional approaches for detection of UPEC in UTI

Comparison of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug susceptibility using solid and liquid culture in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: This study compares Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture isolation and drug sensitivity testing (DST) using solid (LJ) and liquid (BACTEC-MGIT-960) media in Nigeria. METHODS: This was a cross sectional survey of adults attending reference centres in Abuja, Ibadan and Nnewi with a new diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) or having failed the first-line TB treatment. Patients were requested to provide three sputum specimens for smear-microscopy and culture on LJ and BACTEC-MGIT-960. Positive cultures underwent DST for streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol. RESULTS: 527 specimens were cultured. 428 (81%) were positive with BACTEC-MGIT-960, 59 (11%) negative, 36 (7%) contaminated and 4 (1%) had non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). 411 (78%) LJ cultures were positive, 89 (17%) negative, 22 (4%) contaminated and 5 (1%) had NTM. The mean (SD) detection time was 11 (6) and 30 (11) days for BACTEC-MGIT-960 and LJ. DST patterns were compared in the 389 concordant positive BACTEC-MGIT-960 and LJ cultures. Rifampicin and isoniazid DST patterns were similar. Streptomycin resistance was detected more frequently with LJ than BACTEC-MGIT-960 and ethambutol resistance was detected more frequently with BACTEC-MGIT-960 than LJ, but differences were not statistically significant. MDR-TB was detected in 27 cases by LJ and 25 by BACTEC-MGIT-960 and using both methods detected 29 cases. CONCLUSIONS: There was a substantial degree of agreement between the two methods. However using the two in tandem increased the number of culture-positive patients and those with MDR-TB. The choice of culture method should depend on local availability, cost and test performance characteristics

Prediction of Land Use Change in Katsina-Ala through a Geospatial Approach

The objective of this study was to quantify land use and land cover (LULC) changes and predict future urban growth in Katsina-Ala. Three Landsat satellite images TM, ETM+ and OLI for 1987, 2007 and 2017 respectively were classified using maximum likelihood classifier in Idrisi Selva to detect the land cover changes and a classification accuracy of 87.18%, 89.32%  and 91.6  for 1987, 2007 and 2017 maps was achieved . The result of the classification revealed that between 1987 and 2017, urban area increased by 80.38ha (102.17%) at the rate of 3.41%, farmland increased by 88453ha (133.56%) at the rate of 4.45% per year, forest declined by -4219ha (-5.92%) at the rate of -0.2% and grassland declined by 53656ha (-44.54%) at the rate of -1.48%. The study found that  evidence likelihood and the distance from rivers. urban areas and elevation were the most important factors shaping urban growth in Katsina-Ala. Thereafter, a Multilayer Perceptron Markov (MLP-Markov) model was used to model transition potentials of various LULC types to predict future changes in 2030. The model had a reliability of 85.8% after validation. The results of the prediction show that urban area will increase from 5.92% to 6.35% with forest declining from 10.8% to 9.46%. It reveals that Katsina-Ala will grow at the rate of 0.46%. Analysis of the prediction revealed that the rate of urban growth will continue and would certainly threaten forest areas in the area. Katsina-Ala stands the risk of extreme deforestation if appropriate measures are not taken