High prevalence of curable sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women in a rural county hospital in Kilifi, Kenya

Background : Women attending antenatal care (ANC) in resource-limited countries are frequently screened for syphilis and HIV, but rarely for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We assessed the prevalence of curable STIs, defined as infection with either Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Trichomonas vaginalis, from July to September 2015. Methods : In a cross-sectional study, women attending ANC at the Kilifi County Hospital, Kenya, had a urine sample tested for C. trachomatis/N. gonorrhoeae by GeneXpert and a vaginal swab for T. vaginalis by culture. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) was defined as a Nugent score of 7-10 of the Gram stain of a vaginal smear in combination with self-reported vaginal discharge. Genital ulcers were observed during collection of vaginal swabs. All women responded to questions on socio-demographics and sexual health and clinical symptoms of STIs. Predictors for curable STIs were assessed in multivariable logistic regression. Results : A total of 42/202 (20.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI):15.4-27.0) women had a curable STI. The prevalence was 14.9% for C. trachomatis (95% Cl:10.2-20.5), 1.0% for N. gonorrhoeae (95% CI: 0.1-3.5), 7.4% for T. vaginalis (95% CI:4.2-12.0), 19.3% for BV (95% CI: 14.1-25.4) and 2.5% for genital ulcers (95% CI: 0.8-5.7). Predictors for infection with curable STIs included women with a genital ulcer (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 35.0, 95% CI: 2.7-461.6) compared to women without a genital ulcer, women who used water for cleaning after visiting the toilet compared to those who used toilet paper or other solid means (AOR = 4.1, 95% CI:1.5-11.3), women who reported having sexual debut = 18 years (AOR = 2.7, 95% Cl:1.1-6.6), and BV-positive women (AOR = 2.7, 95% Cl:1.1-6.6) compared to BV-negative women. Conclusion : One in five women attending ANC had a curable STI. These infections were associated with genital ulcers, hygiene practices, early sexual debut and bacterial vaginosis

Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonising Hyacinthoides non-scripta (bluebell) in a seminatural woodland

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiotic associations with plant roots. Around 150 species have been described and it is becoming clear that many of these species have different functional properties. The species diversity of AM fungi actively growing in roots is therefore an important component of ecosystem diversity. However, it is difficult to identify AM fungi below the genus level from morphology in planta, as they possess few informative characters. We present here a molecular method for identifying infrageneric sequence types that estimate the taxonomic diversity of AM fungi present in actively growing roots. Bluebell roots were sampled from beneath two different canopy types, oak and sycamore, and DNA sequences were amplified from roots by the polymerase chain reaction with fungal-specific primers for part of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. Restriction fragment length polymorphism among 141 clones was assessed and 62 clones were sequenced. When aligned, discrete sequence groups emerged that cluster into the three families of AM fungi: Acaulosporaceae, Gigasporaceae and Glomaceae. The sequence variation is consistent with rRNA secondary structure. The same sequence types were found at both sampling times. Frequencies of Scutellospora increased in December, and Acaulospora increased in abundance in July. Sites with a sycamore canopy show a reduced abundance of Acaulospora, and those with oak showed a reduced abundance of Glomus. These distribution patterns are consistent with previous morphological studies carried out in this woodland. The molecular method provides an alternative method of estimating the distribution and abundance of AM fungi, and has the potential to provide greater resolution at the infrageneric level

'WARM-UP' EFFECTS ON FREQUENCY CONTENT OF EMG IN DYNAMIC EXERCISE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSING FATIGUE

The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of the increasing muscle temperature that occurs during dynamic exercise for using the frequency content of EMG for assessing muscle fatigue in such activities. It is known that the temperature of the active muscles can be elevated to around 40°C during prolonged exhaustive exercise (Saltin et ai, 1972) and that temperature changes can affect the frequency content of surface EMG (Merletti et ai, 1984). Several of the previous studies in this area have shown initial increases in median frequency (fmed) prior to a decline with fatigue where the activity was not proceeded by other exercise (Jansen et ai, 1997, Gosselin et ai, 2000, Hausswirth et ai, 2000). It is hypothesised that these initial rises are due to increasing muscle temperature and that this may affect the accurate measurement of fatigue