Undergraduate research- a tale of three African institutions.

Background: The inclusion of research in undergraduate medical curricula benefits students as well as the scientific community. Multiple studies report the presence of one or more barriers to research training in these curricula.

Objectives: This paper presents and compares three studies done regarding the teaching of research in undergraduate medical curricula in South Africa, Sudan and Uganda.

Headache Improvement Following Endoscopic Resection of Pituitary Adenomas.

Background: Headache is a common symptom in patients with pituitary adenomas. Research on whether resection of pituitary adenomas via the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) affects headaches is limited, and the pathophysiology of headaches associated with pituitary adenomas remains unclear. This study aimed to determine if resection of pituitary adenomas via the EEA improves headaches and investigate factors that may be associated with headaches in patients with pituitary adenoma.

How to set up regional STEMI networks: a "Stent - Save a life!" initiative.

Clinical guidelines recommend the development of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) networks at community, regional and/or national level to ideally offer primary coronary angioplasty, or at least the best available STEMI care to all patients. However, there is a discrepancy between this clinical recommendation and daily practice, with no coordinated care for STEMI patients in many regions of the world. While this can be a consequence of lack of resources, in reality it is more frequently a lack of organisational power.

Alterations in male reproductive hormones in relation to environmental DDT exposure.

DDT [1, 1, 1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethane] compounds are used for indoor residual spraying (IRS) to control malaria mosquitoes. DDT is an endocrine disruptor chemical in experimental conditions, but little is known of adverse effects related to living conditions with continual uptake across a time span by all possible means of exposure. Based on estrogenic and/or anti-androgenic effects found in animal studies, we hypothesized that chronic DDT/DDE exposures in men may be associated with changes in male reproductive hormones.

Chronic defensiveness and neuroendocrine dysfunction reflect a novel cardiac troponin T cut point: The SABPA study.

Background: Sympatho-adrenal responses are activated as an innate defense coping (DefS) mechanism during emotional stress. Whether these sympatho-adrenal responses drive cardiac troponin T (cTnT) increases are unknown. Therefore, associations between cTnT and sympatho-adrenal responses were assessed.

Troponin T release is associated with silent myocardial ischaemia in black men: The SABPA Study.

Background High sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) is a validated marker of myocardial damage and may reflect the degree of silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI) and ventricular strain. Our aim was to compare hs-cTnT levels in black and white South Africans taking SMI into consideration. We further explored the capability of hs-cTnT to predict the presence of compensatory systolic hypertension in this South African cohort.

Lack of association of rs3798220 with small apolipoprotein(a) isoforms and high lipoprotein(a) levels in East and Southeast Asians.

Objective: The variant allele of rs3798220 in the apolipoprotein(a) gene (LPA) is used to assess the risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) in Europeans, where it is associated with short alleles of the Kringle IV-2 (KIV-2) copy number variation (CNV) and high lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) concentrations. No association of rs3798220 with CAD was detected in a GWAS of East Asians. Our study investigated the association of rs3798220 with Lp(a) concentrations and KIV-2 CNV size in non-European populations to explain the missing association of the variant with CAD in Asians.

Stent for Life Initiative: leading example in building STEMI systems of care in emerging countries.

This paper describes the opportunities and challenges in building ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) systems of care in Stent for Life affiliated and collaborating so-called emerging countries, namely India, China, South Africa and Mexico, where CAD mortality is increasing and becoming a significant healthcare problem. The Stent for Life model supports the implementation of ESC STEMI Guidelines in Europe and endeavours to impact on morbidity and mortality by improving services and developing regional STEMI systems of care, whereby STEMI patients' timely access to a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is assured. In India, the STEMI India model incorporates a dual approach of combining PPCI with a pharmacoinvasive strategy of reperfusion.

WITHDRAWN: Erratum to "Evaluation of next generation mtGenome sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM)" [Forensic Sci. Int.: Genet. 7 (2013) 543-549].

The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published, http://dx.doi.org/10.

Reprint of: Evaluation of next generation mtGenome sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM).

