On Tensor Products and Elementary Operators

In This Paper We Describe Operator Systems And Elementary Operators Via Tensor Products. We Also Discuss Norms Of Elementary Operators

Factors associated with severity of road traffic injuries, Thika, Kenya

Background: Road traffic injuries continue to exert a huge burden on the health care system in Kenya. Few studies on the severity of road traffic injuries have been conducted in Kenya. We carried out a cross-sectional study to determine factors associated with severity of road traffic injuries in a public hospital in Thika district, Kenya. Methods: Road crash victims attending the Thika district hospital, a 265-bed public hospital, emergency room were recruited consecutively between 10th August 2009 and 15th November 2009. Epidemiologic and clinical information was collected from medical charts and through interview with the victims or surrogates using a semi-structured questionnaire. Injuries were graded as severe or non-severe based on the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Independent factors associated with injury severity were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: The mean age of participants was 32.4 years, three quarters were between 20-49 years-old and 73% (219) were male. Nineteen percent (56/300) of the victims had severe injury. Five percent (15) had head injury while 38% (115) had fractures. Vulnerable road users (pedestrians and two-wheel users) comprised 33% (99/300) of the victims. Vulnerable road users (OR=2.0, 95%CI=1.0-3.9), road crashes in rainy weather (OR=2.9, 95%CI=1.3-6.5) and night time crashes (OR=2.0, 95%CI=1.1-3.9) were independent risk factors for sustaining severe injury. Conclusion: Severe injury was associated with vulnerable road users, rainy weather and night time crashes. Interventions and measures such as use of reflective jackets and helmets by two wheel users and enhanced road visibility could help reduce the severity of road traffic injuries.Key words: Road traffic accidents, injury, Injury severity Score, Keny

Larvicidal Activity of Leaf and Stem extracts of Sterculiaquinquelob(Garcke) K. SchumAgainst the Anopheles gambiae Giles S.S, Culexquinquefasciatus Say and AedesaegyptiMosquito

This research article published by the American Journal of Research Communication, Vol 2(8), 2014Larvicidal activity of crude petroleum ether (PE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) extracts of leaves and stem barks of Sterculiaquinqueloba (Garcke) K. Schum were testedagainst the late 3 instar larvae of Anopheles gambiae, Aedesaegypti and Culexquinquefasciatusat 5 different concentrations50 – 800µg/ml. The larval mortality was observed after 24h, 48h and 72h of exposure. At 24h of exposure all extracts showed moderate larvicidal effects, except for methanolic extracts which showed very week effect at LC 50 rd >750µg/ml.The highest larvicidal activityrecorded for leaf extracts against each species used were LC 50 27.61µg/ml(EtOAc extracts), LC 50 43.9µg/ml(PE extracts) and LC 50 68.2µg/ml(EtOAc extracts) for A. gambiae, C. quinquefasciatus and A. aegypti respectively. Only EtOAc extract of stem against A. gambiae gave LC 50 range between 50 - 100µg/ml. Generally leaf extracts showed higher activity than stem extract. This is an ideal eco-friendly approach aid for the control of mosquito species A. gambiae, A. aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus

Vegetation and the importance of insecticide-treated target siting for control of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes

Control of tsetse flies using insecticide-treated targets is often hampered by vegetation re-growth and encroachment which obscures a target and renders it less effective. Potentially this is of particular concern for the newly developed small targets (0.25 high × 0.5 m wide) which show promise for cost-efficient control of Palpalis group tsetse flies. Consequently the performance of a small target was investigated for Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in Kenya, when the target was obscured following the placement of vegetation to simulate various degrees of natural bush encroachment. Catches decreased significantly only when the target was obscured by more than 80%. Even if a small target is underneath a very low overhanging bush (0.5 m above ground), the numbers of G. f. fuscipes decreased by only about 30% compared to a target in the open. We show that the efficiency of the small targets, even in small (1 m diameter) clearings, is largely uncompromised by vegetation re-growth because G. f. fuscipes readily enter between and under vegetation. The essential characteristic is that there should be some openings between vegetation. This implies that for this important vector of HAT, and possibly other Palpalis group flies, a smaller initial clearance zone around targets can be made and longer interval between site maintenance visits is possible both of which will result in cost savings for large scale operations. We also investigated and discuss other site features e.g. large solid objects and position in relation to the water's edge in terms of the efficacy of the small targets

Prospects for the development of odour baits to control the tsetse flies Glossina tachinoides and G. palpalis s.l.

Field studies were done of the responses of Glossina palpalis palpalis in Côte d'Ivoire, and G. p. gambiensis and G. tachinoides in Burkina Faso, to odours from humans, cattle and pigs. Responses were measured either by baiting (1.) biconical traps or (2.) electrocuting black targets with natural host odours. The catch of G. tachinoides from traps was significantly enhanced (~5×) by odour from cattle but not humans. In contrast, catches from electric targets showed inconsistent results. For G. p. gambiensis both human and cattle odour increased (>2×) the trap catch significantly but not the catch from electric targets. For G. p. palpalis, odours from pigs and humans increased (~5×) the numbers of tsetse attracted to the vicinity of the odour source but had little effect on landing or trap-entry. For G. tachinoides a blend of POCA (P = 3-n-propylphenol; O = 1-octen-3-ol; C = 4-methylphenol; A = acetone) alone or synthetic cattle odour (acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol and 3-n-propylphenol with carbon dioxide) consistently caught more tsetse than natural cattle odour. For G. p. gambiensis, POCA consistently increased catches from both traps and targets. For G. p. palpalis, doses of carbon dioxide similar to those produced by a host resulted in similar increases in attraction. Baiting traps with super-normal (~500 mg/h) doses of acetone also consistently produced significant but slight (~1.6×) increases in catches of male flies. The results suggest that odour-baited traps and insecticide-treated targets could assist the AU-Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) in its current efforts to monitor and control Palpalis group tsetse in West Africa. For all three species, only ~50% of the flies attracted to the vicinity of the trap were actually caught by it, suggesting that better traps might be developed by an analysis of the visual responses and identification of any semiochemicals involved in short-range interaction

