Coping strategies of women with postpartum depression symptoms in rural Ethiopia: a cross-sectional community study

Background: Most women with postpartum depression (PPD) in low- and middle-income countries remain undiagnosed and untreated, despite evidence for adverse effects on the woman and her child. The aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies used by women with PPD symptoms in rural Ethiopia to inform the development of socio-culturally appropriate interventions. Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in a predominantly rural district in southern Ethiopia. All women with live infants between one and 12 months post-partum (n = 3147) were screened for depression symptoms using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire, 9 item version (PHQ-9). Those scoring five or more, ‘high PPD symptoms’, (n = 385) were included in this study. The Brief Coping with Problems Experienced (COPE-28) scale was used to assess coping strategies. Construct validity of the brief COPE was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis of the brief COPE scale supported the previously hypothesized three dimensions of coping (problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional). Emotion-focused coping was the most commonly employed coping strategy by women with PPD symptoms. Urban residence was associated positively with all three dimensions of coping. Women who had attended formal education and who attributed their symptoms to a physical cause were more likely to use both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Women with better subjective wealth and those who perceived that their husband drank too much alcohol were more likely to use emotion-focused coping. Dysfunctional coping strategies were reported by women who had a poor relationship with their husbands. Conclusions: As in high-income countries, women with PPD symptoms were most likely to use emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies. Poverty and the low level of awareness of depression as an illness may additionally impede problem-solving attempts to cope. Prospective studies are needed to understand the prognostic significance of coping styles in this setting and to inform psychosocial intervention development

Antibody response of naturally infected individuals to recombinant Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen-1

In the present study, we evaluate the naturally acquired antibody response to the Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen 1 (PvAMA-1), a leading vaccine candidate against malaria. the gene encoding the PvAMA-1 ectodomain region (amino acids 43-487) was cloned by PCR using genomic DNA from a Brazilian individual with patent P. vivax infection. the predicted amino acid sequence displayed a high degree of identity (97.3%) with a previously published sequence from the P. viva-v Salvador strain. A recombinant protein representing the PvAMA-1 ectodomain was expressed in Escherichia coli and refolded. By ELISA, this recombinant protein reacted with 85 and 48.5% of the IgG or IgM antibodies, respectively, from Brazilian individuals with patent P. vivax malaria. IgG I was the predominant subclass of IgG. the frequency of response increased according to the number of malaria episodes, reaching 100% in individuals in their fourth malaria episode. the high degree of recognition of PvAMA-1 by human antibodies was confirmed using a second recombinant protein expressed in Pichia pastoris (PV66/AMA-1). the observation that recognition of the bacterial recombinant PvAMA-1 was only slightly lower than that of the highly immunogenic 19 kDa C-terminal domain of the P. vivax Merozoite Surface Protein-1 was also important. DNA sequencing of the PvAMA-1 variable domain from 20 Brazilian isolates confirmed the limited polymorphism of PvAMA-1 suggested by serological analysis. in conclusion, we provide evidence that PvAMA-1 is highly immunogenic during natural infection in humans and displays limited polymorphism in Brazil. Based on these observations, we conclude that PvAMA-1 merits further immunological studies as a vaccine candidate against P. vivax malaria. (C) 2004 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Univ São Paulo, Dept Anal Clin & Toxicol, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut, BR-05508900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Immunol & Parasitol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilBiomed Primate Res Ctr, Dept Parasitol, NL-2280 GH Rijswijk, NetherlandsUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Immunol & Parasitol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Efficacy profile of Cypermethrin and Chlorpyrifos based acaricides on Rhipicephalus microplus control on cattle in the rearing phase, naturally infested and exposed to tick fever agents in central Brazil.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of two cypermethrin- and chlorpyrifos-based acaricides in controlling Rhipicephalus microplus in a naturally infested bovine herd and in in vitro tests, as well as to monitor the animals for tick fever. Male bovines in the rearing phase were used, with 30 Brangus and 30 Nellore animals naturally infested. The groups were composed as follows: 15 Nellore treated, 15 Nellore control, 15 Brangus treated and 15 Brangus control. Every 18 days, the animals were monitored for tick count, acaricide treatment, weight, blood pack cell volume, and clinical signs. For in vitro tests, the larval packet test, adult immersion test and DNA amplification for tick fever diagnosis were performed. In the first animal treatment period, product 1 (cypermethrin, 15 g+chlorpyrifos, 25 g+citronellal, 1 g) was used; in the second period, product 2 (cypermethrin, 15 g+chlorpyrifos, 30 g+fenthion, 15 g) was used. In Brangus animals, the mean efficacy was 35.1% and 95.8% in the first and second periods, respectively, for the same animals. For Nellore animals, the efficacy in periods one and two was 51% and 97.1%, respectively. The in vitro results showed efficacy above 95% for the two challenged acaricides. The Brangus animals showed a high production of ticks associated with the presence of tick fever agents, which could generate risks for the disease's enzootic stability.Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-20T23:39:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 31EfficacyprofileofCypermethrinandChlorpyrifosbasedacaricideson.pdf: 311208 bytes, checksum: 537314271e2c7bfe173253ee270f7c42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-12-18bitstream/item/188775/1/31-Efficacy-profile-of-Cypermethrin-and-Chlorpyrifos-based-acaricides-on.pd

Properties of Adsorbed Bovine Serum Albumin and Fibrinogen on Self-Assembled Monolayers

International audienceWe have studied kinetics of adsorption and properties of adsorbed bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fibrinogen (Fb) on a hydrophobic octyl surface, a hydrophilic amine surface, and a mixture of octyl and amine self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and newly synthesized hybrid SAM by using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). In addition, we have proposed a combined kinetic and mass transfer constrained protein adsorption model. The model is fitted to a change in resonance frequency, Delta F-n/n versus time data obtained from QCM to get the kinetic rate constants, mass transfer coefficient, and spreading of adsorbed proteins. Initial rate of adsorption increases with a decrease in surface energy of the substrate. The equilibrium adsorbed amount of BSA on the hybrid surface is less than that on the mixed surface and lies in between that on octyl and amine surfaces and that of Fb is the least on hybrid surface. The analysis of variation of the dissipation factor, Delta D, with Delta F-n/n indicates that BSA is more flexible than Fb and the adsorbed layer of both proteins is softest on the hybrid surface. The relaxation times of adsorbed proteins are the slowest on the octyl surface, while those on the hybrid surface are the fastest. The analysis of secondary structures of proteins using ATR-FTIR suggests secondary structures of the proteins change during adsorption. The content of alpha-helix of the proteins increases due to adsorption on the amine surface, while that decreases on all other surfaces. The total content of a-helix and beta-sheet strongly depends on the adsorbed mass of the proteins and is weakly dependent related to elasticity and viscosity of the adsorbed proteins, respectively

Analysis of the strong coupling constant GDs∗DsϕG_{D_{s}^{*}D_{s}\phi } G D s ∗ D s ϕ and the decay width of Ds∗→DsγD_{s}^{*}\rightarrow D_{s}\gamma D s ∗ → D s γ with QCD sum rules

In this article, we calculate the form factors and the coupling constant of the vertex $$D_{s}^{*}D_{s}\phi$$ using the three-point QCD sum rules. We consider the contributions of the vacuum condensates up to dimension 7 in the operator product expansion. And all possible off-shell cases are considered, $$\phi$$, $$D_{s}$$ and $$D_{s}^{*}$$, resulting in three different form factors. Then we fit the form factors into analytical functions and extrapolate them into time-like regions, which giving the coupling constant for the process. Our analysis indicates that the coupling constant for this vertex is $$G_{D_{s}^{*}D{_{s}}\phi }=4.12\pm 0.70\,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$$. The results of this work are very useful in the other phenomenological analysis. As an application, we calculate the coupling constant for the decay channel $$D_{s}^{*}\rightarrow D_{s}\gamma$$ and analyze the width of this decay with the assumption of the vector meson dominance of the intermediate $$\phi (1020)$$. Our final result about the decay width of this decay channel is $$\Gamma =0.59\pm 0.15\,\mathrm{keV}$$

Design and In Vitro/In Vivo Evaluation of Ultra-Thin Mucoadhesive Buccal Film Containing Fluticasone Propionate

Fluticasone propionate is a synthetic corticosteroid drug distinguished by its potent anti-inflammatory action with low systemic side effects in comparison to other corticosteroids making it a potential drug for local buccal delivery. The aim of the present study was to design mucoadhesive buccal film containing fluticasone that is aesthetically acceptable and could maintain local drug release for a sustained period to manage the sign and symptoms of severe erosive mouth lesions. Solvent casting technique was used in film preparation. Different polymeric blends were used either alone or in combination with mucoadhesive polymers, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC), or Carbopol 971P at different concentrations. The physicochemical properties, in vitro mucoadhesion time as well as the drug release properties for all prepared formulations were determined. Selected formulations with adequate properties were further examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and subjected to in vivo evaluation. Films containing hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)/ethyl cellulose (EC) showed acceptable physicochemical properties, homogenous drug distribution, convenient mucoadhesion time, moderate swelling as well as sustained drug release up to 12 h. The biological performance of these formulations was assessed on healthy human volunteers and compared with a prepared mouthwash which showed enhanced pharmacokinetic parameters for the selected films in comparison to the mouthwash. The results revealed that the optimized formulation containing HPMC/EC and 10% SCMC could successfully achieve sustained drug release for 10 h which is considered promising for local treatment of severe mouth lesions