An evaluation of surveillance and control measures for African trypanosomiasis in remote areas of Eastern Zambia

Gloria Mulenga studied the incidence of the parasitic disease African trypanosomiasis in resource poor communities of Eastern Zambia and used and integrated financial modelling and One Health approach to provide cost efficient diagnosis and control of this zoonotic disease. Her findings will improve the health and food security of these communities

Treatment of Young Children with HIV Infection: Using Evidence to Inform Policymakers

PMCID: PMC3404108This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Learning Time of Day and Students’ Academic Achievement at School Certificate Level: A Case Study of Chibote Girls’ Secondary School.

A case study presented here is an investigation into whether time of day for instruction has an effect on students’ academic achievement in Mathematics, Science, Biology and English at school certificate level by focusing on the grades candidates obtained after sitting for national examinations. The focus is primarily on 33 randomly selected morning and afternoon pupils at Chibote Girls Secondary School. We hypothesized that morning pupils perform better than afternoon pupils owing to the fact that pupils who learn in the morning have a higher retention rate as compared to those who learn in the afternoon when the temperature is quite high. This hypothesis was tested using a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test which showed that there was no statistically significant difference across the categories of the two learning modes in Mathematics, Science and English. Furthermore, the same results were analysed through a component plot in rotated space (factor analysis) which showed a significant difference in students’ performance between Mathematics and English for both learning modes. Descriptive statistics were computed and the general picture was that pupils performed poorly in all the four subjects with mathematics placed at the tail and English in the lead. Keywords: Learning time, Academic achievement, Core subjects

MICROTUBULES IN RAT LEYDIG CELLS. A MODIFICATION OF SMOOTH ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM?

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Lifelong Learning in a Global Context: Towards a Reconceptualization of Adult Education

The paper argues that a reconceptualization of adult education around lifelong learning and globalization requires a rethinking of curricular and research issues. The paper highlights curricular issues involved in creating in such a reconceptualization. It does this by juxtapositioning the objectives and goals of this “new focus with the CPAE’s Standards for Graduate Programs. Objectives and goals are suggested that revolve around integrated notions of learning that account for the impact of globalization on learning as inseparable from political and social processes

Prevalence of trypanosomes and selected symbionts in tsetse species of eastern Zambia

Insect symbionts have attracted attention for their potential use as anti-parasitic gene products in arthropod disease vectors. While tsetse species of the Luangwa valley have been extensively studied, less is known about the prevalence of symbionts and their interactions with the trypanosome parasite. Polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the presence of Wolbachia and Sodalis bacteria, in tsetse flies infected with trypanosomes (Trypanosoma vivax, Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei). Out of 278 captured tsetse flies in eastern Zambia, 95.3% (n = 265, 95% CI = 92.8–97.8) carried endosymbionts: Wolbachia (79.1%, 95% CI 73.9–83.8) and Sodalis (86.3%, 95% CI 81.7–90.1). Overall, trypanosome prevalence was 25.5% (n = 71, 95% CI = 20.4–30.7), 10.8% (n = 30, 95% CI 7.1–14.4) for T. brucei, 1.4% (n = 4, 95% CI = 0.4–3.6) for both T. congolense and T. vivax, and 0.7% (n = 2, 95% CI 0.1–2.6) for T. b. rhodesiense. Out of 240 tsetse flies that were infected with Sodalis, trypanosome infection was reported in 40 tsetse flies (16.7%, 95% CI = 12.0–21.4) while 37 (16.8%, 95% CI 11.9–21.8) of the 220 Wolbachia infected tsetse flies were infected with trypanosomes. There was 1.3 times likelihood of T. brucei infection to be present when Wolbachia was present and 1.7 likelihood of T. brucei infection when Sodalis was present. Overall findings suggest absence of correlation between the presence of tsetse endosymbionts and tsetse with trypanosome infection. Lastly, the presence of pathogenic trypanosomes in tsetse species examined provided insights into the risk communities face, and the importance of African trypanosomiasis in the area

The detection of African trypanosomes in goats reared in tsetse infested villages of Eastern Zambia

