Seroprevalence and risk factors of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection among the general Uygur population from south and north region of Xinjiang, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a complex multifocal neoplasm and is the major cause of death for about 50% of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an oncogenic virus with a causal role in the development of all types of KS. KS is prevalent among the Uygur people in Xinjiang, especially in south area. Here we carried out a cross-sectional study among 1534 general Uygur individuals from south and north region of Xinjiang to assess the seroprevalence of KSHV and to identify the potential correlation between KSHV seroprevalence and KS incidence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seroprevalence of KSHV in South and North Xinjiang was 23.1% and 25.9%, respectively. Older age was independently associated with higher KSHV seroprevalence. In subjects from South Xinjiang, lower educational level and reported drinking were each independently associated with higher KSHV seroprevalence. Furthermore, the antibody titer was significantly lower in both south and north KSHV seropositive individuals compared with KS patients, as analyzed by gradient dilution (P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>KSHV is highly prevalent in the general Uygur population in both South and North Xinjiang. Interestingly, the infection rate of KSHV in these two geographical areas did not correlate well with KS incidence. Perhaps unknown factors exist that promote the progression of KSHV infection to KS development in the local minority groups.</p

Complex Calculations: How Drug Use During Pregnancy Becomes a Barrier to Prenatal Care

Pregnant women who use drugs are more likely to receive little or no prenatal care. This study sought to understand how drug use and factors associated with drug use influence women’s prenatal care use. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups were conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample of low-income women using alcohol and drugs in a California county. Women using drugs attend and avoid prenatal care for reasons not connected to their drug use: concern for the health of their baby, social support, and extrinsic barriers such as health insurance and transportation. Drug use itself is a barrier for a few women. In addition to drug use, women experience multiple simultaneous risk factors. Both the drug use and the multiple simultaneous risk factors make resolving extrinsic barriers more difficult. Women also fear the effects of drug use on their baby’s health and fear being reported to Child Protective Services, each of which influence women’s prenatal care use. Increasing the number of pregnant women who use drugs who receive prenatal care requires systems-level rather than only individual-level changes. These changes require a paradigm shift to viewing drug use in context of the person and society and acceptance of responsibility for unintended consequences of public health bureaucratic procedures and messages about effects of drug use during pregnancy

The left ventricular contractility of the rat heart is modulated by changes in flow and <FONT FACE=Symbol>a</font>1-adrenoceptor stimulation

Myocardial contractility depends on several mechanisms such as coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) and flow as well as on <FONT FACE="Symbol">a</font>1-adrenoceptor stimulation. Both effects occur during the sympathetic stimulation mediated by norepinephrine. Norepinephrine increases force development in the heart and produces vasoconstriction increasing arterial pressure and, in turn, CPP. The contribution of each of these factors to the increase in myocardial performance needs to be clarified. Thus, in the present study we used two protocols: in the first we measured mean arterial pressure, left ventricular pressure and rate of rise of left ventricular pressure development in anesthetized rats (N = 10) submitted to phenylephrine (PE) stimulation before and after propranolol plus atropine treatment. These observations showed that in vivo <FONT FACE="Symbol">a</font>1-adrenergic stimulation increases left ventricular-developed pressure (P<0.05) together with arterial blood pressure (P<0.05). In the second protocol, we measured left ventricular isovolumic systolic pressure (ISP) and CPP in Langendorff constant flow-perfused hearts. The hearts (N = 7) were perfused with increasing flow rates under control conditions and PE or PE + nitroprusside (NP). Both CPP and ISP increased (P<0.01) as a function of flow. CPP changes were not affected by drug treatment but ISP increased (P<0.01). The largest ISP increase was obtained with PE + NP treatment (P<0.01). The results suggest that both mechanisms, i.e., direct stimulation of myocardial <FONT FACE="Symbol">a</font>1-adrenoceptors and increased flow, increased cardiac performance acting simultaneously and synergistically

A Decrease in the Size of the Basal Ganglia in Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Magnetic resonance imaging was conducted on six children and adolescents with fetal alcohol syndrome and seven matched normal controls. Detailed volumetric analyses demonstrated significant reductions in the cerebral vault, basal ganglia, and diencephalon in the children with fetal alcohol syndrome, compared with control children. In addition, the volume of the cerebellar vault was smaller than controls in 4 of the 6 children with fetal alcohol syndrome, although the group difference did not reach significance. When the basal ganglia were divided into the caudate and lenticular nuclei, both of these regions were significantly reduced in the children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Finally, when the overall reduction in brain size was controlled, the proportional volume of the basal ganglia and, more specifically, the caudate nucleus was reduced in the children with fetal alcohol syndrome. These results may relate to behavioral findings in both humans and animals exposed to alcohol prenatally