Comparison of three different therapies for cutaneous leishmaniasis and identification of the etiologic isolates in Isfahan, Iran

Background: In Iran, zoonotic and anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are caused by Leishmania major and L. tropica respectively. Despite extensive studies, no effective therapies have ever been reported for CL. The main objective of this research was to determine and compare the three different protocols for treatment of CL patients referring to Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center (SDLRC), affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran from September 2017 to October 2018. Methods: In a randomized controlled parallel groups clinical trial, 150 selected CL patients who met our inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to one of the three therapy groups: A, intra-lesional glucantime plus 50 trichloroacetic acid (TCA), B, intra-lesional glucantime and C, systemic glucantime. All patients in the three groups received the complete course of treatment and were followed for 6 months. To identify the etiologic agents, smears from their lesions were prepared and PCR-RFLP was used after parasite culture. Also, clinical characteristics, history of previous involvement, endemic emigration and demographic data were collected. Results: The results showed that the mean value of healing period was 53.12 ± 25.88 (median: 45, IQR: Q1 = 30-Q3 = 77) days in group A, 57.22 ± 44.02 (median: 42.5, IQR: Q1 = 30-Q3 = 60) days in group B, and 73.56 ± 41.08 (median: 71, IQR: Q1 = 45-Q3 = 90) days in group C; the observed differences were statistically significant (P = 0.024). There was a significant difference between group A and group C (P = 0.049), and between group B and group C (P = 0.047) in terms of mean healing period. Finally, complete recovery rates of 80, 62 and 42 were shown in the three medicinal groups of A, B and C, respectively (P = 0.022). Conclusion: In this study, the average duration of lesion healing among the three groups was the shortest in patients with IL glucantime plus 50 TCA treatment regimen. Also, the use of 50 TCA in patients suffering from CL was associated with a significant improvement in the depth of scars, the time and the percentage of recovery, and the low cost of this agent in the treatment of CL. © 2020 Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

Informe de resultados de la campaña `Maurit-0911'. Estudio de los ecosistemas de la plataforma y margen contiental de Mauritania

Versión del edito

Tropical Data: Approach and Methodology as Applied to Trachoma Prevalence Surveys

PURPOSE: Population-based prevalence surveys are essential for decision-making on interventions to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. This paper outlines the methodologies of Tropical Data, which supports work to undertake those surveys. METHODS: Tropical Data is a consortium of partners that supports health ministries worldwide to conduct globally standardised prevalence surveys that conform to World Health Organization recommendations. Founding principles are health ministry ownership, partnership and collaboration, and quality assurance and quality control at every step of the survey process. Support covers survey planning, survey design, training, electronic data collection and fieldwork, and data management, analysis and dissemination. Methods are adapted to meet local context and needs. Customisations, operational research and integration of other diseases into routine trachoma surveys have also been supported. RESULTS: Between 29th February 2016 and 24th April 2023, 3373 trachoma surveys across 50 countries have been supported, resulting in 10,818,502 people being examined for trachoma. CONCLUSION: This health ministry-led, standardised approach, with support from the start to the end of the survey process, has helped all trachoma elimination stakeholders to know where interventions are needed, where interventions can be stopped, and when elimination as a public health problem has been achieved. Flexibility to meet specific country contexts, adaptation to changes in global guidance and adjustments in response to user feedback have facilitated innovation in evidence-based methodologies, and supported health ministries to strive for global disease control targets

New evidence for a South Atlantic stock of humpback whales wintering on the Northwest African continental shelf

No Abstract

Soft-X-ray fragmentation studies of molecular ions

International audienceImaging of photofragments from molecular ions after irradiation by soft X-ray photons has been realized at the ion beam infrastructure TIFF set up at the FLASH facility. Photodissociation of the two-electron system HeH + at 38.7 eV revealed the electronic excitations and the charge-state ratios for the products of this process, reflecting the non-adiabatic dissociation dynamics through multiple avoided crossings among the HeH + Rydberg potential curves. Dissociative ionization of the protonated water molecules H 3 O + and H 5 O + 2 at 90 eV revealed the main fragmentation pathways after the production of valence vacancies in these ionic species, which include a strong three-body channnel with a neutral fragment (OH + H + + H +) in H 3 O + photolysis and a significant two-body fragmentation channel (H 3 O + + H 2 O +) in H 5 O + 2 photolysis. The measurements yield absolute cross sections and fragment angular distributions. Increased precision and sensitivity of the technique was realized in recent developments, creating a tool for exploring X-ray excited molecular states under highly controlled target conditions challenging detailed theoretical understanding