: The impact of war on the evolution of sleeping sickness in west-central Cote d'Ivoire

International audienceTo evaluate the situation of sleeping sickness in west-central Cote d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2003, in view of the war which broke out in September 2002. Active surveys by medical teams and passive case detection. Between 2000 and 2003, 250 patients were diagnosed with sleeping sickness. At first it appeared that sleeping sickness prevalence had fallen since the beginning of political troubles. But this apparent drop was due to poor population coverage. Participation in medical surveys differed according to ethnic group, reflecting land use conflicts between ethnic communities. Such conflicts are common in this area, but have been exacerbated by the war. In war, assessing the importance of sleeping sickness by medical surveys only is very difficult. But detection of sleeping sickness cases by passive surveillance increased.Evaluer la situation de la maladie du sommeil dans le centre-ouest de la Cote d'Ivoire de 2000 a 2003, en tenant compte des evenements survenus depuis en septembre 2002. Enquete active realisee par des equipes medicales et detection passive des cas. Entre 2000 et 2003, 250 patients ont ete diagnostiques pour la maladie du sommeil. De prime abord la prevalence de la maladie du sommeil semblait avoir baisse depuis le debut de la guerre. Mais cette baisse apparente etait due a une faible couverture de la population. La participation dans l'enquete medicale etait differente selon le groupe ethnique, refletant les conflits entre les differentes communautes pour les terres. De tels conflits sont courants dans la zone mais ont ete exacerbes par la guerre. L'evaluation de l'importance de la maladie du sommeil durant la guerre par enquete medicale seule est tres difficile. Mais la detection de la maladie du sommeil par surveillance passive a augmente

Occurrence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococcus spp. Isolated from Lettuce and Irrigation Water in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Background: Enterococcus spp., belonging to the group of lactic acid bacteria, are Gram-positive ubiquitous commensals of the intestines of human beings as well as warmblooded animals. The main objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus spp. isolated from lettuce and irrigation water in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Methods: A total of 72 samples, including leaves of lettuce (n=36) and irrigation water (n=36) were randomly collected from three different agricultural sites located in Abidjan city, Côte d'Ivoire. After microbial analysis and identification of Enterococcus spp. by culturing and biochemical methods, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out using disk diffusion method. Data were analyzed by statistical processing software R (R 3.0 for Windows). Results: E. faecalis was recognized as the most prevalent strain which was found in 27 out of 36 (75%) lettuce as well as 29 out of 36 (80.5%) irrigation water samples. The mean Enterococcus load of lettuces and irrigation water samples were 2.3±0.7 and 3.6±2 log Colony Forming Unit per g lettuce, respectively. Among 45 studied enterococci isolates, the most antibiotic-resistance rates were related to erythromycin (54%) and also co-trimoxazole (49%). Conclusion: There is a considerable public health concern regarding raw consumption of lettuce cultivated in Abidjan city which can cause gastroenteritis diseases in consumers

Dynamical Boson Stars

The idea of stable, localized bundles of energy has strong appeal as a model for particles. In the 1950s John Wheeler envisioned such bundles as smooth configurations of electromagnetic energy that he called {\em geons}, but none were found. Instead, particle-like solutions were found in the late 1960s with the addition of a scalar field, and these were given the name {\em boson stars}. Since then, boson stars find use in a wide variety of models as sources of dark matter, as black hole mimickers, in simple models of binary systems, and as a tool in finding black holes in higher dimensions with only a single killing vector. We discuss important varieties of boson stars, their dynamic properties, and some of their uses, concentrating on recent efforts.Comment: 79 pages, 25 figures, invited review for Living Reviews in Relativity; major revision in 201

Theorems for asymptotic safety of gauge theories

We classify the weakly interacting fixed points of general gauge theories coupled to matter and explain how the competition between gauge and matter fluctuations gives rise to a rich spectrum of high- and low-energy fixed points. The pivotal role played by Yukawa couplings is emphasised. Necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic safety of gauge theories are also derived, in conjunction with strict no go theorems. Implications for phase diagrams of gauge theories and physics beyond the Standard Model are indicated

Inhibition of haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer in mice by a selective COX-2 inhibitor, JTE-522

