Response of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine and Fansidar in vivo and chloroquine and amodiaquine in vitro in Uganda

The response of P. falciparum to chloroquine and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine in vivo and chloroquine and amodiaquine in vitro was investigated in parasitaemic school children from six locations. Mean parasite sensitivity to chloroquine at day 7 was 74% (range 61-97) with parasite clearance rates between 2-3 days and complete defervescence in 85% of febrile children. Sensitivity declined in the four sites followed up to day 14 to 45% (range 37-53). Parasites were significantly more sensitive to pyrimethamine/sulfadoxine at 5/6 sites (100% day 7) but 5% of subjects became parasitaemic by day 14. In vitro isolates were significantly less sensitive to chloroquine than to amodiaquine with a mean 99% effective concentration of 348 mumol/L compared to 6.44 mumol/L. Clearly the role of chloroquine as the primary therapy for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria should be reconsidered especially in the light of increasing disease severity and resurgence. Amodiaquine may be suitable alternative with pyrimethamine/sulfadoxine as second line and for more severe malaria prior to referral. The cost of alternative antimalarials and the dynamic and deteriorating pattern of resistance are powerful arguments for more objective slide diagnosis to minimise drug pressure and a regular drug sensitivity surveillance system. We believe that the latter should concentrate on measuring clinical drug efficacy in symptomatic outpatients rather than in asymptomatic children while the former needs more pragmatic and economical strategies possibly centred on seasonality and risk.     

Considerations about synchrophasors measurement in dynamic system conditions

This paper focuses on some concepts that are to be considered to ensure interoperability of phasor measurement units (PMU) during dynamic phenomena. Interoperability of devices in dynamic system conditions is needed to allow accurate analysis and, in the near future, control of phenomena like power system oscillations. The paper emphasizes the need to extend the IEEE standard to ensure the measurement latency and accuracy are known during field measurements. It also introduces a sequential logic aiming at providing the user with more robust measurements, together with more information about the measurement quality.     

Patterning of organic layers using negative and positive working Top-CARL process

The Top-CARL process is a technique for patterning organic materials some tens of microns thick by top-resist silylation and pattern transfer via oxygen reactive ion etching. The influence of exposure dose, temperature and top-resist layer thickness on the silylation process is studied. A dyed version of the resist is examined. Its polarity can be changed from negative to positive working by addition of a small amount of a photo base.     

New charge-transfer salts for reversible resistive memory switching

We found novel organic charge-transfer salts that exhibit reversible resistive memory switching phenomena. Homogeneous layers of these complexes can be easily fabricated using solution processing. The copper-2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone complex was investigated in more detail. Devices made of this complex can be reversibly switched between a high and a low resistance state by applying voltage pulses as short as 1 micros. The memory states remain stable for more than 15 h without an electricity source.     

Communicating with microwave-propelled sails

We describe a communication channel for a microwave-propelled sail, a novel concept for a deep-space scientific probe. We suggest techniques to recover the great loss introduced by the large distances, and we have conducted various simulations to understand the effects on the performance of the system. Possible disruption in the channel by high-energy solar flares, which increase the error in the estimation of the received signal, is accounted for. We developed the simulation for a full communication system on an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, including the random-time solar-flare disturbance. We show that turbo codes can be exploited that perform very well at low SNRs and have high coding gain.     

Assessment of end user traits and physicochemical qualities of cassava flour: a case of Zombo district,Uganda

Cassava breeding programmes in Uganda do not currently select materials based on flour making quality, explaining in part the low adoption rates of many released varieties. In this study, we describe end user trait preferences, processing qualities and physicochemical properties of cassava flour. We found that higher proportion of women than men showed preference for most attributes of cassava flour quality evaluated in this study. Preference for colour was 66% and 52% among women and men, respectively, while that for stickiness of Kwon was 26% (women) and 15% (men). Ease of peeling and stickiness of Kwon were key processing traits. Heap fermented flour had higher pasting temperatures, but lower viscosities than sun-dried flour, and had lower amylose content compared to fresh root starch. The results demonstrate the importance of gender sensitive participatory evaluation of breeding materials, in tandem with physicochemical evaluation during selection of best possible candidate breeding lines.     

Beiträge zur galvanisierung von polymeren, 7. Metallisierung von epoxidharzen mit hilfe von haftvermittlern

Epoxy resins can be coated with a metal after being covered with a platable adhesive. Such an adhesive consists of a partly epoxidized styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer, an epoxy prepolymer and an amine curer. The contents of these substances in the mixture and the nature of the amine influence the peel strength of the metal layer. The maximum peel strength with a value of about 45 N/25 mm was obtained after using a low molecular weight amine, while values of only about 10 N/25 mm could be obtained with amines of higher molecular weight.     

Fuzzy multi‐attribute cost–benefit analysis of e‐services

E‐service evaluation is a complex problem in which many qualitative attributes must be considered. These kinds of attributes make the evaluation process hard and vague. Cost–benefit analyses applied to various areas are usually based on the data under certainty or risk. In case of uncertain, vague, and/or linguistic data, the fuzzy set theory can be used to handle the analysis. In this article, after the evaluation attributes of e‐services and the fuzzy multi‐attribute decision‐making methods are introduced, a fuzzy hierarchical TOPSIS model is developed and applied to an e‐service provider selection problem with some sensitivity analyses. The developed model is a useful tool for the companies that prefer outsourcing for e‐activities. It is shown that service systems can be effectively evaluated by the proposed method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 547–565, 2007.     

Silicon containing photoresists for half micron lithography

Several silicon containing topresists for bilayer oxygen reactive ion etching systems were developed and examined. Each topresist consists of a silicon containing alkaline soluble copolymer and a 2-diazo-1-naphthalenone-4-sulphonic acid ester photoactive compond (PAC). Half micron structures in the topresist were obtained with two different resist systems through deep-UV (257 nm) or iline exposure. The etch rate ratios (planarizing layer:copolymer) vary between 7:1 and 13:1 under anisotropic etching conditions. Linewidth loss during oxygen RIE (reactive ion etching) pattern transfer is a problem for resists containing about 10% silicon, but equal lines and spaces after etching can be obtained through the use of thick topresists or linewidth bias in the topresist prior to etching.