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"Abdullahi, A"
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Animal models in burn research
Burn injury is a severe form of trauma affecting more than 2 million people in North America each year. Burn trauma is not a single pathophysiological event but a devastating injury that causes structural and functional deficits in numerous organ systems. Due to its complexity and the involvement of multiple organs, in vitro experiments cannot capture this complexity nor address the pathophysiology. In the past two decades, a number of burn animal models have been developed to replicate the various aspects of burn injury, to elucidate the pathophysiology, and to explore potential treatment interventions. Understanding the advantages and limitations of these animal models is essential for the design and development of treatments that are clinically relevant to humans. This review aims to highlight the common animal models of burn injury in order to provide investigators with a better understanding of the benefits and limitations of these models for translational applications. While many animal models of burn exist, we limit our discussion to the skin healing of mouse, rat, and pig. Additionally, we briefly explain hypermetabolic characteristics of burn injury and the animal model utilized to study this phenomena. Finally, we discuss the economic costs associated with each of these models in order to guide decisions of choosing the appropriate animal model for burn research.
Journal Article
أسرار معارك حركة العدل والمساواة : حركة العدل والمساواة /
يتناول كتاب (أسرار معارك حركة العدل والمساواة : حركة العدل والمساواة) والذي قام بتأليفه \"عبد الله عثمان التوم\" في حوالي (248) صفحة من القطع المتوسط موضوع (السياسة العسكرية السودان) مستعرضا المحتويات التالية : تراث الدكتور خليل إبراهيم، العدل والمساواة وفنون الحرب في السودان، تحدي المشير البشير، تنظيم واستراتيجيات جيش الحركة، تنظيم جيش \"حركة العدل والمساواة\"، الهروب الشاق من الخرطوم، تحديات صنع الحياة، في ساحة المعركة، ما ينبغي أن يكون عليه الجيش.
Book
Determination of alcohols in hand sanitisers: Are off-the-shelf hand sanitisers what they claim to be?
Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 - the causative agent of COVID-19 - can be prevented through non-pharmaceutical interventions such as observing proper hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand rubs/sanitisers (ABHRs) as recommended by the WHO and local health authorities. However, this recommendation has led to high demand for ABHRs and proliferation of sub-standard products, which do not contain the recommended amount of alcohol. Fifty products of different origins and formulations obtained off-the-shelf and in public places in and around Pretoria (South Africa) were analysed for their alcohol content using gas chromatography. Ethanol was the most common alcohol used in the products, followed by isopropanol. Only 21 (42%) of the products analysed contained at least 70% alcohol; of these only 14 (28%) met the WHO recommended 80±5% alcohol content to have a virucidal effect on SARS-CoV-2. Of the 41 commercial off-the-shelf products analysed, 27 (66%) contained less than 70% alcohol in comparison to 13% of homemade products. Only 18% of gel products contained 70% alcohol, compared with 47% for liquid-based products. Most of the products did not contain the appropriate or correct declaration as recommended by the South African National Standards (SANS 289 and 490). The proliferation of substandard ABHRs is of great public health concern and calls for stricter regulations and enforcement in order to protect consumers, their rights and well-being during and post the COVID-19 pandemic period. However, in the interim, formulation of ABHRs using the WHO guidelines should be mandatory, as such formulations, when made correctly, do have the required virucidal effect against SARS-CoV-2.
Journal Article
Dietary modulation of gut microbiota and functional enzymes in savannah honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier)
Honey bees gather pollen from flowering plants, using it as a vital protein source and, in turn, acquire pollen-associated microbes that interact with their existing gut microbiota. Despite their ecological importance, limited information exists regarding the gut microbiota of African savannah honey bees (
Apis mellifera scutellata
Lepeletier) and how diet and its associated microbial community influence this crucial internal ecosystem. This study aimed to investigate the differences in gut microbiota between wild honey bees collected during the flowering season and microbially depleted honey bees reared under semi-sterile conditions and fed various protein diets. To achieve this, freshly hatched worker bees were maintained in hoarding cages and assigned one of four protein diets: fresh sunflower pollen, casein, sterilised casein, or sterilised pollen. High-throughput DNA metabarcoding was then employed to compare the microbial composition of the honey bee gut across these groups. Our findings revealed that the gut of microbially depleted honey bees exhibited higher species diversity and richness. Conversely, the non-core gut microbial community predominated in wild bees and those fed the different protein diets. Specifically,
Commensalibacter
,
Bartonella
, and
Bifidobacterium
were the most dominant bacterial genera across all treatments. Interestingly,
Gilliamella
, a common core gut bacterium, was undetected, while
Apibacter
was exclusively found in wild honey bees. Furthermore, pollen-associated microbes such as
Devosia
and
Pedobacter
were identified solely in the gut of honey bees fed a pollen diet. Functional predictions of the gut microbial community also indicated the presence of key enzymes such as β-glucosidase, β-galactosidase, pyruvate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate mutase, which are crucial for enhancing nutrient absorption, digestion, and carbohydrate metabolism. These results underscore the intricate relationship between honey bees, microbes, and plants, offering valuable insights into how diet and its associated microbial communities could shape the gut microbiota of African honey bees.
