Using community-owned resource persons to provide early diagnosis and treatment and estimate malaria burden at community level in north-eastern Tanzania

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although early diagnosis and prompt treatment is an important strategy for control of malaria, using fever to initiate presumptive treatment with expensive artemisinin combination therapy is a major challenge; particularly in areas with declining burden of malaria. This study was conducted using community-owned resource persons (CORPs) to provide early diagnosis and treatment of malaria, and collect data for estimation of malaria burden in four villages of Korogwe district, north-eastern Tanzania. METHODS: In 2006, individuals with history of fever within 24 hours or fever (axillary temperature [greater than or equal to]37.5degreesC) at presentation were presumptively treated using sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine. Between 2007 and 2010, individuals aged five years and above, with positive rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) were treated with artemether/lumefantrine (AL) while under-fives were treated irrespective of RDT results. Reduction in anti-malarial consumption was determined by comparing the number of cases that would have been presumptively treated and those that were actually treated based on RDTs results. Trends of malaria incidence and slide positivity rates were compared between lowlands and highlands. RESULTS: Of 15,729 cases attended, slide positivity rate was 20.4% and declined by >72.0% from 2008, reaching <10.0% from 2009 onwards; and the slide positivity rates were similar in lowlands and highlands from 2009 onwards. Cases with fever at presentation declined slightly, but remained at >40.0% in under-fives and >20.0% among individuals aged five years and above. With use of RDTs, cases treated with AL decreased from <58.0% in 2007 to <11.0% in 2010 and the numbers of adult courses saved were 3,284 and 1,591 in lowlands and highlands respectively. Malaria incidence declined consistently from 2008 onwards; and the highest incidence of malaria shifted from children aged <10 years to individuals aged 10-19 years from 2009. CONCLUSIONS: With basic training, supervision and RDTs, CORPs successfully provided early diagnosis and treatment and reduced consumption of anti-malarials. Progressively declining malaria incidence and slide positivity rates suggest that all fever cases should be tested with RDTs before treatment. Data collected by CORPs was used to plan phase 1b MSP3 malaria vaccine trial and will be used for monitoring and evaluation of different health interventions. The current situation indicates that there is a remarkable changing pattern of malaria and these areas might be moving from control to pre-elimination levels.     

Genetic analysis of resistance to Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici in cv. Aflak at adult plant stage

In order to investigate heritability and gene action for yellow rust resistance in wheat, a resistance yellow rust cultivar Aflak was crossed to susceptible cultivar Avocet‘s’. Parents, F₁, F₂ and F₃ generations were cultured according to randomised complete block design with two replications in the research station of Gharakhil, Iran. Parents and other generations were inoculated with 70E0A+ race. Traits including severity and infection type were recorded and then coefficient of infection was calculated. For this trait, generations mean and variance analysis were performed and results showed that there were significant differences among generations for coefficient of infection. Results showed that in addition to additive and dominance effects, at least one kind of epistasis interaction (additive × additive) control this trait. Although additive and dominance effects control this trait, but with attention to generations variance analysis, the results showed that additive variance had important role to control this trait.     

Effects of aging and calorie restriction on the global gene expression profiles of mouse testis and ovary

Background  

The aging of reproductive organs is not only a major social issue, but of special interest in aging research. A long-standing view of 'immortal germ line versus mortal soma' poses an important question of whether the reproductive tissues age in similar ways to the somatic tissues. As a first step to understand this phenomenon, we examine global changes in gene expression patterns by DNA microarrays in ovaries and testes of C57BL/6 mice at 1, 6, 16, and 24 months of age. In addition, we compared a group of mice on ad libitum (AL) feeding with a group on lifespan-extending 40% calorie restriction (CR).     

Distribution of flourescently labeled α-actinin in living and fixed fibroblasts

The distribution of flourescently labeled α-actinin after microinjection into fibroblasts has been determined in both living and fixed cells. We have found that the distribution of the injected tetramethylrhodamine isthiocyanate-labeled protein (TMRITC-α-actinin) in living cells, which is in ruffling membranes, actin microfilament bundles, and polygonal microfilament networks (Feramisco, 1979, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 76:3967-3971), was virtually unaffected by the fixation (3.5 percent formaldehyde) and extraction (absolute acetone) used for the preparation of the cells for immunoflourescence. Also, these patterns were found to coincide with the α-actinin revealed by immunoflourescence. Also, these patterns were found to coincide with the α-actinin revealed by immunoflourescence. These findings offer, for the first time, evidence indicating the validity of the immunoflourescence technique in the localization of α-actinin in cultured cells. With the combination of the injection procedure and the immunoflourescence localization of endogenous structural proteins, it was determined that nearly all of the actin stress fibers were decorated in a periodic manner with the injected α-actinin. Endogenous tropomyosin in the injected cells was found to be distributed with a periodic pattern along the stress fibers that was antiperiodic to the pattern observed for the microinjected α-actinin. The tropomyosin antibody stained the polygonal microfilament networks and was excluded from the foci, whereas the microinjected α-actinin was incorporated into the foci of the networks. Thus, the microinjected fluorescent derivative of α-actinin appears to be incorporated into the functional pools of α-actinin within the living cell and to be utilized by the cell with fidelity.     

SCA8 RAN polySer protein preferentially accumulates in white matter regions and is regulated by eIF3F

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8) is caused by a bidirectionally transcribed CTG·CAG expansion that results in the in vivo accumulation of CUG RNA foci, an ATG‐initiated polyGln and a polyAla protein expressed by repeat‐associated non‐ATG (RAN) translation. Although RAN proteins have been reported in a growing number of diseases, the mechanisms and role of RAN translation in disease are poorly understood. We report a novel toxic SCA8 polySer protein which accumulates in white matter (WM) regions as aggregates that increase with age and disease severity. WM regions with polySer aggregates show demyelination and axonal degeneration in SCA8 human and mouse brains. Additionally, knockdown of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF3F in cells reduces steady‐state levels of SCA8 polySer and other RAN proteins. Taken together, these data show polySer and WM abnormalities contribute to SCA8 and identify eIF3F as a novel modulator of RAN protein accumulation.