Content analysis of media coverage of breastfeeding in Mexico

Media can be a powerful communication tool to promote breastfeeding programs, influence mother's breastfeeding behaviour, and generate support among stakeholders for breastfeeding. Yet, there is little information on how media coverage influences a country's breastfeeding enabling environment. This study addressed this gap by conducting a retrospective content analysis of documents published between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018 to analyse the media coverage related to breastfeeding in Mexico. Content analysis was based on the breastfeeding gear model and a strategic planning technique to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for enabling the national breastfeeding environment. Media coverage of breastfeeding was more frequent in August (36% of all documents). The top three topics commonly covered by the media were advocacy events promoting breastfeeding, promotion campaigns, and changes in breastfeeding legislation and policy. In general, the media coverage focused on strengths of specific breastfeeding policies. There was limited news coverage of key factors that negatively influenced or threatened the breastfeeding environment. Findings support the need to design strategies to engage the media covering in more depth and breadth diverse aspects of breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support efforts in Mexico.     

The development of a laparoscopic donor nephrectomy program in a de novo renal transplant program: Evolution of technique and results in over 200 cases.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In 1999, our institution began a kidney transplant program with collaboration between the departments of General Surgery/Transplantation and Urology. From the onset, donor nephrectomies were performed laparoscopically and are currently the domain of Urology, which had no prior laparoscopic experience before this undertaking. We reviewed our experience. METHODS: A database of our experience was kept prospectively from June 1999 to November 2004. Records of both donors and recipients were reviewed. Special attention was directed toward our changes in technique and their relationship to outcomes, with emphasis on graft extraction and overall complication rates. RESULTS: We reviewed the records of 205 consecutive procedures. We report excellent donor outcomes, including mean operative time (112 minutes), estimated blood loss (120 mL), and length of stay (2.3 days). Complication (14.1%) and open conversion (1.5%) rates were low. For the recipients, early (98.0%) and 1-year (94.7%) graft survival, and ureteral ischemia (2.4%) rates were also appropriate with contemporary experience. CONCLUSIONS: We report our results on laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in a de novo renal transplant program. Because of this experience, we have ventured into other horizons of urologic laparoscopy and currently produce enough volume to support a laparoscopic fellowship. We feel that a productive donor nephrectomy program can enhance urologic laparoscopic programs and should be taken advantage of when available.     

Impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus on diffuse inflammatory activation of de novo atheromatous lesions: Implications for systemic inflammation

AimsLocal coronary and systemic inflammation is pronounced in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Intracoronary thermography detects local inflammation and C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of systemic inflammation. We investigated whether or not, in patients with DM, thermal heterogeneity of culprit lesions (CLs) correlates with that of non-culprit lesions (NCLs) and with systemic inflammation.MethodsWe included DM patients who had two angiographically significant lesions and were undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. We measured the temperature difference (ΔT) between the lesion and proximal vessel wall.ResultsWe included 104 (n = 208 lesions) patients: 32 (n = 64 lesions) had DM and 72 (n = 144 lesions) were non-DM (control group). ΔT was increased in DM in both CLs and NCLs (CLs: DM = 0.12 ± 0.06 °C; no DM = 0.06 ± 0.04 °C; P < 0.01 versus NCLs: DM = 0.13 ± 0.08 °C versus no DM = 0.06 ± 0.05 °C; P < 0.01). Patients with DM had similar ΔT in CLs and NCLs (P = 0.49). A linear correlation was detected between heat production in all lesions and CRP (R = 0.45; P < 0.01), which was attributed to the correlation of ΔT in lesions of patients with DM and CRP (R = 0.32; P < 0.01). In lesions of patients with low CRP, a greater rate of discrepancy was found, as 100% of lesions in patients with DM versus 66.1% of lesions of patients without DM had a high ΔT in one or both lesions (P < 0.01).ConclusionIn patients with DM, local inflammatory activation is diffuse and correlates with systemic inflammation. However, low systemic inflammatory activation does not always predict an increase in local thermal heterogeneity.     

Differentiation of Achromobacter-like strains from human blood by DNA restriction endonuclease digest and ribosomal RNA gene probe patterns

Variation amongst Achromobacter-like strains was examined by DNA restriction endonuclease digestion and rDNA gene patterns generated using a non-radioactive probe. Chromosomal DNA was extracted from 12 cultures representing Achromobacter groups B, E and F, all from human blood cultures. DNA fingerprinting using EcoRI, Hae III or HindIII sub-divided the strains in a similar manner to that obtained by their protein patterns. The HaeIII patterns, with their small number of bands, were the easiest to interpret. The EcoRI patterns included a species-species triplet of bands but minor band patterns allowed further differentiation. The Achromobacter group F strains comprised a separate taxon and were distinct from the group B and E strains by all techniques examined. The study demonstrates that, in addition to total DNA digest analysis, rDNA gene restriction patterns provide a simple but discriminatory electrophoretic method for distinguishing within Achromobacter groups B and E.     

