Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Cervix Detected By Cytology and Histology: A Report of Five Cases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72846/1/j.1365-2303.1993.tb00094.x.pd

The Perceptions on Male Circumcision as a Preventive Measure Against HIV Infection and Considerations in Scaling up of the Services: A Qualitative Study Among Police Officers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

\ud In recent randomized controlled trials, male circumcision has been proven to complement the available biomedical interventions in decreasing HIV transmission from infected women to uninfected men. Consequently, Tanzania is striving to scale-up safe medical male circumcision to reduce HIV transmission. However, there is a need to investigate the perceptions of male circumcision in Tanzania using specific populations. The purpose of the present study was to assess the perceptions of male circumcision in a cohort of police officers that also served as a source of volunteers for a phase I/II HIV vaccine (HIVIS-03) trial in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In-depth interviews with 24 men and 10 women were conducted. Content analysis informed by the socio-ecological model was used to analyze the data. Informants perceived male circumcision as a health-promoting practice that may prevent HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted infections. They reported male circumcision promotes sexual pleasure, confidence and hygiene or sexual cleanliness. They added that it is a religious ritual and a cultural practice that enhances the recognition of manhood in the community. However, informants were concerned about the cost involved in male circumcision and cleanliness of instruments used in medical and traditional male circumcision. They also expressed confusion about the shame of undergoing circumcision at an advanced age and pain that could emanate after circumcision. The participants advocated for health policies that promote medical male circumcision at childhood, specifically along with the vaccination program. The perceived benefit of male circumcision as a preventive strategy to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections is important. However, there is a need to ensure that male circumcision is conducted under hygienic conditions. Integrating male circumcision service in the routine childhood vaccination program may increase its coverage at early childhood. The findings from this investigation provide contextual understanding that may assist in scaling-up male circumcision in Tanzania.\u

Why do women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care? A qualitative investigation with women attending maternity services

Background Despite the importance attributed to good pre-pregnancy care and its potential to improve pregnancy and child health outcomes, relatively little is known about why women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care. We sought to gain insight into why women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care. Methods We carried out 20 qualitative in-depth interviews with pregnant or recently pregnant women who were drawn from a survey of antenatal clinic attendees in London, UK. Interviewees were purposively sampled to include high and low investors in pre-pregnancy health and care, with variation in age, partnership status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. Data analysis was conducted using the Framework method. Results We identified three groups in relation to pre-pregnancy health and care: 1) The “prepared” group, who had high levels of pregnancy planning and mostly positive attitudes to micronutrient supplementation outside of pregnancy, carried out pre-pregnancy activities such as taking folic acid and making changes to diet and lifestyle. 2) The “poor knowledge” group, who also had high levels of pregnancy planning, did not carry out pre-pregnancy activities and described themselves as having poor knowledge. Elsewhere in their interviews they expressed a strong dislike of micronutrient supplementation. 3) The “absent pre-pregnancy period” group, had the lowest levels of pregnancy planning and also expressed anti-supplement views. Even discussing the pre-pregnancy period with this group was difficult as responses to questions quickly shifted to focus on pregnancy itself. Knowledge of folic acid was poor in all groups. Conclusion Different pre-pregnancy care approaches are likely to be needed for each of the groups. Among the “prepared” group, who were proactive and receptive to health messages, greater availability of information and better response from health professionals could improve the range of pre-pregnancy activities carried out. Among the “poor knowledge” group, better response from health professionals might yield greater uptake of pre-pregnancy information. A different, general health strategy might be more appropriate for the “absent pre-pregnancy period” group. The fact that general attitudes to micronutrient supplementation were closely related to whether or not women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care was an unanticipated finding and warrants further investigation.This report is independent research commissioned and funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme Pre-Pregnancy Health and Care in England: Exploring Implementation and Public Health Impact, 006/0068

Analysis of the Ex Vivo and In Vivo Antiretroviral Activity of Gemcitabine

Replication of retroviral and host genomes requires ribonucleotide reductase to convert rNTPs to dNTPs, which are then used as substrates for DNA synthesis. Inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase by hydroxyurea (HU) has been previously used to treat cancers as well as HIV. However, the use of HU as an antiretroviral is limited by its associated toxicities such as myelosuppression and hepatotoxicity. In this study, we examined the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor, gemcitabine, both in cell culture and in C57Bl/6 mice infected with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus (LP-BM5 MuLV, a murine AIDS model). Gemcitabine decreased infectivity of MuLV in cell culture with an EC50 in the low nanomolar range with no detectable cytotoxicity. Similarly, gemcitabine significantly decreased disease progression in mice infected with LP-BM5. Specifically, gemcitabine treatment decreased spleen size, plasma IgM, and provirus levels compared to LP-BM5 MuLV infected, untreated mice. Gemcitabine efficacy was observed at doses as low as 1 mg/kg/day in the absence of toxicity. Higher doses of gemcitabine (3 mg/kg/day and higher) were associated with toxicity as determined by a loss in body mass. In summary, our findings demonstrate that gemcitabine has antiretroviral activity ex vivo and in vivo in the LP-BM5 MuLV model. These observations together with a recent ex vivo study with HIV-1[1], suggest that gemcitabine has broad antiretroviral activity and could be particularly useful in vivo when used in combination drug therapy

