Cloning and sequencing of the depolymerase-like gene from Bacteriophage J25

Bacteriophage are viruses that infect, replicate and kill bacteria. Salmonella and EHEC food poisoning are caused by Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Bacteriophage can be used to prevent food poisoning by application to food products or processing machinery. Bacteriophage J25 specifically infects Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. We cloned fragments of the J25 genome, sequence the DNA and used bioinformatics to identify J25. We used genome data from similar bacteriophage in Genbank to design primers to amplify the depolymerase-like gene. We amplified and cloned this gene. When expressed, the gene product will be test with bacteriophage food treatment where it should augment bacteriophage killing

Cloning, sequencing, and identification of Phage 16, an unknown salmonella or EHEC (enterohemorrhagic E. coli) bacteriophage

Bacteriophage are viruses that infect, replicate and kill bacteria. Salmonella and EHEC food poisoning are caused by Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Bacteriophage can be used to prevent food poisoning by application to food products or processing machinery. Bacteriophage P16 specifically infects Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. We cloned fragments of the P16 genome, sequence the DNA and used bioinformatics to identify P16. Phage P16 is a Salmonella phage similar to Stitch. A phylogenetic tree inferring relationships of P16 and other bacteriophage was created

Effects of mineral nitrogen and Bradyrhizobium inoculation on growth and iron nutrition of groundnut

Experiments were conducted in a glasshouse to determine the effects of the mineral N supplied as ammonium nitrate andBradyrhizobium inoculation on the growth and iron nutrition of nodulating and non-nodulating groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) lines. In a sterilized sand-vermiculite medium supplied with N-free nutrient solution (pH 7.0), inoculation of nodulating groundnut withBradyrhizobium strain NC 43.3 enhanced dry matter production and O-phenanthroline extractable iron and N contents of the plants. The supply of mineral N at a rate of 100 mg N L–1 (as NH4NO3) through deionized water (pH 8.5) induced iron chlorosis symptoms in the nodulating groundnuts grown in Vertisols, but these symptoms were not observed at higher N levels (200–400 mg N L–1). The induced chlorosis was only partially corrected by inoculation withBradyrhizobium strains NC 92 and NC 43.3. The iron deficiency chlorosis was, however, corrected by application of higher rates of ammonium nitrate

Macro- and micronutrient uptake by nodulating and non-nodulating peanut lines

Amounts of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, and Mn absorbed by a nodulating and a non-nodulating (Non-nod) peanut genotype at two nitrogen fertilizer levels (nil and 200 kg N ha–1) were determined in a field experiment. The amounts of nutrient elements in the plant parts were greatest for N, followed by K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Mn, and Zn in descending order. Although there were differences in the uptake of other nutrients, the major difference between Non-nod and nodulating genotypes was in nitrogen indicating the poor yield of the Non-nod line due to its inability to acquire N

Health system barriers and facilitators to medication adherence for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

Background: Secondary prevention is cost-effective for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but uptake is suboptimal. Understanding barriers and facilitators to adherence to secondary prevention for CVD at multiple health system levels may inform policy. Objectives: To conduct a systematic review of barriers and facilitators to adherence/persistence to secondary CVD prevention medications at health system level. Methods: Included studies reported effects of health system level factors on adherence/persistence to secondary prevention medications for CVD (coronary artery or cerebrovascular disease). Studies considered at least one of β blockers, statins, angiotensin–renin system blockers and aspirin. Relevant databases were searched from 1 January 1966 until 1 October 2015. Full texts were screened for inclusion by 2 independent reviewers. Results: Of 2246 screened articles, 25 studies were included (12 trials, 11 cohort studies, 1 cross-sectional study and 1 case–control study) with 132 140 individuals overall (smallest n=30, largest n=63 301). 3 studies included upper middle-income countries, 1 included a low middle-income country and 21 (84%) included high-income countries (9 in the USA). Studies concerned established CVD (n=4), cerebrovascular disease (n=7) and coronary heart disease (n=14). Three studies considered persistence and adherence. Quantity and quality of evidence was limited for adherence, persistence and across drug classes. Studies were concerned with governance and delivery (n=19, including 4 trials of fixed-dose combination therapy, FDC), intellectual resources (n=1), human resources (n=1) and health system financing (n=4). Full prescription coverage, reduced copayments, FDC and counselling were facilitators associated with higher adherence. Conclusions: High-quality evidence on health system barriers and facilitators to adherence to secondary prevention medications for CVD is lacking, especially for low-income settings. Full prescription coverage, reduced copayments, FDC and counselling may be effective in improving adherence and are priorities for further research

