Mvolo County, an Onchocerciasis Endemic Area in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan: An Entomological Study to Prepare for a "Slash and Clear" Community-Based Vector Control Intervention.

Background: Mvolo in Western Equatoria of South Sudan has been a hotspot for transmission since the 1940s. In Mvolo onchocerciasis is a disease of public health importance, associated with onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy including nodding syndrome.

Methods: We conducted an entomological study to map the breeding sites of blackflies (Simulium damnosum, sens lato) on the river Naam, to allow the removal of vegetation from vector breeding sites, the "slash and clear".

Multiple sclerosis: Implications for the primary care NP.

Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. It contributes to a variety of symptoms affecting different areas of the body. The primary care NP must be familiar with the disease, therapies, and social impact to provide proper care to affected patients.

A biobased synthesized N-hydroxymethyl starch-amide for enhancing the wet and dry strength of paper products.

The aim of this research was to develop a bio-based paper strength agent for the replacement of petroleum-based paper strength agents. Cationic starch was modified with 2-chloroacetamide in aqueous media. The modification reaction conditions were optimized based on the acetamide functional group incorporated into cationic starch.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer's Tumor Burden and Care: a Multi-Center Study Based in Northern Italy.

The brisk remodeling in healthcare delivery observed after the COVID-19 outbreak led us to evaluate how the pandemic affected non-melanoma skin cancer's (NMSC) care and tumor burden. To address this topic, we set up a retrospective real-life multi-center study based on the cities of Bergamo and Varese, whose provinces were the worst hit in Italy by the pandemic. We analyzed medical and pathological data from patients that underwent surgery in the two months preceding the outbreak in Italy and compared them to those who did in the corresponding bimester of the following year, reaching 214 patients and 274 lesions.

Asthma phenotypes: the intriguing selective intervention with Montelukast.

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation and a variable course associated with various underlying mechanisms that can differ between individuals. Patients with asthma can therefore exhibit different phenotypes, a term used to define the observable characteristics of an organism resulting from the interaction between its genetic makeup and the environment. The heterogeneity of asthma has received a large amount of attention in the last few years in order to better tailor treatment according to the different clinical and biological phenotypes of the disease.

Procalcitonin and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children.

The role of procalcitonin (PCT) as a biomarker for sepsis in adults is well documented, while its role in infections affecting neonatal children remains controversial. Among these infections, Community-Acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been studied extensively, because it's the second cause of death in children in developing countries, and one of the most frequent causes of hospitalization in industrialized countries. The PubMed database and the Cochrane Library were used to search for the following keywords: CAP, procalcitonin, and children.

PPARγ Pro12Ala and ACE ID polymorphisms are associated with BMI and fat distribution, but not metabolic syndrome.

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) results from the combined effect of environmental and genetic factors. We investigated the possible association of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2 (PPARγ2) Pro12Ala and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) I/D polymorphisms with MetS and interaction between these genetic variants.

Methods: Three hundred sixty four unrelated Caucasian subjects were enrolled.

HELP LDL-apheresis in two cases of familial hypercholesterolemic pregnant women.

We report our experience with selective LDL-apheresis in two women affected by autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia and heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia respectively, during pregnancy. To date only a few cases have been reported, because of the rarity of pregnancy in these patients and a hesitation of physicians to perform extracorporeal treatment. One of the patients had severe coronary artery disease, an absolute contraindication for pregnancy.

Expression analysis of the exo-beta-1,3-glucanase from the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma asperellum.

The regulation of the gene encoding the extracellular exo-beta-1,3-glucanase (tag83) produced by the mycoparasite Trichoderma asperellum was studied. Enzyme activity was detected in all carbon sources, but the highest levels were found when starch and purified cell walls from Rhizoctonia solani were used. These results are supported by the appearance of one strong band with enzyme activity in non-denaturing PAGE.

Phytochemical and antiulcerogenic properties of rhizomes from Simaba ferruginea St. Hill. (Simaroubaceae).

Simaba ferruginea (Simaroubaceae) is a Brazilian medicinal plant used in traditional medicine to treat several ailments, including gastric ulcers, fever, diarrhea, and dolorous and inflammatory processes. This study examines the chemical composition and antiulcerogenic effects of rhizomes from this plant. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of two bioactive indole alkaloids called canthin-6-one (1) and 4-methoxycanthin-6-one (2).

