Epidemiological assessment of Wolbachia-based biocontrol for reduction of dengue morbidity

International audienceWolbachia-based biological control has recently emerged as an ecologically friendly and potentially cost-effective method for prevention and control of dengue and other arboviral infections. When deliberately infected withWolbachia, major vector species, such as Aedes aegypti females, lose their vectorial competence and become less capable of transmitting the virus to humans. Thus, Wolbachia-based biocontrol aims to replace wild vectors (fully capable of transmitting arboviral infections) by Wolbachia-carrying insects that bear a reduced transmission capacity. The population replacement can be achieved by releasing mosquitoes that were transinfected with Wolbachia during the process of mass-rearing.In this presentation, we propose a sex-structured model describing the dynamics of two sup-populations of adult mosquitoes: the wild insects (males and females that are Wolbachia- free), and those deliberately infected with Wolbachia. This model is biologically viable, well-posed, and reflects the two significant features of Wolbachia: maternal transmission and cytoplasmic incompatibility. The model also exhibits bistability that agrees with the principle of competitive exclusion.Using this mosquito population dynamics model, we further construct a dengue transmission system of SEIR-SEI type to perform an epidemiological assessment of Wolbachia-based control for prevention of dengue morbidity. As an example, we simulate this type of preventive control applied to Cali, a sizeable Colombian city commonly considered a hyperendemic area regarding dengue morbidity

Chemical and dynamical processes in the mesospheric emissive layer. First results of stereoscopic observations

[1] The mesospheric emissive layer is an efficient tracer of the dynamical processes propagating in the atmosphere at that level. CCD images in the near infrared taken from the ground at slant angles often reveal the existence of wavy fields. A series of such images has been transformed, using matrix operations, producing a downward satellite-type view that covers a circular area of radius ∼1000 km at the altitude of the layer. The Fourier characteristics of the wave system are measured using a Morlet-type wavelet generator function with horizontal wavelengths of mostly ∼20–40 km and 100–150 km and temporal periods of ∼15–30 min. An oxygen-hydrogen model is used to evaluate the response of the emissive layer to a progressive density wave. The altitude of the layer is modulated with an amplitude of ∼0.8–1.8 km when a density wave propagates vertically. The layer thickness is slightly modulated and is equal to ∼7 km. Stereoscopic pairs of photographs taken simultaneously on 8–9 September 2000 at the Château-Renard and Pic du Midi observatories are used to obtain surface maps of the emission layer barycenter altitude. A stereocorrelation method suitable for low contrast objects without discrete contours is employed. Preliminary results for areas ∼50 × 50 km2 are presented. The surface maps of the layer barycenter altitude depict the existence of waves. They show the same wavy structure and compare favorably with the maps showing the emission intensity

Concurrent Sessions B: Fish Physiology and Fishway Passage Success - Comparative Physiology and Relative Swimming Performance of Three Redhorse (Moxostoma Spp.) Species: Associations with Fishways

Fishways have been constructed to maintain longitudinal connectivity for fish in fluvial systems impacted by barriers but there are relatively few studies of their biological effectiveness. Trend analysis of the CanFishPass fishway database showed that only 9% of Canadian fishways have been studied using methods that enable proper evaluation of biological effectiveness. A biological evaluation of the Vianney-Legendre fishway in Quebec for the passage of three redhorse species (Moxostoma anisurum, M. carinatum, M. macrolepidotum; silver, river and shorthead redhorse respectively) showed attraction efficiencies of 51%, 12%, 50%, respectively, and passage efficiencies of 88%, 50% and 69% respectively. For all species, failures in the fishway were likely to occur beforethe second turning basin in the fishway (84% of failures). Shorthead redhorse had higher maximum metabolic rates and were faster swimmers than silver and river redhorse. River redhorse recovered their lactate and glucose concentrations more quickly than silver and shorthead redhorse, and river redhorse were second in terms of metabolic recovery and swim speed. Fish sampled from the top of the fishway had nearly identical lactate, glucose and pH values compared to control fish. Additional research is required to understand how organismal performance, environmental conditions, and other factors interact with fishway designs to dictate which fish are successful and to inform research of future fishways. Our research suggests that there may be an opportunity for a rapid assessment approach where manual chasing and sampling of fish from the top of the fishway are used to determine which species (or sizes of fish) are exceeding their physiological capacity during passage

A sex-structured model of Wolbachia invasion to design sex-biased release strategies in Aedes spp mosquitoes populations

Laboratory experiments as well as some field essays have revealed that the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia, deliberately introduced in Aedes spp female mosquitoes, drastically reduces their vector competence for dengue virus and other pathogens. However, female mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia still need to ingest human blood while male mosquitoes, either wild or Wolbachia-carrying, do not bite people. Moreover, Wolbachia-carrying females may transmit the virus to people during blood-feeding, even though with a far less probability than the wild ones. Therefore, massive releases of Wolbachia-carrying females may increase both the nuisance and the epidemiological risk among human residents. In this paper, we propose a sex-structured model of Wolbachia invasion that brings forward the possibility of developing male-biased release strategies of Wolbachia-carriers leading to Wolbachia invasion. Thanks to this model, we study the minimal amount of mosquitoes necessary to complete this task, according to the relative sex-ratio of the released mosquitoes and to the release schedule. We also pay attention to the estimate of the time needed to achieve the ultimate population replacement

Sternal reentry in a patient with previous deep sternal wound infection managed with horizontal titanium plate fixation

