Analyzing Ideological Communities in Congressional Voting Networks

We here study the behavior of political party members aiming at identifying how ideological communities are created and evolve over time in diverse (fragmented and non-fragmented) party systems. Using public voting data of both Brazil and the US, we propose a methodology to identify and characterize ideological communities, their member polarization, and how such communities evolve over time, covering a 15-year period. Our results reveal very distinct patterns across the two case studies, in terms of both structural and dynamic properties

Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in asymptomatic rural Gabonese populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria may be perennial or epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and its transmission may be stable or unstable, depending on the region. The prevalence of asymptomatic <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>carriage is poorly documented in Gabon. A large survey of <it>P. falciparum </it>infection was conducted in asymptomatic individuals living in rural Gabon.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and twenty-two villages were randomly selected in the nine administrative regions. With the participants' informed consent, blood samples were collected for thick and thin blood film examination after 20% Giemsa staining. Prevalence rates were calculated per village, per region and per ecosystem, and nationwide. Demographic risk factors were identified with STATA software version 9.0. Significance was assumed at p < 0.05.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>The prevalence of <it>P. falciparum </it>in adults was 6.2% (269/4342) nationwide, with a maximum of 37.2% in one village; a linear decrease was observed with increasing age (p = 0.045). Only 5% of the 399 children from forest areas tested positive. The prevalence was significantly higher in forest areas (7%) than in savannah (4%) and lakeland (2.5%). Within the forest region, the prevalence was significantly higher in forest grassland (10.9%) than in the mountain forest (3.5%), interior forest (6.8%) and north-eastern forest (4.5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>carriage remains high among adults in rural Gabon. Control measures must be adapted to the region and ecosystem. Routine treatment of asymptomatic individuals should be considered.</p

Sampling and coverage issues of telephone surveys used for collecting health information in Australia: results from a face-to-face survey from 1999 to 2008

Background: To examine the trend of “mobile only” households, and households that have a mobile phone or landline telephone listed in the telephone directory, and to describe these groups by various socio-demographic and health indicators. Method: Representative face-to-face population health surveys of South Australians, aged 15 years and over, were conducted in 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (n = 14285, response rates = 51.9% to 70.6%). Self-reported information on mobile phone ownership and usage (1999 to 2008) and listings in White Pages telephone directory (2006 to 2008), and landline telephone connection and listings in the White Pages (1999 to 2008), was provided by participants. Additional information was collected on self-reported health conditions and health-related risk behaviours. Results: Mobile only households have been steadily increasing from 1.4% in 1999 to 8.7% in 2008. In terms of sampling frame for telephone surveys, 68.7% of South Australian households in 2008 had at least a mobile phone or landline telephone listed in the White Pages (73.8% in 2006; 71.5% in 2007). The proportion of mobile only households was highest among young people, unemployed, people who were separated, divorced or never married, low income households, low SES areas, rural areas, current smokers, current asthma or people in the normal weight range. The proportion with landlines or mobiles telephone numbers listed in the White Pages telephone directory was highest among older people, married or in a defacto relationship or widowed, low SES areas, rural areas, people classified as overweight, or those diagnosed with arthritis or osteoporosis. Conclusion: The rate of mobile only households has been increasing in Australia and is following worldwide trends, but has not reached the high levels seen internationally (12% to 52%). In general, the impact of mobile telephones on current sampling frames (exclusion or non-listing of mobile only households or not listed in the White Pages directory) may have a low impact on health estimates obtained using telephone surveys. However, researchers need to be aware that mobile only households are distinctly different to households with a landline connection, and the increase in the number of mobile-only households is not uniform across all groups in the community. Listing in the White Pages directory continues to decrease and only a small proportion of mobile only households are listed. Researchers need to be aware of these telephone sampling issues when considering telephone surveys.Eleonora Dal Grande and Anne W Taylo

The practice of physicians and nurses in the Brazilian Family Health Programme – evidences of change in the delivery health care model

The article analyzes the practice of physicians and nurses working on the Family Health Programme (Programa de Saúde da Família or PSF, in Portuguese). A questionnaire was used to assess the evidences of assimilation of the new values and care principles proposed by the programme. The results showed that a great number of professionals seem to have incorporated the practice of home visits, health education actions and planning of the teams' work agenda to their routine labour activities

Pattern of cancer risk in persons with AIDS in Italy in the HAART era

A record-linkage study was carried out between the Italian AIDS Registry and 24 Italian cancer registries to compare cancer excess among persons with HIV/AIDS (PWHA) before and after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996. Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) were computed in 21951 AIDS cases aged 16–69 years reported between 1986 and 2005. Of 101 669 person-years available, 45 026 were after 1996. SIR for Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma greatly decreased in 1997–2004 compared with 1986–1996, but high SIRs for KS persisted in the increasingly large fraction of PWHA who had an interval of <1 year between first HIV-positive test and AIDS diagnosis. A significant excess of liver cancer (SIR=6.4) emerged in 1997–2004, whereas the SIRs for cancer of the cervix (41.5), anus (44.0), lung (4.1), brain (3.2), skin (non-melanoma, 1.8), Hodgkin lymphoma (20.7), myeloma (3.9), and non-AIDS-defining cancers (2.2) were similarly elevated in the two periods. The excess of some potentially preventable cancers in PWHA suggests that HAART use must be accompanied by cancer-prevention strategies, notably antismoking and cervical cancer screening programmes. Improvements in the timely identification of HIV-positive individuals are also a priority in Italy to avoid the adverse consequences of delayed HAART use

Permian high-temperature metamorphism in the Western Alps (NW Italy)

