Traveling wave solutions for two species competitive chemotaxis systems

In this paper, we consider two species chemotaxis systems with Lotka–Volterra competition reaction terms. Under appropriate conditions on the parameters in such a system, we establish the existence of traveling wave solutions of the system connecting two spatially homogeneous equilibrium solutions with wave speed greater than some critical number c∗. We also show the non-existence of such traveling waves with speed less than some critical number c∗0 , which is independent of the chemotaxis. Moreover, under suitable hypotheses on the coefficients of the reaction terms, we obtain explicit range for the chemotaxis sensitivity coefficients ensuring c∗ = c∗0 , which implies that the minimum wave speed exists and is not affected by the chemoattractant

GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG FULANI AND YORUBA ECOTYPE OF NIGERIA INDIGENOUS CHICKEN IN THE DERIVED SAVANNAH ZONE USING MICROSATELLITE MARKERS

Genetic diversity of two different populations of Nigeria Native chickens of was examined by means of microsatellite markers. The populations studied are Fulani Ecotype Chickens (FEC) and Yoruba Ecotype Chickens (YEC). Five di-nucleotide microsatellite markers were investigated to study the genetic diversity and population structure of the two ecotypes. All microsatellite examined were polymorphic across the two populations. A total of 62 alleles were detected across the five loci examined with 32 alleles found in Fulani Ecotype Chicken (FEC) and 30 allele found in Yoruba Ecotype Chickens (YEC). The number of alleles ranged from 4-8 in FEC and 4-10 in YEC.  The mean number of alleles (MNA) across all the microsatellite was 6.2  0.696 across the population. While the mean number per population are 6.4 0.784 in FEC and 6.0  1.265 in FEC and YEC respectively. Highest number of allele was found in loci LEI0094 and MCW0216 in FEC and locus LEI0094 in YEC. Private alleles were found in loci LEI0094, ADL0268, MCW0216 and MCW0248 in both populations. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) was between 0.277 to 0.809 in FEC and 0.383 to 0.660 in YEC while the expected heterozygosity (He) was between 0.392 to 0.670 in FEC and 0.290 to 0.727 in YEC. Fis, Fit and Fst of the two populations ranged between -0.051 to 0.0105, -0.043 to 0.110 and 0.003 to 0.008 for respectively across the loci. The percentage of variation among population was 8% while among individual and within individual was 91% and 1% respectively. Nei’s Genetic distance between the two populations (0.015), based on (UPGMA) the two populations are classified as being genetically close to each other. Genetic diversity across the two populations is high. There is low level of genetic differentiation between the two populations which showed absence of clear sub structuring of Nigeria indigenous Chickens from derived savannah zone

p21 promotes oncolytic adenoviral activity in ovarian cancer and is a potential biomarker

The oncolytic adenovirus dl922-947 replicates selectively within and lyses cells with a dysregulated Rb pathway, a finding seen in > 90% human cancers. dl922-947 is more potent than wild type adenovirus and the E1B-deletion mutant dl1520 (Onyx-015). We wished to determine which host cell factors influence cytotoxicity. SV40 large T-transformed MRC5-VA cells are 3-logs more sensitive to dl922-947 than isogenic parental MRC5 cells, confirming that an abnormal G1/S checkpoint increases viral efficacy. The sensitivity of ovarian cancer cells to dl922-947 varied widely: IC50 values ranged from 51 (SKOV3ip1) to 0.03 pfu/cell (TOV21G). Cells sensitive to dl922-947 had higher S phase populations and supported earlier E1A expression. Cytotoxicity correlated poorly with both infectivity and replication, but well with expression of p21 by microarray and western blot analyses. Matched p21+/+ and -/- Hct116 cells confirmed that p21 influences dl922-947 activity in vitro and in vivo. siRNA-mediated p21 knockdown in sensitive TOV21G cells decreases E1A expression and viral cytotoxicity, whilst expression of p21 in resistant A2780CP cells increases virus activity in vitro and in intraperitoneal xenografts. These results highlight that host cell factors beyond simple infectivity can influence the efficacy of oncolytic adenoviruses. p21 expression may be an important biomarker of response in clinical trials

A high performance liquid chromatographic assay of Mefloquine in saliva after a single oral dose in healthy adult Africans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mefloquine-artesunate is a formulation of artemisinin based combination therapy (ACT) recommended by the World Health Organization and historically the first ACT used clinically. The use of ACT demands constant monitoring of therapeutic efficacies and drug levels, in order to ensure that optimum drug exposure is achieved and detect reduced susceptibility to these drugs. Quantification of anti-malarial drugs in biological fluids other than blood would provide a more readily applicable method of therapeutic drug monitoring in developing endemic countries. Efforts in this study were devoted to the development of a simple, field applicable, non-invasive method for assay of mefloquine in saliva.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A high performance liquid chromatographic method with UV detection at 220 nm for assaying mefloquine in saliva was developed and validated by comparing mefloquine concentrations in saliva and plasma samples from four healthy volunteers who received single oral dose of mefloquine. Verapamil was used as internal standard. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a Hypersil ODS column.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Extraction recoveries of mefloquine in plasma or saliva were 76-86% or 83-93% respectively. Limit of quantification of mefloquine was 20 ng/ml. Agreement between salivary and plasma mefloquine concentrations was satisfactory (r = 0.88, <it>p </it>< 0.001). Saliva:plasma concentrations ratio was 0.42.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Disposition of mefloquine in saliva paralleled that in plasma, making salivary quantification of mefloquine potentially useful in therapeutic drug monitoring.</p

