Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are pervasive disorders that impact various domains of functioning, including self-esteem, familiar and peer relationships, and academic success. The high rate of comorbidity may contribute to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Early diagnosis and intervention that aim at primary symptoms may prevent secondary disabilities and improve the outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLike most countries in sub-Saharan African countries, Benin continues to bear a heavy malaria burden. In 2014, the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) changed its treatment policy, and recommended the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum cases. The study presented here was conducted to investigate the impact of current antimalarial drug resistance on the country.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection in pregnancy is generally asymptomatic, but in about 3% it can cause complications, including miscarriage, severe foetal anaemia and foetal hydrops. The seroprevalence in pregnancy ranges from 20% to 82% in Africa, but there are no data for Benin. We therefore retrospectively assessed the seroprevalence of B19V in pregnant women attending the Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Tanguiéta, a rural district of Atacora, in northern Benin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The management of melanoma patients with metastatic melanoma in the sentinel nodes (SN) is evolving based on the results of trials questioning the impact of completion lymph node dissection (CLND) and demonstrating the efficacy of new adjuvant treatments. In this landscape, new prognostic tools for fine risk stratification are eagerly sought to optimize the therapeutic path of these patients.
Methods: A retrospective cohort of 2,086 patients treated with CLND after a positive SN biopsy in thirteen Italian Melanoma Centers was reviewed.
Purpose: To analyze the population submitted to gastric cancer surgery in our Institution in order to find those characteristics which could help in the identification of the elderly high-risk patient.
Methods: In a cohort of 263 patients (>65 y) we selectively investigated the risk factors for medical and surgical complications and postoperative mortality, focusing on the variable "age". All the significant variables were used to find predictors of complications with Clavien-Dindo>2.
Severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI) is associated with loss of function of the SCN1A gene encoding the NaV1.1 sodium channel isoform. Previous studies in Scn1a(-/+) mice during the pre-epileptic period reported selective reduction in interneuron excitability and proposed this as the main pathological mechanism underlying SMEI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrop Med Int Health
January 2016
Objectives: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the cause of enterically transmitted non-A, non-C hepatitis (an infection that is particularly severe during pregnancy) in tropical and subtropical countries. As there are no published data concerning the prevalence of HEV antibodies in Benin, their presence was investigated in pregnant women undergoing routine HIV screening in a rural area in northern Benin and in pregnant women with acute non-A, non-C hepatitis.
Methods: A total of 278 serum samples were collected from asymptomatic pregnant women in 2011 were tested for HEV and hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibodies, and the HEV IgM-positive samples were further tested for HEV-RNA.
Pregnant women are not screened for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies in many African countries. As there are few data concerning the prevalence of HBV, HDV, and HCV serological markers in Benin, the aim of this study was to evaluate their 2011 prevalence in pregnant women undergoing HIV screening in a rural area of north Benin, and compare the data with those reported for the same area in 1986. The sera of 283 women were examined for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV 1/2 antibodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModels of networks of Leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) neurons are a widely used tool for theoretical investigations of brain function. These models have been used both with current- and conductance-based synapses. However, the differences in the dynamics expressed by these two approaches have been so far mainly studied at the single neuron level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Toxoplasma gondii, cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and rubella virus infections are among the most serious of those contracted during pregnancy in terms of foetal consequences. Toxoplasma, HCMV and rubella antibody screening is unusual in Africa, and there are few published data. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of these markers among pregnant women in northern Benin on the occasion of routine syphilis screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the results of our experimental and theoretical investigations of the neural response dynamics in primary visual cortex (V1) during naturalistic visual stimulation. We recorded Local Field Potentials (LFPs) and spiking activity from V1 of anaesthetized macaques during binocular presentation of Hollywood color movies. We analyzed these recordings with information theoretic methods, and found that visual information was encoded mainly by two bands of LFP responses: the network fluctuations measured by the phase and power of low-frequency (less than 12 Hz) LFPs; and fast gamma-range (50-100 Hz) oscillations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe severity of congenital Toxoplasma gondii infection underlines the need for a precise diagnosis of acute infection during pregnancy. The search for specific IgM has been widely used for this purpose, but their possible early disappearance or persistence over time limits their meaning. In order to estimate the positive predictive value of anti-Toxoplasma IgM testing, we made an epidemiological analysis of the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM using ELISA in 4786 subjects attending the Hospital of Legnano in 2004-2005: 1360 seen for a clinical check-up and 3426 pregnant women for serological screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Microbiol Infect
February 2008
The decreasing prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in Europe has re-opened the question of the appropriateness of serological screening during pregnancy. A study of 3426 pregnant women, resident in the Legnano area of Italy, revealed that the IgG seroprevalence according to ELISA was 21.5%, and that of IgM according to ELISA and enzyme-linked fluorescent assay was 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
August 1994
In a series of 1007 consecutively admitted patients, 3 cases of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) were identified (0.3%). All three patients were affected by mood disorders with congruent psychotic features, had shown catatonia just before the onset of NMS, and had been treated with low neuroleptic doses.
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