Age-related Changes in Excitability and Recurrent Inhibition in the Rat CA1 Hippocampal Region

In hippocampal slices from male Wistar rats aged 1–34 months, we recorded the synaptic field potential responses of the CA1 neurons to stimulation of Schaffer collaterals. Eight electrophysiological indexes were extracted from input/output curves and compared in 11 age groups from 1 to 30 months. Neuronal excitability presented a U-shaped curve of development with a minimum at ˜7–8 months of age. There was a significant continuous increase in neuronal excitability, i.e. a decrease in excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) producing both the threshold and half-maximal population spike from middle age (8–10 months) to senescence (30 months). Synaptic efficiency also increased in old rats to reach a maximum during senescence, i.e. both the current for threshold EPSP and that for half-maximal EPSP reached a minimum in senescence, although the earlier developmental patterns of these two indexes were non-linear. The duration of the field EPSP elicited with maximal stimulation presented an abrupt decay after the first month. Aged animals presented a relatively small maximal population spike. Recurrent inhibition was most prominent on neuronal excitability rather than synaptic strength. Measured as the percentage change in the half-maximal EPSP and half-maximal population spike, recurrent inhibition was found to decrease during the first 7–10 months of life and remained small in later development.     

Vascular endothelium and inflammatory process, in patients with combined Type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary atherosclerosis: the effects of vitamin C.

AIMS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are both associated with endothelial dysfunction and elevated oxidative and inflammatory state. We examined the effect of vitamin C on endothelial function and levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), in DM patients with or without CAD and in non-diabetic subjects. METHODS: Thirty-seven patients with DM + CAD, 17 patients with DM without CAD and 21 non-diabetic subjects were divided into groups receiving vitamin C 2 g/day or no anti-oxidant for 4 weeks. Forearm blood flow was determined using venous occlusion gauge-strain plethysmography. Forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperemia was considered as index of endothelium-dependent dilation. RESULTS: Baseline levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in patients with DM + CAD compared with patients with DM (P < 0.01) or non-diabetic subjects (P < 0.01). IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were also higher in DM compared with non-diabetic subjects (P < 0.05). sVCAM-1 levels were lower in non-diabetic controls compared with DM + CAD (P < 0.05) or DM (P < 0.05). Reactive hyperaemia was higher in non-diabetic controls compared with DM + CAD (P < 0.001) or DM (P < 0.001). Vitamin C significantly increased reactive hyperaemia only in the DM + CAD group, while it had no effect on serum levels of sVCAM-1, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in any of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with impaired endothelial function and increased levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and sVCAM-1, especially in patients with DM and CAD. Vitamin C significantly increased forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperaemia only in patients with combined DM and CAD.     

Recent advances of laparoscopic approach in adnexal torsion of premenarcheal girls

The adnexal torsion is an uncommon gynaecological emergency; however, it must be excluded in young girls in order to conserve their future ovarian function and fertility. The diagnosis of adnexal torsion is particularly difficult in girls before the menarche during which time the clinical examination is very delicate. We review the recent literature and laparoscopic advances in this domain and propose a management algorithm.     

Thalamic taste nuclei lesions and taste aversion

Rats with thalamic taste nuclei lesions were adapted to a 23 hr 50 min deprivation schedule and then presented with 0.125 percent saccharin followed by an injection of LiCl or saline. When retested with saccharin, animals with lesions showed a marked attenuation in taste aversion as compared to controls.     

Viscosity/temperature relationships for dilute solutions of poly(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl methacrylate)

The actual viscosity η of six fractions of poly(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl methacrylate) (PTCPh) with weight-average molecular weight M?_w, ranging from 9,11 · 10⁴ to 94,8 · 10⁴, was determined in benzene at a number of temperatures from 22 to 60°C. The variation of the pre-exponential term A and the apparent activation energy of viscous flow Q, with molecular weight and concentration was studied. Moore's equations are valid for PTCPh. The temperature coefficient of the unperturbed dimensions dln 〈r²₀〉/dT estimated from the intrinsic viscosity data by using the Burchard-Stockmayer-Fixman relation, is ?3 . 10^-3 (from 22 to 40°C) and ?0,87 . 10^-3 (from 40 to 60°C). These negative values indicate that extended configurations of PTCPh in benzene must be associated with lower energies.     

Genetic association between the phospholipase A2 gene and unipolar affective disorder: a multicentre case-control study

The co-segregation in one pedigree of bipolar affective disorder with Darier's disease whose gene is on chromosome 12q23-q24.1, and findings from linkage and association studies with the neighbouring gene of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) indicate that PLA2 may be considered as a candidate gene for affective disorders. All relevant genetic association studies, however, were conducted on bipolar patients. In the present study, the possible association between the PLA2 gene and unipolar affective disorder was examined on 321 unipolar patients and 604 controls (all personally interviewed), recruited from six countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, and Italy) participating in the European Collaborative Project on Affective Disorders. After controlling for population group and gender, one of the eight alleles of the investigated marker (allele 7) was found to be more frequent among unipolar patients with more than three major depressive episodes than among controls (P<0.01); genotypic association was also observed, under the dominant model of genetic transmission (P<0.02). In addition, presence of allele 7 was correlated with a higher frequency of depressive episodes (P<0.02). These findings suggest that structural variations at the PLA2 gene or the chromosomal region around it may confer susceptibility for unipolar affective disorder.