Lifestyle and health determinants of cardiovascular disease among Greek older adults living in Eastern Aegean Islands: An adventure within the MEDIS study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate lifestyle and health determinants of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among Greek elderly residents living in Eastern Aegean islands, in both Greece and Turkey. METHODS: Under the context of the MEDIS study, 724 older adults (aged 65 to 100 years) from 8 Eastern Aegean Sea Greek islands (n=100 living in Samothrace, 142 in Lesvos, 150 in Limnos, 76 in Ikaria, 52 in Kassos, 149 in Rhodes and Karpathos) and from Turkey (n=55older adults of Greek origin living on Gökçeada Island) were voluntarily recruited. Overall cardiometabolic risk was measured as the sum (range 0-4) of four common CVD risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity). RESULTS: Greek islanders had higher CVD scores compared to Greeks of Gökçeada (1.9±1.1 vs 1.4±1.0 risk factors / participant, p<0.001). Further analysis revealed that the diet of Greek islanders was similar to the traditional Mediterranean diet; however, these individuals demonstrated 2-times higher odds (95% CI, 1.04-3.87) for having hypertension, 1.53-times higher odds (95% CI, 0.66-3.54) for having diabetes, 3.29-times higher odds (95% CI, 1.58-6.81) for having hypercholesterolemia; whereas they had 0.78-times lower odds (95% CI, 0.40-1.52) for being obese, compared to elderly Greek adults living on Gökçeada. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, CVD risk seems to be low among Eastern Aegean Islanders; certain differences in CVD risk factors exist between Greek islanders and their counterparts living in Gökçeada, and those differences may be attributed to various environmental, cultural and lifestyle factors

Evaluation du statut nutritionnel et biologique d’un échantillon de personnes atteintes de glaucome à angle ouvert dans une population togolaise

Ce travail est une étude prospective menée d’octobre 2009 à juillet 2010. L’objectif a été d’évaluer dans un échantillon de population togolaise les facteurs biologiques et nutritionnels des patients atteints de glaucome à angle ouvert. L’étude a porté sur deux groupes d’individus des deux sexes : 35 patients ayant un glaucome à angle ouvert et 27 témoins. L’âge, le poids, la taille et l’IMC moyens ont été similaires entre les deux groupes. Les sujets ont tous subi le même bilan biologique. Le t-test a été utilisé pour l’évaluation statistique. Les résultats ont révélé que chez les patients, les taux moyens de glycémie, de cholestérol total, des triglycérides, de HDL-cholestérol et de LDL-cholestérol ont été plus élevés (p &lt; 0,001) comparativement à ceux des témoins. Le taux moyen de la créatinine chez les patients a été similaire à celui des témoins. Il en est de même pour les taux moyens de la protidémie. En ce qui concerne les transaminases et la GGT, les taux moyens chez les patients ont été plus élevés que chez les témoins (p &lt; 0,05). Il ressort de ces résultats que la glycémie, le cholestérol total, les HDL, les LDL, les triglycérides, les transaminases et la GGT pourraient être inclus dans les facteurs de risque du glaucome à angle ouvert. L’augmentation du taux de ces différents paramètres serait probablement d’origine alimentaire.Mots clés : Glaucome à angle ouvert, alimentation, bilan biologique

Measurements of light background at large depth in the ocean

The mean intensity of Cerenkov emission from the products of K(40) decay and bioluminescence was measured at depths to 5 km. The intensity of ocean light background is found to depend upon depth and at the 5 km level is equal on averaged to 300 + or - 60 quanta/sq cms into spatial angle of 2 pi sterradian in transparency window. The amplitudes, duration and number of BL flashes were measured at various depths. The intensive flashes due to BL are shown to be observed rather seldom at depths over 4 km

MGIS: managing banana (Musa spp.) genetic resources information and high-throughput genotyping data

Unraveling the genetic diversity held in genebanks on a large scale is underway, due to advances in Next-generation sequence (NGS) based technologies that produce high-density genetic markers for a large number of samples at low cost. Genebank users should be in a position to identify and select germplasm from the global genepool based on a combination of passport, genotypic and phenotypic data. To facilitate this, a new generation of information systems is being designed to efficiently handle data and link it with other external resources such as genome or breeding databases. The Musa Germplasm Information System (MGIS), the database for global ex situ-held banana genetic resources, has been developed to address those needs in a user-friendly way. In developing MGIS, we selected a generic database schema (Chado), the robust content management system Drupal for the user interface, and Tripal, a set of Drupal modules which links the Chado schema to Drupal. MGIS allows germplasm collection examination, accession browsing, advanced search functions, and germplasm orders. Additionally, we developed unique graphical interfaces to compare accessions and to explore them based on their taxonomic information. Accession-based data has been enriched with publications, genotyping studies and associated genotyping datasets reporting on germplasm use. Finally, an interoperability layer has been implemented to facilitate the link with complementary databases like the Banana Genome Hub and the MusaBase breeding database. Database URL:https://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis

