HIV/AIDS prisoners: a case study on quality of life in Roumieh, Lebanon

Prisons often lack the basic health services required by HIV/AIDS patients. As with many other chronic illnesses, the treatment of HIV is expensive in terms of medication, hygiene, testing and staff training. Strategies to combat the disease have been thoroughly developed, particularly in Europe (WHO/UNAIDS, 2006). The purpose of this study was to assess quality of life (QOL) of the only 5 reported cases of HIV/AIDS patients in Roumieh prison (the country’s largest male top-security prison) using the WHOQOL and the WHO guidelines on HIV infection and AIDS in prison. Virtually all prisoners reported that their rights had been violated. Isolation measures were taken to prevent the spread of the disease. According to UNAIDS, this particular measure has been proven ineffective. In conclusion, other approaches should be implemented to respect inmates’ rights and reduce transmission of the virus.Keywords: HIV/AIDS, quality of life, health, prisoners, human rights.Les prisons n’ont pas souvent les services de santé de base requises pour le traitement du VIH/SIDA. C’est le cas aussi d’autres maladies chroniques, le traitement du VIH coute cher en terme de médicaments, d’hygiène, de test, et la formation du personnel. Les stratégies pour combattre la maladie ont été bien développées, particulièrement en Europe (OMS/ONUSIDA, 2006). L’objectif de cette étude était d’évalué la qualité de vie (QDV) de 5 prisoniers malades du VIH/SIDA qui ont été signalés dans la prison de Roumieh (la plus grande prison du pays pour les hommes de haute sécurité) utilisant les guides de l’OMSQDV sur l’infection du VIH et le SIDA. Pratiquement tous les prisonniers signalaient que leurs droits ont été violés. Des mesures d’isolement ont été prises pour prévenir la propagation des maladies. Selon l’ONUSIDA cette mesure particulière s’est avérée inefficace. En conclusion, d’autres approches devraient être mises en oeuvre pour respecter les droits des détenus et réduire la transmission du virus

Antiknock Properties and Volatility Criteria of Some Gasoline-Butanol Blends

Antinock properties and volatility criteria were studied for all-hydrocarbon gasoline before and after blending with 8 and 12 volume percent n-and iso-butanol. Composition and specifications of the hydrocarbon- base gasoline and the formulated gasoline- oxygenate blends, were determined through gas chromatographic analysis and the standard test methods. The effects of n-and iso-butanol addition on driveability performance and volatility criteria, were studied. Keywords: oxygenated gasoline, gasoline-butanol blend volatility criteria, antiknock properties.

Adverse drug events associated with vitamin K antagonists: factors of therapeutic imbalance

Nancy El-Helou, Amal Al-Hajje, Rola Ajrouche, Sanaa Awada, Samar Rachidi, Salam Zein, Pascale SalamehClinical and Epidemiological Research Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, LebanonBackground: Adverse drug events (ADE) occur frequently during treatment with vitamin K antagonists (AVK) and contribute to increase hemorrhagic risks.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted over a period of 2 years. Patients treated with AVK and admitted to the emergency room of a tertiary care hospital in Beirut were included. The aim of the study was to identify ADE characterized by a high international normalized ratio (INR) and to determine the predictive factors responsible for these events. Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS statistical package.Results: We included 148 patients. Sixty-seven patients (47.3%) with an INR above the therapeutic range were identified as cases. The control group consisted of 81 patients (54.7%) with an INR within the therapeutic range. Hemorrhagic complications were observed in 53.7% of cases versus 6.2% of controls (P < 0.0001). No significant difference was noticed between cases and controls regarding the indication and the dose of AVK. Patients aged over 75 years were more likely to present an INR above the therapeutic range (58.2%, P = 0.049). Recent infection was present in 40.3% of cases versus 6.2% of controls (P < 0.0001) and hypoalbuminemia in 37.3% of cases versus 6.1% of controls (P < 0.0001). Treatment with antibiotics, amiodarone, and anti-inflammatory drugs were also factors of imbalance (P < 0.0001).Conclusion: Many factors may be associated with ADE related to AVK. Monitoring of INR and its stabilization in the therapeutic range are important for preventing these events.Keywords: adverse drug events, vitamin K antagonists, bleeding risks, therapeutic imbalanc

Assessing the risk of cervical neoplasia in the post-HPV vaccination era

This review is based on the recent EUROGIN scientific session: “Assessing risk of cervical cancer in the post-vaccination era,” which addressed the demands of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)/squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) triage now that the prevalence of vaccine-targeted oncogenic high-risk (hr) human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is decreasing. Change in the prevalence distribution of oncogenic HPV types that follows national HPV vaccination programs is setting the stage for loss of positive predictive value of conventional but possibly also new triage modalities. Understanding the contribution of the latter, most notably hypermethylation of cellular and viral genes in a new setting where most oncogenic HPV types are no longer present, requires studies on their performance in vaccinated women with CIN/SIL that are associated with nonvaccine HPV types. Lessons learned from this research may highlight the potential of cervical cells for risk prediction of all women's cancers.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Physics Opportunities with the 12 GeV Upgrade at Jefferson Lab

This white paper summarizes the scientific opportunities for utilization of the upgraded 12 GeV Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and associated experimental equipment at Jefferson Lab. It is based on the 52 proposals recommended for approval by the Jefferson Lab Program Advisory Committee.The upgraded facility will enable a new experimental program with substantial discovery potential to address important topics in nuclear, hadronic, and electroweak physics.Comment: 64 page

Integrated genomics and proteomics define huntingtin CAG length-dependent networks in mice.

To gain insight into how mutant huntingtin (mHtt) CAG repeat length modifies Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis, we profiled mRNA in over 600 brain and peripheral tissue samples from HD knock-in mice with increasing CAG repeat lengths. We found repeat length-dependent transcriptional signatures to be prominent in the striatum, less so in cortex, and minimal in the liver. Coexpression network analyses revealed 13 striatal and 5 cortical modules that correlated highly with CAG length and age, and that were preserved in HD models and sometimes in patients. Top striatal modules implicated mHtt CAG length and age in graded impairment in the expression of identity genes for striatal medium spiny neurons and in dysregulation of cyclic AMP signaling, cell death and protocadherin genes. We used proteomics to confirm 790 genes and 5 striatal modules with CAG length-dependent dysregulation at the protein level, and validated 22 striatal module genes as modifiers of mHtt toxicities in vivo

VIP Enhances Phagocytosis of Fibrillar Beta-Amyloid by Microglia and Attenuates Amyloid Deposition in the Brain of APP/PS1 Mice

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a multifunctional neuropeptide with demonstrated immunosuppressive and neuroprotective activities. It has been shown to inhibit Amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurodegeneration by indirectly suppressing the production and release of a variety of inflammatory and neurotoxic factors by activated microglia. We demonstrated that VIP markedly increased microglial phagocytosis of fibrillar Aβ42 and that this enhanced phagocytotic activity depended on activation of the Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway. In addition, VIP suppressed the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide(NO) from microglia activated by combined treatment with fibrillar Aβ42 and low dose interferon-γ (IFN-γ). We utilized an adenovirus-mediated gene delivery method to overexpress VIP constitutively in the hippocampus of APPswPS1 transgenic mice. The Aβ load was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of this animal model of Alzheimer's disease, possibly due to the accumulation and activation of cd11b-immunoactive microglial cells. The modulation of microglial activation, phagocytosis, and secretion by VIP is a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease(AD)