The postfinasteride syndrome; an overview

As a 5-α reductase inhibitor, Finasteride has proven effective in ameliorating two conditions documented to be androgen dependent, namely male androgenic alopecia and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Therapeutic results are maintained as long as the drug is administered, with treatment cessation generally leading to the return of symptomatology for each condition. In addition, during the therapeutic phase, several adverse effects have been reported, some of which persist long or indefinitely after treatment cessation, known as “post-finasteride syndrome.” Herein we present and discuss the most common finasteride side effects, along with a psycho-neuroendocrine rationale that could explain the persistence of many adverse effects after treatment cessation. Moreover, we argue that finasteride adverse effects occurring during finasteride administration should be delineated from postfinasteride side effects (encountered after treatment cessation), suggesting the need to be addressed separately within a therapeutic perspective. Until a tailored therapeutic approach of postfinasteride syndrome becomes available, we have noted that hand preference and sexual orientation seem to be useful as possible predicting factors for finasteride side effects and postfinasteride syndrome. Finally, even though finasteride administration is considered relatively safe, literature data urges prudence. Specifically, recent studies report that some subjects receiving finasteride develop severe depressive episodes including suicidal thoughts, in part due to persistent sexual side effects

OPV strains circulation in HIV infected infants after National Immunisation Days in Bangui, Central African Republic

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Humans are the only host of polioviruses, thus the prospects of global polio eradication look reasonable. However, individuals with immunodeficiencies were shown to excrete vaccine derived poliovirus for long periods of time which led to reluctance to prolong the vaccination campaign for fear of this end result. Therefore, we aimed to assess the duration of excretion of poliovirus after the 2001 National Immunization Days according to Human immunodeficiency virus status.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Fifty three children were enrolled. Sequential stool samples were collected in between National Immunisation Days rounds and then every month during one year. Children were classified into 2 groups: no immunodepression (n = 38), immunodepression (n = 15) according to CD4+ lymphocytes cells count. Thirteen poliovirus strains were isolated from 11 children: 5 Human immunodeficiency virus positive and 6 Human immunodeficiency virus negative. None of the children excreted poliovirus for more than 4 weeks. The restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed that all strains were of Sabin origin including a unique Polio Sabine Vaccine types 2 and 3 (S2/S3) recombinant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>From these findings we assume that Human immunodeficiency virus positive children are not a high risk population for long term poliovirus excretion. More powerful studies are needed to confirm our findings.</p

High performance thin film bulk acoustic resonator covered with carbon nanotubes

This letter presents experimental results concerning a thin film bulk acoustic wave resonator realized on a thin GaN membrane and covered with a thin film of double walled carbon nanotube mixture. The quality factor was measured before and after the coating of the resonator with the nanotube thin film. The quality factor has increased more than ten times when the resonator was coated with nanotubes, due to their high elasticity modulus and low density, which confers a much higher acoustic impedance of the resonator electrodes and thus confines much better the longitudinal acoustic standing waves inside the resonator

MINPP1 prevents intracellular accumulation of the chelator inositol hexakisphosphate and is mutated in Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia

Inositol polyphosphates are vital metabolic and secondary messengers, involved in diverse cellular functions. Therefore, tight regulation of inositol polyphosphate metabolism is essential for proper cell physiology. Here, we describe an early-onset neurodegenerative syndrome caused by loss-of-function mutations in the multiple inositol-polyphosphate phosphatase 1 gene (MINPP1). Patients are found to have a distinct type of Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia with typical basal ganglia involvement on neuroimaging. We find that patient-derived and genome edited MINPP1−/− induced stem cells exhibit an inefficient neuronal differentiation combined with an increased cell death. MINPP1 deficiency results in an intracellular imbalance of the inositol polyphosphate metabolism. This metabolic defect is characterized by an accumulation of highly phosphorylated inositols, mostly inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), detected in HEK293 cells, fibroblasts, iPSCs and differentiating neurons lacking MINPP1. In mutant cells, higher IP6 level is expected to be associated with an increased chelation of intracellular cations, such as iron or calcium, resulting in decreased levels of available ions. These data suggest the involvement of IP6-mediated chelation on Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia disease pathology and thereby highlight the critical role of MINPP1 in the regulation of human brain development and homeostasis

Customer Focus in European Higher Education Systems

This article looks at the idea and practice of “customer focus” in higher education. As a global trend with origins in the business and corporate world, customer focus has come to increasingly shape public services worldwide. Influenced by business thinking, terminology, and practices, governmental organizations across policy areas have used customer focus to reform public services in order to bring them closer to the demands and expectations of their users. The paper particularly analyzes changes in customer focus understanding and its implications for the European higher education policies. The aim of the article is to contribute to a better conceptualization and policy understanding of this growing approach to higher education reform.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Emerging carbon-based nanosensor devices: structures, functions and applications

Bionanosensors and nanosensors have been devised in recent years with the use of various materials including carbon-based nanomaterials, for applications in diagnostics, environmental science and microelectronics. Carbon-based materials are critical for sensing applications, as they have physical and electronic properties which facilitate the detection of substances in solutions, gaseous compounds and pollutants through their conductive properties and resonance-frequency transmission capacities. In this review, a series of recent studies of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based nanosensors and optical systems are reported, with emphasis on biochemical, chemical and environmental detection. This study also encompasses a background and description of the various properties of the nanomaterials, and the operation mechanism of the manufactured nanosensors. The use of computational chemistry is applied in describing the electronic properties and molecular events of the included nanomaterials during operation. This review shows that resonance-based sensing technologies reach detection limits for gases, such as ammonia down to 10(-24) level. The study also shows that the properties of the carbon nanomaterials give them unique features that are critical for designing new sensors based on electrocatalysis and other reactive detection mechanisms. Several research fields can benefit from the described emerging technologies, such as areas of research in environmental monitoring, rapid-on site diagnostics, in situ analyses, and blood and urine sampling in medical and sport industry. Carbon nanomaterials are critical for the operational sensitivity of nanosensors. Considering the low cost of fabrication, carbon nanomaterials can represent an essential step in the manufacturing of tomorrow's commercial sensors

STUDY OF AN ELECTRO-MECHANIC MECHANISM EXPLOITING IN-PLANE ROTATION FOR THE REALIZATION OF TUNEABLE CAPACITORS

In the last years MEMS Switches and related MEM components have encountered a great interest in the technology community for their outstanding intrinsic characteristics. MEMS Switches in particular offer low insertion loss, higher isolation, almost zero power consumption, small size and weight at very low intermodulation distortion, which makes them suitable for many applications. The MEMS technology has demonstrated also to be able to provide potentially high quality components for other passive RF and microwave devices such as capacitors and inductors. In this paper we extend our research activities on MEM technology to the design of tuneable capacitors based with in-plane movement

Fabrication of Through-Wafer Interconnections by Gold Electroplating

reserved5noA new method for conductive via’s using gold electroplating is presented. Tapered walls through wafer via (TWV) holes were made using a variable isotropy DRIE process, with a very good control over the obtained angles – angles of 11.3° and 21.8° were obtained with errors smaller than 10%. Barrier and seed layers were deposited in via’s performed by PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) techniques with a very good coverage of the walls. Finally, gold electroplating was used to fill the narrow part of via’s.D. Vasilache; S. Colpo; F. Giacomozzi; B. Margesin; M. ChistèVasilache, Dan Adrian; Colpo, Sabrina; Giacomozzi, Flavio; Margesin, Benno; Chistè, Matte