Ebola virus transmission initiated by systemic ebola virus disease relapse

During the 2018-2020 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, EVD was diagnosed in a patient who had received the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-based vaccine expressing a ZEBOV glycoprotein (rVSV-ZEBOV) (Merck). His treatment included an Ebola virus (EBOV)-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb114), and he recovered within 14 days. However, 6 months later, he presented again with severe EVD-like illness and EBOV viremia, and he died. We initiated epidemiologic and genomic investigations that showed that the patient had had a relapse of acute EVD that led to a transmission chain resulting in 91 cases across six health zones over 4 months. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others.)

Contribution aux études sur le système de soins modernes en République du Congo : approche géographique

Cette étude est une analyse géographique du système de soins modernes en zone rurale dans les régions du Kouilou et du Niari en République du Congo. La démarche suivie consiste à caractériser les contrastes de l'espace, tant physiques (végétation, relief...) qu'humains (densités de population, taux de croissance démographique...), qui influencent l'organisation spatiale et le fonctionnement du système de soins. L'étude montre que la géographie des centres de santé et celle du recours aux soins sont liées aux disparités spatiales des densités de population qui découlent de la mise en valeur économique et de l'encadrement territorial. La confrontation des traits géographiques à ceux du système de soins permet ainsi de définir précisément les profils sanitaires des différents sous-espaces et de mieux orienter les actions à mener (ouverture d'un dispensaire, amélioration de la couverture sanitaire...) (Résumé d'auteur

Multidisciplinary treatment for thoracic and abdominopelvic endometriosis.

Thoracic endometriosis is a rare form of extragenital endometriosis with important clinical ramifications. Up to 80% of women with thoracic endometriosis have concomitant abdominopelvic endometriosis, yet the surgical treatment is usually performed with separate procedures. This is the largest published series of the combination of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and traditional laparoscopy for the treatment of abdominopelvic and thoracic endometriosis. The objectives of this series are to further evaluate the manifestations of thoracic endometriosis, assess the multidisciplinary surgical approach, and discuss our institution's protocols. This is a retrospective, institutional review board-approved case series of 25 consecutive women who underwent combined video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and traditional laparoscopy for the treatment of abdominopelvic, diaphragmatic, and thoracic endometriosis from January 1, 2008, to September 30, 2013. All surgeries were performed at a tertiary referral center by the same primary surgeons. Data were collected by chart review. Twenty-five patients were included, with a mean age of 37.7 years. Eighty percent of patients had catamenial chest pain, and in 40% this was their only chest complaint. Shoulder pain was noted in 40% of patients, catamenial pneumothorax in 24%, and hemoptysis in 12%. One hundred percent of patients were found to have endometriosis in the pelvis, 100% in the diaphragm, 64% in the chest wall, and 40% in the parenchyma. There were 2 major postoperative complications: 1 diaphragmatic hernia and 1 vaginal cuff hematoma. Clinical suspicion and preoperative assessment are crucial in the diagnosis of thoracic endometriosis and allow for a multidisciplinary approach. The combination of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and traditional laparoscopy for the treatment of endometriosis optimally addresses the pelvis, diaphragm, and thoracic cavity in a single operation

Ventilation of the Baltic Sea deep water: A brief review of present knowledge from observations and models

The ventilation of the Baltic Sea deep wateris driven by either gale-forced barotropic or baroclinic salt water inflows.During the past two decades, the frequency of large barotropic inflows(mainly in winter) has decreased and the frequency of medium-intensity baroclinic inflows(observed in summer) has increased. As a result of entrainment of ambient oxygen-rich water,summer inflows are also important for the deep water ventilation.Recent process studies of salt water plumes suggest that the entrainmentrates are generally smaller than those predicted by earlier entrainment models.In addition to the entrance area, the Słupsk Sill andthe Słupsk Furrow are important locations for the transformation of water masses. Passing the Słupsk Furrow, both gravity-driven dense bottom flows and sub-surface cyclonic eddies,which are eroded laterally by thermohaline intrusions,ventilate the deep water of the eastern Gotland Basin.A recent study of the energy transfer from barotropic to baroclinicwave motion using a two-dimensional shallow water model suggests thatabout 30% of the energy needed below the halocline for deep water mixingis explained by the breaking of internal waves.In the deep water decade-long stagnation periods with decreasingoxygen and increasing hydrogen sulphide concentrations might be caused by anomalously largefreshwater inflows and anomalously high mean zonal wind speeds. In differentstudies the typical response time scale of average salinity was estimated tobe between approximately 20 and 30 years.The review summarizes recent research resultsand ends with a list of open questions and recommendations