University of 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.

Timing and structural expression of the Nevadan orogeny, Sierra Nevada, California

Abstract: The Nevadan orogeny was a very short-lived event in the Late Jurassic that involved the deformation of a great variety of rock types and Paleozoic and Mesozoic terranes throughout the extent of the Sierra Nevada. The Nevadan structures show great variation in style but relatively constant orientations. These relations can be explained by considering the prior histories of the various terranes. Slaty cleavages and tight folds are the characteristic main-phase structures in the western belt of Jurassic island-arc volcanic rocks and flysch-type sedimentary rocks. A strip of phyllites and greenschists along the eastern edge of the belt apparently represents similar Jurassic rocks that were deformed and metamorphosed at greater depths, probably during underthrusting of the western belt beneath the central belt. The central belt of Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks shows the most extreme variation in style of main-phase structures, from weak, spaced to crenulation cleavages in the south, where polyphase deformed rocks formed a structural basement, to slaty and phyllitic cleavages and asymmetric to isoclinal folds in the north, where most of the Paleozoic basement rocks lack penetrative pre-Nevadan fabrics. Eastward-directed thrust faulting apparently was important only in the northern part of the range, where main-phase deformation was most intense. The eastern belt of Jurassic and Triassic magmatic arc-volcanic and sedimentary rocks defines the core of a major synclinorium, and the rocks contain penetrative slaty cleavages and asymmetric, tight to isoclinal folds. A late phase of Nevadan structures, consisting of northeast-trending cleavages and minor folds, also shows a marked variation in style, from relatively intensely developed in the north to very weakly developed in the south. The regional extent and geometry of the Nevadan structures indicate that the Nevadan orogeny involved underthrusting of island-arc rocks on the west and significant crustal shortening in the central and eastern belts. These features suggest that the Nevadan orogeny resulted from the collision of the island arc (western belt) with an andean-type arc (eastern belt) situated at the western edge of North America.

The impact of human immunodeficiency virus on mortality of patients treated for tuberculosis in a cohort study in Zambia

Abstract: We have examined the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on mortality of patients treated for tuberculosis in a prospective study in Lusaka, Zambia. Patients with sputum smear-positive, miliary, or meningeal tuberculosis were prescribed 2 months' daily streptomycin, thiacetazone, isoniazid, rifampicin, and pyrazinamide followed by 6 months thiacetazone and isoniazid; others, 2 months streptomycin, thiacetazone and isoniazid followed by 10 months thiacetazone and isoniazid. 239 patients (65 HIV-negative and 174 HIV-positive) were followed to 2 years from start of treatment. The crude mortality rate ratio for HIV-positive compared with HIV-negative patients over 2 years was 5.00 (95% confidence interval 2.30-10.86). Median survival for HIV-positive patients from the start of treatment was 22 months. At least 34% of HIV-positive patients for whom cause of death was known died from tuberculosis, three-quarters of these during the first month of treatment. Risk factors for death in HIV-positive patients included multi-site tuberculosis, history of prolonged diarrhoea or fever, oral thrush, splenomegaly, anergy to tuberculin, low weight, anaemia or lymphopenia, and poor compliance with regimens containing rifampicin and pyrazinamide. Tuberculosis, even treated, was a major cause of death in patients with HIV infection.

Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Abstract: Introduction: Antibiotics are indispensable to maintaining human health; however, their overuse has resulted in resistant organisms, increasing morbidity, mortality and costs. Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, resulting in multiple campaigns across countries to improve appropriate antimicrobial use. This includes addressing the overuse of antimicrobials for self-limiting infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), particularly in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is the greatest inappropriate use and where antibiotic utilization has increased the most in recent years. Consequently, there is a need to document current practices and successful initiatives in LMICs to improve future antimicrobial use. Methodology: Documentation of current epidemiology and management of URTIs, particularly in LMICs, as well as campaigns to improve future antimicrobial use and their influence where known. Results: Much concern remains regarding the prescribing and dispensing of antibiotics for URTIs among LMICs. This includes considerable self-purchasing, up to 100% of pharmacies in some LMICs. However, multiple activities are now ongoing to improve future use. These incorporate educational initiatives among all key stakeholder groups, as well as legislation and other activities to reduce self-purchasing as part of National Action Plans (NAPs). Further activities are still needed however. These include increased physician and pharmacist education, starting in medical and pharmacy schools; greater monitoring of prescribing and dispensing practices, including the development of pertinent quality indicators; and targeted patient information and health education campaigns. It is recognized that such activities are more challenging in LMICs given more limited resources and a lack of healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Initiatives will grow across LMICs to reduce inappropriate prescribing and dispensing of antimicrobials for URTIs as part of NAPs and other activities, and these will be monitored.