Control programmes for African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) in livestock have been mainly focused on cattle with very little focus on goats, an important reservoir for the disease. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), this study investigated trypanosome infection in village goats in Mambwe, a rural District in Eastern Zambia. Filter paper blood spots were collected from 326 goats and tested for infection with Trypanosoma congolense, Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma brucei s.l. using ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS)-PCR. The frequency of trypanosomes from the sampled goats was 4.6% (95% CI = 2.3–6.8). Results indicated significantly high infections with Trypanosoma vivax (4.0%; 95% CI = 1.9–6.1) than T. congolense (0.6%; 95% CI =  − 0.2 to 1.5), and T. brucei (0.0%), P = 0.04. Findings show the circulation of trypanosomes that causes AAT in goats and that they may pose serious threats to not only goats but also to other livestock reared alongside goats.Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.http://link.springer.com/journal/11250hj2022Veterinary Tropical Disease

Impact of Xpert MTB/RIF rollout on management of tuberculosis in a South African community

Background. The Xpert MTB/RIF test shortens the time to microbiological confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) under research conditions.Objective. To evaluate the field impact of Xpert MTB/RIF rollout on TB diagnostic yield and time to treatment in a South African (SA) community.Methods. We compared TB investigation outcomes for 6-month calendar periods before and after Xpert MTB/RIF rollout in a semi-rural area of SA. The proportion of adult patients who tested positive by sputum smear microscopy, liquid culture or Xpert MTB/RIF and the proportion of positive sputum smear, liquid culture or Xpert MTB/RIF tests were compared. Secondary outcomes included time to laboratory diagnosis and treatment initiation. Data were collected from the National Health Laboratory Service database and from the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health TB register.Results. Regional rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF testing occurred in 2013. Of the 15 629 patients investigated in the post-rollout period, 7.9% tested positive on GeneXpert, compared with 6.4% of the 10 741 investigated in the pre-rollout period who tested positive by sputum smear microscopy (p<0.001). Median laboratory processing time was <1 day for Xpert MTB/RIF (interquartile range (IQR) 0 - 1) compared with 1 day (IQR 0 - 16) for sputum smear microscopy (p=0.001). The median time to TB treatment initiation was 4 days (IQR 2 - 8) after rollout compared with 5 days (IQR 2 - 14) before (p=0.001).Conclusions. Patients investigated for suspected pulmonary TB were more likely to be diagnosed after rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF testing, although the benefit to diagnostic yield was modest, and Xpert MTB/RIF testing was associated with a marginal improvement in time to treatment initiation

Physiological and growth responses to pollutant-induced biochemical changes in plants : a review

CITATION: Mulenga, C., Clarke, C. & Meincken, M. 2020. Physiological and growth responses to pollutant-induced biochemical changes in plants : a review. Pollution, 6(4):827-848, doi:10.22059/poll.2020.303151.821.The original publication is available at https://jpoll.ut.ac.irIndustrial activities compromise the ambient air quality at a local, regional and global level through gaseous and dust emissions. This study reviews uptake mechanisms and the associated phytotoxicity of pollutants in plants, focusing on heavy metals and SO2. It further describes detoxification mechanisms and the resultant biochemical and physiological changes in plants. Finally, the morpho-physiological and growth responses to stress-induced biochemical changes are discussed. Heavy metals and SO2 enter the plant tissue through the stomata, cuticular layers, lenticels and root hairs. In the plant cells, SO2 converts to SO32- or SO42- ions upon reacting with water molecules, which in excess are toxic to plants. However, the detoxification process of SO32- increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are toxic to plants and damages biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and DNA. On the other hand, heavy metals, such as Cu and Fe catalyse the Fenton/Haber-Weiss reactions, breaking down H2O2 into OH•. Additionally, Pb and Zn inhibit the activities of ROS-detoxifying enzymes, while other heavy metals bind to cellular layers making them rigid, thereby reducing cell division. Therefore, pollutant toxicity in plants affects biochemical parameters damaging organic molecules and limiting cambial activity. Damaged biomolecules inhibit the plant's capacity to carry out physiological functions, such as photosynthesis, stomatal functions, transpiration and respiration while impaired cambial activity reduces cell division and elongation resulting in reduced plant growth and productivity.https://jpoll.ut.ac.ir/article_78852.htmlPublisher's versio