Insights into the human mitochondrial phylogeny have been primarily achieved by sequencing full mitochondrial genomes (mtGenomes). In forensic genetics (partial) mtGenome information can be used to assign haplotypes to their phylogenetic backgrounds, which may, in turn, have characteristic geographic distributions that would offer useful information in a forensic case. In addition and perhaps even more relevant in the forensic context, haplogroup-specific patterns of mutations form the basis for quality control of mtDNA sequences.

Evaluation of next generation mtGenome sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM).

Insights into the human mitochondrial phylogeny have been primarily achieved by sequencing full mitochondrial genomes (mtGenomes). In forensic genetics (partial) mtGenome information can be used to assign haplotypes to their phylogenetic backgrounds, which may, in turn, have characteristic geographic distributions that would offer useful information in a forensic case. In addition and perhaps even more relevant in the forensic context, haplogroup-specific patterns of mutations form the basis for quality control of mtDNA sequences.

Mitochondrial DNA control region data from indigenous Angolan Khoe-San lineages.

Here we provide 129 complete mitochondrial control region sequences of indigenous Khoe-San individuals from Angola to contribute to the still underrepresented pool of data from Africa. The dataset consists of exclusively African lineages with a majority of Sub-Saharan haplogroups. The probability of a random match was calculated as 0.

Assessment of professionalism: recommendations from the Ottawa 2010 Conference.

Over the past 25 years, professionalism has emerged as a substantive and sustained theme, the operationalization and measurement of which has become a major concern for those involved in medical education. However, how to go about establishing the elements that constitute appropriate professionalism in order to assess them is difficult. Using a discourse analysis approach, the International Ottawa Conference Working Group on Professionalism studied some of the dominant notions of professionalism, and in particular the implications for its assessment.

Voices of HIV&AIDS-affected educators: how they are psychosocially affected and how REds enabled their resilience.

The aim of this article is to hear the voices of HIV- and AIDS-affected educators regarding their experiences of the psychosocial effect that the HIV and AIDS pandemic has on them as well as to voice their experiences of how Resilient Educators (REds), a support programme to enable educators affected by HIV and AIDS towards resilience, enabled them. A qualitative study was undertaken with 100 affected educators from different provinces in South Africa. Open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data prior to and after exposure to REds.

Changes in retinol-binding protein concentrations and thyroid homeostasis with nonoccupational exposure to DDT.

Background: The insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) has been used for malaria vector control in the northern and eastern parts of the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa, since 1945. Bioaccumulation of DDT raises concern because it reportedly affects thyroid function.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate the association between DDT uptake (as reflected in plasma concentrations) and thyroid homeostasis while considering related factors.

Increasing the discrimination power of forensic STR testing by employing high-performance mass spectrometry, as illustrated in indigenous South African and Central Asian populations.

Short tandem repeat (STR) typing has become the standard technique in forensic methodology for the identification of unknown samples. National DNA databases have been established that contain STR genotypes for intelligence purposes. Due to their success, national DNA databases have been growing so fast that the number of advantageous matches may become a logistic problem for the analysts.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in South Africans: tracking findings and developments over time - with reference to : prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia in young Afrikaners with myocardial infarction. Ischaemic heart disease risk factors.

This review discusses the 1987 article by Wyndham, Seftel, Pilcher and Baker on familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and myocardial infarction (MI) in young Afrikaners, in terms of the significance at the time of publication, as well as the relevance of their findings versus current observations on hypercholesterolaemia in South Africa. Risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) were investigated in this study, with specific reference to familial hypercholesterolaemia. The significance of Wyndham's article is evaluated with regard to the contributions on hypercholesterolaemia by other South African researchers that preceded this publication.

Biological variation of ischaemia-modified albumin in healthy subjects.

Aim: Ischaemia-modified albumin (IMA), as measured by the albumin-cobalt binding (ACB) test, has been cleared by the US Food and Drug administration as a biomarker to exclude the presence of myocardial ischaemia in patients. Although there are a number of published studies detailing the clinical utility of IMA, data on the biological variation of IMA are still lacking. In this study we determined the analytical and biological variance components of ischaemia modified albumin, and compared the distribution of IMA values in our patient population to those provided by the kit manufacturer.