A prognostic signature of G₂ checkpoint function in melanoma cell lines

As DNA damage checkpoints are barriers to carcinogenesis, G2 checkpoint function was quantified to test for override of this checkpoint during melanomagenesis. Primary melanocytes displayed an effective G2 checkpoint response to ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA damage. Thirty-seven percent of melanoma cell lines displayed a significant defect in G2 checkpoint function. Checkpoint function was melanoma subtype-specific with “epithelial-like” melanoma lines, with wild type NRAS and BRAF displaying an effective checkpoint, while lines with mutant NRAS and BRAF displayed defective checkpoint function. Expression of oncogenic B-Raf in a checkpoint-effective melanoma attenuated G2 checkpoint function significantly but modestly. Other alterations must be needed to produce the severe attenuation of G2 checkpoint function seen in some BRAF-mutant melanoma lines. Quantitative trait analysis tools identified mRNA species whose expression was correlated with G2 checkpoint function in the melanoma lines. A 165 gene signature was identified with a high correlation with checkpoint function (p < 0.004) and low false discovery rate (≤ 0.077). The G2 checkpoint gene signature predicted G2 checkpoint function with 77–94% accuracy. The signature was enriched in lysosomal genes and contained numerous genes that are associated with regulation of chromatin structure and cell cycle progression. The core machinery of the cell cycle was not altered in checkpoint-defective lines but rather numerous mediators of core machinery function were. When applied to an independent series of primary melanomas, the predictive G2 checkpoint signature was prognostic of distant metastasis-free survival. These results emphasize the value of expression profiling of primary melanomas for understanding melanoma biology and disease prognosis

HIV incidence and prevalence among adults aged 15-64 years in Rwanda: Results from the Rwanda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (RPHIA) and District-level Modeling, 2019

Objectives The 2018–19 Rwanda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (RPHIA) was conducted to measure national HIV incidence and prevalence. District-level estimates were modeled to inform resources allocation. Methods RPHIA was a nationally representative cross-sectional household survey. Consenting adults were interviewed and tested for HIV using the national diagnostic algorithm followed by laboratory-based confirmation of HIV status, and testing for viral load (VL), limiting antigen (LAg) avidity and presence of antiretrovirals. Incidence was calculated using normalized optical density ≤ 1•5, VL ≥ 1,000 copies/mL, and undetectable antiretrovirals. Survey and programmatic data were used to model district-level HIV incidence and prevalence. Results Of 31,028 eligible adults, 98•7% participated in RPHIA and 934 tested HIV positive. HIV prevalence among adults in Rwanda was 3•0% (95% CI:2•7–3•3). National HIV incidence was 0•08% (95% CI:0•02–0•14) and 0•11% (95% CI:0•00–0•26) in the City of Kigali (CoK). Based on district-level modeling, HIV incidence was greatest in the three CoK districts (0•11% to 0•15%) and varied across other districts (0•03% to 0•10%). Conclusions HIV prevalence among adults in Rwanda is 3.0%; HIV incidence is low at 0.08%. District-level modeling has identified disproportionately affected urban hotspots: areas to focus resources

Development of DNA Damage Response Signaling Biomarkers using Automated, Quantitative Image Analysis

The DNA damage response (DDR) coordinates DNA repair with cell cycle checkpoints to ameliorate or mitigate the pathological effects of DNA damage. Automated quantitative analysis (AQUA) and Tissue Studio are commercial technologies that use digitized immunofluorescence microscopy images to quantify antigen expression in defined tissue compartments. Because DDR is commonly activated in cancer and may reflect genetic instability within the lesion, a method to quantify DDR in cancer offers potential diagnostic and/or prognostic value. In this study, both AQUA and Tissue Studio algorithms were used to quantify the DDR in radiation-damaged skin fibroblasts, melanoma cell lines, moles, and primary and metastatic melanomas. Digital image analysis results for three markers of DDR (γH2AX, P-ATM, P-Chk2) correlated with immunoblot data for irradiated fibroblasts, whereas only γH2AX and P-Chk2 correlated with immunoblot data in melanoma cell lines. Melanoma cell lines displayed substantial variation in γH2AX and P-Chk2 expression, and P-Chk2 expression was significantly correlated with radioresistance. Moles, primary melanomas, and melanoma metastases in brain, lung and liver displayed substantial variation in γH2AX expression, similar to that observed in melanoma cell lines. Automated digital analysis of immunofluorescent images stained for DDR biomarkers may be useful for predicting tumor response to radiation and chemotherapy