Stakeholder perspectives and requirements to guide the development of digital technology for palliative cancer services: a multi-country, cross-sectional, qualitative study in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe

Introduction: Coverage of palliative care in low and middle-income countries is very limited, and global projections suggest large increases in need. Novel approaches are needed to achieve the palliative care goals of Universal Health Coverage. This study aimed to identify stakeholders’ data and information needs and the role of digital technologies to improve access to and delivery of palliative care for people with advanced cancer in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Methods: We conducted a multi-country cross-sectional qualitative study in sub-Saharan Africa. In-depth qualitative stakeholder interviews were conducted with N = 195 participants across Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe (advanced cancer patients n = 62, informal caregivers n = 48, health care professionals n = 59, policymakers n = 26). Verbatim transcripts were subjected to deductive and inductive framework analysis to identify stakeholders needs and their preferences for digital technology in supporting the capture, transfer and use of patient-level data to improve delivery of palliative care. Results: Our coding framework identified four main themes: i) acceptability of digital technology; ii) current context of technology use; iii) current vision for digital technology to support health and palliative care, and; iv) digital technologies for the generation, reporting and receipt of data. Digital heath is an acceptable approach, stakeholders support the use of secure data systems, and patients welcome improved communication with providers. There are varying preferences for how and when digital technologies should be utilised as part of palliative cancer care provision, including for increasing timely patient access to trained palliative care providers and the triaging of contact from patients. Conclusion: We identified design and practical challenges to optimise potential for success in developing digital health approaches to improve access to and enhance the delivery of palliative cancer care in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Synthesis of findings identified 15 requirements to guide the development of digital health approaches that can support the attainment of global health palliative care policy goals

Traditional knowledge and cultural importance of Borassus aethiopum Mart. in Benin: interacting effects of socio-demographic attributes and multi-scale abundance

ResearchBackground: Eliciting factors affecting distribution of traditional knowledge (TK) and cultural importance of plant resources is central in ethnobiology. Socio-demographic attributes and ecological apparency hypothesis (EAH) have been widely documented as drivers of TK distribution, but their synergistic effect is poorly documented. Here, we focused on Borassus aethiopum, a socio-economic important agroforestry palm in Africa, analyzing relationships between the number of use-reports and cultural importance on one hand, and informant socio-demographic attributes (age category and gender) on the other hand, considering the EAH at multi-scale contexts. Our hypothesis is that effects of socio-demographic attributes on use-reports and cultural importance are shaped by both local (village level) and regional (chorological region level) apparency of study species. We expected so because distribution of knowledge on a resource in a community correlates to the versatility in the resource utilization but also connections among communities within a region. Methods: Nine hundred ninety-two face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in six villages of low versus high local abundance of B. aethiopum spanning three chorological regions (humid, sub-humid and semiarid) also underlying a gradient of increasing distribution and abundance of B. aethiopum. Number of use-reports and score of importance of uses of B. aethiopum were recorded in six use-categories including medicine, food, handcraft, construction, firewood, and ceremonies and rituals. Data were analyzed using Poisson and ordered logistic modelsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exposure to anti-malarial drugs and monitoring of adverse drug reactions using toll-free mobile phone calls in private retail sector in Sagamu, Nigeria: implications for pharmacovigilance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) contribute to ill-health or life-threatening outcomes of therapy during management of infectious diseases. The exposure to anti-malarial and use of mobile phone technology to report ADRs following drug exposures were investigated in Sagamu - a peri-urban community in Southwest Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Purchase of medicines was actively monitored for 28 days in three Community Pharmacies (CP) and four Patent and Proprietary Medicine Stores (PPMS) in the community. Information on experience of ADRs was obtained by telephone from 100 volunteers who purchased anti-malarials during the 28-day period.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>A total of 12,093 purchases were recorded during the period. Antibiotics, analgesics, vitamins and anti-malarials were the most frequently purchased medicines. A total of 1,500 complete courses of anti-malarials were purchased (12.4% of total purchases); of this number, purchases of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and chloroquine (CQ) were highest (39.3 and 25.2% respectiuvely). Other anti-malarials purchased were artesunate monotherapy (AS) - 16.1%, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) 10.0%, amodiaquine (AQ) - 6.6%, quinine (QNN) - 1.9%, halofantrine (HF) - 0.2% and proguanil (PR) - 0.2%. CQ was the cheapest (USD 0.3) and halofantrine the most expensive (USD 7.7). AL was 15.6 times ($4.68) more expensive than CQ. The response to mobile phone monitoring of ADRs was 57% in the first 24 hours (day 1) after purchase and decreased to 33% by day 4. Participants in this monitoring exercise were mostly with low level of education (54%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings from this study indicate that ineffective anti-malaria medicines including monotherapies remain widely available and are frequently purchased in the study area. Cost may be a factor in the continued use of ineffective monotherapies. Availability of a toll-free telephone line may facilitate pharmacovigilance and follow up of response to medicines in a resource-poor setting.</p