Population norms for the mini-mental state examination in Ethiopia.

Background: Mini-mental state Exam (MMSE) is the most frequently used instrument to test cognitive function in Ethiopia. But there is little or no attempt to interpret the MMSE score in accordance to age and educational level of the individual. The cut off scores developed and used elsewhere may result in falsely high number of screen positives in our setup.

Kinetic behavior and reversible inhibition of monoamine oxidases--enzymes that many want dead.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors have proven to be valuable tools in pharmacology and therapeutics. This account concerns the behavior of the different types of reversible inhibitor and how an understanding of the kinetic mechanisms of MAO may help in their design.

Mood-as-input hypothesis and perseverative psychopathologies.

Mood-as-input hypothesis is a theory of task perseveration that has been applied to the understanding of perseveration across psychopathologies such as pathological worrying, compulsive checking, depressive rumination, and chronic pain. We review 10 years of published evidence from laboratory-based analogue studies and describe their relevance for perseveration in clinical populations. In particular, mood-as-input hypothesis predicts that perseveration at a task will be influenced by interactions between the individual's stop rules for the task and their concurrent mood, and that the valency of an individual's concurrent mood is used as information about whether the stop rule-defined goals for the task have been met.

A qualitative study on stigma and coping strategies of patients with podoconiosis in Wolaita zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis) is a neglected tropical disease that causes affected individuals intense social stigma. Although some studies have investigated community-based stigma against podoconiosis, none has yet attempted to assess coping strategies used by patients to counter stigma. This study aimed to describe and categorize the coping strategies employed by podoconiosis patients against stigma.

Burial surveillance detected significant reduction in HIV--related deaths in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Objective: To determine the level of HIV-related mortality reduction after the introduction of large-scale antiretroviral therapy (ART) using a burial surveillance system coupled with verbal autopsy (VA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods: Prospective burial surveillance was established in 2001 at cemeteries in Addis Ababa. VA interviews were periodically conducted on a random sample of adult burials registered between 2001 and 2009.

Effects of Helicobacter pylori, geohelminth infection and selected commensal bacteria on the risk of allergic disease and sensitization in 3-year-old Ethiopian children.

Background: Epidemiological studies have suggested that gastro-intestinal infections including Helicobacter pylori, intestinal microflora (commensal bacteria) and geohelminths may influence the risk of asthma and allergy but data from early life are lacking.

Objective: We aimed to determine the independent effects of these infections on allergic disease symptoms and sensitization in an Ethiopian birth cohort.

Methods: In 2008/09, 878 children (87% of the 1006 original singletons in a population-based birth cohort) were followed up at age 3 and interview data obtained on allergic symptoms and potential confounders.

Frequent use of paracetamol and risk of allergic disease among women in an Ethiopian population.

Introduction: The hypothesis that paracetamol might increase the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases have gained support from a range of independent studies. However, in studies based in developed countries, the possibility that paracetamol and asthma are associated through aspirin avoidance is difficult to exclude.

Objectives: To explore this hypothesis among women in a developing country, where we have previously reported aspirin avoidance to be rare.

Molecular profiling of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) response to chronic exposure to the myxosporean parasite Enteromyxum leei.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the transcriptome response of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) after challenge with the myxosporean Enteromyxum leei, a wide-spread enteric parasite causing heavy economic losses in Mediterranean sparid farms. This parasite causes severe desquamative enteritis which usually leads to death of the fish, and there are no preventative or curative treatments for this enteromyxosis. After 113 days of exposure to parasite-contaminated effluent, fish were classified into three cohorts: control fish not exposed to parasite, those that were exposed and infected, and those that were exposed but not infected.

High-level inhibition of mitochondrial complexes III and IV is required to increase glutamate release from the nerve terminal.

Background: The activities of mitochondrial complex III (ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase, EC 1.10.2.

