29 research outputs found
A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Towards Control and Elimination
Human helminthiases are of considerable public health importance in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The acknowledgement of the disease burden due to helminth infections, the availability of donated or affordable drugs that are mostly safe and moderately efficacious, and the implementation of viable mass drug administration (MDA) interventions have prompted the establishment of various large-scale control and elimination programmes. These programmes have benefited from improved epidemiological mapping of the infections, better understanding of the scope and limitations of currently available diagnostics and of the relationship between infection and morbidity, feasibility of community-directed or school-based interventions, and advances in the design of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) protocols. Considerable success has been achieved in reducing morbidity or suppressing transmission in a number of settings, whilst challenges remain in many others. Some of the obstacles include the lack of diagnostic tools appropriate to the changing requirements of ongoing interventions and elimination settings; the reliance on a handful of drugs about which not enough is known regarding modes of action, modes of resistance, and optimal dosage singly or in combination; the difficulties in sustaining adequate coverage and compliance in prolonged and/or integrated programmes; an incomplete understanding of the social, behavioural, and environmental determinants of infection; and last, but not least, very little investment in research and development (R&D). The Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), was given the mandate to undertake a comprehensive review of recent advances in helminthiases research, identify research gaps, and rank priorities for an R&D agenda for the control and elimination of these infections. This review presents the processes undertaken to identify and rank ten top research priorities; discusses the implications of realising these priorities in terms of their potential for improving global health and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); outlines salient research funding needs; and introduces the series of reviews that follow in this PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases collection, “A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans.
La prévalence et facteurs associés à la dysfonction érectile chez les patients hémodialysés chroniques dans 2 centres semi-urbains du Sénégal
La dysfonction érectile (DE) est fréquente dans la population hémodialysée chronique et a un impact négatif sur leur qualité de vie. Le but de notre étude était d’évaluer la prévalence de la DE et son retentissement psycho-social, puis identifier ses principaux facteurs associés.
Patients et méthode : Il s’agissait d’une étude transversale, à visée descriptive et analytique dans 2 centres du Sénégal incluant tous les patients adultes de sexe masculin, hémodialysés de plus de 03 mois et ayant consenti librement de répondre aux items du questionnaire. L’appréciation de la fonction érectile s’était basée sur un auto-questionnaire incluant l’indice international de la fonction érectile simplifié dans sa version arabe (IIEF-5). Le diagnostic de dysfonction érectile a été retenu chez tout patient ayant un score IIEF-5 entre 5 et 20.
Résultats : Quarante patients ont participé à l’étude. L’âge moyen était de 51,43 ± 12,84 ans. Les principales causes des néphropathies étaient l’HTA chronique (47,5%) et indéterminée (27,5%). La durée moyenne en hémodialyse était de 45,21 ± 41,96 mois. Le score moyen se IIEF5 était de 15,0 ± 4,8 et la prévalence de la DE était de 87,5%. La DE était associée avec l’âge (p=0,043), le taux d’hémoglobine (p=0,034) et la cholestérolémie (0,027).
Conclusion : Nous avons constaté que la prévalence reste toujours élevée dans notre pays et une meilleure connaissance des facteurs de risque permet d’améliorer la prise en charge
Sorghum seed maturity affects the weight and feeding duration of immature corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea, and fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in the laboratory
Citation: Soper AM, Whitworth RJ, McCornack BP. 2013. Sorghum seed maturity affects the weight and feeding duration of immature corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea, and fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in the laboratory. Journal of Insect Science 13:67. Available online: http://www.insectscience.org/13.67Corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea Boddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith, are occasional pests in sorghum, Sorghum bicolor L. Moench (Poales: Poaceae), and can be economically damaging when conditions are favorable. Despite the frequent occurrence of mixed-species infestations, the quantitative data necessary for developing yield loss relationships for S. frugiperda are not available. Although these species share similar biological characteristics, it is unknown whether their damage potentials in developing grain sorghum panicles are the same. Using no-choice feeding assays in the laboratory, this study examined larval growth and feeding duration for H. zea and S. frugiperda in the absence of competition. Each species responded positively when exposed to sorghum seed in the soft-dough stage, supporting evidence for the interactions between host-quality and larval growth and development. The results of this study also confirmed the suitability of using laboratory-reared H. zea to develop sorghum yield loss estimates in the field, and provided insights into the biological responses of S. frugiperda feeding on developing sorghum seed
Urban geochemical mapping studies : how and why we do them
Geochemical mapping is a technique rooted in mineral exploration but has now found worldwide application in studies of the urban environment. Such studies, involving multidisciplinary teams including geochemists, have to present their results in a way that nongeochemists can comprehend. A legislatively driven demand for urban geochemical data in connection with the need to identify contaminated land and subsequent health risk assessments has given rise to a greater worldwide interest in the urban geochemical environment. Herein, the aims and objectives of some urban studies are reviewed and commonly used terms such as baseline and background are defined. Geochemists need to better consider what is meant by the term urban. Whilst the unique make up of every city precludes a single recommended approach to a geochemical mapping strategy, more should be done to standardise the sampling and analytical methods. How (from a strategic and presentational point of view) and why we do geochemical mapping studies is discussed.
Keywords Background - Baseline - Geochemical mapping - Heavy metals - Pollution - Soil - Urba