Indoors man-biting mosquitoes and their implication on malaria transmission in Mpwapwa and Iringa Districts, Tanzania (Publications)
Culex quinquefasciatus. Other species including Cx cinereus, An. coustani and Aedes spp accounted for 0.5% of the mosquito population. In Iringa, more mosquitoes were collected by pyrethrum spray catch than [...] trapping technique. The light trap catch: spray catch ratio in Iringa and Mpwapwa was 1:1.15 and 2.5:1, respectively. Indoor pyrethrum spray catch gave an overall estimate of An. gambiae density of 8 and [...] densities of house entering mosquitoes were found to range from 0 to 135 in...
The use of morbidity questionnaires to identify communities with high prevalence of geohelminth infections in Gondar region, Ethiopia (Publications)
65-8.20)] and 'intestinal worms' [OR 4.72 (95% CI: 4.27-5.22)]. Reported 'diarrhoea' was the best answer for T. trichiura [OR: 4.58 (95% CI: 3.98-5.27)]. Among schools, there were similar associations between [...] value: 71.7%) and A. lumbrocoides (sensitivity: 91.8%, specificity: 50.0%, positive predictive value: 75.5%, negative predictive value: 64.3%). These results indicate the potential of using reported 'worms'
Microbial and chemical contamination of water, sediment and soil in the Nakivubo wetland area in Kampala, Uganda (Publications)
showed mean concentrations of TTCs of 2.9 x 10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/100 mL. Mean E. coli was 9.9 x 10(4) CFU/100 mL. Hookworm eggs were found in 13.5 % of the water samples. Mean concentrations of [...] of iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) were 21.5, 3.3 and 0.14 mg/L, respectively. In soil samples, we found a mean lead (Pb) concentration of 132.7 mg/L. In yams, concentrations of Cd, chromium (Cr)
Recovery of left ventricular systolic function in peripartum cardiomyopathy: an observational study from rural Tanzania (Publications)
function (left ventricular ejection fraction > 50%). RESULTS: Median age of the 110 participants was 28.5 years (range 17-45). At enrolment, 49 (45%) participants were already on cardiac medication, 50 (45%) [...] left ventricular ejection fraction was 30% (range 15-46). After a median follow-up of 8.98 months (IQR 5.72-29.37), 61 (55%) participants were still on cardiac medication. Full recovery of the left ventricular [...] higher left ventricular ejection fraction at baseline was positively...
Large gains in schooling and income are possible from minimizing adverse birth outcomes in 121 low- and middle-income countries: a modelling study (Publications)
9.8 million school years (95% CI: 1.5,18.4) and US$ 41.9 billion (95% CI: 6.1,80.9) in lifetime income. The potential gains from small-for-gestational age were 39.5 million (95% CI: 19.1,60.3) school years [...] years and US$113.6 billion (95% CI: 55.5,174.2) in lifetime income gained. In summary, reducing the excess prevalence of low birthweight, preterm birth or small-for-gestational age births in low- and
Alternative complement pathway inhibition does not abrogate meningococcal killing by serum of vaccinated individuals (Publications)
and D, C3, C5 and MASP-2 inhibitors. B meningococci were not included in this study since the immune response against protein-based vaccines is more complex. Unsurprisingly, inhibition of C5 abrogated killing [...] conditions can be treated with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind to the complement component C5 and prevent formation of the membrane attack complex (MAC). While MAC is involved in uncontrolled lysis
Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Publications)
μg/m3 PM10, 1.08 (0.89–1.32) per 5 μg/m3 PM2.5, 0.98 (0.92; 1.05) per 10 μg/m3 NO2 and 0.99 (0.94; 1.04) per 20 μg/m3 NOx with little to moderate heterogeneity based on 6, 5, 4, 7 and 8 studies, respectively
Spatial variability of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehydeand residential exposure of children in the industrial area of Viadana, Northern Italy (Publications)
with hot-spots in proximity to theindustry. PM10and PM2.5exposures were higher for children at < 1 km compared to the children living at > 3.5 km to theindustry, whereas NO2exposure was higher at 1–1 [...] as well as other available countrywide/continental models basedon routine data on NO2, PM10, andPM2.5. The correlation between NO2concentrations from continuous and passive samplingwas high (Pearson’sr=
Associations of preconception exposure to air pollution and greenness with offspring asthma and hay fever (Publications)
Health in Northern Europe, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) generation study. Mean particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon (BC), ozone (O3) (µg/m3) and greenness (normalized [...] stratified by parental lines, and adjusted for grandparental asthma and education). Maternal medium PM2.5 and PM10 exposure was associated with higher offspring asthma risk (odds ratio (OR) 2.23, 95%CI 1.32–3 [...] medium O3 exposure (OR 4.15, 95%CI 1.28–13.50) and mothers with high...
<em>Ent</em>-pimarane and <em>ent</em>-kaurane diterpenes from <em>Aldama discolor</em> (Asteraceae) and their antiprotozoal activity (Publications)
ent-kaurane 1 showed significant in vitro activity against both P. falciparum (IC 50 = 3.5 mu M) and L. donovani (IC 50 = 2.5 mu M) and ent-pimarane 2 against P. falciparum (IC 50 = 3.8 mu M). Both compounds [...] candidates for in vivo tests. In addition to the diterpenes, the sesquiterpene lactone budlein A (5), which has been reported to possess a strong anti-T. b. rhodesiense activity, was identified as major
