Primary drug resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs in major towns of Amhara region, Ethiopia

Drug resistance is a major obstacle to effective TB control program performance. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of primary drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) isolates in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. A total of 112 Mtb isolates from cases with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB were subjected to drug susceptibility testing (DST) in a cross-sectional study. Isolates were tested for sensitivity to isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and streptomycin using the MGIT 960 protocol. A total of 93 Mtb isolates yielded valid DST results and 28 (30.1%) were resistant to one or more of first line anti-TB drugs. One isolate (1.0%) was multi-drug resistant (MDR), five (5.4%) were classified as poly-resistant and 22 showed single drug resistance to either streptomycin (n = 19) or isoniazid (n = 3). Isolates from HIV-positive patients were more likely to be resistant to at least one of the four anti-TB drugs compared with HIV-negative individuals (odds ratio 2.76, 95% confidence interval 1.06-7.22; p = 0.03). The study showed a high prevalence of primary drug resistance. Even though the prevalence of MDR was low, conditions that can contribute to the development of MDR are increasing. Therefore, regular monitoring of drug resistance and enhanced implementation of TB/HIV collaborative activities in the study region are imperative.     

Postadoption parenting and socioemotional development in postinstitutionalized children

Children adopted from institutions (e.g., orphanages) overseas are at increased risk of disturbances in social relationships and social understanding. Not all postinstitutionalized children exhibit these problems, although factors like the severity of deprivation and duration of deprivation increase their risk. To date, few studies have examined whether postadoption parenting might moderate the impact of early adverse care. Three groups were studied: postinstitutionalized and foster care children both adopted internationally and nonadopted children reared in their families of origin. The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales were assessed at 18 months in parent-child dyads. Parent emotional availability was found to predict two aspects of social functioning shown in previous studies to be impaired in postinstitutionalized children. Specifically, EA positively correlated with emotion understanding at 36 months; in interaction with initiation of joint attention at 18 months and group, it predicted indiscriminate friendliness as scored from a parent attachment interview at 30 months. Among the postinstitutionalized children but not among the children in other groups, higher EA scores reduced the negative association between initiation of joint attention and indiscriminate friendliness, thus suggesting that parenting quality may moderate the effects of early institutional deprivation.     

The rise, decline, and future of the Swedish left

Swedish voters' support for the labor movement has decreased from about 50 percent to less than 40 percent in recent decades, with a resulting loss of the majority in parliament. Over the same period, capitalism has undergone profound changes--transfer of production across borders, the huge growth and ultra-rapid movement of financial capital, and subordination of social welfare to the interests of profit. A new phase in the development of capitalism can be detected: from welfare capitalism to financial capitalism. Large parts of the public sector have been privatized by both conservative and labor governments, even while retaining public funding. The social gaps grow, and a new line of conflict is emerging in the values and interests that should govern care-taking, schools, and living conditions. The labor movement's ideological and scientific analyses have taken a backseat to liberal-conservative think tanks. An effective response to financial capitalism, transnational production chains, and European integration will require trade union and political actions across national borders to strengthen the power resources in the hands of the majority of the population, so as to counter the increasingly destructive powers of capitalism.     

On the convergence of EM-like algorithms for image segmentation using Markov random fields

Inference of Markov random field images segmentation models is usually performed using iterative methods which adapt the well-known expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm for independent mixture models. However, some of these adaptations are ad hoc and may turn out numerically unstable. In this paper, we review three EM-like variants for Markov random field segmentation and compare their convergence properties both at the theoretical and practical levels. We specifically advocate a numerical scheme involving asynchronous voxel updating, for which general convergence results can be established. Our experiments on brain tissue classification in magnetic resonance images provide evidence that this algorithm may achieve significantly faster convergence than its competitors while yielding at least as good segmentation results.     

Necrobacillosis in humans

Necrobacillosis, often used synonymously with Lemierre's syndrome, is a form of abscess infection in the peritonsillar area associated with a thrombophlebitis and caused by the strict anaerobic species Fusobacterium necrophorum. The thrombosis formed affects the internal jugular vein, from which the bacteria are seeded out in the bloodstream and cause bacteremia. Septicemia is a common complication with an often fatal outcome. Necrobacillosis is very rare and is referred to as the 'forgotten disease'. It is probably frequently overlooked in clinical practice in its early and milder forms such as tonsillitis (sore throat) and peritonsillar abscess. F. necrophorum frequently participates in these infections and is thus suspected to have an etiological role in Lemierre's syndrome. Similarly, F. necrophorum seems to play an important role in noma (cancrum oris) and this disease is also included in the necrobacillosis complex. Diagnosis of infections of the necrobacillosis complex seeks to disclose F. necrophorum in swab samples or blood culture. The most commonly used therapy is metronidazole in combination with penicillin or amoxicillin. Clindamycin is also an option, especially in cases of penicillin allergy.     

Site-specific characterization of threonine, serine, and tyrosine glycosylations of amyloid precursor protein/amyloid beta-peptides in human cerebrospinal fluid

The proteolytic processing of human amyloid precursor protein (APP) into shorter aggregating amyloid β (Aβ)-peptides, e.g., Aβ1-42, is considered a critical step in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although APP is a well-known membrane glycoprotein carrying both N- and O-glycans, nothing is known about the occurrence of released APP/Aβ glycopeptides in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We used the 6E10 antibody and immunopurified Aβ peptides and glycopeptides from CSF samples and then liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for structural analysis using collision-induced dissociation and electron capture dissociation. In addition to 33 unglycosylated APP/Aβ peptides, we identified 37 APP/Aβ glycopeptides with sialylated core 1 like O-glycans attached to Thr(-39, -21, -20, and -13), in a series of APP/AβX-15 glycopeptides, where X was -63, -57, -52, and -45, in relation to Asp1 of the Aβ sequence. Unexpectedly, we also identified a series of 27 glycopeptides, the Aβ1-X series, where X was 20 (DAEFRHDSGYEVHHQKLVFF), 19, 18, 17, 16, and 15, which were all uniquely glycosylated on Tyr10. The Tyr10 linked O-glycans were (Neu5Ac)(1-2)Hex(Neu5Ac)HexNAc-O- structures with the disialylated terminals occasionally O-acetylated or lactonized, indicating a terminal Neu5Acα2,8Neu5Ac linkage. We could not detect any glycosylation of the Aβ1-38/40/42 isoforms. We observed an increase of up to 2.5 times of Tyr10 glycosylated Aβ peptides in CSF in six AD patients compared to seven non-AD patients. APP/Aβ sialylated O-glycans, including that of a Tyr residue, the first in a mammalian protein, may modulate APP processing, inhibiting the amyloidogenic pathway associated with AD.