The pattern of epidemic meningococcal disease in the African meningitis belt may be influenced by the background level of population immunity but this has been measured infrequently. A standardised ...enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measuring meningococcal serogroup A IgG antibodies was established at five centres within the meningitis belt. Antibody concentrations were then measured in 3930 individuals stratified by age and residence from six countries. Seroprevalence by age was used in a catalytic model to determine the force of infection. Meningococcal serogroup A IgG antibody concentrations were high in each country but showed heterogeneity across the meningitis belt. The geometric mean concentration (GMC) was highest in Ghana (9.09 μg/mL 95% CI 8.29, 9.97) and lowest in Ethiopia (1.43 μg/mL 95% CI 1.31, 1.57) on the margins of the belt. The force of infection was lowest in Ethiopia (λ = 0.028). Variables associated with a concentration above the putative protective level of 2 μg/mL were age, urban residence and a history of recent vaccination with a meningococcal vaccine. Prior to vaccination with the serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine, meningococcal serogroup A IgG antibody concentrations were high across the African meningitis belt and yet the region remained susceptible to epidemics.
Objective
To examine the factors that influence parent–child relationships in African immigrant families in Alberta, Canada.
Background
African immigrants are increasingly migrating to high‐income ...countries, including Canada, in search of a better life. These immigrants often face several challenges, including parenting their children in new sociocultural contexts. We present findings from a critical ethnographic study of parent–child relationships among African immigrants in Alberta, Canada.
Method
Informed by transnational feminist theory, we conducted interviews with 14 African immigrant community leaders, 31 African immigrant parents, and 12 service providers and policymakers.
Results
We found that conflicting cultural practices and value systems, shifting power relations, low socioeconomic status, and gender relations exert both beneficial and strenuous influences on parent–child relations.
Conclusion
The determinants of parenting practices and parent–child relationships include the intersecting influences of gender, social class, culture, and changing power relations across transnational spaces.
Implications
Our findings suggest several policy and practice implications. In particular, we suggest a need to attend to diverse determinants of child well‐being, including income, gender relations, culturally sensitive service delivery, and changing power relations across transnational spaces.
Ascariasis lumbricoides is a roundworm that causes one of the most common soil-transmitted helminth infections worldwide. Ascariasis is typically found in the jejunum and transmitted through the ...intake of Ascaris lumbricoides eggs through food and water. Initially, ascariasis can cause pulmonary symptoms during the first 6–8 weeks of ingestion and can progress to serious complications of intestinal obstruction and hepatobiliary manifestations. Biliary ascariasis is a complication of ascariasis migration from the jejunum to the hepatobiliary tree and can present with a variety of symptoms ranging from biliary colic to more serious features such as acute cholangitis. Though the mortality rate is low, limited resources for management can make it challenging to manage.
Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), together with a dense map of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across breeds. The dog is of particular ...interest because it provides important evolutionary information and because existing breeds show great phenotypic diversity for morphological, physiological and behavioural traits. We use sequence comparison with the primate and rodent lineages to shed light on the structure and evolution of genomes and genes. Notably, the majority of the most highly conserved non-coding sequences in mammalian genomes are clustered near a small subset of genes with important roles in development. Analysis of SNPs reveals long-range haplotypes across the entire dog genome, and defines the nature of genetic diversity within and across breeds. The current SNP map now makes it possible for genome-wide association studies to identify genes responsible for diseases and traits, with important consequences for human and companion animal health.
We report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of the grey, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). As the first metatherian ('marsupial') species to be sequenced, the opossum provides a ...unique perspective on the organization and evolution of mammalian genomes. Distinctive features of the opossum chromosomes provide support for recent theories about genome evolution and function, including a strong influence of biased gene conversion on nucleotide sequence composition, and a relationship between chromosomal characteristics and X chromosome inactivation. Comparison of opossum and eutherian genomes also reveals a sharp difference in evolutionary innovation between protein-coding and non-coding functional elements. True innovation in protein-coding genes seems to be relatively rare, with lineage-specific differences being largely due to diversification and rapid turnover in gene families involved in environmental interactions. In contrast, about 20% of eutherian conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) are recent inventions that postdate the divergence of Eutheria and Metatheria. A substantial proportion of these eutherian-specific CNEs arose from sequence inserted by transposable elements, pointing to transposons as a major creative force in the evolution of mammalian gene regulation.
This paper presents the possibility of salt free dyeing of cotton fabric with reactive dye by treating the cotton with chitosan from fish scale and used as a salt for dyeing of cotton with reactive ...dye. Cellulosic fiber acquires negative charge in aqueous medium and thus repels negatively charged dye anion during dyeing. Such repulsion between fibre and dye is offset by using large quantity of salt in dye bath, particularly for reactive dyes. A low dye bath exhaustion also leads to low dye fixation of reactive dyes on cotton. Therefore the discharged wastewater from dye house creates avoidable environmental threats due to very high dye concentration. Hence, surface modification of cotton to increase dye-fibre interaction is thus the best route to overcome the lack of affinity of cotton to reactive dyes making salt-free reactive dyeing. In this investigation an attempt was made to modify cotton with chitosan extracted from fish scales. The chitosan modified cotton was dyed with reactive dye and compared with the conventional dyed cotton. The color strength of the modified cotton fabric was better than that of conventional sample which is 18.88 and 18.02 respectively. Better fastness properties were experienced in treated cotton sample than the ordinary sample. The fastness properties obtained were better than the conventional sample. From this investigation it was revealed that surface modification of cotton by treatment with chitosan provided better dyeing properties and it can be the best possibility for salt free dyeing of cotton.
Background. Study of meningococcal carriage is essential to understanding the epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis infection. Methods. Twenty cross-sectional carriage surveys were conducted in 7 ...countries in the African meningitis belt; 5 surveys were conducted after introduction of a new serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac). Pharyngeal swab specimens were collected, and Neisseria species were identified by microbiological and molecular techniques. Results. A total of 1687 of 48 490 participants (3.4%; 95% confidence interval CI, 3.2%-3.6%) carried meningococci. Carriage was more frequent in individuals aged 5-14 years, relative to those aged 15-29 years (adjusted odds ratio OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.25-1.60); in males, relative to females (adjusted OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.10-1.24); in individuals in rural areas, relative to those in urban areas (adjusted OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.28-1.63); and in the dry season, relative to the rainy season (adjusted OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.37-1.75). Forty-eight percent of isolates had genes encoding disease-associated polysaccharide capsules; genogroup W predominated, and genogroup A was rare. Strain diversity was lower in countries in the center of the meningitis belt than in Senegal or Ethiopia. The prevalence of genogroup A fell from 0.7% to 0.02% in Chad following mass vaccination with MenAfriVac. Conclusions. The prevalence of meningococcal carriage in the African meningitis belt is lower than in industrialized countries and is very diverse and dynamic, even in the absence of vaccination.
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