A tale of two cities: Aedes Mosquito surveillance across the Texas-Mexico Border

Cross border situations complicate epidemiologic risk assessments in transboundary regions such as the US-Mexico border. Countries have different health policies, mosquito control policies, and mosquito surveillance systems. We established a binational Aedes mosquito surveillance program in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and McAllen, Texas by replicating a part of the Mexican Integrated Vector Monitoring System (IVMS) across the international border. The entomologic surveillance of the IVMSs is based on ova collection cups (ovitraps) and for the binational project, the surveillance protocol was modified to include an Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap (AGO) in the center of every city-block (100 m2) distribution of four ovitraps. We measured the weekly abun-dance of Aedes eggs and adult females in 72 clusters (cluster = one AGO and four ovitraps) in Reynosa and 67 clusters in McAllen from Epidemiologic Week (EW) 17 to EW 36. The mean weekly egg counts were 34 and 22 in McAllen and Reynosa respectively. The female adult mosquito counts were more than 5 in 12 out of 20 (60%) weeks in McAllen, and in 5 out of 16 (31%) weeks in Reynosa. For every increase of one female mosquito, the egg counts in the corresponding ovitraps increased by 2.33% (95% HDI: 2.31%–-2.42%) in McAllen and by 0.6% (95% HDI: 0.5%–0.62%) in Reynosa. Counter knowledge, weekly increase of temperature had a negative influence in adult and egg counts in Reynosa and McAllen. Precipitation had a positive influence on egg counts in McAllen

Ciprofibrate therapy in patients with hypertriglyceridemia and low high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol: greater reduction of non-HDL cholesterol in subjects with excess body weight (The CIPROAMLAT study)

BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia in combination with low HDL cholesterol levels is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of ciprofibrate for the treatment of this form of dyslipidemia and to identify factors associated with better treatment response. METHODS: Multicenter, international, open-label study. Four hundred and thirty seven patients were included. The plasma lipid levels at inclusion were fasting triglyceride concentrations between 1.6–3.9 mM/l and HDL cholesterol ≤ 1.05 mM/l for women and ≤ 0.9 mM/l for men. The LDL cholesterol was below 4.2 mM/l. All patients received ciprofibrate 100 mg/d. Efficacy and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and at the end of the treatment. The primary efficacy parameter of the study was percentage change in triglycerides from baseline. RESULTS: After 4 months, plasma triglyceride concentrations were decreased by 44% (p < 0.001). HDL cholesterol concentrations were increased by 10% (p < 0.001). Non-HDL cholesterol was decreased by 19%. A greater HDL cholesterol response was observed in lean patients (body mass index < 25 kg/m(2)) compared to the rest of the population (8.2 vs 19.7%, p < 0.001). In contrast, cases with excess body weight had a larger decrease in non-HDL cholesterol levels (-20.8 vs -10.8%, p < 0.001). There were no significant complications resulting from treatment with ciprofibrate. CONCLUSIONS: Ciprofibrate is efficacious for the correction of hypertriglyceridemia / low HDL cholesterol. A greater decrease in non-HDL cholesterol was found among cases with excess body weight. The mechanism of action of ciprofibrate may be influenced by the pathophysiology of the disorder being treated

Photopolymerization without Photoinitiator of Bismaleimide-Containing Oligo(oxypropylene)s: Effect of Oligoethers Chain Length

International audienceThis article describes the synthesis and characterization of a series of poly(propylene glycol bismaleimide) (PPGM) with molecular weights (Mws) in the range of 390–2 600 g mol1. Their photopolymerization rates without photoiniator were similar to that of an acrylate resin in the presence of a photoinitiator. The reactivities and degrees of conversion of these PPGM oligomers, thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting materials were studied as a function of Mw. Rigid materials were obtained except for that containing the longest PPGM, which exhibited mechanical properties of a rubber. The glass transition temperature values and the thermal stability were found to decrease when Mw of used oligomers was increased. Crosslinking density was the parameter that controlled both mechanical and thermal properties