Implementation of liquid culture for tuberculosis diagnosis in a remote setting: lessons learned.

Although sputum smear microscopy is the primary method for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in low-resource settings, it has low sensitivity. The World Health Organization recommends the use of liquid culture techniques for TB diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing in low- and middle-income countries. An evaluation of samples from southern Sudan found that culture was able to detect cases of active pulmonary TB and extra-pulmonary TB missed by conventional smear microscopy. However, the long delays involved in obtaining culture results meant that they were usually not clinically useful, and high rates of non-tuberculous mycobacteria isolation made interpretation of results difficult. Improvements in diagnostic capacity and rapid speciation facilities, either on-site or through a local reference laboratory, are crucial

Do bloggers who criticize the press ultimately matter? (Re)defining media accountability in the age of citizen participation

Els anomenats bloggers que critiquen els mitjans tradicionals sobre la mala qualitat del periodisme són considerats instruments potencialment influents de la rendició de comptes i la responsabilitat dels mitjans de comunicació. Aquest article qüestiona si, en retrospectiva, el vell ordre de la rendició de comptes de mitjans encara té rellevància en un entorn cada vegada més interconnectat. L'objectiu és proposar un marc per comprendre com els bloggers que fan crítica de la pràctica del periodisme tradicional poden ser examinats en un estudi sobre la responsabilitat dels mitjans en l'era digital. Aquest assaig analitza el concepte de rendició de comptes dels mitjans i la importància de la crítica que actors com els bloggers fan de la pràctica del periodisme.Bloggers criticizing the traditional media over poor quality journalism are being touted as potentially influential instruments of media accountability. This paper questions whether in retrospect the old order of media accountability still has relevance in an increasingly networked media environment. The aim of the paper is to suggest a framework for understanding how bloggers criticizing the traditional journalism practice can be examined in a study on media accountability in the digital era. The essay interrogates the concept of media accountability and the significance of bloggers' criticism on journalism practice

Compound C inhibits nonsense-mediated RNA decay independently of AMPK

The nonsense mediated RNA decay (NMD) pathway safeguards the integrity of the transcriptome by targeting mRNAs with premature translation termination codons (PTCs) for degradation. It also regulates gene expression by degrading a large number of non-mutant RNAs (including mRNAs and noncoding RNAs) that bear NMD-inducing features. Consequently, NMD has been shown to influence development, cellular response to stress, and clinical outcome of many genetic diseases. Small molecules that can modulate NMD activity provide critical tools for understanding the mechanism and physiological functions of NMD, and they also offer potential means for treating certain genetic diseases and cancer. Therefore, there is an intense interest in identifying small-molecule NMD inhibitors or enhancers. It was previously reported that both inhibition of NMD and treatment with the AMPK-selective inhibitor Compound C (CC) induce autophagy in human cells, raising the possibility that CC may be capable of inhibiting NMD. Here we show that CC indeed has a NMD-inhibitory activity. Inhibition of NMD by CC is, however, independent of AMPK activity. As a competitive ATP analog, CC does not affect the kinase activity of SMG1, an essential NMD factor and the only known kinase in the NMD pathway. However, CC treatment down-regulates the protein levels of several NMD factors. The induction of autophagy by CC treatment is independent of ATF4, a NMD target that has been shown to promote autophagy in response to NMD inhibition. Our results reveal a new activity of CC as a NMD inhibitor, which has implications for its use in basic research and drug development

Modelling urban spatial change: a review of international and South African modelling initiatives

August 2013Urban growth and land use change models have the potential to become important tools for urban spatial planning and management. Before embarking on any modelling, however, GCRO felt it was important to take note of, and critically assess lessons to be learnt from international experience and scholarship on spatial modelling, as well as a number of South African experiments that model future urban development. In 2012, GCRO initiated preliminary research into current international and South African modelling trends through a desktop study and telephone, email and personal interviews. This Occasional paper sets out to investigate what urban spatial change modelling research is currently being undertaken internationally and within South Africa. At the international level, urban modelling research since 2000 is reviewed according to five main categories: land use transportation (LUT), cellular automata, urban system dynamics, agent-based models (ABMs) and spatial economics/econometric models (SE/EMs). Within South Africa, urban modelling initiatives are categorised differently and include a broader range of urban modelling techniques. Typologies used include: provincial government modelling initiatives in Gauteng; municipal government modelling initiatives; other government-funded modelling research; and academic modelling research. The various modelling initiatives described are by no means a comprehensive review of all urban spatial change modelling projects in South Africa, but provide a broad indication of the types of urban spatial change modelling underway. Importantly, the models may form the basis for more accurate and sophisticated urban modelling projects in the future. The paper concludes by identifying key urban modelling opportunities and challenges for short- to long-term planning in the GCR and South Africa.Written by Chris Wray, Josephine Musango and Kavesha Damon (GCRO) Koech Cheruiyot (NRF:SARChI chair in Development Planning and Modelling at Wits

falciparum dihydrofolate reductase and

Trends in drug resistance codons in Plasmodiu

A 23 Kyrs Record Of Environmental Change From Cherangani Hills, Kenya

The sensitivity of East Africa’s environment to anthropogenic and natural climatic changes is poorly understood. Therefore, there is need to incorporate continuous high-resolution records to provide insights into the timings of climatic signals to reconstruct East Africa’s paleoenvironment. This study presents sediment core data (KAP-01) from Kapkanyar Swamp, Cherangani Hills, based on fungal spores, Loss-On-Ignition (LOI) and microscopic charcoal analyses. The climate during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was generally cold and dry with intermittent presence of moist environmental conditions evidenced by the minimal presence of coprophilous taxa, a well-known taxon used to signify presence herbivores, representing diminished fauna. Presence of charcoal in the LGM reflects probable natural fires suggesting dry environmental conditions. The deglaciation period, on the other hand, was relatively colder and drier compared to any other period in the last ~23 Kyrs with scanty preservation fungal spores. The Holocene period is characterized by increased fungal assemblages, indicative of a moist environment punctuated by drought episodes evidenced by fires and fungal spores such as Tetraploa, Meliola, and Glomus. In the Late Holocene, fires are more frequent and with potential fire breaks suggesting anthropogenic controlled fires. Our results depict anthropogenic imprints in the environment in the Late Holocene period, ~4 Kyrs to the present

The Effects of Capital Structure on Firm’s Profitability: Evidence from Kenya’s Banking Sector

Capital structure is considered important corporate financial management context and is mainly related to the establishment of an ideal debt policy. The determination of a company’s capital structure constitutes a difficult decision, one that involves several and antagonistic factors, such as risk and profitability. Despite of substantial theoretical developments in the field of corporate finance over the past several decades, the rift between theory and practice still needs to be reconciled. This paper empirically investigates the relationship between capital structure and the firm’s profitability of banking industry in Kenya, by using panel data extracted from the financial statements of the companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange from year 2004-2012.The rationale behind the industry specific analysis is the fact that exogenous variables appear to force institutions in the same industry in similar fashion, thus leading to the existence of an industry specific capital structure. It is found that a significant positive relationship exists between the short term debt and profitability and statistically significant negative relationship between long term debt and profitability. The results are partially consistent with the previous studies as the negative relationship between long term debt and the firm performance tends to sport the dominant pecking order theory. The association of short term debt and the financial performance in contrast attests the static trade-off theory. Total debt as a whole has no association with the firm’s performance because of the inherited different characteristics of short term debt and long term debt. Key words: Capital Structure, Profitability, Banking industry, Exogenous variables