Folk Food beliefs in Mauritius and Rodrigues

Cette étude sur les croyances alimentaires a été faite dans le but de déterminer les perceptions des Mauriciens sur l’effet de dix aliments sur la tension artérielle et de les analyser. Les données ont été obtenues à partir d’un échantillon représentatif de la population de Maurice et de Rodrigues. La taille de l’échantillon était de 800 personnes tirées au hasard. Cette étude qui a obtenu l’accord du Comité d’Ethique du Ministère de la Santé et de la Qualité de la Vie de Maurice a demandé un consentement éclairé et écrit de la part de chaque participant. Ce travail a mis en évidence un certain nombre de perceptions présentes parmi les Mauriciens et a démontré leur degré de mise en pratique. Les résultats de cette étude ont fait ressortir le besoin de faire une éducation de la population sur les valeurs nutritives des aliments associés à des croyances culturelles.This questionnaire survey about folk food beliefs was carried out with the objectives to determine the perceptions of the inhabitants of Mauritius and Rodrigues on the effect of ten food items on blood pressure and to critically analyse these perceptions. Data was obtained from a representative sample of the population of Mauritius and Rodrigues, which comprised 800 randomly selected adults. Ethical clearance was obtained from the local health authority, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius, and informed written consent was obtained from each participant. The results of ths study expose a number of perceptions prevalent among Mauritians and demonstrate the extent to which they are put into practice. The findings highlight the need to educate Mauritians on the nutritive value of foods items that are associated with strong cultural beliefs

A qualitative study exploring the views on tobacco use and cessation support among patients in Kenya

Tobacco use adversely affects the health of users, making hospitals a good place to introduce tobacco cessation efforts. However, most healthcare providers do not offer cessation support. This study sought to explore the views on tobacco use and cessation support among patients in Kenya. A qualitative approach was used. 19 patients were selected from various health facilities in Nairobi and Kisumu using purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted by staff trained in qualitative interviewing between May 2017 and October 2017. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in their respective languages. Data management was done using Vivo version 10 software and analysed using content analysis method. Findings from this study revealed the following: Awareness regarding harmful effects: Participants were of view that tobacco use causes cancer, respiratory problems, impotence, lack of sleep and appetite and discoloration of the teeth. Lack of awareness regarding tobacco cessation clinics and lack of tobacco cessation interventions: Participants mentioned lack of awareness about any institutions which provide tobacco cessation services. Others mentioned that they had not been offered any support to quit; very few had been asked about their tobacco use status. Quitting tobacco use challenges: Respiratory problems, headache, lack of sleep and appetite, urge to smoke and the smell of smoke were the key challenges. Motivating factors to quit: Religion, support from family and friends, poor health condition, less availability of tobacco products and financial problems were the factors cited. Need for enhanced tobacco control: need for more awareness campaigns about harmful effects of tobacco use, provision of more tobacco cessation services, and implementing policies such as banning tobacco and increasing tax. There is need for multi-disciplinary efforts in Kenya to enhance tobacco control through awareness campaigns and integrating accessible and affordable tobacco cessation services within healthcare facilities

A Survey of Availability and Affordability of Polypills for Cardiovascular Disease in Selected Countries.

