The pathogenesis of the central nervous system (CNS) damage in human african trypanosomiasis (HAT) is unknown. In view of an immunological mechanism, as in another trypanosomiasis, Chagas' disease, the causative agent of which is Trypanosoma cruzi, we have searched autoantibodies directed against glycosphingolipids of CNS. Detection and characterization of autoantibodies were performed by ELISA and detection after thin-layer chromatography of glycolipids with sera of an experimental model of HAT in sheep and sera of patients suffering of HAT from Côte d'Ivoire and Congo. The predominant reactivity of these sera, was characterized with galactocerebrosides, the major glycolipids of the myelin. Autoantibodies were detected in 42.8% and 25% of patients' sera, respectively from Côte d'Ivoire and Congo. The proportion of these antibodies increased dramatically to 72% in sera of patients with neurological symptoms. Anti-galactocerebroside antibodies were also found in CSF of 24.4% of Congolense patients. The pathogenic significance of these anti-galactocerebroside antibodies remains to be determined. They may constitute a predicative marker for the neurological improvement in HAT.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Sociology and Criminology, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208.
Using administrative and survey data, we show that there has been a sea change in the contours of American imprisonment. At the end of the twentieth century, inequality in the prison admission rates of Black and White Americans was comparable to inequality in the prison admission rates of people with and without a college education. However, educational inequality is now much greater than racial inequality in prison admissions for all major crime types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J STD AIDS
January 2025
Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Background: Cisgender women living with HIV (WLWH) are disproportionately impacted by cervical cancer. Nevertheless, disparities in uptake and implementation of cervical cancer services persist in sub-Saharan Africa, where population-level estimates of screening coverage remain scarce.
Methods: We pooled data from nationally representative Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) surveys conducted in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (2015-2019).
J Plast Surg Hand Surg
January 2025
Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, Westville Campus University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South
Background: Hemifacial microsomia (HFM) presentation includes gross distorted ramus, malposition temporomandibular joint, small glenoid fossa, distorted condyle and notch, malformed orbit, cupping ear or absent external ear, and facial nerve palsy. HFM is the second most prevalent congenital deformity of the face, with little literature from the South African population. This retrospective study elucidated the demographic characteristics and clinical presentations of HFM patients in a select South African population and compared it to the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlob Health Promot
January 2025
Formerly with Georgetown University, Medical Center Research Development Unit, Washington, DC, USA.
Social norms, the informal rules that influence behavior, play essential roles in shaping people's behavior. Community-based norms-shifting interventions (NSIs) identify gender and other social norms linked to unhealthy behaviors and implement activities to promote collective change by encouraging communities to reflect on and question these norms. Though NSIs are gaining international traction in social and behavior change programming for health promotion, how change occurs needs to be clearly understood in African and other contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Biol Anthropol
January 2025
The Anson Street African Burial Ground Project, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA.
Objective: Community engagement is an increasingly important component of ancient DNA (aDNA) research, especially when it involves archeological individuals connected to contemporary descendants or other invested communities. However, effectively explaining methods to non-specialist audiences can be challenging due to the intricacies of aDNA laboratory work. To overcome this challenge, the Anson Street African Burial Ground (ASABG) Project employed a GoPro camera to visually document the process of aDNA extraction for use in community engagement and education events.
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