[Evaluation of primary care treatment of oncology patients with opiates].

Objectives: To evaluate how adequately pain in terminal cancer patients is managed by morphine taken orally.

Design: A descriptive, retrospective study, from January 1993 to March 1994.

Setting: Primary care.

Differences in cardiovascular profiles induced by mental arithmetic and by hand-eye task.

Five young, healthy male students performed two different psychophysical tests each lasting 1 min. The first test (A) consisted of mental arithmetic with digiting of results on a keyboard; the second test (G) consisted of playing an electronic game based on hand-eye coordination. Before and during each test, subjects remained seated with their thoraxes connected to an impedance cardiography monitor which gave, non invasively, beat-by-beat values of heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV) and left ventricle ejection time (VET).

Stroke volume response to progressive exercise in athletes engaged in different types of training.

Using the impedance cardiography method, heart rate (fc) matched changes on indexed stroke volume (SI) and cardiac output (CI) were compared in subjects engaged in different types of training. The subjects consisted of untrained controls (C), volleyball players (VB) who spent about half of their training time (360 min.week-1) doing anaerobic conditioning exercises and who had a maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) 41% higher than the controls, and distance runners (D) who spent all their training time (366 min.

Unchanging cardiac activity while increasing respiratory activity at the start of exercise in man: a beat-by-beat analysis by means of the impedance cardiography method.

Both respiratory and cardiodynamic parameters were analyzed (the latter non invasively by means of a computerized impedance cardiograph) in 6 subjects at the start of voluntary dorsal ankle flexions. Increased mean inspiratory flow with a slow reduction in end tidal PCO2 was shown in the breath following the start of movements, and these findings indicate the nervous origin of this hyperventilation. Within the same breath, left cardiac output, stroke volume and ventricular ejection time remained unchanged, and the same is true of heart rate and ventricular performance indexes depending on both the first derivative of the base thoracic electrical bioimpedance and on the mean left ventricle ejection flow, as well as in the systemic venous return index depending on the basal value of the thoracic impedance.

[Preoperative levels of CA 125 and risk factors in adenocarcinoma of the endometrium].

Preoperative serum CA 125 levels were measured in 61 patients with various FIGO stage endometrial adenocarcinoma and they were compared with stage of disease, grading and pelvic lymph nodes involvement. Serum CA 125 levels in excess of 35 U/ml were detected in 19 patients (31.1%): circulating levels exceeding 65 U/ml were also found in 15 patients (24.

5-(2-bromoethyl)-2'-deoxyuridine: a selective inhibitor of herpes simplex viruses in vitro.

A new pyrimidine analog, 5-(2-bromoethyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BEUdR), was tested in vitro for antiviral activity on Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2. As reference compounds, ACG, BVUdR and PAA were used. Compared to ACG and BVUdR, BEUdR resulted less potent on both HSV-1 and HSV-2.

HSV2 and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: cytological, histological and serological features.

An epidemiological investigation on the incidence of HSV2 infection in 1216 women with acute or recurrent vulvovaginitis was performed. HSV2 research was carried out by means of clinical, cytological, colposcopic, histologic examinations and vaginal pad cultures and antibody titration. Of the patients examined, 12.

Activity of interferon beta in condylomata with dysplastic lesion of the uterine cervix.

The effectiveness of interferon beta in the treatment of condylomata of the cervico-vaginal tract associated with CINs was evaluated in 25 patients. Human fibroblastic interferon (IFN beta) was administered by intra and perilesional infiltration at a dosage of 3 x 10(6) IU/day for 5 consecutive days the first week and every other day the second. The treatment showed: complete regression in 61.

Hormonal profile and androgen status during the menstrual cycle in women with acne.

The androgen excess in women with acne can play an important role in gynecological endocrinology. LH, FSH, PRL, Testosterone (T), Androstenedione (A), Deydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) and Progesterone (P) were investigated in 21 women with uncomplicated idiopathic acne during the menstrual cycle. LF/FSH ratio greater than 3 was found in 7 cases (36.

Heterogeneity of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the developing human fetal brain: regional distribution and characterization.

The ontogeny of muscarinic cholinergic receptors has been studied in different regions of the human fetal brain. For a comparison, the same study has been carried out on newborn and premature brain. Regarding on the areas examined (frontal cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, thalamus and basal ganglia) either an increase or a decrease of receptor density during gestation was observed.