Key points
• The non-core gut microbiota dominates the African savannah honey bee
• The type of diet influenced the microbial diversity and community abundance in the honey bee gut
• Key enzymes involved in digestion, nutrition absorption, and carbohydrate metabolism were enhanced in the gut
• Pollen-associated microbes found in the diet present potential avenues for probiotic development to improve honey bee health
Journal Article
Prediction of insect pest distribution as influenced by elevation: Combining field observations and temperature-dependent development models for the coffee stink bug, Antestiopsis thunbergii (Gmelin)
The antestia bug, Antestiopsis thunbergii (Gmelin 1790) is a major pest of Arabica coffee in Africa. The bug prefers coffee at the highest elevations, contrary to other major pests. The objectives of this study were to describe the relationship between A. thunbergii populations and elevation, to elucidate this relationship using our knowledge of the pest thermal biology and to predict the pest distribution under climate warming. Antestiopsis thunbergii population density was assessed in 24 coffee farms located along a transect delimited across an elevation gradient in the range 1000-1700 m asl, on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Density was assessed for three different climatic seasons, the cool dry season in June 2014 and 2015, the short rainy season in October 2014 and the warm dry season in January 2015. The pest distribution was predicted over the same transect using three risk indices: the establishment risk index (ERI), the generation index (GI) and the activity index (AI). These indices were computed using simulated life table parameters obtained from temperature-dependent development models and temperature data from 1) field records using data loggers deployed over the transect and 2) predictions for year 2055 extracted from AFRICLIM database. The observed population density was the highest during the cool dry season and increased significantly with increasing elevation. For current temperature, the ERI increased with an increase in elevation and was therefore distributed similarly to observed populations, contrary to the other indices. This result suggests that immature stage susceptibility to extreme temperatures was a key factor of population distribution as impacted by elevation. In the future, distribution of the risk indices globally indicated a decrease of the risk at low elevation and an increase of the risk at the highest elevations. Based on these results, we concluded with recommendations to mitigate the risk of A. thunbergii infestation.
Journal Article
Cadmium toxicity symptoms and uptake mechanism in plants: a review
Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is one of non-essential heavy metals which is released into environment naturally or anthropogenically. It is highly persistent toxic metals that are exceptionally distressing industrial and agriculture activities by contaminating soil, water and food. Its long-duration endurance in soil and water results in accumulation and uptake into plants, leading to the food chain. This becomes a serious global problem threatening humans and animals as food chain components. Living organisms, especially humans, are exposed to Cd through plants as one of the main vegetative food sources. This review paper is concentrated on the symptoms of the plants affected by Cd toxicity. The absorption of Cd triggers several seen and unseen symptoms by polluted plants such as stunted growth, chlorosis, necrosis and wilting. Apart from that, factors that affect the uptake and translocation of Cd in plants are elaborated to understand the mechanism that contributes to its accumulation. By insight of Cd accumulation, this review also discussed the phytoremediation techniques-phytoextraction, phytostimulation, phytostabilization, phytovolatization and rhizofiltration in bioremediating the Cd.
Resumo O cádmio (Cd) é um dos metais pesados não essenciais que é liberado no meio ambiente de forma natural ou antropogênica. São metais tóxicos altamente persistentes que prejudicam excepcionalmente as atividades industriais e agrícolas, contaminando o solo, a água e os alimentos. Sua resistência de longa duração no solo e na água resulta em acúmulo e absorção pelas plantas, levando à cadeia alimentar. Isso se torna um sério problema global que ameaça humanos e animais como componentes da cadeia alimentar. Os organismos vivos, principalmente os humanos, são expostos ao Cd através das plantas como uma das principais fontes de alimento vegetativo. Este artigo de revisão concentra-se nos sintomas das plantas afetadas pela toxicidade do Cd. A absorção de Cd desencadeia vários sintomas visíveis e invisíveis por plantas poluídas, como crescimento atrofiado, clorose, necrose e murcha. Além disso, são elaborados fatores que afetam a absorção e translocação de Cd nas plantas para entender o mecanismo que contribui para o seu acúmulo. A partir do conhecimento do acúmulo de Cd, esta revisão também discutiu as técnicas de fitorremediação - fitoextração, fitoestimulação, fitoestabilização, fitovolatização e rizofiltração na biorremediação do Cd.