Redo open-heart surgery and sternal reentry in patients with previous deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) and absence of sternal integrity can be a delicate and morbid task due the lack of a dissection plane between the heart and the surrounding soft tissues. Delayed sternal reconstruction and osteosynthesis with horizontal titanium plating fixation (Synthes) following vacuum assisted therapy (KCI) has recently been proposed and adopted for the treatment of DSWI. We present such a case of a patient who was successfully reoperated for valve replacement three years after coronary artery bypass grafting complicated by DSWI and initially treated with titanium plate fixation

Improving obstetric care in low-resource settings: implementation of facility-based maternal death reviews in five pilot hospitals in Senegal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In sub-Saharan Africa, maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity are major problems. Service availability and quality of care in health facilities are heterogeneous and most often inadequate. In resource-poor settings, the facility-based maternal death review or audit is one of the most promising strategies to improve health service performance. We aim to explore and describe health workers' perceptions of facility-based maternal death reviews and to identify barriers to and facilitators of the implementation of this approach in pilot health facilities of Senegal.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was conducted in five reference hospitals in Senegal with different characteristics. Data were collected from focus group discussions, participant observations of audit meetings, audit documents and interviews with the staff of the maternity unit. Data were analysed by means of both quantitative and qualitative approaches.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Health professionals and service administrators were receptive and adhered relatively well to the process and the results of the audits, although some considered the situation destabilizing or even threatening. The main barriers to the implementation of maternal deaths reviews were: (1) bad quality of information in medical files; (2) non-participation of the head of department in the audit meetings; (3) lack of feedback to the staff who did not attend the audit meetings. The main facilitators were: (1) high level of professional qualifications or experience of the data collector; (2) involvement of the head of the maternity unit, acting as a moderator during the audit meetings; (3) participation of managers in the audit session to plan appropriate and realistic actions to prevent other maternal deaths.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The identification of the barriers to and the facilitators of the implementation of maternal death reviews is an essential step for the future adaptation of this method in countries with few resources. We recommend for future implementation of this method a prior enhancement of the perinatal information system and initial training of the members of the audit committee – particularly the data collector and the head of the maternity unit. Local leadership is essential to promote, initiate and monitor the audit process in the health facilities.</p

Blue light affects emotional processing in the hypothalamus in Seasonal Affective Disorder

peer reviewe

QUARITE (quality of care, risk management and technology in obstetrics): a cluster-randomized trial of a multifaceted intervention to improve emergency obstetric care in Senegal and Mali

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal and perinatal mortality are major problems for which progress in sub-Saharan Africa has been inadequate, even though childbirth services are available, even in the poorest countries. Reducing them is the aim of two of the main Millennium Development Goals. Many initiatives have been undertaken to remedy this situation, such as the Advances in Labour and Risk Management (ALARM) International Program, whose purpose is to improve the quality of obstetric services in low-income countries. However, few interventions have been evaluated, in this context, using rigorous methods for analyzing effectiveness in terms of health outcomes. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ALARM International Program (AIP) in reducing maternal mortality in referral hospitals in Senegal and Mali. Secondary goals include evaluation of the relationships between effectiveness and resource availability, service organization, medical practices, and satisfaction among health personnel.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This is an international, multi-centre, controlled cluster-randomized trial of a complex intervention. The intervention is based on the concept of evidence-based practice and on a combination of two approaches aimed at improving the performance of health personnel: 1) Educational outreach visits; and 2) the implementation of facility-based maternal death reviews.</p> <p>The unit of intervention is the public health facility equipped with a functional operating room. On the basis of consent provided by hospital authorities, 46 centres out of 49 eligible were selected in Mali and Senegal. Using randomization stratified by country and by level of care, 23 centres will be allocated to the intervention group and 23 to the control group. The intervention will last two years. It will be preceded by a pre-intervention one-year period for baseline data collection. A continuous clinical data collection system has been set up in all participating centres. This, along with the inventory of resources and the satisfaction surveys administered to the health personnel, will allow us to measure results before, during, and after the intervention. The overall rate of maternal mortality measured in hospitals during the post-intervention period (Year 4) is the primary outcome. The evaluation will also include cost-effectiveness.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The QUARITE trial is registered on the Current Controlled Trials website under the number ISRCTN46950658 <url>http://www.controlled-trials.com/</url>.</p

Uniform electron gases

We show that the traditional concept of the uniform electron gas (UEG) --- a homogeneous system of finite density, consisting of an infinite number of electrons in an infinite volume --- is inadequate to model the UEGs that arise in finite systems. We argue that, in general, a UEG is characterized by at least two parameters, \textit{viz.} the usual one-electron density parameter $\rho$ and a new two-electron parameter $\eta$. We outline a systematic strategy to determine a new density functional $E(\rho,\eta)$ across the spectrum of possible $\rho$ and $\eta$ values.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 5 table

Transcriptome, Methylome and Genomic Variations Analysis of Ectopic Thyroid Glands

Congenital hypothyroidism from thyroid dysgenesis (CHTD) is predominantly a sporadic disease characterized by defects in the differentiation, migration or growth of thyroid tissue. Of these defects, incomplete migration resulting in ectopic thyroid tissue is the most common (up to 80%). Germinal mutations in the thyroid-related transcription factors NKX2.1, FOXE1, PAX-8, and NKX2.5 have been identified in only 3% of patients with sporadic CHTD. Moreover, a survey of monozygotic twins yielded a discordance rate of 92%, suggesting that somatic events, genetic or epigenetic, probably play an important role in the etiology of CHTD.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tValidation StudiesSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe