Severe Pertussis in an Infant

Despite high vaccine coverage, pertussis remains a global health concern. Recently, the incidence of infection has risen in Europe and other developed countries. Healthcare providers should be aware of the possibility of pertussis not only among unvaccinated infants but also among adolescents and adults, in whom pertussis often is misdiagnosed

Making cities: Economies of production and urbanization in Mediterranean Europe, 1000–500 BC

Large and complex settlements appeared across the north Mediterranean during the period 1000–500 bc, from the Aegean basin to Iberia, as well as north of the Alps. The region also became considerably more interconnected. Urban life and networks fostered new consumption practices, requiring different economic and social structures to sustain them. This book considers the emergence of cities in Mediterranean Europe, with a focus on the economy. What was distinctive about urban lifeways across the Mediterranean? How did different economic activities interact, and how did they transform power hierarchies? How was urbanism sustained by economic structures, social relations and mobility? The authors bring to the debate recently excavated sites and regions that may be unfamiliar to wider (especially Anglophone) scholarship, alongside fresh reappraisals of well-known cities. The variety of urban life, economy and local dynamics prompts us to reconsider ancient urbanism through a comparative perspective

A qualitative analysis of transitions to heroin injection in Kenya: implications for HIV prevention and harm reduction.

BACKGROUND: Heroin injection is emerging as a significant dimension of the HIV epidemic in Kenya. Preventing transitions to injecting drug use from less harmful forms of use, such as smoking, is a potentially important focus for HIV prevention. There is, however, little evidence to support comprehensive programming in this area, linked to a shortage of analysis of the social and structural context for transitions, particularly in low-income settings. We explore accounts of transitions from smoking to injecting in Kenya to understand the role of individual, social and structural processes. METHODS: We combine data from two separate studies conducted in Kenya: an in-depth qualitative study of HIV care access for people who inject drugs (study 1) and an ethnographic study of the political economy of the heroin trade in Kenya (study 2). In-depth interviews with PWID and community observation from study 1 are triangulated with accounts from stakeholders involved in the heroin trade and documentary data from study 2. RESULTS: People who inject drugs link transitions to injecting from smoking to a range of social and behavioural factors, as well as particular aspects of the local drug supply and economy. We present these results in the form of two narratives that account for factors shaping transitions. A dominant narrative of 'managing markets and maintaining a high' results from a process of trying to manage poverty and a shifting heroin supply, in the context of deepening addiction to heroin. A secondary narrative focuses on people's curiosity for the 'feeling' of injecting, and the potential pleasure from it, with less emphasis on structural circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: The narratives we describe represent pathways through which structural and social factors interact with individual experiences of addiction to increase the risk of transitions to injecting. In response, HIV and harm reduction programmes need combinations of different strategies to respond to varied experiences of transitions. These strategies should include, alongside behaviour-oriented interventions, structural interventions to address economic vulnerability and the policing of the drug supply

An ethnographic exploration of drug markets in Kisumu, Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Illegal drug markets are shaped by multiple forces, including local actors and broader economic, political, social, and criminal justice systems that intertwine to impact health and social wellbeing. Ethnographic analyses that interrogate multiple dimensions of drug markets may offer both applied and theoretical insights into drug use, particularly in developing nations where new markets and local patterns of use traditionally have not been well understood. This paper explores the emergent drug market in Kisumu, western Kenya, where our research team recently documented evidence of injection drug use. METHODS: Our exploratory study of injection drug use was conducted in Kisumu from 2013 to 2014. We draw on 151 surveys, 29 in-depth interviews, and 8 months of ethnographic fieldwork to describe the drug market from the perspective of injectors, focusing on their perceptions of the market and reports of drug use therein. RESULTS: Injectors described a dynamic market in which the availability of drugs and proliferation of injection drug use have taken on growing importance in Kisumu. In addition to reports of white and brown forms of heroin and concerns about drug adulteration in the market, we unexpectedly documented widespread perceptions of cocaine availability and injection in Kisumu. Examining price data and socio-pharmacological experiences of cocaine injection left us with unconfirmed evidence of its existence, but opened further possibilities about how the chaos of new drug markets and diffusion of injection-related beliefs and practices may lend insight into the sociopolitical context of western Kenya. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest a need for expanded drug surveillance, education and programming responsive to local conditions, and further ethnographic inquiry into the social meanings of emergent drug markets in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa

