Posts in category: Uncategorized

Data on a test that can detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C from a single drop of blood is being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, (April 15–18).

As a major component of the immune system, T cells play a critical role in fighting off viral infections. A team led by Prof. Thomas Brocker and Jan Kranich from LMU’s Biomedical Center has demonstrated in a mouse model that so-called extracellular vesicles play an important part in the stimulation of these cells. The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

ALS is a rare paralytic neurological disease that can impact people in the prime of life. Delays in receiving a definitive diagnosis can be devastating for patients who typically survive only 2–5 years post-diagnosis.

New data published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) provide the first published evidence that a positive safety climate and adherence to standard precautions predict key health care–associated infection (HAI) and occupational health outcomes among patients and health care workers, respectively. The findings highlight features within hospitals’ organizations and safety climates that could be modified to improve these outcomes.

As a four-day work week is trialed in countries across the globe, health researchers at the University of South Australia say they’re “all in” when it comes to a long weekend, especially as new empirical research, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, shows that the extra time off is good for health.

A Japanese nationwide study revealed the risk of incident end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) initially rose in the early birth cohorts, peaked, and then declined in more recent birth cohorts in both sexes, but the peaks were different in each sex, showing elevated trends peaking in the 1940–1960s birth cohort for men and for women.

When women are facing challenging, stressful situations, leisure and recreation are powerful ways to boost spirits and defuse their stress, according to a recent study published in Leisure Studies.

Reminiscent of the second republic under Kenneth Kaunda, Zambians are suddenly seeing queues as desperate citizens seek mealie meal.
Social media has been awash with images of women in particular in long winding queues waiting to buy mealie meal which is in short supply.
Queues that were associated with the rundown economy experienced under the UNIP one-party state with its centrallised economy have suddenly resurfaced.
The shortage of mealie meal is nothing short of a scandal in a country that boasts of having enough maize in its national silos.
Worse is the fact that Government has failed to explain what has brought about this shortage of mealie meal that has also seen its price rise beyond the reach of an average Zambian.
Government wants to blame the shortage on smugglers it says are taking maize and mealie meal to the neighbouring Congo DR.
But as we have pointed out before, Congo DR – along the common frontier with Zambia – has always sourced its food needs from the Zambian side and smuggling has been part of the equation.
But never in recent years have Zambians been subjected to lining up for essential commodities as seen now.
Hundreds of Kitwe residents on Tuesday thronged Mufungo Milling Ltd Trading as Nkana Milling depot in Kapoto township and queued for hours on end for the now acutely scarce mealie-meal despite continued assurances from government that there is enough of the staple food in the country.
This rush and scramble for the staple food at Nkana Milling was after word went that the depot had received new stock of mealie meal which was selling at K170 while it has been fetching as much as K270 in some other outlets.
A spot check found two long queues separated by gender waiting to buy the commodity that seemed not to be enough for the crowd that had besieged the outlet.
Heavily armed police officers had to be deployed in anticipation of a scramble and riot as residents struggled to buy the commodity which is now being limited to one bag per family and could only be accessed after the production of a National Registration Card in some instances.
Yet, just last week, Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo assured residents that queuing for mealie meal would be a thing of the past as the province would be allocated 80 percent of the 30, 000 metric tonnes of maize that the Food Reserve Agency had offloaded on the market.
May be Government should listen to the Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) which has urged it to declare the mealie-meal shortage a national emergency.
ZACA executive secretary Juba Sakala said consumers queuing up for mealie-meal is an indication that the shortage has reached crisis proportions.
It is strange though that this has not been admitted by the government yet the Ministry of Agriculture has written to the Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industry to ask its members to import mealie meal to stem the shortage.
President Hakainde Hichilema, who has so far taken a back-row seat has now stepped in to address the shortage.
The sooner “tantameni” ends, the better for Zambians do not want to go through that route.

Our mental health and that of our cardiovascular system have a complex interaction. A recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig, Germany, now shows the links between higher blood pressure and depressive symptoms, well-being and emotion-related brain activity that may be relevant to the development of hypertension.

 PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has vowed that he will never fly anywhere on the Presidential Gulfstream jet which was purchased at a cost of USD$194.9 million. Mr Hichilema said the price at which the presidential jet was purchased is massive and thus he does not want to be questioned by the legal fraternity. The Head of […]