Artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Sudan

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis and effective treatment with an appropriate drug form the main components of the World Health Organization's strategy to reduce malaria related mortality. The few available drugs might be safeguarded if combined with artesunate. The addition of artesunate to a standard antimalarial treatment substantially reduces treatment failure, recrudescence and gametocyte carriage. METHODS: During late 2004, the efficacy of artesunate (4 mg/kg. day, on days 0–2) plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (25 mg/kg, on day 0) for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria was investigated in four sentinel areas in Sudan, with different malaria transmission (Damazin, Kassala, Kosti, and Malakal). RESULTS: Two hundreds and sixty-nine patients completed the 28-day follow-up. On day one, 60 (22.3%) patients were febrile and 15 (5.5%) patients were parasitaemic. On day three, all the patients were afebrile and aparasitaemic. While two patients (0.7%, Kassala) showed late Clinical and Parasitological Failures, the rest (99.3%) of the patients demonstrated Adequate Clinical and Parasitological Response. A gametocytaemia were detected during the follow-up in one patient (0.37%, Kassala). Adverse drug effects were detected in 32 (11.9%) patients CONCLUSION: The study showed that AS plus SP is an effective, safe drug in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in Sudan

Research Output on Strategy Formulation and Implementation: Global Picture, Development and Key Bibliometric Indicators

Effective strategic management serves as the bedrock for an organization's vision, goal attainment, and stakeholder expectations. Consequently, the research focus on strategy formulation and implementation has garnered substantial attention in recent decades. This study aims to evaluate bibliometric indicators of research productivity related to strategy formulation and implementation through meticulous bibliometric analysis. The analysis leverages the R Bibliometrix library on scientific publications indexed in the Web of Science database. The dataset comprises 672 publications on strategy formulation and implementation, spanning the years 1971 to 2022. Authored by 1,280 contributors from 69 countries, these publications are dispersed across 374 diverse sources, including journals and books. Impressively, this body of work has garnered a cumulative total of 24,635 citations, averaging 36.66 citations per document. The top-ranking article, "The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation" by Robert M. Grant, stands out with 3,649 citations. Examining global scientific production, the United States emerges as the primary contributor with 154 publications (22.91%), followed by China with 56 (8.33%) and the United Kingdom with 54 (8.03%). The study's findings offer valuable insights for researchers and organizations alike, shedding light on significant research contributions. This comprehensive assessment enables a nuanced understanding of the historical progression and growth within this domain. Additionally, it identifies current focal points of research and highlights areas that warrant attention in future studies

Proteomic data of Biofilm responsive proteins of Candida albicans ATCC 10231

Data represents the raw proteomic data generated by SWATH-MS analysis of Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) biofilm

Biofilm responsive proteins of Candida albicans

Present study represents the peptide mass data of proteins expressed during biofilm form growth of Candida albicans ATCC10231. Growth: Candida albicans standard strain ATCC 10231 was collected from microbial test culture collection (MTCC), Chandigarh and gowned on YPD medium (1% yeast extract, 2% peptone and 2% dextrose) at 30ºC used for routine growth and maintenance of the Candida albicans strain. Biofilm were formed in liquid RPMI-1640 medium on Micro-titer plate. Treatment: Overnight grown cells were harvested and washed four times with sterile distilled water. Then, pellet was re-suspended in phosphate buffer saline and incubated at 37ºC for 90 min for adhesion. Phosphate buffer saline were used to wash out non adhered cell. After 3 times of wash, adhered cells were incubated in liquid RPMI-1640 medium at 37℃ for 24 hrs. Cells were collected after washing the RPMI-1640 medium in sterile phosphate buffer saline.Extraction: Protein extraction from both biofilm and control were done using alkaline lysis method where cells were lysed under high alkaline condition of sodium hydroxide containing Protease inhibitor cocktail (PIC). This solution is neutralized by of 4 M acetic acid. Precipitation was done with Methanol: chloroform: water (4:1:3) in chilled condition. Then pellet was subjected to trypsin digestion and samples were prepared by reduction of proteins followed by alkylation with iodoacetamide and digestion into peptides, which were purified by means of Zip tip C18 chromatography (Millipore; Billerica, MA). Digestion: Protein digestion were done in AmBic at 370C is used for protein digestion for 18Hr with 600rpm. Digested protein samples were aspirated several times in equilibrated Zip-tip C18 Resin spin columns (Millipore; Billerica, MA), resin bound peptides were separated by washing thrice with 0.1% TFA and eluted twice with 50 % CAN. Finally peptides were eluted in 100% ACN and samples were concentrated using Eppendorf speed vac (Model 5301). Samples were reconstituted in 3% ACN and 0.1% Formic acid (1µg / µl) by continuous vortexing and finally injected in to LC MS column.Separation: LC/MS of protein samples were done using Triple-TOF 5600 (AB Sciex; Concord, Canada) mass spectrometry coupled with Micro LC 200 (Eksigent; Dublin, CA) in high-sensitivity mode. Peptides were injected into a Eskigent C18- RP HPLC column (100 × 0.3 mm, 3 µm, 120Å) and then separated using a 90 min gradient of 3 % to 35 % mobile phase (Mobile phase A: 100 % water with 0.1 % (v/v) formic acid, Mobile Phase B: 100 % acetonitrile with 0.1 % (v/v) formic acid) at a flow rate of 8 µL/min.Acquisition: Data is acquired on Micro LC 200 coupled to a Triple TOF 5600 MS (AB SCIEX) by SWATH in triplicate for both control and test sample. Informatics: Acquired data was analyzed with Marker View version 1.2.1 software after checking SWATH files for overlapping peaks with peak view version 2 software. Instruments: AB SCIEX Triple TOF 5600

