scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Institution

University of Zambia

EducationLusaka, Lusaka, Zambia
About: University of Zambia is a education organization based out in Lusaka, Lusaka, Zambia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 2593 authors who have published 4402 publications receiving 122411 citations. The organization is also known as: UNZA.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
19 Oct 1978-Nature
TL;DR: Evidence is presented that lizards allowed to thermoregulate behaviourally acclimate only at low body temperatures and that the common pattern of acclimation differs from that of aquatic organisms in being determined by requirements of low temperature energy conservation rather than metabolic homeostasis.
Abstract: THERMAL acclimation has been studied most intensively in aquatic ectotherms1 in which body temperature closely approximates water temperature, which changes slowly with season. As aquatic ectotherms must therefore be active over a range of slowly changing body temperatures, acclimation usually functions as a homeostatic mechanism; following a temperature change in the environment, the organism's metabolic rate is adjusted so that it is returned to near its original level2. Some terrestrial animals, particularly reptiles which thermoregulate behaviourally, are subject to considerable daily fluctuations in body temperature3. This difference in the thermal ecology of aquatic ectotherms and terrestrial reptiles, which may cause a difference in the acclimatory responses of the two groups, has not been considered in the work on thermal acclimation in reptiles4–6. Consequently, this work is of little use in predicting the acclimatory responses of reptiles to seasonal temperature changes in the field. We present here evidence that lizards allowed to thermoregulate behaviourally acclimate only at low body temperatures and that the common pattern of acclimation differs from that of aquatic organisms in being determined by requirements of low temperature energy conservation rather than metabolic homeostasis.

33 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The study shows that there is a significant association between alcohol initiation before 13 years of age and problem drinking among youth in these two countries, and underscores the need for interventions and strict alcohol controls as an important policy strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth.
Abstract: Excessive alcohol use is a serious public health concern worldwide, but less attention has been given to the prevalence, risk and protective factors, and consequences of early alcohol use in low-income, developing countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between early alcohol use, before age 13, and problem drinking among adolescents in Uganda and Zambia. Data from students in Zambia (n=2257; 2004) and Uganda (n=3215; 2003) were obtained from the crosssectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS). The self-administered questionnaires were completed by students primarily 13 to 16 years of age. Multiple statistical models were computed using logistic regression analyses to test the associations between early alcohol initiation and problem drinking, while controlling for possible confounding factors (e.g., current alcohol use, bullying victimization, sadness, lack of friends, missing school, lack of parental monitoring, and drug use). Results show that early alcohol initiation was associated with problem drinking in both Zambia (AOR=1.28; 95% CI:1.02-1.61) and Uganda (AOR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.11-1.98) among youth after controlling for demographic characteristics, risky behaviors, and other possible confounders.The study shows that there is a significant association between alcohol initiation before 13 years of age and problem drinking among youth in these two countries. These findings underscore the need for interventions and strict alcohol controls as an important policy strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth.

33 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
22 Oct 2019-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: Bacterial communities that underlie the fermentation in Munkoyo differ in their composition for the different regions using common processing steps, suggesting that different combinations of bacteria can be used to achieve successful Munksoyo fermentation.
Abstract: Fermented cereal-based foods play a crucial role in attaining food and nutrition security for resource-poor populations in sub-Saharan Africa. These products are widely produced by spontaneous fermentation using of cereal grains as raw material. They have a unique taste and flavour, are rich sources of energy and their non-alcoholic nature makes them ideal for consumption by the entire population, including children. Lactic acid bacteria dominate the fermentation process and lead to a low pH of around 4, which suppresses the growth of pathogenic bacteria, thereby increasing the shelf-life and safety of the food. Knowledge about processing practices, consumption patterns and bacterial communities is essential to regulate processing and design appropriate mixes of micro-organisms to produce starter cultures for commercial production of standard-quality fermented foods that meet desired quality characteristics. In four regions of Zambia, we surveyed processing practices and consumption patterns of a spontaneously fermented cereal-based beverage called Munkoyo, commonly produced in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Variations in processing practices exist in cooking time of the unfermented maize porridge and time allowed for fermentation. Consumption is mainly at household level and the product is considered as an energy drink. Characterisation of the bacterial communities of over 90 samples with 16S amplicon sequencing on DNA extracted from the entire bacterial community revealed six dominant families, namely Streptococcaceae, Leuconostocaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Lactabacillales, Bacillaceae and Aeromonadaceae, and a Shannon index of up to 1.18 with an effective number of 3.44 bacterial species. Bacterial communities that underlie the fermentation in Munkoyo differ in their composition for the different regions using common processing steps, suggesting that different combinations of bacteria can be used to achieve successful Munkoyo fermentation. Analysis of aroma profiles in 15 different samples from two different Provinces showed that aldehydes, esters, organic acids, alkanes, alkenes and alcohols dominated.