Variation in the IGF2 gene promoter region is associated with intramuscular fat content in porcine skeletal muscle.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) and subcutaneous fat (back fat-BF) are two of the major fat depots in livestock. A QTN located in the insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2) has been associated with a desirable reduction in BF depth in pigs. Given that the lipid metabolism of intramuscular adipocytes differs from that of subcutaneous fat adipocytes, this study aimed to search for genetic variation in the IGF2 gene that may be associated with IMF, as well as BF, in diverse pig breeds.

Association between promoter polymorphisms in a key cytoskeletal gene (Ankyrin 1) and intramuscular fat and water-holding capacity in porcine muscle.

Ankyrin 1 (ANK1) is a positional and functional candidate gene for both bovine and porcine meat quality. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine if the gene expression levels of ANK1 are associated with pig meat quality traits; (2) to examine polymorphisms in the promoter region of the porcine ANK1 gene for association with meat quality in diverse breeds; and (3) to search for putative transcription factor binding sites predicted to be altered by such polymorphisms. ANK1 gene expression was positively correlated with drip loss (%) in the Large White breed.

Specific DNA structural attributes modulate platinum anticancer drug site selection and cross-link generation.

Heavy metal compounds have toxic and medicinal potential through capacity to form strong specific bonds with macromolecules, and the interaction of platinum drugs at the major groove nitrogen atom of guanine bases primarily underlies their therapeutic activity. By crystallographic analysis of transition metal-and in particular platinum compound-DNA site selectivity in the nucleosome core, we establish that steric accessibility, which is controlled by specific structural parameters of the double helix, modulates initial guanine-metal bond formation. Moreover, DNA conformational features can be linked to both similarities and distinctions in platinum drug adduct formation between the naked and nucleosomal DNA states.

Targeting antigen to mouse dendritic cells via Clec9A induces potent CD4 T cell responses biased toward a follicular helper phenotype.

Three surface molecules of mouse CD8(+) dendritic cells (DCs), also found on the equivalent human DC subpopulation, were compared as targets for Ab-mediated delivery of Ags, a developing strategy for vaccination. For the production of cytotoxic T cells, DEC-205 and Clec9A, but not Clec12A, were effective targets, although only in the presence of adjuvants. For Ab production, however, Clec9A excelled as a target, even in the absence of adjuvant.

Burden of podoconiosis in poor rural communities in Gulliso woreda, West Ethiopia.

Background: Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia.

Risky sexual practices and related factors among ART attendees in Addis Ababa Public Hospitals, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Many HIV-positive persons avoid risky sexual practices after testing HIV sero-positive. However, a substantial number continue to engage in risky sexual practices that may further transmit the virus, put them at risk of contracting secondary sexually transmitted infections and lead to problems with drug resistance. Thus, this study was intended to assess risky sexual practices and related factors among HIV- positive ART attendees in public hospitals of Addis Ababa.

Aire regulates the transfer of antigen from mTECs to dendritic cells for induction of thymic tolerance.

To investigate the role of Aire in thymic selection, we examined the cellular requirements for generation of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells in mice expressing OVA under the control of the rat insulin promoter. Aire deficiency reduced the number of mature single-positive OVA-specific CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cells in the thymus, independent of OVA expression. Importantly, it also contributed in 2 ways to OVA-dependent negative selection depending on the T-cell type.

Podoconiosis, non-filarial elephantiasis, and lymphology.

Several recent reviews of podoconiosis already exist in journals and on public access websites. After briefly covering the historical and epidemiological background, this narrative review will therefore attempt explicitly to link podoconiosis with lymphology, examining gaps in what is known of pathogenesis and identifying the areas of research in which input from lymphologists is most required. Finally, prevention and treatment will be described and the need for operational research to optimize community-based interventions outlined.

Centrifugal drip is an accessible source for protein indicators of pork ageing and water-holding capacity.

Achieving an improvement in water-holding capacity (WHC) of pork and a reduction in the incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE)- and dark, firm and dry (DFD)-like meat is a major challenge for the swine industry. Using proteomics, we sought to identify proteins associated with WHC and to monitor postmortem protein degradation. Twenty longissimus samples were categorised into WHC phenotypes.

