Iron status influences mitochondrial disease progression in Complex I-deficient mice.

Mitochondrial dysfunction caused by aberrant Complex I assembly and reduced activity of the electron transport chain is pathogenic in many genetic and age-related diseases. Mice missing the Complex I subunit NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] iron-sulfur protein 4 (NDUFS4) are a leading mammalian model of severe mitochondrial disease that exhibit many characteristic symptoms of Leigh Syndrome including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, brain lesions, and premature death. NDUFS4 knockout mice have decreased expression of nearly every Complex I subunit.

Risk of abnormal cervical cytology in HIV-infected women testing positive for both human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus in genital tract specimens.

Purpose: Although infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is a prerequisite for cervical cancer development, HPV infection is not sufficient to promote cancer in the majority of infected women. We tested the hypothesis that human herpesviruses might cooperate with HPV to promote the development of cervical dysplasia, an early indicator of cervical cancer development.

Methods: This study used archived specimens from a cohort of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive women seeking gynecological care at the Medical Center of New Orleans, Louisiana.

HPV 6/11, 16, 18 seroprevalence in men in two US cities.

Background: A vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) 6, HPV 11, HPV 16, or HPV 18 and associated diseases is licensed for females, and it may be licensed for men in the future. There are limited data on HPV 6/11, 16, and/or 18 seroprevalence in men.

Methods: A total of 490 men aged 18 to 40 years were enrolled in a study of HPV in men in Tucson, AZ, and Tampa, FL.

Development and validation of a HPV-32 specific PCR assay.

Background: Human Papillomavirus-32 (HPV-32) has traditionally been associated with focal-epithelial-hyperplasia (FEH). It is also present in 58% of oral warts of HIV-positive individuals whose prevalence is increasing. Current methods for the detection of HPV-32 are labor-intensive and insensitive so the goal of this work was to develop a highly sensitive and easy to use specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay.

Somali refugee women speak out about their needs for care during pregnancy and delivery.

More than half of all Somali refugees in the United States live in Minnesota. To obtain information to develop culturally sensitive health education materials, we conducted two focus groups with 14 Somali women who had each given birth to one child in Minnesota. Overall, women thought that their childbirth experience was positive.

Adult anopheline ecology and malaria transmission in irrigated areas of South Punjab, Pakistan.

Surface irrigation in the Punjab province of Pakistan has been carried out on a large scale since the development of the Indus Basin Irrigation System in the late 19th century. The objective of our study was to understand how the population dynamics of adult anopheline mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) could be related to malaria transmission in rural areas with intensive irrigation and a history of malaria epidemics. In this paper we present our observations from three villages located along an irrigation canal in South Punjab.

Malaria vectors in the changing environment of the southern Punjab, Pakistan.

The Pakistani Punjab experienced several devastating malaria epidemics during the twentieth century. Since the 1980s, however, malaria has been at a low ebb, while in other areas of Pakistan and neighbouring India malaria is on the increase. This raises the question of whether transmission in the Pakistani Punjab may have been influenced by a change in vector species abundance or composition, possibly induced by environmental changes.

Role of wastewater irrigation in mosquito breeding in south Punjab, Pakistan.

Mosquito breeding within the wastewater irrigation system around the town of Haroonabad in the southern Punjab, Pakistan, was studied from July to September 2000 as part of a wider study of the costs and benefits of wastewater use in agriculture. The objective of this study was to assess the vector-borne human disease risks associated with mosquito species utilizing wastewater for breeding. Mosquito larvae were collected on a fortnightly basis from components of the wastewater disposal system and irrigated sites.

Keys to the Anopheline mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of Pakistan.

This article provides taxonomic keys for the identification of the fourth-instar larvae and females of 24 species of anopheline mosquitoes (seven species in subgenus Anopheles and 17 species in subgenus Cellia) recorded from Pakistan. The keys are based on literature sources as well as the examination of field and museum collections.

Breeding of Anopheles mosquitoes in irrigated areas of South Punjab, Pakistan.

As part of investigations on potential linkages between irrigation and malaria transmission, all surface water bodies in and around three villages along an irrigation distributary in South Punjab, Pakistan, were surveyed for anopheline mosquito larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) from April 1999 to March 2000. Samples were characterized according to exposure to sunlight, substratum, presence of vegetation, fauna, inorganic matter and physical water condition (clear/turbid/foul). Also water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), electroconductivity (EC) and pH of sites were recorded.