Comments on the successful treatment of Blastocystis spp. with paromomycin in Kenya

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The Implications of Diverse Applications and Scalable Data Sets in Benchmarking Big Data Systems

Now we live in an era of big data, and big data applications are becoming more and more pervasive. How to benchmark data center computer systems running big data applications (in short big data systems) is a hot topic. In this paper, we focus on measuring the performance impacts of diverse applications and scalable volumes of data sets on big data systems. For four typical data analysis applications---an important class of big data applications, we find two major results through experiments: first, the data scale has a significant impact on the performance of big data systems, so we must provide scalable volumes of data sets in big data benchmarks. Second, for the four applications, even all of them use the simple algorithms, the performance trends are different with increasing data scales, and hence we must consider not only variety of data sets but also variety of applications in benchmarking big data systems.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Evaluation on Transfer Efficiency at Integrated Transport Terminals through Multilevel Grey Evaluation

AbstractTransfer efficiency in integrated transportation terminal is greatly important for both passengers and operational companies. In this paper, we proposed various criteria and a hierarchy index system to evaluate the performance of the transfer condition inside Beijing South Railway Station. To make the assessment more scientific, we assign weightings to each of them by integrated weighting method. Then we use an evaluation method, Multi-level Grey Evaluation, to calculate the performance indexes of different transfer modes in the station and further we compare the ranking results of transfer efficiency of different transfer modes

Association between thrombocytes count and Plasmodium falcipurum infection among children under five years attending Kombewa Sub-County Hospital

Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality especially among children, expectant women and continues to be a global health burden. Haematological changes mark some of the most common complications in malaria as they play a major role in malaria pathology. Thrombocytes in particular, have been shown to bind infected erythrocytes and kill intracellular malaria parasites thereby indicating a protective function of platelets in the early stages. However, the mechanism that leads to low thrombocytes count in malaria infected individuals is not clear. Understanding the mechanism of platelet reduction during pathogenesis of malaria infection will be fundamental in malaria severity classification, monitoring of platelet count during infection and prompt initiation of anti-malarial therapy. In trying to understand these facts, this study sort to establish the association between platelet count and P. falciparum infection amongst children less than five years. This was a retrospective case-control study, n=549. Children below the age of five years that attending Kombewa Sub -County Hospital were recruited. Study participants were identified using the inclusion criteria and followed horizontally to retrieve platelet count from complete blood count results. The respective malaria blood film reads were then recorded, stratified to give case and control from which random sampling was done. Chi-square test and Tukey’s multiple comparison tests from Graph pad prism 5 were used in the analysis. The odds of exposure to low platelet count were then established with a confidence level of 95%. We found significant difference between the cases and controls in regard to parasite density (Chi square=157.5, p value <0.05), mean parasite density in controls =2042.1/?l compared to cases= 142880/?l. The odds of cases being exposed to malaria was 12 times more than controls (OR=12.382, 95%). We also found no variation in thrombocytes counts in relation to gender, children with thrombocytopenia were having higher parasite density, parasite density as a result of P.falciparum infection is not dependent on gender and children that suffered malarial infection were twelve times likely to develop thrombocytopenia. Further studies are then recommended to establish the effects of incorporation of platelet aggregation inhibitors such as aspirin in malaria treatment.Key Words: Plasmodium falciparum, thrombocytopenia, infectio

Identification of Characteristic Flavor Substances of Jingyang Fu Brick Tea by Gas Chromatography-Ion Mobility Spectrometry and Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

In order to determine the characteristic flavor of Jingyang Fu brick tea, a national geographical indication product, the volatile compounds of Jingyang Fu brick tea, Anhua Fu brick tea and four other dark teas were analyzed by gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) in this study. The results showed that in total 154 compounds were identified by GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS, and the flavor composition of Jingyang Fu brick tea was clearly distinguished from that of Anhua Fu-brick tea and that of the other dark teas. Totally 12 characteristic substances of Jingyang Fu brick tea were obtained by comparative analysis with the other dark tea, seven of which were validated by GC-IMS, including 1-octen-3-one, n-hexanol, guaiacol, β-pinene, methyl butyrate, n-propanol and 2-heptanone, and the remaining five were characterized by HS-SPME-GC-MS based on aroma activity values, including hexanal, decanal, (E,E)-3,5-octadien-2-one, methyl salicylate and α-viologenone. The identification of characteristic flavor substances can provide a theoretical basis for the identification, origin tracing and processing optimization of Jingyang Fu brick tea

Re-emergence of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, China

Re-emergence of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, Chin

Intestinal parasitic infections in schoolchildren in different settings of Côte d'Ivoire : effect of diagnostic approach and implications for control

BACKGROUND: Social-ecological systems govern parasitic infections in humans. Within the frame of assessing the accuracy of a rapid diagnostic test for Schistosoma mansoni in Cote d'Ivoire, three different endemicity settings had to be identified and schoolchildren's intestinal parasitic infection profiles were characterized. METHODS: In September 2010, a rapid screening was conducted in 11 schools in the Azaguie district, south Cote d'Ivoire. In each school, 25 children were examined for S. mansoni and S. haematobium. Based on predefined schistosome endemicity levels, three settings were selected, where schoolchildren aged 8-12 years were asked to provide three stool and three urine samples for an in-depth appraisal of parasitic infections. Triplicate Kato-Katz thick smears were prepared from each stool sample for S. mansoni and soil-transmitted helminth diagnosis, whereas urine samples were subjected to a filtration method for S. haematobium diagnosis. Additionally, a formol-ether concentration method was employed on one stool sample for the diagnosis of helminths and intestinal protozoa. Multivariable logistic regression models were employed to analyse associations between schoolchildren's parasitic infections, age, sex and study setting. RESULTS: The prevalences of S. mansoni and S. haematobium infections in the initial screening ranged from nil to 88% and from nil to 56%, respectively. The rapid screening in the three selected areas revealed prevalences of S. mansoni of 16%, 33% and 78%. Based on a more rigorous diagnostic approach, the respective prevalences increased to 92%, 53% and 33%. S. haematobium prevalences were 0.8%, 4% and 65%. Prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma spp., soil-transmitted helminths and intestinal protozoan infections showed setting-specific patterns. Infections with two or more species concurrently were most common in the rural setting (84%), followed by the peri-urban (28.3%) and urban setting (18.2%). CONCLUSIONS: More sensitive diagnostic tools or rigorous sampling approaches are needed to select endemicity settings with high fidelity. The observed small-scale heterogeneity of helminths and intestinal protozoan infections has important implications for contro