BACKGROUND: The recent inclusion of polypills-fixed-dose combinations of antihypertensive medicines and a statin with or without aspirin-in the World Health Organization's Essential Medicines List (EML) reiterates the potential of this approach to improve global treatment coverage for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Although there exists extensive evidence on the effectiveness, safety and acceptability of polypills, there has been no research to date assessing the real-world availability and affordability of polypills globally. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, based on the WHO/Health Action International methodology, in 13 countries around the world. In the surveyed countries, we first ascertained whether any polypill was authorised for marketing and/or included in EMLs and clinical guidelines. In each country, we collected retail and price data for polypills from at least one public-sector facility and three private pharmacies using convenience sampling. Polypills were considered unaffordable if the lowest-paid worker spent more than a day's wage to purchase a monthly supply. RESULTS: Polypills were approved for marketing in four of the 13 surveyed countries: Spain, India, Mauritius and Argentina. None of these countries included polypills in national guidelines, formularies, or EMLs. In the four countries, no surveyed public pharmacies stocked polypills. In the private sector, we identified seven unique polypill combinations, marketed by eight different companies. Private sector availability was 100% in Argentina and Spain. Most combinations (n = 5) identified were in India. Combinations found in India and Spain were affordable in the local context. A lowest-paid government worker would spend between 0.2 (India) and 2.8 (Mauritius) days' wages to pay the price for one month's supply of the polypills. Polypills were likely to be affordable if they were manufactured in the same country. CONCLUSION: Low availability and affordability of polypills in the public sector suggest that implementation remains poor globally. Context-specific multi-disciplinary health system research is required to understand factors affecting polypill implementation and to design and evaluate appropriate implementation strategies

Actin remodeling by ADF/cofilin is required for cargo sorting at the trans-Golgi network

Sorting of both soluble and integral membrane proteins is disrupted by loss of ADF/cofilin, suggesting that actin severing controls expansion of a sorting domain within the TGN

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

World Heart Federation Roadmap for Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: 2023 Update.

BACKGROUND: Secondary prevention lifestyle and pharmacological treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) reduce a high proportion of recurrent events and mortality. However, significant gaps exist between guideline recommendations and usual clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: Describe the state of the art, the roadblocks, and successful strategies to overcome them in ASCVD secondary prevention management. METHODS: A writing group reviewed guidelines and research papers and received inputs from an international committee composed of cardiovascular prevention and health systems experts about the article's structure, content, and draft. Finally, an external expert group reviewed the paper. RESULTS: Smoking cessation, physical activity, diet and weight management, antiplatelets, statins, beta-blockers, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, and cardiac rehabilitation reduce events and mortality. Potential roadblocks may occur at the individual, healthcare provider, and health system levels and include lack of access to healthcare and medicines, clinical inertia, lack of primary care infrastructure or built environments that support preventive cardiovascular health behaviours. Possible solutions include improving health literacy, self-management strategies, national policies to improve lifestyle and access to secondary prevention medication (including fix-dose combination therapy), implementing rehabilitation programs, and incorporating digital health interventions. Digital tools are being examined in a range of settings from enhancing self-management, risk factor control, and cardiac rehab. CONCLUSIONS: Effective strategies for secondary prevention management exist, but there are barriers to their implementation. WHF roadmaps can facilitate the development of a strategic plan to identify and implement local and national level approaches for improving secondary prevention

A Role for the Chemokine RANTES in Regulating CD8 T Cell Responses during Chronic Viral Infection

RANTES (CCL5) is a chemokine expressed by many hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cell types that plays an important role in homing and migration of effector and memory T cells during acute infections. The RANTES receptor, CCR5, is a major target of anti-HIV drugs based on blocking viral entry. However, defects in RANTES or RANTES receptors including CCR5 can compromise immunity to acute infections in animal models and lead to more severe disease in humans infected with west Nile virus (WNV). In contrast, the role of the RANTES pathway in regulating T cell responses and immunity during chronic infection remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate a crucial role for RANTES in the control of systemic chronic LCMV infection. In RANTES−/− mice, virus-specific CD8 T cells had poor cytokine production. These RANTES−/− CD8 T cells also expressed higher amounts of inhibitory receptors consistent with more severe exhaustion. Moreover, the cytotoxic ability of CD8 T cells from RANTES−/− mice was reduced. Consequently, viral load was higher in the absence of RANTES. The dysfunction of T cells in the absence of RANTES was as severe as CD8 T cell responses generated in the absence of CD4 T cell help. Our results demonstrate an important role for RANTES in sustaining CD8 T cell responses during a systemic chronic viral infection