The Mauritian Election of 2005: An Unprecedented Increase of Women in Parliament

Before the 2005 election, women’s legislative representation in Mauritius had always been one of the lowest in the African continent, and the lowest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Although the number of women in the Mauritian legislature has fluctuated over time, the latest election on July 3, 2005 brought an unprecedented increase in the number of women from 4 (5.7 per cent) to 12 (17.1 per cent) in its 70-member legislature. Before this increase, the number of female members of parliament (MPs) had never exceeded six. If so, what contributed to such a sharp increase? This study addresses this question by examining the factors that helped bring about this unprecedented increase. Specifically, we discuss the political experience and name recognition of certain female candidates, efforts of women’s NGOs, effective matching of female candidates to the profiles of constituencies, contagion of nominating women, and women’s effective election campaigns as the major factors. These factors were also present in the previous election years to some extent, but they were more visible and better orchestrated in 2005

Prevalence and comorbidity of allergic diseases in preschool children

PurposeAllergic disease and its comorbidities significantly influence the quality of life. Although the comorbidities of allergic diseases are well described in adult populations, little is known about them in preschool children. In the present study, we aimed to assess the prevalence and comorbidity of allergic diseases in Korean preschool children.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study comprising 615 Korean children (age, 3 to 6 years). Symptoms of allergic diseases were assessed using the Korean version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire that was modified for preschool children. Comorbidities of allergic diseases were assessed by 'In the last 12 months, has your child had symptoms?'.ResultsThe prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis as recorded using the ISAAC questionnaire, within the last 12 months was 13.8%, 40.7%, and 20.8%, respectively. The symptom rates of allergic conjunctivitis, food allergy, and drug allergy were 14.8%, 10.4%, and 0.8%, respectively. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis in children with asthma was 64.3% and that of asthma in children with allergic rhinitis was 21.6%. The prevalence of rhinitis in children with conjunctivitis was 64.8% and that of conjunctivitis in children with rhinitis was 23.6%.ConclusionThe prevalence of current rhinitis in our preschool children is shown to be higher than that previously reported. Allergic conjunctivitis is closely associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis. However, further studies are warranted to determine the prevalence and effects of these comorbidities on health outcomes in preschool children

Reference values for respiratory system impedance using impulse oscillometry in healthy preschool children

PurposeThe normal values for lung resistance and lung capacity of children, as determined by impulse oscillometry (IOS), are different for children of different ethnicities. However, reference values there is no available reference value for Korean preschool children have yet to be determined. The aim of the present study was to determine the normal ranges of IOS parameters in Korean preschool children.MethodsA total of 133 healthy Korean preschool children were selected from 639 children (aged 3 to 6 years) who attended kindergarten in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, Korea. Healthy children were defined according to the European Respiratory Society (ERS) criteria. All subjects underwent lung function tests using IOS. The relationships between IOS value (respiratory resistance (Rrs) and reactance (Xrs) at 5 and 10 Hz and resonance frequency (RF)) and age, height, and weight were analyzed by simple linear and multiple linear regression analyses.ResultsThe IOS success rate was 89.5%, yielding data on 119 children. Linear regression identified height as the best predictor of Rrs and Xrs. Using stepwise multiple linear regressions based on age, height, and weight, we determined regression equations and coefficients of determination (R2) for boys (Rrs5=1.934-0.009×Height, R2=12.1%; Xrs5=0.774+0.006×Height-0.002×Age, R2=20.2% and for girls (Rrs5=2.201-0.012×Height, R2=18.2%; Xrs5=-0.674+0.004×Height, R2=10.5%).ConclusionThis study provides reference values for IOS measurements of normal Korean preschool children. These provide a basis for the diagnosis and monitoring of preschool children with a variety of respiratory diseases

Food allergen sensitization in young children with typical signs and symptoms of immediate-type food allergies: a comparison between monosensitized and polysensitized children

