Abstract: Studies on the expression of genes in different contexts are essential to our understanding of the functioning of organisms and their adaptations to the environment. Gene expression studies require steps of normalization, which are done using the stable expression pattern of reference genes. For many different eusocial bees reference genes have been discovered, but not for the primitively eusocial Euglossini bees. We used available genomic resources of Euglossini species and the ge...
Abstract: Background: There is renewed acknowledgement that targeting gametocytes is essential for malaria control and elimination efforts. Simple mathematical models were fitted to data from clinical trials in order to determine the mean gametocyte circulation time and duration of gametocyte carriage in treated malaria patients. Methods: Data were used from clinical trials from East Africa. The first trial compared non-artemisinin combination therapy (non-ACT: sulphadoxine-yrimethamine (SP)...
Abstract: Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a key vector of Plasmodium parasites. Repellents, which may be a promising alternative to pesticides used to control malaria mosquitoes. Although citronellal is a known mosquito repellent, its repellency characteristics are largely unknown. Determining the specific odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and odorant receptors (ORs) that detect and transfer the citronellal molecule in A. gambiae s.s. will help to define the mode of action of this compound. In this ...
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is known to cause lipid abnormalities such as dyslipidaemia in HIV-infected individuals. Yet, dyslipidaemia may not independently occur as it may be worsened by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL). This case–control study was conducted in three-selected hospitals in the Northern part of Ghana. The study constituted a total of 118 HIV-infected participants aged 19–71 ...
ABSTRACT This study was aimed at examining the food craving and aversion among first time pregnant women in selected health facilities in Enugu metropolis. The objectives of this study were to determine the type of food first time pregnant women crave for or have aversion to, identify their reasons for their specific food craving and aversion, determine the first time pregnant women’s awareness of the implication of food craving and aversion in pregnancy and to identify measures taken by fi...
ABSTRACT Fetal transverse cerebellar diameter (TCD) was found to be useful in gestational age (GA) assessment during routine fetal ultrasound examination. The aim of this study is to establish normogram of fetal TCD in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and to compare its ability to predict gestational age with previously published nomograms. Six hundred and ninety seven pregnant women with GA between 14 and 40 weeks were scanned using convenience sampling method. Each woman had thr...
Have you ever wondered how your hormones levels affect your growth and development into adulthood and beyond? How about how your bodily systems affect sleep and metabolism? This is all your endocrine system in play. Your endocrine system is responsible for regulating your growth, sexual development, mood, sleep, and numerous other biological functions that power your day to day routine. Endocrine cells in the body release hormones that bind to target cells of your body after traveling through...
Abstract Background: Globally, good health system performance has resulted from continuous reform, including adaptation of Decentralisation by Devolution policies, for example, the Direct Health Facility Financing (DHFF). Generally, the role of decentralisation in the health sector is to improve efficiency, to foster innovations and to improve quality, patient experience and accountability. However, such improvements have not been well realised in most low- and middle-income countries, with ...
ABSTRACT Wuchereria bancrofti is the most widely distributed of the three nematodes known to cause lymphatic filariasis, the other two being Brugia malayi and B. timori. The present study was carried out to investigate strains of W. bancrofti in mosquito vectors responsible for lymphatic filariasis transmission in Pangani district, north-eastern Tanzania. In addition, the vector abundance and vector infection rates were investigated. The presence of W. bancrofti in mosquitoes was determined...
ABSTRACT Mosquito-borne viruses are an important cause of human and domestic diseases worldwide. As crucially important emerging pathogens, they have caused multiple, notable and unnoticed epidemics of human disease over recent decades. All mosquitoborne viruses circulate within sylvatic cycles among wildlife and forest mosquitoes and may cause diseases in rural and urban populations after spillover transmission to human and domestic animals. The aim of this study was to determine mosquito d...
ABSTRACT Respiratory infections cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide and are the second leading causes of death in Tanzania. Several studies involving national sentinel surveillance for influenza and epidemiology of influenza have been conducted in Tanzania. However, there is a dearth in information on the aetiology of respiratory diseases. This study screened for influenza viruses in subject with influenza-like illnesses in selected areas of Tanzania. A total of 735 subjects...
ABSTRACT Control of East Coast fever (ECF) depends on the use of acaricides against ticks, chemotherapy and vaccination. ECF vaccination is based on an infection and treatment method (ITM), which induces life-long immunity if cattle are exposed to mild tick infestation. However, ECF vaccination has several limitations, such as high cost of simultaneously used antibiotics. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether Toll-like receptor 7(TLR7) agonist could effectively induce ...
ABSTRACT A cross sectional study was carried out in Iringa Region involving two Districts of Kilolo and Iringa Municipal to determine the epidemiological risk factors of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak and genotyping the circulating African swine fever virus (ASFV) during a hemorrhagic disease outbreak in 2012 in Iringa. A structured questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological risk factors from pig keepers. Eighty households that kept pigs and that experienced the disease in 201...
ABSTRACT The present study was carried out to confirm and genetically characterize dengue virus (DENV) present in sera collected from patients with dengue fever during the 2013 and 2014 dengue outbreaks in Tanzania. Sera were collected from patients who met the clinical case definition for dengue fever. Dengue fever was diagnosed in patients included in this study by detection of IgM and IgG DENV antibodies using a combination of a rapid test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). DE...
ABSTRACT Mosquito-borne viruses cause emerging and re-emerging infections affecting humans and animals. These diseases present themselves mainly with fever. The present study aimed at determining socio-demographic and clinical characteristics among febrile patients, and detection of selected mosquito-borne viruses circulating in Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. Using a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study design, in total 400 febrile patients were recruited after consenting into...