Realizing effectiveness across continents with hydroxyurea: Enrollment and baseline characteristics of the multicenter REACH study in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite its well-described safety and efficacy in the treatment of sickle cell anemia (SCA) in high-income settings, hydroxyurea remains largely unavailable in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 75% of annual SCA births occur and many comorbidities exist. Realizing Effectiveness Across Continents with Hydroxyurea (REACH, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01966731) is a prospective, Phase I/II open-label trial of hydroxyurea designed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and benefits of hydroxyurea treatment for children with SCA in four sub-Saharan African countries. Following comprehensive training of local research teams, REACH was approved by local Ethics Committees and achieved full enrollment ahead of projections with 635 participants enrolled over a 30-month period, despite half of families living \u3e12 km from their clinical site. At enrollment, study participants (age 5.4 ± 2.4 years) had substantial morbidity, including a history of vaso-occlusive pain (98%), transfusion (68%), malaria (85%), and stroke (6%). Significant differences in laboratory characteristics were noted across sites, with lower hemoglobin concentrations (P \u3c .01) in Angola (7.2 ± 1.0 g/dL) and the DRC (7.0 ± 0.9 g/dL) compared to Kenya (7.4 ± 1.1 g/dL) and Uganda (7.5 ± 1.1 g/dL). Analysis of known genetic modifiers of SCA demonstrated a high frequency of α-thalassemia (58.4% with at least a single α-globin gene deletion) and G6PD deficiency (19.7% of males and 2.4% of females) across sites. The CAR β-globin haplotype was present in 99% of participants. The full enrollment to REACH confirms the feasibility of conducting high-quality SCA research in Africa; this study will provide vital information to guide safe and effective dosing of hydroxyurea for children with SCA living in Africa

Role of potyviruses in synergistic interaction leading to maize lethal necrotic disease on maize

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied SciencesSynergistic interactions among pathogenic viruses are common in plants. Though not all, but a number of reported cases involving such interactions have a potyvirus partner during co-infection. The presence of the potyvirus group seems to favor its own multiplication on host and multiplication of a co-infecting partner. In this review, some characteristics favoring higher pathogenesis have been discussed using maize lethal necrosis (MLN)- causing viruses namely Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and its synergistic potyvirus, Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). A comprehensive discussion on the role of potyvirus in the synergism has been presented to show that in MLN and similar synergisms - the machinery for induction, transmission and colonization of the host is catalysed by the potyvirus and not the co-infecting viral partner which otherwise seems to be the most virulent in the synergism-based diseases such as MLN disease in maize. Furthermore, the effect of MLN to food security and areas for future research for Africa has been discussed in this review

Circulating prostaglandin E2: a novel potential prognostic biomarker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

We aimed to explore the activation of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL)/cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) axis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), evaluating circulating PGE2 as prognostic biomarker in HCC patients. PGE2 levels were measured in blood samples from 24 cirrhotics, and 34 HCC patients were consecutively collected between January 2016 and December 2017. In a subgroup of patients, tissue expression of MAGL mRNA and immunohistochemistry for MAGL and COX-2 were obtained. Despite tumor tissues showing overexpression of MAGL mRNA and higher levels of both MAGL and COX-2 at immunohistochemistry, PGE2 levels were not significantly different in HCC and cirrhotics. HCC patients with circulating PGE2 levels > 14\ua0pg/mL had a significantly shorter overall survival (19.4 vs. 49.9\ua0months; p = 0.03), the finding being confirmed by the multivariate analysis (HR 3.37 [95% CI 1.00\u201311.60]; p = 0.05). The MAGL/COX-2/PGE2 axis is activated in HCC, and circulating PGE2 proved to be a potential prognostic biomarker

Role of potyviruses in synergistic interaction leading to maize lethal necrotic disease on maize

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied SciencesSynergistic interactions among pathogenic viruses are common in plants. Though not all, but a number of reported cases involving such interactions have a potyvirus partner during co-infection. The presence of the potyvirus group seems to favor its own multiplication on host and multiplication of a co-infecting partner. In this review, some characteristics favoring higher pathogenesis have been discussed using maize lethal necrosis (MLN)- causing viruses namely Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and its synergistic potyvirus, Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). A comprehensive discussion on the role of potyvirus in the synergism has been presented to show that in MLN and similar synergisms - the machinery for induction, transmission and colonization of the host is catalysed by the potyvirus and not the co-infecting viral partner which otherwise seems to be the most virulent in the synergism-based diseases such as MLN disease in maize. Furthermore, the effect of MLN to food security and areas for future research for Africa has been discussed in this review

Reporting on the Independence of the Belgian Congo: Mwissa Camus, the Dean of Congolese Journalists

Many individuals were involved in the Belgian Congo’s attainment of independence. Born in 1931, Mwissa Camus, the dean of Congolese journalists, is one of them. His career sheds light on the advancement of his country towards independence in June 1960. By following his professional career in the years preceding independence, we can see how his development illuminates the emergence of journalism in the Congo, the social position of Congolese journalists, and the ambivalence of their position towards the emancipation process. The road taken by Mwissa Camus – as an actor, witness, extra, and somehow instrument of the events that shook his country – helps understand the Congo’s move towards independence from a particular perspective. History – that of a hurried independence, blatantly unprepared, on which a small elite failed to agree – is revealed through his words and the unveiling of his ‘world.’ This paper is essentially based on interviews with Mwissa Camus and on Congolese newspaper articles from 1959, 1960 and 1961.http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SmnqCiRRE9e2yeePUSwA/fullSCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe