The incidence, prevention and treatment of malaria in India

The observations of the writer in the different districts led to the following conclusions with reference to the etiology, prophylaxis and treatment of malaria.The most important factors in the etiology of the disease were the canal irrigation, and the condition of the houses and forts. No material progress can be made in lowering the incidence of malaria in Central and 1orthem India until canal irrigation is controlled, and, if necessary, prohibited in the neighbourhood of towns. The condition of the habitations of all classes of people calls for great improvement. Old forts and barracks situated in malarious places should be pulled down and rebuilt on healtkrsites.As regards the prophylaxis of malaria in India the only measures which have a general application are those which aim at the destruction of the mosquito. General quininisation of the infected population is impracticable, and screening has only a limited application. In areas of low endemicity minor measures will suffice, if efficiently and thoroughly carried out. The small incidence of malaria should be no excuse for the relaxation of antimosquito measures. In regions of moderate and high endemicity major measures are usually necessary in addition; and of these drainage and the control of canal irrigation are the most important. Until these measures have been carried out screening has an important place in the prevention of malaria among Europeans and better class Indians. The screening of houses, barracks and forts is of small use unless the buildings themselves are in a sufficiently good state of repair to render such screening effective in excluding mosquitoes. On Frontier campaigns the use of bivouac nets and mos- quito-proof huts would do much to lessen the incidence of the disease. Prophylactic quinine has a definite place in the prevention of malaria in India. It is indicated particularly for administration to troops and Europeanson Frontier campaigns and in hyperendermic areas; and, though attacks of malaria may not be prevented by the use of prophylactic quinine under such circumstances, they are rendered less severe and are less liable to become pernicious. TheThe treatment of malaria is true prophylaxis and can be summarised in one word - quinine. The drug should be given by the mouth in ordinary cases. The maximum safe dose of quinine for India is 30 grains a._day and rest is essential while large doses are being taken. Quinine orally administered in the form of a Standard course does not prevent reinfection in hyperendermic areas. Intramuscular injections of cuinine are of use in the treatment of severe cases, and of those unable to take quinine orally, and in selected cases give good results. Intravenous injections are safe and effective in skilled hands and are indicated in pernicious cases and where a speedy effect is desired, but the method is unsuitable for general use in India. The transient effect of intravenous injections necessitates a supplementary course of oral quinine. Rectal injections of quinine are uncertain in their action, but have given good results under the supervision of the writer. Subcutaneous injections cannot be recommended. No drug treatment of malaria is successful unless the resistance of the patient is maintained or increased by rest, nourishing food, and general tonic treatment.The pernicious forms of the disease are most common in times of hardship and strain, as on active service. Cerebral cases are most likely to occur during the hot weather, and in subjects of latent malaria who are not taking quinine and are performing strenuous exertion in the heat of the day.Abdominal and pulmonary types of malaria are more prevalent during the autumn months. Benign tertian malaria is more resistant to quinine treatment than malignant tertian, and early diagnosis and early treatment of all cases is essential.The eradication of malaria in India can only be attained by constant and scientifically applied warfare against the mosquito. The malaria carrying anopheles of every district must be identified, their breeding places mapped out, and measures taken to destroy them. By general improvement of the housing conditions the possibility of the hibernation of adult mosquitoes will be lessened. As in other countries, education should hold a prominent place in the prevention of the disease. Coincident with general education a practical knowledge of malaria should be imparted to every scholar. The progress of education among the indigenous masses of India is necessarily slow, but it is proceeding gradually. The prophylactic measures adopted by the Europeans and educated Indians should form an object lesson to the uneducated classes. Agriculture should be encouraged and the conditions of the peasant improved; for agriculture scientifically carried out prevents malaria and the consequent prosperity of the agriculturalist renders him less liable to fall a victim to the disease. It is true that the wholesale eradication of malaria will take many years, out the time can be shortened and the incidence lessened by vhole- hearted efforts to prevent the disease. Antimalarial measures may seem costly, but the disease is still more costly, and antimalarial measures alone will render India, with its unlimited vealth and resources, a healthy and prosperous country

