Tuberculosis diagnosis after bleach processing for early stage tuberculosis laboratory capacity building

The diagnosis of tuberculosis is seriously hampered in the absence of standard biosafety laboratory facilities for specimen concentration and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture. Within a laboratory twinning arrangement, heat-fixed direct smear and sediment from 74 bleach-processed and 20 non-processed specimens from Cumura Hospital, Guinea-Bissau, were sent to Lisbon for molecular evaluation of rifampicin resistance. Sequence analysis of a 369 base-pair ppoB locus detected 3.2% (3/94) resistant specimens. To our knowledge, this represents the first report on the molecular analysis of M. tuberculosis from bleach-processed sputum, an alternative to current diagnostic practice in low-resource settings.

A visual tool for building synchronous generator capability curves

Synchronous generators are essential components of electric power systems. They are present both in hydro and thermal power plants, performing the function of converting mechanical into electrical energy. This paper presents a visual approach to manipulate parameters that affect operation limits of synchronous generators, using a specifically designed software. The operating characteristics of synchronous generators, for all possible modes of operation, are revised in order to link the concepts to the graphic objects. The approach matches the distance learning tool requirements and also enriches the learning process by developing student trust and understanding of the concepts involved in building synchronous machine capability curves. © 2012 IEEE.