During the late Palaeozoic, lithospheric thinning in part of the Alpine realm caused high-temperature low-to-medium pressure metamorphism and partial melting in the lower crust. Permian metamorphism and magmatism has extensively been recorded and dated in the Central, Eastern, and Southern Alps. However, Permian metamorphic ages in the Western Alps so far are constrained by very few and sparsely distributed data. The present study fills this gap. We present U/Pb ages of metamorphic zircon from several Adria-derived continental units now situated in the Western Alps, defining a range between 286 and 266 Ma. Trace element thermometry yields temperatures of 580-890°C from Ti-in-zircon and 630-850°C from Zr-in-rutile for Permian metamorphic rims. These temperature estimates, together with preserved mineral assemblages (garnet-prismatic sillimanite-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-K-feldspar-rutile), define pervasive upper-amphibolite to granulite facies conditions for Permian metamorphism. U/Pb ages from this study are similar to Permian ages reported for the Ivrea Zone in the Southern Alps and Austroalpine units in the Central and Eastern Alps. Regional comparison across the former Adriatic and European margin reveals a complex pattern of ages reported from late Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks (and relics thereof): two late Variscan age groups (~330 and ~300 Ma) are followed seamlessly by a broad range of Permian ages (300-250 Ma). The former are associated with late-orogenic collapse; in samples from this study these are weakly represented. Clearly, dominant is the Permian group, which is related to crustal thinning, hinting to a possible initiation of continental rifting along a passive margin

Changing patterns of cancer incidence in the early- and late-HAART periods: the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 led to a decrease in the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), but not of other cancers, among people with HIV or AIDS (PWHA). It also led to marked increases in their life expectancy. METHODS: We conducted a record-linkage study between the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and nine Swiss cantonal cancer registries. In total, 9429 PWHA provided 20,615, 17,690, and 15,410 person-years in the pre-, early-, and late-HAART periods, respectively. Standardised incidence ratios in PWHA vs the general population, as well as age-standardised, and age-specific incidence rates were computed for different periods. RESULTS: Incidence of KS and NHL decreased by several fold between the pre- and early-HAART periods, and additionally declined from the early- to the late-HAART period. Incidence of cancers of the anus, liver, non-melanomatous skin, and Hodgkin's lymphoma increased in the early- compared with the pre-HAART period, but not during the late-HAART period. The incidence of all non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs) combined was similar in all periods, and approximately double that in the general population. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in the incidence of selected NADCs after the introduction of HAART were largely accounted for by the ageing of PWHA

A New Pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco

The Kem Kem beds in South Eastern Morocco contain a rich early Upper (or possibly late Lower) Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage. Fragmentary remains, predominantly teeth and jaw tips, represent several kinds of pterosaur although only one species, the ornithocheirid Coloborhynchus moroccensis, has been named. Here, we describe a new azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa saharica nov. gen. nov. sp., based on an almost complete well preserved mandibular symphysis from Aferdou N'Chaft. We assign additional fragmentary jaw remains, some of which have been tentatively identified as azhdarchid and pteranodontid, to this new taxon which is distinguished from other azhdarchids by a remarkably straight, elongate, lance-shaped mandibular symphysis that bears a pronounced dorsal eminence near the posterior end of its dorsal (occlusal) surface. Most remains, including the holotype, represent individuals of approximately three to four meters in wingspan, but a fragment of a large cervical vertebra, that probably also belongs to A. saharica, suggests that wingspans of six meters were achieved in this species. The Kem Kem beds have yielded the most diverse pterosaur assemblage yet reported from Africa and provide the first clear evidence for the presence of azhdarchids in Gondwana at the start of the Late Cretaceous. This, the relatively large size achieved by Alanqa, and the additional evidence of variable jaw morphology in azhdarchids provided by this taxon, indicates a longer and more complex history for this clade than previously suspected

A thirteen-year analysis of Plasmodium falciparum populations reveals high conservation of the mutant pfcrt haplotype despite the withdrawal of chloroquine from national treatment guidelines in Gabon

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chloroquine resistance (CR) decreased after the removal of chloroquine from national treatment guidelines in Malawi, Kenia and Tanzania. In this investigation the prevalence of the chloroquine resistance (CQR) conferring mutant <it>pfcrt </it>allele and its associated chromosomal haplotype were determined before and after the change in Gabonese national treatment guidelines from chloroquine (CQ) to artesunate plus amodiaquine (AQ) in 2003.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The prevalence of the wild type <it>pfcrt </it>allele was assessed in 144 isolates from the years 2005 - 07 by PCR fragment restriction digest and direct sequencing. For haplotype analysis of the chromosomal regions flanking the <it>pfcrt </it>locus, microsatellite analysis was done on a total of 145 isolates obtained in 1995/96 (43 isolates), 2002 (47 isolates) and 2005 - 07 (55 isolates).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of the mutant <it>pfcrt </it>allele decreased from 100% in the years 1995/96 and 2002 to 97% in 2005 - 07. Haplotype analysis showed that in 1995/96 79% of the isolates carried the same microsatellite alleles in a chromosomal fragment spanning 39 kb surrounding the <it>pfcrt </it>locus. In 2002 and 2005 - 07 the prevalence of this haplotype was 62% and 58%, respectively. <it>Pfcrt </it>haplotype analysis showed that all wild type alleles were CVMNK.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Four years after the withdrawal of CQ from national treatment guidelines the prevalence of the mutant <it>pfcrt </it>allele remains at 97%. The data suggest that the combination of artesunate plus AQ may result in continued selection for the mutant <it>pfcrt </it>haplotype even after discontinuance of CQ usage.</p