Two potential malaria virulence factors, parasite multiplication rate (PMR) and red blood cell selectivity (measured as selectivity index [SI]), were assessed in Plasmodium falciparum clinical isolates from Mali and Kenya. At both sites, PMRs were low (Kenya median = 2.2, n = 33; Mali median = 2.6, n = 61) and did not differ significantly between uncomplicated and severe malaria cases. Malian i...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an economically valued food and cash crop in of Nigeria. In 2001 and 2002 cropping seasons, field experiments were conducted in a split-pot using randomized complete block design to determine the efficacy of Metalaxyl fungicide and it costbenefit on incidence of sorghum diseases in Borno State at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of crop p...

BACKGROUND Dermatophytosis, and particularly the subtype tinea capitis, is common among African children; however, the risk factors associated with this condition are poorly understood. To describe the epidemiology of dermatophytosis in distinct eco-climatic zones, three cross-sectional surveys were conducted in public primary schools located in the Sahelian, Sudanian and Sudano-Guinean eco-cli...

Malnutrition affects people of all ages in many countries in the developing world. One treatment for malnutrition is the intervention involving ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). This study developed RUTFs for pregnant women in Mali using formulation computer software and largely local, plant-based ingredients. Mali has the world's second highest birth rate and infant mortality rate. Nutri...

The standard approach for measuring unmet need for family planning calculates actual, physiological unmet need and is useful for tracking changes at the population level. We propose to supplement it with an alternate approach that relies on individual perceptions and can improve program design and implementation. The proposed approach categorizes individuals by their perceived need for family p...

The objective of this work was to monitor the susceptibility of malaria vectors to insecticides in nine sentinel sites of the National Malaria Control Program in Mali. The study was performed during the rainy seasons of 2010 and 2011. WHO bioassays were conducted using F0 and/or F1 from wild collected females. The insecticides used were lambda-cyhalothrin 0.05%, DDT 4%, permethrin 0.75%, deltam...

INTRODUCTION Access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) becomes more and more effective in resource-limited settings (RLS). However, this global effort would be even more profitable if the access to laboratory services especially in decentralized settings was strengthened. We report the virological outcome and HIV-1 drug resistance in three West African countries using dried blood spots (DBS) sam...

Intensified use of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, is a possible route to improved agricultural productivity. Field trials of these technologies show substantial increases in yields, but typically are done on highly monitored experimental plots rather than by farmers themselves. Returns to a certain technology might be quite different on real-world farms than on experimental farms...

Holo- and paratypes of the root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne mayaguensis Rammah & Hirschmann, 1988 and Meloidogyne enterolobii Yang & Eisenback, 1983 were morphometrically and morphologically compared. All observed female, male and second-stage juvenile morphometrical and morphological characters are identical for the two studied species. Additionally, contradictions between the original species ...

The genus Acanthaleyrodes Takahashi is reported for the first time from India. Acanthaleyrodes elevatus sp. n. is described from Bridelia retusa in Kerala, India, with a key to puparia of Acanthaleydes species. The new species differs in its exceptionally elevated eighth abdominal tergite, circular vasiform orifice and eight pairs of subdorsal setae. The generic characteristics of Acanthaleyrod...