Disparities in cervical cancer mortality rates as determined by the longitudinal hyperbolastic mixed-effects type II model.

We analyze the dynamics of cervical cancer mortality rates for African American and White women residing in 13 states located in the eastern half of the United States of America from 1975 through 2010. Despite decreasing trends in cervical cancer mortality rates for both races, racial disparities in mortality rates still exist. In all 13 states, Black women had higher mortality rates at all times. The degree of disparities and pace of decline in mortality rates over time differed among these states. In all 13 states, cervical cancer mortality rates for both racial groups have fallen. Disparities in the pace of decline in mortality rates in these states may be due to differences in the rates of screening for cervical cancers. Of note, the gap in cervical cancer mortality rates between Black women and White women is narrowing

Impact of Inconsistent Policies for Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria on Clinical Practice in Ghana

Background: Policies concerning the prevention of transfusion transmitted malaria (TTM) are the responsibility of blood transfusion services and malaria control programmes. To prevent spreading drug resistance due to over-use of malaria drugs, recent malaria treatment guidelines recommend prompt parasitological confirmation before treatment is started. In contrast, blood safety policies from the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend presumptive malaria treatment for recipients of blood in endemic countries but evidence supporting this approach is lacking. Our study documented how these conflicting policies relating to malaria transmission through blood transfusion impact on clinical practice in a teaching hospital in West Africa. Methods/Principal Findings: We randomly selected and reviewed case notes of 151 patients within 24 hours of their receiving a blood transfusion. Transfusion practices including the confirmation of diagnosis and anti-malarial treatment given were compared across three departments; Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G), Paediatrics and Medicine. Overall, 66 (44%) of patients received malaria treatment within 24 hrs of their blood transfusion; of which only 2 (3%) received antimalarials based on a laboratory confirmation of malaria. Paediatric patients (87%) received the most anti-malarials and only 7 % and 24 % of recipients in medicine and O&G respectively received anti malarials. In 51 patients (78%), the anti-malarials were prescribed at the same time as the blood transfusion and anti-malarials prescriptions exceeded the number of patient

La formation en médecine transfusionnelle reste insuffisante dans les centres d'Afrique subsaharienne francophone: Résultats d'une étude préliminaire

Purpose of the study: To evaluate the needs in staff training in transfusion centres of Sub-Saharan Africa. Material and methods: This preliminary study analyzed the training level of each personnel of four blood banks of Sub-Saharan Africa, their training fields, duration and training structures. Results: The needs remain high in all the fields and are critical regarding the administration of blood transfusion services, equipment maintenance and clinical use of blood. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS

Implementation of Blood and Blood Product Regulation Training Workshop, South Africa

The training workshop on Implementation of Blood and Blood Product Regulation was organised and co-hosted by the Paul-Ehrlich -Institut Global Health Protection Program BloodTrain and the Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) from the 20th to the 22nd of August 2019. This was aimed at strengthening the capacity of African countries in developing and implementing regulatory systems for blood. Over thirty participants from countries across the African continent came together in Johannesburg, South Africa and shared knowledge and experiences among themselves and also with experts from the BloodTrain, Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT), World Health Organization (WHO) and the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD). The workshop addressed a wide range of topics ranging from standards in transfusion, clinical practice, regulatory framework for blood, WHO guidelines related to blood regulation, haemovigilance and regulatory oversight of associated Medical Devices In-vitro Diagnostics. In addition to the context and motivation of the workshop, this report summarises the key content covered throughout the workshop and recommendations for further improvement. French Title: Atelier de Formation sur la Mise en Oeuvre de la Réglementation du Sang et des Produits Sanguins, Afrique du Sud Un atelier de formation portant sur la mise en oeuvre de la réglementation du sang et des produits sanguin s a été co-organisé par le programme de protection de la santé mondiale Paul-Ehrlich-Institut BloodTrain et la Société Africaine de Transfusion Sanguine (SATS) du 20 au 22 août 2019. Il visait à renforcer la capacité des pays africains à élaborer et à mettre en oeuvre des systèmes de réglementation pour le sang. Plus de trente participants de pays du continent africain se sont réunis à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud et ont partagé leurs connaissances et leurs expériences entre eux ainsi qu'avec des experts de BloodTrain, de la SATS, de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) et du Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique (NEPAD). L'atelier a abordé un large éventail de sujets, allant des normes de transfusion, de la pratique clinique, du cadre réglementaire pour le sang, des directives de l'OMS relatives à la régulation du sang, à l'hémovigilance et à la surveillance réglementai re des diagnostics in vitro des dispositifs médicaux associés. En plus du contexte et de la motivation de l'atelier, ce rapport résume le contenu clé couvert tout au long de l'atelier et des recommandations pour de nouvelles améliorations

Regulator of G Protein Signaling 7 (RGS7) Can Exist in a Homo-oligomeric Form That Is Regulated by Gαo and R7-binding Protein

RGS (regulator of G protein signaling) proteins of the R7 subfamily (RGS6, -7, -9, and -11) are highly expressed in neurons where they regulate many physiological processes. R7 RGS proteins contain several distinct domains and form obligatory dimers with the atypical Gβ subunit, Gβ5 They also interact with other proteins such as R7-binding protein, R9-anchoring protein, and the orphan receptors GPR158 and GPR179. These interactions facilitate plasma membrane targeting and stability of R7 proteins and modulate their activity. Here, we investigated RGS7 complexes using in situ chemical cross-linking. We found that in mouse brain and transfected cells cross-linking causes formation of distinct RGS7 complexes. One of the products had the apparent molecular mass of ∼150 kDa on SDS-PAGE and did not contain Gβ5 Mass spectrometry analysis showed no other proteins to be present within the 150-kDa complex in the amount close to stoichiometric with RGS7. This finding suggested that RGS7 could form a homo-oligomer. Indeed, co-immunoprecipitation of differentially tagged RGS7 constructs, with or without chemical cross-linking, demonstrated RGS7 self-association. RGS7-RGS7 interaction required the DEP domain but not the RGS and DHEX domains or the Gβ5 subunit. Using transfected cells and knock-out mice, we demonstrated that R7-binding protein had a strong inhibitory effect on homo-oligomerization of RGS7. In contrast, our data indicated that GPR158 could bind to the RGS7 homo-oligomer without causing its dissociation. Co-expression of constitutively active Gαo prevented the RGS7-RGS7 interaction. These results reveal the existence of RGS protein homo-oligomers and show regulation of their assembly by R7 RGS-binding partners