Coconut Oil

Въведение: Кокосовото масло представлява дериват на кокосовата палма, получен от вътрешната месеста част на кокосовия орех, която се нарича копра. Процесът на получаване на маслото включва настъргване и изсушаване на кокосовото месо, внимателното му пресоване при ниска температура и филтрация. Този механизъм за добиване е необходим, за да бъдат запазени структурно и функционално основните му полезни съставки. Употребата на кокосовото масло е позната на човечеството от близо 4000 години.Цел: Да се анализира достъпната литература, реферирана в базите-данни MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus и Web of Science през последните 10 г.Материал и методи: Проучени са съдържанията на резюметата и пълнотекстовите публикации по проблема кокосово масло и ефекти върху кожата.Резултати: Кокосовото масло е ценен източник на хранителни вещества и натурални съставки за изготвяне на козметични и дерматологични формулировки. Поради своя състав, кокосовото масло има противовъзпалителни, антипиретични, аналгетични, антимикробни, антиоксидативни, хепатопротективни, имуномодулиращи свойства, инсулинотропен ефект, спомага за редуциране на телесното тегло, запазване бариерната функция на кожата, редуциране загубата на вода, поддържане на кожната хидратация, омекотяване, противостареене, регулиране нивата на холестерола, подпомагане невротрансмисията, забавяне еволюцията на болестта на Алцхаймер.Изводи: Кокосовото масло е натурална суровина с ценен състав, намираща приложение в козметичната, фармацевтичната и хранителна индустрия. Активните съставки са полифеноли, токофероли, средноверижни мастни киселини, които обуславят широкия диапазон от приложения. Кокосовото масло е с позитивно въздействие само ако в процеса на получаване не е използвана термична или химична обработка, при която се разрушават ценните му съставки. Кокосовото масло може да се прилага локално и системно. Влиза в състава на много козметични средства, лекарствени продукти, хранителни добавки.Introduction: Coconut oil is a derivative product of the coconut palm tree, obtained from the inner, edible part of the coconut, called copra. The process of obtaining coconut oil includes shredding and drying of the coconut meat, then processing under low temperature and filtration. This way all its beneficial ingredients are preserved. The use of coconut oil by people has been known for more than 4000 years.Aim: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the literature in the last 10 years in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus and Web of Science – referred literature data bases.Materials and Methods: Abstracts and full text publications on the topic were reviewed.Results: Coconut oil is a precious source of nutritional substances and natural ingredients for preparing cosmetic products and dermatological formulations. Coconut oil has anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective and immunomodulating action. It also has an insulin-like effect, it helps in weight loss, restores the skin barrier, prevents water loss, maintains the skin hydration, controls the level of cholesterol, amplifies the neurotransmission, prevents progression of Alzheimer’s disease. In dermatology, coconut oil is used as an emollient and antiaging product.            Conclusion: Coconut oil is widely used in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nutritional industries. The active ingredients of coconut oil that define its broad specter of activity are polyphenols, tocopherols and mid-chain fatty acids. The effectiveness of coconut oil depends on its beneficial ingredients, which are not being processed by chemical or thermal processing. Coconut oil can be applied locally and systemically. Many cosmetic products, drugs and nutritional supplements contain coconut oil as an active ingredient

Strumenti tessili in sepolture in Italia e Europa preromana

La produzione tessile costituisce una delle piu\u300 antiche attivita\u300 specializzate, tipicamente specifica rispetto al genere. Le prove archeologiche, iconografiche, letterarie ed etnografiche indicano che, in molte societa\u300, la filatura e la tessi- tura erano praticate principalmente dalle donne. In diversi contesti dell\u2019Italia preromana e, piu\u300 in generale, del Mediterraneo l\u2019artigianato tessile divenne un simbolo della sfera femminile e il contributo delle donne alla comunita\u300 come lavoratrici tessili fu segnalato attraverso la deposizione di strumenti da filatura e tessitura nelle loro sepolture. Strumenti da filatura in materiale prezioso, come bronzo, argento, ambra e osso, supportano l\u2019idea che questi strumenti fossero simboli importanti dello status femminile in diverse classi sociali. Le differenze nella distribuzione numerica e tipologica degli strumenti tessili nei contesti funerari sono un riflesso significativo del genere, dello status, dell\u2019abilita\u300 artigianale e dell\u2019eta\u300 dei loro proprietari, mentre i vari cambiamenti registrati in tale distribuzione nel corso del tempo indicano trasformazioni sociali ed economiche iniziate in Italia durante il VII secolo a.C

From tools to production: recent research on textile industries in Greece

The aim of this report is to provide a summary of the latest developments in the textile archaeology of Greece and the broader Aegean from the Neolithic through to the Roman period, focusing in particular on recent research on textile tools. Spindle-whorls and loomweights appeared in the Aegean during the Neolithic and by the Early Bronze Age weaving on the warp-weighted loom was well established across the region. Recent methodological advances allow the use of the physical characteristics of tools to estimate the quality of the yarns and textiles produced, even in the absence of extant fabrics. The shapes of spindle-whorls evolved with the introduction of wool fibre, which by the Middle Bronze Age had become the dominant textile raw material in the region. The spread of discoid loomweights from Crete to the wider Aegean has been linked to the wider Minoanization of the area during the Middle Bronze Age, as well as the mobility of weavers. Broader issues discussed in connection with textile production include urbanization, the spread of different textile cultures and the identification of specific practices (sealing) and previously unrecognized technologies (splicing), as well as the value of textiles enhanced by a variety of decorative techniques and purple dyeing