Hearing loss and cognitive decline in the general population: a prospective cohort study

Journal of Neurology - Previous studies identifying hearing loss as a promising modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline mostly adjusted for baseline age solely. As such a faster cognitive...     

An Analysis of the Impact of Brain-Computer Interfaces on Autonomy

Research conducted on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) has grown considerably during the last decades. With the help of BCIs, users can (re)gain a wide range of functions. Our aim in this paper is to analyze the impact of BCIs on autonomy. To this end, we introduce three abilities that most accounts of autonomy take to be essential: (1) the ability to use information and knowledge to produce reasons; (2) the ability to ensure that intended actions are effectively realized (control); and (3) the ability to enact intentions within concrete relationships and contexts. We then consider the impact of BCI technology on each of these abilities. Although on first glance, BCIs solely enhance self-determination because they restore or improve abilities, we will show that there are other positive, but also negative impacts on user autonomy, which require further philosophical and ethical discussions.

     

Evidence for haploidy in metacyclic forms of Trypanosoma brucei.

The parasitic flagellate Trypanosoma brucei undergoes a series of morphologic and metabolic changes during its passage in the digestive organs of its insect vector, a Glossina or tsetse fly. This morphogenesis ends by the differentiation, in the salivary gland of the fly, of the metacyclic form, which will be transmitted in the bloodstream of the mammalian host. On the basis of DNA microfluorometric measurements, we propose that these metacyclic trypanosomes have a haploid amount of DNA, compared to that of bloodstream forms and also of the proventricular forms, which initiate the invasion of the salivary glands. It can be inferred that trypanosomes undergo meiosis during their developmental cycle in the tsetse fly's salivary glands and syngamy shortly after cyclic transmission.     

Fixed-dose pyronaridine-artesunate combination for treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in pediatric patients in Gabon

BACKGROUND: The development of novel artemisinin-combination therapies suitable for the treatment of pediatric patients suffering from malaria is a research priority. The aim of this study was to investigate a novel fixed-dose pyronaridine-artesunate combination for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Gabonese patients 2-14 years old. METHODS: The study was designed as an open-label dose-escalation study recruiting 60 pediatric patients sequentially in 4 treatment cohorts: study drugs were administered once daily for 3 days, as tablet coformulations (pyronaridine:artesunate ratios of 6:2, 9:3, and 12:4 mg/kg) and as a granule coformulation (pyronaridine:artesunate ratio of 9:3 mg/kg). The primary end points were tolerability, safety, and pharmacokinetics of pyronaridine-artesunate treatment. Efficacy was treated as a secondary outcome measure. RESULTS: The drugs had a good tolerability and safety profile, at all dose levels. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a dose-dependent increase in the maximum plasma/blood concentration and the area under the curve, as well as comparable relative bioavailability for the granule coformulation. Polymerase chain reaction-corrected cure rates at day 28 were 100% in per-protocol analysis, at all dose levels. CONCLUSIONS: Pyronaridine-artesunate is a promising novel artemisinin-combination therapy for pediatric patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and the development of both the tablet and the granule coformulations is warranted.