Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's framework for antimicrobial resistance control in Africa.

No abstract available

Sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive health factors associated with maternal knowledge and practice of infection prevention in neonates in North Dayi District, Ghana

BackgroundNeonates are at a greater risk of infection, but data on the maternal knowledge and practice of infection prevention in neonates (IPNs) are scarce. This study aimed to assess sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive health factors associated with maternal knowledge and practice of IPNs in North Dayi District, Ghana.MethodsThis was a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted among 612 mothers. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection adapted from previous studies and the IPN guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Bivariable analyses were performed to determine the association between maternal knowledge and practice of IPNs and sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive health factors.ResultsAnalysis showed that less than one-fifth of the mothers (12.9%) had poor knowledge of IPNs, while 21.6% incorrectly practiced it. Mothers who had poor knowledge of IPNs [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 13.33 (95% CI: 7.69–23.26), p < 0.001] were more likely to have a poor practice of IPNs.ConclusionAbout one-fifth of the mothers in this study had poor knowledge or poor practice of IPNs according to the WHO’s guidelines. The Health Directorate of North Dayi District should explore the risk factors associated with poor IPNs and increase successful guideline adherence with intensified educational outreach and campaigns

Tetrapod Evolution and Community Ecology in the Post-Devonian World

Tetrapods currently comprise over 30,000 species distributed globally and occupying a stunning diversity of bodyplans and ecologies. After many years of fruitful work, the early evolutionary history of the group can be considered well-understood. We have a detailed sequence of anatomical change across the fish-tetrapod transition in the Devonian period and a rich fossil record from the late Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) and Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian). These two datasets reveal the initial assembly of the tetrapod bodyplan at one end and the proliferation of early members of crown group lineages at the other. However, there remains an unbridged divide between the apparently low-diversity, obligately aquatic, fishlike Devonian tetrapod assemblage and the speciose, ecologically diverse post-Devonian assemblage. This divide is inflected by the end-Devonian mass extinction (EDME), which is itself followed by a ~15 million year hiatus in the tetrapod fossil record (Romer’s Gap) that is just now beginning to be populated. In this dissertation I attempt to understand the evolution of early tetrapods through the end-Devonian mass extinction and its aftermath by integrating data from comparative morphology, phylogenetics, and community ecology. In Chapter 2, I redescribe the postcranial skeleton of the middle Mississippian stem tetrapod Whatcheeria deltae to generate new anatomical and character information and better understand its relationships. In Chapter 3, I analyze a new early tetrapod phylogenetic dataset to more evaluate the effect of new Whatcheeria data on the structure of the apical tetrapod stem group, hypotheses of tetrapod crown group membership, and inferred patterns and timing of branching events during the Late Devonian and Mississippian. Finally, in Chapter 4 I use comparative ecological methods to evaluate effect of the end-Devonian mass extinction on richness of guilds (=functional groups) and community-level resistance to perturbation across environments, with special attention paid to the middle Devonian-middle Mississippian origin of terrestrial communities. In Chapter 2 I redescribe the postcranial anatomy of Whatcheeria on the basis of hundreds of previously unstudied specimens. Whatcheeria is revealed to be an unusual large-bodied form with an elongate neck, robust appendicular skeleton, and regionalized trunk ribs. Limb proportions resemble those of terrestrial crown tetrapods from the Permian such as Eryops, but the presence of a well-developed cranial sensory canal system indicate that Whatcheeria was an aquatic animal, albeit one adapted for walking rather than swimming in the water column. Using a diagnosis improved by new character data, the family Whatcheeriidae can be restricted to the earliest Mississippian Pederpes and middle Mississippian Whatcheeria. Whatcheeriid autapomorphies can now be recognized in several Mississippian specimens as well. Whatcheeria indicates that Mississippian stem tetrapods were capable of much more morphological, physiological, and likely functional complexity than previously appreciated. Moreover, such complexity was not necessarily tied to terrestrialization. In Chapter 3 I analyze a new phylogenetic dataset incorporating new postcranial character data from Whatcheeria as well as recent discoveries from Romer’s Gap. The dataset combines new characters with those of multiple dataset ‘lineages’. Parsimony analysis finds a well-supported, monophyletic Whatcheeriidae composed of Whatcheeria and Pederpes located deep on the tetrapod stem. Contra recent hypotheses, large aquatic embolomeres and the limbless aistopods and adelospondyls are found within the amniote total group. The colosteids have an ambiguous relationship to the tetrapod crown node, alternating between the sister group of crown tetrapods to the sister group of the temnospondyls within the lissamphibian total group. Analysis of anatomical partitions of characters indicates similar levels of signal in cranial and postcranial data but divergent patterns of evolution across partitions, particularly between the anterior and posterior appendicular skeletons. Estimation of node ages supports a Devonian origin for most stem tetrapod lineages but not terrestriality. Node age estimation and anatomical partition analyses both support at minimum one independent origin of terrestriality in each of the crown tetrapod lineages. In Chapter 4 I analyze a dataset of 16 paleocommunities from the middle Devonian (Givetian) through the end of the Mississippian (Serpukhovian). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis finds a strong time-environment separation between axes when the diversity of high-level taxonomic groups is used, but this distinction breaks down substantially when diversity of ecological guilds is used. These results suggest substantially greater functional continuity than taxonomic continuity through the EDME. Simulation of paleocommunity response to perturbation using the Cascading Extinction on Graphs (CEG) model finds no clear difference in response between communities before and after the Frasnian-Famennian invertebrate extinction or the EDME. The response of paleocommunities is bimodal with low variance, shifting extremely rapidly from low to high levels of secondary extinction at approximately 50% perturbation. Curiously, variance in secondary extinction is low throughout. I propose that this response pattern is due to a combination of low guild richness, high guild evenness, broad prey profiles among predators, and top-down pressure from high-trophic-level predators. At low levels of perturbation, the generalist nature of predators results in low per-species predation pressure. However, at high levels of perturbation, increasing secondary extinction, in combination with low guild richness, begins to rapidly eliminate entire guilds. Top-down predation pressure is still being widely applied, and the entire food web collapses. Gilboa, a middle Devonian terrestrial paleocommunity, and East Kirkton, the oldest terrestrial tetrapod paleocommunity (a diverse arthropod assemblage is also present), both share this response pattern with the aquatic localities, though variance in secondary extinction values is greatly increased by the lower species diversity. Terrestrial communities appear to have developed through the diversification and proliferation of plants and arthropods; tetrapods later fit into guilds which had been previously defined and occupied solely by arthropods. I propose the origin of more fully terrestrial vertebrate communities may lie somewhere in the Mississippian, and previous hypotheses that late Pennsylvanian/early Permian assemblages represent the initial organizational structure of the first terrestrial tetrapod communities are not supported. Datafiles for the Chapter 4 paleocommunity food web analyses are listed in the Supplementary Files section. These files contain faunal lists, guild assignments, and model parameter information in Excel (.xlsx) format

