Socio-demographic factors, housing characteristics, and clinical symptoms associated with falciparum malaria in two rapidly urbanizing areas in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

Background: Malaria has been described as a disease of poverty, affecting the poorest populations typically living in rural areas. As hitherto rural areas transition into semi-urban environments, this study investigated the prevalence of falciparum malaria and associated risk factors in two rapidly urbanizing districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted at Agona and Mankranso Government Hospitals located within the Sekyere South and Ahafo Ano Southwest districts respectively, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

A digital microscope for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, including P. falciparum with hrp2/hrp3 deletion.

Sensitive and accurate malaria diagnosis is required for case management to accelerate control efforts. Diagnosis is particularly challenging where multiple Plasmodium species are endemic, and where P. falciparum hrp2/3 deletions are frequent.

The Transmission of Animal African Trypanosomiasis in Two Districts in the Forest Zone of Ghana.

Animal African trypanosomiasis, also known as nagana, is caused by Trypanosoma species, which cause significant clinical diseases and lead to losses in animal production. We carried out a cross-sectional survey to investigate the composition of vectors and parasite diversity in two districts in the eastern region of Ghana where pigs and cattle were exposed to tsetse bites. We performed cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify tsetse species and internal transcribed spacer 1 PCR to identify Trypanosoma species.

Welcome to the next generation of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests: Comparative Analysis of NxTek Eliminate Malaria P.f, Biocredit Malaria Ag Pf, and SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf for Plasmodium falciparum Diagnosis in Ghana.

Background: Accurate diagnosis and timely treatment are crucial in combating malaria.

Methods: We evaluated the diagnostic performance of three Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) in diagnosing febrile patients, namely: Abbott NxTek Eliminate Malaria Ag Pf (detecting HRP2), Rapigen Biocredit Malaria Ag Pf (detecting HRP2 and LDH on separate bands), and SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf (detecting HRP2). Results were compared to qPCR.

Accuracy of diagnosis among clinical malaria patients: comparing microscopy, RDT and a highly sensitive quantitative PCR looking at the implications for submicroscopic infections.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends parasitological confirmation of all suspected malaria cases by microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) before treatment. These conventional tools are widely used for point-of-care diagnosis in spite of their poor sensitivity at low parasite density. Previous studies in Ghana have compared microscopy and RDT using standard 18S rRNA PCR as reference with varying outcomes.

150 years of dental education and research - University of Birmingham School of Dentistry.

This paper discusses the historical development of dental education and research over the last 150 years from a Birmingham School of Dentistry perspective. The School opened its doors to students in 1858 and has seen many changes and developments in both education and research. Looking back throughout the history, one of our greatest abilities as dental professionals is to be adaptable and the future will bring plenty of opportunity for us to demonstrate this.

Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric bioanalysis using normal-phase columns with aqueous/organic mobile phases - a novel approach of eliminating evaporation and reconstitution steps in 96-well SPE.

Bioanalytical methods using automated 96-well solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. SPE methods typically require manual steps of drying of the eluates and reconstituting of the analytes with a suitable injection solvent possessing elution strength weaker than the mobile phase. In this study, we demonstrated a novel approach of eliminating these two steps in 96-well SPE by using normal-phase LC/MS/MS methods with low aqueous/high organic mobile phases, which consisted of 70-95% organic solvent, 5-30% water, and small amount of volatile acid or buffer.

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the determination of ribavirin in human plasma and serum.

A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed for the analysis of antiviral agent ribavirin in human plasma and serum. The samples (0.1 ml) were extracted from the matrix using a simple protein precipitation procedure.