Malaria Eradication in the European World: Historical Perspective and Imminent Threats

Malaria was introduced to Europe from the southeast during the Neolithic period and subsequently became established throughout the continent, due to the combination of favorable geomorphological and climatic conditions with the presence of adequately sized human and competent vector populations. Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae and P. falciparum all occurred in various areas of the continent, transmitted by numerous Anopheles species, mainly An. atroparvus in the northwest, An. labranchiae and An. sacharovi in the south. The height of malaria endemicity in the Early Modern Age was followed by decline in the twentieth century, particularly in the northwest, owing mainly to man-made contraction of vector breeding sites and improvement of living standards. Eradication was accomplished in 1974 through widespread drug treatment and residual insecticide spraying. Since then, despite the sustained presence of competent vectors and numerous malaria cases imported by travelers and immigrants, autochthonous transmission has been sporadic in Europe, probably due to prompt diagnosis and treatment afforded by robust healthcare services. Current and projected climatic conditions are conducive to malaria transmission, particularly vivax malaria, in several areas of Southern Europe. Moreover, the continuing immigration crisis may facilitate the buildup of an infectious parasite reservoir in the area. Although malaria resurgence is currently unlikely particularly in northwest Europe, it is of crucial importance to maintain disease awareness, diagnostic and clinical competence and robust public health infrastructure for surveillance and vector control to diminish the possibility of malaria transmission in Europe’s most vulnerable areas

Συσχέτιση μεταξύ του ρυθμού εφαρμογής της δύναμης στο Mid thigh pull και της επίδοσης στο Αρασέ σε νέους αθλητές-φοιτητές της Άρσης Βαρών.

Η Άρση Βαρών αποτελεί ένα από τα πρώτα αθλήματα που έχουν ενταχθεί στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες. Χαρακτηρίζεται άθλημα δύναμης μέσω της διενέργειας πολυαρθρικών άρσεων κατά τη διάρκεια των οποίων οι αθλητές επιτυγχάνουν τη μεγαλύτερη απόδοση δύναμης. Η επίδοση των αθλητών εξαρτάται από την σωματική διάπλαση, την μυϊκή δύναμη, τις κινητικές &κινηματικές ικανότητες και την παραγωγή μέγιστης ισχύος &δύναμης. Ο Ρυθμός εφαρμογής δύναμης (ΡΕΔ) είναι σημαντικός δείκτης της μυϊκής ισχύος για την αξιολόγηση ικανότητας επίδοσης, είναι πιο σημαντικός δείκτης από την απόλυτη μυϊκή δύναμη και έχει συσχέτιση με το mid thigh pull (IMTP). Ο σκοπός της έρευνας ήταν η διερεύνηση της συσχέτισης του Ρυθμού Εφαρμογής Δύναμης στο mid thigh pull και της επίδοσης στο Αρασέ. Όσον αφορά την μεθοδολογία οι συμμετέχοντες ήταν φοιτητές ειδικότητας άρσης βαρών της σχολής φυσικής αγωγής και αθλητισμού, 7 άνδρες και 3 γυναίκες. Οι μετρήσεις έγιναν σε δυναμοπλατφόρμα με δείκτη αξιοπιστίας μέτρησης Ρυθμού Εφαρμογής Δύναμης ICC=0,98 και έγινε η επιλογή της καλύτερης προσπάθειας. Οι μέγιστες μετρήσεις των φοιτητών για το αρασέ έγιναν στο κλειστό προπονητικό κέντρο Αγίου Κοσμά με διεθνείς κανονισμούς. Στα αποτελέσματα παρατηρήθηκε μια τάση στη συσχέτιση επίδοσης στο Αρασέ με κάποια σημαντικά αποτελέσματα. Συμπερασματικά, βρέθηκε συσχέτιση μεταξύ των μεταβλητών του αρασέ και του ΡΕΔ 200ms. Τα αποτελέσματα πιθανόν να έχουν αποκλίσεις λόγω της έλλειψης εμπειρίας μετρήσεων στους δοκιμαζομένους. Τέλος, επειδή ο ρυθμός εφαρμογής δύναμης σε άλλες μελέτες έχει δείξει ότι έχει σχέση με την επίδοση των αθλητών, είναι αναγκαίο να διερευνηθεί γενικότερα, αλλά και σε υψηλού επιπέδου αθλητές.Weightlifting is one of the first sports to be included in the Olympic Games. It is characterised as a strength sport through the performance of multi-joint lifts during which the athletes achieve the greatest power output. Athletes' performance depends on physique, muscle strength, motor & kinematic abilities and maximal power & force production. Force Application Rate (FEP) is an important indicator of muscle strength for performance assessment, is a more important indicator than absolute muscle strength and is correlated with mid thigh pull (IMTP). The purpose of the research was to investigate the correlation of the Rate of Force Application in the mid thigh pull and the performance in Snatch. Regarding the methodology, the participants were students majoring in weight lifting at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, 7 men and 3 women. The measurements were made on a platform with a reliability index of the Force Application Rate measurement ICC=0.98 and the best effort was selected. The maximum measurements of the students for the snatch were made in the closed training center of Agios Kosmas with international regulations. In the results, a trend was observed in the correlation of performance in snatch with some significant results. In conclusion, a correlation was found between the variables of the snatch and the 200ms RED. The results may have deviations due to the lack of measurement experience of the test subjects. Finally, because the rate of force application in other studies has been shown to be related to the performance of athletes, it is necessary to investigate it more generally, but also in high-level athletes

