Ultrasensitivity of microtubule severing due to damage repair.

Microtubule-based cytoskeletal structures aid in cell motility, cell polarization, and intracellular transport. These functions require a coordinated effort of regulatory proteins which interact with microtubule cytoskeleton distinctively. experiments have shown that free tubulin can repair nanoscale damages of microtubules created by severing proteins.

Policy Implications of the Southern and Central Africa International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research: Ten Years of Malaria Control Impact Assessments in Hypo-, Meso-, and Holoendemic Transmission Zones in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) were established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases more than a decade ago to provide multidisciplinary research support to malaria control programs worldwide, operating in endemic areas and contributing technology, expertise, and ultimately policy guidance for malaria control and elimination. The Southern and Central Africa ICEMR has conducted research across three main sites in Zambia and Zimbabwe that differ in ecology, entomology, transmission intensity, and control strategies. Scientific findings led to new policies and action by the national malaria control programs and their partners in the selection of methods, materials, timing, and locations of case management and vector control.

Scientific Findings of the Southern and Central Africa International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research: Ten Years of Malaria Control Impact Assessments in Hypo-, Meso-, and Holoendemic Transmission Zones in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

For a decade, the Southern and Central Africa International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research has operated with local partners across study sites in Zambia and Zimbabwe that range from hypo- to holoendemic and vary ecologically and entomologically. The burden of malaria and the impact of control measures were assessed in longitudinal cohorts, cross-sectional surveys, passive and reactive case detection, and other observational designs that incorporated multidisciplinary scientific approaches: classical epidemiology, geospatial science, serosurveillance, parasite and mosquito genetics, and vector bionomics. Findings to date have helped elaborate the patterns and possible causes of sustained low-to-moderate transmission in southern Zambia and eastern Zimbabwe and recalcitrant high transmission and fatality in northern Zambia.

Latent Class Analysis: Insights about design and analysis of schistosomiasis diagnostic studies.

Various global health initiatives are currently advocating the elimination of schistosomiasis within the next decade. Schistosomiasis is a highly debilitating tropical infectious disease with severe burden of morbidity and thus operational research accurately evaluating diagnostics that quantify the epidemic status for guiding effective strategies is essential. Latent class models (LCMs) have been generally considered in epidemiology and in particular in recent schistosomiasis diagnostic studies as a flexible tool for evaluating diagnostics because assessing the true infection status (via a gold standard) is not possible.

Diagnostic urinary cfDNA detected in human cystic echinococcosis.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a major neglected tropical zoonotic disease caused by the tissue-dwelling larval stage of the cestode parasite Echinococcus granulosus. For individuals suspected of CE, the diagnostic standard is imaging using ultrasonography, X rays, or computed tomography. These resource-demanding and expensive procedures are rarely available in endemic rural areas where CE is most prevalent.

How far is the journey before malaria is knocked out of Zimbabwe? (or Africa): a commentary.

Recent publications and statements have drawn attention to a sustainable system of managing malaria control interventions globally but especially on the Continent of Africa. Arbitrary and unstable governments often interfere with health programmes, causing upsurges in malaria transmission as well as other health issues. A well-run health infrastructure will deal with public health as a whole.

Transrenal DNA-based diagnosis of Strongyloides stercoralis (Grassi, 1879) infection: Bayesian latent class modeling of test accuracy.

For epidemiological work with soil transmitted helminths the recommended diagnostic approaches are to examine fecal samples for microscopic evidence of the parasite. In addition to several logistical and processing issues, traditional diagnostic approaches have been shown to lack the sensitivity required to reliably identify patients harboring low-level infections such as those associated with effective mass drug intervention programs. In this context, there is a need to rethink the approaches used for helminth diagnostics.

Why reinvent the wheel? Lessons in schistosomiasis control from the past.

Schistosomiasis has been of concern to local health authorities for most of the last century, and in spite of a lack of effective chemotherapy, the disease was dealt with quite effectively in many endemic countries by snail control and environmental management [1]. Much of this work was reported in journals prior to the electronic era but, sadly, seems to have been subsequently ignored. For many years, there followed a global hiatus on schistosomiasis control, and much of the local expertise was lost, but many things have changed more recently, mainly with the advent of generic and affordable praziquantel.

Point of care diagnosis of multiple schistosome parasites: Species-specific DNA detection in urine by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).

Schistosomes are easily transmitted and high chance of repeat infection, so if control strategies based on targeted mass drug administration (MDA) are to succeed it is essential to have a test that is sensitive, accurate and simple to use. It is known and regularly demonstrated that praziquantel does not always eliminate an infection so in spite of the successes of control programs a residual of the reservoir survives to re-infect snails. The issue of diagnostic sensitivity becomes more critical in the assessment of program effectiveness.

