Detection of endocrine pathology in children in a rural locale and the organization of their care

As a result of the examination of 14500 children, living in the Rostov Region, data have been obtained, characterizing the level and nature of endocrine disturbance in rural children, being evaluated from such aspects as the individual physical and sexual development. Endocrine disease in the rural children (116.2 +/- 3.2%) does not exceed these abnormalities observed among the town children. The prevalence of endocrine diseases increases from 90.3 +/- 5.1% in the children, ranging in age from birth to 7 years old, to 143.2 +/- 5.3% in the schoolchildren. Girls are more often developing obesity (t = 4.2) and endocrine abnormalities (t = 4.6), whereas boys are suffering from delay of the growth (t = 3.5) and sexual maturation. The standard glucose tolerance test, performed in the children at a high risk of diabetes mellitus (with aggravated heredity in regard to diabetes mellitus and obesity of the II, III and IV stages) has revealed intolerance in 59% of the children, of whom 2.2% had diabetic type curves. Based on the data on endocrine abnormalities, a mode of the organization structure for the children's endocrinological service was developed.     

SOFFCO, Montpellier 31 mai–2 juin 2012

Index

SOFFCO, Montpellier 31 mai–2 juin 2012 Index des auteurs     

Sequence Similarities and Evolutionary Relationships of Influenza Virus A Hemagglutinins

This study brings the analysis of amino acid sequences of hemagglutinin (HA) from the influenza virus A that can infect a wide variety of birds and mammals. 191 sequences belonging to all known 15 HA subtypes were compared. The emphasis was given on functional sites (receptor-binding cavity with its right and left edges) and degree of their conservation in each subtype. Three evolutionary trees of 15 avian HA representatives were constructed: one tree based on the alignment of the entire HA sequences and two trees based on the alignment of HA1 and HA2 chains, respectively. The results have shown that, despite low degree of sequence similarity among the 191 sequences of HA1 subunit, the active site is well conserved, and that there are only marginal differences in the clustering of the individual HA subtypes between the two subunit trees. In this respect, the subtype H9 seems to be the most fluctuating example. The proposals of the probable avian HAs that could be the closest relatives to human (mammalian) HAs were also provided for several HA subtypes.