The National Research Repository of Uganda - NRU

Welcome to the National Research Repository of Uganda, abbreviated as "NRU". NRU was established in 2021. NRU is a collection of scholarly output by researchers from the UNCST Community, including scholarly articles and books, electronic theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, journals, technical reports and digitised library collections. It is the official Institutional Archive (IA) of UNCST.

For information about the publishers' copyright policy on archiving your articles online or in an institutional archive, visit the Sherpa Site at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php The site gives a summary of the permissions normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement. If you wish to publish your research findings in the NRU, please contact NRU administrator at admin@uncst.go.ug for details. NRU operates both open access and closed access models. Access to fulltext has been restricted in adherence to the UNCST Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Copyrights policies.

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Africa Portal is an online repository of open access library collection with over 3,000 books, journals, and digital documents on African policy issues. This is an initiative by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Makerere University (MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Please visit the Africa Portal at http://www.africaportal.org/library.

Communities in NRU

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Books and Book Abstracts
This community contains Open Access Books and Book Abstracts
Conference Proceedings
This community contains Ugandan Conference proceedings
Institutional Annual Research Reports
This community contains consolidated Ugandan Institutional Annual Research Reports on a broad range of subjects
Institutional Repository Policies
This community contains approved and running institutional repository policies from different research institutions
Journal Publications
This community contains Open access peer reviewed publications about Uganda and from Ugandan Researchers. The community has been classified to thematic research sub communities of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Humanities, Medical and Health Sciences, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.

Recent Submissions

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Widespread Pyrethroid and DDT Resistance in the Major Malaria Vector Anopheles funestus in East Africa Is Driven by Metabolic Resistance Mechanisms

(PloS one, 2014) Mulamba, Charles; Riveron, Jacob M.; Ibrahim, Sulaiman S.; Irving, Helen; Barnes, Kayla G.; Mukwaya, L. G.; Birungi, Josephine; Wondji, Charles S.

Establishing the extent, geographical distribution and mechanisms of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors is a prerequisite for resistance management. Here, we report a widespread distribution of insecticide resistance in the major malaria vector An. funestus across Uganda and western Kenya under the control of metabolic resistance mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings Female An. funestus collected throughout Uganda and western Kenya exhibited a Plasmodium infection rate between 4.2 to 10.4%. Widespread resistance against both type I (permethrin) and II (deltamethrin) pyrethroids and DDT was observed across Uganda and western Kenya. All populations remain highly susceptible to carbamate, organophosphate and dieldrin insecticides. Knockdown resistance plays no role in the pyrethroid and DDT resistance as no kdr mutation associated with resistance was detected despite the presence of a F1021C replacement. Additionally, no signature of selection was observed on the sodium channel gene. Synergist assays and qRT-PCR indicated that metabolic resistance plays a major role notably through elevated expression of cytochrome P450s. DDT resistance mechanisms differ from West Africa as the L119F-GSTe2 mutation only explains a small proportion of the genetic variance to DDT resistance. Conclusion The extensive distribution of pyrethroid and DDT resistance in East African An. funestus populations represents a challenge to the control of this vector. However, the observed carbamate and organophosphate susceptibility offers alternative solutions for resistance management.

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Variation in morphological characters of adults of the Aedes (Stegomyia) simpsoni complex from Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa (Diptera: Culicidae)

(Mosquito Systematics, 1994) Lutwama, Julius J.; Mukwaya, L. G.

Examination of adult Aedes simpsoni (Theobald) s.Z. from locations in Uganda and Kenya showed more variation than reported previously. Four patterns of white banding on the midtarsomeres were identified, and they occurred in varying frequencies in samples from different locations. The length of the tarsal bands was distributed continuously within samples from different locations and was variable among progeny of single mothers. This character therefore is not diagnostic of species in the complex. Midtarsomeres 1 and 2 have longer white bands in the majority of males and females of anthropophilic populations in Kenya and Uganda, but there is considerable overlap between the anthropophilic and nonanthropophilic biotypes. A few females in some samples did not bear a tooth on all claws of the fore- or midlegs. Twelve patterns of scutal lines occurred in varying frequencies in samples from different locations. A scutal pattern with long inner lines and short outer lines was most common, with an average occurrence of 5 1.2% in females and 32.2% in males. An H-pattern of scutal lines was more frequent in males (42.1%) than in females (12.10/o), indicating a sex association. Three tergal banding patterns were defined. We conclude that the nominotypical Ae. simpsoni in southern Africa is a distinct species different from the more widespread Ae. Zilii (Theobald) in tropical Africa. Aedes bromeliae (Theobald) cannot be distinguished from the latter based on characters presently described as diagnostic.