The Epidemiology of Hypoxemic Pneumonia among Young Infants in Malawi

We describe hypoxemic pneumonia prevalence in outpatient and inpatient settings, in-hospital mortality, and clinical guideline performance for identifying hypoxemia in young infants in Malawi. In this retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study, we investigate infants younger than 2 months participating in pneumonia surveillance at seven hospitals and 18 outpatient health centers in Malawi between 2011 and 2014. Logistic regression, multiple imputations with chained equations, and pattern mixture modeling were used to determine the association between peripheral oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2) levels and hospital mortality. We describe referral recommendations based on clinical characteristics and SpO2 distributions. Among 1,879 analyzed cases, SpO2 < 90% was more prevalent among outpatient health center cases than that among hospitalized cases (22.6% versus 13.5%, 95% CI: 17.6–28.4% and 12.0–15.3%, respectively). A larger proportion of hospitalized infants had signs of respiratory distress than infants at health centers (67.7% versus 56.6%, P < 0.001) and the signs were higher in male versus female infants (56.7% versus 40.6%, P < 0.001). An SpO2 of 90–92% and < 90% was associated with similarly increased odds of in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 4.3 and 4.4, 95% CI: 1.7–11.1 and 1.8–10.5, respectively). Unrecorded, or unobtainable, SpO2 was highly associated with mortality (n = 127, aOR: 18.1; 95% CI: 7.6–42.8). Four of 22 (18%) infants at health centers who did not meet clinical referral criteria had an SpO2 ≤ 92%. Clinicians should consider hospital referral in young infants with SpO2 ≤ 92%. Infants with unobtainable SpO2 readings should be considered a high-risk group, and hospital referral of these cases may be appropriate

Pulse oximetry for children with pneumonia treated as outpatients in rural Malawi

OBJECTIVE: To investigate implementation of outpatient pulse oximetry among children with pneumonia, in Malawi. METHODS: In 2011, 72 health-care providers at 18 rural health centres and 38 community health workers received training in the use of pulse oximetry to measure haemoglobin oxygen saturations. Data collected, between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2014 by the trained individuals, on children aged 2-59 months with clinically diagnosed pneumonia were analysed. FINDINGS: Of the 14 092 children included in the analysis, 13 266 (94.1%) were successfully checked by oximetry. Among the children with chest indrawing and/or danger signs, those with a measured oxygen saturation below  90% were more than twice as likely to have been referred as those with higher saturations (84.3% [385/457] vs 41.5% [871/2099]; P < 0.001). The availability of oximetry appeared to have increased the referral rate for severely hypoxaemic children without chest indrawing or danger signs from 0% to 27.2% (P < 0.001). In the absence of oximetry, if the relevant World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines published in 2014 had been applied, 390/568 (68.7%) severely hypoxaemic children at study health centres and 52/84 (61.9%) severely hypoxaemic children seen by community health workers would have been considered ineligible for referral. CONCLUSION: Implementation of pulse oximetry by our trainees substantially increased the referrals of Malawian children with severe hypoxaemic pneumonia. When data from oximetry were excluded, retrospective application of the guidelines published by WHO in 2014 failed to identify a considerable proportion of severely hypoxaemic children eligible only via oximetry

Registration of Five Nonnodulating Peanut Germplasm Lines

FIVE NONNODULATING PEANUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) germplasm lines, 'ICGL 1' (Reg. no. GP-50, PI 544348), 'ICGL 2' (Reg. no. GP-51, PI 544349), 'ICGL 3' (Reg. no. GP-52, PI 544350), 'ICGL 4' (Reg. no. GP-53, PI 544351), and 'ICGL 5' (Reg. no. GP-54, PI 544352), were developed at the research center of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India. They were subsequently released in 1989. The basis for release of these five lines is their nonnodulating trait, which may be useful in studies relating to N2 fixation and uptake in peanu