In this study, indigenous chickens were collected from eight different regions in Kenya and kept at InCIP-Egerton University. These were studied using eighteen microsatellite markers to determine ...genetic variation. Statistics related to genetic variation were estimated using GenALEx6. Mean percentage polymorphic loci (PPL) was 96.71% and 4% genetic variance (p≥0.003) was seen between the eight populations. MCW0123 marker had the highest genetic variance of 13% among populations (p≥0.003) at 95% CI. Mean He ranged from 0.351±0.031 (SIB) to 0.434±0.022 (BM) with a grand mean He of 0.399±0.011 across the populations using the microsatellite markers. Nei’s genetic distance ranged from 0.016 (SIB and WP) to 0.126 (NR and SIB). DARwin6.501 analysis software was used to draw the population dendrogram and two major population clusters were observed, also seen with PCoA. This study found a lot of genetic variation and relatedness within and among populations. Based on the phylogenetic tree result, it is concluded that the clustering of the chicken populations in the present study is not based on geographical proximity. The microsatellite markers used in this study were suitable for the measurement of the genetic biodiversity and relationship of Kenyan chicken populations. These results can therefore serve as an initial step to plan the conservation of indigenous chickens in Kenya.
An out-patient clinic in a country with high rates of tuberculosis-human immunodeficiency virus (TB-HIV) co-infection.
Cross-sectional analytical study of 123 adults with chronic cough and no ...previous anti-tuberculosis treatment. Demographic, clinical, chest X-ray (CXR) and GeneXpert® MTB/RIF data were collected. Proportions of TB diagnoses using both tests were calculated and compared using an unpaired t-test.
Sixty-six patients (53.7%) were female and 35 (28.5%) tested positive for HIV; 21 (17.1%) were Xpert-positive, while 51 (42.5%) had CXR suggestive of TB (P = 0.0018), of whom only 15 (29.4%) were Xpert-positive. CXR was suggestive of pulmonary TB in 15 (71.4%) of the 21 patients with a positive Xpert test.
The majority of the sputum smear-negative patients did not have TB on single Xpert testing. CXR gave an overestimate of sputum smear-negative TB cases.
Los Angeles and Orange Counties are known endemic areas for murine typhus in California; however, no recent reports of flea‐borne rickettsioses are known from adjacent San Bernardino County. ...Sixty‐five opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were trapped in the suburban residential and industrial zones of the southwestern part of San Bernardino County in 2007. Sixty out of 65 opossums were infested with fleas, primarily cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1835). The flea minimum infection rate with Rickettsia felis was 13.3% in pooled samples and the prevalence was 23.7% in single fleas, with two gltA genotypes detected. In spite of historic records of murine typhus in this area, no evidence for circulation of R. typhi in fleas was found during the present study. Factors contributing to the absence of R. typhi in these cat fleas in contrast to its presence in cat fleas from Orange and Los Angeles Counties are unknown and need to be investigated further in San Bernardino County.
The tomato red spider mite,
Tetranychus evansi (Acari: Tetranychidae) was recently introduced in Africa and Europe, where there is an increasing interest in using natural enemies to control this pest ...on solanaceous crops. Two promising candidates for the control of
T. evansi were identified in South America, the fungal pathogen,
Neozygites floridana and the predatory mite
Phytoseiulus longipes. In this study, population dynamics of
T. evansi and its natural enemies together with the influence of environmental conditions on these organisms were evaluated during four crop cycles in the field and in a protected environment on nightshade and tomato plants with and without application of chemical pesticides.
N. floridana was the only natural enemy found associated with
T. evansi in the four crop cycles under protected environment but only in the last crop cycle in the field. In the treatments where the fungus appeared, reduction of mite populations was drastic.
N. floridana appeared in tomato plants even when the population density of
T. evansi was relatively low (less than 10 mites/3.14
cm
2 of leaf area) and even at this low population density, the fungus maintained infection rates greater than 50%. The application of pesticides directly affected the fungus by delaying epizootic initiation and contributing to lower infection rates than unsprayed treatments. Rainfalls did not have an apparent impact on mite populations. These results indicate that the pathogenic fungus,
N. floridana can play a significant role in the population dynamics of
T. evansi, especially under protected environment, and has the potential to control this pest in classical biological control programs.
Despite interest among North American orthopaedic residents to pursue rotations in resource-limited settings, little is known regarding resident motivations and impact on host surgeons.
Surveys were ...distributed to North American orthopaedic surgeons and trainees who participated in international rotations during residency to assess motivations for participation and to orthopaedic surgeons at partnering low- and middle-income country (LMIC) institutions to assess impact of visiting trainees.
Responses were received from 136 North American resident rotators and 51 LMIC host surgeons and trainees. North American respondents were motivated by a desire to increase surgical capacity at the LMIC while host surgeons reported a greater impact from learning from residents than on surgical capacity. Negative aspects reported by hosts included selfishness, lack of reciprocity, racial discrimination, competition for surgical experience, and resource burdens.
The motivations and impact of orthopaedic resident rotations in LMICs need to be aligned. Host perceptions and bidirectional educational exchange should be incorporated into partnership guidelines.
•Resident rotations in low-income countries must consider needs of host surgeons.•Successful academic partnerships foster reciprocity and bidirectional exchange.•Resident motivations are not aligned with perceived impact on host surgeons.
Objective:
We describe a structured approach to developing a standardized curriculum for surgical trainees in East, Central, and Southern Africa (ECSA).
Summary Background Data:
Surgical education is ...essential to closing the surgical access gap in ECSA. Given its importance for surgical education, the development of a standardized curriculum was deemed necessary.
Methods:
We utilized Kern’s 6-step approach to curriculum development to design an online, modular, flipped-classroom surgical curriculum. Steps included global and targeted needs assessments, determination of goals and objectives, the establishment of educational strategies, implementation, and evaluation.
Results:
Global needs assessment identified the development of a standardized curriculum as an essential next step in the growth of surgical education programs in ECSA. Targeted needs assessment of stakeholders found medical knowledge challenges, regulatory requirements, language variance, content gaps, expense and availability of resources, faculty numbers, and content delivery method to be factors to inform curriculum design. Goals emerged to increase uniformity and consistency in training, create contextually relevant material, incorporate best educational practices, reduce faculty burden, and ease content delivery and updates. Educational strategies centered on developing an online, flipped-classroom, modular curriculum emphasizing textual simplicity, multimedia components, and incorporation of active learning strategies. The implementation process involved establishing thematic topics and subtopics, the content of which was authored by regional surgeon educators and edited by content experts. Evaluation was performed by recording participation, soliciting user feedback, and evaluating scores on a certification examination.
Conclusions:
We present the systematic design of a large-scale, context-relevant, data-driven surgical curriculum for the ECSA region.
A series of α,α-disubstituted amines have been prepared in a simple and efficient one-pot procedure by the addition of Grignard reagents to a series of aliphatic, aromatic, and heteroaromatic ...nitriles. Key to this reported procedure is the unprecedented addition of the Grignard reagent to the nitrile under heating by microwave irradiation which both significantly improves reaction yields and reduces reaction times. In general, the Grignard addition reaction is complete within 5–10
min at 100
°C followed by rapid reduction with sodium borohydride to give the target amines.
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