An efficient and novel technology for the extraction of parasite genomic DNA from whole blood or culture

The aim of this study was to assess pathogen DNA extraction with a new spin column-based method (DNA-XT). DNA from either whole-blood samples spiked with Plasmodium falciparum or Leishmania donovani amastigote culture was extracted with DNA-XT and compared with that produced by a commercial extraction kit (DNeasy®). Eluates from large and small sample volumes were assessed by PCR and spectroscopy. Using a small volume (5 μl) of blood, the DNA-XT and DNeasy methods produced eluates with similar DNA concentrations (0.63 vs 1.06 ng/μl, respectively). The DNA-XT method produced DNA with lower PCR inhibition than DNeasy. The new technique was also twice as fast and required fewer plastics and manipulations but had reduced total recovered DNA compared with DNeasy

An efficient and novel technology for the extraction of parasite genomic DNA from whole blood or culture

The aim of this study was to assess pathogen DNA extraction with a new spin column-based method (DNA-XT). DNA from either whole-blood samples spiked with Plasmodium falciparum or Leishmania donovani amastigote culture was extracted with DNA-XT and compared with that produced by a commercial extraction kit (DNeasy®). Eluates from large and small sample volumes were assessed by PCR and spectroscopy. Using a small volume (5 μl) of blood, the DNA-XT and DNeasy methods produced eluates with similar DNA concentrations (0.63 vs 1.06 ng/μl, respectively). The DNA-XT method produced DNA with lower PCR inhibition than DNeasy. The new technique was also twice as fast and required fewer plastics and manipulations but had reduced total recovered DNA compared with DNeasy

Personalised randomised controlled trial designs-a new paradigm to define optimal treatments for carbapenem-resistant infections.

Antimicrobial resistance is impacting treatment decisions for, and patient outcomes from, bacterial infections worldwide, with particular threats from infections with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter baumanii, or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Numerous areas of clinical uncertainty surround the treatment of these highly resistant infections, yet substantial obstacles exist to the design and conduct of treatment trials for carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections. These include the lack of a widely acceptable optimised standard of care and control regimens, varying antimicrobial susceptibilities and clinical contraindications making specific intervention regimens infeasible, and diagnostic and recruitment challenges. The current single comparator trials are not designed to answer the urgent public health question, identified as a high priority by WHO, of what are the best regimens out of the available options that will significantly reduce morbidity, costs, and mortality. This scenario has an analogy in network meta-analysis, which compares multiple treatments in an evidence synthesis to rank the best of a set of available treatments. To address these obstacles, we propose extending the network meta-analysis approach to individual randomisation of patients. We refer to this approach as a Personalised RAndomised Controlled Trial (PRACTical) design that compares multiple treatments in an evidence synthesis, to identify, overall, which is the best treatment out of a set of available treatments to recommend, or how these different treatments rank against each other. In this Personal View, we summarise the design principles of personalised randomised controlled trial designs. Specifically, of a network of different potential regimens for life-threatening carbapenem-resistant infections, each patient would be randomly assigned only to regimens considered clinically reasonable for that patient at that time, incorporating antimicrobial susceptibility, toxicity profile, pharmacometric properties, availability, and physician assessment. Analysis can use both direct and indirect comparisons across the network, analogous to network meta-analysis. This new trial design will maximise the relevance of the findings to each individual patient, and enable the top-ranked regimens from any personalised randomisation list to be identified, in terms of both efficacy and safety

Malaria in Europe: emerging threat or minor nuisance?

Malaria was eradicated from Europe in the 1970s through a combination of insecticide spraying, drug therapy and environmental engineering. Since then, it has been mostly imported into the continent by international travellers and immigrants from endemic regions. Despite the substantial number of imported malaria cases and the documented presence of suitable anopheline vectors, autochthonous transmission has not been widely observed in Europe, probably as a result of early diagnosis and treatment, afforded by efficient healthcare systems. Current climatic conditions are conducive to malaria transmission in several areas of Southern Europe, and climate change might favour mosquito proliferation and parasite development, further facilitating malaria transmission. Moreover, the continuing massive influx of refugee and migrant populations from endemic areas could contribute to building up of an infectious parasite reservoir. Although the malariogenic potential of Europe is currently low, particularly in the northern and western parts of the continent, strengthening of disease awareness and maintaining robust public health infrastructures for surveillance and vector control are of the utmost importance and should be technically and financially supported to avert the possibility of malaria transmission in Europe's most vulnerable areas. © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Comparison of chemical modifiers for the determination of vanadium in water and oil samples by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry

Chemical modifiers (isomorphous metals and other compounds such as NH4SCN and ascorbic acid) for the determination of vanadium are described. Ascorbic acid (100 μg) eliminated the interferences from NaCl, CaCl2 and FeCl3 salts. The mass of the metallic modifiers and the maximum permissible pyrolysis temperature (t(pyr)) have been carefully optimized. Magnesium nitrate (20 μg), rhodium (2 μg) and platinum (2.5 μg) increased t(pyr) from 1100°C, without modifiers, to 1500, 1700 and 1600°C, respectively. The characteristic mass without modifiers was 21.2 pg, whereas in the presence of 20 pg of Mg(NO3)2, 1 μg of Rh and 1 μg of Pt, the characteristic mass was 20.5 pg, 14.7 pg and 14.4 pg, respectively, measuring the peak absorbance with a moderately used graphite tube (around 100 atomization cycles). The LOD was generally 0.5 μg l-1 without chemical modifier and the same with 1 μg of Pt. The efficiency of the above metals as chemical modifiers was tested in the analysis of oil standards diluted with isobutyl methyl ketone (IBMK). It was found that 1 μg of Pt increased the t(pyr) from 1000°C to 1400°C and decreased the characteristic mass from 27.5 to 15.3 pg measuring the peak absorbance with a new graphite tube. Magnesium nitrate was inadequate for this type of sample. The ageing of the graphite tube surface affected the vanadium determination. A slow drift in sensitivity appeared with increasing atomization cycles. This was controlled with periodic recalibration using integrated absorbance measurements