Collecting single molecules with conventional optical tweezers

The size of particles which can be trapped in optical tweezers ranges from tens of nanometres to tens of micrometres. This size regime also includes large single molecules. Here we present experiments demonstrating that optical tweezers can be used to collect polyethylene oxide (PEO) molecules suspended in water. The molecules that accumulate in the focal volume do not aggregate and therefore represent a region of increased molecule concentration, which can be controlled by the trapping potential. We also present a model which relates the change in concentration to the trapping potential. Since many protein molecules have molecular weights for which this method is applicable the effect may be useful in assisting nucleation of protein crystals.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The Birth of a Galaxy - III. Propelling reionisation with the faintest galaxies

Starlight from galaxies plays a pivotal role throughout the process of cosmic reionisation. We present the statistics of dwarf galaxy properties at z > 7 in haloes with masses up to 10^9 solar masses, using a cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulation that follows their buildup starting with their Population III progenitors. We find that metal-enriched star formation is not restricted to atomic cooling ($T_{\rm vir} \ge 10^4$ K) haloes, but can occur in haloes down to masses ~10^6 solar masses, especially in neutral regions. Even though these smallest galaxies only host up to 10^4 solar masses of stars, they provide nearly 30 per cent of the ionising photon budget. We find that the galaxy luminosity function flattens above M_UV ~ -12 with a number density that is unchanged at z < 10. The fraction of ionising radiation escaping into the intergalactic medium is inversely dependent on halo mass, decreasing from 50 to 5 per cent in the mass range $\log M/M_\odot = 7.0-8.5$. Using our galaxy statistics in a semi-analytic reionisation model, we find a Thomson scattering optical depth consistent with the latest Planck results, while still being consistent with the UV emissivity constraints provided by Ly$\alpha$ forest observations at z = 4-6.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. Accepted in MNRA

Application of Transmission Line Models to Backpanel Plated Through-Hole Via Design

This paper introduces an approach of using a plated through-hole (PTH) via transmission-line model in the design of a thick printed circuit board, such as a backpanel. Full wave FEM modeling of a section of backpanel containing a differential via pair was compared with a transmission model. Computed values of the differential transmission loss agreed within an acceptable range for engineering studies, yet the transmission line model results required less than 2% of the computation time that the full wave model required. Effects of via spacing, via diameter and trace thickness were also examined

External Enrichment of Minihalos by the First Supernovae

Recent high-resolution simulations of early structure formation have shown that externally enriched halos may form some of the first metal enriched stars. This study utilizes a 1 comoving Mpc$^3$ high-resolution simulation to study the enrichment process of metal-enriched halos down to $z=9.3$. Our simulation uniquely tracks the metals ejected from Population III stars, and we use this information to identify the origin of metals within metal-enriched halos. These halos show a wide range of metallicities, but we find that the source of metals for $\gtrsim$ 50\% of metal-enriched halos is supernova explosions of Population III stars occuring outside their virial radii. The results presented here indicate that external enrichment by metal-free stars dominates the enrichment process of halos with virial mass below $10^{6}\,M_\odot$ down to $z=9.3$. Despite the prevalence of external enrichment in low mass halos, Pop II stars forming due to external enrichment are rare because of the small contribution of low-mass halos to the global star formation rate combined with low metallicities towards the center of these halos resulting from metal ejecta from external sources mixing from the outside-in. The enriched stars that do form through this process have absolute metallicities below $10^{-3}\,Z_\odot$. We also find that the fraction of externally enriched halos increases with time, $\sim 90\%$ of halos that are externally enriched have $M_\mathrm{vir} < 10^6\,M_\odot$, and that pair-instability supernovae contribute the most to the enrichment of the IGM as a whole and are thus are the predominant supernova type contributing to the external enrichment of halos.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap