Puerperal Fever from Hippocrates to Pasteur

The death of a mother in childbirth leaving a newborn deserted is a sort of a desecration. This was a frequent event for early physicians. It was felt to be caused by miasmas or punishment from the gods. DaVinci felt the cause was milk stasis, Hippocrates - lochia, Virchow - weather. Then came Semmelweis, Pasteur and Lister. They started a battle with ignorance, hospital administration, budget and academic politics. Ending with the murder of Semmelweis

Systematic Review Approach to identifying key trends in adaptation governance at the supranational level

In this paper authors have analyzed peer-reviewed literature on adaptation governance focused on food security at the supranational level. A total of 281 papers were collected, of which 52 met our focus. We used 10 criteria (and 74 sub-criteria) to categorize the included papers. With research presented in these papers as our focus, we looked at key aspects of food security explored, identified types of governance measures and major challenges, and finally developed an understanding of the location of the research teams and involved countries. Overall, we found that the supranational focus in the context of adaptation governance on food security is not prevalent in current peer-reviewed literature—only approximately 16 per cent of the papers focus on this topic. In terms of the identified trends, there was a strong focus on developed countries and research led by teams from these countries; the governance systems aimed to prepare for a range of climate change impacts; and finally, there was limited interest in exploring the role of regional agencies in adaptation governance. In terms of future research needs, there is a strong need to develop processes for the integration of diverse sectors and issues when designing policies on food security in the context of climate change. It is also important to improve the skills and opportunities of research teams in the Global South to engage effectively in research on food security and governance

Virulence Factors of Escherichia coli Isolated From Female Reproductive Tract Infections and Neonatal Sepsis

Objective: The presence of enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli in the vagina of normal women is not synonymous with infection. However, vaginal E. coli may also cause symptomatic infections. We examined bacterial virulenceproperties that may promote symptomatic female reproductive tract infections (RTI) and neonatal sepsis. Methods: E. coli isolated as the causative agent from cases of vaginitis (n = 50), tubo-ovarian abscess (n = 45) and neonatal sepsis (n = 45) was examined for selected phenotypic and genetic virulence properties. Results were compared with the frequency of the same properties among fecal E. coli not associated with disease. Results: A significantly greater proportion of infection E. coli exhibited D-mannose resistant hemagglutination compared with fecal E. coli (p < 0.01). This adherence phenotype was associated with the presence of P fimbriae (pap) genes which were also significantly more prevalent among isolates from all three infection sites (p < 0.01). The majority of pap(+) isolates contained the papG3 allele (Class II) regardless of infection type. Increased frequency of Type 1C genes among vaginitis and abscess isolates was also noted. No significant differences in frequency of other bacterial adherence genes, fim, sfa, uca (gaf) or dra were observed. E. coli associated with vaginitis was significantly more likely to be hemolytic ( HIy(+)) than were fecal isolates (p < 0.05). The HIy(+) phenotype was also more prevalent among tubo-ovarian abscess and neonatal sepsis isolates (p < 0.08). Conclusions: E. coli isolated from female RTI and neonatal sepses possess unique properties that may enhance their virulence. These properties are similar to those associated with other E. coli extra-intestinal infections, indicating that strategies such as vaccination or bacterial interference that may be developed against urinary tract infections (UTI) and other E. coli extra-intestinal infections may also prevent selected female RTI

Cost of critical care in South Africa

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Factoring attitudes towards conflict risk into selection of protected areas for conservation

The high incidence of armed conflicts in biodiverse regions poses significant challenges in achieving international conservation targets. Because attitudes towards risk vary, we assessed different strategies for protected area planning that reflected alternative attitudes towards the risk of armed conflicts. We find that ignoring conflict risk will deliver the lowest return on investment. Opting to completely avoid conflict-prone areas offers limited improvements and could lead to species receiving no protection. Accounting for conflict by protecting additional areas to offset the impacts of armed conflicts would not only increase the return on investment (an effect that is enhanced when high-risk areas are excluded) but also increase upfront conservation costs. Our results also demonstrate that fine-scale estimations of conflict risk could enhance the cost-effectiveness of investments. We conclude that achieving biodiversity targets in volatile regions will require greater initial investment and benefit from fine-resolution estimates of conflict risk

Movement and Aggregation of Eastern Hudson Bay Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus leucas): A Comparison of Patterns Found through Satellite Telemetry and Nunavik Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) consists of the collective knowledge, experience, and values of subsistence communities, while Western science relies on hypothesis testing to obtain information on natural processes. Both approaches provide important ecological information, but few studies have directly compared the two. We compared information on movements and aggregation of beluga whales obtained from TEK interview records (n = 3253) and satellite telemetry records of 30 whales tagged in eastern Hudson Bay, Canada, using geographic information system (GIS) approaches that allowed common formatting of the data sets. Estuarine centres of aggregation in the summer were evident in both data sets. The intensive use of offshore areas seen in the telemetry data, where 76% of the locations were more than 15 km from mainland Quebec, was not evident in the TEK data, where only 17% of the records indicated offshore locations. Morisita’s index of similarity indicated that TEK and telemetry data distributions varied with season, with the highest similarity in winter (0.74). Location and movement data from the telemetry study were limited by small sample size and short tag deployment times, while TEK data were biased by spatial coverage and coastal travel habits. Although the two data sets can provide complementary information, both suffer from weaknesses that need to be acknowledged when these data are adapted for use in resource management.Les connaissances écologiques traditionnelles (CÉT) consistent en l’ensemble des connaissances, de l’expérience et des valeurs des communautés de subsistance, tandis que la science occidentale s’appuie sur la mise à l’épreuve d’hypothèses dans le but d’obtenir de l’information sur les processus naturels. Bien que ces deux démarches permettent d’obtenir d’importants renseignements sur l’écologie, peu d’études ont établi une comparaison directe entre ces deux démarches. Nous avons comparé des données sur les mouvements et le rassemblement des bélugas, données obtenues à partir de CÉT prélevées au moyen d’entrevues (n = 3253) ainsi qu’à partir de résultats de télémétrie par satellite sur 30 baleines marquées dans l’est de la baie d’Hudson, au Canada, à l’aide de systèmes d’information géographique (SIG) qui ont permis le formatage commun des ensembles de données. Pendant l’été, les centres de rassemblement en estuaire étaient évidents dans les deux ensembles de données. L’utilisation intensive des zones au large en ce qui a trait aux données de télémétrie, où 76 % des localisations se situaient à plus de 15 km du continent québécois, n’était pas évidente dans le cas des données des CÉT, où seulement 17 % des résultats indiquaient des localisations au large. L’indice de similarité de Morisita indiquait que la répartition des données obtenues par CÉT et par télémétrie variait d’une saison à l’autre, la similarité la plus grande ayant été atteinte l’hiver (0,74). Les données de localisation et de mouvement découlant de l’étude de télémétrie étaient limitées par la petite taille de l’échantillon et les courtes durées de déploiement des étiquettes, tandis que les données provenant des CÉT étaient biaisées par l’espace à couvrir et les habitudes de déplacement sur la côte. Bien que les deux ensembles de données puissent fournir de l’information complémentaire, tous deux possèdent des faiblesses qu’il y a lieu de reconnaître lorsque ces données sont adaptées à des fins de gestion des ressources

Activation of the Syk tyrosine kinase is insufficient for downstream signal transduction in B lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Immature B lymphocytes and certain B cell lymphomas undergo apoptotic cell death following activation of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signal transduction pathway. Several biochemical changes occur in response to BCR engagement, including activation of the Syk tyrosine kinase. Although Syk activation appears to be necessary for some downstream biochemical and cellular responses, the signaling events that precede Syk activation remain ill defined. In addition, the requirements for complete activation of the Syk-dependent signaling step remain to be elucidated. RESULTS: A mutant form of Syk carrying a combination of a K395A substitution in the kinase domain and substitutions of three phenylalanines (3F) for the three C-terminal tyrosines was expressed in a murine B cell lymphoma cell line, BCL(1).3B3 to interfere with normal Syk regulation as a means to examine the Syk activation step in BCR signaling. Introduction of this kinase-inactive mutant led to the constitutive activation of the endogenous wildtype Syk enzyme in the absence of receptor engagement through a 'dominant-positive' effect. Under these conditions, Syk kinase activation occurred in the absence of phosphorylation on Syk tyrosine residues. Although Syk appears to be required for BCR-induced apoptosis in several systems, no increase in spontaneous cell death was observed in these cells. Surprisingly, although the endogenous Syk kinase was enzymatically active, no enhancement in the phosphorylation of cytoplasmic proteins, including phospholipase Cγ2 (PLCγ2), a direct Syk target, was observed. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that activation of Syk kinase enzymatic activity is insufficient for Syk-dependent signal transduction. This observation suggests that other events are required for efficient signaling. We speculate that localization of the active enzyme to a receptor complex specifically assembled for signal transduction may be the missing event