33 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
11 May 2015-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: Co-administration of an adjuvanted protein and an adenovirus vector showed an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile and resulted in strong, multifunctional and complementary HIV-specific immune responses.
Abstract: Background Sequential prime-boost or co-administration of HIV vaccine candidates based on an adjuvanted clade B p24, RT, Nef, p17 fusion protein (F4/AS01) plus a non-replicating adenovirus 35 expressing clade A Gag, RT, Int and Nef (Ad35-GRIN) may lead to a unique immune profile, inducing both strong T-cell and antibody responses Methods In a phase 1, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 146 healthy adult volunteers were randomized to one of four regimens: heterologous prime-boost with two doses of F4/AS01E or F4/AS01B followed by Ad35-GRIN; Ad35-GRIN followed by two doses of F4/AS01B; or three co-administrations of Ad35-GRIN and F4/AS01B T cell and antibody responses were measured Results The vaccines were generally well-tolerated, and did not cause serious adverse events The response rate, by IFN-γ ELISPOT, was greater when Ad35-GRIN was the priming vaccine and in the co-administration groups F4/AS01 induced CD4+ T-cells expressing primarily CD40L and IL2 +/- TNF-α, while Ad35-GRIN induced predominantly CD8+ T-cells expressing IFN-γ +/- IL2 or TNF-α Viral inhibition was induced after Ad35-GRIN vaccination, regardless of the regimen Strong F4-specific antibody responses were induced Immune responses persisted at least a year after the last vaccination The complementary response profiles, characteristic of each vaccine, were both expressed after co-administration Conclusion Co-administration of an adjuvanted protein and an adenovirus vector showed an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile and resulted in strong, multifunctional and complementary HIV-specific immune responses Trial Registration ClinicalTrialsgov NCT01264445

33 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There was a clear difference in response depending on HIV status, suggesting that EE with superimposed HIV enteropathy may be a distinct pathophysiological condition and Nutritional intervention may selectively influence villous compartment remodelling.
Abstract: Environmental enteropathy (EE) is an asymptomatic abnormality of small bowel structure and function, which may underlie vaccine inefficacy in the developing world. HIV infection co-exists in many of these populations. There is currently no effective treatment. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial of high dose multiple micronutrient (MM) supplementation on small bowel architecture in EE in participants with or without HIV infection. In a double-blind parallel-group trial of the effect of MM on innate immune responses to oral vaccines, consenting Zambian adults were randomised to receive 6 weeks of 24 micronutrients as a daily capsule or placebo. HIV status was established after randomisation. Proximal jejunal biopsies were obtained after the supplementation period. Villous height, crypt depth, villous width, villous perimeter per 100 μm muscularis mucosa (a measure of epithelial surface area), and villous cross sectional area per 100 μm muscularis mucosa (a measure of villous compartment volume) were measured in orientated biopsy sections using semi-automated image analysis. Analysis was by intention to treat. 18 patients received MM and 20 placebo. 6/18 MM and 9/20 placebo patients had HIV. In HIV negative patients given MM compared to placebo, mean villous height was 24.0% greater (293.3 v. 236.6 μm; 95% CI of difference 17.7–95.9 μm; P = 0.006), mean villous area was 27.6% greater (27623 v. 21650 μm2/100 μm; 95% CI of difference 818–11130 μm2/100 μm; P = 0.03), and median villous perimeter was 29.7% greater (355.0 v. 273.7 μm/100 μm; 95% CI of difference 16.3–146.2 μm/100 μm; P = 0.003). There was no significant effect on crypt depth or villous width. No effect was observed in HIV positive patients. There were no adverse events attributable to MM. MM improved small bowel villous height and absorptive area, but not crypt depth, in adults with EE without HIV. Nutritional intervention may therefore selectively influence villous compartment remodelling. In this small study, there was a clear difference in response depending on HIV status, suggesting that EE with superimposed HIV enteropathy may be a distinct pathophysiological condition.

33 citations


Authors

Showing all 2635 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Alimuddin Zumla10074743284
David Clark7365224857
Sten H. Vermund6960622181
Paul A. Kelly6820816836
Francis Drobniewski6729317371
Ayato Takada6727314467
Karl Peltzer6088018515
Hirofumi Sawa5532511735
Peter Godfrey-Faussett521738486
Igor J. Koralnik5219710186
Peter Mwaba481327386
Alison M. Elliott482997772
Kelly Chibale473377713
Chihiro Sugimoto473257737
Sian Floyd471636791
Network Information
Related Institutions (5)
University of the Witwatersrand
52.7K papers, 1.3M citations

87% related

World Health Organization
22.2K papers, 1.3M citations

86% related

University of KwaZulu-Natal
33.4K papers, 713.4K citations

86% related

University of London
88K papers, 4M citations

85% related

University of Pretoria
45.4K papers, 814.6K citations

85% related

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
202318
202248
2021481
2020505
2019358
2018299