An Emerging Infectious Disease Triggering Large-Scale Hyperpredation

Hyperpredation refers to an enhanced predation pressure on a secondary prey due to either an increase in the abundance of a predator population or a sudden drop in the abundance of the main prey. This scarcely documented mechanism has been previously studied in scenarios in which the introduction of a feral prey caused overexploitation of native prey. Here we provide evidence of a previously unreported link between Emergent Infectious Diseases (EIDs) and hyperpredation on a predator-prey community. We show how a viral outbreak caused the population collapse of a host prey at a large spatial scale, which subsequently promoted higher-than-normal predation intensity on a second prey from shared predators. Thus, the disease left a population dynamic fingerprint both in the primary host prey, through direct mortality from the disease, and indirectly in the secondary prey, through hyperpredation. This resulted in synchronized prey population dynamics at a large spatio-temporal scale. We therefore provide evidence for a novel mechanism by which EIDs can disrupt a predator-prey interaction from the individual behavior to the population dynamics. This mechanism can pose a further threat to biodiversity through the human-aided disruption of ecological interactions at large spatial and temporal scales.MM and JASZ were partially supported by a project of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (reference CGL-2006-10689/BOS)

UHPLC-ESI/TOFMS Determination of Salicylate-like Phenolic Gycosides in Populus tremula Leaves

Associations of salicylate-like phenolic glycosides (PGs) with biological activity have been reported in Salix and Populus trees, but only for a few compounds, and in relation to a limited number of herbivores. By considering the full diversity of PGs, we may improve our ability to recognize genotypes or chemotype groups and enhance our understanding of their ecological function. Here, we present a fast and efficient general method for salicylate determination in leaves of Eurasian aspen that uses ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI/TOFMS). The time required for the liquid chromatography separations was 13.5 min per sample, compared to around 60 min per sample for most HPLC protocols. In leaf samples from identical P. tremula genotypes with diverse propagation and treatment histories, we identified nine PGs. We found the compound-specific mass chromatograms to be more informative than the UV-visible chromatograms for compound identification and when quantitating samples with large variability in PG content. Signature compounds previously reported for P. tremoloides (tremulacin, tremuloidin, salicin, and salicortin) always were present, and five PGs (2'-O-cinnamoyl-salicortin, 2'-O-acetyl-salicortin, 2'-O-acetyl-salicin, acetyl-tremulacin, and salicyloyl-salicin) were detected for the first time in P. tremula. By using information about the formic acid adduct that appeared for PGs in the LTQ-Orbitrap MS environment, novel compounds like acetyl-tremulacin could be tentatively identified without the use of standards. The novel PGs were consistently either present in genotypes regardless of propagation and damage treatment or were not detectable. In some genotypes, concentrations of 2'-O-acetyl-salicortin and 2'-O-cinnamoyl-salicortin were similar to levels of biologically active PGs in other Salicaceous trees. Our study suggests that we may expect a wide variation in PG content in aspen populations which is of interest both for studies of interactions with herbivores and for mapping population structure

Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the B -> K(*) mu+ mu- Decay and First Observation of the Bs -> phi mu+ mu- Decay

We reconstruct the rare decays $B^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-$, $B^0 \to K^{*}(892)^0\mu^+\mu^-$, and $B^0_s \to \phi(1020)\mu^+\mu^-$ in a data sample corresponding to $4.4 {\rm fb^{-1}}$ collected in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96 {\rm TeV}$ by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Using $121 \pm 16$ $B^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-$ and $101 \pm 12$ $B^0 \to K^{*0}\mu^+\mu^-$ decays we report the branching ratios. In addition, we report the measurement of the differential branching ratio and the muon forward-backward asymmetry in the $B^+$ and $B^0$ decay modes, and the $K^{*0}$ longitudinal polarization in the $B^0$ decay mode with respect to the squared dimuon mass. These are consistent with the theoretical prediction from the standard model, and most recent determinations from other experiments and of comparable accuracy. We also report the first observation of the $B^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^- decay and measure its branching ratio${\mathcal{B}}(B^0_s \to \phi\mu^+\mu^-) = [1.44 \pm 0.33 \pm 0.46] \times 10^{-6}$using$27 \pm 6$signal events. This is currently the most rare$B^0_s$ decay observed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Search for a New Heavy Gauge Boson Wprime with Electron + missing ET Event Signature in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV

We present a search for a new heavy charged vector boson $W^\prime$ decaying to an electron-neutrino pair in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96\unit{TeV}. The data were collected with the CDF II detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.3\unit{fb}^{-1}. No significant excess above the standard model expectation is observed and we set upper limits on $\sigma\cdot{\cal B}(W^\prime\to e\nu)$. Assuming standard model couplings to fermions and the neutrino from the $W^\prime$ boson decay to be light, we exclude a $W^\prime$ boson with mass less than 1.12\unit{TeV/}c^2 at the 95\unit{%} confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures Submitted to PR

Measurements of the properties of Lambda_c(2595), Lambda_c(2625), Sigma_c(2455), and Sigma_c(2520) baryons

We report measurements of the resonance properties of Lambda_c(2595)+ and Lambda_c(2625)+ baryons in their decays to Lambda_c+ pi+ pi- as well as Sigma_c(2455)++,0 and Sigma_c(2520)++,0 baryons in their decays to Lambda_c+ pi+/- final states. These measurements are performed using data corresponding to 5.2/fb of integrated luminosity from ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV, collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. Exploiting the largest available charmed baryon sample, we measure masses and decay widths with uncertainties comparable to the world averages for Sigma_c states, and significantly smaller uncertainties than the world averages for excited Lambda_c+ states.Comment: added one reference and one table, changed order of figures, 17 pages, 15 figure