Current and cumulative malaria infections in a setting embarking on elimination: Amhara, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Since 2005, Ethiopia has aggressively scaled up malaria prevention and case management. As a result, the number of malaria cases and deaths has significantly declined. In order to track progress towards the elimination of malaria in Amhara Region, coverage of malaria control tools and current malaria transmission need to be documented. METHODS: A cross-sectional household survey oversampling children under 5 years of age was conducted during the dry season in 2013. A bivalent rapid diagnostic test (RDT) detecting both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax and serology assays using merozoite antigens from both these species were used to assess the prevalence of malaria infections and exposure to malaria parasites in 16 woredas (districts) in Amhara Region. RESULTS: 7878 participants were included, with a mean age of 16.8 years (range 0.5-102.8 years) and 42.0% being children under 5 years of age. The age-adjusted RDT-positivity for P. falciparum and P. vivax infection was 1.5 and 0.4%, respectively, of which 0.05% presented as co-infections. Overall age-adjusted seroprevalence was 30.0% for P. falciparum, 21.8% for P. vivax, and seroprevalence for any malaria species was 39.4%. The prevalence of RDT-positive infections varied by woreda, ranging from 0.0 to 8.3% and by altitude with rates of 3.2, 0.7, and 0.4% at under 2000, 2000-2500, and >2500 m, respectively. Serological analysis showed heterogeneity in transmission intensity by area and altitude and evidence for a change in the force of infection in the mid-2000s. CONCLUSIONS: Current and historic malaria transmission across Amhara Region show substantial variation by age and altitude with some settings showing very low or near-zero transmission. Plasmodium vivax infections appear to be lower but relatively more stable across geography and altitude, while P. falciparum is the dominant infection in the higher transmission, low-altitude areas. Age-dependent seroprevalence analyses indicates a drop in transmission occurred in the mid-2000s, coinciding with malaria control scale-up efforts. As malaria parasitaemia rates get very low with elimination efforts, serological evaluation may help track progress to elimination

Human Non-neutralizing HIV-1 Envelope Monoclonal Antibodies Limit the Number of Founder Viruses during SHIV Mucosal Infection in Rhesus Macaques

HIV-1 mucosal transmission begins with virus or virus-infected cells moving through mucus across mucosal epithelium to infect CD4+ T cells. Although broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are the type of HIV-1 antibodies that are most likely protective, they are not induced with current vaccine candidates. In contrast, antibodies that do not neutralize primary HIV-1 strains in the TZM-bl infection assay are readily induced by current vaccine candidates and have also been implicated as secondary correlates of decreased HIV-1 risk in the RV144 vaccine efficacy trial. Here, we have studied the capacity of anti-Env monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against either the immunodominant region of gp41 (7B2 IgG1), the first constant region of gp120 (A32 IgG1), or the third variable loop (V3) of gp120 (CH22 IgG1) to modulate in vivo rectal mucosal transmission of a high-dose simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV-BaL) in rhesus macaques. 7B2 IgG1 or A32 IgG1, each containing mutations to enhance Fc function, was administered passively to rhesus macaques but afforded no protection against productive clinical infection while the positive control antibody CH22 IgG1 prevented infection in 4 of 6 animals. Enumeration of transmitted/founder (T/F) viruses revealed that passive infusion of each of the three antibodies significantly reduced the number of T/F genomes. Thus, some antibodies that bind HIV-1 Env but fail to neutralize virus in traditional neutralization assays may limit the number of T/F viruses involved in transmission without leading to enhancement of viral infection. For one of these mAbs, gp41 mAb 7B2, we provide the first co-crystal structure in complex with a common cyclical loop motif demonstrated to be critical for infection by other retroviruses

On a non flat Riemannian warped product manifold with respect to quarter-symmetric connection

In this paper, we study generalized quasi-Einstein warped products with respect to quarter symmetric connection for dimension n ≥ 3 and Ricci-symmetric generalized quasi-Einstein manifold with quarter symmetric connection. We also investigate that in what conditions the generalized quasi-Einstein manifold to be nearly Einstein manifold with respect to quarter symmetric connection. Example of warped product on generalized quasi-Einstein manifold with respect to quarter symmetric connection are also discussed

Multiply warped product on quasi-Einstein manifold with a semi-symmetric non-metric connection

In this paper, we have studied warped products and multiply warped product on quasi-Einstein manifold with semi-symmetric non-metric connection. Then we have applied our results to generalized Robertson-Walker space times with a semi-symmetric non-metric connection

Multiply warped products quasi-Einstein manifolds with quarter-symmetric connection

In this paper we study warped products and multiply warped products on quasi-Einstein manifolds with a quarter-symmetric connection. Then we apply our results to generalize Robertson-Walker spacetime with a quarter-symmetric connection

Purification and characterization of a gelatinolytic serine protease from the seeds of ash gourd <em>Benincasa hispida</em> (Thunb.) Cogn.

77-87In Ayurveda, Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. (Ash gourd) was recommended for management of diabetes, peptic ulcer, and other diseases. This plant is rich in proteolytic enzymes and proteases have wide application in food and laundry industry. Therefore, the search for new potential plant proteases continues. A soluble gelatinolytic plant serine protease (AG2) had been purified from the seeds of Benincasa hispida. The molecular mass of the monomer was estimated to be about 11 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 11211.1 Da by MALDI-TOF. The protease activity was strongly inhibited by PMSF only but not at all by soyabean trypsin inhibitor and resists autodigestion. Thus AG2 belongs to subtilisin family. The optimum pH and temperature are 10.0 and 30°C respectively. This protease was quite stable in presence of a cationic surfactant, an oxidizing agent and in basic pH medium. The protease AG2 can hydrolyze casein, azoalbumin and TAME but it was inert towards BAPNA. The kinetic parameters Km and Vmax were 0.117 ± 0.00067 mM and 470.592 ± 0.631 unit mg-1 min-1 respectively using casein as substrate. The CD spectrum showed it as a typical α/β class of protease. The N-terminal sequence of first 17 amino acid residues (MQQFFNEPSSLLIVVVR) is unique in nature