Structural damage assessment criteria for reinforced concrete buildings by using a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

Reinforced concrete structures are often exposed to many types of damages and deteriorations due to different causes and exposure conditions during their life cycle. Assessment of such structures is inherently subjected to uncertainty and ambiguity, where subjective opinion and incomplete numeric data are unavoidable. In the damage assessment process, estimating the importance of assessment criteria is an important field in itself, and depends heavily on the experience and expertise of experts. The aim of this study is to present a fuzzy-based assessment model, which estimates the importance of structural assessment criteria for concrete buildings. The work aims also at studying, identifying, and prioritizing assessment criteria. These assessment criteria are based on close visual inspections and simple measurements that do not require special testing or long-term investigation. The main assessment criteria

Proteomic data of Biofilm responsive proteins of Candida albicans ATCC 10231

Data represents the raw proteomic data generated by SWATH-MS analysis of Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) biofilm.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Biofilm responsive proteins of Candida albicans

Present study represents the peptide mass data of proteins expressed during biofilm form growth of Candida albicans ATCC10231. Extraction: Protein extraction from both biofilm and control were done using alkaline lysis method where cells were lysed under high alkaline condition of sodium hydroxide containing Protease inhibitor cocktail (PIC). This solution is neutralized by of 4 M acetic acid. Precipitation was done with Methanol: chloroform: water (4:1:3) in chilled condition. Then pellet was subjected to trypsin digestion and samples were prepared by reduction of proteins followed by alkylation with iodoacetamide and digestion into peptides, which were purified by means of Zip tip C18 chromatography (Millipore; Billerica, MA). Separation: LC/MS of protein samples were done using Triple-TOF 5600 (AB Sciex; Concord, Canada) mass spectrometry coupled with Micro LC 200 (Eksigent; Dublin, CA) in high-sensitivity mode. Acquisition: Data is acquired on Micro LC 200 coupled to a Triple TOF 5600 MS (AB SCIEX) by SWATH in triplicate for both control and test sample. Informatics: Acquired data was analyzed with Marker View version 1.2.1 software after checking SWATH files for overlapping peaks with peak view version 2 software. Instruments: AB SCIEX Triple TOF 5600.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Structural damage assessment criteria for reinforced concrete buildings by using a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy process

Reinforced concrete structures are often exposed to many types of damages and deteriorations due to different causes and exposure conditions during their life cycle. Assessment of such structures is inherently subjected to uncertainty and ambiguity, where subjective opinion and incomplete numeric data are unavoidable. In the damage assessment process, estimating the importance of assessment criteria is an important field in itself, and depends heavily on the experience and expertise of experts. The aim of this study is to present a fuzzy-based assessment model, which estimates the importance of structural assessment criteria for concrete buildings. The work aims also at studying, identifying, and prioritizing assessment criteria. These assessment criteria are based on close visual inspections and simple measurements that do not require special testing or long-term investigation. The main assessment criteria include the state of building history, environmental conditions, structural capacity, durability, and professional involvement in construction. Each of them has two levels of sub-criteria. The criteria weights are obtained based on the opinions of experts using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method. The application of the FAHP method showed that the most important criteria is the structural capacity with a weighting factor of 50.1%, followed by the environmental condition as second, with a weighting factor of 22.5%. Keywords: Assessment criteria, Uncertainty, Fuzzy logic, Analytic hierarchy process, Building evaluatio

Influence of low and high organic wastewater sludge on physical and mechanical properties of concrete mixes

The present study is aimed at obtaining the influence of low and high organic wastewater sludge on physical mechanical properties of concrete mixes. A laboratory-testing program was carried out on concrete mixes having several ratios of low and high organic sludge with respect to cement content, including no sludge mix as reference mix. The low organic sludge represents the exposed sludge to the sun for a long period of time, while the high organic sludge simulates the fresh sludge taken from the secondary pond surface. Due to the high sand content, the low organic sludge was utilized as an additive and as a sand replacement, while the high organic sludge was used only as an additive material. In all cases, four sludge contents of 0, 2.5, 5 and 10% by weight of cement were introduced to the concrete mixes. The effect of sludge particle size was also investigated in this study. Slump values, densities and