Journal Article
Endophytic fungi protect tomato and nightshade plants against Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) through a hidden friendship and cryptic battle
Endophytic fungi live within plant tissues without causing any harm to the host, promote its growth, and induce systemic resistance against pests and diseases. To mitigate the challenging concealed feeding behavior of immature stages of
Tuta absoluta
in both tomato (
Solanum lycopersicum
) and nightshade (
Solanum scabrum
) host plants, 15 fungal isolates were assessed for their endophytic and insecticidal properties. Twelve isolates were endophytic to both host plants with varied colonization rates. Host plants endophytically-colonized by
Trichoderma asperellum
M2RT4,
Beauveria bassiana
ICIPE 706 and
Hypocrea lixii
F3ST1 outperformed all the other isolates in reducing significantly the number of eggs laid, mines developed, pupae formed and adults emerged. Furthermore, the survival of exposed adults and F1 progeny was significantly reduced by
Trichoderma
sp. F2L41 and
B. bassiana
isolates ICIPE 35(4) and ICIPE 35(15) compared to other isolates. The results indicate that
T. asperellum
M2RT4,
B. bassiana
ICIPE 706 and
H. lixii
F3ST1 have high potential to be developed as endophytic-fungal-based biopesticide for the management of
T. absoluta
.
Journal Article
Payload swing control of a tower crane using a neural network–based input shaper
This paper proposes an input shaping technique for efficient payload swing control of a tower crane with cable length variations. Artificial neural network is utilized to design a zero vibration derivative shaper that can be updated according to different cable lengths as the natural frequency and damping ratio of the system changes. Unlike the conventional input shapers that are designed based on a fixed frequency, the proposed technique can predict and update the optimal shaper parameters according to the new cable length and natural frequency. Performance of the proposed technique is evaluated by conducting experiments on a laboratory tower crane with cable length variations and under simultaneous tangential and radial crane motions. The shaper is shown to be robust and provides low payload oscillation with up to 40% variations in the natural frequency. With a 40% decrease in the natural frequency, the superiority of the artificial neural network–zero vibration derivative shaper is confirmed by achieving at least a 50% reduction in the overall and residual payload oscillations when compared to the robust zero vibration derivative and extra insensitive shapers designed based on the average operating frequency. It is envisaged that the proposed shaper can be further utilized for control of tower cranes with more parameter uncertainties.
Journal Article
Mortality during treatment for tuberculosis; a review of surveillance data in a rural county in Kenya
Globally in 2016, 1.7 million people died of Tuberculosis (TB). This study aimed to estimate all-cause mortality rate, identify features associated with mortality and describe trend in mortality rate from treatment initiation.
A 5-year (2012-2016) retrospective analysis of electronic TB surveillance data from Kilifi County, Kenya. The outcome was all-cause mortality within 180 days after starting TB treatment. The risk factors examined were demographic and clinical features at the time of starting anti-TB treatment. We performed survival analysis with time at risk defined from day of starting TB treatment to time of death, lost-to-follow-up or completing treatment. To account for 'lost-to-follow-up' we used competing risk analysis method to examine risk factors for all-cause mortality.
10,717 patients receiving TB treatment, median (IQR) age 33 (24-45) years were analyzed; 3,163 (30%) were HIV infected. Overall, 585 (5.5%) patients died; mortality rate of 12.2 (95% CI 11.3-13.3) deaths per 100 person-years (PY). Mortality rate increased from 7.8 (95% CI 6.4-9.5) in 2012 to 17.7 (95% CI 14.9-21.1) in 2016 per 100PY (Ptrend<0.0001). 449/585 (77%) of the deaths occurred within the first three months after starting TB treatment. The median time to death (IQR) declined from 87 (40-100) days in 2012 to 46 (18-83) days in 2016 (Ptrend = 0·04). Mortality rate per 100PY was 7.3 (95% CI 6.5-7.8) and 23.1 (95% CI 20.8-25.7) among HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected patients respectively. Age, being a female, extrapulmonary TB, being undernourished, HIV infected and year of diagnosis were significantly associated with mortality.
We found most deaths occurred within three months and an increasing mortality rate during the time under review among patients on TB treatment. Our results therefore warrant further investigation to explore host, disease or health system factors that may explain this trend.
Journal Article