Diagnosis of Strongyloides stercoralis: Detection of parasite-derived DNA in urine.

Detecting infections of Strongyloides stercoralis is arduous and has low sensitivity. Clinically this is a major problem because chronic infections may disseminate in the host and lead to a life threatening condition. Epidemiologically, S.

Comparison of findings using ultrasonography and cystoscopy in urogenital schistosomiasis in a public health centre in rural Angola.

Background: Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by infection with parasitic worms of the genus Schistosoma. In sub-Saharan Africa, infections with S. haematobium are most common.

Malaria vector control at a crossroads: public health entomology and the drive to elimination.

Vector control has been at the core of successful malaria control. However, a dearth of field-oriented vector biologists threatens to undermine global reductions in malaria burden. Skilled cadres are needed to manage insecticide resistance, to maintain coverage with current interventions, to develop new paradigms for tackling 'residual' transmission and to target interventions as transmission becomes increasingly heterogeneous.

Remotely-sensed, nocturnal, dew point correlates with malaria transmission in Southern Province, Zambia: a time-series study.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum transmission has decreased significantly in Zambia in the last decade. The malaria transmission is influenced by environmental variables. Incorporation of environmental variables in models of malaria transmission likely improves model fit and predicts probable trends in malaria disease.

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria and health workers' adherence to test results at health facilities in Zambia.

Background: In Zambia, there has been a large scaling up of interventions to control malaria in recent years including the deployment of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to improve malaria surveillance data as well as guide malaria treatment in health facilities. The practical challenge is the impact of RDT results on subsequent management of patients. This study explored the role of RDTs in malaria diagnosis and the health workers' adherence to test results.

Detection of parasite-specific DNA in urine sediment obtained by filtration differentiates between single and mixed infections of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium from endemic areas in Ghana.

Differential diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium, which often occur sympatrically in Africa, requires both urine and stool and the procedures are low in sensitivity. The standard diagnostic tests, such as Kato-Katz (KK) for S.

Evaluating local vegetation cover as a risk factor for malaria transmission: a new analytical approach using ImageJ.

Background: In places where malaria transmission is unstable or is transmitted under hypoendemic conditions, there are periods where limited foci of cases still occur and people become infected. These residual "hot spots" are likely reservoirs of the parasite population and so are fundamental to the seasonal spread and decline of malaria. It is, therefore, important to understand the ecological conditions that permit vector mosquitoes to survive and forage in these specific areas.

Diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni without the stool: comparison of three diagnostic tests to detect Schistosoma [corrected] mansoni infection from filtered urine in Zambia.

Diagnosis for intestinal Schistosoma mansoni lacks sensitivity and is arduous to conduct. The standard diagnostic tests, Kato-Katz (KK) and circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) both lack sensitivity and with KK, require obtaining, transporting, and examining fresh stool. We compared diagnostic efficacy of KK, CCA, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect S.

Measuring malaria by passive case detection: a new perspective based on Zambian experience.

Most measurements of malaria are based on cross-sectional data and do not reflect the dynamic nature of transmission, particularly when interventions require timely data for planning strategies. Such data can be collected from local rural health centres (RHCs) where the infrastructure is sufficiently developed and where rapid diagnostics are in use. Because in rural areas, the population served by RHC is reasonably static, the regular use of malaria rapid diagnosis in RHCs can provide data to assess local weekly incidence rates, and such data are easily dispersed by cell phones.

Hypermethylation of genes detected in urine from Ghanaian adults with bladder pathology associated with Schistosoma haematobium infection.

Purpose: Schistosoma haematobium is associated with chronic bladder damage and may subsequently induce bladder cancer in humans, thus posing a serious threat where the parasite is endemic. Here we evaluated aberrant promoter DNA methylation as a potential biomarker to detect severe bladder damage that is associated with schistosomiasis by analyzing urine specimens.

Materials And Methods: A quantitative methylation-specific PCR (QMSP) assay was used to examine the methylation status of seven genes (RASSF1A, RARβ2, RUNX3, TIMP3, MGMT, P16, ARF) in 57 urine samples obtained from volunteers that include infected and uninfected by S.

Malaria research challenges in low prevalence settings.

The prevalence of malaria has reduced significantly in some areas over the past decade. These reductions have made local elimination possible and the research agenda has shifted to this new priority. However, there are critical issues that arise when studying malaria in low transmission settings, particularly identifying asymptomatic infections, accurate detection of individuals with microparasitaemic infections, and achieving a sufficient sample size to have an adequately powered study.