2,374 research outputs found
A neglected disease of humans: a new focus of visceral leishmaniasis in Bakool, Somalia.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was observed in children in Bakool region, Somalia, an area where VL has not been reported before. We describe the extent of the problem in this war- and famine-stricken area. A retrospective analysis was done of all cases admitted to a VL treatment centre between July 2000 and August 2001. Patients with longstanding fever, splenomegaly and a positive direct agglutination test (DAT; titre > 1:3200) were treated as suspected VL cases. A rapid epidemiological and entomological assessment was performed in the area. Species identification was attempted from blood samples by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of cysteine proteinase B genes. In 1 year, 230 serologically-positive cases were diagnosed as VL, and response to therapy was good in 91.6% of the 225 treated with sodium stibogluconate. Parasitological confirmation was attempted and obtained in 2 cases. Parasites were found to be most similar to Sudanese and Ethiopian reference strains of the Leishmania donovani complex. In a serological survey of 161 healthy displaced persons, 15% were positive by the leishmanin skin test and 3 (2%) were positive by the DAT. The sandfly captures showed Phlebotomus martini and P. vansomerenae. VL seems to be a longstanding and serious health problem in Bakool region. Food insecurity might have contributed to the emergence and detection of VL in this area
Circular dichroism of magneto-phonon resonance in doped graphene
Polarization resolved, Raman scattering response due to E phonon in
monolayer graphene has been investigated in magnetic fields up to 29 T. The
hybridization of the E phonon with only the fundamental inter Landau
level excitation (involving the n=0 Landau level) is observed and only in one
of the two configurations of the circularly crossed polarized excitation and
scattered light. This polarization anisotropy of the magneto-phonon resonance
is shown to be inherent to relatively strongly doped graphene samples, with
carrier concentration typical for graphene deposited on SiO
Modulational instability in dispersion-kicked optical fibers
We study, both theoretically and experimentally, modulational instability in
optical fibers that have a longitudinal evolution of their dispersion in the
form of a Dirac delta comb. By means of Floquet theory, we obtain an exact
expression for the position of the gain bands, and we provide simple analytical
estimates of the gain and of the bandwidths of those sidebands. An experimental
validation of those results has been realized in several microstructured fibers
specifically manufactured for that purpose. The dispersion landscape of those
fibers is a comb of Gaussian pulses having widths much shorter than the period,
which therefore approximate the ideal Dirac comb. Experimental spontaneous MI
spectra recorded under quasi continuous wave excitation are in good agreement
with the theory and with numerical simulations based on the generalized
nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation
Few layer graphene on SiC, pyrolitic graphite and graphene: a Raman scattering study
The results of micro-Raman scattering measurements performed on three
different ``graphitic'' materials: micro-structured disks of highly oriented
pyrolytic graphite, graphene multi-layers thermally decomposed from carbon
terminated surface of 4H-SiC and an exfoliated graphene monolayer are
presented. Despite its multi-layer character, most parts of the surface of the
graphitized SiC substrates shows a single-component, Lorentzian shape, double
resonance Raman feature in striking similarity to the case of a single graphene
monolayer. Our observation suggests a very weak electronic coupling between
graphitic layers on the SiC surface, which therefore can be considered to be
graphene multi-layers with a simple (Dirac-like) band structure.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Figures Structure of the paper strongly modified, small
changes in Fig 2 and 3. Same interpretation and same result
Heteroclinic structure of parametric resonance in the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation
We show that the nonlinear stage of modulational instability induced by
parametric driving in the {\em defocusing} nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation can
be accurately described by combining mode truncation and averaging methods,
valid in the strong driving regime. The resulting integrable oscillator reveals
a complex hidden heteroclinic structure of the instability. A remarkable
consequence, validated by the numerical integration of the original model, is
the existence of breather solutions separating different Fermi-Pasta-Ulam
recurrent regimes. Our theory also shows that optimal parametric amplification
unexpectedly occurs outside the bandwidth of the resonance (or Arnold tongues)
arising from the linearised Floquet analysis
Ultrafast sodium channel block by dietary fish oil prevents dofetilide-induced ventricular arrhythmias in rabbit hearts
9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table.-- et al.Several epidemiologic and clinical studies show that following myocardial infarction, dietary supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega3FA) reduce sudden death. Animal data show that omega3FA have antiarrhythmic properties, but their mechanisms of action require further elucidation. The effects of omega3FA supplementation were studied in female rabbits to analyze whether their antiarrhythmic effects are due to a reduction of triangulation, reverse use-dependence, instability, and dispersion (TRIaD) of the cardiac action potential (TRIaD as a measure of proarrhythmic effects). In Langendorff-perfused hearts challenged by a selective rapidly activating delayed rectifier potassium current inhibitor that has been shown to exhibit proarrhythmic effects (dofetilide; 1 to 100 nM), omega3FA pretreatment (30 days; n=6) prolonged the plateau phase of the monophasic action potential; did not slow the terminal fast repolarization; reduced the dofetilide-induced prolongation of the action potential duration; reduced dofetilide-induced triangulation; and reduced dofetilide-induced reverse use-dependence, instability of repolarization, and dispersion. Dofetilide reduced excitability in omega3FA-pretreated hearts but not in control hearts. Whereas torsades de pointes (TdP) were observed in five out of six in control hearts, none were observed in omega3FA-pretreated hearts. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) inhibited the sodium current with ultrafast kinetics. Dietary omega3FA supplementation markedly reduced dofetilide-induced TRIaD and abolished dofetilide-induced TdP. Ultrafast sodium channel block by DHA may account for the antiarrhythmic protection of the dietary supplements of omega3FA against dofetilide-induced proarrhythmia observed in this animal model.This work was funded by Solvay Pharma, Novartis, Grants CICYT
SAF2004-06856 and SAF2007-65868 and Red Temática de Investigación
Cooperativa Grant FIS RD06/0014/0006.Peer reviewe
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