17 research outputs found
Rangelands vegetation mapping at species composition level using the SPiCla method:SDM based pixel classification and fuzzy accuracy - A new approach of map making
Biochemical and haematological changes in rats administered an aqueous extract of Prunus africana stem-bark at various dosage levels
An aqueous extract of Prunus africana (Hook. f.) Kalkm. (syn. Pygeum africanum) (Hook. f.) (Rosaceae) was
administered daily at dosage rates of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg body mass
to randomized groups of Sprague Dawley rats. The extract caused a
moderate rise in plasma alanine aminotransferase and creatine kinase
mainly at rates of 1000 mg/kg body mass, but it did not cause any
significant variations in haematological parameters or in plasma levels
of total proteins, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline
phosphatase and blood urea nitrogen at the dosage levels used. There
were no overt clinical signs in any of the rats. It was concluded that
the extract may contain components that are mildly toxic to the liver
and heart of rats after repeated daily oral administrations of 1000
mg/kg body mass.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi.
Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.International Foundation for Science (IFS). German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD).mn201
Comparison of indirect fluorescent antibody test and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in the detection of exposure of cattle to Theileria parva in Kenya
Appraisal of the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and antigen enzyme linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) serological tests as carried out to detect cattle exposed to Theileria parva at the National
Veterinary Research Centre, Muguga (NVRC), Kenya is reported. Using sera from T parva naive
cattle and cattle experimentally exposed to T parva, the two tests were appraised in terms of their
sensitivity and specificity.IFAT and ELISA had the same sensitivity of 90% while ELISA had a higher
specificity (90 %) than IFAT (80 %). A comparison was also made of the capability of the two tests to
detect exposure of dairy cattle to T parva prior to immunization against East Coast fever (ECF). The
positive outcome from the IFAT was significantly higher (X2 = 30,36; P < 0,001) than that from the
ELISA. The agreement between the two tests was low (Kappa= 0,21 ). The two tests indicated a higher
risk of ECF in the study area than was expected. Indications are that the ELISA has been effectively
adopted at NVRC.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi.
Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Department for International Development, UK. Government of Kenya
Predicting brain age with deep learning from raw imaging data results in a reliable and heritable biomarker
In vitro antiplasmodial, antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial activities of selected medicinal plants from Ugandan flora: Refocusing into multi-component potentials
The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance
The past 2 years, during which waves of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants swept the globe, have starkly highlighted health disparities across nations. Tegally et al. show how the coordinated efforts of talented African scientists have in a short time made great contributions to pandemic surveillance and data gathering. Their efforts and initiatives have provided early warning that has likely benefited wealthier countries more than their own. Genomic surveillance identified the emergence of the highly transmissible Beta and Omicron variants and now the appearance of Omicron sublineages in Africa. However, it is imperative that technology transfer for diagnostics and vaccines, as well the logistic wherewithal to produce and deploy them, match the data-gathering effort
The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications
Background:
The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications.
Methods:
ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery.
Results:
The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784.
Conclusions:
This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance.
© 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Medical Research Council of South Africa gran
Searches for 25 rare and forbidden decays of and mesons
International audienceA search is performed for rare and forbidden charm decays of the form , where h is a pion or kaon and ℓ is an electron or muon. The measurements are performed using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 fb, collected by the LHCb experiment in 2016. No evidence is observed for the 25 decay modes that are investigated and 90 % confidence level limits on the branching fractions are set between 1.4 × 10 and 6.4 × 10. In most cases, these results represent an improvement on existing limits by one to two orders of magnitude.[graphic not available: see fulltext