PurposeThe clinical interpretation of children sensitized to allergens is challenging, particularly in children with food allergies. We aimed to examine clinical differences between children with monosensitization and those with polysensitization to common food allergens and to determine risk factors for polysensitization in young children <10 years of age with immediate-type food allergies.MethodsThe study included children <10 years of age with signs and symptoms indicative of immediate-type food allergies. Serum total IgE level was measured, and ImmunoCAP analysis for food allergens was performed.ResultsThe mean age of the study subjects was 1.6±1.6 years (75 boys and 51 girls). Thirty-eight children (30.2%) were monosensitized and 88 children (69.8%) were polysensitized. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the development of polysensitization to common food allergens was positively associated with a parental history of allergic rhinitis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.78-22.13; P=0.004), season of birth (summer/fall) (aOR, 3.10; 95% CI, 1.10-8.79; P=0.033), and exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of age (aOR, 3.51; 95% CI, 1.20-10.25; P=0.022).ConclusionWe found significant clinical differences between children with monosensitization and those with polysensitization to common food allergens and identified risk factors for the development of polysensitization in young children with immediate-type food allergies. Clinicians should consider these clinical risk factors when evaluating, counseling, treating, and monitoring young children with food allergies

Occurrence and characterization of oseltamivir-resistant influenza virus in children between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons

PurposeThere was a global increase in the prevalence of oseltamivir-resistant influenza viruses during the 2007-2008 influenza season. This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence and characteristics of oseltamivir-resistant influenza viruses during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 influenza seasons among patients who were treated with oseltamivir (group A) and those that did not receive oseltamivir (group B).MethodsA prospective study was conducted on 321 pediatric patients who were hospitalized because of influenza during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 influenza seasons. Drug resistance tests were conducted on influenza viruses isolated from 91 patients.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the clinical characteristics of groups A and B during both seasons. Influenza A/H1N1, isolated from both groups A and B during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 periods, was not resistant to zanamivir. However, phenotypic analysis of the virus revealed a high oseltamivir IC50 range and that H275Y substitution of the neuraminidase (NA) gene and partial variation of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene did not affect its antigenicity to the HA vaccine even though group A had a shorter hospitalization duration and fewer lower respiratory tract complications than group B. In addition, there was no significant difference in the clinical manifestations between oseltamivir-susceptible and oseltamivir-resistant strains of influenza A/H1N1.ConclusionEstablishment of guidelines to efficiently treat influenza with oseltamivir, a commonly used drug for treating influenza in Korean pediatric patients, and a treatment strategy with a new therapeutic agent is required

Primary biliary cirrhosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an immune-mediated chronic cholestatic liver disease with a slowly progressive course. Without treatment, most patients eventually develop fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver and may need liver transplantation in the late stage of disease. PBC primarily affects women (female preponderance 9–10:1) with a prevalence of up to 1 in 1,000 women over 40 years of age. Common symptoms of the disease are fatigue and pruritus, but most patients are asymptomatic at first presentation. The diagnosis is based on sustained elevation of serum markers of cholestasis, i.e., alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase, and the presence of serum antimitochondrial antibodies directed against the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Histologically, PBC is characterized by florid bile duct lesions with damage to biliary epithelial cells, an often dense portal inflammatory infiltrate and progressive loss of small intrahepatic bile ducts. Although the insight into pathogenetic aspects of PBC has grown enormously during the recent decade and numerous genetic, environmental, and infectious factors have been disclosed which may contribute to the development of PBC, the precise pathogenesis remains enigmatic. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is currently the only FDA-approved medical treatment for PBC. When administered at adequate doses of 13–15 mg/kg/day, up to two out of three patients with PBC may have a normal life expectancy without additional therapeutic measures. The mode of action of UDCA is still under discussion, but stimulation of impaired hepatocellular and cholangiocellular secretion, detoxification of bile, and antiapoptotic effects may represent key mechanisms. One out of three patients does not adequately respond to UDCA therapy and may need additional medical therapy and/or liver transplantation. This review summarizes current knowledge on the clinical, diagnostic, pathogenetic, and therapeutic aspects of PBC

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke - the second leading cause of death worldwide - were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry(1,2). Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis(3), and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach(4), we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry(5). Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries.</p

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Voters' Perceptions of Gender Differences in Vote Buying: The Case of Tanzania

I examine how voters perceive gender differences in vote buying, using survey and interview data collected in the Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania. I find that (1) an overwhelming majority of voters disapprove of vote buying, yet view it as remaining prevalent, and (2) they view men as more active vote buyers, mainly due to the gender gap in vote-buying opportunities. The perceived opportunity gap appears to come from a much larger representation of men in electoral competitions, the perceived gender gap in resources, and the absence of women in certain places and times, due to social and cultural norms constraining women’s behaviours, safety concerns, and/or household responsibilities