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The role of olfaction in host preference by Aedes (Stegomyia) simpsoni and Ae.aegypti

(Physiological Entomology, 1976) Mukwaya, L. G.

Host preference in females of the mosquitoes Aedes simpsoni (Theo.) and Aedes aegypti (L) appears to be based largely on responses to specific odours at short range, with the site of olfaction being the antennae. In blank Y‐olfactometer tests, 48 % of an anthropophilic (llobi) strain of Ae. aegypti responded to one arm and 52% to the other. However, presented with a man's hand in one arm of the olfacto‐meter and a whole rat, Arvicanthis niloticus, in the other, 65% responded to man and 35% to the rat. With the same strain in a blank Gouck's type of olfactometer, the response was very poor, only 1 % of the mosquitoes in the olfactometer responded at all, again with no preference for either side. On the introduction of the same hosts into the Gouck's olfactometer, the total response was c. 31 %, of which 72 % responded to man and 28 % to the rat. Elimination of some visual cues affected neither the total response nor the preference. Removing one antenna, reduced the preference for man from about 70 % in the normal mosquitoes to about 58%. The total response remained approximately the same as in the normal mosquitoes. Removing both antennae, in both Ae. aegypti and Ae. simpsoni, caused a sharp depression in the total response and in host discrimination.

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The maraviroc expanded access program — safety and efficacy data from an open-label study

(HIV Clinical Trials, 2015) Lazzarin, Adriano; Reynes, Jacques; Molina, Jean-Michel; Valluri, Srinivas; Mukwaya, Geoffrey; Heera, Jayvant; Craig, Charles; van der Ryst, Elna; Sierra-Madero, Juan G.

The maraviroc (MVC) expanded access program (EAP) was initiated to increase MVC availability to patients with limited treatment options. Darunavir (DRV), raltegravir (RAL), and etravirine (ETV) were either recently approved or under regulatory review at study initiation and available for coadministration with MVC. Thus, the safety of MVC in combination with new antiretroviral therapies (ARVs) could be assessed. This open-label safety study of MVC was conducted at 262 sites worldwide in 1032 R5 HIV-positive treatment-experienced patients with limited/no therapeutic options. Methods: Study visits included screening, baseline, end of study or early discontinuation, and follow-up 30 days after last dose. Interim visits for HIV-1 RNA and CD4 cell counts occurred according to local HIV infection management guidelines. Safety data were analyzed overall and by subgroup based on ARV combination [MVC+optimized background therapy (OBT), MVC ± OBT+DRV/r, MVC ± OBT+RAL, MVC ± OBT+RAL+DRV/r, MVC ± OBT+RAL+ETV ± DRV/r]. Results: Most (90.3%) adverse events (AEs) were of mild or moderate severity with few grade 3/4 events, discontinuations, or temporary discontinuations/dose reductions due to AEs or serious AEs. Similar results were observed across subgroups. Of treated patients, 79.9% and 50% had HIV-1 RNA < 400 copies/ml and < 50 copies/ml respectively, at the end of the study, early termination visits, or at last known status. Tropism changes and selection of MVC-resistant R5 virus, including high-level MVC dependence, were mechanisms of viral escape. Conclusion: MVC was well tolerated with virologic suppression observed in most patients.

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The epidemiology of yellow fever in Africa

(Microbes and infection, 2002) Mutebi, John-Paul; Barrett, Alan D. T.

Yellow fever (YF) is still a major public heath problem, particularly in Africa, despite the availability of a very efficacious vaccine. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 200,000 cases ofYF annually, including 30,000 deaths, of which over 90% occur in Africa. In the past 15 years, the number of YF cases has increased tremendously, with most of the YF activity in West Africa. This increase in YF activity is in part due to a breakdown inYF vaccination and mosquito control programs. Five genotypes ofYF virus have been found in Africa, and each genotype circulates in a distinct geographical region.West Africa genotype I, found in Nigeria and surrounding areas, is associated with frequent epidemics, whereas the three genotypes in East and Central Africa are in regions where YF outbreaks are rare. Other factors, including genetic and behavioral variation among vector species, are also thought to play a role in the epidemiology of YF in Africa.