Human Plasmodium knowlesi Infection Detected by Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Malaria

We describe a PCR-confirmed case of Plasmodium knowlesi infection with a high parasitemia level and clinical signs of severe malaria in a migrant worker from Malaysian Borneo in the Netherlands. Investigations showed that commercially available rapid antigen tests for detection of human Plasmodium infections can detect P. knowlesi infections in humans

Predicting bedforms and primary current stratification in cohesive mixtures of mud and sand

The use of sedimentary structures as indicators of flow and sediment morphodynamics in ancient sediments lies at the very heart of sedimentology, and allows reconstruction of formative flow conditions generated in a wide range of grain sizes and sedimentary environments. However, the vast majority of past research has documented and detailed the range of bedforms generated in essentially cohesionless sediments that lack the presence of mud within the flow and within the sediment bed itself. Yet most sedimentary environments possess fine-grained sediments and recent work has shown how the presence of this fine sediment may substantially modify the fluid dynamics of such flows. It is increasingly evident that understanding the influence of mud, and the presence of cohesive forces, is essential to permit a fuller interpretation of many modern and ancient sedimentary successions. In this paper, the present state of knowledge on the stability of current- and wave-generated bedforms and their primary current stratification is reviewed, and a new extended bedform phase diagram is presented that summarizes the bedforms generated in mixtures of sand and mud under rapidly decelerated flows. This diagram provides a phase space using the variables of yield strength and grain mobility as the abscissa and ordinate axes, respectively, and defines the stability fields of a range of bedforms generated under flows that have modified fluid dynamics owing to the presence of suspended sediment within the flow. Our results also present unique data on a range of bedforms generated in such flows, whose recognition is essential to help interpret such deposits in the ancient sedimentary record, including the following: (1) heterolithic stratification, comprising alternating laminae or layers of sand and mud; (2) the preservation of low-amplitude bed-waves, large current ripples and bed scours with intrascour composite bedforms; (3) low-angle cross-lamination and long lenses and streaks of sand and mud formed by bed-waves; (4) complex stacking of reverse bedforms, mud layers and low-angle cross-lamination on the upstream face of bed scours; (5) planar bedding comprising stacked mud–sand couplets. Furthermore, the results shown herein demonstrate that flow variability is not required to produce deposits consisting of interbedded sand and muds, and that the nature of flaser, wavy and lenticular bedding (sensu Reineck & Wunderlich 1968) may also need reconsideration in the deposits of such sediment-laden flows

Natural Products as Anti-HIV Agents and Role in HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND): A Brief Overview

As the threat of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) persists to rise, effective drug treatments are required to treat the infected people. Even though combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) provides stable viral suppression, it is not devoid of undesirable side effects, especially in persons undergoing long-term treatment. The present therapy finds its limitations in the emergence of multidrug resistance and accordingly finding new drugs and novel targets is the need of the hour to treat the infected persons and further to attack HIV reservoirs in the body like brain, lymph nodes to achieve the ultimate goal of complete eradication of HIV and AIDS. Natural products such as plant-originated compounds and plant extracts have enormous potential to become drug leads with anti-HIV and neuroprotective activity. Accordingly, many research groups are exploring the biodiversity of the plant kingdom to find new and better anti-HIV drugs with novel mechanisms of action and for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The basic challenge that still persists is to develop viral replication-targeted therapy using novel anti-HIV compounds with new mode of action, accepted toxicity and less resistance profile. Against this backdrop, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested the need to evaluate ethno-medicines for the management of HIV/AIDS. Consequently, there is need to evaluate traditional medicine, particularly medicinal plants and other natural products that may yield effective and affordable therapeutic agents. Although there are a good number of reports on traditional uses of plants to treat various diseases, knowledge of herbal remedies used to manage HIV/AIDS and HAND are scanty, vague and not well documented. In this review, plant substances showing a promising action that is anti-HIV and HAND will be explored along with what they interact. Since some plant substances are also known to modulate several cellular factors which are also involved in the replication of HIV and hence their role as potential candidates will be discussed. HIV/AIDS being an exceptional epidemic, demands an exceptional approach and that forms very much focus for the current review

Die identifisering van moontlike alternatiewe in die fisiese vorm en grondgebruikstruktuur van Suid-Afrikaanse metropolitaanse streke

Werkstuk (M.A.) -- Universiteit van Stellenbosch,1992.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Pastoral care to homosexual persons and / or people close to them

Pastoral care to homosexual persons and those close to them is discussed from the perspective of George Lindbeck's (1984) theological typologies. The cultural-linguistic model is emphasised, its links to narrative practice made clear, and is explored with the concrete situation of homosexuality in mind. A case study is presented and the development of the pastoral-therapeutic process on a narrative basis is described

Comment mettre en oeuvre des solutions de stabilisation in situ ou de phytoremédiation dans les stratégies de gestion durable des sols contaminés en éléments traces

National audienceUne stratégie de gestion durable pour un sol contaminé en éléments traces (TECS) décrit comment une solution ou une combinaison de solutions, incluant ou non une remédiation, choisie pour chaque relation source-exposition-récepteur, sera mise en oeuvre sur site afin que la gestion du sol puisse satisfaire les besoins écologiques, économiques et sociaux actuels et futurs. Elle donne une description claire et détaillée comment les relations sources-récepteurs seront assainies et le travail de remédiation vérifié. Les aspects pratiques tels que le zonage du site, l'interprétation de l'état des milieux, le planning des travaux, et les moyens pour obtenir les autorisations environnementales sont à renseigner dans la stratégie

Gene expression profiling of a Zn-tolerant and a Zn-sensitive Suillus luteus isolate exposed to increased external zinc concentrations

Complementary DNA (cDNA)-amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) was applied to analyze transcript profiles of a Zn-tolerant and a Zn-sensitive isolate of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Suillus luteus, both cultured with and without increased external zinc concentrations. From the obtained transcript profiles that covered approximately 2% of the total expected complement of genes in S. luteus, 144 nonredundant, differentially expressed transcript-derived fragments (TDFs), falling in different classes of expression pattern, were isolated and sequenced. Thirty-six of the represented genes showed homology to function-known genes, whereas 6 matched unknown protein coding sequences, and 102 were possibly novel. Although relatively few TDFs were found to be responsive to the different zinc treatments, their modulated expression levels may suggest a different transcriptional response to zinc treatments in both isolates. Among the identified genes that could be related to heavy-metal detoxification or the tolerance trait were genes encoding for homologues of a heat-shock protein, a putative metal transporter, a hydrophobin, and several proteins involved in ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe