Early psychological care of the French victims of the Costa Concordia shipwreck

Most of the French passengers who survived the shipwreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia were repatriatedfrom Italy to Marseille, one of the stopovers of the cruise. The shipwreck happened during the nightof 13th–14th January 2012 and entailed the forced evacuation of 4195 passengers and crewmembers.Thirty-two persons died and 2 others are still reported missing. The massive and unexpected inflow of402 French citizens in the port of Marseille required the quick setting up of welcome facilities, not only tosolve logistical problems, but also to address psychological and sometimes even medical problems. ThePrehospital Psychological Emergency Service (CUMP) and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Service(SAMU) of Marseille examined 196 persons in total, and were able to avoid a great number of emergencyadmissions deemed necessary because of difficult psychological situations (death, missing or lost persons,acute stress). The objective of this report is to rapidly present the emergency committee as a whole andto describe in more detail the work that the CUMP accomplished during the 36 hours necessary to takecharge of the majority of the French passengers of the Costa Concordia.Most of the French passengers who survived the shipwreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia were repatriatedfrom Italy to Marseille, one of the stopovers of the cruise. The shipwreck happened during the nightof 13th–14th January 2012 and entailed the forced evacuation of 4195 passengers and crewmembers.Thirty-two persons died and 2 others are still reported missing. The massive and unexpected inflow of402 French citizens in the port of Marseille required the quick setting up of welcome facilities, not only tosolve logistical problems, but also to address psychological and sometimes even medical problems. ThePrehospital Psychological Emergency Service (CUMP) and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Service(SAMU) of Marseille examined 196 persons in total, and were able to avoid a great number of emergencyadmissions deemed necessary because of difficult psychological situations (death, missing or lost persons,acute stress). The objective of this report is to rapidly present the emergency committee as a whole andto describe in more detail the work that the CUMP accomplished during the 36 hours necessary to takecharge of the majority of the French passengers of the Costa Concordia

Incidence rates of in-hospital carpal tunnel syndrome in the general population and possible associations with marital status

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a socially relevant condition associated with biomechanical risk factors. We evaluated age-sex-specific incidence rates of in-hospital cases of CTS in central/northern Italy and explored relations with marital status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seven regions were considered (overall population, 14.9 million) over 3–6-year periods between 1997 and 2002 (when out-of-hospital CTS surgery was extremely rare). Incidence rates of in-hospital cases of CTS were estimated based on 1) codified demographic, diagnostic and intervention data in obligatory discharge records from all Italian public/private hospitals, archived (according to residence) on regional databases; 2) demographic general population data for each region. We compared (using the χ_scoretest) age-sex-specific rates between married, unmarried, divorced and widowed subsets of the general population. We calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for married/unmarried men and women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Age-standardized incidence rates (per 100,000 person-years) of in-hospital cases of CTS were 166 in women and 44 in men (106 overall). Married subjects of both sexes showed higher age-specific rates with respect to unmarried men/women. SIRs were calculated comparing married vs unmarried rates of both sexes: 1.59 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.57–1.60) in women, and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.40–1.45) in men. As compared with married women/men, widows/widowers both showed 2–3-fold higher incidence peaks during the fourth decade of life (beyond 50 years of age, widowed subjects showed similar trends to unmarried counterparts).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This large population-based study illustrates distinct age-related trends in men and women, and also raises the question whether marital status could be associated with CTS in the general population.</p

Cryptic Transcription Mediates Repression of Subtelomeric Metal Homeostasis Genes

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) prevents the accumulation of transcripts bearing premature termination codons. Here we show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae NMD mutants accumulate 5′–extended RNAs (CD-CUTs) of many subtelomeric genes. Using the subtelomeric ZRT1 and FIT3 genes activated in response to zinc and iron deficiency, respectively, we show that transcription of these CD-CUTs mediates repression at the bona fide promoters, by preventing premature binding of RNA polymerase II in conditions of metal repletion. Expression of the main ZRT1 CD-CUT is controlled by the histone deacetylase Rpd3p, showing that histone deacetylases can regulate expression of genes through modulation of the level of CD-CUTs. Analysis of binding of the transcriptional activator Zap1p and insertion of transcriptional terminators upstream from the Zap1p binding sites show that CD-CUT transcription or accumulation also interferes with binding of the transcriptional activator Zap1p. Consistent with this model, overexpressing Zap1p or using a constitutively active version of the Aft1p transcriptional activator rescues the induction defect of ZRT1 and FIT3 in NMD mutants. These results show that cryptic upstream sense transcription resulting in unstable transcripts degraded by NMD controls repression of a large number of genes located in subtelomeric regions, and in particular of many metal homeostasis genes

Controversies on clitoroplasty

A review of the literature regarding the current state of knowledge of the anatomic and physiologic features of the female clitoris was conducted. Based on this evaluation, operations on the clitoris were reviewed. The anatomic and physiologic reconstruction problems of surgical techniques for female pseudohermaphroditism that have previously been reported were reviewed. The author suggests that clitoroplasty is essential for patients with ambiguous genitalia, but the decision regarding the correct procedure, taking into account anatomic and physiologic success, can be controversial. This may be because of unclear anatomic and physiologic definitions, even for healthy people. As a temporary solution, more conservative procedures for maximally effective treatment are suggested

Characterization and analysis of the Burkholderia pseudomallei BsaN virulence regulon

10.1186/s12866-014-0206-6BMC Microbiology14120

BRCA1/2 germline missense mutations : a systematic review

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer is an inherited syndrome associated with BRCA1/2 germline defects. The identified mutations are classified as missense, large deletion, insertion, nonsense and splice-site variants with a deleterious impact on BRCA1/2 function. Part of these forms the well-documented truncating mutations, and missense variants represent a clinical dilemma as the pathogenic role is yet to be clearly shown. In this systematic review, we collected these missense variations with a documented deleterious function. We focused on English language articles from MEDLINE. This study included all BRCA1/2 germline missense mutations identified in breast and ovarian cancer patients. The method of this study followed the 'PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-Analyses'. A total of 61 BRCA1/2 germline and pathogenic missense mutations were identified: 70.5% affected BRCA1 and 29.5% BRCA2, respectively. In BRCA1, the majority of mutations were located in the BRCA C-Terminus (48.8%), leading to a disruption of function. Conversely, no specific associations were verified between mutations and the BRCA2 gene. The European population was the most affected by BRCA1 and the Asian population by BRCA2 mutant patterns. The identification of novel BRCA1/2 missense mutations requires specific genetic tests to assess pathogenicity. With this systematic review, we are, to the best of our knowledge, the first to collect the overall amount of data on these pathogenic mutants with the aim of improving the management of carriers and their kindred