It is proposed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduce colorectal tumorigenesis by inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX). COX is a key enzyme in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins and two isoforms of COX have been characterized, COX-1 and COX-2. Multiple studies have shown that COX-2 is expressed at high levels in colorectal tumours and play a role in colorectal tumorigenesis. Recently it has been reported that selective inhibition of COX-2 inhibits colon cancer cell growth. In this study we investigated the effect of a selective COX-2 inhibitor (JTE-522) on haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer. For this purpose, we selected a murine colon cancer cell line, colon-26, that constitutively expresses the COX-2 protein. The subclone P expressed a high level of COX-2 and the subclone 5 expressed a low level. The colon-26 subclones were injected into the tail vein of BALB/c mice. JTE-522 was given intraperitoneally every day from the day prior to cancer cell injection, and the mice were sacrificed 16 days after cell injection. Lung metastases were compared between groups with and without JTE-522. In the mice injected with subclone P, the number of lung metastatic nodules was significantly reduced in the treated group. However, in the mice injected with subclone 5, there was little difference between the control and the treated groups. These results indicate that there may be a direct link between inhibition of haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer and selective inhibition of COX-2, and that selective COX-2 inhibitors may be a novel class of therapeutic agents not only for colorectal tumorigenesis but also for haematogenous metastasis of colon cancer. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Aspirin induces cell death and caspase-dependent phosphatidylserine externalization in HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells

The induction of cell death by aspirin was analysed in HT-29 colon carcinoma cells. Aspirin induced two hallmarks of apoptosis: nuclear chromatin condensation and increase in phosphatidylserine externalization. However, aspirin did not induce either oligonucleosomal fragmentation of DNA, decrease in DNA content or nuclear fragmentation. The effect of aspirin on Annexin V binding was inhibited by the caspase inhibitor Z-VAD.fmk, indicating the involvement of caspases in the apoptotic action of aspirin. However, aspirin did not induce proteolysis of PARP, suggesting that aspirin does not increase nuclear caspase 3-like activity in HT-29 cells. This finding may be related with the ‘atypical’ features of aspirin-induced apoptosis in HT-29 cells. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of five different elongation factor 1 alpha genes in the flatfish Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup): Differential gene expression and thyroid hormones dependence during metamorphosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eukaryotic elongation factor 1 alpha (eEF1A) is one of the four subunits composing eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1. It catalyzes the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to the A-site of the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner during protein synthesis, although it also seems to play a role in other non-translational processes. Currently, little information is still available about its expression profile and regulation during flatfish metamorphosis. With regard to this, Senegalese sole (<it>Solea senegalensis</it>) is a commercially important flatfish in which <it>eEF1A </it>gene remains to be characterized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The development of large-scale genomics of Senegalese sole has facilitated the identification of five different <it>eEF1A </it>genes, referred to as <it>SseEF1A1</it>, <it>SseEF1A2</it>, <it>SseEF1A3</it>, <it>SseEF1A4</it>, and <it>Sse42Sp50</it>. Main characteristics and sequence identities with other fish and mammalian eEF1As are described. Phylogenetic and tissue expression analyses allowed for the identification of <it>SseEF1A1 </it>and <it>SseEF1A2 </it>as the Senegalese sole counterparts of mammalian <it>eEF1A1 </it>and <it>eEF1A2</it>, respectively, and of <it>Sse42Sp50 </it>as the ortholog of <it>Xenopus laevis </it>and teleost <it>42Sp50 </it>gene. The other two elongation factors, <it>SseEF1A3 </it>and <it>SseEF1A4</it>, represent novel genes that are mainly expressed in gills and skin. The expression profile of the five genes was also studied during larval development, revealing different behaviours. To study the possible regulation of <it>SseEF1A </it>gene expressions by thyroid hormones (THs), larvae were exposed to the goitrogen thiourea (TU). TU-treated larvae exhibited lower <it>SseEF1A4 </it>mRNA levels than untreated controls at both 11 and 15 days after treatment, whereas transcripts of the other four genes remained relatively unchanged. Moreover, addition of exogenous T4 hormone to TU-treated larvae increased significantly the steady-state levels of <it>SseEF1A4 </it>with respect to untreated controls, demonstrating that its expression is up-regulated by THs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have identified five different <it>eEF1A </it>genes in the Senegalese sole, referred to as <it>SseEF1A1</it>, <it>SseEF1A2</it>, <it>SseEF1A3</it>, <it>SseEF1A4</it>, and <it>Sse42Sp50</it>. The five genes exhibit different expression patterns in tissues and during larval development. TU and T4 treatments demonstrate that <it>SseEF1A4 </it>is up-regulated by THs, suggesting a role in the translational regulation of the factors involved in the dramatic changes that occurs during Senegalese sole metamorphosis.</p