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- Ngasala, Billy, et al.
(author)
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The usefulness of indirect diagnostic tests for Schistosoma haematobium infection after repeated rounds of mass treatment with praziquantel in Mpwapwa and Chakechake districts in Tanzania
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Elsevier BV. - 1201-9712 .- 1878-3511. ; 90, s. 132-137
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Indirect diagnostic tests are used to assess the disease burden and to monitor the impact of different interventions in areas endemic for urinary schistosomiasis. This study was performed to assess their accuracy in the diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis among primary school children in low and moderate transmission areas in the districts of Mpwapwa and Chakechake, respectively.Methods School children were interviewed regarding their history of haematuria and participation in treatment campaigns. Urine samples were collected and inspected for macro-haematuria (visual haematuria) and tested for micro-haematuria using urine reagent strips and Schistosoma haematobium eggs by urine filtration method.Results The prevalence of S. haematobium was 6.8% in Mtera Dam area and 38.7% in Uwandani Shehia. In Mtera Dam area, a history of haematuria and visual haematuria had low sensitivity (<60%) with high specificity (>90%). The urine reagent strips had high sensitivity and specificity (≥75%). In Uwandani Shehia, a history of haematuria had high sensitivity and specificity (>60%). Visual haematuria had low sensitivity (<50%) but high specificity (>80%). The urine reagent strips maintained high performance in all parameters assessed.Conclusions The study findings suggest that urine reagent strips will continue to serve as a very useful adjunct test for monitoring the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in endemic areas.
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| 4. |
- Suliman, S., et al.
(author)
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Nanodiamond modified copolymer scaffolds affects tumour progression of early neoplastic oral keratinocytes
- 2016
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In: Biomaterials. - : Elsevier. - 0142-9612 .- 1878-5905. ; 95, s. 11-21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aimed to evaluate the tumorigenic potential of functionalising poly(LLA-co-CL) scaffolds. The copolymer scaffolds were functionalised with nanodiamonds (nDP) or with nDP and physisorbed BMP-2 (nDP-PHY) to enhance osteoinductivity. Culturing early neoplastic dysplastic keratinocytes (DOKLuc) on nDP modified scaffolds reduced significantly their subsequent sphere formation ability and decreased significantly the cells' proliferation in the supra-basal layers of in vitro 3D oral neoplastic mucosa (3D-OT) when compared to DOKLuc previously cultured on nDP-PHY scaffolds. Using an in vivo non-invasive environmentally-induced oral carcinogenesis model, nDP scaffolds were observed to reduce bioluminescence intensity of tumours formed by DOKLuc + carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAF). nDP modification was also found to promote differentiation of DOKLuc both in vitro in 3D-OT and in vivo in xenografts formed by DOKLuc alone. The nDP-PHY scaffold had the highest number of invasive tumours formed by DOKLuc + CAF outside the scaffold area compared to the nDP and control scaffolds. In conclusion, in vitro and in vivo results presented here demonstrate that nDP modified copolymer scaffolds are able to decrease the tumorigenic potential of DOKLuc, while confirming concerns for the therapeutic use of BMP-2 for reconstruction of bone defects in oral cancer patients due to its tumour promoting capabilities.
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