Effectiveness of a simple lymphoedema treatment regimen in podoconiosis management in southern ethiopia: one year follow-up.

Background: Podoconiosis is a non-filarial elephantiasis caused by long-term barefoot exposure to volcanic soils in endemic areas. Irritant silicate particles penetrate the skin, causing a progressive, debilitating lymphoedema of the lower leg, often starting in the second decade of life. A simple patient-led treatment approach appropriate for resource poor settings has been developed, comprising (1) education on aetiology and prevention of podoconiosis, (2) foot hygiene (daily washing with soap, water and an antiseptic), (3) the regular use of emollient, (4) elevation of the limb at night, and (5) emphasis on the consistent use of shoes and socks.

Depletion of glutathione does not affect electron transport chain complex activity in brain mitochondria: Implications for Parkinson disease and postmortem studies.

Glutathione is an important antioxidant in the brain that appears to be decreased, in conjunction with mitochondrial complex I activity, in Parkinson disease patients. In postmortem analysis, measurement of glutathione levels and complex I activity can be delayed up to 20h. We investigated whether depletion of glutathione in the preweanling rat induces a reduction in complex I activity in brain mitochondria and the effects that postmortem delay has on glutathione levels and electron transport chain activity.

Home literacy experiences and literacy acquisition among children in Guangzhou, south China.

Sénéchal's research in the West with English- and French-speaking children included positive relations of the development of literacy skills with home literacy experiences. There is a need to extend this research to other countries, especially in China where few studies have been done. This study examined relations of parental reports of formal and informal home literacy variables with Chinese children's vocabulary and written language development.

Effects of the anticonvulsant topiramate on language abilities in people with epilepsy: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of topiramate (TPM) on cognitive function, specifically language, in patients with epilepsy, and to determine whether a specifically designed neuropsychological test battery can show such effects.

Method: Twenty patients taking TPM, 25 epilepsy controls (taking medication other than TPM) and 25 healthy controls were recruited. We used a specific neuropsychological battery, including measures of visual and verbal memory, attention, fluency and comprehension.

Mouse CD8alpha+ DCs and human BDCA3+ DCs are major producers of IFN-lambda in response to poly IC.

Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly IC), a double-stranded RNA, is an effective adjuvant in vivo. IFN-λs (also termed IL-28/29) are potent immunomodulatory and antiviral cytokines. We demonstrate that poly IC injection in vivo induces large amounts of IFN-λ, which depended on hematopoietic cells and the presence of TLR3 (Toll-like receptor 3), IRF3 (IFN regulatory factor 3), IRF7, IFN-I receptor, Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FL), and IRF8 but not on MyD88 (myeloid differentiation factor 88), Rig-like helicases, or lymphocytes.

The role of acetaminophen and geohelminth infection on the incidence of wheeze and eczema: a longitudinal birth-cohort study.

Rationale: Acetaminophen has been hypothesized to increase the risk of asthma and allergic disease, and geohelminth infection to reduce the risk, but evidence from longitudinal cohort studies is lacking.

Objectives: To investigate the independent effects of these exposures on the incidence of wheeze and eczema in a birth cohort.

Methods: In 2005-2006 a population-based cohort of 1,065 pregnant women from Butajira, Ethiopia, was established, to whom 1,006 live singleton babies were born.

Identification of suitable reference genes for gene expression analysis of pork meat quality and analysis of candidate genes associated with the trait drip loss.

The aim of this study was to identify a set of stably expressed endogenous control genes for quantitative PCR analysis of mRNA expression in the porcine LTL muscle and to subsequently perform expression analysis of potential candidate genes associated with drip loss. Expression stability of seven commonly used reference genes was examined in n=60 pigs from three independent populations of different genetic backgrounds. The genes examined were: ACTB, ATP5G1, B2M, GPX1, RPL4, TBP and YWHAZ.