Passive tunable and polarization-insensitive fan-like metamaterial absorber in the visible spectrum

We numerically study a fan-like metamaterial absorber (FMMA) composed of an Au-TiO2-Au multilayer with a 3-D finite-difference-time-domain method (FDTD) and verify it experimentally. Our proposed design shows high absorbance, >98% numerically, in the visible spectrum, which is due to the excitation of both localized surface plasmons (LSPs) and propagating surface plasmons (PSPs). In particular, the TiO2 dielectric spacer sandwiched between the top fan-like nanopatterned structure and the bottom planar Au-film is identified as playing a crucial role in the spectral response of the FMMA. Its introduction excites the PSP mode, which first enhances the absorbance of the FMMA and subsequently redshifts the spectral absorbance with a further increase in the thickness. Moreover, the proposed FMMA, numerically and experimentally, also shows polarization and angle insensitivity in the visible spectrum under normal and selected oblique incidence. These results offer unique potential in sensing applications and devices requiring selective absorption in the visible spectral region.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Raw diversity dataset (.dat format)

Raw diversity dataset in .dat format for use in PAST, contains additional color-coding and formatting

Relative diversity dataset (.csv format)

Relative diversity dataset in .csv format for use in Microsoft Excel

Micropalaeontology data

Micropalaeontological data for samples 1-3 from the TIM. The number of picked specimens (counts) of each microfossil type for the 1000, 425, 250 and 125 m size fractions is given. The total microfossil assemblage counts (of all size fractions combined) for each sample are also recorded, giving the counts and microfossils per gram of rock sieved. Abbreviations: actinopt. = actinopterygian; indet. = indeterminate

Importance of <i>Aspergillus</i>-Specific Antibody Screening for Diagnosis of Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis after Tuberculosis Treatment: A Prospective Follow-Up Study in Ghana

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) often occurs in patients that have been previously treated for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). A limited number of studies have looked at the development of CPA at different times following the completion of a PTB treatment course. This prospective longitudinal study aimed to determine the incidence of CPA at two timepoints, at the end of the PTB treatment (T1) and six months post-treatment (T2). Patients with confirmed PTB from a previous study who were placed on anti-TB medication were followed up and screened for CPA at T1 and T2 by assessing their symptoms, evaluating their quality of life, and screening them for Aspergillus infection by performing antibody testing and cultures. CPA was defined by the Global Action for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) diagnostic algorithm. Forty-one patients were enrolled, of whom thirty-three patients (80%) and twenty-eight patients (68%) were resurveyed at T1 and T2, respectively. The rate of new CPA was 3.3% (1/33) and 7.4% (2/27) at T1 and T2, respectively, with an overall incidence of 10.7% (3/28) among the patients at both T1 and T2. A positive Aspergillus-specific antibody test was an indicator for CPA in all three patients. Aspergillus-specific antibody screening during and after the end of an anti-TB treatment regimen may be important for early detection of CPA in high-PTB-burden settings

CA axis scores

Axis scores from correspondence analysis (CA) in .csv format

Relative diversity dataset (.dat format)

Relative diversity dataset in .dat format for use in PAST, contains additional color-coding and formatting